This Never Gets Old

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

U2: I Believe in Father Christmas

ABC's "Person of the Year"

Update: I posted a story about Kristin Elliott back in April. Turns out she was named one of ABC's "Persons of the Year." Since the story aired more than eight months ago, more than $200,000 has been donated by friends, family and complete strangers who saw her story on TV and felt compelled to give.

Word Cloud

I created a "word cloud" using a site called Wordle. It takes anything -- a blog, an e-mail, random writings -- and creates a graphical image based on the frequency of the words used. Here's my blog's word cloud. Not quite sure what to make of the word "pancake" being used so frequently. Does wonders for one's body image.

From Pickin' Cotton to Pickin' the President

Interesting read showing cotton plantations (aka...slaves communities) pre-Civil War overlayed with how these same areas voted in the 2008 presidential election. Look who has the power now!

Full story here.

America the Beautiful

I Won't Tell You How to Vote

But I can't stop Molly. She's goin' rogue in these last few hours.



Suzanne forwarded a great article this morning from Donald Miller, the best-selling author of "Blue Like Jazz" and "Searching for God Knows What." If you have a few minutes, it's a refreshing read.

Regardless of who you vote for, just GO VOTE!

Tonight, I'm heading over to Mark, Suzanne and Luke's house for a pancake dinner. Growing up in Belton, you were expected to attend two events each year: the Fourth of July parade and the Rotary Club Pancake Supper. I have fond memories of me, Mark and Dad heading to Leon Heights Elementary every election day afternoon and unloading gallons and gallons of whole milk, pancake batter and enough greasy sausage to max out anyone's cholesterol. So to commemorate the pancake dinners of old, we're recreating the Rotary Club Dinner tonight at Pheasant Ridge. Skim milk has taken the place of whole; turkey bacon instead of sausage and the plush confines the James' living room instead of the cafeteria seats. I'm calling it "Pancakes for Pobama." Pictures and commentary from Luke James will follow later tonight.

Fired up, ready to go.

Ron Clark Academy: Part 2

The story and lyrics behind the song. I think we have a few future presidents, CEOs and congressmen/women in that group.

Electoral College Prediction

<p><strong>><a href='http://projects.washingtonpost.com/2008/pick-your-president/'>2008 Election Contest: Pick Your President</a></strong> - Predict the winner of the 2008 presidential election.</p>

You can create your own here.

It's Catchy And You Can Dance To It

Boo-rack Obama Wishes You a Happy Halloween

I think everyone knows my political leanings for this election, but in case you don't, here is an artistic expression of my choice. Many thanks to Yes, We Carve for some awesome templates. After three knives, four toothpicks, one potato peeler, a pair of scissors and a screwdriver, I was able to come up with these. My hands feel arthritic, but I think it was worth the effort. Hopefully, Nastia the neighborhood kitten won't destroy it.

LBJ Endorses A President

Video

A Big Ask for Family and Friends

Family Legacy (the organization that puts on Camp Life in Zambia) started a program last year that gives everyone the opportunity to get personally involved in the development and welfare of the orphans we worked with in Zambia.  Part of my responsibility back home in the States is to get my kids sponsored.  I know this is a tough time to ask for a financial commitment, but please consider making a monthly investment of $36 per month to help feed, clothe and educate one of my 13 boys.  The schools in Zambia are less than ideal and surprisingly they are not free.  There is no tax base to support the schools so everyone must pay to receive an education. The money you give goes directly to that boy (or girl) and his family.  It's administered by the local Family Legacy office in Zambia that is staffed by the same camp counselors I worked with this summer.  Only 5 percent of the $36 goes to administrative costs.

Two of my 13 boys have been sponsored.  That means there's 11 ready for your assistance!  Once you set up automatic credit card payment, you'll receive a welcome packet and will be able to write letters to your kid(s) and receive letters back.  Most of the older kids can speak and write English. If not, they'll use the Family Legacy ambassador in their local community to help write the correspondence.

If you have more questions about the program, feel free to contact me at bevo14 at gmail dot com.  I can send you more photos of the specific child you're interested in sponsoring in addition to the notes we took about their family situation and any prayer requests they've mentioned. The photo above shows my boys from this year. I was fortunate enough to have eight of the same boys as the year before.  The names in green need sponsors; the boys in pink are already sponsored.  You can select anyone you want, but I'd like to ask someone consider Dickson.  He suffers from painful headaches and has extremely poor eyesight.  

If you'd rather sponsor girls, Dawn and Betty have more than 20 girls needing a sponsor.  I can put you in touch with them. Just let me know.

To view more details about my boys, please click on the Father's Heart website.  In the Ambassador search page, please type my name in the appropriate fields. You'll see my boys listed on the following pages.

I know many of you may be a bit leery of these sponsorship programs. In all honesty, I was a bit skeptical, too. However, this summer my mind was put at ease.  One day while in the local village, one of my boys named John pointed up the hill to a remote brick structure that looked like a deserted motel.  It was the orphanage where he lived.  John had lived on the streets for two years and one day decided to walk up to the orphanage and see if they would take him. He was 11 at the time.  I asked John how he was able to pay the school costs. He said, "I don't know who pays my tuition; I just know someone takes care of it."  That someone was Father's Heart.

If committing to $36/month seems out of reach right now, please consider tag-teaming with a family member or friend to help out the kids in Zambia. 

Thanks for taking time to learn about this program.

Yes, We Carve

Yes, We Carve is a site devoted to pro-Obama pumpkin carvings. You can download stencils for free here.

Will I be making one? In the words of Governor Sarah Palin, "You betcha!"

In fairness, you can download McCain and Palin templates here.

Class Act

Lullabies

One of the highlights of this year's Zambia trip was meeting (and hearing) Erin Ivey -- a fellow Camp Lifer and singer/songwriter from Austin. Since most of my friends these days have kids, are expecting kids or want kids (that's me...but first things first), here's her "Lullabies" website with three free songs for your little ones.

She'll be playing in the Rollins Theater at the Long Center if you are interested in seeing her live.



Her regular music can be heard on her website. She plays Cedar Street each Wednesday night.

Red River Rivalry, iPhones and a Home Office

Where did September go? Where's October going? I can't believe it's been almost a month since my last post. It seems each blog entry these days begins the same way.

I started my new job at Convergys on September 15 just in time to be at home and watch the stock market nose dive. So far, the job is going well. My co-workers are based in Lake Mary, Florida, Cincinnati, Ohio and Dallas. I was in Dallas one week and in Blanco for an offsite the following week. The days at home seem to go by extremely fast. Molly is loving the home office set-up. She usually sleeps on the perch at the top of the stairs, and waddles around for few minutes before plopping back down for another 2-3 hour snooze. I'm adjusting to life with a Blackberry. I miss my iPhone dearly, but it's found a good home with Mom. She's texting, downloading music from iTunes and adding photos to the phone like a pro. Once our company switches back to Exchange, I'll likely go back to the iPhone. Until then, I get my iPhone fix when I see Mark or Mom.

Here are some photos of the home office set-up. I still have a few pictures to hang, but the major re-arranging and decorating is done.




I hosted a Texas-OU Red River Rivalry party at my place last Saturday. What a game! Here are some photos from the party.






ESPN College Game Day is live from the Forty Acres this Saturday morning. They're setting up on the South Mall so it should be a nice setting for some fall football. I'll post some photos here so check back.

Africa Photos Posted -- Part 2

I can't believe it's been over a month since arriving back from Zambia. Here are the long overdue photos from Camp Life 2008. You can view the thumbnail photos below or click here to see the larger slideshow with full captions.

A Change Will Do You Good

Today is my last day at Oracle. As I write this, I'm packing up my cube and preparing DHL labels for the three laptops I managed to collect during the past 5-plus years at Oracle-Siebel-Ineto Services. I've accepted a job at Convergys working in their Relationship Technology Management group. While the company is based in Cincinnati, Ohio, I'll remain in the Austin area working from home. They have a Round Rock office, but it's at capacity for now. I've put my name on the waiting list for an office in the event something opens up.

I'll be doing pretty much the same thing I did at Oracle. I was ready for a change, and am looking forward to working with Mike again.

What does one do when you have three days off before starting a new job on Monday? You go to Mexico during hurricane season! Karin and I leave tomorrow morning for three days in Puerto Aventuras which is just down the beach from Playa del Carmen. Ike seems to be cooperating with our plans so far, but you never know.

Karin's paper goes to production next week so this seemed the best time to go. Plus, we wanted to be back in time for Luke's birthday party. I wouldn't miss it for the world.

So be on the lookout for my new contact information soon. I'll be looking for any excuse to get out of the house so if you want to meet for lunch, I'm all in.

Makes Sense to Me

College Football, Why Are You So Good to Me?

Yesterday reminded me of why September through December is the best time of the year. College football season officially started at 9 am with ESPN College Gameday in Atlanta. There's something about seeing Chris, Lee and Herb on that set that makes the air feel a little crisper and the water taste a little sweeter. I had planned to have a Texas-Florida Atlantic game watching party at my place on Saturday evening, but had to cancel mid-week because AT&T U-verse (my new cable provider) wouldn't state whether or not they would carry the game. After an obligatory stroll through IKEA (no weekend plans = IKEA deals to be had), I camped out at Mark, Suzanne and Luke's for some football watching and napping. At 1 pm, Statesman.com reported that AT&T U-verse would, in fact, be carrying the pay-per-view Longhorns game at 6 pm. Suddenly life had meaning. The sun would come up tomorrow. The Statesman was the best news organization in the world for reporting this all-important news fact.

We loaded up the caravan and headed back to my place by way of Jason's Deli, and took in the PPV goodness. After the Longhorns had put away Florida Atlantic, Mark and I focused our attention on other games of interest but not before brewing a pot of coffee for the longhaul. Maxwell House just tastes better when it's brewed and enjoyed with your brother at 10 pm. The rest of the night was spent in disbelief as we refreshed CBS Sports Gametracker to discover the Aggies in a knock down, drag-out pigskin brawl with the SEC powerhouse Arkansas Razorbacks. Oh wait, make that the Sun Belt's Arkansas State Red Wolves. By 10:30 am, the Longhorns were 1-0, had contributed $900,000 to the FAU athletics department, the Aggies and Michigan were 0-1, and Mark and I had a good night of brotherly bonding.

Week 1 is in the books. Let's hope weeks 2-12 are just as enjoyable.

In Honor of The Dark Knight

Karin and I are going to see "The Dark Knight" tonight. We may be the only two people left in Austin who haven't seen it. In honor of the movie, here are a few pics of the Dark Knights circa 1981. I love how our black masks where just about as big as our face. We both look like we need some glucose.

A shiny quarter for whoever guesses which is which first. (Mom is disqualified on the count she gave birth to us and has never mistaken us.)

I love our maroon pants underneath the costumes. It's most definitely a super hero buzzkill. I'm sure we were lectured about the cool October nights before we were coerced into wearing them out.

Video: Singing at Camp Life

Here's some video of the kids singing on the first day of Camp Life 2008 while awaiting their group assignments. Their little accents are too cute for words.

Africa Photos Posted -- Part 1

I'm back home! Karin picked us up at DFW on Sunday afternoon and took us to Abuelo's for Tex-Mex. Everything tasted like it had about a tablespoon of salt. It was wonderful. Here are the first set of photos taken on the trip. This covers our first week of travel, safaris in Livingstone and our kayaking adventure. I'll post Camp Life photos soon. The majority of my photos are from Camp Life so expect more soon.



Double-click on the album to see the photos in better quality.

Twelve Hours in Johannesburg

Muli Bwanji ("Good morning" in nyanja).  

It's 1:15 pm (6:15 am CDT) in Johannesburg, South Africa.  The bus came around at 4:45 am this morning to take us to the Lusaka airport for our flight to Johannesburg.  Thirty-five of us are here waiting for another 50 in the group to arrive. We'll have about a 12-hour layover in the airport before our flight for London.  One of the families on the trip invited about 6 of us to a VIP lounge with free food, drinks, cocktails, magazines and Internet. It was a God-send.

I got about 4 hours sleep last night and am running on adrenaline right now. I plan to document the past week with the kids to kill some time in the airport. It was a hard week, but another amazing experience. I had 8 of "my kids" from last year! I took much more video this year which I'll eventually get posted to You Tube. So please check back here in the coming days for video and photos. The final photo count was 587.

Karin is picking me, Dawn and Betty up at DFW on Sunday around 4 pm. Craving Tex-Mex and anything with salt in it. Everyone is well, but nursing upper-respiratory coughing. The dust was horrible. It hasn't rained in Zambia since March so grass was few and far between. I've been taking Cipro and eating Ricola cough drops like they're M&Ms.

We had planned to take a taxi to downtown Johannesburg, but apparently it's not the safest city to roam. I wish Gayle would swing by and take us to the Oprah Winfrey Academy.

Back to the Real World

We arrived in Lusaka yesterday morning after a 7-hour bus ride from Livingstone. Our ride picked us up at the hotel around 4:45 am yesterday morning and took us to the bus station. The bus was packed. We were the only white people (muzungus) on the bus. We stopped twice for restroom breaks which cost K500 (500 kwacha = approx. 25 cents).
My villa in the Mulungushi Village is much better than last year. My roommates are great. One is a fashion designer from NYC; the other is a farm boy from Ft. Worth.

Today, we attended church in the village with a 20-person Zambia choir and Zambian preacher. It lasted more than 2 hours. After church, the bus took us to the local market for lunch and shopping. Every Sunday the local craftsmen come to sell their goods. Our meals the last three days have been eggs, french fries, carrots, green beans and white rice. The PB&J starts tomorrow. I'm at a small cafe that sells Internet access for K9,000 (approx. $2.50/hr.). I wish Starbucks would get in on that action. We shared a table with a nice Aussie attending Cornell University graduate school in upstate New York. He's over here for two months researching conservation and environmental protection policies. He sleeps in a tent each night so it makes our living quarters sound like the Four Seasons.
This afternoon we meet our Zambian interpreter who we'll be paired one-on-one with for the remainder of the week. It was good to see some familiar faces back at camp. There are about three people who attended week 8 with me last week. Two are current UT students.

Yesterday, on the way to the village, I saw a local guy wearing a homemade Barack Obama t-shirt. My window was open so I yelled, "I like your t-shirt." Without missing a beat, he yelled back, "Change we can believe in." How awesome is that!  

This is the last time I'll have Internet access for the remainder of the trip in Africa.  The next post will likely be in South Africa on the way back home if I have enough time between flights.

Here are some photos taken over the past 4 days since my last blog post. 

Hungry, Hungry Hippos

Today we took a 7-hour kayak trip down the Zambezi River. Our tour guide met us at the hotel lobby around 7:30 am and drove us 20 miles upriver from Victoria Falls. It was just me, Betty and Dawn on the trip. The Zambezi borders Zambia (west) and Zimbabwe (east). As we got into our kayaks, Bernard (our guide) said we could possibly encounter wildlife along the river. “Worst case, we’ll encounter hippopotamus.” Well, we did.

Betty and I were in the rear canoe and followed closely behind Bernard. About one mile down river, we came across a herd of 12 hippos right in the middle of the river. We paddled along the Zimbabwe side of the bank about 20 yards from the herd. All of a sudden, they started howling (that’s what I’m calling it) and opening their mouths. They call this “mock charging.” There wasn’t much mocking about it. They started moving toward our kayak. I can honestly say, I’ve never felt the fear I felt that moment. My knees and ankles went numb. Betty started crying. After we got passed the herd, we encountered a lone hippo about two miles down river. Bernard said lone hippos are unpredictable so we went ashore on the Zimbabwe side and walked along the banks of the river with the baboons and impalas. From that point on, Betty rode with Bernard, leaving Dawn and I to fend for ourselves. I stayed in the back to steer. We stopped for lunch and had a great conversation with our guide. He’s from Zimbabwe and had been a kidnapped four times in Zimbabwe before fleeing with his wife and two kids for Zambia. He escorted Hillary Clinton to Victoria Falls while Bill Clinton was in office and later escorted Madeline Albright while she was still Secretary of State. We could have stayed there for hours talking to him. At 3:30 pm we went ashore and the trip was complete. We drove through the Mosi-Oa-Tonya National Park and saw zebra, giraffe, elephants, baboons and wart hogs. On the African Queen cruise the night before we saw Zambia’s only rhinoceros which also lives in the Mosi-Oa-Tonya (“the smoke that thunders”) reserve. Less than a year ago, the second one was killed by poachers. Merchants in the Far East use the rhino horns as aphrodisiacs. The ground up dust goes for $25,000 a kilogram!

We are back at the hotel now to clean up. We are eating at the hotel tonight, and will probably watch a rented iTunes movie in my room. My roommate is a 21-year-old student at the University of Arkansas studying finance.

Tomorrow we go on a safari in Botswana. We did this last year and it’s one of the highlights of the trip. I’ll enjoy it from the safe confines of the boat and Jeep. Now it’s off to my hotel room to put on a clean pair of underwear. I'm only half kidding.

South Africa

It's 9:30 am (2:30 am CT) on Tuesday morning, and I'm waiting for my South African Airways flight to Lusaka. I'm eating some ostrich bilatong which I'm told is like beef jerkey. The jury is still out on that.

We drop our bags off with Susan Greer (wife of the guy who runs Camp Life) who's meeting us at the airport to take most of our bags back to the Mugundushi Village. We'll stay at the airport and hop a short flight to Livingstone for a few days of rest at Victoria Falls. So far, the trip has been fairly smooth. Again, Heathrow proved to be a challenging connection. We had a 12-hour layover yesterday so Betty, Dawn and I visited downtown London. We took the train to the River Thames and walked around for about 7 hours. We listened to the bells at Big Ben. "Look, kids. Big Ben...Parliament!" Then we walked around Chelsea hoping to see A-Rod walking out of Madonna's apartment. I'm not sure she even lives in Chelsea, but Betty thought it would make a good story.

The train had mechanical issues on the way back to Heathrow so we had to take two connecting buses between Terminal 4 and the new Terminal 5. I walked right on to my plane with little time to spare. I was drenched in a nervous sweat, but it all worked out. The 11-hour flight to Johannesburg was smooth. I watched "All the Presidents Men" which killed a good 3 hours. The rest was spent sleeping.

We met most of our Week 8 campers at DFW. It's a good mix of young adults, married couples, families and college students. One girl just graduated high school and decided to raise the money and go by herself.

I'll update more if there's Internet availability.

All Aboard

Tomorrow, Betty, Dawn and I leave for Zambia.  This afternoon, Karin, Mark, Suzanne, Luke, Betty and Dawn came over for a "weighing party" where I weighed my bags to make sure everything would fit on British Airways' planes.  Everything came in just under 51 lbs.  As of Saturday evening, I'm loaded down with three checked bags weighing (47, 50 and 26 lbs.) plus a carry-on with my computer, iPod, books and emergency clothes in case the checked luggage gets lost.  Karin has graciously agreed to drive us up to DFW in her sister's SUV/mini-van.  We're making a pit stop in Belton for breakfast at the Taqueria Mexicana courtesy of my parents.  Pat and Maggie are joining us too.  It'll be nice to see everyone before we leave.  Then it's back on the road for DFW.  I'll try to send photos and post updates as Internet connectivity allows.  Thanks to everyone who had anything to do with this trip.  Whether it was your monetary support, clothing donations or prayers, it was all greatly appreciated.

Here are a few photos I've been meaning to post.  
Photo 1: Karin and me at the Fourth of July
Photo 2: Betty and Dawn at DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium

New Look

My blog has a new look courtesy of Suzanne. She designed the previous layout, too.  I told her I wanted the blog to look more "summerish."  Instead of just making it green, she went a step further and used a manipulated a photo their grass in their own yard.  Pretty creative.  Thanks Suz!

iPhone 3G: The San Francisco Treat -- Part 2

Last week, Mark and I took a “brothers-only” trip to San Francisco. I believe an earlier blog post stated incorrectly that our last trip together was in 1996. I stand corrected. Our last trip was to San Diego for the 2000 Holiday Bowl.

Let’s not kid ourselves. This trip had iPhone 3G written all over it. True, I was out there for business, but when we learned on June 9 that the next iPhone would be released during our San Francisco stay, work seemed to fade into the background. Here’s a blow-by-blow account of what went down in our quest for the iPhone 3G. I’m convinced the Microsoft gods were conspiring against us the moment we left Cedar Park.

Tuesday
3:30 pm – Leave Cedar Park to catch 6:30 pm Jet Blue flight
6:30 pm – Jet Blue flight departs Austin
7:30 pm – After circling Austin five times, we land back in Austin. Reason: Faulty landing gear door sensor.
11:30 pm – Flight is grounded for the evening.
11:31 pm – Book back-up Southwest Airlines flight for next morning.

Wednesday
12:30 am – We spend the night at the Holiday Inn Town Lake. We thought it’d be fun to play like tourists to Austin. Bad idea. This place is/was a dump.
1:00 am – Go to bed expecting new Jet Blue flight in the morning.
6:00 am -- Jet Blue flight is cancelled. Natives become restless.
8:30 am – Southwest gets us to San Francisco. God Bless Herb Kelleher.

Thursday
8:00 am – David goes to work. Mark tours Stanford and rides train up and down the Penninsula. Scouts out three Apple retail stores. After much discussion, Palo Alto is agreed upon as the best chance for a phone.
5:00 pm – Brothers James catch the Cal Train into San Francisco. Walk around Union Square, the Embarcadero and near AT&T Park.
10:00 pm – Back at hotel for one final iPhone sync.

Friday
5:30 am -- Two coffees and two Odwalla bars. No time for the restaurant. There’s phones to be had!
6:45 am – Arrive at Palo Alto Apple store a few blocks from Stanford. Already 200th in line. Make some nerd friends and get lots of great free goodies. Best gift: iPhone screen polisher.
10:00 am – Get to counter only to be told we can’t buy an iPhone 3G at the Apple Store. Both our accounts are on corporate plans and therefore locked. Only AT&T can access our accounts. We fight back the tears and push on.
10:30 am – Mountain View AT&T store is sold out. Try to find three more AT&T stores with no luck.
11:30 am – Head to Palo Alto AT&T store. Wait in parking lot for 2 ½ hours. Survive on free water and Dum-Dum suckers. We later find out this is the highest-grossing AT&T store in the US.
12 pm – I get the last iPhone 3G at the AT&T store.
12:30 pm – Head back to Apple store. Mark marches to front of line and tell security guard our “situation.” The Apple rep remembers us and takes Mark to the next available Apple rep. He says, “You’ve waited in line long enough.”
12:45 pm – Mark has an iPhone 3G. The trip is officially a success.
1:15 pm – We celebrate with a sushi lunch and a Red Mango dessert.
2:30 pm – High on Apple, we drive to Apple’s corporate headquarters in Cupertino. We ask to go to the restroom inside the corporate offices so we can get a glimpse inside Steve Jobs’ inner sanctum.
2:45 pm – Relive the day over Starbuck’s coffee.

Saturday
Spend the day walking around the University of California – Berkely campus and driving down Highway 1 (Pacific Coast Highway). Dip our feet in the freezing Pacific Ocean.

San Francisco to Austin via Midland -- Part 2

Due to the Jet Blue fiasco on Tuesday, we extended our stay in San Francisco one day and headed back to Austin on Sunday. Forty-five minutes before we landed in Austin, the Southwest pilot announced that we were making an emergency landing in Midland due to fuel smells in the main cabin. Mark and I were seated in rows 3 and 4 so we hadn’t noticed any foul stench.

Once off the plane, we realized the airline fuel had sickened 6 passengers enough that one was taken to the hospital. Once we walked into the Midland terminal we could see a firetruck and police car that had escorted across the tarmac. After a three-hour layover in Midland (and it felt like every bit of 3 hours) we were back in Austin. Another brothers-only trip in the books. iPhone or no iPhone. On-time flight or not. The great company and memories were all worth it.

Charlie

I may be the last person on the planet to see this, but I'm addicted to this clip. I'm not sure what's cuter: the older brother's British accent or Charlie's devilish grin.

Minnesota Trip

I arrived back in Austin last Thursday after four days in Minnesota. Some of the perks for traveling so much is taking in the local cultural destination like museums and historical landmarks. So what better place to absorb the local culture than to visit the Mall of America. I was eager to see the Camp Snoopy amusement park. I don't care who you are. Lifesize Peanuts characters is just about as cool as it gets. When I arrived at The Mall, I discovered the Peanuts gang had been booted by Dora and Diego. Nickelodeon has taken over the amusement park with Nickelodeon Universe.

I felt like The Griswolds when they arrived at Wally World only to discover the park closed (RIP John Candy). So I sucked it up and managed to eat a good Italian dinner at one of the restaurants. I think we selected the one that required the least amount of walking.

I'm home for two weeks before Mark and I head out yonder for the Great iPhone 3G Pilgrimage of 2008...I can't wait for the Fourth of July to get here. Besides Christmas, the Fourth of July is hands-down my favorite holiday. The air just seems different on that day. The parade, the Marching 100, being at Mom and Dad's and seeing friends new and old. The last count reported by the accounting firm of Jim and Sharon, LLC, is 55...I spent Saturday afternoon at William, Cristi and Brody's in Buda. Brody is adorable. He has the perfect little face and head. He slept for about 1 1/2 in my arms before he got hungry...Sunday afternoon was spent at Maggie and Jo's riding the jet ski. Maggie has been very gracious in letting me monopolize two weekends in a row for some lake fun. We covered almost all 28 miles of Lake Belton in two weekends. Along the way, she'd point out Paw-Paw's favorite fishing spots. He loved that lake!

Smile...It's June 20th

Besides being a Friday, there is another good reason to be happy. Scientists have discovered June 20 to be the happiest day of the year.

O + (N x S) + Cpm/T + He

Full story.

And I thought it was just because I ate at Matt's today.

Beautiful Image

Whenever you see this image, you know Steve Jobs is up to something good. And this time it was pure iPhone goodness. A new iPhone that works on the 3G network and not the molasses network otherwise known as Edge. I'm selling my 2G iPhone for $125 if anyone is interested.

Mark and I are going out to San Francisco next month for some work (me) and play (Mark). It's the first boys-only trip we've taken together since our L.A. trip just before out last semester at UT. We're trying to figure out which San Francisco-area Apple store to camp out in front of come July 11. It's going to be a complete dork-fest when we're out there. First...stop at the Apple headquarters to soak of the aura of Steve Jobs. Seconds, visit the garage in Palo Alto where HP was founded. Then go to our hotel across the street from Oracle.

Blogs Are Great

Blogs are great inventions. There's only one catch: I have to write posts for them to work. I've been really horrible about posting lately. I'll try to take the next few paragraphs to update everyone on what's been going on in my life the last six weeks (!) since I last posted.

The chaos started in mid-May with a trip to New York City for a series of customer meetings. I didn't do too much sightseeing, but did happen to catch the leftover crowd from the New Kids on the Block concert at the Today Show. I arrived about 10 minutes too late, but did manage to catch Jonathan smoking outside Rockefeller Center. The rest of my morning was spent doing a whirlwind "window media tour" of NYC. First stop, Don Imus near Madison Square Garden; Bill Hemmer at Fox News and then Anne Curry at the Today Show. I guess I'm easily entertained by watching TV shows through 3-inch thick glass with no sound.

It was back in Austin for the weekend and then off to Denver for work. Our team had an internal planning meeting for the next fiscal year. We capped off the week with a hike in Red Rocks.

It was back in Austin for full week and then off to Washington, D.C. for work. We're launching a new release of our software so we're kicking off a global sales training initiative. I met a co-worker in Reston, Va., just outside D.C. and took the D.C. Metro inside the Beltway for dinner and sightseeing. We didn't finish dinner until 10 pm but were still able to walk around the White House, tour the Vietnam Veterans War Memorial and walk inside the Lincoln Memorial. I definitely want to return to D.C. to visit the Smithsonian. Maybe Obama's inauguration would be a good time!

As I write this, I'm on my couch at home in good ol' Austin (okay Cedar Park) with Molly snoozing next to me. I leave on Sunday afternoon for Minneapolis-St.Paul for another round of training. I hope to visit the Mall of America and maybe bump in to Jeff Olson's kin folk.

Yesterday, Mark and I celebrated our 33rd birthday with friends and family. Does that sound as old as it looks on the screen? While it was great to have everyone there, I wish Karin could have been there. Unfortunately for me (but fortunately for her) she was soaking up the sun in Hawaii with her mom, sister and roomate.

I did, however, receive this nice birthday message from Karin at 12:01 am on June 11th.

Young @ Heart

Go see this movie. Excluding "The War Room," this is by-far the best documentary I've ever seen. The movie follows a group of senior citizens (age 74-92) as they prepare for a European concert tour singing rock 'n roll songs from The Ramones, Sonic Youth, Coldplay, Talking Heads, Bob Dylan and James Brown.

One of the most haunting performances come from Fred Knittle. As he sings Coldplay's "Fix You" the oxygen pump can be heard in the background.

Maybe in 2055 I'll be singing the classics from Soulja Boy and The Jonas Brothers. And maybe not.

Living Out Your Love

This story appeared on the front page of the Houston Chronicle this week. When faced with terminal cancer, some kids ask Make-A-Wish for Disney trips or celebrity encounters. Kristin asked for an orphanage in Zambia.

UPDATE: ABC News has selected Kristin as their "Person of the Week." Check out ABC's website to watch the story on tonight's ABC World News Tonight with Charlie Gibson.

Thanks for the Memories

This was a bittersweet week at work. Mike, who I've worked with or for during the last six years, decided to pursue another opportunity outside Oracle. A senior vice president and general manager position awaits.


I've slowly learned that co-workers' departures are part of the job. People come, people go. But Mike was (and is) different. He has that magnetism that draws people toward him. I was fortunate enough to work for Mike at Ineto way back in the Internet Boom of 2000 and was called to his office one late August afternoon during the bust of 2001. It was just three weeks before 9-11. From the ashes of Ineto rose Ineto Services and with it a new job opportunity with Mike in 2004. As Mike always said, "We got the band back together." Ineto Services gave way to Siebel. Siebel gave way to Oracle. During the chaos, one thing was constant: Mike. While other acquired companies were losing staff, we never did. I think Mike was part of that reason. I think the greatest lesson I learned from Mike is you can be at the top of your game and still have a family life. The two aren't mutually exclusive. So on a spring night at Zax, the Ineto gang said goodbye to the guy who brought us all together. In true Mike fashion, he wouldn't let us buy his own going away dinner. As Winston Churchill said, "Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning." Good luck, Mike.

New Look

After many long nights of brainstorming and focus group testing on the east and west coasts, the graphic design firm of Wendy, Suzanne, Kimmel and James delivered a new look to my blog. Take a look around and let me know what you think.

A Success!

This past Saturday, Betty, Dawn and I held our Africa fundraiser at Flirt to raise money for our upcoming Zambia trip. I have to admit I wasn't certain the event would be a success. I've never thrown a fundraiser before; however, Betty and Dawn helped orchestrate a successful event. We started at 7 pm and by the night (err...morning) was over we raised $1,026! To everyone who attended, donated auction items, brought food or sent donations: THANK YOU!



A special thanks to Leah at Flirt, David at Grapevine Market, Bryan at Bodies by B, Shauna at Vanilla Bean Design, the Houston Texans, Ethos Fuel, CD3 and Perfect Petzzz.

Saturday on Campus

Thinking of My Kids

Inspiring Read

The last time I read an entire book in less than a week was in 9th grade when I tried finishing "To Kill A Mockingbird." Nineteen years later, I happy to report I did it again. "Bono: In Conversation with Michka Assayas" is a novel-length Q&A with U2's frontman. I give it five out of five black wrap-around sunglasses.

Paging Dr. Oz

I've never had a parasite. I don't know what a parasite feels like. I don't even know what it looks like. Despite this ignorance, I'm 100 percent confident I have a parasite living in my being. It all started four days after I arrived back in the States. Dawn and I tried eating at Sampaio on Friday night, and I spent the entire time not at the table. I've never experienced stomach pains like I was experiencing that night.

So we went to the Pro Med minor emergency clinic on Anderson Lane. The "nurses" behind the counter were eating fried chicken and licking their fingers as I was being admitted. That scene combined with the smell of sick was enough to put me over the edge. In classic Dawn form, she came prepared and brought a bag full of goodies to pass the time: Oprah magazines, a blanket, bottled water and bean bags for juggling. According to her, "it's impossible to worry and juggle at the same time."

The doctor gave me lomotil which he described as a "colon-seizing" medication. Sounded good to me. I spent the rest of the weekend in Temple with my parents getting some rest. The stomach pains continued.

Monday came and went. No change. Tuesday and Wednesday came. No change and no work. I eventually went to my normal doctor. She said the lomotil was the worst thing the doctor could have given me. They prescribed 500 grams of Cipro and did lab work. I'm still waiting to find out if I have a little Chinese parasite living inside me.

If you finished reading this blog post, thank you. Listening to someone else's sickness is like viewing their vacation photos.

Dispatches from Beijing

If I knew the Chinese words for "boring meetings" I'd use them right now to describe the afternoon meetings. So I'll use the time to recap the Beijing trip so far. I arrived on Saturday afternoon at Peking International Airport. The city alone is larger than Belgium in land mass and with more than 15 million people living in the city, it's not hard to forget you're not alone. The entire city (and country) is really gearing up for the Olympic games this summer. There are digital countdown clocks throughout the city to alert everyone how many days (158) are left before the opening ceremonies.



On Sunday, I booked a tour of the Forbidden City, Tiananmen Square and the Great Wall. The 9-hour tour which included an English-speaking guide, lunch and an air-conditioned bus cost only $60 or 420 Yuan. As you'll see from the slideshow below, I was totally under-dressed for the weather. When we arrived at the Forbidden City there was ice floating around the moat. My t-shirt, fleece and jeans didn't quite cut it. Quick facts on the Forbidden City I found interesting: It was the home of 2 dynasties (Ming and Qing). "The Last Emperor" was about one of these dynasties. I'm not sure which one. During the height of the Ming Dynasty, more than 5,000 servants, guards, eunuchs and concubines lived here. Once the woman entered the city walls, she never left. I'll end the history lesson before I start making stuff up.

As we left the Forbidden City, I tried snapping of photo of Chairman Mao Zedong and was quickly yelled at by the Chinese military guards. "No cameras!" There were about 20 guards stationed around the entrance yelling this to everyone attempting to snap a photo. They didn't have to tell me twice.

Across the street is Tiananmen Square and Chairman Mao's crystal tomb (from England, no less). Our tour guide's cousin participated in the hunger strike and protest in 1989.

After Tiananmen Square, we drove about 60 miles outside the city to the Great Wall. By this time, my core temperature had dropped about 10 degrees. I bought a counterfeit Olympics knitted cap for $1.25 from a lady on the Great Wall.

On the way back to the hotel we drove by the Olympic Village, National Stadium and National Aquatics Center. It was almost 7 pm on Sunday night and workers were out in full force laying bricks and sidewalks.

Our meetings started on Monday morning. About 30 people are crammed into a conference room fit for about 14. Every hour a little lady walks in and refreshes the hot tea. Last night we had a team dinner at a local restaurant. Some of the highlights included boiled chicken feet, seasoned duck egg (and by seasoned, I mean green) and papaya soup with fish stomach. I tried the latter. It tasted like mouthful of warm Ramen noodle before you add the chicken seasoning.

So far, no sickness or stomachaches. The highlight of today was seeing a store dedicated to nothing but Monchhichi and Precious Moments figurines. I was tempted to buy one, but I'm not telling you which one.

I'm planning to work from the hotel tomorrow morning so I can watch the Texas primary returns on CNN.com's streaming TV. I'll be holding my own caucus in room 1028.

Yes, We Can Mash-Up

Cool video mash-up of Barack Obama's speeches with Will.I.Am's music featuring Scarlett Johansson, John Legend, Herbie Hancock, Kate Walsh, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and more. Did I mention it has Scarlett Johansson?

A Bit of DC in Austin

Last night I attended the Texas Democratic Party Debate Watching Party at the Hyatt on Town Lake. After three hours of seeing the candidates on the big screen, they finally made their way to the ballroom for a few brief remarks to the crowd of 1,200. Before entering the ballroom, everyone had to go through TSA screening similar to the airport security checks.

Hillary spoke first and then made her way across the pipe and drape barriers to keep the crowd off the stage. I wasn't too confident I'd be able to shake anyone's hand. About 45 minutes later, Barack Obama entered the room to a medley of U2's "City of Blinding Lights" and Stevie Wonder's "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." He flashed the Hook 'em Horns sign and talked about the uniquely independent spirit of Austin that he'd like to bottle and take across the rest of the country.

As he was wrapping up the speech, I decided to make my move toward the front of the barrier. At this point, I was about 10 rows deep. I threw out all common courtesy and probably inappropriately clamored my way up to the front just as Obama was making his way to the line. My right hand shook his left hand. Score! I know I'm probably obsessing on this entire story, but it is what it is. Check out the video of his entrance:



Mark and I are scheduled to attend the "Stand for Change" rally tonight in downtown Austin. We'll have Mark and Suzanne's nice camera so I'm hoping for better pictures to post tomorrow.

Lost in Translation

I found out last night I'm going to Beijing, China, in two weeks for work. I'm representing our product group at a global strategy meeting in our Beijing office. The meeting is for only three days, but I guess they value face-to-face meetings rather than a call or webinar.


I spent three hours today trying to find out how to apply for a business visa. After calls to the US Embassy and Chinese Embassy, I finally figured out how to do it online. We outsource the process to third-party which makes it easier, but a little frightening nonetheless. I have to mail my passport to Houston for inspection/stamping.

It just so happened I went to the Austin Diagnostic Travel Clinic this morning for a flu shot (too late) and a follow-up hepatitis A/B shot from last year's Africa trip. I asked her what other shots I needed for China. I didn't want to get turned away at the airport for not having a simple rabies shot. Good news. No vaccinations are needed. I think I pretty much glow in the dark from last summer's poking and prodding. I just can't visit any pig farms or hatcheries. There go my evening plans.

Love is in the Air

Happy Valentine's Day! Molly is loving her some Uno this week. Every evening I come home to Luther Vandross blaring from her room.

Death and Taxes

I feel like I've flirted with both the past few days. The sickness started last Wednesday out in California. I attributed it to the above average amount of seafood I consumed while I out there. Mercury seemed to be the culprit. After three days of no improvement, the verdict came down. The flu. Definitely the flu. Today was the first day I actually felt like getting off the sofa. The upside to this? LOST: Season 3 re-runs. Thanks to a potpourri of iTune downloads, NetFlix and the neighborhood Hollywood Video, I consumed 10 mind-numbing episodes over the past three days. My next installment arrives next tomorrow. I can finally join in the conversation without earmuffs. Strangely, I can say that 420 minutes later, I still have absolutely no clue what's going on. I love it!


Another positive thing to come from staying home: getting taxes done. That's about all I'm saying about that.

Luke has started calling me Uncle David. It's more like "Uh-Day" but it makes perfect sense to me and it is wonderful. It puts the biggest smile on my face each time I hear it. He loves to say "Uh-Day" and that gorillas are from "Aaa-cah" (Africa) and pandas are from "ina" (China). I'm probably stealing Mom and Dad's thunder, but he who blogs it first, claims it.

There Will Be Cleansing

So Mark and I saw "There Will Be Blood" last night. We've been big Paul Thomas Anderson fans since "Magnolia." I can't remember the last time the just the two of us went to a movie. Perhaps it was back in Dallas...It's off to the Bob Bullock Texas History Museum tonight for U2 3D in IMAX. This is my first trip to the IMAX theater in Austin. I'm a horrible Austin resident...I leave Monday for Redwood Shores. I'll be there until Friday. Mom has graciously agreed to house/dog-sit for me...As part of my "New Year, New You" (I think I stole that from Oprah), I'm starting a cleanse next Saturday with the help of Cheryl Sipkowski's recipe. She finished the cleanse last week. Basically, you give you digestive system a rest for 7-9 days and let it rid itself of all the toxins and "goo and glue" our bodies are subjected to. I'll keep everyone posted on how it goes. It's off to Whole Foods this afternoon to get the witches brew. I think eye of newt was actually listed on the recipe.

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Listening to: Bob Dylan - Series of Dreams

It's Good To Be Home

Well, it's been just a little over a month since I moved into my place, but for some reason this week seemed like the first week I was really settled into the new place. Some little birds found their bird feeder on the porch outside my bedroom. Molly loves sitting at the door staring at them as they fatten themselves up for the winter. I think she'd eat the bird seed if she could get to it.

I also cleaned out the fish bowl for Edith and Darrell, my two goldfish. They're named after Coach Darrell Royal and his wife Edith. I had a snail named Cleve but he went to the big freshwater fishbowl in the sky about three weeks ago. Edith and Darrell become "Dorothy" when Luke visits. That's what Elmo's fish is named.

Here's a timeline of the construction of my house. I can't believe these first photos were taken back in July. Enjoy!




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Listening to: Radiohead - Jigsaw Falling Into Place

Off to Dr. Sunbury's Office

Today Molly was treated to her annual vet appointment. I lucked into Dr. Sunbury from an old neighbor in Avery Ranch who also had a bulldog. Dr. Sunbury had bulldogs his entire life and absolutely loves them. Whenever he sees Molly he acts like she's the only dog in the world. Molly received a great report. Forty-two pounds and holding, which was an improvement from the plump 47 pounds we carried last September.

We Cranked it to Eleven

For Your Consideration

If there is anyone reading in Iowa, check this out.


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Now playing: Good Charlotte - I Don't Wanna Be In Love (Dance Floor Anthem)
via FoxyTunes

Holidays and Photos

It would be a crime not to mention the fantastic Christmas I had with family. I spent almost a week in Temple at my parents' place. I took two weeks off at work so I felt like I could really decompress and rest. We visited my great aunt Martha at her retirement community on the Friday before Christmas. She's in declining health so we dined in her community's dinning room. The highlight of the diner was seeing (and hearing) Dr. William Livingston (aka...the Voice of Tex) at a table nearby. It's like hearing the voice of God.

On Monday, we went to Maggie's, and in true James family tradition, ate Tex-Mex. Because nothing says Merry Christmas like margaritas and melted cheese goodness. It was awesome.

On Christmas Day, Mom and Dad went all out with a triptophan-inducing turkey and dressing dinner before we opened presents. It was a perfect day with Mom, Dad, aunt Pat, aunt Maggie, Mark, Suzanne and Luke present.

2008 -- Year of the Polar Bear

I have no idea if 2008 is the year of the polar bear, but judging from the weather so far, it's a good guess don't you think? I've been horrible at posting updates. I'll blame the move for that.

I closed on November 30, 2007, and officially moved on December 7, 2007. Molly made the move shortly afterward. I promise to post before, during and after construction photos later this week. I love my new place! I have a great group of neighbors and it really feels like a small community. I started an online neighborhood community through Google Groups so we could post questions, comments and concerns. I'd like to get involved with the HOA, but the community is still too new. I'll make that a second-half 2008 goal.

Speaking of goals, I've made a few resolutions (or goals) for 2008. After reading Shauna's blog last year, she made a good point about sharing your goals. The more you share and write down your goals, the more likely you are to achieve them. I'm sure Zig Ziglar or Flip Flippan said that. So here it goes for 2008:

1. Stop eating red meat. I did this for 3 months last year, but want to give this up completely. (Watch "Fast Food Nation" if this sounds extreme.)
2. Lose 14 pounds by July 2008.
3. Participate in another overseas mission or volunteer trip for the underprivileged.
4. Work smarter -- not harder at work.
5. Be more social -- ex...join HOA

I'll try to keep everyone posted on my progress toward these goals.

I'm excited about this Friday. I'm throwing a "post-holiday" party at the new place. So far about 16 people have RSVD'd. Do I know that many people? If you're reading this and it's not yet Friday, send me an e-mail and I'll send you directions and the speakeasy password. Party pictures will be posted afterward. Be sure to get your Picks and Clicks password before leaving.

Happy New Year!

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Now playing: Arcade Fire - No Cars Go
via FoxyTunes