MEMO : 12.26.04 : [PATRICK CRAYTON]
"Patrick Crayton had never seen a Cowboys game in person -- until he was on the field playing for the team he grew up watching on television."
And today, he scored the winning touchdown against the Redskins.
I love hometown heroes!
MEMO : 12.19.04 : [DIANE'S FAULT]
Okay, truthfully, I first read about them in BRIDGET JONES: THE EDGE OF REASON, when ever-the-pretentious Bridget opens her moleskine to interview Colin Firth. (Colin Firth!)
But Diane had to make me aware of exactly what they are, make me covet one, make me BUY one --
Even though I hate journaling in any fashion, never write anything "by hand" unless I'm scribbling a few notes I'm going to tear out and toss when I'm through with them.
But. Picasso. Hemingway. Chatwin. (Okay, I admit, I didn't know who Chatwin was, but still.)
I bought it. I looked at it for days. And I wondered "what am I going to do with this journal-thingy that is too expensive to rip out pages or toss when I'm finished?"
(Note: Do not number pages with a fountain pen because it seems the classy thing to do unless you do not mind blowing on the numbers so they won't smear, which takes for-freaking-EVER. I'm up to page 141 and I've been working on this project for three days.)
And I don't know what to write in this thing once I get it ready.
And it's all Diane's fault.
MEMO : 11.19.04 : [CLAP YOUR HANDS]
If you believe in fairies....
(dreamy sigh)
Favorite quote from FINDING NEVERLAND: "The Redskins have been defeated!"
(Hey, I didn't write it!)
Go. See it. You'll be glad you did.
MEMO : 11.16.04 : [TO RESKINS]
Nice basement you've got here. Love what you've done with it! Thanks for letting us move in with you for a week or two....
(We're still ahead of you in the tie-breaker, of course.)
Sincerely, The 'Boys
MEMO : 11.13.04 : [MIDDLE BROW]
I'm no high brow. The only classical music I get into is the very obvious stuff, like Carmen and Tchaikovsky and such.
Yet, I do occasionally listen to the classical music station. (Yes, Dallas has one. Only one. But we have one.)
And I can be forgiven (I hope) for certain low brow reactions. Like driving down the street today and hearing the pleasant-voiced man introduce Concerto Grosso for Winds.
I defy any former Cub Scout den mother to hear that without cringing in horror or bursting out laughing.
MEMO : 10.31.04 : [WINNERS AND LOSERS]
The Cowboys won today.
The Redskins lost today.
It is a very good day.
And bodes well for Tuesday.
I've voted. Have you?
MEMO : 10.24.04 : [DALLAS SUCKS]
I don't know any other explanation for it.
Dallas had the opportunity to bring the Cowboys back home, to build a stadium (or improve the Cotton Bowl, now THAT would rock) and bring the Dallas Cowboys back to Dallas.
Thing is, Texas Stadium in Irving wasn't all that bad -- you could actuallly see the Dallas skyline looming on the horizon. It would be easy to pretend you'd never left Dallas, because Dallas was THERE.
But The Powers That Be in Dallas (otherwise known as clueless imbeciles and yes, I'm looking at YOU, Laura Miller) coughed up the football and now the Cowboys are primed to move to Arlington.
ARLINGTON.
A town known for Six Flags and Hurricane Harbor and (okay) the Texas Rangers and traffic nightmares. Miles and gridlocked miles away from Dallas.
I have no other explanation for this travesty except, well, that Dallas sucks.
MEMO : 10.14.04 : [QUOTE OF THE DAY]
Seen on the internet:
"Where are we going? And why am I in this handbasket?"
MEMO : 10.09.04 : [BATTLEGROUND]
They talk about battleground states.
That's nothing. Nothing compared to living in Dallas on the second Saturday of October.
We are the battleground where the greatest (yes, I can say that, because this is my memo) college football rivalry in NCAA history takes place every year, the backdrop of my life.
Texas.
Oklahoma.
Both 4-0.
Here.
Hook 'em, horns!
MEMO : 09.27.04 : [REPEAT QUESTION]
Who ARE these people?
Okay, maybe I'm getting used to Vinny & Co. in Cowboy uniforms.
After all, they're the people who just beat the Washington Redskins. Yeeha!
Dallas: 21
Wash: 18
MEMO : 09.11.04 : [THREE YEARS LATER]
Somehow, it all comes down to two words.
No exclamation point.
"Let's roll."
MEMO : 08.29.04 : [QUOTE O' THE DAY]
"98 percent of the adults in this country are decent, hard-working, honest Americans. It's the other lousy two percent that get all the publicity. But then — we elected them."
— Lily Tomlin
MEMO : 08.25.04 : [TWILIGHT ZONE]
Who ARE these people?
I am trying so hard to get used to this, but honestly, Vinny Testaverde and Eddie George? Okay, Keyshawn Johnson cracks me up, and he's such a loose cannon, he seems like a Cowboy, already. But these other people, I don't know these other people.
I'm sure I'll get used to them.
But it's just too wacky.
Is it okay to say I'm ready for Drew Henson to start? Just because I want to get used to somebody who has a chance of actually being a Cowboy, not just wearing a Cowboy uniform?
Harrrumph.
MEMO : 08.01.04 : [QUOTABLE]
"Ring the bells that still can ring, Forget your perfect offering. There is a crack in everything. That's how the light gets in."
Leonard Cohen, "Anthem"
MEMO : 07.28.04 : [YEE-HA]
I find it fascinating, no, absolutely invigorating, when the headline says, "Party Like It's 1991?: Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs is back for a second term in D.C. Will the Redskins return to glory?"
And the link is to NFL films video of the Cowboys/Redskins rivalry.
Face it, 'Skins. Your "greatness" (such as it is) is defined by your relationship to the Cowboys.
And you always come in 2nd.
Yeee-ha.
MEMO : 07.15.04 : [ALL SPORTS, ALL THE TIME]
Scattershooting while wondering whatever happened to Efren Herrerra...
Is Lance gonna pull off number six? It's looking a little tense, isn't it? But he's in the mountains. He's our Mountain Man. Go, Lance!
There was a picture of a baseball player on the cover of yesterday's Dallas Morning News. MVP of the All Star Game. I'd never heard of him. (Uhm, wait, this just in -- he's a Texas Ranger. And, uhm, I didn't know that. But, well, it's the Rangers. And come September, they'll be history, so why bother?)
I heard on the radio the other day that there's some sort of voting going on (fan voting? I guess I need to find out) for the "franchise player" in each NFL team's history.
The top five Dallas Cowboys listed are: Troy Aikman, Tony Dorsett, Bob Lilly, Emmitt Smith, Roger Staubach.
Captain Comeback, he of the Hail Mary, should win. But how many of the new generation of fans realize that? I need to drum up some support! So, uhm, go vote for Staubach! And if you figure out where to vote, let me know!
(Baseball MVP? Yawn. Greatest Cowboy in history? I'm there!)
Sixteen days until Training Camp. Yay!
All Sports, All the Time, as long as it's mainly Cowboys.
That's me.
MEMO : 06.23.04 : [ONWARD SISYPHUS]
I'm cleaning off my desk.
I've been told by someone (ahem) that I am Sisyphus and my desk is a hill in Hades, only she (ahem-ahem) didn't know Sisyphus's name. I didn't either, but I felt such an affinity to him that I had to learn it.
I've been at this desk cleaning for quite awhile this morning and I've uncovered: Software I thought was gone forever. (Uhm, lots of software I thought was gone forever.) Software I didn't know was missing, and was just about to install later today, which would have resulted in lots of cursing and stomping around when I couldn't find it and decided it was gone forever. A password that had to be replaced at great annoyance by someone who had to do the replacing (ooops).
And a corner of bare wood.
Bare wood!
My desk is made of wood!
Who knew?
Onward...!
[*note from webmaster: you know Sisyphus still cannot find any damn post-it notes?]
MEMO : 05.01.04 : [FRODO LIVES]
And he's in Knoxville, TN:
MEMO : 04.26.04 : [BLOG GAME]
A little weblog game making the rounds:
1. Grab the nearest book.
2. Open the book to page 23.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the text of the sentence in your weblog/journal.
I, of course, picked up the aforementioned Moab Is My Washpot, and I am not under any circumstances posting that sentence here. (Stephen Fry is smirking at me from the cover of his book.)
Fie. Fie on Fry.
So, let me reach for another book:
High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby:
"I was fretful about my abilities as a lover."
Oh my word. Well, at least it's not as naughty as school boy Fry.
Next?
MEMO : 04.25.04 : [ALL ABOUT ME]
What I'm reading now: Moab Is My Washpot.
I love me some Stephen Fry. If he's not being Jeeves and not reading Harry Potter to me, I can frolic in his autobiography. (Hmm, that sounds not quite nice.)
I stand in awe of his delight in language, but I will never ever call him "clever."
I'm listening to In a Sunburned Country. Bill Bryson is a hoot. He makes Australia sound very hot and very scary. Snakes and spiders and sharks, oh my!
I'm also listening to Elizabeth and Mary : Cousins, Rivals, Queens. The Virgin Queen and The Queen of Scots. Great stuff.
(Even though those are amazon links, I'm listening to downloads from http://audible.com. Much much cheaper.)
And finally, I'm writing (ssssh! it's a secret). Okay, I'll say this much. It's fun, and it's set largely in England, so I'm happily enjoying my characters' treks through hedgerows and across moors and into pubs and driving on the wrong side of the road and all that fun stuff.
So, tell me about you?
MEMO : 04.21.04 : [IDOL-ING]
Well, it's Manilow night at the Idols, and this is fascinating.
It appears that Barry Manilow told the singers which of his songs to sing, and coached them on how to sing them, and the ones who took his advice (the girls) nailed the songs and did better than any of them have done so far.
One might think Barry had worked with divas before....
MEMO : 04.20.04 : [HARSH REALITIES]
Some people accuse romance novels of setting up women to have unrealistic expectations. People who know romance novels say, why should it be unrealistic to expect fidelity, true love, and great sex? When did these standards become too dangerous to dream about?
And why the hell am I even thinking about this today?
Well, I have a problem.
It's not about romance.
But maybe, just maybe, it is.
I love Mr. Smith Goes to Washington.
I worship the ground Jefferson Smith walks on when he stands up, battered and beaten, and speaks. And refuses to shut up. Refuses to give in. Refuses to toe the party line.
I love To Kill a Mockingbird.
I worship the ground Atticus Finch walks on when he protects the innocent, no matter the risk. When he refuses to quit. Refuses to give in.
Popular culture -- Hollywood, if you will -- has given me a "dangerous" view of what is right, has fueled my fantasies of what leaders should be, and what they should be about.
What's wrong with this picture?
Has Hollywood filled my mind with unrealistic fairy tales?
Or has Hollywood not filled enough minds with the possibilities of a future where character means standing up for what's right, which is not necessarily what's Right?
We're now in the throes of politics at its weakest, its nastiest. It has been in a tailspin for years, and it's nosediving into the ground and when it hits, and when it explodes, it will take us all with it.
Excuse me while I go watch The West Wing.
Reality is too damned sickening these days..
MEMO : 04.17.04 : [GO CUBAN]
The Apprentice has ended. I have no idea if the best guy won.
I do know that the real winner isn't going to work for The Donald.
Kwame Jackson is going to work for Mark Cuban. Woo-hoo!
And if you want to know why this makes him the winner....
Thank you, Donald - Blog Maverick - The Mark Cuban Weblog - www.blogmaverick.com.
The Apprentice was a heck of a show. Loved it.
I hope The Benefactor is, too. Only time will tell.
MEMO : 03.30.04 : [FAREWELL]
Katherine Lawrence, writer and friend.
Lux perpetua luceat eis.
MEMO : 03.25.04 : [QUOTE O' THE DAY]
Me: You know you're in trouble when you're seriously contemplating adding an evil twin brother to your script.
TridentX: Put down the evil twin and back away from the keyboard.
(Okay it made me laugh.)
MEMO : 03.23.04 : [FAMILY THANG]
So some people I heard about are moving to Amarillo. That's up in the panhandle of Texas, in case you didn't know that.
And their reason for choosing the Amarillo job instead of a different one?
They want to stay in Texas, because all of their family is in Texas.
Houston, Texas.
Staying close to family is a good thing. Staying in Texas is a good thing. And I totally understand their rationale.
But to put this in perspective, they would be closer to Houston in New Orleans than they are in Amarillo. (Only 347 miles.)
They would be closer to Houston in Oklahoma City than they are in Amarillo. (Only 444 miles.)
They would be closer to Houston in Atlanta than they are in Amarillo. (810 miles.)
They would be closer to Houston in St. Louis, Missouri than they are in Amarillo. (867 miles.)
Brace yourself. They would be closer to Houston in TAOS, NEW MEXICO than they are in Amarillo. (914 miles.)
Houston to Amarillo is 990 miles.
But in their minds, they are "close to family" because they're still in Texas.
Hey. I think they're right.
MEMO : 03.02.04 : [REMEMBER THE ALAMO]
"I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls--I shall never surrender or retreat."
--- William
Barret Travis
Lt. Col. at the Alamo
Today is Texas Independence Day. I don't know why. The letter from the Alamo was written February 24, 1836. The Alamo fell March 6. Texas actually won her independence at the Battle of San Jacinto on April 19.
I have no freaking idea why March 2 is Texas Independence Day, but it is.
So raise a glass -- Shiner Bock, Lone Star, maybe that Texas original, the frozen margarita, or even some plain old Ozarka, and remember the Republic that was Texas.
Yeeha!
MEMO : 02.26.04 : [STRANGE LISTFELLOWS]
The Forbes "rich guy list" is out. (Okay, not just for guys, but, you know.)
And Jerry Jones (owner of the Dallas Cowboys) is on it for the first time.
Because he's now a billionaire.
He's tied with -- JK Rowling (creator of Harry Potter).
The images, the images!
Cowboys playing quidditch and wizards playing football!
The Redskins wouldn't know what hit 'em.
Neither would Slytherin.
(A girl can dream, can't she?)
MEMO : 02.12.04 : [NEW FAVE]
Sometimes you stumble across a DVD and you ask yourself, "Why didn't I know about this before? How has this gem hidden from me all this time?"
It has everything. Suspense, agony, jubilation. Highs to make your heart sing. Lows that will break your heart. And an ending that gives you hope to go on living another day, the promise that, yes, there is a tomorrow, and tomorrow may just surpass your wildest dreams.
How can anybody want anything more from a movie?
MEMO : 01.15.04 : [GET WITH THE PROGRAM]
The football season is over.
OVER.
I don't know what the networks are thinking about, still showing football games when the Cowboys are out.
Don't they know, there's no reason for anybody to watch any more?
Wake me up when it's training camp.
ZZZzzzzzz......
MEMO : 01.10.04 : [THE MOON? MARS?]
Yes, it's a lovely idea to return to the moon, and then Mars.
It sounds almost, well, presidential.
That is, if you're still in the 20th Century. And don't mind that it has been done before. Still, I'll bet the White House was very happy with that little declaration, to borrow off the glory of past years and pretend it's new.
What this country needs is a president who will do something truly presidential:
Channel all those new research funds (where are they coming from, anyway?) to something REALLY important.
Free us from dependency on oil from the Middle East.
Free us from avaricious need and from terror.
Please..
MEMO : 01.01.04 : [SLOW DOWN]
Listen we just got here it is a new year and there are not many 2004 memo's yet go read 2003 or something till Pooks has a few new ones.
:::2001::: | :::2002::: | :::2003:::|
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