Half days are da Bomb!

For anyone who hasn't seen the news, today a cold front swept into Dallas and is holding us hostage. I am sure Fox News and CNBC are going to call this "Frost on America" or something. When I got up this morning, it was cold but the day progressed to an even more windy and freezing day and at 12:30 my office was told to go home.

I LOVE when you get sent home. I am on salary so it just means free time with pay. It rocks. I wasn't busy either so it is even more cool. I went an got a haircut and read comics and made a pot of chili. Next up I might throw in some Wii time and get my Scrubs on because it starts again tonight.

YIPPPPEEEEE!!!!

Newt

My lady's out of town...and boy is my hand tired

Well, it's that time again. Thanksgiving. Sad to say Diana had to go out of town and leave me to work on Friday. On the big day I went to Boston Market to grab some turkey & mashed taters and bought a pecan(pronounced pe-can not pe-con) pie.

Also, Thursday started the Legend of Zelda play off. Hence my hand being tired. Oh, wait a minute. Did you think...? Perverts. That's not what I meant. I have just been playing with my Wii for the last couple of days. No, not that Wee. My new Nintendo. I have to say, you're minds are in the gutters.

N-E-Ways. I worked yesterday and spent some quality time with the dogs. I was disappointed that I couldn't go home, but what can you do. I had to call and get someone to tell me how the Chocolate Chip Pie tasted but other than that, I guess I will make it. One great thing to come out of staying home is my discovery of a show on Bravo called 'Top Chef'. I hate reality TV but this show Rocks.

Happy Thanksgiving to all,

Newt

What a Dick!

More on the night that was ‘Wii night’

To my right was this 17 year old who was a huge Dick. Not only would he not stop saying Wii, "I can't wait to go home and play with my Wii', "If I didn't get a Wii, I would die", and my favorite "I wonder if they will make a miniature version called the Wee Wii', but he was stupid. Who comes to a Wal-mart in November to sit outside in just jeans and a jacket?

He just kept saying how excited he was. He even brought a laptop and was playing ‘Legend of Zelda: a Link to the Past’. At points in time, you could really tell that this kid was a Dick. Here are some examples.

A) He received a phone call that his friend’s dad had just gone into full renal failure. When he got off the phone he asked me if I knew what that entailed and I told him that I believed it was when a person’s body shut down before they died. He proceeded to say “That sucks, that might be something I have to get out of line for.” What? Seriously? Later, he had some friends come visit him in line and told them. Then he said he would just take his new Wii to the kid with the dead dad’s house so it would cheer him up a little. As if you would say “Well, my dad just died but I sure could go for some Wii Golf.”

B) The guy’s grandfather came up to Wal-Mart to go buy him something to eat. As soon as the old man dropped the two cheeseburgers on the ground next to him and the kid didn’t say thank you or even look up from his computer. The old man just walked off and the kid didn’t even care.

C) The last thing that irked me about this kid was that he is 17, lives at home with his parents, and is cocky. I don’t remember what I was talking about but I heard him say something about how expensive his cell phone was. I asked him how much it cost and he said he paid $90 for three people. I said “You pay for three people?” and he said “Me and my parents.” I was surprised and asked “You pay for your parents” and he told me “Well, no. They pay for me.”

By the end of the night, I actually called him a huge Dick to his face. He thought I was joking but I wasn’t. He got a call from his friend who’s dad is dying telling him that he couldn’t stay over because his dad was in the hospital and his mom wanted him to be able to just leave. The Dick got pissy about it and started saying, “Well wouldn’t his mom want someone there who has a car? Then he started complaining about how his parents would get mad if he came home because he had said he was staying over at the guy’s house. I looked at him and asked if it was the kid with the dying dad and when he said yes I just looked at him and said “You are a huge Dick!”

You never know who you will meet in line for a Nintendo but I can tell you that some of them aren’t that special.

That is all,
Newt

Wii the People

I have been lax in my posts. On Saturday, at 4 o'clock, I started my sit in to get the Nintendo Wii. I took one of those lawn chairs with a food rest, a granola bar, and some reading material and got in line behind 15 other great Americans who were eagerly awaiting the release at 12:01 of the coolest gaming system ever.

Around 6, my lovely bride to be brought me a sandwich and my computer so I could watch 'Cars' and have something to occupy the next six hours. Surprisingly, she wasn't eager to sit out there with me. The one thing she forgot to bring was the blanket I had asked for, and as it was around 55 degrees and no sun was out, it was sorely missed. She did give me the picnic blanket we had so I couldn't complain to loudly.

Let me just say, that if you stand in line with 20 other people, you get to know the people to your left and right. That is not always a good thing. I have loads to talk about with this guy but I will continue that in another blog.

At 11:50, the voucher guy finally showed up and made a stupid comment about how he had some vouchers for sale and then said he would just throw them in the air and whoever got one could go in. Finally, he handed out our vouchers and 20 minutes later I own a Wii.

I was cold, tired, and extremely excited.

That is all,

Newt

I saw a Jap flip an egg

No, I'm not Michael Richards. I went to eat this afternoon at a Japanese restaurant where they prepared the food to order right in front of you. I went with a large group so we had an entire table/stove to ourselves.

I was in awe when the chef came out. He started by throwing rice on the stove and then took an egg and spun it. He was able to take a spatula and flip the egg in the air, sort of like a soccer player with a ball. Then he used the spatula to crack that puppy onto the stove.

He also made me some tasty shrimp and some Angus beef that was delicious. The finale was called a volcano. He took an onion and stacked it like a mountain and poured liquids into it and then as they began to react he lit it on fire. Flames were shooting out of this onion and didn't stop. He just held a lighter there and flames kept shooting out. It was crazy.

I don't know that this is really an interesting event but I know I was impressed. Then again, I get distracted by shiny objects so that doesn't say much about me.

That is all,

Newt

You went to see The WHO???

Thats right folks, Diana and I rocked out oldie style on Friday night and went and saw The Who. That legendary rock band that gave us such hits as 'Pinball Wizard', 'Who are you', and 'My Generation', and it was awesome. The Pretenders opened up for them and they were just so-so but The Who rocked the house.

For a band that only has two of its original members, they were on. Roger Daltrey and Pete Townsend are old but they jump around on stage and can still play like they are in their twenties. When they played 'My Generation' it blew me away. They played for two hours and really knew how to throw a concert.

There were 5 screens suspended above the stage and as the songs changed, the screens would alternate images that went along with the songs. During 'My Generation' the largest screen had images of different races and moments in history that cycled throughout.

Some funny stuff...we saw one woman that, as the Who were about to finish up, she was reaching her hands out and crying. There was no reason really, she just couldn't contain herself. We also say a woman that got so into the music she was thrusting her hand out and singing when no one else was.

All and all, an awesome concert and I can now say that I have seen The Who in concert.

That is all,

Newt

Pay it Forward

Yesterday, I was driving in a neighborhood that is not the most upscale when I stopped at a red light. I was on my cell phone with the blood bank, they were begging for a pint, when I hear a man screaming at me.

I look to my right and asked the lady to hold on a minute. I cracked the passenger window and he yelled, "Hey man, can me and my wife jump in the back of your truck? We need a ride to Northwest HWY." As I was going that way, I said "Sure".

Now I know what you’re thinking. Newt, how stupid can you be? You don't let strangers ride in your truck. Well, I agree and that same thought occurred to me after they had already jumped in.

The guy was probably 40 with a shaved head that held a couple of day’s growth, as did his face. His wife, however, took the cake. She wore pink spandex pants and a tiger striped coat. She had bleach blond hair and looked like she was coming off a two day binge.

The ride went just fine, other than I looked in my rearview one time and saw them kiss which was disturbing. I got them to the street and pulled off the road to let them off. They yelled "Thanks Man" and the woman said, "Have a blessed day. Thanks for paying it forward."

Am I strange in thinking that the fact that she said "paying it forward" is the weirdest part of this story?

That is all,

Newt

Worn Out, Tired and Busted

Well Howdy. What a weekend. Thomas came down and we had a hella weekend that will be remembered until our dying days. Let me give you a definition:

def. Nirvana - a state of being caused by Rocking Hard, getting your inner nerd on, and drinking on someone else's dime.

And that is what I achieved this weekend. By Sunday, I had obtained from Wizard World Texas 2006.

1. An assload of signed comics by the likes of Ed Brubaker, Steve Epting, George Perez, and J. Scott Cambell
2. A copy of The Watchmen as well as a Black Cat mini series that I have been looking for.
3. a Thing Mini Bust that rocks(pun intended).
4. an original comic book page signed by the tracer, I mean Inker.
5. Three copies of Ultimate Alliance in which I sold one and gave one to Tommy Boy.
6. Tons of original sketches, which I plan to post on.

All that for about $200,

I had an awesome time and it really makes me miss not being around Thomas more(hint hint Jackie, move to Dallas). I can't wait until next year and maybe this can start being a yearly event. Who knows.

The other two people involved in this weekend have touched upon most of the things that happened over the last couple of days so I will leave the details to them.

That is all,

Newt

Bowling On a Wednesday

Well last night was the kick off party to start our Bowling league at work. I have been trying to get a Wednesday league together and the bowling alley we are having it at let us have free bowling night to try to generate interest.

It didn't work. I only had 20 or so people say that they were even coming and when 7 o'clock rolled around, it was only about 10. This thing has become a losing battle. I try and try but no one seems to care. People keep dropping out of the league and while I hoped to have about 4 teams, I ended up with maybe two.

But I am still hopeful. I bought my own bowling shoes last week and I plan on showing up next Wednesday for week 1 of our tournament. At the end of it, we will all get a free Bowling ball.

That is all,

Newt

PS, starting tomorrow Thomas and I will have up to the minute(or more likely day) coverage of Wizard World Texas 2006

To the Love of My Life

Recently, there has been an outpouring of Love on the blog-o-sphere and it has made me want to write how much I love Diana.

Diana,

I love you. You are the greatest thing in the world. Along with our two dogs, one of which is newer than the other, we have the greatest life ever. No, we don't have a house yet, but when we do our lives will only be better. I love everything about you...well, not necessarily everything, but the majority of things about you.

Not a day goes by where I don't love you more and more. You are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I can't say that I am content in our love. Why would you want to be when we can make it grow as time goes on. The love we share is everlasting and awesome.

It's weird to think that we have been shacking up for little over a year. It feels like we have been together for a thousand years, yet it has only been a few(which haven't really felt like that long but kinda were). We have lived together for over a year, not officially starting our lives as husband and wife, but we're close. I will make you an honest woman one day.

Love,

Newt

In conclusion to this sappy post, if you gagged or were in any way disgusted by reading this PDA on your PC, then you get an idea of how we felt when reading Thomas's latest post.

That is all,

Newt

P.S. Diana told me I had to write this

Peanut, Peanut Butter, Jelly

So, last week I went to the grocery store and decided to be adventurous. I bought all natural Peanut Butter. It comes in a glass bottle and the oil from the peanuts is sitting on top of the butter. And, after opening, you have to refrigerate this stuff.

I rushed home and snapped that lid off the jar. MMMMM!!! Peanuts. I got a big knife and began stirring the oil back down into the butter. I don't actually know if this was the correct action to take, but what the hey. The consistency of real PB is not the same as Jif. It is much creamier and not as thick. I bought crunchy so mine came with extra chopped nuts.

I smeared a big ole glob of it onto a couple of slices of wheat bread and dived in. What? It tastes bitter and grainy you say? That's right. I am an idiot because for some reason I thought that if you took real peanuts and smashed them into a paste that it would magically gain a sweetness. From where I have no idea.

I now know why Peanut Butter & Jelly are such a popular combination. Organic Peanut Butter is very tasty once you know what to expect. It is growing on me.

That is all,

Newt