Ramblings and Whatevers

90's Alternative Rock

So Sirius Satellite Radio is the greatest thing ever. They have an entire station dedicated to 90’s alternative rock. I’ve been listening to it pretty much non-stop since I found it. It takes me back to a simpler time and place. High school. Which in retrospect wasn’t really that simple. Mostly though, I get to hear bands that weren’t prevalent on 95X the Alt. Radio station in Odessa. What was that? Yes Odessa did have an alternative station believe it or not. In fact it is the only station next to the 60’s station I listened to. 95X played Pearl Jam, Hum, Smashing Pumpkins, and Bush etc. It seemed whatever was big on MTV was huge on 95X. They had crappy Djs but always made appoint to play things people weren’t wanted. Like Black by Pearl Jam. For those who don’t know Black was a B-side to Jeremy the single which came off of PJ’s Ten. Back to the station on Sirius. I have heard so many songs I didn’t hear growing up. Like Catherine Wheels Black Metallic. Awesome song very shoegazer and really slow. Two things I love if you don’t know slow songs and introspective lyrics. Mudhoneys Halloween is really cool as well. Pavement has some good stuff. Soundgarden is really good. Which is a no brainer for most but I never liked them growing up now I really dig it. I get to relive my high school days of sitting in my 1987 Mercury Cougar listening to Weezers Sweater song and feel happy again. Does anyone remember and old Trisha Yearwood song called The Song Remembers when? I do and it does. I wore the Verve Pipe’s first album Villains out. Freshman being the lead single on that one. I also listened to The Refreshments album Fizzy, Fuzzy, Big and Buzzy allot. I remember my high school girlfriend and I going to lunch singing the lyrics to banditos. It was a simple time. The music lasts forever though. So I am really digging Alternative rock for its “golden age” right now. Ahh memory lane you kill me.

Running I have a huge blister on my toe that has rubbed into an open sore. That sucks. I think it happened because it was so cold and dry when I ran 9 on Sunday. Not really sure though. Usually my feet don’t get stuff like that.

Well have a great day everyone TOODLES!

Death Cab For Cutie

There is a song by the above mentioned called What Sarah Said. This song is about a girl dying. Ben Gibbard lead songwriter and singer for d.c.f.c. is an amazing lyricist. He manages to write songs that should read like a book and put them in 4 minute song format. Anyway the thing that strikes me most about this song is apart of the song when the doctor comes in to the waiting room and he thinks of what Sarah said that love is watching someone die. That is one heart wrenching line. It’s simple, direct, and mostly true. I have never had a loved on die but I imagine that the true gift of love is to watch that person take their last breath. My buddy Nix watched his grandpa die. He asked me a little while after it happened if I had ever heard of a thing called the death rattle. Apparently it’s where the person makes a series of noises before they pass away. It’s an involuntary spasm that the throat does because of excess fluid but many people think it’s the point when the soul leaves the body. I don’t know if that’s right but it makes you think. To be around someone you love when they die, to hold their hand, to watch the point when they join god. That is true love. A little bit of a heavy blog today I realize but I’m in a weird mood. Listening to this song got me thinking about death. I feel lucky that I found my Sara and have such an amazing family. When you are single for a while you sort of wonder are you going to be alone when you die. Also when you find that person you think that you don’t want to die and leave them behind. Vicious circle!

Running tonight excited!

Mojo football this weekend…..even more excited!!

Accounting test Tuesday depressed. HA!

What Sarah said…Lyrics

And it came to me then that every plan
Is a tiny prayer to father time
As I stared at my shoes in the ICU
That reeked of piss and 409
And I rationed my breaths as I said to myself
That I’ve already taken too much today
As each descending peak on the LCD
Took you a little farther away from me
Away from me

Amongst the vending machines and year-old magazines
In a place where we only say goodbye
It stung like a violent wind that our memories depend
On a faulty camera in our minds
And I knew that you were a truth I would rather lose
Than to have never lain beside at all
And I looked around at all the eyes on the ground
As the TV entertained itself

‘Cause there’s no comfort in the waiting room
Just nervous pacers bracing for bad news
And then the nurse comes ‘round and everyone lift their heads
But I’m thinking of what Sarah said
That love is watching someone die

So who’s gonna watch you die? So whos gonna watch you die

SMU not doing enough!

Okay so maybe I don’t know the complete history of SMU’s prestigious
football experience but neither does anybody born after 1970. Maybe a bit
drastic but that would make that young man or woman all of 17 when SMU
received the Death Penalty. I sure did know allot about Texas Tech at that
age. So fast forward to now. 2007! SMU just finished 1-11 a dismal end
to a promising season. One that saw people predicting an SMU conference
USA title. Predictably after Tech dominated the ponies their season was
done. They beat UNT for the only victory of the year. As an outsider and
a man who is about to marry a two time SMU grad I have some observations
for the people in charge at old Southern Methodist. First get the students
involved. I have been to two games and only actually went to one. Both
the students and alumni could care less about the program. It’s irrelevant
in their lives. That only inflates the lack of attendance in that great
new stadium of yours. Students are the life blood of every University, SMU
knows that but they don’t seem to do much to get them interested. The
Boulevard parties are fun but it’s similar to tailgating every where else.
Throw concerts after the game and only allow people who have a paid ticket
to get in. That will increase your current draw a little. Make it
important for students to want to be there. True story after a game my
Fiancé’s sister wanted to show me my future brother in laws old fraternity
house. We walked in and there were kids playing video games and didn’t
even realize that the game was happening. You don’t see that at big
schools. It’s the big school mentality and the lack of it is killing SMU.
Win! Simple yes but not as simple as you would think. The amount of High
School talent that comes out of this area of Dallas is ridiculous. Go find
those kids and bring them to SMU. It won’t be hard since a majority of them
are going to other schools like Tech, Texas and LSU. Sell them on the
idea that you used to be good and with their help you will be great. They
have to understand that they are the building blocks for the future and it
won’t be an overnight success. But to build a house you have to start at
the bottom. Coaching is ridiculous. I’m inclined to agree with the idea
that if you bring in Bennett you bring in problems. It’s true he lets the
inmates run the asylum but with the grades you need to get into SMU we are
at least talking about smart inmates. Bennett took Colorado to two Big 12
Championship games and one win over Texas. He can bring the program back.
The death penalty might be looming afterward but wouldn’t a national
championship be worth it? Like I always say the NCAA claims they won’t
give the death penalty twice so what’s to worry about? You don’t go to a
bowl for a couple of years. Hell when you haven’t been to one in 20 what’s
the difference? Other sports, get good kids for every sport. Duke is a
smart school yet they rank the top Basketball teams in both men’s and
women’s basketball coincidence I don’t think so. The people who go to Duke
also stay and graduate. We are talking about a program very similar to
SMU. Brilliant schools with lots of potential. If you have TWO sports
that you are good at people are much more likely to look at your
university. It only takes one class. That leads me back to recruitment.
SMU is a hard sell for black athletes. It’s a rich white school blah,
blah, blah. That’s where the talent in other sports comes in. You take
those kids and throw in a couple of scholarships to SMU for inner city
black students and BAM! Instantly people to relate too. The blue prints
for success are written all over the NCAA. Look at USF a commuter school
that in ten years took its football program to a no. 2 ranking. Kansas, a
basketball school that is 11-1 in football. It’s not that difficult to
change but everyone has to want it. For all I know these ideas may be in
place. They may have been tried to no avail. But at least look like your
trying. Get PR people out there working your name and your school. Be in
the Dallas Morning news everyday for something. Positive, Negative who
cares. Name recognition is the number one reason anyone does anything.
It’s a fact. That’s why the ipod outsells the Microsoft Zune 10 to 1.
Apple promotes 50 times better and more often. If you stay and pretend you
are no one you will be no one. SMU I’m sure has a marketing school. Get
those kids on it. Make you games the games to go to then you will come
full circle and kids fans return to the seats because they are afraid of
what they might miss. Make football and basketball the cant’ miss games of
the year and actually deliver on that idea. It will take time but waiting
for greatness on the football field is one thing SMU is used too.

The long weekend.

thanksgiving has ome and gone. It was very nice and went well. Thursday my family meaning my mom and dad came in and we went and had thqanksgiving with my grandparents. Sara came along and we had a nice time. Then the Fam loaded up in the truck and we went to Saras parents house for the meeting of the familys. It was awesome. Her parents and my parents are very similar and therefore it made for an easy time and conversation as well. We drank were merry and enjoyed the time together. My pop got a bit of a man crush on the rog. Which was expected because Rog is great with many interesting and surprising things to tell. So we woke up Friday morning and the sun was coming up over the ridge and was beautiful. The ranch really is an awesome place pretty and very Texas. Dropped the rents off at the airport Sara and I spent the rest of the day chilling out and just hanging out. It was awesome just chilling and hanging with Sara. Saturday was fun we went to Saras good friend Erins and had Thanksgiving dinner with her and her family that was nice. Great food and got to watch football which is always the best thing. Then we went to Ft. Worth saw my buddy Sammy and watched the Kansas Mizzou game which ended up being a bit of a dissapointment. That puts us here. A rainy cold sunday. It could be worse My pops sent a pic of odessa and its covered in snow. We are currently sitting here watching Labryinth. Its not as good as I remembered but very creepy. The puppy is driving sara and I insane. I just want the puppy to chill out a bit but she doesn't want to. Okay well we have a movie marathon today. Labryinth, Shrek 3, and Bad Boys 2. Should be fun. I am going to run white rock later even though its miserable outside. I am looking forward to it. Have a great day toodles!

Chuck Klosterman

I have read every book by the above author. For those who don't know Chuck. Hes a music writer that wrote for spin magazine. He has done a few books about Rock and Roll and heavy metal. Most of his books are about observations and essays. These topics can range from 14000 morrisey fans to the fact that val kilmer is a strange man and that Steve Nash could be a communist. I was reading an essay today and he mentioned the fact that a majority of Rock and Roll stars are trying to cultivate a persona. Attempting to say exactly what they are supposed too. Except for old rockers and Marilyn Manson. According to Chuck Manson isn't a smart man hes "fucking Genius." Couple that with the fact that Sara told me a friend of hers spoke with Rob Zomie and that he is a very smart man and nice as well. I was thinking is it all perception. Any time you see Rob or Marilyn its usually under very different circumstances. Mtv, video etc. So if you just met and spoke to them would they be cool guys who just want to drink a coors light and chill out? Rob would but I feel like Marilyn wouldn't So I guess what Im wondering here is how much of everything we do is simply perception? We try to act a certain way at work so that we seem professional. We act a certain way around people we love so that we are seen as good. We act a certain way around or friends to seem fun. Granted all of these peronalities come into play at the same time but individually they all serve a purpose. Perception it kills it drives it makes sense right? What if we let down our perception of people would we still see and be cool? I mean for all I know marilyn manson could be the best friend I haven't met yet but I will never know because that dude is a freak. So Im not as evolved as I wish I was but who really gives a shit? Have a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving. Love to all! Hasta!

The unlikely Event of running to Jimmy Eat World

Yep unlikely is right. For me though, I like things the same. You can go ask Sara and she will confirm. Bryan is Very schedule oriented. By Very I mean extremely. I like to get off work at 4:50 to 4:55 then I can beat the traffic buildup between the mix master and get onto i-35 in a relatively short period of time. Then I don’t have to mess with much traffic. I like to come home and eat dinner before six so that I can wait two hours and go run by 8 which according to Runners world is an ample amount of time to allow digestion for items like chicken and meat. Inversely if I was a vegetarian supposedly I could go run at any time I wanted. Which seems true but pure roughage can mess a man up. Before Sara I always went to la fitness and swam and then ran. Every night I ran to the same two songs. Polaris and 23 both off of Jimmy Eat Worlds album Futures. Futures, by the way isn’t that bad of a tune neither is Work, or Kill. I prefer the two earlier mentioned. I would run for 45 minutes a day and listen too two songs and let my mind wander to other places. It was great I loved it and told no-one about it. These two songs are slower but have a rock/emo underbelly. Carefully crafted lyric’s and a rousing chorus. What else do you need in a running mantra? After some time you would think I would get tired of it but nope the only thing I added to my soundtrack was Rusty Cage by John Cash. I love that song as well. The thing is when I was running on the tready I was in my own world. The unlikely Kona 140.6 champion who came out of nowhere and beat Peter Reid on a late push up Makali drive. I could be anything I wanted and with those songs I was. I tried unsuccessfully to integrate this with my running outside with no success. Its hard to imagine yourself winning a triathlon when your constantly getting passed by people on the trail. Its even more difficult when your riding your bike. On the tready thoug,h I was always winning. If someone came up and got on the tready next to me I simply ran. It always seemed like they quit and went onto other things before I did. Therefore confirming my champion status. I don’t run to J.E.W. anymore. But I can thank them for the 70.3 miles I did in Lubbock. Although I doubt they will ever know how much they did for me.

Smart Filter

At work they installed a new filter that wont let me blog or look at any of my blogs or think about blogs or even speak about blogs. It sucks. I love reading all of my little blogs from dilbert to Dean karnzaes. How can I forget kanyes blog? All allot of fun. Is weird because you spend so much time at work and they take away the one little thig that I like to do their besides work. Weird I know. But thats me. So I went running tonight and my foot hurt very badly. I think I might have a stress fracture. I don't know. I wil have to talk to Dr. Pepers at Thanksgiving. See what he thinks. Well I don 't really have much else to say. Ohh yea Nix called me today and gave me an update. Sounds like having a baby sucks. He said after watching it come out of Margs vag ho hoo he can't believe it will ever be the same.

29!!

Well I am 29 today. Its been a great day. Sara and I went to our favorite place for breakfast this morning (bread winners). Then we went and saw a movie called Lars and the real girl. It was okay a little depressing for a comedy but good none the less. Well her we are. Engaged and waiting. I was talking to Sara and it kinda weird because now that we are engaged I need something to obsess about. I've been so focused on this moment that I am now sort of bummed. I don't mean it to sound like it does. I love Sara and she is the greatest thing hats ever happened to me. I guess its just like what now? Sara said not to worry because she will give me plenty to do with the wedding. That makes me feel good. I need a task. Thats what I love most about Sara is that I can honestly and with out worry tell her anything I am thinking. Its very refreshing and satisfying to have such a tight knit relationship with someone and further solidifies why I want to marry her. I still don't know why she wants to marry me but she said yes and I'm holding her to that. I truly never thought I would ever love, need and want someone the way I do Sara. This afternoon I am going to go play a little ultimate frisbee at a park in highland park. I am excited but nervous because I don't know any of these people and they may be much better faster and tight knit than I am. ohh well. It will be nice to get to meet some people I don't know. Wsh me luck. Overall a great weekend. Later Tater!

Engagement

Well its official Sara and I are engaged. I can hardly believ it. She is such an amazing person and to want to spend twenty minutes with me much less the rest of her life is proof positive she has very poor judgment. Just kidding. I never thought I would ever love somebody as much as I do her. She is the greatest thing that has ever happened to me. I also want to thank Jennifer. Without your help there is no way this would have been as much of a surprise as it was. Also Thank you so much for the Picture Frame, as well as the great champagne. You rock! The party was allot of fun. We had a great time and they had good whiskey not old crow for you coke or sprite. AWESOME! I had seventeen of those got drunk for the second week in a row with Barefoot and Fowler. Ahh good times. Congratulations to Nixy little Elijah Nix came into the world at 9:30 this morning. God Bless Nixy and way to go I hear he looks like his momma and lets face it thats a good thing. Even if eli is a boy. Why is it that the second you get in engaged everyone wants to know when the wedding is and like Jenn pointed ou last night you get Married and they want to know when the kids come. After the kids whats the next question? When are you going to die? When are you going to retire? Granted when you get engaged sometimes its been talked about. Conversely when you get married you've probably spoken about the kid situation. But man why cant people just let you enjoy the first thing before they want to know about the second. As Gary Gaines former Permian Panther coach who won a state champonship and national championship. He said that after he won his last state championship he walked out the next morning to get the paper and his neighbor was outside and looked at him and said "hey coach, what kinda team are going to have next year." Gary knew that the fans would never be satisfied just like everybody else. So nevermind about the complainning about people. Tonight for my birthday Sara and I are going to the Mavs game. Thats so awesome! I also get to go to the Cheese cake factory and eat chesse cakey goodness. Just a great day.

My run this morning was okay it was hot and I didn't do it until about 11 so I just ran an hour. Tommorow I will run a full loop so that I am much more ready for white rock!

www.oakley.com
Check out the Thump Pro Sunglasses with an mp3 player in it so you dont have to worry about the cords and other stuff. How cool is that. It was very nice of Saras parents to give me some money for my bday and My gran and pappa john gave me some money as well so with that I will throw the remainder of my own money to get these cool glasses. I went to the Oakley store at north park and they were pretty cool looking. Awesome. Well everyone have a great day.

Mavericks

The Mavs Won!  They beat a not very good looking spurs team and I don't mean that in a sexual way. Some of Sara old Friends Holly and Ray stayed the night with us.  I really like Ray he is a sports nut and like me can talk any sport needed. Man o man can he snore though.  Jeez to quote a line from christmas vacation he snores so loud "you couldn't hear a dump truck drive through a nitroglycerin plant."  Holly got up this morning and we talked she is very nice.  Well tonight the Ritz Carlton for a junior League something which should be fun. At least Barefoot and fowler will be there!  I will have somebody to talk too and drink with.  Today this morning I got great news.  We are getting our yearly bonuses here at mcjunkin.   Thats good news.  Its also coming very early as opposed to when we usually get it middle of December we are getting it the 3rd of December.  Thats really good news today. I kinda feel bad fro the Redman side because although I'm sure they get something they should get this with us.  I'm really finding it hard this morning to stop my excitement so I can write.  Having said that!  Toodles!