Saturday, June 16, 2012

weird scenes inside the goldmine


i had an extended stay at the denver airport recently. my dad was flying in from atlanta and i went to pick him up at around 8:30. there were really bad storms, lightning and high winds, so i figured he would be delayed a bit. i parked the car and went into the airport, had a drink and hung out and watched the basketball game. while i was hanging out,  i overheard this guy talking about planes being rerouted to colorado springs because of the storms. so i called demitria and asked her to look on the website to see where his place was and what time i could expect him to land. she reported to me that his place was in grand junction and he wasn't going to be landing in denver until close to midnight. it was around 9 at this point. so instead of braving the weather to go home and then come back, i got a book and hung around the airport. i remembered though about the paintings in the denver airport. there is a conspiracy theory around the DIA. it involves a meeting place for when the new world order takes over and there are paintings in the airport meant to display the coming scenes according to the theories. i had never scene except online.so i grabbed my phone and started all over the airport to find these paintings. and the paintings shown above are the ones referenced in the conspiracy theories. they seem wildly inappropriate for airport art. but the artist says he was trying to depict scenes showing the struggles we will have if we don't live in peace with ourselves and with nature. but you couple these paintings with the red-eyed demon horse outside the airport and you can see how people would get a little frightened. anyway, dad eventually arrived and we had a great time. i will post photos of his trip when i get back from salt lake city. in the meantime, i will be posting photos of salt lake city i took last night on my walk around town.

Monday, June 11, 2012

old friends

good times in colorado with mr. ewing. we hit up estes park, red rocks, hiked at eldorado springs and saw a live show at the bluebird. it was an action packed four days of hanging. we also hit several breweries in town and walked a lot. that's colorado life. come back some time mr. ewing. the ghost in the basement misses you.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

oliver's army

great website with the top ten financial documentaries. i haven't seen them all, but the top spot is 'the ascent of money', a four-hour documentary. i highly suggest taking four hours and watching it. or watching it in pieces. or watching it while you cook. or clean. or bike around town with the computer taped to the front of your bike.

also on the avclub, they just ended a great series about REM. i've included the link to the first piece, which will give you links to each subsequent series after the article. i'm not really an REM fan. i think they're a good band with moments of greatness. but on the average, not in my top 30 probably. but the series is exceptional. the writer is obviously a fan and he moves through the different stages of the band, how it felt to be a fan at those moments, when they were great, when they were terrible and when they finally broke up. being a fan is totally irrational as he states. but i understand his obsession, even if i don't obsess over it myself. as a music fan, i highly recommend it as well.

that's two recommendations totaling about six hours of your life. and.....now......go.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

welcome to the working week

i usually don't use the blog as a venting station, but i think the events of last week called for it. here is how my week went:

1. i was called into jury duty and i was picked to be on the jury. the trial is still going and will go into early next week. i have not been able to work much while on jury duty and i have about five projects going on at the same time. however, i have used my legal pad to make 84 lists and draw dozens of award winning sketches.
2. while driving home, i ran over a massive screw. the screw lodged itself just perfect enough to not be able to patch the tire. i could only replace the tire. the screw was buried so deep and at such a strange angle, that when i got home and got out of the car, i could hear the air hissing out of tire.
3. i broke my favorite flip flops.
4. i broke my mp3 player at the gym.
5. demitria contracted my cold and was sick all week.

what else? oh yeah:
6. the volunteer organization i do work for had two events on friday that i could not attend because i had jury duty.

what else? oh yeah:
7. i lost a fork because security wouldn't let me take it into the building. a fork!! i'd like to say it was my favorite for dramatic purposes, but it was not.

this week promises for improvement as mr. e is coming to town. great times ahead. i need some new flip flops. and an mp3 player. i have four new tires, so that won't stop the party. the trial should end this week. i should have the house to myself starting tomorrow, so i can work out and read all day and night. things are hopefully looking up.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

the worst pies in london

i found this article on grantland on espn.com. if you don't like sports, grantland is still cool to check out for articles like this one. the article goes into the downward spiral that is the marriage of tim burton and johnny depp. it analyzes the roles of those two men and how those roles have changed over the years much to the detriment of their artistic product.

dark shadows?
alice in wonderland?
charlie and the chocolate factory?

seeing a pattern here? remade, rehashed, half-baked movies. great article. check it out.

also did anyone hear about jamie dimon and jpmorgan chase losing $2B on a derivative bet? a supposed hedge against risk? well they played that one right huh?

facebook's ipo is coming soon and supposedly interest is waning. probably because no one can answer this question: how can facebook make money? especially when they're paying instagram a billion dollars for a stupid program that turns pictures brown! good luck!

also read a great article by my favorite wall street punisher matt taibbi detailing the exact way that the government, hand in hand with lobbyists, took the life and few teeth out of the dodd frank bill. very much worth your time because this is how government now works. they pass a bill to appease the public, but they don't fund it, they don't enact the laws/rules and they let it be picked apart by courts and lobbyists. and the public still thinks they have their cloak of protection. brilliant.

Saturday, May 12, 2012

mr. big shot

i took my ethics test this morning. i passed. because i have mad ethics. i had to pass with 90% and i did better than that. crazy ethics.

i can now introduce myself as a CPA. in fact, this blog is now called that birdhouse, cpa. how about that?!? i love it.

so get used to me saying it. because i'm going to be saying it a lot. because, damn it, i earned it.

Saturday, May 5, 2012

holiday

just back from glenwood springs. spent two nights there. i'm totally exhausted. but tons of great pictures to come.

Sunday, April 29, 2012

when the roses bloom again



i have some older photos from easter i wanted to add. the bottom ones show the feast we prepared for easter: deer, potatoes, spinach and pistachio cake. it was awesome. demitria is the best cook. i picked up those flowers from the greek store a couple days before. we just finished the cake finally. it was an incredible cake.

the rock on the top is in our garden outside, our 'rock garden'. we just planted some pansies and added the stone to our garden. thanks mom!

good day sunshine

i am proud to say that i know this little guy. he's one of those kids that i enjoy when they come around because he has a great sense of humor and is a sweet kid. he's demitria's brother's wife's nephew. but you don't have to remember that. but you do remember thomas when you meet him. when the grandmother says they didn't think he'd come home, she's serious. thomas had the stroke and it was basically over. everyone was preparing to say goodbye to the little guy. but somehow, someway, in a turnaround that surprised everyone, they found the organs, he went into surgery and thomas was going to be okay. it was that fast. it was amazing. and if you want to call it a miracle, i don't think you'd wrong. i'm glad he's okay. can't wait to see him and tell him i'm proud of him.

Monday, April 16, 2012

hey jane

is anybody else super duper excited about the new spiritualized album? i mean, check out the cover! how awesome is that? the immediate reviews are positive. the video for 'hey jane' is pretty rough. but the song is amazing. this, coupled with the alabama shakes new album, makes for a good weekend purchase. i also subscribed to the economist yesterday. need to be informed. need good music. that's really it. oh yeah, a roof maybe too. and water. minor.

Sunday, April 15, 2012

weird fishes

checking out the radiohead set at coachella. i totally dig sitting in my living room watching as opposed to being surrounded by thousands of people, being forced to buy $7 water and standing in line for an hour to go the bathroom. my bathroom is free right now. the water is free. and there is only one other person and a cat in the house. love it. the set is pretty sweet. i'm only three songs in, but weird fishes is so sweet.

i still dig the concerts though. we're seeing wilco at the red rocks and maybe the avett brothers and beach boys at red rocks too. destroyer and wye oak are coming to the bluebird this summer. so i'm still with the concerts. it's the festivals i don't think i can do anymore. i'll leave that to the young kids.

Sunday, April 8, 2012

i guess i planted

deviled eggs are a specialty in the wright house. we made six eggs and between the both of us, the six eggs didn't make it until dinner. poor guys. but they were delicious. demitria is enjoying one of those eggs and some of her special iced tea. i don't know what makes it special, but i believe her.
demitria colored some eggs this year for that easter flavor around the house. if you can't read them, they say 'kevin', 'demi' and 'smooch'. 'smooch' was my favorite. we also had some stickers to throw on them too.
here is the 'kevin' egg up close. the brussel sprouts are looking good. remember a few blogs ago, i told the story of hacking up the apple tree out back? well this is it. i have never seen something respond so positively to being hacked up. the apple tree is in full bloom and there are white buds everywhere.

here is a pitcher of the special iced tea. it was refreshing. speaking of refreshing drinks, i had an arnold palmer at the krameria cafe earlier in the day. i highly suggest everyone try one this summer. we have a patch of rogue tulips growing out back by the neighbor's garage. we didn't plant them. but we'll take them. i had to jump in there with them. this is how our day started, out back doing some yard work. we sprayed the front and back yard with herbicide to get of the billions of weeds we had last year. we rode our bikes up to the nursery and bought some stuff there. that's when we stopped by the krameria cafe and had a quick lunch. hope everyone had a great easter.

sounds like hallelujah

happy easter! it's a gorgeous day here in denver, colorado. we've got clear skies in the morning and afternoon time. highs should be around 70 with lows in the upper 40s tonight. perfect weather for the perfect easter egg hunt. i think when we talk about weather, we all should adopt the 'weather man' voice and discuss weather in the appropriate vocal tones. but seriously, it's nice here.

last night i made a pretty big purchase. i bought two tickets to.....paradise! pack your bags we leave tonight! i'm kidding. i love eddie money though. i bought two tickets to red rocks to see wilco. that's right. wilco will be at red rocks in june and the wrights are going! i'm so excited and it's two months away basically. my excitement will probably subside before the show, otherwise, that would be an unhealthy level of excitement to carry around for two months. agree? yes.

what else is going on? i haven't posted much lately. i should be uploading some new pictures of our emerging garden soon. maybe get some new sofie shots. i love pictures of that cat. maybe i'll take some of our easter dinner tonight? that's a great idea. okay. plan for that.

also, baseball is back. i emailed my official picks to my dad, so if anyone thinks i didn't make it in time, i have him to back me up. here are my official picks for 2012:

nl central: reds
nl east: phillies
nl west: dodgers
nl wc: braves
al central: tigers
al east: rays
al west: rangers
al wc: angels

the world series will be the dodgers and the rangers. this time, the rangers will finally win. i know going with the dodgers is a stretch, but there is no team in the national league that is a dominant team. they're all kind of sub-awesome. but the dodgers have a new owner and that will generate some liveliness out of them as they catch fire in the playoffs. the rangers are a statistical long shot to get back to the world series for the third year in a row. i mean, that's not likely. but i like them better than the rest. the rays would be my second choice. oh well. don't let me down guys! and the astros will finish in last place with a record of -54-108. that's right. they won't win any games. only negatively win them. figure that one out!

Saturday, March 31, 2012

the season of the witch

i think the end of winter has been kidnapped. the calendar still says march as of today, but the flowers, the leaves and burgeoning spring say, well, spring. last year, as you can revisit on this post, we had a nice garden of strawberries, herbs and plenty of tomatoes.

this year, we've started the process with bibb lettuce, brussel sprouts and swiss chard. lettuce grows very well in the rockies. i've seen it. a dude up the street has a very impressive garden come august with tons of lettuce, tomatoes and such. we're going back to our roots with tomatoes again this year. but i'm going to try and branch out and get some peppers growing as well. i failed last year in the pepper department. the one dude i had fried in the sun.

last weekend, i also cut back our apple tree. being apple tree ignorant as we were, we both thought the tree was an apple factory and would keep lavishing us with tons of apples each year. we subsequently learned that was an apple fantasy and work had to be done. you have to prune an apple tree. and prune we did. i bundled up about seven bundles of branches.

that's our plans for the garden this year. of course, the natives tell us it's going to snow again. or at least freeze. but i maintain that winter is gone. hijacked. kidnapped. bound and jagged. not to be heard from again until december. it's a shame. i feel like we didn't get to say goodbye. winter was here one day and the next it was 70 degrees. i had a very good winter. and it would have been nice to hang out one more time. but we'll meet again.

Monday, March 19, 2012

hurts so good

i never thought it would hurt getting feeling back. there's a small patch of skin right under my knee on the left side of my shin bone that was numb following the surgery. they didn't tell me that they were probably going to severe a small nerve there. however, during my checkup, they said most, if not all, of all the feeling would come back. and it's coming back. but i was not prepared for how tender the skin would be when the feeling did come back. it's a strange sensation because it's not 100%. i probably can feel about 70-80%, so when i move my finger over the patch, it's like touching your hand when you've slept on it and it's waking up, but there are no daggers in your skin as the blood rushes back. i have been running for the past two weeks, but not that great. it doesn't last long. but the strength is coming back. i predict no problems hiking this summer. i also predict eating sandwiches this summer. with chips.

peyton manning is coming to denver!!! no more tebow!!! i love it people. i love it. i have no idea if he has any gas left in him, but i do know that tebow sucks. and having peyton here will at least be interesting. also he's out of the afc south, clearing the way for a decade of texans dominance. it's fantastic. i'm ecstatic. in fact, i went out and bought some black spray paint and spray painted number 18 on all of my shirts, including my dress shirts. i subsequently found out he plans on not wearing that number. and i was informed that spray painted dress shirts are not acceptable work attire. i predict a polyester fueled fire this weekend.

Sunday, March 18, 2012

it ain't me babe

as the political puppet politicians are dancing for us, making us believe that it is our decision who we elect and that they somehow represent our interests and not the interests of the major corporations and major banks in the world, other things are happening. things that aren't discussed on the nightly news or fox news or cnn news or whatever news cable source you choose.

this actually comes from wired magazine. the piece describes how by 2013 the NSA will have a system in place to collect information on you from every google search you make, every personal email you receive or send, every cell phone call you make and every bit of electronic debris you leave behind will be collected, assembled and put into a little folder with your name on it, ready to be used against you when the time comes. and do you know what the response will be from the american public? what is the NSA?

additionally, we have a wonderful monster of a bank called bank of america. it's our bank! it's the bank of america! sounds great! it's actually a gigantic festering sore that refuses to do anything other than systematically destruct their customers, the banking industry and our trust. the best part is that we refuse to let them fail. the government explicitly backs this monster and their mission to feed on us, the public.

finally, there is good news friends! someone, actually a guy named greg smith, wrote his resignation letter and mailed it to the new york times. where did he work? goldman sachs, the gigantic vampire squid. i hope that colleges, high schools, veterans halls, pension firms, asset management corporations, churches and everyone in between prints out his resignation letter and posts it for everyone to see.

in other news, i about to finish reading siddhartha. a wonderful book about a young man moving through his life trying to find meaning, understanding and holiness, a closeness to the spirits. i highly recommend it. he describes periods in his life as transitory and ultimately comes to find that life is transitory. what we knew or thought at one point in our life does not define all periods of our life. his story can easily be applied to our current lives or at least my life. i believe there are trials and challenges we must face and live a life that may be unsuitable for a period just to experience it. it is these experiences that finally allow us to move forward and travel to where we ultimately need to be in life, whether physically or mentally.

we i finish, i'm going to read the picture of dorian gray. i'm ecstatic to have time to read these amazing words.

Sunday, March 11, 2012

and so it goes

my favorite fiction author is probably kurt vonnegut. his take on war and the atrocities of human nature are filled with sarcasm and wit. i immediately took to his views on the fractured schism of the human psyche. unfortunately, he died falling off a ladder a few years ago. i'm sure he would have had something witty to say about this end of his. a biography has been published about the man. if the book is anything as good as the review, i can't wait to read it.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

meet me in the basement



a wise man once said to play this song when something epic went down.

this is that moment.

i passed my last test.

let me say that again.

i passed my last test.

let me say that again.

i passed my last test.

i finally landed this thing. what was seen as a curse was probably a blessing. when i tore my acl, i thought i had to turn this into something positive and beneficial to my life. so i studied. i was in the basement every day all day. i started around 11 in the morning and went until midnight stopping to sometimes eat and pet the cat. when i had to go back to work, i took a weekend off and i started again to finish it.

and i finished it. i'm done.

i have to say something though. although i took the tests, i never would have gotten through this without my wife. she was there for me each time it didn't go my way. she was there to do the laundry so i had something to wear. she was going to the grocery store and making dinners and lunches. she was cleaning the house and the cars. she was taking the cat to the vet. she was picking out birthday gifts, wrapping them and sending them. she was holding my head each time i felt like i failure. she was there each time. from beginning to end. i could never have done this without her help and support. i plan on paying her back throughout the next few years by spending each weekend with her and making sure she knows how much i love her and respect her.

so that's it folks. the plan i set forth in 2006 is complete. now it's time for the next plan.

Sunday, February 19, 2012

got to get you into my life

i'm discovering all sorts of interesting aspects of life again now that i'm not studying all weekend. like yesterday, we woke up. had coffee. listened to 'wait, wait don't tell me' on npr. then we went and looked at a house. then i went to work out. i wasn't rushed. i wasn't in a hurry. i wasn't freaking out every second i wasn't studying. it was fantastic. it cleared my head.

we had dinner out last night at the capital grille. the dinner okay. our waiter was a nice guy, but his memory was a little off. demitria ordered a glass of wine and he never delivered it. not a huge deal. but then we paid with two gift cards. and we a had a balance on one of them, but he didn't give it back. so we asked for it back. he couldn't find it. so the restaurant gave us cash back. the waiter handed me money. how odd is that? have you ever been out to eat and the restaurant pays you? i have to say, i liked it. i hope it happens again.

then we went to a play at the vintage theatre, right next to the vine street pub. the play was pretty good. i'd say the playhouse had about 80 seats in the place. nice and cozy. the play was pretty good. it was a comedy about a woman who basically wants a new life and when that opportunity presents itself in the way of an older man who misunderstands her situation, she takes it. the play broke the fourth wall and had audience members on stage for like two scenes. it was interesting. i liked the play. and i would totally go back. demitria is thinking about maybe volunteering there. i highly encouraged it. i think she would love it.

today we're sitting in the house listening to 'breakfast with the beatles' about to have breakfast and go the garden show at the convention center. i'm hoping to get some ideas for an amazing garden when we buy a house. i want flowers, food and fragrance. i'm marketing that.

great weekend. these are the weekends i've been missing. i'm so glad to have them back.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Sunday, February 5, 2012

one more down



one more down people. i passed FAR.

now i can only hope and pray that i passed AUD this last week.

i've worked harder for this than anything i've ever done.

and i'm finally closing in on the finish line.

by the way, did anyone else notice that if the giants would have kicked the extra point instead of going for two, that i would have successfully predicted the exact final score of the super bowl?

awesome night.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

mucho mungo pt. 3














we woke up this morning and took more pictures. the sun is out now and the snow is starting to melt. it probably snowed another two or three inches, so the snow in the backyard was up to my knees. we took a couple extra pictures too. the icicles are hanging off of every window on the outside of the house. it's pretty awesome. the grill in the backyard has tons of snow piled on top of it. it looks like an egg. and ice egg. also, the truck bed is full of snow. the shots of the two cars don't really tell the whole story because i've been clearing it off the windows and hood. if you don't do that periodically, then when you finally do, the ice is pretty thick and hard to scrub off. but it's been fun. not sure how long all the snow will last though.


super bowl pick: giants 22, patriots 17.

Friday, February 3, 2012

mucho mungo pt. 2

we decided to forego the 4'o clock pictures. around 3, it really hadn't snowed much. but since around 3, it's snowed a lot. so tomorrow we're going to update our photos and see how much more snow we received in 24 hours. that should make for some good science.

mucho mungo











we're alive and well in denver. the forecast is calling for snow with a touch of snow for today and tomorrow we can expect snow in the morning with shattered snow in the afternoon. both of us are working from home. i decided to do a little experiment. the pictures posted above are from 10 a.m. on friday. at 4 p.m., i'm going to do the same thing and see if you can visually tell more snow has fallen. then tomorrow, i'm going to do the same thing. my beautiful photographer and i will brave the harsh conditions for this experiment for science and human knowledge. isn't that what it's all about?


so at 10 a.m., the snow is about mid calf. we'll see if it gets higher later in the afternoon. the world is on edge.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

been a long time

man. that was a long break from posting. it was not a self imposed break. there's just been a lot of stuff happening around here. but now it's calming down again. i have no studying this weekend. can you believe it? it's probably the first weekend since july that i haven't spent a majority of the time studying.

what are we going to do to celebrate? i'm glad you asked:

friday: we're going to the hi-dive to see cass mccombs live. i've been to one show at the hi-dive. i saw the love language there way back in like march of last year. it's an awesome venue. it reminds me of walters in houston, but smaller. and little dive-i-er. as noted in the title.

saturday: going to the park. that's after we sleep in. see, i've been waking up early (around 8) every weekend to get up and work out and drink coffee and start studying. not this weekend. sleepin in. 'saturday in the park'. throw the ball around. toss the frisbee. probably hit up cheeseman park. it's not a long walk from here.

sunday: super bowl!!! head up to the college inn and watch the super bowl. that's enough said about sunday.

in between, i'll probably watch some party down and pet sofie.

of course, this could all be derailed if that storm comes in and we get 10 inches of snow, which is possible on friday. that would change the whole weekend. what would we do then? i have no idea. lots of watching party down and lots of petting sofie.

Friday, January 13, 2012

feeling yourself disintegrate



i know i've posted a lot of videos lately. but i guess if there was one that i'd want people to listen to, it would be this one because i'm listening to it over and over again as i write this.

"feeling yourself disintegrate."

nik cohn once said pet sounds was "sad songs about loneliness and heartache. sad songs even about happiness." and how equally and impenetrably intertwined sadness is with happiness. the last page of a book brings the penultimate feeling of joy but undoubtedly coupled with the final feeling of loss of the relationship you just ended by finishing the last sentence on the page.

each monumental accomplishment closes the door. each minute task ends.

as each day passes, i become more and more comfortable with who i am. i now know my limits. the culmination of years of fine-tuning can be laid to rest in a way, and now, we can just let the engine run. there's no implication of perfection in anyway. there's only acceptance. each layer of uselessness i packed on is disintegrating. and one day, i'll be left with only the useful. the most necessary. and i look forward to that day. because then i will have really achieved something. and the strange fact is i will be filled with joy but only for a little while. because when the joy dissipates and i have that quiet moment, i will be sad that i lost it.

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

on bended knee







yikes! that's not why all two of you tune into this blog. but i thought it was time to upload some pictures of what my mangled knee looks like. the last bit of bandage (yes, i had a bandage for over a month! i wasn't expecting that either!) fell off last night and i got my first look at my knee sans bandages. i thought it looked pretty gross so i took some pictures to share with everything. now obviously, i'm a redhead so there is some natural splotchyness to my color anyway. but you can there is still some redness and bruising from the surgery. my physical therapist, however, says it looks really good. and he is excited about how much i can straighten it and bend it. i still can't run. won't be able to run for another month or two. but i can walk pretty good. and each morning, it hurts less and less when i wake up. that's all you can ask for. i'm headed in the right direction. so don't be too freaked out by my pictures. i told demitria 'at least the incision is straight'. can you imagine if you took off your bandage and your incision was crooked? i would immediately have second thoughts about my surgeon.


you can clearly see the main incision in the pictures and also the hole in my kneecap. there are other holes around my knee too, but they don't show up too well. anyway, enjoy! and pretty soon i'll be challenging everyone to a race.

Sunday, January 8, 2012

breaking the ice




these are some of our christmas activities. the bottom shot is of our wonderful tree. demitria is taking it down right now as i type. the presents have been opened. the good tidings and cheer have returned back to their rightful place and been replaced by mental neurosis and paranoia. ah, i missed those bleak winter thoughts. in the top picture, we have mr. chester, our snowman. he melted a few days ago. we have better pictures, but we can't get them off the camera yet. i'm still working on it. but it's a good picture of our entire snow-filled backyard. mr. chester is wearing a bowler hat, a red scarf and he literally has two pieces of coal for eyes. he's a sharp fellow. i was always sad at the end of frosty when he melted. and the feeling is even worse when your personal snowman melts. it's tough to take. but i hear he'll be back again next year. probably in a few short weeks. i'll keep everyone updated if mr. chester makes a return appearance.

Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Monday, January 2, 2012

eye of the tiger

do the astros have it? no. they don't. we're a month away from spring training. that's right. we're getting close to baseball being back. and if you're an astros fan, that is a good and bad thing. the good thing is we can watch baseball. but the bad thing is it's really bad baseball. it was historically bad and it will be bad again this year. i mean real bad. chris johnson is no long term solution and it's beginning to become clear that brett wallace is not going to work out at the big league level. he seems like another jason lane. carlos lee is trending down quick. our bench is made up of scrubs. the future's so bright, i have to pull out my eyes.

the prospects on the way: singleton, cosart, villar. they might be on the way soon. paredes, martinez, altuve and castro will start the season. they looked decent at times last year. martinez showed some pop but not much. the pitching staff will be intact unless we deal wandy or brett myers, which we should. or maybe even bud norris. i'm not above dealing anybody at this point.

a new owner. a new season. baseball is almost back. the best time of year.

in the new year

new year's resolutions. aren't they great? we pick a certain day and make goals when we should be doing that everyday. and about two/three weeks later, those goals are gone because they were really only made to facilitate an immediate meaning to the new year. "this is the year i do this...". so, i'll play along:

1. pass all parts of the cpa test
2. lose the weight i've gained since surgery
3. volunteer once a month somewhere
4. take an international trip
5. buy a house

those are top five. i thought i'd stop there. i think i made a similar list earlier in the year. maybe changed a few things. once i get done with the test, i do really want to start volunteering somewhere. maybe do some work with the homeless. maybe do some sort of physical work, like helping build houses on the weekend or clean up an old person's yard. i have no idea. those are just the kinds of things i want to start filling my time with.

how about those texans? hurt and limping into the playoffs. i give them no shot at winning the game against cincinnati. they are one and done. come on jacky d! our 4th qb for the year! where is steve deberg or jeff george when you need them?