Durango Texas

The Tandy Hills Are Not A Sanctioned National Naturist Day Location

2009-07-11T13:54:00.004-05:00

Everyone disappointed me on going to Wildwood Naturist Resort today to be part of the national effort to break the world record for most people skinnydipping at one time.

I don't know, and it had not occurred to me to wonder, what country currently holds the coveted skinnydipping record? Russia? Sweden? An African country? Canada?

After Jammin Mole jammed my last hope that someone was going to go to Decatur with me, I took my sad, sorry, lonely self to the Tandy Hills Natural Area. I was there before the 2 in the afternoon national take off your clothes time, so I kept mine on.

But, now that it is a minute before 2, I am participating in spirit, if not in person. Sadly I won't be counted by the Guinness people. I am not at a sanctioned location.

There are few things sadder than a kite killed by a tree, particularly if it is one of those fancy, complicated kites. A big tree in the Tandy Hills had captured a nice one today, as you can see in the first picture.

For weeks now there have been these fragile looking, but obviously not, purple wildflowers that continue to look fresh and new, in spite of the daily assault of HOT and no water.

Don Young gave me some good anti-cockroach advise today. I need to get me some Geckos. I thought I had some in here already. But I'm not all that savvy with my lizard identifying. Or I can find non-pesticide treatments at Marshall Grain. I know where that is.

Jammin Is Flying In To Go To Wildwood Naturist Resort With Me

2009-07-11T10:33:00.005-05:00

As you can see, I was in the pool way after the sun came up this morning, with there being so much sun that sunglasses were required.

My Wildwood date bailed on participating in today's attempt to break an important world record. Jammin Mole is trying to make it here in time, as a last minute replacement.

My coffee was cockroach-free this morning. That always starts the day on a good note.

I will likely end up participating in today's event, but in a non-sanctioned location, like my usual Saturday hike to the top of Tandy Mountain.

Speaking of breaking records, my Google ads made the most $ ever yesterday. I've no idea why. It was spread all over the place. The Parker County Peach Festival was yesterday, so that accounted for some of it, I guess.

I just got a message from Jammin Mole:

"It just so happens that I have Midland Oil Tycoon friend with a private jet...just spoke with him, he said no problem, he can have me there by 1:45PM...once I arrive how do I contact you?"

1:45 would be too late. Maybe it would work if he could fly Jammin to the Decatur airport. I may be going to Wildwood Naturist Resort after all...

United Breaks Guitars

2009-07-10T17:46:00.007-05:00

I was sent a not quite ready for prime time new blog to inspect. Today's blogging, in the new blog, had an amusing YouTube video that is only 3 days old and going viral. I thought I'd help do my little part in contributing to the virality.

I love how there are so many ways, anymore to smack back when something or someone does you wrong. Like when WaMu melted down and messed up my account for a week. Or when Wal-Mart had the gall to overcharge me for milk over and over again by two cents. Or when someone in Tacoma turns into a toxic Jabba the Hut.

Apparently United Airlines claims that the guitar was not packed in a proper guitar case. That had it been, it would not have done the guitar any harm when the luggage loaders tossed it around in full view of passengers and the guitar's owner.

And, how did United Airlines know what type case the guitar was in? After the complaint was made did they send an inspector to look at the case? I know someone who had a similar experience, only with American Airlines. That was over lost luggage. She never got any compensation. Just a run around.

Avoiding Hot Texas Sun By Walking Under Oak Trees At Village Creek

2009-07-10T14:35:00.005-05:00

After a way too long flusterating morning I had to get out of here and away from anything with a non-human memory.

We are under a Level Orange Air Pollution Alert here, advised to avoid the air as much as you can.

I accept it as fact that there is some air pollution out there, but it has never remotely reached the level I've experienced in years past in the Los Angeles zone, where it'd cause my eyes to sting. The air pollution here does not cause a disturbing distant haze, like it can in the Puget Sound zone, when you look north towards Vancouver, or south towards Seattle.

With the health warnings in mind I decided to go to a shady spot and walk under the green protection of giant oak trees, so I went to Village Creek Natural Historical Area. I saw 3 other humans, all on bikes. No snakes, armadillos, panthers, tarantulas or alligators.

The only wildlife that I was aware of today, at Village Creek, I was unable to see, but I could hear them. Those noisy cicadas doing their mating chants.

One of the humans on a bike, it being one of those recumbent bikes, startled me bad, coming up behind me. I jumped, he said, sorry.

There was very little water running in Village Creek, a sad sign of the drought we are having here. The pond with the overlook deck, where water moccasins and turtles live peacefully together, is pretty much dried up. I've never seen it like this.

When I got back to my current location there was a message from Jammin Mole. She seems to think I need to get the exterminator back in here, if I'm getting cockroaches in my morning coffee. Cockroaches in my morning coffee are the least of my worries. That sort of stimulating moment is just a welcome diversion from a less stimulating reality.

Remember, tomorrow at 2 in the afternoon we go for the Skinny Dip World Record.

Another Quake Strikes Cleburne

2009-07-10T12:03:00.005-05:00

I don't think I've mentioned the last couple Cleburne quakes. When something unusual starts seeming like the same old thing, over and over again, it tends to start to seem less noteworthy. But it shouldn't. All these earthquakes, where previously the ground did not shake, is disturbing.

This morning's 2.0 ground cracker shook about 27 miles south of Fort Worth, a bit before 7 this morning.

Last week, up near where I lived in Washington, there was a 3 or 4 point quake. I am almost absolutely certain the Washington earthquake was not caused by Barnett Shale gas drilling.

The Dallas Cowboys have banned drilling under their new $1 billion plus stadium because the thing weighs 805 million pounds. Earthquakes could do all sorts of bad things to the stadium. Or it could sink into a giant sinkhole, like they have in Wink.

So, Don Young raised a very interesting point. How much do all the buildings in downtown Fort Worth weigh? Drilling is taking place under downtown Fort Worth. People live and work in downtown Fort Worth. If drilling is too dangerous for a seldom used football stadium, should not an equally cautious policy be in place to protect downtown Fort Worth and those who live and work there?

It's perplexing.

Befuddled In Texas By Oklahoma Casinos

2009-07-10T10:38:00.005-05:00

So far today, this second Friday of this year's July, things have not gone well. Up to the point where I tried to go up to Oklahoma to a couple casinos, those being the WinStar World Casino and the Riverwind Casino, I was having me a good day.

I was in the pool early, the water about the same temperature as the air. I just remembered, the bad Friday started off bad way before the pool. I must have temporarily blocked the trauma from my memory.

I got up, made coffee and about 5 minutes later was sitting in front of the computer monitor. I took a sip of coffee and something other than coffee floated into my mouth. I spit it out. I could not find whatever it was. My worst case scenario is it was a cockroach. But I found no evidence.

So, a couple hours after possibly having a cockroach in my mouth, I decided to make some webpages about Oklahoma casinos. I make these things for purely non-altruistic reasons. Usually I whip them out, slap ads on them and am done with it. But it was one screw up after another. Like the Riverwind Casino. A couple weeks ago I'd made a webpage about Riverbend in Oklahoma. I kept changing Riverwind to Riverbend. You would think this is no big deal, but after you've slapped the wrong name on multiple pages, it is a big deal.

And then, somehow I put the Riverwind info on the WinStar page, and vice versa. That also sounds like no big deal, but trust me, it was very befuddling.

I made a map for the Riverwind one. After it had uploaded I saw I'd turned it into Riverbend. This involved re-doing the map in a photo program. Sounds like no big deal, and it did only take about a minute, but it's just the making the same mistake over and over again thing is annoying. Very annoying.

I have not been up to the WinStar since its name change from plain ol' WinStar to WinStar World Casino. I knew they had expanded the thing, but I had no idea it is now the world's 5th biggest casino. I really have trouble believing that. I have been in some pretty big casinos.

I'd not been in the WinStar since several years ago when Chris, then living in Ada, met me there to go to the buffet. At that point in time the WinStar building was a tent-like building. It looked very cheap. Now it looks like real buildings. And is huge. Themed, with 6 of the 10 casino plazas making like you are in a foreign city. You can walk from Vienna to Rome to Madrid to Paris, then cross the channel to London, before you take a long flight to Beijing.

The new WinStar sounds sorta fun. But I know I'd be disappointed and regret it later. I always am and I always do. Usually. I think maybe I'll go hike the Tandy Hills and see if that improves me foul mood.

The WinStar is not far from my location. About an hour and a half drive, a mile across the Red River and the Oklahoma border. Below is a video that takes you on a virtual tour of the WinStar World Casino. Who wants to meet me there for lunch?

Megan Jones Guest Blogger: Texas Toll Road Debate

2009-07-09T17:04:00.003-05:00

A few weeks ago Megan Jones, no relation, emailed me asking if I ever had Guest Bloggers or accepted contributions, or something like that.

Megan gave me some examples of her blogging and her website, which is about nursing colleges. I really did not see a connection between this Blog and Megan, but I replied, telling her that she seemed to be very medical advice oriented, while my Blog is all over the place, sometimes about my day in Texas, or something else in Texas. Or elsewhere. Or just about me being annoyed about something. Or someone.

I told Megan she could send me a sample blogging that she thought fit in with my blog. I got that sample blogging this morning. She is writing about something I've paid no attention to. Or know anything about. That being a debate here in Texas over toll roads.

Anyway, below is the Megan Jones Guest Blogging in its entirety....

Toll Road Debate

Recently, toll roads have become a big deal for legislation for Texas lawmakers, as a special session has been called in order to re-authorize the ability for the Texas Department of Transportation and regional mobility authorities to partner with private companies to build and operate toll roads. Toll roads are remarkable inventions that serve to cost us more money as taxpayers while still allowing us to get stuck in traffic. The only way to avoid such traffic is to purchase a toll tag which simply allows you to pay for the toll via credit card, rather than millions of quarters. However, toll roads have served their purpose in allowing us to get to certain places around large cities without directly traveling through the city and thereby encountering more unneeded traffic.

This new bill would in effect afford protection to Texans while allowing an important financing tool for roads, which is desperately needed in these economic times. One project in the Dallas-Fort Worth area is classified as a comprehensive development agreement though does not involve a private company. In order to finance this endeavor, a tolled segment is included although it is backed by public revenue, not bonds. The toll revenue will therefore support several other projects as well as support upkeep on the road. Toll roads are tricky piece of legislation to pass because of the limited use which they get across the state. Smaller towns and areas are not faced with a continuous usage of the roads, which are typically placed in larger cities like Houston and Austin. These tolls are a god-send for the citizens of the area and allow them to navigate around the city at an easier pace then they would have otherwise.

This bill has gained a lot of press recently because it is one of the most hotly contested issues in the state, as many funds are needed to finance increasing road projects. Incorporating public and private companies into one sphere to complete these projects seems to be the most logical conclusion, although many lawmakers are skeptical over the ability to attract private businesses to invest. With the economy on a seemingly downturned spiral, it becomes important to question whether or not companies will be willing to invest in such a major project when they have their own finances to worry about. Texas is one state that has fared for the better throughout the recession due to the many revenues that the Gulf Coast brings in, although this has been slowly changing as the economy has not repaired itself as speedily as many national lawmakers would have liked. While toll roads are one way to aid in boosting revenue across the state, many more sessions need to be called in order to counteract the impending economic woes and thereby allow citizens to go on leading their carefree lives.

This post was contributed by Megan Jones, who writes about the nursing colleges. She welcomes your email feedback.

Fort Worth Town Talk Part 2

2009-07-09T15:45:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I blogged about going to Fort Worth's Town Talk surplus store. I didn't quite know what to make of it.

Then this morning Don Young commented on that blogging, telling me he got raspberries and blackberries at Town Talk. I'd seen absolutely no produce. I figured this was a function of my chronic problem with being un-observant.

So, after burning some calories hiking to the summit of Mount Tandy I had to be on Beach Street again. I decided to check out Town Talk again and see if I could find the mysterious produce section.

I'd walked right by it on yesterday's visit. It's a walk-in cooler. A very, very cold walk-in cooler. There were a lot of raspberries, blackberries and strawberries in there. And papayas, oranges, Roma tomatoes and likely several other things I'm not remembering. I never can bring myself to buy raspberries or blackberries. They are free in Washington, particularly blackberries. And they are really good. 99 cents for a little container of blackberries just seems bizarre to me. Strawberries I have bought here, if they look and smell good. I had to buy strawberries up in Washington, too, though I did try to grow my own. That did not work out so well.

However, those Town Talk Roma tomatoes were big and a very deep red. And only $.59 a pound. Or was it $.69? So, I got myself some Romas. And a Hormel sun-dried tomato pork loin for only $3.99. I did not need any cheese, but stored in the same cold place as the Romas, only on shelves accessed from the outside, which I did see yesterday, there were a lot of real good cheese bargains. High quality type cheese, as in hard cheeses and crumbled Gorgonzola. And Parmesan

So, I shall return. It's cheap, you can find some good goods. And it is close to where I live, with me driving by it all the time. So, it's convenient. And very interesting people shop there.

Tandy Hill Fissures Barnett Shale Earthquakes & Related Cowboy Stadium Dangers

2009-07-09T15:00:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I read that the Dallas Cowboys, well Jerry Jones, somehow got Barnett Shale gas drilling banned for some area around the new stadium. The reason being that the stadium is very heavy and drilling under it might wreak havoc.

Different type concerns were unable to stop Chesapeake Energy from drilling off Carter Avenue at the west end of the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Today, around noon, I did my regular Thursday inspection of the Tandy Hills. I noticed large earthquake-like fissures have appeared. Is the ground rumbling under the Tandy Hills?

I expected to overheat hiking Tandy today, but did not. This morning I pretty much overheated soon after getting out of the pool. I got up later than usual, so the sun had done its light up the place thing by the time I hit the water. I swam particularly hard, I guess, because when I got out and dried off I was quickly wet again, due to that sweating thing.

Before I moved to Texas I hated sweating, rarely did so. I've adjusted. Here, it is like living in a healthy natural sauna.

That is what a Level Orange Air Pollution Alert looks like today in Fort Worth from high atop the summit of Mount Tandy, looking west at an un-zoomed view of beautiful downtown Fort Worth's stunning skyline.

Hiking the Tandy Hills, today, there was a breeze. That helps. And it was only 90. It has not managed to get to 100 yet today, at a bit past 3 in the afternoon, the temperature is maintaining at 99.

Big Ed in Tex went along on the Tandy Hike today. That always makes matters difficult. Big Ed in Tex is a bit on the plus-size side. So, he does not move as fast as me. Consequently he falls behind. Eventually I got a call telling me he was lost. Again. This type aggravation really does not help with my nature enjoyment.

I heard from Connie in Tacoma today. She wants to be my new BFF. I've had dinner with her mother, at Anthony's Homeport at Point Defiance, but I've never had dinner with Connie. Connie is not a Toxic Tacoma Person. She does not drink the water.

It took a long time for anyone to figure out why the crazy water in Mineral Wells, Texas made crazy people less so. I don't know if anyone is trying to figure out, yet, why their tapwater makes some people in Tacoma Toxic. It's perplexing.

Setting A Record Number of Naked People Saturday In Texas

2009-07-09T09:13:00.006-05:00

On Saturday, July 11, Yvonne is taking me up to a place a bit north of Decatur, called Wildwood Naturist's Resort, so we can be part of the attempt to get in the Guinness World Records by setting a world record for the biggest number of people being au naturel at the same moment in time.

This is very import work we are doing here.

The inspiration for this mass doffing of all clothes comes from the American Association for Nude Recreation, aka AANR. I have no clue as to how the number of naked people is going to be counted by the Guiness people. I wouldn't want that job.

It is precisely at 2 pm Central Time that you need to get naked to help with this cause. You have to be at a nudist resort or sanctioned nude beach to be counted. At Wildwood it will cost you to join the fun. $10 a per for AANR members. $15 for non-AANR members.

So, if you want to visit me while I'm wearing my birthday suit, head up to Decatur on Saturday. After the record is set, you can have fun skinnydipping, playing volleyball, or just lounging around, followed by a potluck dinner and dance. I have no idea if clothes are required, or not allowed, for the potluck and dance. I do know that no clothes are allowed for the skinnydipping.

For more information and directions go the the Wildwood Naturist's Resort website.

Town Talk Is The Talk Of Fort Worth

2009-07-08T16:59:00.005-05:00

Saturday I got email from Fort Worth's #1 Conservationist, who I will refer to as Anonymous, because I don't know if Anonymous wants to be known as the source of this particular piece of information.

Anonymous asked if I had been to the Town Talk store on Beach Street. I had not. It is a surplus food store. Food and a lot of other stuff, I learned about an hour ago.

I've long noticed the Town Talk building, it's at the northwest corner of the Beach Street, Randol Mill Road intersection, a short distance north of I-30.

As you can see in the picture, Town Talk is in a metal shed building. It's very barebones, perfectly fitting for a surplus store. Anonymous told me that going to Town Talk is sort of a thrill of the hunt type deal. The stock changes all day long, so you never know when, or if, some good thing gets put on the shelves or in the freezer.

There were quite a few cars in the parking lot, parked in a sort of helter skelter randomness, which I soon was to see perfectly fit Town Talk. There were a large number of people inside, pushing carts that were stuffed with a lot of stuff. I did not push a cart. I just walked around, up and down the aisles.

The frozen food was interesting. Some of it seemed to have come from restaurants. There were several large containers, filled with something brown, on which the label said "Conch Chowder". Some of the frozen stuff was off the frozen fish stick, chicken parts, pizza, ice cream sort. There were also frozen turkeys, pork loins, steaks, tilipia and other seafoods and meats.

I saw Folgers coffee costing more than it does at Wal-Mart. Same with salad dressing. There was pretty much an entire aisle devoted to spices. Very good bargains and good quality brand names in that section.

There is a lot of non-food stuff in Town Talk, like detergent and soap and all sorts of paper plate, cup type products.

A couple months ago I read "When Giants Fall". All about the coming collapse of America, which, according to the author, is well underway. It was published before last fall's economic meltdown, which the author predicted, among other things, like we Americans are going to have to learn how to scrounge and be scavengers, looking for bargains, settling for a lesser standard of living.

Even though Town Talk has been open for over a half a century, I think it's now being cutting edge, with the vanguard of America's new, ever growing, scavenger class, making do, in this new economy, with Town Talk helping with the process.

I did not buy anything. I had no cash. It did not look like they took debit cards. There were a couple things I would have bought, a spice or two, some organic pea soup and a pork loin. But, I'd already done some scavenging today at Sprouts Farmers Market in Southlake, so I'm well-stocked with goods. For now.

The Humid Search For A New Big Subject In Texas

2009-07-08T08:33:00.007-05:00

Up very early, in the pool, again, right as dawn was doing its cracking. We're being extremely humid. It is only 80 out there, right now, at a quarter before 9, but the 74% humidity is making for a Heat Index of 85. The predicted high is 101 today. Maybe some of this humidity will burn off.

Looking at the stats, this morning, of this very blog, I was pleased to see a big drop in the number of people, all over the world, seeking to see the biggest version in the world of the thing depicted in the picture. I mentioned a week or two ago that I'd finally wised up and realized I'd made a mistake in blogging about that certain, specific subject.

When I cease blogging about that subject and my search for it, the blog drops lower and lower in Google searches. After awhile, the number of searchers, looking for that big object, being directed to my blog, should diminish to none.

I have not blogged about Only Child Syndrome of late. I see fewer people coming to this blog looking for relief from that problem. Maybe I am no longer the world's go to guy for info about that subject. I'll go see. I'll be right back....

Well, I'm still the world's #1 go to guy, at least at this moment, in a Google search looking for relief in dealing with Only Child Syndrome.

I don't mind being the world's go to guy on the Only Child Syndrome subject, It seems less unseemly than being the go to guy in a search for the biggest of a particular body part.

What seems to have replaced the search for the big thing is the search for a cure for cancer by eating a lot of asparagus. That seems a much more elevated thing to be providing information about than that other subject, the specific words of which, I no longer type.

Today is Wednesday, which means I'm heading north a bit before noon, heading to Southlake and likely Sprouts Farmers Market. There is another market I need to check out called the "Town Talk" store. It is located at the intersection of Beach Street and Randol Mill Road.

Hot, Lost & Malled In West Fort Worth

2009-07-07T17:14:00.005-05:00

I had to be in West Fort Worth, on the 6th floor of a building just off University, this afternoon at 2. When I arrived at my destination, I was quick to realize I'd been given erroneous information.

I called Google Location Information and was given the correct location, which was a couple miles further west, near the Ridgmar Mall. I found the proper location, did what I had to do, then, looking at the Ridgmar Mall, I realized I had never been in it.

That, and I could not remember the last time I had been in a mall. I had been in the Sears store at the Ridgmar Mall before, years ago, to pick up a riding lawnmower, but never in the mall. I know it'd been totally remodeled since the lawnmower pickup.

So, I parked by the Rave Motion Theater. I think that is what it is called. Movies cost $9.50 now? I really need to get out more. Most movies I would not watch if you paid me $9.50 an hour to do so, but I digress.

So, I walked into the mall. Ridgmar is a 2 story mall. It does not look that high from the outside. By the time I was about 10 minutes in, I realized I'd made the same mistake I'd make before in a Texas mall, as in not paying attention to where I had entered. But it was by the theater, how hard could that be to find again? I thought.

My most horrifying getting lost, to a Seinfeldian level of distress in a mall, occurred soon after my Exile in Texas. I was driving a car I was not used to, a loaner, while the main car was having something fixed. I wanted to check out the infamous Galleria in Dallas. One of the biggest malls in the world. At the Galleria there are no parking lots. Near as I know. It's all parking garages. And the exits from those parking garages enter the mall at various levels.

So, one is a fool if one is in the Galleria and does not make note of what level one is parked on and what store one entered. I was only half a fool. I knew I'd entered via Neiman-Marcus. The Galleria is a 4 level, or is it 5, mall. It is huge. On the lower level there is a big ice rink, and, if I remember right, a big restaurant, food court zone.

If you saw the late Farrah Fawcett in Dr. T. and the Women, the Galleria is where Farrah decided to take a skinnydip in a fountain. I always liked Farrah, particularly in her later, bare it all years.

Anyway, I wandered all 4 or 5 levels of the Galleria and then I was ready to get out of there. I made my way back to Neiman-Marcus, wandered through the store til I found an exit to the parking garage. I thought I was on the right level. But I could find no car. This was not a car I was used to spotting. It ended up taking me over an hour and an estimated 1,500 calories to find that car.

I have been back to the Galleria one more time. I did not get lost that time. The Galleria is walking distance from, sort of, one of the World's Most Unique McDonalds, in case you are in the neighborhood and craving a Big Mac.

Twittering & The Michael Jackson Memorial Service

2009-07-07T13:04:00.006-05:00

The Michael Jackson Memorial was all over the TV during lunch. FOX News was my viewing choice. I find Shepard Smith to be amusing.

A few days ago I watched a fast police chase in Dallas during lunch via the point of view of a chasing helicopter. That chase was narrated by Shepard Smith.

Today, lunch started with a slow funeral procession, from the point of view of a slow moving helicopter, following the procession from a private service to a public one at Staple's Center, also narrated by Shepard Smith.

The memorial at Staple's Center was slow to start, and then, when it did start, it seemed to have hiccups. Quincy Jones read letters from Dianna Ross and Nelson Mandela. Then we went silent for quite some time. Then a choir sang a song about the coming of a king while Michael Jackson was delivered to the front of the stage in a shiny gold coffin.

Mariah Carey and some guy I didn't recognize sang "I'll Be There". I'm not a Mariah Carey fan.

Then Queen Lafitah, who I like, paid tribute and read a poem by Maya Angelou.

Then Lionel Richie started singing.

The memorial was to be, at least, 3 hours long. I have other things to do, so I hit the record button and proceeded to do other things, like Twittering about hitting the record button because I have other things to do. But, Twitter seems to be not working right now. I suspect its servers have melted down again due to too many people Twittering about Michael Jackson.

The Silence Of The Cicadas & Mark Twain

2009-07-07T08:03:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I blogged about the epidemic of noisy cicadas. This morning I was in the pool soon after the sun arrived. There were no cicadas making noise. I have the windows open right now, due to it being a chilly 73 out there. I hear birds chirping, but no cicadas cicadaing.

Yesterday Mister Twister commented on my Blogging about the cicadas, including a link to the picture you see here. I think I have seen these on the ground, dead. They are big. They sort of remind me of my pet cockroaches.

I wonder if it is the chilly temperatures that have rendered the cicadas mute?

I get to go to West Fort Worth today, well, west of downtown, to some place on University Drive. I think I'll go to Forest Park and take a picture of Mark Twain. I don't think I'll be riding the miniature train at Forest Park today.

Over and over again this Blogger thing is flagging words as being misspelled that are correct. This started a couple days ago and is very annoying. One of my few thrills is to get a "No Misspellings Found" message, and now I'm being robbed of that. It just told me I misspelled "robbed".

Twittering Conundrums Over Miley Cyrus Being Pregnant

2009-07-06T19:05:00.006-05:00

My kind therapist, Dr. L.C., shares my Twitter conundrumming and empathizes with my confusion. All day long, today, I got more followers following my totally uninteresting Twittering. Real Housewife of New York City, Bethenny Frankel, is now one of my Twitter Followers. Why? I have no idea.

I got a Twitter Follower from Iran today, too. I have no idea if she really is from Iran.

There does not seem to be much information about whoever the Twitterer is. I think I could say I was from the Moon and that would be fine. Or I could say I'm from Iran, and just got back from a riot where crazed government goons were smashing heads.

Speaking of making up stuff on the Internet. This morning, when I checked Google Trends, the #1 thing being searched for was "Miley Cyrus Pregnant". Along with some searching things like "Jonas Brother Father". Clicking on these brought me to websites with quite detailed stories about Miley Cyrus being 3 months pregnant, knocked up by one of those purity pledger Jonas Brothers. One of the websites had the Jonas Brother breaking up with Miley due to getting some other girl, I've never heard of, in the Family Way.

Turns out it was all bogus, near as I can tell. There is like a sub-industry on the Internet of people putting out fake news, like fake celebrity deaths, like this week Brit singer Rick Astley was widely reported as dead, this then got picked up by some legit media, before the rumor gets killed.

If I could figure out an angle that made it make sense I could see having fun having a fake news site or blog. This really could be a forte of mine that is currently being untapped. I must give it some serious thought.

Jungle Walking With Cicadas At Veterans Park & Getting Followed By Bethenny Frankel

2009-07-06T15:21:00.010-05:00

The Cicadas are being real plentiful this year. Everywhere I go it seems I am hearing them. They are busy chirping, or whatever you call the noise, outside my window right now.

This morning in the pool the Cicadas were busy making their racket. Then when the sun came up and the birds added their chirping, well, it sounds like a jungle out there.

I believe the Cicada noise is some sort of mating mechanism. If so I fear there is way too much Cicada mating going on. The Cicadas have been being real loud on the Tandy Hills.

And then today on my way to Chinatown to go to the Hong Kong Market I stopped to walk at Veterans Park in Arlington with the cicadas being their loudest yet. So, as I walked through the Veterans Park Jungle I turned the video recorder on to see if I could capture the noise for you who live in Cicada-free lands. That video is being processed, by YouTube, even as I type.

In other exciting news, my Twitter befuddlement continues, but in the midst of the befuddlement I got an email telling me that Bethenny Frankel is now one of my Twitter Followers. Why, I do not know. All I Twitter about is not understanding why anyone Twitters and that it would seem to be to be rather telling that the #1 Twitterer is the well-known Twit who calls himself Ashton Kutcher.

Bethenny Frankel is my favorite New York City Housewife. She is very funny. And she makes Skinny Girl Martinis. I believe Bethenny Frankel is on Facebook. Maybe she'll Facebook Friend me now that she is one of my Twitter Followers.

Due to last night's rain it was a bit on the humid side, while out and about today, adding a bit of a Heat Index factor to the base temperature which is in the pleasant mid 80s.

That's the lone soldier who stands guard, 24/7, over the memorial at Veterans Park in the picture.

After I was done in Chinatown I choose the route home that goes by the new Dallas Cowboy Stadium, intending to get on I-30 via Collins Street.

This will mean nothing to non-locals, but those new bridge projects across I-30 have gone into on steroids mode. Part of the new Center Street Bridge is open. The west bound entry off Collins Street is no more. A huge, deep canyon has been dug east of the Collins Street Bridge. The temporary westbound entry has you getting on the freeway west of the new Center Street Bridge. It was quite a confusing maze. I would not want to drive it after the sun goes down. That huge looping old Collins Street cloverleaf is totally gone.

Methinks this is going to be quite the improvement when it all gets done. Let's hope that is sooner than later.

Okay, YouTube is done processing, I'm going to go Twitter something for Bethenny now...

Monday Morning Twittering Texas Blues

2009-07-06T09:16:00.005-05:00

I've decided that Twitter is beyond the capacity of my ability to comprehend. This morning I found myself with several new followers. All trying to sell something in one way or the other. I'm thinking this Twitter thing is one of those things where I will continue to fail to see the point.

Like what is the fascination with text messaging? What's wrong with talking on the phone? That seems so much easier. Sending photos via the phone, that I get. My dad is both a texting wizard and a phone photo taker and sender. I have my phone set to not receive incoming photos. Instead, I get a weird text message directing to me to an AT & T web address where I enter a password and get to view a little itsy bitsy version of the phone photo. I bothered to do this one time only.

I got up real early again. As in some time after 4. It rained overnight and got chilly. It is half past 9 and only 75 out there. I got a message this morning from a Washingtonian all hot and bothered because it got to 81, making everyone miserable, sweaty messes.

Due to the cloud cover it was extra dark in the pool, as you can see from the photo. Every time I see these taken-in-the-dark photos it reminds me of that infamous Paris Hilton video. I don't know why.

Due to the rain I am avoiding the Tandy Hills today. Instead I'm going to go to Arlington, to Veterans Park and the Hong Kong Market in Chinatown. I am out of Sweet Chili Sauce. I am sort of addicted to the stuff.

Twittering Tootsie Tonasket At Oakland Lake Park

2009-07-05T14:31:00.004-05:00

That is the noon view in the picture, this first Sunday of July, looking across Oakland Lake at the tower on the summit of Mount Tandy in the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

As you can we are cloudy today, here in North Texas. The prediction was for rain, possibly heavy, with possible thunderstorms, starting last night.

So far the only rain I've seen was a little dripping when I was in the pool around 7 this morning. We are not getting anywhere near 100 today. It's barely into the 80s coming up on 3 in the afternoon.

Twister sent me a Twitter help link this morning. I could tell it had a lot of good info, but the website kept hanging up, trying to download something from another website. It was frustrating. I saw enough of it to see there is more to this Twitter thing than my simple mind realized.

I talked to Tootsie Tonasket while I walked around the lake today. Awhile back I told my one longtime reader the story of Tootsie finding her long lost sister, finding her in Florida. Tootsie lost her sister about 50 years ago. Tootsie has an older sister who lives in Illinois. That sister has arranged to have the new found lost sister come up from Florida for a visit, twice now. The most recent time was for the 4th of July. Tootsie's cruel sister called Tootsie the day before the 4th, inviting Tootsie to come for the 4th to see her sister she's not seen in decades.

Tootsie is in the middle of a nasty divorce, living in a small town in Eastern Washington, writing her own Peyton Place script in the soap opera she enjoys living.

Rainbow Lounge Police Brutality In Fort Worth

2009-07-05T10:02:00.007-05:00

There have been a few times since I quit getting a daily local paper when I have found I missed an item of local news. Usually I learn this when someone makes mention of something with me having no clue what they are talking about.

The latest instance of me being in the dark is in regards to an incident in Fort Worth that has turned into a national story that has Fort Worth not looking so good, with me learning about it via the New York Times.

A few weeks ago a new gay bar called the Rainbow Lounge opened in Fort Worth. On June 28, about an hour after midnight, the bar was raided by Fort Worth Police and agents from the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.

June 28 was the 40th anniversary of the infamous Stonewall riot in New York City that sparked the gay rights movement.

The Fort Worth raid turned violent, leaving one man in a hospital with a serious head injury. The man with the head injury is Chad Gibson, 26, from Euless. He has a concussion, a fracture to his skull and internal bleeding. Another man had his ribs broken and another had his thumb broken.

The police entered the bar without saying who they were or why they were there. Witnesses described the police as acting "hyped up." More than 20 men were rounded up and taken outside where they were handcuffed and forced to lie face down on the parking lot.

The police continued their harassment for about a half hour. When Gibson was attacked he was sitting on steps at the back of the bar, holding a bottle of water. The cop tapped him on his shoulder, Gibson then turned and asked, "Why?" The cop then twisted Gibson's right arm behind his back, grabbed him by the neck, swung him off the steps and slammed his head into a wall. Then the cop threw Gibson to the floor.

One witness, Lindsey Thompson, said she saw the cop slam Gibson's head onto the floor after his hands were cuffed.

Reaction to the police brutality was swift. Within hours 100s were protesting at the Tarrant County Courthouse. When the police report came out it drastically did not match what observers say actually happened. This further inflamed the protesters. After a week of bad publicity, making Fort Worth look worse than usual, Mayor Mike Moncrief called for a Federal Investigation.

I Am All A Twitter In Texas

2009-07-05T09:19:00.004-05:00

Yesterday Twister put Twitter on my mind. I'd been intending to check out Twitter after it seemed to be playing such a role in the recent Iranian upheaval.

Well, it is easy to set up a Twitter account. It is not quite so easy to figure out why in the world this Twitter thing is so popular.

Twitter marks the 3rd time I've been baffled by the popularity of one of these social networking devices. The first one was MySpace. When I first saw MySpace I was appalled at what a junked up mess most of it was. MySpace lets its users customize their MySpace space, thus allowing people with absolutely no sense to make ridiculous noisy messes.

And then there was Facebook. Facebook is like Twitter. It is always asking you what is on your mind. Which seems so absurd, due to the fact that if you are reading "what is on your mind?" then that is what is currently on your mind. Facebook has this message system where you get sent a regular email with the message. But you can't reply via your regular email method, you have to log into Facebook and reply.

From what I've seen of it, Twitter is way simpler than MySpace or Facebook. There are no photo albums. As near as I can tell all Twitter consists of is people writing short descriptions of what they are doing. Or thinking. Or thinking of doing.

Due to the name I'm suspicious that some cynical savvy guy came up with Twitter just to see how low the lowest common denominator really is. As in how many Twits are out there, hence the name. It sorta speaks volumes that the #1 Twitterer is Ashton Kutcher with a couple million people following his utterances.

By this morning I was stunned to see I already have 4 followers. All spam.

Here is what one of my Twitter followers spammed to me....

"@durangotexas and you have a cute asian follower. she wants to tell how you to make a lot of money. her last name is spammalot."

I already have a cute Asian follower, named Wee Cheng. I don't need anymore. I'm sure anyone reading this will want to be one of my legion of Twitter Followers, I think you can do that by going here.

Happy 4th Of July America

2009-07-04T17:09:00.003-05:00

That's the Statue of Liberty, in Dallas, at Fair Park. She is smaller than her sister in New York City, but still casts an impressive shadow as she towers over the Red, White & Blue.

Texas Hot 4th Of July Hiking With No Fireworks Or Orcas

2009-07-04T15:54:00.012-05:00

The red, white and blue of the stars and stripes were providing the best color on the prairie this afternoon at the Tandy Hills Natural Area. That's the flag waving in the slight breeze on its pole high atop Mount Tandy.

I slept in to the unprecedented hour of 7 this morning. This had me in the pool way later than usual. Which pushed breakfast off til 10, which pushed going hiking off til 1, giving the air plenty of time to get HOT, which it did.

It was 98 when I left here to go hiking. By the time I got back here I jumped in the pool. I didn't care that I was in my hiking cargo shorts. I wanted to get wet from something other than being drenched in sweat. This morning when I went swimming the pool was warmer than the air. By this afternoon that condition had reversed, which was a good thing.

It is the 4th of July. I have not heard a single firecracker. Texas is such a repressive state. Due to running their Indians out of the state, or killing them off, Texas has only 2, very small, Indian Reservations. In my old state of Washington we liked our Indians and made them our friends. The Indians help Washingtonians participate in the 4th of July by providing fireworks supply areas, with names like Boom Town. Boom Town is huge. It is run by the Tulalip Tribe. The Tulalip also have what may be the best casino in Washington. I liked the big Orca out front with the giant Indian getting ready to spear a salmon. Just a sec, I'll see if I can find a picture I took of the Orca.

That picture took way too long to find. The Tulalip Casino is, for want of a better word, cool. You've got that splashing Orca, the Tulalip Indian spearing giant salmon, a lot of water, sound effects, and when you walk into the casino there are waterfalls on either side of you. Inside the casino the effect is that you are underwater, in an aquarium. I've been told the buffet is really good. The slightly nearby Swinomish Casino, just a few miles from my Washington abode, had the best seafood buffet. Oysters just like mom makes them.

In my old neighborhood, known as Thunderbird, in the town known as Mount Vernon, all the streets are named after tribes. I lived on Pawnee Lane. Pawnee connected to Apache. (Go here for a virtual visit to where I used to live, where you'll see my cat Hortense reading the morning paper with me and the deepest snow in all my years of living up north) In the valley in which I lived, Skagit, there are several tribes, the Skagit, the Samish and the Swinomish. The Skagit Valley tribes have nice reservations. Two of the tribes have built casinos in the valley. The little valley I lived in has 2 huge casino complexes. There are none of those anywhere in Texas.

The Washington casinos are not like those goofy ones up in Oklahoma where it's like a pretend casino, the Washington casinos are just like what you find in Nevada, minus topless girls and strip shows. And free drinks.

Anyway, the tribes in Washington make a lot of money selling fireworks. Tonight my old neighborhood will become like a war zone. It was fun to watch and would go on for hours. One group would launch a display, then another would try and out do them. The area where my house sat was heavily wooded with huge fir trees. I was ready with a hose should a firework go awry. I had several land on my roof, which was flat. No fires ever started though.

So, what was I saying, oh yeah, in Washington, by now, I would have been hearing firecrackers going off for days. With today almost non-stop, with all hell breaking loose once it got dark.

When I moved to Texas, the first location was in far north Fort Worth, with the mailbox in Fort Worth and the house in Haslet. We all anticipated a very wild 4th. We were in Texas, for gawdsakes, everyone packs heat here, they're big on their cowboy, wild west past. So, as the sun began to set, we sat outside waiting for something to happen. There were a few random noises, but we were all in WTH? mode. Now I live deeper into the urban zone. I suspect I will not hear a single firecracker tonight.

What happened here that has these people so stifled? Was there some sort of silent coup that took away some basic freedoms that the rest of America enjoys? It perplexes me. It would likely really perplex a lifelong Texan if he/she were to find him/herself in my old neighborhood tonight.

4th Of July Murder Attempt & Facebook

2009-07-04T10:54:00.007-05:00

No. Those are not horses in Texas in the picture. They are horses in Eastern Washington, somewhere near Winthrop in the North Cascades.

It has been several months, maybe as many as 6, since I got on Facebook. I'd grown tired of hearing "Facebook" and not knowing what it was. To check it out I had to create an account. I did so, not using my real name, but accidentally sending out these friend request messages to people who's name I recognized.

Of those, Karen eventually figured out who I was, after exhausting pretty much every name in our high school annual. Since Karen friended me a few others figured out who I was and friended me, or figured out who I was and put me on their "don't friend" list.

Getting in touch with some people has been interesting, because some are, well, interesting. Like Karen, near as I can tell she is constantly on the go. Hawaii one week, Canada the next, back and forth over the mountains. (that is Washington-speak, meaning to go east of the mountains, which is also Washington-speak, meaning to cross over the Cascades via one of the mountain passes)

Awhile back I was surprised to learn Karen was a biker chick, as in she rides a Harley with her biker dude husband. They just got back from riding the Harleys up to Whistler in Canada. That is one treacherous road, in a car. You couldn't get me to ride it on a motorcycle. I've only been on a motorcycle twice. Both times did not go well.

And then yesterday I learned Karen does something even more adventurous than being a biker chick and it is also something you couldn't get me to do. Later this month a group of ten people, plus 20 horses and mules and judging from pictures of last year's wilderness expedition, several dogs, will ride horses on mountain trails to some distant campsite, starting the trek somewhere near Winthrop.

I have been hiking in the Cascades and have seen people on horses high in the mountains. It always looks dangerous to me. As in some of those trails are steep with very steep drop offs. I've had nothing but bad luck with horses. The last time I was on one it tried to kill me. Nine years ago on this very day, that being the 4th of July. I won't elaborate on how the horse tried to kill me, suffice to say I believe it was part of a very nefarious murder attempt that went awry.

Another thing I learned via Facebook was that Beth is now a TV and movie star, well, she's on a TV show, one of my favorites, that being LOST. And she's been in a movie. I've watched TV before and have seen a movie.

And then there's Cheryl, she with a daughter all grown up and in videos and films. I watched a very intriguing film starring Cheryl's daughter last week. It was one of those daunting foreign film type movies, deep with meaning that requires deep thought to understand it. Deep thought is not my forte.

Karen also has a daughter who has done an interesting thing. As in being the youngest person, male or female, to climb the highest peak on all 7 continents.

It seems like there were other interesting thing I've learned via Facebook, but I'm drawing a blank now.

Texas Train Troubles, Strange Fruit, Wal-Mart & Obesity

2009-07-03T13:59:00.006-05:00

That's an annoying very slow train that slowed my return home after walking around Oakland Lake and going to the Beach Street Wal-Mart. Which would make this the Beach Street railroad crossing.

A lot of trains run through this D/FW Metroplex zone. This one had people, myself included, u-turning to an alternative route. A lot of cities and towns have over or under passes to deal with trains, with little towns and rural areas being the only places where a train crossing can stop traffic. In Arlington there is not a single crossing that is not blocked when a train runs through town. Since this has always been the norm, people here think this is just the way the world works.

Wal-Mart was a zoo today. People are such sheep. 4th of July. There was a line of 3 at the shortest self-checkout. The girl ahead of me had only two items, cat food cans, and a humongous rumpus (can't use the "B" word). When she went to pay she was 2 pennies short. She asked me if I had 2 pennies. I did not. She asked others. They did not. I was getting out my debit card to pay the 2 pennies when a nice lady gave the big rumped girl 2 pennies.

Speaking of big rumps. Today whilst walking around Oakland Lake Park, at 96 degrees, and feeling fine due to a chilling breeze, a new obesity theory occured to me. The most obese person I have ever personally known is about 5 foot 4 and, I would guess, about 600 pounds. Unlike most obese persons, this one was not sedentary. She actually was quite active. Going up and down stairs, walking, doing all sorts of physical activity.

A 600 pound person who is active is constantly doing heavy duty exercise. I can't imagine walking around Oakland Lake carrying 400 pounds in weights. I could not do it. But some obese people do. They develop an incredible musculature to haul all that heft. So, under all that blubber there is a very strong person.

I don't think you could be obese in a hot climate, like it is here, if you lived without benefit of modern conveniences, like air-conditioning. Your body's metabolism would rebel in the heat, stifling your appetite, wanting to burn off the overheating layer of fat. Just like a body's metabolism would try to get a skinny person to put on more fat in a cold climate.

So, if my theory is correct, back before A/C, I'm guessing Mississippi was not the fattest state in the nation. Nor was Texas as fat as it is now. I'm guessing New York, Washington, Colorado and Alaska were way fatter than the states of the south. It is air-conditioning that has made people fat. In this climate in Texas most of the fat people do not go outside, their bodies do not know they live in a HOT climate, so their metabolism allows them to lard on the lard.

This Obesity Theory of mine could be tested by moving 10 morbidly obese people to this climate, keeping their indoor thermostats no cooler than 82 and having them outdoors for at least 2 hours, daily, in the HEAT. I'm guessing the pounds would melt away.

That sure is what happened to me. If I remember right I was about 200 pounds overweight when I moved here. I'm 178 now. It melted off effortlessly.

I did see 2 interesting things at Oakland Lake Park today. One was this weird looking fruit like thing growing in a tree. What is it? Anyone know? The other was very ironic. Just as I was musing about obese people, and HEAT, a large, but not obese, woman came jogging, slowly towards me. I was impressed. I would not jog in 96 degrees. Walk fast, yes, jog no.

So, that's been my day before the 4th of July in Texas, swimming after the sun came up, weird fruit at Oakland Lake Park. an overly busy Wal-Mart, train troubles and an Obesity Treatment.