Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Simple Things In Life



Last night, my beautiful, wonderful, absolutely amazing (in bed) wife dug deep into the old home files and made us a homemade chicken pot pie.

Oh My God!

I'm not sure if there is anything better than a hot, dripping, right out of the oven pyrex dish full of toasted dough and meat and veggies and, um, oh wow, I'm getting a woody all over again............

And it got me to thinking (which is dangerous, I know!) about the simple things in life.

I cook well. As many of you know, I pride myself on being able to whip up exotic cuisine with a pocket knife and a pine tree. I have spent the majority of my adult life fine-tuning this talent and I pride myself in my wide knowledge of most things that have to do with food preparation.

But when I close my eyes and sit back, I am taken to that chicken pot pie. Or my mothers fried chicken with rice and gravy and butterbeans. Cornbread. Peach cobbler.

Country food. Ya'll all know what I mean. The "not fancy" stuff that we grew up eating at our mamaw's house.

I used to try to do that each Sunday for lunch but I haven't been very good at that these days because our Sundays are not the way I would like them to be due to other obligations that have to do with nursing homes and kids going in another direction.

But since the wonderful chicken pot pie last night I am reobligating myself to cook some soul food more often and to pass along the gift of preparing those meals to all my children so they will have what then need later in life to bring back those memories that only food can lead us back to.

So maybe tonight, or later this week, you can drag out the old recipe box and look for that dog-eared index card, written in old style penmanship that was done by your granny or a great aunt, and cook something old. And when you sit down to eat it, let those memories flow over you like water and rejoice that the greatest gift God ever gave us was memory.

Find a good one and hang on to it!

Peace.

White Wing Webels


As you all know, I'm an Obama supporter or an Obamaniac or whatever you want to call it.

I'm casting my lot with hope and a belief that experience is not leadership. I am choosing to believe in something bigger than myself and pray that what we need is a dynamic man that can rattle the cages of the smug and smote the mighty just a bit.

And yes, here in the deep, deep, deep south - I'm very much in the minority being a white boy supporting a blackish gun stealin' yankee boy.

But with all that said, the deal is that all my "friends" keep trying to convert me over to the dark side (you know, the one with the really old white guy and the hot chick that's got no business anywhere near national politics even though I'd totally bag her............)

And therefore I get every single "REAL" e-mail out there. Every "ABSOLUTE" proof that Obama is the anti-christ. Every cartoon.

And some of them make me laugh. Some because they are funny and some because it's amazing to me that intellegent people believe that bullshit.

Jeez.

But I got one last night that is the funniest I've ever seen so I decided to stand up and publish it for all the world to see because I believe a good one, no matter what the message is shall always be worthy of sharing!!!

Peace.

Monday, September 29, 2008

No Bloggin' SOB

Well, I blew through an entire week with nothing on my mind to share.

Either that or I was entirely lazy and slothful.

Could have even been that I was really busy at work.

Or maybe just a combination of all of it.

So whatever it was, I sincerely apologize.

I don't know anything that happened in the intervening time that was interesting except for yesterday afternoon when I went, with my beautiful wife, to the Shiloh Missionary Baptist Church for a little choir program.

That in and of itself isn't so interesting except the fact that my lovely wife and I were the only white folks there.

Religion is diffrerent in a black church. Real different.

And I must admit that it's a joy to watch - a little strange, almost as if I was a spy hiding while observing something that I'm not supposed to see.

But it was very cool. The music was very, um, vivid! It was alive in a way that even our cool, funky, musically superior band at our church could never touch.

In other words, it was THUMPIN'!!!

Then we got a little sermon. And that sermon had all the action of anything I've ever witnessed. The message was very simple but the presentation was amazingly theatric and I must say I enjoyed it as well.

I can also report that our black brothers and sisters dress a hell of a lot better than we do when they go to church. I saw clothes that would have been fine for any activity in New York City.

So after over 2 hours of all that religion, we took our leave and got lots of hugs from little old black ladies and lots of waves. I can only imagine that they were all wondering what we were doing there.

But I'll do it again because it is well with my soul. Oh yea, it is well...........

Peace.

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

Sins of Onan

This is one of the best articles I have ever read. It adequately captures all of the male angst ever conceived.

I bet you'll like it too!

http://www.hecklerspray.com/megan-fox-announces-lesbian-stripper-love-all-teenage-boys-explode/200816157.php

I knew we were on to something when a bunch of us boys went to see the movie "Transformers" and we instantly captured by the girl in that silly movie. Yea, this is THAT girl.

I personally haven't had anything like that happen to me since the Super Bowl about 15 years ago had that Ali Landry chick in the Dorito's commercials. You remember those - the excedingly beautiful girl from Louisiana that caught the flying dorito's in her mouth and somehow caught everything on fire.........Then I found out that the Ali Landry chick was the niece of a guy I worked with and we all got to meet her - maybe the only time in my life when I was absolutely speechless.

Except for the first time that me and my wife........oh, I can't talk about that here.

So here's to hoping that your day just got better!

Peace.

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

Miss Information

I'm sick of this election. I'm sure that I've mentioned that a few hundred times by now - but I keep changing the radio station every time a news report comes out about either of the tickets. I'm just sick of it!!!

I'm sick of hearing about how stupid people can be with their facts.

I'm amazed at the negative adds coming from the right with all the misinformation and downright lies directed at the democratic ticket.

I'm ashamed that the high road Obama started down has come down a few notches. I tell myself that at least it's not down to the level of the republican "issue" adds..........yet.

I have no earthly idea why the insertion of this woman from Alaska created such a shit storm of positive feelings.

I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."?

Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, you're a quintessential American story?

If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim?

Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick?

Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable?

Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded?

If you spend 3 years as a community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience?

If your total resume is: local sportscaster, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive?

If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian?

If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and divorced your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian?

If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society?

If, while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant, you're very responsible?

If your wife is a Harvard lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise afamily, your family's values don't represent America's?

If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable?

OK, much clearer now.

Can't wait for November!!!

Monday, September 15, 2008

Gumbo Rocks

Well, we made it through another weekend with another hurricane.

Boy, those waves crashing over the sea wall in Gavleston were amazing. The raw power of nature just blows my mind. We tempt nature all the time the way we build stuff all up in the middle of God's creation and then we're amazed when it gets torn down.

I had a good weekend and I feel ready for this week.

Friday night we had our first supper club thing we're doing through our church and we had dinner with some nice folks and ate lots of good oriental food. Our little Vietnamese hostess is just a trip. Try a type-A personality with ADHD and a great attitude and you get a whirlwind of a 5-foot woman that has more energy than anyone should be able to contain.

And nobody had their feelings hurt - which is a good thing since I have been known to push a small crowd into a corner from time to time!

Saturday night we had my beautiful wife's Navajo Mission Team over for a dinner. I neglected to count heads but it was somewhere between 20-30 folks in attendence. I made a huge pot of gumbo which was probably the best I've ever made.

One good thing about being a cook is that you are allowed to judge yourself and vote for how it goes. And this went very well. Sometimes everything just comes together.

But the best thing, according to all the moaning women was the white chocolate bread pudding I made. A huge pan that literally had the girls moaning while all us boys were watching football in the living room.

It's always amazing that chocolate is so effective in bringing smiles to the fairer sex!!!

This week leads up to my love's birthday on Friday. So please, if you see her, let her know how amazing she is and tell her happy birthday. And you may want to mention how much her husband loves her. It usually makes her blush!!!

And don't forget that her birthday, September 19 is also "talk like a pirate day" so please avail yourself of this wonderful holiday and when you do wish her happy birthday, don't forget to throw in an "arrrgggghhhh matey" at the end of it!

It's quite amazing to be in love with someone so wonderful. I have to pinch myself from time to time in order to make sure that all of this is real. She always says that I was just deprived earlier in life so I have nothing to compare it to - but that ain't the whole story. I just happened to fall in love with a wonderful woman and I choose to celebrate that instead of taking it for granted.

I know where my bread is buttered and I promise to spend the rest of my life in joyous recognition of all that rocks in my world.

And boy, does she really rock my world - but the rules put forth by her do not allow me to expound on that subject in this here blog. But let's just say that if I ever decide to write other types of literature, I have a weath of material to choose from!!!

So here's hoping that each of you has the best week ever. If you don't - remember, it just may be your own damn fault!

Peace

Friday, September 12, 2008

Another Week Another Blow Job

Won't be long until the next freakin' hurricane raises it's head and bites somebody.

At least I'm glad it's not going to bite us around here. But the truth is, when you're in the transformer business, all hurricanes suck.

We are, at this very moment, trying to figure out how to make more than 24 hours in a day and more than 7 days in a week.

My employees have not reached the breaking point yet, but it's a comin'. I can feel it. You can only work so many double shifts without a day off before you start to load your assault rifle up and go looking to make things right with your boss.

But I'm ready for them when they come. I promise I am!!!

This hurricane looks like a booger. 25 foot surge coming along with it. There will be some biblical destruction here. Stay tuned to CNN!!

Maybe they will stop talking about the presidential politics for a while.

Nah, I doubt it.

I'm really ready for this to be over. Hurricane season and the damn election.

I'm still confused as to how a girl from the sticks in Alaska can make so many people that hated John McCain somehow reevaluate this election.......

Makes no sense to me at all.

The Rush Limbaugh fatasses and the Sean Hannity pencil dicks and all the other right wing wacko's have always H A T E D big John McCain. They have denegrated him over the years, and now I think it's funny that they are "stuck" with him as their nominee and have to say wonderful things about him. Talk about two-faced pieces of shit.

Now all of a sudden, he picks a woman from nowhere that no one has ever heard from and BAM - there is now hope.

Hope for what?

The VP position is just not all that. But of course, if you're 72 years old and look as bad in makeup as McCain does, maybe the VP thing is important...........

But this woman? This fuckin' pentacostal woman? Yea, that scares the shit out of me. I'm sure she's a nice lady - but leader of the free world? I'm not sold. Far from it. I'm scared.

And this senatorial election we've got going?

Wow, what a republican mud-slinging free for all. Ronnie Musgrove and Roger Wicker are former roommates. I kid you not. Roger ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer but the republicans are fighting so hard to keep a respectable (filibuster proof) number of senators in DC so we'll see what will happen. So the ads from the national republican party and the national chamber of commerce have been slinging mud of biblical proportions. Most of it is simply not true and is just downright nasty.

Ronnie Musgrove called me on Thursday after the ICE raid on our plant to ask me what did it feel like to receive so much press and all of it was untrue and there was nothing you could do about it? I told him, yea, now I know how YOU FEEL!

I don't think there will be 1000 votes between Ronnie and Roger when it's all counted up. This one will come down to voter turnout. If it rains on election day, all bets are off.

But I'm just counting down the 8 weeks or so we've got until it's over. The process sickens me. I wish we could somehow make it illegal for all politicians to advertise. The only way they can get the word out is to make speeches and people would have to get out there and actually listen to them.

But alas, that ain't gonna happen!!!

So between all the sucking and blowing from the hurricanes and the political canidates, we should all be very, very satisfied.

But somehow we're not.

The only place I'm satisfied is at my house. Especially in my bedroom, but I'm not allowed to talk about that here!!!

Keep smiling. I sure am.

Peace.

Monday, September 08, 2008

Gentle Reminder


Don't forget that September 19 is "Talk Like A Pirate" day.

Go here to get your own pirate name and get ready................

http://www.talklikeapirate.com/links.html#piratename


Hugs and Kisses
Eric the Enforcer

Monday Morning Blog Game

Here's a little blog-game.................

You finish the first part of the sentence in red with your own unique response.

1. My uncle once caught me being screamed at by my ex-wife.

2. Never in my life have I driven my motorcycle to Alaska.

3. When I was five I moved to Picayune, MS so my parents could work for Boeing on the Atlas Rocket for the Apollo Space Progam.

4. High school was my favorite time of my life until I started all over with the love of my life.

5. I will never forget to brush my teeth when I wake up in the morning.

6. Once I met David Bowie in the Atlanta airport.

7. There’s this girl I know that makes my heart leap in my chest when she looks at me.

8. Once, at a bar I drank 21 shots of tequila just to see if I could............

9. By noon, I have been awake by at least 5 hours.

10. Last night I stayed up till 3am.

11. If only I had a million dollars I would retire immediately!

12. Next time I go to church I will hold hands with my wife as we pray.

13. What worries me most right now is hoping that my children find their way in the world.

14. When I turn my head left I see a huge 6' x 8' map of the world.

15. When I turn my head right I see a wall full of diplomas and pictures of my loved ones.

16. You know I’m lying when I say, "whatever you want, I don't care".

17. What I miss most about the Eighties is the innocence that youth provided me.

18. If I were a character in Shakespeare it would be Romeo, but I would live happily ever after with My Juliet! Hey, I am!!!

19. By this time next year I will be happier than I am today.

20. A better name for me would be "Tex" - but my wife won't have it!

21. I have a hard time understanding the divisiveness of politics and the lack of simple compassion that we seem to have such a hard time finding.

22. If I ever go back to school, I'll finish my masters degree and start on another!

23. You know I like you if I make fun of you. I'll ignore you if I don't like you.

24. If I ever won an award, the first thing I would say is "This would not be possible without the love and support of my wife".

25. Take my advice, nothing in life is more important that being in love. All else pales in comparison!

OK, now it's your turn to do this. Reply to my post so I'll know to check yours out - and if you're too lazy to have a blog, just e-mail me. I can make fun of you easier that way anyway!

Wednesday, September 03, 2008

Grandparentitis.........

I haven't crowed about my grandson lately. If I don't do better I could be thrown out of the Grandparents Guild.................

Each Sunday evening, my daughter brings the little bundle of joy over for a visit and I must say that I am thoroughly entertained. He's such a bright, happy little fellow.

It's different this time. It really wasn't that long ago that I had little babies in my life - it just seem to be different now. Of course, the babies aren't different - it's just my perspective that has changed and I must say that it is better this time around.

Not sure why, maybe because the hard part for me is over and all that is left is to enjoy them. Maybe it's because when I'm through with them and it's time for bed they leave and go somewhere else. All I know is that it's simply a joy that I haven't experienced before.

Kind of the same way with my step-parenting. It's different yet it's the same thing. I view both of my step-daughters with eyes filled with love and responsibility - but it's just easier somehow. Maybe because I'm there as support instead of the main responder. Again, I'm just not really sure but all I know is that I absolutely adore both of them and am having the time of my life.

So sit back and enjoy the responses of some second graders from their perspective of grandparents (like me!!!).

WHAT IS A GRANDPARENT?
(Taken from the papers written by a class of 8-year-olds.)

Grandparents are a lady and a man who have no little children of her own. They like other people's.

A grandfather is a man & a grandmother is a lady!

Grandparents don't have to do anything except be there when we come to see them.

They are so old they shouldn't play hard or run.

It is good if they drive us to the shops and give us money.

When they take us for walks, they slow down past things like pretty leaves and caterpillars.

They show us and talk to us about the color of the flowers and also why we shouldn't step on 'cracks.'

They don't say, 'Hurry up.'

Usually grandmothers are fat but not too fat to tie your shoes.

They wear glasses and funny underwear.

They can take their teeth and gums out.

Grandparents don't have to be smart.

They have to answer questions like 'why isn't God married?' and 'How come dogs chase cats?'.

When they read to us, they don't skip. They don't mind if we ask for the same story over again.

Everybody should try to have a grandmother, especially if you don't have television because they are the only grown ups who like to spend time with us.

They know we should have snack-time before bedtime and they say prayers with us every time and kiss us even when we've acted bad.

A 6 year old was asked where his grandma lived. “Oh,” he said, “she lives at the airport and when we want her we just go there. Then when we’re done having her visit, we take her back to the airport.”

Grandpa is the smartest man on earth. He teaches me good things but I don’t get to see him enough to get as smart as him.

It's funny when they bend over, you hear gas leaks and they blame their dog.


So there you have it. A definitive view of how life works - from the perspective of a child. Maybe the best view their is!

Peace.

Tuesday, September 02, 2008

Gustav Ain't All That and How 'bout Them Eagles!

Hurricane sucked instead of blowed. Well, at least in my humble part of the globe...............

We got lots of rain, repeat: LOTS OF RAIN and some wind in spots - but all in all, it wasn't all that bad.

Same can't be said further west.

Talked to my cousin in Baton Rouge this morning - they were out sawing up trees in the yard. Big trees. Especially bad was the one that landed on the new big generator that was to run the house when the power went out.

Talk about your proverbial bad luck!

I can say that the Labor Day holiday was about as dreary and lazy as they come. Can't say I enjoyed all that non-motion. I mean, I'm as lazy as the next boy but it does need to be broken up by something every once in a while.

Or maybe not.

So I hope all of you and yours came through OK.

OK, so our new coach that is more excited than a kid at Christmas had his big debut this Saturday and all went as expected. I actually went into the stadium and sat and watched football until ALMOST HALF TIME.

And that's just huge for me. Can't say I enjoyed it terribly but it wasn't so bad. The team looked good and it's certainly a new look. That no-huddle offense is pretty amazing and I'm really glad that I'm not out there trying to run it. Not much time for rest!

We beat those Rajun Cajuns 51 to 21, I think......... All I know is that it was the hottest day of the year and I thought I was going to die. When it finally started raining on us, me and my love didn't hurry to the car - nope, we just walked slowly in the cool, cool rain and giggled about how good it felt.

And with the sports report over, I do truly think that is all the news that is news. I guess I'll get back to minding the transformers that I'll be sending over to Louisiana today to help my cousin and 2 million others get their power back on!

Peace.