tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60852212024-03-07T12:16:32.157-06:00So Much Stuff I Can't RecallIt was either this or get one of <br /> Dogbert's External Brain Packs.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger1482125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-79594787002956795572010-07-13T22:58:00.005-05:002010-07-13T23:04:20.668-05:00Summer Read: Back to Murder (by J. Mark Bertrand)<div align="center"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5500/1432/1600/CFBAreviewer_gif.0.gif"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5500/1432/320/CFBAreviewer_gif.0.gif" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" /></a></div><center><span style="font-size: 130%;">This week, the</span></center><center><a href="http://www.christianfictionblogalliance.com/"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Christian Fiction Blog Alliance</span></a></center><center><span style="font-size: 100%;">is introducing</span></center> <center><span style="color: #993300; font-size: 130%;"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764206370">Back On Murder</a></span></center> <center>Bethany House (July 1, 2010)</center> <center>by</center> <center><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 130%;"><a href="http://www.jmarkbertrand.com/">J. Mark Betrand</a></span></center> <br /><br /><br /><span style="color: #ff6600; font-size: 100%;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBg8_iLYxnb7m8vzy1LlpXBZe_SP13MF_y4Mkzklcn3VYaFX9r4SgU8YHPhYymiocc0rShNKH7hoPGt6K6HJ_JSSgveebG3oPChXJ91SDxwuQwQE1SEyGSslyELZNwmlKD5VuIiw/s1600/Mark.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBg8_iLYxnb7m8vzy1LlpXBZe_SP13MF_y4Mkzklcn3VYaFX9r4SgU8YHPhYymiocc0rShNKH7hoPGt6K6HJ_JSSgveebG3oPChXJ91SDxwuQwQE1SEyGSslyELZNwmlKD5VuIiw/s320/Mark.jpg" /></a></div>J. Mark Bertrand has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Houston. After one hurricane too many, he left Houston and relocated with his wife Laurie to the plains of South Dakota. <br />Mark has been arrested for a crime he didn't commit, was the foreman of a hung jury in Houston, and after relocating served on the jury that acquitted Vinnie Jones of assault. In 1972, he won an honorable mention in a child modeling contest, but pursued writing instead. Besides his personal website, visit his Crime Genre website at <a href="http://www.crimegenre.com/">http://www.crimegenre.com/</a>.<br /><br />The next book in this series, <i>Pattern Of Wounds</i> will come out in the summer of 2011.<br /><br /><b><span style="color: #ffcc00; font-size: 100%;">ABOUT THE BOOK</span></b> <br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLiOS8g2DEXNcxMJw-3A-ambJQda7S3YT511RO1wQuhtn7usg_bWcRpUn9IjV_XDDC53W-gglIO0ND87vNfaAm2LtPJpHHCAZKWHpTJASKzsht4OTy15EjCzri0eaH_xD8uPKZA/s1600/backonmurder.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsLiOS8g2DEXNcxMJw-3A-ambJQda7S3YT511RO1wQuhtn7usg_bWcRpUn9IjV_XDDC53W-gglIO0ND87vNfaAm2LtPJpHHCAZKWHpTJASKzsht4OTy15EjCzri0eaH_xD8uPKZA/s320/backonmurder.jpg" /></a></div>Det. Roland March is a homicide cop on his way out. <br />A missing girl. A corrupt investigation. They thought they could get away with it, but they forgot one thing:<br />Roland March is <b><span style="font-size: large;">BACK ON MURDER...</span></b><br /><br />Houston homicide detective Roland March was once one of the best. Now he's disillusioned, cynical, and on his way out. His superiors farm him out on a variety of punishment details. But when he's the only one at a crime scene to find evidence of a missing female victim, he's given one last chance to prove himself. Before he can crack the case, he's transferred to a new one that has grabbed the spotlight--the disappearance of a famous Houston evangelist's teen daughter. <br /><br />All he has to do? Find the missing teenage daughter of a Houston evangelist that every cop in town is already looking for. But March has an inside track, a multiple murder nobody else thinks is connected. With the help of a youth pastor with a guilty conscience who navigates the world of church and faith, March is determined to find the missing girls while proving he's still one of Houston's best detectives. <br /><br />Battling a new partner, an old nemesis, and the demons of his past, getting to the truth could cost March everything. Even his life.<br /><br />If you would like to read the first chapter of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764206370">Back On Murder</a>, go <a href="http://thestorybeginnings.blogspot.com/2010/07/back-on-murder-chapter-1.html">HERE</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-34070665717596298832010-07-05T17:01:00.003-05:002010-07-05T17:06:36.137-05:00Summer Read: Relentless (by Robin Parrish)<br /><br /><div align="center"><a href="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5500/1432/1600/CFBAreviewer_gif.0.gif"><img alt="" border="0" src="http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/5500/1432/320/CFBAreviewer_gif.0.gif" style="margin: 0px 10px 10px 0px;" /></a></div><center><span style="font-size: 130%;">This week, the</span></center><center><a href="http://www.christianfictionblogalliance.com/"><span style="font-size: 100%;">Christian Fiction Blog Alliance</span></a></center> <center><span style="font-size: 100%;">is introducing</span></center> <center><span style="color: #993300; font-size: 130%;"> <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764206079">Nightmare</a></span></center><center>Bethany House (July 1, 2010)</center><center>by</center><center><span style="color: #006600; font-size: 130%;"><a href="http://www.robinparrish.com/">Robin Parrish</a></span></center><br /><br /><span style="color: #ff6600; font-size: 100%;">ABOUT THE AUTHOR:</span><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdIZG82j3HcIB3fFlI9mDU9isGCSCcOiMvHN3MMn-nSk52v30IhA_AEjXuC4ILdN4atQ0Fi9WNoCKouyNBJVyHCMQfdWKUAwWDcquwpqeYkW9HmOZ2gKGnKWkkx5Bzd8sLIuaUw/s1600/RobinParrish.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSdIZG82j3HcIB3fFlI9mDU9isGCSCcOiMvHN3MMn-nSk52v30IhA_AEjXuC4ILdN4atQ0Fi9WNoCKouyNBJVyHCMQfdWKUAwWDcquwpqeYkW9HmOZ2gKGnKWkkx5Bzd8sLIuaUw/s200/RobinParrish.jpg" width="138" /></a></div><br />Robin Parrish is a journalist who's written about the intersection of faith and pop culture for more than a decade. Currently he serves as Senior Editor at XZOOSIA.com, a community portal that fuses social networking with magazine-style features about entertainment and culture. <br /><br />He had two great ambitions in his life: to have a family, and to be a published novelist. In March of 2005, he proposed to his future wife the same week he signed his first book contract with Bethany House Publishers. They contracted him for the rights to The Dominion Trilogy: <i>Relentless</i> (2006), <i>Fearless</i> (2007), and <i>Merciless</i> (2008). His science fiction thriller, <i>Offworld</i> came out in 2009. This summer debuts <i>Nightmare</i>, and he's working on another for 2011. Robin and his wife and children live in North Carolina. <br /><br /><b><span style="color: #ffcc00; font-size: 100%;">ABOUT THE BOOK:</span></b><br /><div style="color: #073763;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKeiaSpBk6S6LbK3TXYiiPDauBELJs-zW8qSDev04Whh0QuXCR-rH5-ukzZ_DGlWuI1PqVCIMpjCCCmyMD-408NPIv800fU9YhOcsDVw58gz_hrjK73-YTSkxmQnUiVP0uZusoXQ/s1600/Nightmare.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKeiaSpBk6S6LbK3TXYiiPDauBELJs-zW8qSDev04Whh0QuXCR-rH5-ukzZ_DGlWuI1PqVCIMpjCCCmyMD-408NPIv800fU9YhOcsDVw58gz_hrjK73-YTSkxmQnUiVP0uZusoXQ/s200/Nightmare.jpg" width="131" /></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><b>The Nightmare is Coming... </b></span></div><br /><br />Ghost Town is the hottest amusement park in the country, offering state-of-the-art chills and thrills involving the paranormal. The park's main ride is a haunted house that promises an encounter with a real ghost. <br /><br />When Maia Peters visits during her senior year of college, she's not expecting to be impressed. Maia grew up as the only child of a pair of world-renowned "ghost hunters," so the paranormal is nothing new and to her most of the park is just Hollywood special effects. In fact, the ride feels pretty boring until the very end. There, a face appears from the mist. The face of Jordin Cole, a girl Maia knows who disappeared from campus a few months ago. <br /><br />Convinced what she saw wasn't a hoax and desperate to find answers to Jordin's disappearance, Maia launches into a quest for answers. Joined by Jordin's boyfriend--a pastor's kid with very different ideas about paranormal and the spirit realm--Maia finds herself in a struggle against dangerous forces she never expected to confront on the edge of the spirit realm that try to keep the truth from emerging. <br /><br /><br /><br />If you would like to read the first chapter of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0764206079">Nightmare</a>, go <a href="http://thestorybeginnings.blogspot.com/2010/07/nightmare-chapter-1.html">HERE</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-3241586460748709912010-02-14T15:25:00.004-06:002010-02-14T15:32:33.620-06:00Happy Valentine's Day, Pinkie.A few years back my sisters, brother and his family, and Dina, Phil and I took my folks on a Baja California cruise. For a belated Christmas gift that year I made iMovie videos for everyone using the pictures everyone took on the trip. This is <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANmGARZyN1k">the one I made for Dina and me</a>.<br /><br />Happy Valentine's Day, Pinkie. I love you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-47256000102216301942010-02-11T22:52:00.003-06:002010-02-11T23:14:38.445-06:00259 Words: Thin Place @ Sunset State BeachFriday night and Sunset State Beach was strangely vacant. No surfers, no beachcombers, not even the odd dog. Maybe a seagull or two, and a wide swath of golden sand stretching along the eastern side of Monterey Bay. Evening was coming on and I sat on driftwood reading <i>The Blue Fairy Book</i> for a lit class at UC Santa Cruz. Trying to read, anyway. Between checking the parking lot for my wife’s car every few minutes and being equally unable to keep my eyes off the westward dipping sun, it looked like I’d be in for an all-nighter after our weekend camping getaway. <br /><br />The sunset finally won my full attention. As the sun dropped to the horizon, the sky exploded—burnished amber fire—rivaled only by its blazing reflection in the water, and at last the surrounding sands. A perfect moment of glory—stunning, literally. Then God passed by and it was gone. The air, water, and earth missing the crucial fourth element.<br /><br />Five minutes later my wife arrived. Traffic jam. Hadn’t seen the sun set. Despite my enthusiasm to share what I’d seen, undergrad English Lit vocabulary couldn’t convey the momentary vision of fire and glory. Spouses shouldn’t keep secrets, but what do you do when you want to tell but are unfit for the task? To this day it haunts me.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-69674656865861573932010-01-18T18:40:00.004-06:002010-01-18T18:58:45.836-06:00Two Things to Check OutMondays through the end of February are $1 pulled-pork sandwich nights at <a href="http://dickeys.com">Dickey's</a>. <i>Mmmmm!</i><br /><br />Phil's building a blog as part of a geometry project. <a href="http://philsgeoblog.blogspot.com">Check it out</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-8994889131643118812010-01-15T23:13:00.003-06:002010-01-15T23:22:34.810-06:00IKEA Find: Pickled HerringToday a co-worker mentioned she'd found pickled herring at IKEA and it was delicious. Well, she started to say it was delicious, but another co-worker and I interrupted her with questions:<ul><li>Did you have to pickle it yourself?</li><br /><li>Did you need an allen wrench to open the can?</li><br /><li>Did it say "pickled herring" on the can, but "Flürm" on the shelf label?"</li><br /><li>Did you need help carrying it out to the car?</li><br /><li>Were there wordless instructions showing how to eat it?</li><br /><li>Did a stock person need to get it down off the top shelf?</li><br /><li>Was it real fish, or fish flavored pressboard?</li></ul><br /><br />We did agree that the Dyson hand-dryers in the restroom are awesome.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-64132354318185274972009-10-09T09:56:00.004-05:002009-10-09T10:02:17.461-05:00Honor RollWe break Radio Silence for the following brief announcement:<br /><br />Phil made the Six Weeks Honor Roll with All A's and 1 B. (Still time to get All A's at the semester.) Here's a couple pix from this morning's assembly.<ul><li><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/PhilClassHonorRoll.jpg">The Boy and His Class</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/PhilHonotRoll.jpg">The Boy and His Certificate</a></li></ul><br /><br />...descending again beneath the depths and resuming Radio Silence....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-36858974495661815432009-08-01T21:42:00.004-05:002009-08-01T22:08:43.044-05:00New States, New PhilpixYesterday Dina, Phil, and I took a road trip to Shreveport, Louisiana, and near Texarkana, Arkansas (skirted around the city, never went in). Here's <a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/100_1236.jpg">Phil at the Louisiana border</a>. No pic at the Arkansas border because a) it was dark and b) it was Arkansas. Two new states bring the total of states visited to <a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/29states.gif">29</a>, 58%.<br /><br />This evening sister Julia took us and my brother's family out to dinner. Here's pix from Red Robin in Garland:<ul><li><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/100_1239.jpg">Phil</a><br />(he had just rubbed his hair with his balloon ... to pick up salt from the table with the balloon, of course)</li><br /><li><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/100_1241.jpg">Cousin Jack</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/100_1240.jpg">Bill & Brenda</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/100_1243.jpg">The Whole Group</a></li><br /><li><a href="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/100_1244.jpg">Julia and Phil, Outside</a></li></ul>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-83126527273970206072009-07-30T23:23:00.003-05:002009-07-30T23:39:56.969-05:00Running on IcePhil had his first experience ice skating this afternoon. His aunt Julie took him and his cousin Jack to the Dallas Galleria and helped them both get the hang of things. They lasted a couple hours, and by the end of it Phil had let go of the handrail and was tooling around quite ably.<br /><br />Since Aunt Julie can skate backward (and do hockey stops!), she shot some video of Phil. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jrn1l4ozrsw">Enjoy!</a>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-55345785253378088652009-07-20T20:01:00.003-05:002009-07-20T20:08:32.996-05:00It's a Starbucks Pastry Morning (Tomorrow)Buy a beverage, get a pastry. What's not to like?<br /><br />I've got to go downtown tomorrow and test for my ESL certifimacation. Now I can flaunt the don't eat/drink rules on the light rail.<br /><br />Check it out: <a href="http://www.starbucks.com/retail/free_pastry.html">Mmmmm</a>...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-42246262323616568972009-07-19T22:31:00.003-05:002009-07-19T22:40:52.053-05:00Never Surrender, Even If You're FrenchSo's last night I was making French toast. Yeah, for dinner. Overslept in the morning and Dina and Phil had already eaten when I finally got up. Hence breakfast for dinner.<br /><br />Unfortunately after I had cracked the eggs I discovered the milk had gone bad. Didn't want to cover the eggs and put them back in the fridge and run out to Albertsons. Fortunately I had sour cream. And aerosol whipped cream. Which to subsitute? Wound up splitting the difference.<br /><br />Note to self ... Mmmmmm....Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-90350170986206904852009-07-15T21:56:00.004-05:002009-07-15T23:21:11.140-05:00SRV and BarryDuring today's Laying the Foundation training (for pre-A.P. teachers) we did a narrative free-write while we listened to what someone said was Stevie Ray Vaughan's rendition of "Little Wing." Sounded more soulful/funky than the SRV/LW recordings can find online, but who knows. Anywho, this is what I wrote (with minor revisions).<blockquote>Barry walked down the street as the lightpoles phased on. A warm breeze blew, mixing the smell of produce, beer, cigarette smoke, and perfume. The evening was amber, and Barry leaned back as he strolled, making it look easy. Making it look good.<br /><br />A car pulled by, a long car with fins, and Barry nodded. Driving's fine, but a night like this he had to be out in it. Anton, the guy who sold maybe twenty bucks a day in his junk store, caught his nod and returned it, kept sweeping his stoop.<br /><br />Ladies were beginning to trickle out on the avenue, their workday ending, most—some, their day just beginning at six. But it was good. It was all good. Barry and the ladies admired each other and the drivers of the long cars. It was all good. And more than that, it was right. It was all right.<br /><br />Barry took a deep breath, inhaled the oncoming night, held it in. Closed his eyes and let it out slow. Slow and fine. Slow and fine and easy. </blockquote>The exercise was to demonstrate <i>tone</i>. Any guesses as to what I was shooting for? <br /><br />(Ronny Jordan's <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7H_L5cYkg8">"The Jackal"</a> has a similar vibe to the song played in class.)Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-32090902355220111492009-07-12T22:04:00.003-05:002009-07-12T22:11:55.822-05:00Ahhh, Biff. What a character.Yeah, I know. Two days in a row. Still, this is worth it, I think.<br /><br />Tom Wilson (Biff in <i>Back to the Future</i>) <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwY5o2fsG7Y">sings about crazy fans</a>.<br /><br />Plus, a sneak peek at something(s) I might show my classes next year:<ul><li>The <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwnqUmmJ-zE">Haiku</a> songs</li><br /><li>and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LI_VViWehzA">Homonyms</a>!</li></ul><br /><br />Enjoy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-83029933842654235352009-07-11T10:33:00.005-05:002009-07-11T10:36:45.015-05:00Important Freebie BulletinWe interrupt this blog silence to remind y'all to head on over to 7-11 today for free mini Slurpees (one per store, you do the math based on how many 7-11s there are in your neighborhood). Go sooner rather than later as there tends to be a limited supply of mini cups and last year the stores I hit in the afternoon had been wiped out by day camps.<br /><br />Enjoy.<br /><br />We now return you to your regularly scheduled non-happenings here on the blog.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-75147376303026825282009-05-30T08:53:00.002-05:002009-05-30T08:57:12.809-05:00Moving NightThe sellers are moving out during the day today; we're loading up a van to move the bulk of our stuff into our new-to-us house tomorrow.<br /><br />But tonight we'll move a few boxes, fragile stuff we don't trust to the back of the van.<br /><br />Good Times.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-22051600313064243292009-05-16T20:00:00.002-05:002009-05-16T20:05:44.180-05:00Free Foxes<i>Foxe's Book of Martyrs</i> that is.<br /><br />Pick up a free audio copy at <a href="http://christianaudio.com/free_download.php">ChristianAudio.com</a> (offer expires ablaze at the stake at the end of May)<br /><br />Should make the daily commute seem mild in comparison.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-27091872829622717832009-05-09T21:15:00.002-05:002009-05-09T21:34:43.313-05:00Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and the Wind ... Sweepin' Down the PlainWent to two new places today. Well, new to us at least.<br /><br />Started the morning by stepping back in time at the <a href="http://www.scarboroughrenfest.com/">Scarborough Faire</a> Renaissance Festival in Waxahachie. Good times. Good bird of prey show and kid-friendly swordmaster duel show, and the joust was OK. Fun parade. Phil and I got swords (2-foot long padded sticks) and did some archery. Phil also played a couple games of "skill," spearing the brass ring first try on the kiddie joust, did not so well with the ping pong-ball crossbows. All in all, a fun six hours in the Sixteenth Century. (Thanks Jennifer for the tix!)<br /><br />On the way home we decided what-the-heck and drove on up into Oklahoma. No reason. Drove in three or four miles, turned around and headed back home. Still, 'nother state I've been to. Here's the <a href="http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/?action=view¤t=AZCACOFLGAHIIDILINIAMIMNMOMTNENVNMN.gif" target="_blank">current map</a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-48552572700424608522009-05-04T20:26:00.003-05:002009-05-04T20:33:46.763-05:00Cool Like MeJust got a copy of Issue #2 of <a href="http://themidnightdiner.com"><i>Coach's Midnight Diner</i></a>, which includes my short story "Hinky Jenks." <br /><br /><center><img src="http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u45/ctmikesell/DinerPic1b.jpg" width="250"><br />Look how cool I am now.</center><br /><br />Jealous? Don't be. <a href="http://themidnightdiner.com">Order</a> your own copy!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-43369688676872214372009-04-30T20:40:00.003-05:002009-04-30T20:54:29.335-05:00Random Acts of School FundraisingThe Chik-fil-A in Allen does quite a bit of fundraising for the local schools. We wind up there every couple months to help out Phil's. Sometimes, like tonight, we wind up there when they're doing fundraising for campuses that aren't his. We drop our receipts in those boxes, too.<br /><br />A few weeks ago we stopped at a CfA drivethru up in McKinney. There was a fundraiser poster plastered on the cashier's window. "Oh yeah," we said, "we're doing the school thing." The cashier handed us our receipt with a pen and asked us to write our child's homeroom teacher's name on the back. I scribbled something starting with a <i>W</i>. I hope Ms. Wrvnshftn appreciated the effort.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-56348464515958572212009-04-28T18:48:00.002-05:002009-04-28T18:56:40.481-05:00Finding Yourself at Wal-MartStopped by the Wal-Mart earlier this week to Jif and Little Debbie's oatmeal cookie sandwiches, wound up with Mr. Bean's Holiday on DVD ($5 bin) and several bags of Mike-Sell's caramel-flavored <a href="https://mikesells.webfeatsecured.com/ProductDetails.aspx?ID=17">Puffcorn Delites</a> ($1 each on the close-out rack). <br /><br />Hadn't seen Mike-Sell's brand goodness at Wally's before. And since it was on close-out, I'm guessing I won't again....<br /><br />Still, I am delicious.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-66721850883934878922009-04-26T09:48:00.004-05:002009-04-26T09:59:12.977-05:00Philip Versus the Number LineYesterday was Dina's 49th birthday. Phil wanted to know why that was such a big deal. I told him this was the farthest Dina would ever be from turning 50.<br /><br />Barely missing a beat Phil announced, "No, when she turns 70 she'll be farther than she is now."<br /><br />Not exactly the high point of the day for Dina, but she was impressed with his math skills.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-87622646782579168482009-03-20T20:46:00.003-05:002009-03-20T21:01:12.023-05:00Get Thee to the Christian Book ExpoIf you happen to be in the Dallas area, stop on by the <a href="http://www.christianbookexpo.com/">Christian Book Expo</a> at the convention center tomorrow and/or Sunday. Discount codes for <a href="http://www.christianbookexpo.com/attendees/registration.php">online registration</a> are available from local Christian book stores, but even without the $5-10 off admission is still worthwhile. A friend and I stopped by today; got a bag of free books; had chats with fellow writers, an acquisitions editor and an agent; sat in on some good panel discussions and workshops. Plenty for both writers and readers.<br /><br />Attendance was sparse (though it was a workday), so help bring the numbers up so the industry will be back next year.<br /><br />Two days of Spring Break remaining...Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-22230018100077631052009-03-17T20:47:00.003-05:002009-03-18T07:43:54.398-05:00Atomic Spring BreakPicked up the third season of <a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088571"><i>Moonlighting</i></a> at Half Price Books for $12. Included in the set is the <i>Taming of the Shrew</i> episode, "Atomic Shakespeare." Unfortunately I'm teaching <i>Julius Caesar</i>, so my students will likely miss out on the immortal line:<blockquote>Doth bears beareth?<br />Doth bees bee-eth?</blockquote><br />Petruchio Dave does quote the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" line from <i>Caesar</i>, so maybe I can make it a Where's Waldo/Spot the Marc Antony Reference assignment.<br /><br />Still five days left on break. Went house hunting today. Tomorrow: Six Flags!Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-77817033477375826952009-03-14T23:14:00.003-05:002009-03-14T23:45:49.617-05:00Spring Break Has Broken Like the First......?<br /><br />Dang it, where's Cat Stevens when you need him?<br /><br />Anyhoo, Dina, Phil and I are all on Spring Break together this year (last year mine was a week off Phil's). Not a whole lot planned. Six Flags. Looking at houses. Maybe driving up to the Oklahoma border so I can add another state to my "<a href="http://members.pioneer.net/~mikesell/myredstates.gif">been there, seen that</a>" map. Friday is the <a href="www.christianbookexpo.com/">Christian Book Expo</a> here in Dallas (well, the whole weekend; I'm just going Friday).<br /><br />Mostly it's just relaxing and resting up for the Bataan Death March that is the final eleven weeks of school (no breaks at all in April, none in May until the 25th). <br /><br />Eight more days of not-school. <i>Aaaaaaah.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6085221.post-31773681659745144842009-03-10T17:56:00.002-05:002009-03-10T17:58:49.390-05:00A Free Drink's a Free Drink, Baby... and free fries are a bonus.<br /><br /><a href="http://coupon.hangintherejack.com/fry-drink.php">Free small drinks and fries</a> at Jack in the Box till midnight tonight.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0