Archive for January, 2009

‘Blizzard 2009′

January 28, 2009

Well, I am back in Austin. I had been here for a few days–working on my dad’s web site, unpacking and getting settled in–when my mom’s uncle passed away. So I hopped up and went with her to Rayne, Louisiana, the Frog City. The drive is about seven hours one way.

It was a nice little trip, without considering the reason we were going. I didn’t know “Uncle Hawk” all that well, but I could tell he was a community man. He was a crawfish farmer and owned a restaurant called Hawk’s. He was married to my mom’s mom’s sister, Denise, who is known as “Aunt Richard” for some reason of which I’m not aware.

It was nice to see my mom’s side of the family, to which I was never too terribly close. I was very touched during the veteran’s tribute to Hawk. And I’m very thankful the mosquitoes left me some of my foot.

On the way back yesterday, my mom and I listened to the Jeff Ward show on News Radio 590 KLBJ. His show was one of the things I missed about Austin. And this episode was particularly hilarious. He spoke of Austin’s ‘BLIZZARD 2009′ (we’re below freezing today with a bit of freezing rain… the horror) and I nearly called in to joke about how I just moved from Minnesota and this is the worst I’ve ever seen it.

They also referenced the Snuggie, the creative, innovative, exciting blanket with sleeves!

Enjoy.

Update: Found the audio of the show: http://www.590klbj.com/podcast/index.aspx

Teaching myself new tricks

January 12, 2009

When I move back to Austin, I will be jobless. Obviously I’m on the hunt, but in the mean time, I’ll probably be working on my dad’s web site. If you’ve clicked that link you’ve probably realized that it needs a lot of work. I’ve been meaning to get cracking on it but have been too busy with work and Minnesota living that I haven’t had the chance.

Well, working on the site will be a great way to keep busy. And I’m actually getting very excited about building it from scratch. It needs an overhaul.

Today, I taught myself to do this using Photoshop and ImageReady (click the image below, animated .gifs don’t seem to work in WordPress):

Photobucket

It’s not perfect, but I can’t wait to tinker with it some more. I think when the time comes, I’ll have it show one quote after another, so that we don’t have to list all the quotes on one page, which can be overwhelming.

Also, it’s a way to pay my father back for helping me move. ;)

Doogie Howser, you are my hero

January 12, 2009

Neil Patrick Harris gets a gold star for being able to laugh at himself.