Prep for a social group comeback

So much drama, so little time. Last night was a rekindling of a social group in my neck of the woods. I decided to go ghetto, so this is a myspace cheesy pose for ya right before we headed out the door. I think the Chinese food did a number on me...ouch! Any who. Well I think I'm getting a little better at these self portraits.

Side Note: SHOW ME THE TAX REBATE!!!

A Senior Moment

Man, was this a stroll down memory lane...

This is my senior picture class of 1996!

Only in Texas

Only in Texas do you feel like you have Monster trucks chasing you down the freeway. We were on our way this morning to a painting party and happened upon this crazy ginormous "Big Rd 1" truck.

We're thinking to ourselves, is this for real? And obviously it is as I snapped a photo of the big truck, but DANG! As my good friend Amy would say, "IS THAT REALLY NECESSARY?"Did you see my reflection in the photo? Kinda cool and creepy all at the same time. So here the truck is encroaching upon us. It is alarmingly huge. I'm trying to be inconspicuous snapping these photos so that they don't just run us over. Finally at some point in those few seconds, it didn't matter to me anymore and I was snapping away.Did you see that the side view mirror on Jess' Xterra is BELOW the body of the truck? So if that isn't proof enough that this truck is rather large, then take a few seconds and check out the rest of the pics that follow.Here you see next to us is a lifted Ford F-150 and the "big rd 1" is still towering about the F-150. Next to the "Big Rd 1" you can see a Toyota 4Runner which looks like a midget SUV next to the "Big Rd 1".

Jess got up close to the truck one more time for me so I could take another photo. I wanted to see if I could get one good one. Here we are exiting 610 N and "Big Rd 1" is exiting 610 S.

1-Uppers Suck

I've searched the internet to see what I could find on 1-upping. I can't stand 1-uppers. I found great videos out there. Do a search if you are interested to see the videos.

Urban Dictionary had this to say:

An annoying person who responds to hearing someone else’s experience or problem by immediately telling a similar story about themselves with a much more fantastic (or terrible) outcome. A one upper is one who feels like they need to be better than everyone else, so they constantly "one-up" anything that anyone says.

I have to say I agree quite a bit with Urban Dictionary's definitions of a 1-upper. There are days that I just close the chat window cause I can't take the one-upping any longer. Sometimes, all you need is someone to say to you, "Damn that sucks, sorry to hear it." Yet instead you are faced with some one-upping story just to prove that yet again, your day does truly suck.

One thing I found while searching for material on 1-uppers is here:

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8676280

And I think I might have to order a few of her 1-upper been bags.
Those are awesome. It would give me great pleasure everyday to look at that little bean bag and be reminded of all the 1-uppers I've encountered in my life. (I realize that is sick and twisted.) One of the worst 1-uppers I encountered was at my last job. She clearly knew she 1-up'd, yet it didn't phase her that 1-upping was actually rather rude. Man did I love leaving that job and never having to be 1-up'd by her again. (I'm not saying that I was ridded of all 1-uppers in my life by leaving that job, but I didn't have to endure the endless 1-upping at work too anymore.)

HA ha HA HA ha ha still laughing from the site I just stumbled across...

http://www.belowtopsecret.com/forum/thread322563/pg1

Oh man, the response of the 1-upper that always has a friend!!! OMG, did I ever have someone in my life like that. I couldn't put my finger on the exact kind of 1-upping, but that just pinpointed it for me. I often wonder to myself how many of these "friends" really are "friends" or just people of whom they heard other 1-upping stories about. Hmm... *scratches head*. I still love that the light bulb just came on for me, it was rather dark in this room.

The next time someone shares a story with you, be sensitive to this issue. Fight the urge to tell a "more fascinating" story, especially if others are present. Remember, telling a like or similar story just to be able to join in to a conversation and seem like you're relating to the topic is still 1-upping.

Something great I learned from http://www.yeartosuccess.com/public/Dont_Be_a_One-Upper.html

• When someone tells you something of significance to them, all they want is a sympathetic ear and to know that they have been heard
• Decide if your story will help the listener
• If you are among friends and you truly have a story more fascinating than the one just told that you feel you must share, lead into it gracefully
• The key is to be a good listener while having consideration for the other person's feelings

So could 1-upping also be the person that no matter what, they take your conversation and always turn it to some negative experience in their life? Hmm... maybe another light bulb just came on for me. I guess I would equate it to a "Debbie Downer". So is that a 1-upper or is that a completely different person?

Well, it seems that the world is FULL of one-uppers given that there are endless blogs and forums on them. I am not the first to blog about it, I will not be the last to blog about it, but at the moment, this is my rant blog! Hijack it if you must...my rant is done.

If you read this and you have other 1-up blogs or sites to suggest I peruse, let me know. I'd love to check them out.

Addicted to Number Patterns

As odds would have it I was actually paying attention when this palindrome occurred and was able to snap a pic while in traffic. Fortunately the light turned red before the odometer rolled another mile. Why am I so addicted to numbers? I have no idea. But I get just a moment of enjoyment out of things like this. So you too can see a glimpse into my psychosis :)

One might think that I'd be a huge fan of Monk or NUMB3RS but I don't care for Monk and I've not yet seen numbers. Oh well :) That's what netflix is for, right?

My new signature

I know you can tell just by looking at my face, A word about my weakness... I'm totally addicted to my ACE

So here's the full version (Puretone's Addiction modified here):

I got two pale hands holdin' on the handlebars
I'm shaking with the heat of my need again
It starts in my feet, reverbs up to my brain
There's nothing I can do to reverse the gain
I'm looking down to the street below
There's nothing in the way they move too slow
They don't know what I know
They don't hunger for the beast below
Listening to the roadnoise I feel so out of place
There's a certain something missing that the traffic can't erase
I know you can tell just by looking at my face
A word about my weakness
I'm totally addicted to my ACE

I have seen it all

Thanks to Brian for sharing with me something I never knew existed, and now that I've seen it, I can leave this life fulfilled :)

And you're probably asking is this thing for real...
I might have to get me one of these just for the novelty factor. I wanna give props where props are due. This was found in the blog:

Hello Kitty AR-15 - evil black rifle meets cute and cuddly

and more information can be found at:

http://www.armoryairbrush.com/

Happy Hunting :)

Pink CTS...SQUIRT!

This has got to be the sexiest car ever in existence. MK Pink edition Cadillac CTS. Sign me up. Well, my goal for 2008 is to get me one of these. If you would like to help me in my adventure to joining the select few that sport around the world in their PINK Caddy's, check out my site: http://www.marykay.com/kcarlson78/default.aspx I love the ladies in pink! Also this month there is a special offer of owning an adorable lip clutch with your purchase. Get 'em while they're hot.

Don't Waste the Day...Put on Some Pants

Over Christmas I got to spend some time with my brother. I always love his perspective on life. This past get together, he imparted wisdom to Jess and me that we will forever live by. He spoke of those lazy days, whether they are induced by too much drinking the night before, too little sleep, or just not feeling so hot in general. He said, "never let a day pass that you don't put on pants, otherwise it will be seen as a wasted day."

I have to agree with him on this one. Last Friday, I was a bit under the weather. I lounged around most of the day doing a few chores here and there, but remaining in my PJs until 3 p.m. At which time, I decided I could not let the day become completely wasted. So I took a shower, donned some jeans, and felt I had accomplished much more than expected for a lazy day. It's amazing what putting some pants on does to boost one's moral.

The Forbidden Ride of 2008

This is a video of our first ride this year. I was really excited to pull together a route and a group of folks to go visit the Forbidden Gardens in Katy TX (http://forbidden-gardens.com/). Surprisingly the weather worked out in our favor. We got a bit wet from the roads at the start of the ride, but just as soon as we were out of the Stafford/Sugarland area, the roads were nice and dry.

This is the first statue you see as you are entering the parking area of the Forbidden Gardens.

There are two of these statues guarding the entrance to the statue garden.

The size of these statues is breath-taking. I'm not sure I expected them to be so big.

The attention to detail is phenomenal.

This was a fantastic place to visit to start out the New Year. The route to and from the Forbidden-Gardens is as follows:

I'd suggest cutting off the leg south of 59 as it seemed to suck with stop sign after stop sign.

70K

Carmyne is growing up. Before she rolled 70K, I got a shot of her rolling 69996. Since I was a math major, of course I was excited to snap a pic of the palindrome.

Then there was the build up to the actual rolling to 70K.

And here is the moment of truth...Carmyne rolled 70K. YAY!

Fun with my new camera

While Jess was re-installing the heated gear wiring, I was playing with my new video camera. This camera is what records the stuff my helmet cam sees. I totally plan on going to a go-kart place, wearing my helmet, and recording the hours of fun we'll have.