Rational thinking

Psychology giant Albert Ellis died this week. I attended one of his speeches in the early 1990s. At the time I was thinking of adding a degree in psychology to my mass communication degree. He was under the weather with a cold, but he gave a wonderful talk and even lead us in a song about "stinking thinking." I bought one of his books and he patiently autographed dozens that day. I still haven't mastered his rational approach, but I did agree with much of what he said. I highly recommend the book below.

Surely a sign of the apocalypse

Spice Girls reunite. And now of got that stupid lover song stuck in my head.

No neighbors

When I hit the lottery, (no rich relatives and a pitiful savings, so it's going to have to be the lotto) I'm going to buy 1,000 acres (preferably in the Hill country or other green Southern area) and build a house in the middle of it and then build a moat around it (piranhas and alligators optional). We'll only lower the drawbridge for people we like. I'm just saying...

Thinning the herd No. 5

Man steals venomous snakes, gets bit. Brilliant

Thinning the herd No. 4

Man falls off balcony in spitting contest.

He'd be stylin'

and profilin'. Now I just need to find one of those belts.

From the "Complete Guide to Modern Knitting and Crocheting" by Alice Carroll, published 1942.

I'm just saying ...

You would think educators would be smarter than this: Teachers stage fake gun attack on kids

Thinning the herd No. 3

aka those bars are there for a reason
You know it's not going to end well when a story has lead like this: Climbing into a giraffe's cage at the local zoo seemed a good idea after a few drinks.

Hope springs eternal

The cukes may be toast, but the tomatoes, rosemary and at least one of the peppers have survived.

I'm just saying

I have no problem with a man in a kilt. Kilts can be sexy. But Target man in the black utilikilt just say no to the Hawaiian shirt and faux Birkenstocks next time. I'm just saying ...

Happy Happy Birthday, Baby

All my love --
past, present and future.

Dream deferred

Saturday we hit the grand opening of a new garden store. I had been toying with the idea of little vegetable container garden. Good potting soil, two different types of tomato plants, lemon cucumbers, mexibell peppers and rosemary followed me home. A little bit of time playing in the dirt and voila a tiny garden was born. They looked a little shell-shocked at first. But Day 2 the rains came and all the leaves perked up and I could see the salad of red, green and gold coming my way.

Only to wake up on Day 5 to hail bouncing off the windows, which resulted in bright green leaves and stalks metamorphosing into broken stalks with a few pathetic remnants of green. I hoping for a miracle.

Not lovin' it

As if kids didn't have enough pressure -- in today's "Happy" Meal, the judgmental mic.

Grumpy

Red eye
Originally uploaded by chrissanna68.

I know exactly how he feels.

Lucky 13

My great-grandma said something good always happened to her on Friday the 13th. It's always been good to me too. This time the luck came a day early, but I will take it all the same.

Easter egg in snow

Easter egg in snow
Originally uploaded by chrissanna68.

This is West Texas. It's April. It was high 70s all last week. This is not right.

Thinning the herd No. 2

Man burns genitals in 'Jackass' stunt. The title alone should be a clue not to try these things at home.

Butterflies are free

March 5, 2007
Originally uploaded by chrissanna68.

Two clicks and the camera's batteries went dead. First shot out of focus and this one. When I came back with fresh batteries, of course, it was gone. But that's OK.

March 3, 2007

March 3, 2007
Originally uploaded by chrissanna68.

Hook 'em

No punchline

This case gets more pathetic and sad by the day. Bury her already.

Thinning the herd

Doctors warn of poisoning from hand gels. What kind of idiot looks at a bottle of hand sanitizer and says "mmm, yummy and cheaper than vodka."

Popularity contest

I've been practicing with my new camera and spending a lot of time on Flickr.

I've experimented with different shapes.

I've tried artsy sepia.

I've taken shots of weird things to find in west Texas.

But what is getting the most action? The joke shot I took of my boot to send to Ken.

Bitter cold

Snow is highly overrated. Not a big fan of the cold. Asthmatic bronchitis not enjoying that either. I'm ready for a hot West Texas summer.

Is it wrong

that I kind of want one of these?

and then again

Ken holds my penguin hostage. Ransom note comes via e-mail.

He has his moments

Guess who spent all last night looking for a lost child after a full day of work and was awake for more than 24 hours? Yep, he's a pretty good guy.