Posts from — September 2006

I skipped out of the office early yesterday so that Merrin and I could go to opening day at the Great State Fair of Texas. She had never been to an opening day (ditto for me) and we missed the fair last year, so it seemed like a no-brainer. Plus, with great weather, it was just the perfect day for the fair.

The food this year was good. Really good. Merrin dug the Fried Peanut Butter and Jelly with Banana sandwich. That was pretty good, but I gave my top prize to the Fried Mac-n-Cheese balls. (Think awesome with a golden brown crust and oozing with awesomeness.) And I managed to knock back two Fletcher's Corny Dogs to boot.

The highlight for me, however, is always the new car show. Merrin got to sit in a couple cars that are on her list for next year, and I got to see the new Ford F250 Super Duty. In truth, seeing the new Ford was at least 20% of my motivation for going to the fair, despite all that noise previously about opening days, weather, and fried good. I also got to drive the new Chevy Silverado pickup and got a freebie for nf0, but I don't think he would think much of the new Chevy - too soft and tame for his tastes, I suspect. It is refined & improved, but lacks the looks (inside & out) of the sainted F150.

We must have walked a couple of miles to see everything, but we did stop in to watch two "heats" of the pig races. I'm going to say you can go ahead and skip that, though. It's not nearly as glamorous as it sounds.
We also rode the Star of Texas ferris wheel, which we hadn't done since our first trip to the fair. I had forgot how tall that thing was (212 feet - 12 stories!) We got to the top right around sunset, which was beautiful. It might have even been a little romantic, if not for the Dad & daughter sharing our gondola.

It was a great day. We finally got to spend some quality time - which has been short since I've been working so much. Besides, nothing says "romance" like fried food and carnival workers!

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One of the great features in Google's Gmail is the conversation view of messages. This is relatively easy to recreate in Apple's Mail.app. Here's my take:

1) Create a Smart Mailbox with everything in your inbox and outbox.
2) From the View menu, choose “Organize by thread”.
3) Enjoy.

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I think I've updated to the newest MT. Yep, sure have.

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Terrell Owens says he didn't try to committ suicide by overdosing on pain pills. I — for one– don't believe him. He says that he had an allergic reaction to medication that he had been taking for more than a week. Yeah, right.

Instead, I believe the woman who just happens to be his publicist - you know, the lady that called the police in the first place. Deadspin explains it best:

Etheredge, Owens' personal publicist, found him last night disoriented and/or overdosing on medication. She told police that he said he was "depressed" and that a prescription for 40 pain bills had been filled earlier that week. Before this exact incident, Owens had taken five pain pills. Etheredge now realized they were all gone, and she watched Owens put two pills in his mouth, which she tried to extract. The police, witnessing the empty bottle, asked him if he had taken them. He said "yes." He was asked if he was trying to harm himself. He said "yes."

These are the facts: There is no way police could have gotten any of this information from anyone other than Etheredge. And there is no reason for them to lie.

Today, Etheredge, no longer a panicked woman afraid her friend and/or star client was about to die, put the personal publicist hat back on and denied everything that the police said. Their information, of course, came directly from her in the first place. And she is saying it didn't happen. As is Owens.

So, the question you have to ask here: Which Kim Etheredge do you trust more?

Do you trust the one who witnessed a man that she sees every day — presumably cares for, cleans up after, pampers — overdosing on 30-plus pain pills and immediately calls 9-1-1, telling paramedics in a panic that he was trying to kill himself?

Or do you trust the one who realized that she's not a human being: She's a publicist, and her job is to make Terrell Owens look like everything is just fine?

Do you trust the human, or do you trust the publicist?

T.O. needs help. I hope he gets it.

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If ever there was a time to want some baby-back, baby-back, baby-back - tomorrow would be the day.

On Monday, September 25th, every Chili's restaurant will donate every dollar spent to St. Jude's Children's Research Hospital. The money raised will help to build a new facility dedicated to groundbreaking research on brain tumors.

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Yes, it was Rice, but… man, we needed this win. FSU got offensive on Rice, 55-7. 285 rushing, 498 net yards, with just two punts and allowing zero sacks.

Maybe it's the start of something, or maybe it's just beating up a weak Rice team. Either way, we needed the win.

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There are only a few days in the course of your life that qualify as "the best days" - a day that changes your whole life. I can't say how many - maybe five or six, maybe ten if you're really lucky. But today… today was one of those for Merrin and me.

You see, today is… well, today is a red letter day. It's one of the days where you get really big news, and your heart stops and your whole life is forever different. Today is one of those "best days".

Today… it's officially official - we're adopting a baby girl.

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• Want to write for Slashfood?
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• ResizR - Easy online image resize
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I'm really starting to get tired of the trend of seeing my "team I like" (TCU) ranked higher than the team I love (FSU). It's happening again this week with TCU ranked #16 and FSU ranked #18. I still think FSU is better than TCU, but I wouldn't bet on it. And that's just sad.

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• Deep South sushi roll - Slashfood
  Smothered chicken thighs and oven-roasted okra, plus rice, wrapped in blached collard greens, served atop spicy onion gravy.
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Two models of John Deere Gas Grills have been recalled for being a fire hazard.

Wait… John Deere makes grills? And here I was getting depressed that FSU was selling out. Geez.

If these weren't Canadian-made, six-hundred dollar, flaming traps of death, I bet nf0 would totally have one down on the farm.

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