What is it about Friday afternoons that make me so non-productive?

Is it the anticipation of the weekend?  Is it the lack of other employees still being in the office?  Or is it simply the feeling of accomplishment that one more week has been conquered?

I am not really sure…

I just know that it is again a Friday, and I am trying as hard as I can to NOT get anything constructive done!!!

Famous “Friday” Clips for you:

Friday the 13th:

Friday Night Lights:

Friday:

The calendar just turned to month number 8.  We have finished the 4th of July fireworks, the pastel colors of Easter, and even March Madness has gone bye-bye… Groundhog Day was a blast, but gone.  Cinco de Mayo was oh so fun, but no more…  And mid April, well, SUCKED as always but at least it is over…

… Now it is August.  If you have ever been to Dallas, Tx. in August, you know that there is one certainty that you can count each and every year: IT IS FREAKIN’ HOT!!!

This is the number one reason why I HATE August.  I hate waking up in the morning at 5:30, turning on the news, and seeing the temperature is already 85!  I hate stepping out of my door and immediately starting to sweat.  I hate not stopping sweating until sometime later in September, October, or in extra hot and pathetic years, November.  Although the rest of the summer is hot in Big D, August takes it to another stratosphere of SIZZLING.

Another reason I HATE August: The anticipation (but not quite there) of Football season.  Yeah, it is great to see training camps starting up.  It is great to see college and high school teams getting back together and preparing for the upcoming season.  And it is even great for me to get back out there and coach my handful of teams.  BUT, it is just that… PRACTICES.  And many of them.  Just practices…  One after another, with no real game or competition against a foreign opponent to look forward to.  The NFL preseason games are about as exciting as a midseason WNBA game.  The stars hardly play.  There is no pressure to try to win, and the talent level on the field is severely limited.  But, at least we get sumthin’ in the preseason with NFL.  College football makes us wait until the VERY END of August to play ANYTHING!  What happened to the old Kickoff Classics around August 20th?  Those were golden for someone “Jonesin” football and NEEDING it a few days early.  Man, I miss those things…

With all of that being said, premature football is why I LOVE August.  Football is pretty much back baby!  It gives me something to look forward to and be interested in when I wake up.  First thing I do, login to the various sports sites and get an update on NFL Training Camp.  Who is doing well?  Did anyone get hurt?  Who is going to win the QB battle?  Same with the college stuff.  Same with my teams as I have to prepare for practices each and every day and attempt to get the most outta my squads…

While August may be the 8th month on the calendar, it may be the brightest month in terms of anticipation.  BUT, it might also be the dreariest month due to the blazing heat and because of the overabundance of forced and unfulfilled quick enough ANTICIPATION. 

August is an enigma. 

August giveth and taketh away. 

Just get me to September with a quickness…

This was a monumental week.

My wife started a new job this week.  She is the new West Coast Area Account Manager for Telligent Systems (www.telligent.com).  They have an industry leading blogging and forum creation software called Community Server.  It TOTALLY ROCKS…

It is a totally cool company and she is already doing very well. 

Check them out when you get a chance…

Sorry for the short post… Just wanted to share the news.  More to come later…

Ok… I am at least 3 months late with the post of these pictures, but I had a small problem in October of last year… I didn’t have any functioning video editing software.

Well with the new year, I now have full use of Adobe Premiere Elements 4.  Man is it cool!

I used it to edit this quick video slide show below.  I used the digital still pics I snapped that day in October during our annual trip to the Texas State Fair (the best darn fair in the world!!!)

It took me no more than a total of about 15 minutes to create this video.  Pretty cool effects, huh???  Be sure to turn up the volume to hear the sound of the film reel!

I hope you enjoy….

Check out the video below to see why children are simply hilarious…

This is my son and I just out and about town…  He is quite a kid.  He keeps me in line I guess…

Hope you had a nice Christmas and are looking forward to the new year.

Did you have a nice Christmas this year?

I did… As always.

I received some very cool gifts highlighted by a DVD video camera, and a new digital still camera.  2008 appears to shaping up as the year of the picture and motion pictures.  In fact, see the video below captured on Christmas Day 2007 with the new camera….

My wife, once again, gave me some wonderful gifts, but I think I appreciated the practical gift the most: a new wallet.  I have needed one for about a year.

The week before Christmas we were blessed with a visit from my mom and her husband.  It was a short visit, but as always, a load of fun.  We are very thankful for this.

But I am the most thankful for the spirit of the season and getting to spend time with friends and family.  We truly are blessed in every way, every day.  This, to me, will always be the greatest gift of the holiday season.

Did you notice I changed my header image?  It is from Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” painting which happens to be one of my favorites.

 I love the colors and the contrasts…  Very beautiful.  It reminds me of this time of year in a small town in Europe somewhere.  Very, very cool…

My wife and I had some fun with our Christmas cards this year.

We staged a scene with some of our superhero action figures, a globe, some holly and a digital camera.  Then you add some fun effects from Photoshop and you got yourself a Christmas card….

 See below and let me know what you think…

 (click to see larger image)

What is it about Mondays that just totally suck?

Is it having to get up early, get ready for work, and officially get back in the grind?  Or is it the having to get back into social mode and interaction mode with everyone at work?  Or maybe it is just society’s conditioning of us that Mondays suck, they always have sucked and they always will suck.

 Even the Monday Night Football matchup tonight SUX… (Saints at Falcons) – Snore…

Each week, it appears that the time gap between 5 pm on Friday to 8 AM on Monday, grows rapidly shorter.  Do you also feel this way?  I can remember when I was younger (in HS, or college) it seemed like the weekend could last forever (although even then, it was too short).  Nowadays, it seems like a slight moment in time.  A simple couple of hand movements on a clock.  A quick twist of the Earth’s axis.

Anyway, I guess there is not much we can do about it, but suck it up and live with it.

I guess I will post this hot picture of Jennifer Love Hewitt to raise my spirits.  Maybe I will just sit here at my desk and hit refresh on this page… ALL DAY!!!

P.S.  Did you see Tebow won the Heisman on Saturday.  I TOLD YOU!!!!

The holiday season is always great for so many reasons…  Decorations, family, great food, gift giving and receiving, and your annual dose of Rankin/Bass characters.

For those of you who are not aware, Rankin and Bass were the directors/producers of the old Christmas classics from our childhoods… “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” “Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer,” “The Year Without A Santa Claus.” 

If you grew up anytime after the fifties and sixties, these were a staple of any holiday viewing each year.

After much thought I would have to rank my top 3 Rankin/Bass characters as the following:

1.  Snow Miser – “The Year Without A Santa Claus”    This guy had style.  He dances he sings and he sends an arctic freeze at the drop of a hat.  He is completely etched in my brain when I think of happy holiday memories.

2.  Yukon Cornelius – “Rudolf the Red Nosed Reindeer”    Yukon is a tough guy and a great friend.  He helps Rudolf in his journey to find himself and get back to help Santa save Christmas.  Why does he always lick his hammer and try to taste gold? 

3.  The Abominable Snowman – “Rudolf”    This snowman is terrible at first but shows his kind heart at the end of the show.  He doesn’t say much, but finds good employment at the North Pole to put the tree topper on the Christmas tree.

In our current nano-second lives where video games look better than real life and computer animation is king… It is nice to know that simple claymation like these movies still holds a place in our hearts.  Every year they wisk me back to my childhood where all I wanted for Christmas was the latest Star Wars action figure and the Atari version of Frogger.  Those were the days….