Random thoughts from the State Fair

The family and I went to the State Fair yesterday... and once again my observation skills and off-kilter mind gathered these random inane thoughts to scattershoot..

• One of my pet peeves (and I know it shouldn't be) is people who really struggle to work electronic devices in public areas.  For example, I get kind of frustrated at grocery stores when people use the self-checkout, and don't really know how to... I want to tell them:  "They have lanes over there... with these people who will check out your groceries.  That's the ticket for you, trust me" :)  So, we're at the Dart train station, and it is taking *forever* to get our day passes from the vending machine because people can't figure out the instructions.  They kept trying to put their cash in first.  What part of "1.  Select your fare /  2.  Insert your payment" is unclear?


• So, when I finally get up to the machine, I'm getting our tickets, and I here someone behind me say "I'm going to watch this guy... he seems to know how to work this thing"  LOL


• Allison spent most of the train ride turned around in the seat because the backwards-orientation of the train was giving her motion sickness.  Benefit?  I got to see her pretty face the whole way :)


• There's a passage in the Laura Ingalls Wilder book "Farmer Boy", where the dad gives Almanzo a 50-cent piece, but only after explaining how much farming work is represented by that coin; as a result, Almanzo begins to value money better and spends it wisely.  Had a similar incident with Matthew yesterday...  when I told him that the drinks we bought to go with our sack lunch cost $20 in coupons... I thought I was going to have scrape his jaw off the floor.  It was a great teaching moment, and he understood for the first time why we control the spending at the State Fair so rigorously.


• Matthew loves cooking, and wanted to sit through one of the "chef sessions", so he and I watched Chef Chris Vogelsing from III Forks make Chateaubriand.  Towards the end of these sessions, they bring out little sample plates of the food, one for everyone who is sitting in the roped area.  They also have these mirrors and video screens that show the cooking area from a "top-down" view.  I got tickled at something I noticed:  here we have a chef from one of the top restaurants in Dallas, making a classic French dish... and they are bringing the samples out on a Dickeys BBQ tray.  Only at the State Fair of Texas!


• The Killdares were magnificent, as usual.  Heard two new songs today.  One instrumental and one vocal.  Very nice.


• Took Matthew to the climbing wall in the Jeep section of the auto show.  He asked for the harder path.  It took him less time to climb than it took to fill out the waiver and stand in line.


• Matthew loves Dodge cars... and when he sat in the gray Dodge challenger, I told him one of The Killdares has one just like that.  He thought that was pretty cool....


• Funny thing about my boys:  one likes Ford, one likes Chevy, and the other likes Dodge.  We've got the American car scene pretty well covered.


• During the Marine Drum and Bugle Corp performance, we got to see one member receive a promotion to Master Sergeant... that was quite a thrill.  His wife was also honored with flowers from the CO, since they were celebrating their 15th wedding anniversary this month....


• After Ryan finished his deep fried chocolate strawberry, I was really wondering if they just decided to roll him in the confectioner's sugar, rather than the actual dessert....


• The twilight State Fair parade:  the same exact floats and participants every year... and I wouldn't have it any other way.


• At the "Birds of the World" show... an absolutely delicious and hilarious moment.. Groucho the talking parrot was singing for us, and one of the songs he sang was the French children's song "Alouette".  Why is this funny?  Because the song is about plucking the feathers out of a little bird.  I'm laughing my fool head off and people are giving me some funny looks :D


• Speaking of the bird show... this was the first time we arrived early enough to it to get a good spot... 2nd row, right in the middle.  Had a great time watching Allison freak out when the birds flew right over her head or dragged their feet almost into her hair :)


• The things we do as Dads:  as we were waiting for the train so we could leave, Logan announced that he had lost his little pumpkin that he painted.  So he and I went back and convinced them to let us back in long enough to look at the last place we were at, when the boys bought Dippin' Dots.  Pumpkin was nowhere to be seen.   Interviewed a man eating a chicken leg on the bench, and he had seen the pumpkin, but said it was gone when he came back from purchasing the poultry.  Tracked it down to a State Fair worker who had been cleaning, and she had swept it up;  we recovered it from her dustpan, wiped it off, and finally got to leave with a much happier little boy.


• I managed to lose my sunglasses during the day.  For some reason, that is a quirk of mine... I lose/break/scratch so many sunglasses that it is not even funny....

This year, thanks to the generosity of some friends, we will be going to the fair twice.... I look forward to doing it all over again, enjoying the sights and sounds of this grand brotherhood we call the human race at a great festival gathering....

Random thoughts while driving around during "Dad's time away"

"Oh, she says well, you're not a poor man. You know, why don't you go online 
and buy a hundred envelopes and put them in the closet? 
And so I pretend not to hear her. 
And go out to get an envelope because I'm going to have a hell of a good time 
in the process of buying one envelope. 
I meet a lot of people. And, see some great looking babes. And a fire engine goes by. 
And I give them the thumbs up. And, and ask a woman what kind of dog that is. 
And, and I don't know... 
The moral of the story is, we're here on Earth to fart around."
--Kurt Vonnegut

Today I got to do one of my favorite things... I took some time by myself and ran some errands, and "... I don't know..." just farted around :) No kids, no lovely DW... just me... and I'm often content just to drive around as I do a few errands, observing the changes in the cities and neighborhoods along the way, and observing this diverse and rich body of humanity that teems all over my suburban Texas stompin' grounds....

The danger to this is... my very strange brain begins to work overtime, since I'm not constantly answering questions from my children, and the input devices observe things, and the computer whirs and bangs, and releases steam, and out comes the random thoughts, some mundane and some weird, all of which are, truthfully, only interesting and humorous to me, myself, and I. Ignoring that little nugget of helpful personal insight, and in the spirit of "If you don't write it down, it never happened", I record my Kurt Vonnegut trek here....

• The distance from my house to our normal Walmart is almost exactly one "American Pie" in length.  Yes, that song by Don MacLean.  Long one of my favorites, and just long enough to make it to the parking spot.  However, this highly scientific assessment is based upon hitting the same number of red lights, with similar lengths...


• There is an egg company in our little town- they no longer produce the eggs here, but are still headquartered here and have some buildings over where their facilities used to be.  There is a sign out front that got me tickled, that said in effect:  "Warning:  Agricultural site.  Possibility of occasional dust or strong odors".   Well, hello, Captain Obvious!!


• Fishtrap Road is a really, really, cool name for a road.


• Stopped at a gas station to buy a drink, and a mother and her teenager daughter came out, headed to their car.  After they passed me, I heard a high-pitched squeal and turned around to see a very embarrassed middle-age lady with a sheepish look, who then identified her assailant as a.... grasshopper.  She had the maturity of spirit to be able to laugh at herself, which is a marvelous trait.


• I always have mixed feelings when I see new businesses that have not survived... I feel sad for those whose livelihoods are effected, yet feel sanguine about the  continuing process of the free market system doing its thing, and also feeling a tad guilty because I know I didn't go eat there, or purchase their wares, very often if at all.  Ah well, I'm just one little ol' consumer after all.....


• Related to the item above:  one of the things I dislike most about where I live is that it is almost impossible for any restaurant, bar, entertainment venue, etc to survive if it isn't part of a large chain that people are comfortable with.   The little unique places with character and great product that people make into their "place" just don't survive on a regular basis.  So, a 30-minute drive takes one past the same chain after chain after chain, and inside they all look the same...but I don't really want to hang out there, or frequent it any more often than the next Big Box place, rotating among the types as my appetite or procurement needs require.  I don't really like them, per se

Now that I think about it, part of me thinks Kurt Vonnegut would agree with me on that last one.

A deviation from the norm

I don't normally do these sort of "social networking" exercises, but after a month of reading the entries of a friend, I kept finding myself saying "...so, what would I choose for that day's entry???".

And then it struck me... might as well give it a go. Now that I've taken the plunge, I'm looking forward to it!

31-Day Movie Challenge Quiz:
The rules are simple:
a. Post a quote, a picture of the poster, and/or a clip for your selection

each day.
b. Make sure to include the title.
c. Have fun (obviously).

Day #1: Favorite Movie
Day #2: Least Favorite Movie
Day #3: Favorite Comedy
Day #4: Favorite Adventure
Day #5: Favorite Horror
Day #6: Favorite Suspense/Thriller
Day #7: Favorite Animated Movie
Day #8: Favorite Guilty Pleasure
Day #9: A Movie You Never Expected To Love
Day #10: Biggest Let-Down
Day #11: First Movie You Saw In Theaters
Day #12: The Last Movie You Saw In Theaters
Day #13: Favorite Documentary
Day #14: Favorite Satire
Day #15: A Movie With Your Favorite Actor
Day #16: Favorite Movie Based On A Book
Day #17: Favorite Movie With An Actor You Hate
Day #18: Movie You Can Watch On Loop
Day #19: Favorite Movie Based On A Historical Event
Day #20: Favorite Movie Based On A Historical Figure
Day #21: Favorite Musical
Day #22: Most Over-Rated Movie
Day #23: Most Under-Rated Movie
Day #24: Movie With Best Soundtrack
Day #25: Favorite Black and White Movie
Day #26: Cheesiest Horror Movie
Day #27: Favorite Oscar-Winning Movie
Day #28: Favorite Made-For-Television Movie
Day #29: Favorite Movie Based On A Television Series
Day #30: Favorite Re-Make
Day #31: Favorite Sequel

Play Ball!

Little League season has begun for the Welch household :) All three of our boys are playing this year. In the past, we have told the boys that they could only play one sport, and our two eldest had always chosen soccer over baseball. This year, we relented and told them they could double up.

And so, Matthew and Logan are playing baseball again after a 2-year layoff.  They are having so much fun!

Tonight, Matthew and Logan's team won 12-2.  Matthew and Logan both got on base, Matthew via a walk and Logan by getting plunked in the shoulder blade.  Both of them scored when wild pitches worked them all the way around the bases.  I was proud of the way Logan shook up the pain and ran the bases hard.

Ryan's team also won, 11-10.  I have not seen either of his games... Saturday I had to take Matthew and Logan to their soccer match, and tonight the games were at the same time.  I'm looking forward to seeing Ryan play this season.

I love my boys, and I love watching them play sports.  I'm so proud of them....

Random Thoughts while shopping at Walmart, 25 Mar 2011

1> Is Sue Grafton going to stop after she writes "Z"?

2> Do you remember as a teen, when you always *had* to look at the posters when you went to the store? When did we lose that? There were several in there today that I wouldn't mind owning.....

3>  Now that I've bought a new TV, am I going to suffer from "TV price envy" if prices continue to drop?

4>  What makes us choose which of the same brand of some item to pick when we take it off the shelf? (IE if there are 4 boxes of the same paper towels, which one do you grab?). It has to be in the same vein of science/mathematics as picking a urinal in the men's room. (You men understand what I mean... and the analogy only holds if all the urinals are unoccupied)

5>   Just saw a mom walk by carrying her 3-4 year boy. He was wearing a bright-red cowboy hat made of felt, in the "Woody" style. Greatness!

6>  There's a fine art to selecting bananas- getting just the right level of ripeness so that my boys do eat most of them but leave me enough at the end to make banana bread for Allison... :)

7>  We are no longer a single-loaf-of-french-bread family. Just the way it is!

8>  The last scene was the best. There was a young girl in the parking lot, putting the cart in the corral, and she was meticulously straightening and lining up the carts, as her bemused father sat in the their truck, grinning at me and urging his daughter to "come on, ...!". He was amused and yet wanted to go, but his smile told me one thing: this is a man who loves his daughter, and knows her personality. it was a great moment to end my "writer's trip" to Walmart: a wonderful little slice of this great and beautiful experiment that is the human race!

More time for the Muses...

It's been a long week at the domestic domicile... with my wife laid low by a respiratory infection, I've been working triple overtime keeping the train chugging along down the track, and by last Friday night, I was pretty worn out and frazzled.... So after Allison returned home in the afternoon, she ordered me to go out for a little while by myself. Groceries were needed, so I spent my "time off" at Wal-mart.

And then I decided something I'd never done before: I decided to pull my writing journal out and worked on it as I wandered through the aisles. I love writer's exercises, and one of my favorite to do is "lists", and one of my favorite type of lists is writing down the various nuggets of delightful oddity that my brain is capable of producing at the oddest times.

And this time, it was while shopping for peanut butter and other various sundry.

And guess what? It was refreshing! I had written down something in my writing journal for the first time in months. And that made me realize that I have been neglecting a very important part of myself... the creative half of my mind that needs to dabble in poetry, writing, art, and music.

This middle-aged dad and devoted husband needs the muse every so often to stay sane.

And so, somehow... by hook or crook, time must be made for these things, not because it is another task to cross off... but because it is almost as important as food itself for my well-being. I can play a little less Word Twist, or watch a little less TV... and spend that time instead with a pen, a pencil, a brush, a bow, or a piano.

And it begins here... this online vent for the mumblings of my life :)

The art of buttering a hot Spring Creek BBQ roll

One of my semi-regular joys in life is when I take a son out for some alone time with Dad.  Every son is different, and I try to cater these evenings to their particular natures, but it is very easy to please my middle son Logan.   One of his favorite meals is ribs from Spring Creek Barbecue, and I often have a 'buy one get one free' coupon for exactly that... so it is a slam dunk of an evening from Logan's point of view.

For those of you who live near DFW and have patronized Spring Creek, I need not describe the singular joy of their rolls, for you are well acquainted.  For you unlucky souls located in other longitudes, these rolls are little miniature loaves of heavenly goodness, baked right there in sight of the dining room, and a large tray or two are upended into a wicker basket, whilst still steaming hot, and then distributed around the room.  These things don't just melt butter, they draw it off the little squares of paper from several feet away... little yellow riptides splashing onto or into crusty brown goodness.

Logan has inherited his Dad's love of hot bread.  He enjoys it with relish, and it is always a highlight of these particular "Daddy night out" ventures.  But what I find even more fascinating is to watch him prepare the roll for consumption.  In order to perceive the joy and humor of the moment you must understand that Logan is not a terribly meticulous child about many things in life... he has an artist's sensibilities and the attention span of a middle child, so one would **never** accuse this handsome young man of being OCD.

Except when it comes to rolls at Spring Creek Barbecue.

I watch in fascination as he wields the knife as a surgeon might a scalpel, making a careful incision down the side of the loaf, in the exact vertical center.  Then the butter is carefully inserted into the roll, there to melt throughout the doughy Valhalla within.  I feel like I'm watching Han Solo stuff Luke into the Tauntaun so he can stay warm.  And, of course, (Logan being Logan), he is describing every step of this process to me, as if I'm an apprentice in the centuries-old artisan craft of Roll Buttering.  Maybe we should carve a wooden sign and hang it up outside, for Logan is a Master RollButterer.  And the utter joy, so endearingly child-like, that permeates his voice as he shares with his Dad, it warms my heart as surely as that roll will soon warm his gullet.

And thus I realize wherefore the meticulous nature of this act, from this son.  This, to him, is art-- his forte.  This is not culinary necessity, but rather the Oleo Fresco brushed upon the Sistine Roll.  And then consumed with all the lusty gusto of one who enjoys beauty and the tactile pleasures of the plate.

And it's a privilege to witness.  It makes a night out with my son, already a precious thing, even more remarkable.