This is another day in which the blog has to take a back seat to other obligations.
My Uncle Jim and Aunt Dot from Mississippi are in town and my sister, brother-in-law and a friend of theirs will be here before I can save this blog entry. I look forward to seeing all those folks. My Uncle Jim is, next to my son, the most funny man I know and my sister Jaime is likewise blessed with a life filled with laughter. They are all pleasant companions. I can never think of Jim and Dot without recalling their wedding decades ago when I was but a lad; Dot, red hair blazing, was the most beautiful bride I can recall ever seeing. What she sees in my Uncle Jim will forever be a mystery, but it must be something because they’ve raised kids and worked in the Laurel, MS, school system together for so many decades that it goes back before the mind of man remembereth not.
On a very personal note, I get my hair cut tonight. I’ve been waiting for two months on this hair cut at the behest of the lovely Juliet of Elastic Cafe in order to have my photo taken this weekend. The plan, however, turns out to be flawed: Charles, the preferred photographer, will not be coming in from Los Angeles as planned. A couple dozen of us wannabe models, hairstylists and others are left high and dry.
Last night was the regularly scheduled Paseo dinner and movie night. About a dozen of us went to a lovely rib dinner at Iron Starr on 36th and Shartel. A full room of folks came over to my house and watched Andy Garcia portray the title role in “Modigliani”, thanks to Babs. A really wonderful biopic of the artist, in my opinion.
Due to the family being in town and the haircut appointment, all you folks who expect to see me on the roof at the art museum will just have to be disappointed. It’s a little cool to be up on the roof tonight anyway.
Saw Larry P at coffee this a.m. He says he’ll join the privacy shattered Sharon in refusing to speak around me for fear of seeing his name and words in print on this blog. Meanwhile, he was at Iron Starr last night with the delectible R, his new squeeze. In fact, the women in his life were all over the restaurant last night and I think he’s trying to accumulate the kind of gaggle of “X”s I have. Stick with the one you’ve got, Larry, since lovely blondes who cook aren’t all that common.
Students and teachers who have this weekend off for fall break are filling up the restaurants and bars around town, making it difficult for me to get the tables I want when I want them. Boo!!!! Go Away!!!! Scram!!!! LOL
The Oz and Bride are out of town today on a trip to Ft. Worth to see a show of a contemporary artist I don’t know. Someone whose name starts with “K”, I think. If they come back with a good report, I may follow them down there later this month. My trip to Tulsa last weekend just whetted my appetite for travel and the cool weather and the prospect of fall foilage is piling fuel on that fire. I think son Jack is going to have to go down to New Orleans to pick up some of his abandoned stuff in the next couple of weeks and I’d like to go to see what the deal is in the Katrina ravaged Big Easy. How bad can things be if Cafe DuMonde is reopened?
PLEASE TAKE NOTICE OF THE CHANGES IN THE BLOG
I keep hoping someone will notice that the blogblah!! banner has changed. Dennis the webmaster did a wonderful job re-working the banner to include a shot of my sunglasses and blahblahblah. Much more cool than the plain blue banner that was there before. Kudos, Den! I’ve been working on improvements as well, since you didn’t ask: new short stories and new cool links have been added. Damn. I keep building it, but y’all don’t come. You ain’t even breathing hard. Hey, Dad, wanna play some catch?
Th-Th-That’s All, Folks!
Photo by John X, copyright 2005, permission to use gladly given to my hero John R. Long, in perpetuity. Amen. Mom, please pass the potatoes.
Cheers—
John X
I wanted to mention it, Daddy, but where would I have left the comment? BTW, who is that looking back at you through your shades?
And now, what you’ve been waiting for… ego stroking time.
“Squeel! Ooooo, Daddy-o Fat Cat! What Risky Business sunglasses you have.”
Or, in Georgi’s words, “Wicked awesome.”
Parrish is scratching his head wondering how Gramp-a-long is on a computer and why only part of the picture is showing.
That’s the Oz shading his eyes in the left and right lenses and in the far edge is good ole John X taking the picture. LOL. Rookie lensmonkey mistake for a master like the Austro-Hungarian ladykiller. Tell Parrish the rest of me is missing — HIM!!! (Don’t you love puns?)
If I ever figure it out, I’m authorized to post images, but I can’t seem to quite get it done. Even linking within a post is almost beyond my capacity and it’s the essence of blogging. Anyway, I want to put photos of some of my “cast of characters”, like Tom DeLay being handcuffed and led away to a well deserved 5-to-life in a cell with Bubba. I predict Tom will be head of the Aryan Brotherhood within a very short time. He’s a natural leader for such an august brethern. Also, maybe the grandkids.
This has nothing to do with anything, but the mention of Tom DeLay has me thinking about the fun you could have with his name.
Especially if you were a frustrated ex-girlfriend. If people asked you what it was like having sex with Tom, you could say something like: “Well, let’s just say the opposite of getting laid is getting DE-Laid.”
Or maybe if you developed a rash, you could say it was a DeLayed reaction.
This is the sort of stuff I like to think about.
John’s blog loosens the logjam.
Blame him.