Playing Catch Up This Week...

I was sick Mardi Gras Day. All I could do to come home and crash. I hated to miss a party but I just wasn't up to it. Here's a Jazz Funeral print I bought from the artist himself in the French Market (I always forget those guys names) that I will post to get back in the parade spirit.
Here's Katie with a public service Lenten message, no meat on Fridays.

Congradulations...

Our son in law, Juan has been hired by the Texas Department of Public Safety. He's going to be a State Trooper. It's a conditional hire, still has some testing to do, but looks like he's in. Training starts end of March in Austin and he will live there for 6 months. Off on weekends of course.

We are all proud and happy. Not just for Juan, but for ourselves because we get that unlimited rate of speed, free pass at red lights and stop signs and universal right of way that is a perk to all family members. This is really great news because we have had problems in these areas before.

Music at the Fish Fry...

The band sets up.
Left to right, Bill on banjo, Cathy, Dan on drums, Runt.
Me and Miguel.
Dan, Miguel, Runt, Dustin and Morgan.

Check out some pictures Dan made:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dan-danz/sets/72157614200366975/

Mardi Gras Fish Fry...

Yesterday day we had a Mardi Gras fish fry.
We gathered friends, food and music in preparation for the long dark days of self examination that make up the Lenten season. Well, at least I am used to long dark days of self examination, I do it all the time here.

Me, at the cooking station.
Few of the folks gathered.
Pop, Janet, and Cathy chew the fat and the food.
New blog character alert, my boss, David. No last names in case his boss googles him.

New Hair Style Stare Down...

"This hair cut aint big enough for both of us."

"What you going to do about it?"

"Let's go out to eat."

"Great idea, I have not eaten out since yesterday."

Glad the Stimulus Bill Passed...

If you noticed my last post had no pictures. If you are a dedicated reader here you know that it cost $39,000 to get your picture posted in this space. So I for one am glad the new bill passed, as you can see it worked right away. People and I mean a bunch of them sent their money right in.

These folks, Morgan, Ali, Chandler, Megan and Mary have been in a holding pattern since the family gathering at the Land a few weeks ago. They hoped that deflation would make my services more affordable. The stimulus cash came through first so now they have their picture on the Internets and I am stimulated.

Maybe in the sake of more stimulation I should add a surcharge on action shots. Kind of like if your checked bag is over weight at the airport. They have to have some cash before they will take any action.
You can depend on Miguel to beat the system. He figured out that it costs more if I make a picture of you with your eyes open.

So He Says...

..."Look at my Valentine." This is what the guy who throws the paper says early this morning as I stood in the garage before heading to work. I just got to get faster on the new cell phone camera. I guess it's nice I just got to see someone 's Valentine since because of work and the fact that we have both been nursing bad colds by mutual consent we have opted to postpone V-Day until a more convenient moment in this household.

On the way to work I pass my wife coming home from work and we chat on the cell phone. We still love each other, despite the facts of no celebration and that the priest who officiated our marriage is no longer a priest, I guess you can say we are still married and are sweet hearts.

So anyway I tell her about the paper guy. She says, "I thought guys weren't supposed to talk to each other about Valentines?" She thinks it's like the unwritten rule that I always seem to break in a public restroom, no talking, no laughing when lined up at the urinals.

The paper guy got a new tool box for his truck from his sweety. He seemed to think I spotted that shiney symbol of love right away.

Kid Art...

These are drawn by the kids, sometime in the last 20 years or so and I suspect at least two of them are early Mary works, maybe all. Sorry to the big kids, art is not eternal, either your stuff was thrown away or you have it hanging on your own wall. Maybe it was just bad art and like a bad blog post will just languish with no visitors.
The photographer tries to get in to the act with a reflected flash. What could this picture mean, dark sky sun out, hey have you seen the red and and orange berries? Yes I have been eating them.
Every picture has a story. Word on the street has that the frogs head was less than perfect to the artist sense of what rightness of a frogs head should be so therefore he wears a nice hat.

I have done the same myself, no not painted a hat on a frog, but worn a hat on a less than perfect head.

More Art...

I'll continue with the art thing I started a couple of posts back, this time I'll pick up the game a little.

Here is a painting by a friend of Margaret and Kevin's, a gift they made to us because, well you should know by now fish is a big thing around here. Feel bad, I can't remember his name and we have another folk art looking piece by him on the way. I would look at the name but I used those big old nails like you get at Lowe's to hang this picture above the piano.


Here is a piece by Miguel, a gift to Cathy for Christmas. A Holy Spirit Dove, I don't know why it has no eye. I can only speculate on a complex second or third sight type philosophy, what I can't see I know. May be the eye was forgotten, he cannot draw one or may be it means we should just travel by the Force, whatever that may represent in you scheme of beliefs.

The Taj Mahal, by Cathy's grandfather Langdon. A work in pastel, sorry about the camera flash.

Grayson at the Lake...

Niece Grayson is staying with us this weekend. We went to the lake. Here you see Grayson setting out in pursuit of the wary catfish.
Grayson is a good baby, notice how well she stays behind the yellow "stay in the boat" warning.
Jump in here?

Slow fishing today, but enough for a nice meal for five of us.

I Collect Art...

Lots of stuff hanging on the walls around here vibing the funk as they say. Don't ask about "they", I mean if you don't know who "they" is that we speak of who is you?

We will start with art as in painted, drawn, that medium. Might be other arts around but I think we can agree that the folks creating these first examples considered considered themselves artist as opposed to someone who might create art by mistake.

These first two, gifts to me from Katie and Jeff on my recent birthday hold the distinction of having won first place in bad art shows. Why does someone enter their painting in a bad art show? Perhaps it was the urging of an SO I suspect. Any way this first one is called "Casting Away Sins." He is not in too bad a shape if he got all in one sack I would say.

This next beauty is just loaded with 80s ambiance. Just brings back those heady days when with each dip in the ocean a fairy princess could be carried back to shore. I think the date on the back of this is 1984. I can't remember if there is an artist name on the back of these two, I'm too tired to pull the big old nails I hung them with to see.







This is a painted fabric bought in a New Orleans junk shop. A real junk shop, not one of those antique stores like in the French Quarter. By Suzy Cameleon and titled "A manifestation of Evil" it depicts various primitive peoples, mostly feminine or asexual forcing a large creature over a cliff into a fiery pit. On the creatures back are painted words like, war, greed, stupidity, racism, and so on, evils that are being banished to burn by folks apparently pure, united and uncorrupted. This work set me back $10.

Thanks for visiting as always, stay tuned, I'll get around to posting the good stuff later.

Another Women's Services Fish Off...

The girls from labor and delivery hit the lake today calling themselves the four horsemen of catfish destruction.

Final count was 17 fish, 3lbs 10oz of fillets.

I had to work, but I did help clean them. The catfish, not the girls.

More Boats...

Few more boat shots, but first I'll tell about the one that got away today and I could have got it if I had wrapped my head around my new fangled cell phone camera. It was an old outboard, looked like a 1954 Mercury hanging on the back of a flat bottom being pulled back from the direction of the lake today.

Any way, here's an older boat, LST 325, moored in the river at Evansville, they made these things here during WW 2. This one saw landings in North Africa, Sicily, and France.
This boat was sold to the Greek navy. Here's sample of some Greek graffiti they left behind. I can't think of any good reason why the Greeks needed a landing ship tank. I'd like to believe they carried olive oil, ouzo and squid from island to island in the Aegean Sea. Probably not, seems when a couple of piss ant countries start shooting at each other they have had a little help from some big piss ant countries to get the ball rolling. Anyway a bunch of old guys that served on this ship sailed it back to America when the Greeks were through with it. Quite an adventure.

Me and Grayson on board. LST stands for "long slow target" in Navy lingo.