I Think It's ADD

I think I'm developing ADD. I find myself not being able to focus on anything for any length of time. Last night my wife and I were watching Dancing With The Stars.
We've been following this show all season. However, last night I found myself bored by the end of the first round. Nevermind the the music almost never seems appropriate to the dance or that some of the judges comments are a little silly, I was just bored with it all. I never watch the results show. Who can stand to watch something for an hour that ought to take 15 minutes maximum...including commercials? I went into another room and watched Monday Night Football for awhile until I got bored with that. Then, I rejoined my wife in the first location to watch the news. Maybe it comes from spending too much time surfing the net. If you get bored with one site, you just go somewhere else for entertainment.
Between two televisions and two computers, I think I've got ADD, Alternative Display Disorder. If I don't like what's on the screen, I either change the channel, surf another site, or relocate to another room.

CSI Arkansas

Yesterday I went to my granddaughter's soccer match. The fields are adjacent to a creek that I used to fish quite often. Since the soccer fields have been built, access to the creek is very limited. I decided to take my rod and reel to do a little fishing during half time. I was on this little point of land in the creek when I looked down and discovered the remains of an animal. Some of the fur and most of the bones were there. The skull was there, less the lower jaw bone. I picked it up because I knew my granddaughter would be thrilled to take this treasure to school. She has always loved picking up insects, worms, and the like. It drives her mother nuts! Sure enough, after the soccer match (which her team lost 3-1) I gave Katelyn the skull. Her eyes lit up like she had just gotten the best Christmas present ever.
After I got home, I did a web search to try to discover exactly what kind of animal remains I had found. It didn't take too long to determine I had stumbled upon a raccoon. Well, as they say, "Parts is parts." The amount of information available and the ease of access to it through the Internet still amazes me.

Thrusday Thirteen No. 4

Thirteen Things I Like About Living in a Small Community

There are alot of advantages to living in a smaller community. My wife and I moved to Northwest Arkansas 20 years ago from Dallas. Three years ago we built a new home in a wooded subdivision and I can honestly say that I have no desire to live anywhere else on planet earth. I could write a book about all of the great things associated with this part of the world, but I have chosen to show you thirteen of the reasons I like my life and where I live.

1. Hometown restuarants. There is nothing like a good hometown BBQ restuarant. You can keep Famous Daves, Rib Crib, Smokey Bones, and Shorty Smalls....give me the Whole Hog every time.

2. Football Friday Nights!!! What's not to like about a good highschool fooball game in small town USA? Half of the town shows up for every home game. It is just great. We're the team in black

3. My church. The truth of God's Word is taught and preached here every week. It is a place to refresh the spirit and the soul. I had the privilege of being the chairman of the building committe for this new sanctuary. We've been in it about 5 years now

4. Saturday Farmer's Market on the square. At one time, this town was as close to a real life Mayberry RFD and it could get. The Farmer's Market was brought back to the square about 6 years ago. In the spring and summer, fresh vegetables, jellies, jams, and honey can be had. In the fall, the fare turns more craft oriented.

5. The Grandkids. Our grandchildren live about 7 miles from us. We see them every week in church. We go to the soccer matches, dance recitals, etc. They have sleep-overs at our house. It is just great!!! It is such great fun watching them grow up. I feel very sorry for grand parents who live hundreds of miles from this incredible source of joy. If you only get to see the grandkids a couple of times a year, you are missing one of the true blessings in life.

6. The corner coffee shop. This place has a little more urban feel than the traditional small town coffee shop. You won't necessarily find the local retired farmers in here solving the worlds problems, but you will get a great cup of coffee and a quiet place to relax and enjoy the company of friends or just sit and read a good book.

7. The Nature Trail. This trail is about 2 miles long and is just 10 minutes from our home. There are several great photo opportunities along the way. This particular spot happens to be my favorite. I have spent some time on that bench just thanking God for His marvelous creation and for giving me the privilege of enjoying it.

8. Fishing. There are dozens of lakes, rivers, and streams within an hour of the house. The lakes range in size from 20 acres to over 30,000 acres.

Smallmouth, Largemouth bass, crappie are the targets in the lakes while (both rainbow and brown) and smallmouth bass are the most popular species in the streams. Again, this is mostly about getting outside and enjoying the entire experience.
9. The drive to work. I live 14 miles from the office and the first 4 miles looks like this. There is an expressway about 3 miles in the opposite direction, but I don't get to work any quicker and it is too much like larger cities. I avoid the fast lane whenever possible.

10. Our home. We build this place three years ago and we just love it.

11. Space. This is a view of the area surrounding our new office building. We are only a mile from the center of downtown and this is actually looking a little west of the downtown area. You can't get this view in New York City, Chicago, Dallas, or LA. I've been in all of these cities and I like this view the best.

12. Christmas at our house. My wife is one of Santa's original elves. It is her favorite time of the year and that makes it a favorite time for everyone else. You cannot imagine the boxes of decorations that are in the basement. She puts it all together like a pro and makes everyone's Christmas Special.

13. Playing in the park with the grandkids. It just doesn't get any better than this.

An Afternoon at the Movies

I took yesterday afternoon off and went to the movies. This is the first time I have ever done this, but it may not be the last. You get great seats, no lines, and lower prices. What's not to like about that? I have been waiting for this movie ever since I saw the previews. With Denzel Washington and Russell Crowe in the lead roles, this has got to be the best gangster movie since the "The Godfather", right? Well, it is a great movie, but it is more in the vein of "French Connection" than "The Godfather".
I won't bore you with the details of a movie review here, but I will tell you it is worth going to see. Washington and Crowe are two of the best actors working today and they prove it once again in this movie. Their chemistry is very good, but not electric. The movie is set in the late 60's. Washington plays a black drug kingpin in Harlem while Crowe plays a cop trying to stop the flow of heroin into this country. Crowe is also fighing the internal battle of being an honest cop in a dishonest setting. This storyline, while true, seems to be borrowed from "Serpico".
The movie is based on a true story. That's about all I'm going to say so that I don't spoil it for you.
Reward yourself. Take an afternoon off and go to the movies. Next week, I think I may go see "Michael Clayton" starring George Clooney.

Thirteen of My Favorite Comedians 1. The Honeymooners. This entire cast is classic comedy 2. Red Skelton. An early Television comedian that was among the very best. 3. Jonathan Winters. The predecessor to Robin Williams. Winters was one of the funniest and most original comedians of his day. 4. Carol Burnett. A female comedian that hosted her own show in the 60's. I liked her better than Lucille Ball. Carol had a great supporting cast that included Harvey Korman and Tim Conway. 5. Bill Cosby. Cosby brought new dimension to family comedy on TV. The parents could be right and in charge of the family and still be funny. His stand-up routines are classic. 6. Robin Williams. His ability to improvise comedy is unmatched today. From Mork & Mindy to "Good Morning Viet Nam", to "Mrs. Doubtfire", he is one of the most versatile comedians working today. 7. Jack Lemmon. From "Some Like it Hot" and "Mr. Roberts" to "Grumpy Old Men" Jack Lemmon was one of the best comedy actors of all time. 8. Johnny Carson. While not the pioneer of late night TV. Johnny brought it to new heights. He was a master of stand-up comedy. 9. David Letterman. Letterman is far and away the best working today. He was actually Carson's pick to take over the Tonight Show. 10. Saturday Night Live...The early years. Again the cast that included Bill Murray, Dan Aykroid, John Belushi, Jane Curtain and the gang were funny nearly every week. 11. Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In. This is the predecessor to Saturday night live. It launched the career of Goldie Hawn. 12. George Carlin. George may have the most unique outlook on life of anyone I know. He seems to have grown a little senile in recent years, but he is very funny. 13. Larry the Cable Guy. Ya gotta like Redneck humor to appreciate Larry, but he is one of the funniest guys working today. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. (leave your link in comments, I’ll add you here!)

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I Love This Stuff!!!

I am an architect by profession.
The firm that I work for is currently building a new structure to house all 250 of our staff. As the Director of Architecture, I have been involved in the design and construction of this new facility. Everytime I visit the jobsite to see the progress of the construction, I am reminded why I love this stuff.
I enjoy the whole creative process. From the time the building is just a dream in the minds of a few of the management team, until it gets formalized on the computer screens and on paper, through construction, and right up until the day that we move in...I love this stuff. By the way, move in will happen in April '08.
Three years ago my wife and I built our home. Again, I love this stuff. The plan works very well for us. We picked out the brick, the interior and exterior colors, the door and cabinet hardware, the cabinets, the trim, the wood floors, tile, carpet, and my wife added some much needed furniture. It was a wonderful experience. While it is a very traditional exterior, the interior is an open plan and suits our lifestyle. I would have a very hard time giving this place up. I love the site, I love the house, I love this stuff.

Bambi

The weather is starting to cool down here in the Ozarks and that means one thing... the deer are moving. Bow season for deer started two weeks ago. This week was muzzle loading season, and next week starts modern gun season. I'm not a hunter so none of this makes any difference to me. However, all of this pressure makes the deer nervous and they start moving, often into oncoming traffic.
Since I live adjacent to the woods and on a county road, I have to be very careful driving to and from work each day. I've already seen two deer that have been hit by cars and I've witnessed one car avoid being hit by a deer. I've seen three deer in the ravine behind our house and a dozen or more on my way to work. I need to get the camera out and take advantage of the photo opportunity. Bambi is alive and well here in the Ozarks.