The Great Cornholio!

No point here. I just like it.

Something to Ponder

It has been a while since I made a serious post so I think I am due. I read a little in the summer and I ran across a paragraph in a very famous book. Here is bit of it:

"Wh-oh yes, you mean why do I pretend? Well, it's very simple," he said. "Some folks don't like-the way I live. Now I could say the hell with 'em, I don't care if they don't like it. I do say I don't care if they don't like it, right enough-but i don't say the hell with 'em, see?"

"I try to give 'em a reason, you see. It helps folks if they can latch onto a reason...folks can say...That's why he won't change his ways. He can't help himself, that's why he lives the way he does."

"It ain't honest but it's mighty helpful to folks...I live like I do because that's the way I want to live."

What does this mean? Well there could be a few ideas to be brought forth by this very short segment of a rather long book. Perhaps it could be taken to mean you should be careful about what stereotypes you cast on people. They can have more of an affect than you know. Perhaps the person that you continually view in a certain way has taken on that persona because of being told so many times that they are just "that way". Maybe after a person hears so many times they are a certain way, it just becomes easier to be that way. Just some food for thought. I would love to hear other peoples interpretation of the short segment.

Can anybody name which very famous book this passage is from? The picture is a hint. How about which character said it?

Happy Birthday Ted!

Today is Ted's birthday. He is 7 years young. If only I could bring as much happiness to him as he has brought to me. Happy Birthday!

Another Good Day

This morning was another good day of fishing. I had a limit before 8:00 a.m. Here is a picture of today's catch.

Some Final Thoughts on Key West

Key West is truly an amazing place that everybody should visit at least once. I feel lucky to be a "Conch". This is the term given to people that are born in Key West. It comes from an old tradition that when the women of Key West gave birth, the household would put a conch shell on a post in front of the house to notify the surrounding residents. The residents of Key West are truly incredible people. They were all very nice and friendly. Any rumors you have heard of odd people are simply not true. Is Key West a resort? No it is a thriving city with schools, shops, and churches. I found that once in Key West food and other things were not priced out the ordinary ranges which is surprising for an isolated island. Here are some of the things enjoyed the most.

1. We rented an electric car and toured the island from one end to the other. This allowed us to see many things in a short amount of time.

2. Duval Street is great fun. There are so many places to stop in and cool off and the entertainment was great. Sloppy Joes, Irish Kevins, and Captain Tony's were my favorites. As for wildness, I would but Duval Street right up there with Bourbon Street in New Orleans and Beale Street in Memphis.

3. The weather is great too. It did get hot but I don't think as hot as Columbia.

4. The water is everywhere. If you are into playing in the water, Key West has it all such as Parasailing, fishing, jet skies, sailboats, snorkeling, diving, and just swimming.

5. I don't think there is a bad meal to find in Key West. The food is incredible.

My wife and I definately plan to return Key West. There are just too many more thing we want to do and see to not return. I could really see it becoming a quite common trip for us.

Sunset in Key West

One of the coolest things about Key West was the sunset. At about 30 minutes until sunset, it seems that everybody on the island starts to walk toward Mallory Square. People come from every direction to watch the sunset over the ocean. It is the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen. What is so cool too is the celebration that takes place. A celebration for the sunset? You bet. Why not? What better to celebrate than something you have absolutely no control of? Thousands of people came each night to participate. This is the link to celebration. http://www.sunsetcelebration.com/. Included are some pictures we took at sunset in Mallory Square.

The Cats of Key West

Key West is not only occupied by chickens by the drove but also cats. There is something odd about the cats though. Most of them have 6 toes! These is a genetic abnormality that has been encouraged on an island that not until recently was pretty secluded. The original polydactyly cat was named "Snowball" and he belonged to Ernest Hemingway. Cats are pretty prolific breeders so it didn't take long for them to take over. About 50 of these cats still live at Hemingway's house. They were pretty nice cats too. Just don't try to pick them up. This is the link to the Hemingway museum in Key West. http://www.hemingwayhome.com/. Included are some pictures of the cats of Key West.

The Chickens of Key West

I talked to some of my friends, and they said they knew this fact but it was new to me. Key West is covered in chickens. They are everywhere. You can't take less than about 5 steps in any direction with out running into them. I read they were originally allowed to roam free for the eggs that they provided to a pretty isolated island but as grocery stores became more available and easier to stock, the chickens just kind of took over. These are good looking chickens too. Here are a few pictures of the some of them.

A Few Pictures from Key West

These are a few of the things we saw on our trip to Key West. In case you didn't know, I was born in Key West.

In order:

We are at the Southern most point in the USA.

The sunset at Mallary Square.

This is a Blue Marlin that Ernest Hemingway caught when he lived in Key West.

This is a waterspot/tornado that formed near our hotel about 2 miles in the Gulf of Mexico.

I'm Back! From Key West!

I am back from almost a week in Key West. I have tons of pictures and stories to share, but I am dog tired right now so I will be sure to post a bunch later on today and tomorrow.

Flowers

You may or may not know that my wife and I grow a lot of daylilies. Here are some pictures of some of the ones we have grown so far this year.

6-12-07 Fishing Report

I caught about 20 keepers yesterday morning all before 10:00 a.m. Here is a picture of the ones I kept. I did get checked by DNR yesterday too so any of you that fish Lake Murray make sure you have all the required things you are supposed to before you go out. On the note, the DNR officer was one of the nicest and most polite one I had ever dealt with.

Carrie What is Up With You!

So I was curious as to what other songs Carrie Underwood had sung and I ran across another one of her hits. "Jesus Take the Wheel" The title seemed inspiring enough but then I listened to the lyrics. Oh Boy! Here is a sample:

She had a lot on her mind and she didn't pay attention

She was goin' way too fast

Before she knew it she was spinnin on thin black sheet of glass

She saw both their lives flash before her eyes

She didn't even have time to cry

She was so scared, she threw her hands up in the air

Here we go again. Reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. A car. Threw her hands up in the air? CRIKY! No how about turning in to the slide? How about slowing down?

Jesus take the wheel

Take it from my hands

'Cause I can't do this on my own

I'm letting go

My mom has a sign in her kitchen that reads:

"Pray towards Heaven, but Row towards shore."

I believe it definitely fits in this case. So now we have a girl that goes around beating up trucks and then drives around with her hands in the air! Maybe if she would lay off of the whisky shots she might be able to stay on the road. I can almost image the little talk she might have with St. Peter at the Pearly Gates.

Carrie: I asked Jesus to the take the wheel. What happened?

St. Peter: He tried to help you by making you slip on the ice so you might slow down a little. He really didn't expect your throw you hands in the air!

Carrie: Oh, My Bad!

FISHING!

We left the house at 5:20 a.m. this morning and got 3 and half dozen herring. The wind was houling at about 15 mph so we took off to a new place and I am glad we did. We caught about 40 stripers and used all the bait in 1.5 hours. The last bait that we had was a tiny little shad and the picture shows what happened to it. I caught a huge largemouth bass in 56 feet of water. It was about 8 pounds and I turned it lose. A fish like that deserves to go free.

New Theory: Carrie = Paris?

This is good so pay attention. Carrie Underwood and Paris Hilton may be the same person!Could this be a picture of Carrie being taken to jail for destruction of personal property? I think so. More details to follow but please ponder this over the weekend!

Fishing Report for 6-8-07

I caught about 8 keepers today. All in the big pool. I only kept one. It was 29" long and about 9 pounds. The high pressure is still making the fishing tough though. The fish really seem to be scattered about. Of course there were plenty of small fish to be found in Jake's Cove. It seemed like a lot of people were struggling to catch fish today so I feel pretty good about my day.

Before He Cheats

You have probably heard this song before. It's one by the "American Idol" Carrie Underwood. I don't like country music but some of it is funny to listen to on the way home from a race or some other situation when you are in L.A. (Lower Alabama). I have a problem with this song. He are some examples of the lyrics.

"he's probably buying her some fruity little drink cause she can't shoot whiskey..."

Yeah just want you want to bring home to mom. A girl that can shoot whiskey!

"That I dug my key into the side of his pretty little souped up 4 wheel drive,carved my name into his leather seats...I took a Louisville slugger to both headlights,slashed a hole in all 4 tires..."

Holy Cow! This is illegal! You can't go around doing things like this and to top if off she carved her name in his leather seats! That's just not smart. Talk about incriminating evidence. And all this talk about cheating. Were they married? Maybe he was tired of her crazy attitude and was trying to get away! If she had done any of this stuff to my truck...well I hope she has a good attorney because I am pressing charges! Destruction of personal property over $1,000. That is a felony! Good luck to you Carrie. I hope you had fun trashing the truck and your cell mates are nice people.

Sad News about Bill France, Jr.

He changed our sport forever. He will be missed.

Band Friends

Well Cindy is out of town in Tampa for business so that leaves the me and the Boyz home alone. It was fun for about an hour but now we miss her. She will be back on Wednesday so at least it is not too long. I spoke with what I consider to be the best band director I know last night on the phone. His name is Dan Ward and a lot of people don't know that we are what I would consider friends. He has done just all the stuff in band that I would like too. He has taken them to the Midwest band clinic and won state more time than I know. He always has great advise for me and I really enjoy picking his brain for tips. The one thing he consistently repeats is teach the students to listen to each other. Don't worry about the notes and rhythms as much as that. He quit band directing and now does tours for bands. I sure do wish he would get back into it. I would love to be a band director and have him as competition! He is the best. We talked for about an hour last night. Many people would be surprised to know who my band friends are. Most people think us band directors are all about competition and we are but the ones that beat me and my bands are the ones I respect the most. Some people are afraid to admit there are others that do things better then they do. I am not one of them. I just hope they can tell me some of their secrets.

Monday was a good day. I went to the dentist which I hate and then came home to re-watch last nights episode of the Sopranos. Then we (the Boyz and I) watched the race since it was rained out yesterday. Racing has changed a lot in the past few years but I still love it.

Happy Weekend

I hope everybody is having a good weekend. Our has been interesting. This morning the "neighborhood association?" decided to have a neighborhood yard sale. So there a bunch of people looking to buy other peoples junk in our neighborhood. Not too bad except they try to park on my grass. This is not good. And then to top it off, in one of the houses behind our house, the people decide it will be fun to explode something! Yes, this person threw a jug of gasoline on a large pile of wood to do some backyard burning. Hey, I like to burn stuff but not in a drought with a fire 30 feet high! Oh well. It might be time to look for a new house. It seems we may be due. There is a nice new neighborhood going up across the street from the lake in Lexington. That might be too good to be true. A little bit of a longer ride to work but WOW! the lake across the street. It is finally raining. It seems like forever since the last time and I am sure the band practice field will like it. It would sure be great to get some better grass on that field. I think the kids deserve it but much like a lot things that need to be done if I want better grass on that field, I will be the one to do it. Without a source of water, it would not be a good idea to put down real grass any way. Enjoy your weekend. Only 8 weeks until band camp!