The weekend that kept getting wackier still lives!

It started with seeing an X and getting insanely jealous. That was later calmed down by attending The Angry Asian’s “Stereotypical Party”, where you come dressed up as the worst stereotype of your race. I was about to go home and mope until I was told that I couldn’t until I went to see “Madame Wong”. Boy, that was a good idea.

The next day pushed my limits of stress and ability to deal with physical threats. These two unrelated “tests” involved gunshots from outside at 1:30, and later, an unwelcome visitor who burst into my bedroom in an outrage and had some very unpleasant and tramatic things to say. Thank God I was dressed.

Throughout the numerous ordeals, I was brought back to sanity with the help of my amazing friends who don’t mind getting 4:30AM emergency phone calls from me.

Today has been interesting as I’m finally getting a few week’s worth of laundry done, got a Thank You card from Barb and (OMG!) Mentos from Australia and New Zealand from about the coolest person on Earth!

And then I got an SMS from Brooke. Now I know why she disappeared for so long. Maybe I should have left a “Tommy was here” in the closet.

–SnoopyKiss can’t wait to settle down with some girl that won’t eat his Mentos.

The process for getting the absurd speeding ticket (65 on the Tollway) has been stretched out to the point where if these were gym shorts, they would no longer fit. I’ve failed to see any humor in the situation until I realized how much I loved the Internet, and how it was my friend.

If you’re from Texas, you’ve probably heard the ads for defensivedriving.com. I decided to take a risk and try it. There’s the occasional question to make sure you’re paying attention.
(Ex: “When you come to a red light, you should:

• A.) Stop
  
• B.) Go
  
• C.) Some other silly option.

I ain’t lying. And if those questions are too hard for you, you can just hit the refresh button as the questions are random)

In any case, I decided to take a few liberties with my Defensive Driving course and I think that the amusement value more than made up for it. (Note the Smirnoff Ice)

With that said, I think that the timer on my last page is up, and I should return.

–SnoopyKiss is also heartbroken. But don’t worry, he’s got some glue on backorder.

On many different levels.

One of which was that I didn’t even notice that my site’s been down for quite some time because my ISP (Comcast) changed my IP w/o me knowing. Therefore, lastcoolnameleft.com didn’t resolve. If you don’t find this funny, ask a techie. If the techie doesn’t find this funny…well, it’s probably not. But hug your techie anyway; because I’m sure he would enjoy it. (Hmm…Hug A Techie Day.)

The other level is that I promised myself to post whenever events happen. Probably one per event. As of my last entry, there have been enough events to overwhelm a freeze-dried turkey. So, I shall summarize:

Austin Lindy Exchange – Dancing, dancing, dancing and more dancing. At some point I slept. Oh yeah! And I had 3 women staying at my house! We even made shirts. Tommy’s Bordello. I felt so special.

Halloween Party #1 – Unbeknownst to me, I had tickets to go see the Plano Rep’s Chicago that night. I went to a costume party where Disco Stu was accompanied by the likes of Angie the Carpenter and Greg the Cholo (sp?). It is here that I met who was awesome enough to sing some Janis Joplin for me outside.

Halloween Party #2 – Helen and FWSWS threw a Dance with a live band, costume and even a birthday party for Mistress Helen who was spawned on Halloween, a few years go. My class was also there! Sidenote: I’ve never been so self-conscious in my life than when sitting in a Greyhound bus station for an hour while wearing my Sugar Daddy PJ’s. Afterwards, went to Weyandt’s party which was an event and a half.

Halloween Party #3 – Rocky Horror. I could go into that some more, but my mom reads this site at times.

After a particularly unfortunate Hallowween ending, involving a miscommunication between friends, I feel that karma smiled down upon me (that is if karma would have the properties of a face and muscles to make such a movement). And presented a gift which I have been reveling in ever since. The aforementioned Brooke. (Who a number of my friends are starting to doubt the existance of because due to some reason or another has been unable to join me on none, but one of my social expeditions thus far.)

Oh yeah! My new Treo 600 came in and I’m once again, like a giddy school girl playing with my new toy. I only wish I wouldn’t have dropped and scratched it on the concrete last night. (“That didn’t take long.”)

Now to prepare for Movie Night. Yarr!

–SnoopyKiss now believes in Karma.

http://www.msnbc.com/news/967824.asp?0cl=c3&cp1=1

Imagine my shock when I got a short message from my mom with the above link asking me to check it out for a surprise.

For those that have read the entire article, I’ll let you know that it’s true. Yes, some of my uncles hunt alligators, and one has even bitten my dad on the hand. And a nasty scar, it did leave. Apparently, my Uncle Bill on my mother’s side joined in on fun that same hunting trip and found a friend. They also got an 11 ½ footer.

Growing up in Cut Off, I knew that no one in their right mind would have ever heard of my hometown. However, as I’m venturing out and meeting more people, I’m surprised to find that it’s not as obscure as I previously thought. At least…not since “she” made it popular. (And no, I don’t think I know her. I might be related to her and might even recognize her better when I see her, but not offhand.)

Some people ask if I ever miss Cut Off, and will want to move back. Sternly, I tell them “NO”. Growing up there and everything that happened has molded me into the person I am today, for which I’m grateful. But being allergic to your entire hometown? I wouldn’t wish that on anyone. Ok, maybe one person.

–Snoopy Kiss is feeling kinda nostalgic…Ok, it’s gone now.

Ok, I’m upset. Pissed. Fuming. Raging. Why you ask?

Because I just dropped and screwed up one of the most expensive pieces of equipment I have here at my house. My near, dear and precious camera.

I invited my good friend Audra and Joe to come over and drop Montgomery (the 3 foot pig) as I took pictures of it with the paddle. Audra, being the great person she is, drove long and far to come deliver the pig back to me and as I went to pick up my G3, it slipped out of my hands and went crashing hard onto the concrete, smashing the lens frame and now it won’t even close properly. Grrrrrrrr….

To make matters worse, I spent some time working and upgrading my website and now Lee’s gallery doesn’t have any albums in it. It’s got pictures, but you can’t get to any of them. I think I need to stay away from anything regarding digital photography now.

— Snoopy Kiss really, really, really, wants that “Rewind” button on his Camcorder of Life right now.

Going to visit the family is, of course, always a pleasant thing to do.  Have home cooking from mom, chat about the future with dad, kid around with Michelle, play with the newphews, etc., etc., etc.  However, there is one party of going to Cut Off, which I abolustely despise.  My allergies.  Plain and simple I’m allergic to my hometown, especially my home.

It didn’t bother me for the first 24 hours, but soon after I wrote my last blog entry, I would be found roaming the halls doped up on Benedril, Claritin or whatever else I could find with a box of Kleenex in my hand, like a patient with an IV trailling them.  It was absolutely miserable.  Thankfully, my sister needed a babysitter so mom and I drove up to visit her near Nawlins, and in the 8 hours that I’ve been away from Cut Off, I have started to ween myself off of the Kleenex and make a visible recovery.  I’m walking upright now.  Yeah.

My main concern is recovering in time to go dancing at the DSDS Holiday dance.  I’ll be driving directly from the airport there, so if I do make it, I’ve got a long, fun road a head of me.  Let’s hope I’m an animal enough to make it.  After taking the “Which Muppet Are You?” test, I found out that I’m Gonzo.  That’ll do.

I realized that I am not only surrounded by some of the greatest people on Earth, but those people are also great cooks. This attribute comes in quite handy, especially when you’re cooking for a feast like Thanksgiving, which is what we all did yesterday. For me, it was a “Home Away from Home” Thanksgiving Feast, because my parents just left a few days ago to go back to Cut Off. And I am quite happy to call these fine culinarians (my friends), family.

The main course was our cooking experiment in Southern goodness – Deep Fried Turkey.

None of us had performed this maneuver before, so everyone did their research and gathered their assigned ingredients. Easily enough, I supplied the house, some peanut oil and the all important 2×4 piece of wood, which will be explained later. Lee gathered a 12 lb turkey from his work at Hirshes’ and the all important “Flava Injector”. Nejdl’s brought the nice and shiny “Bayou Classic” turkey fryer. We were ready to rock and roll!!!

Of course, other traditional Thanksgiving items that could be found in the kitchen were Apples, Strawberries, Pecan and Pumpkin for our pie eating pleasure.

Our guest list was:

Me – The hostLee Gibson – Cook Extraordinare
Liz Gibson – Potato and Apple Pealer Mascot
Rusty Nejdl – The Frying Overseer, and Ice Cream Chef
Sarah Nejdl – Provider of Powerful Female Aura, and Precise Flava Moderator
The Fergusons (Kevin, Patty and their child Eric) and – Provider of Family Values
Jeff Stowe – Comic Relief and Cleaner of the Dishes
Rachel Clarke – Late comer, and Fun Interrogator

The prepping of the Turkey was a bit more exciting than we anticipated. I kept hearing about how some unfortunate cooks had their house burnt down from their turkey frying events. So, needless to say, I was a bit worried about doing this in front of my house, after seeing various warnings. However, I put my faith in Lee and Rusty, who are both top notch Boy Scouts and went about my hosting buisness.

One important step was that we had to inject the turkey with it’s Flava. Thankfully, we had some experts in that arena. (Interesting virtual slideshow: One, Two, Three, Four) Then for cooking the beast, we thought that we would just lower the turkey into the heated 4.5 gallons of peanut oil and wait. Thankfully, the aforementioned Boy Scouts were prepared and used a long wooden beam to lower the turkey into the hot pot. Much bubbling and spewage ensued. I hate to think what would have happened if they would have used their hands.

About 30 minutes later, like a Beautiful Symphony of Culinary Delight, everything came together perfectly. The carrots, the potatos, the salad, the wine, the cinammon bread, the turkey, the Everything. Of course, the Master Chef Gibson had first dibs on the turkey, and was quite pleased with the results. Then…we ATE LIKE KINGS!!!!

Ten minutes later…Tryptophan attack. Few were free from the Turkey’s Revenge from Beyond the Grave. Except for Jeff, who started his “calming and soothing” process of washing dishes. Noone dared distrub him.

40 winks later, the house started to smell differently. Mmmmmm…pie. And once again, the feast began. But this was no ordinary dessert feast. We had homemade ice-cream and homemade whipped cream made which was designed to send us straight to taste bud heaven. After everything was all said and eaten, Rusty pointed out that NOTHING was store-bought. Everything we ate was homemade. One thing I’m thankful for is friends that know how to cook…and do it quite well.

Soon after, the Fergusons left, baby in tow and the rest of us chilled, drank Espressos, played Tribond and discussed just about everything under the sun: Cure for Poverty. Positive impact of 9/11 on NYC. Dreams (Paintball with Pierce Brosnan???). Difference between Nerds and Geeks. What we would change our first name to (I’m just glad I’m not Barney.). The reason why Tommy has those stuffed animals. Favorite non-bathing suit place to be touched. (Back of knee-cap???). Homeland Security. Age of friends that we associate with. Wild animal we’d like to have as pet. (Ex: Dolphin, piranna, tiger) And a whole bunch of other subjects that I can’t remember because we finished up around 2-3AM.

All in all it was an AMAZING time. You can see the album for the entire event, here. And for those that missed out…I’ve got lots of leftovers. 🙂 So, come on ova’, ya here?!

Grr…I was almost finished writing this post and I accidently hit the back button and lost all of my work.  Grrrrr….

Anyway, I was in the middle of telling you, all of my loyal viewers, that I reached a New Level of Manhood.  Today, instead of calling a plummer to fix my toilet problems, I opted to take matters into my own hands and fix the problem myself.  And the most amazing thing happened…IT WORKED! 🙂  Of course, there were a few setbacks, like having to turn off the water to my house instead of just the input valve because that valve’s broken, but all’s well.  (Especially since the parents are coming in for a visit and Dad’s going to help me with the house.)

I’ve also cleaned up one of my pictures which I’ve been pointed out offends some people.  Now I am not interested in censoring myself, because this journal is a place for me to openly express myself, and if you’re not interested in reading them, then I request that you unbookmark this site and go about your buisness.  However, in hindsight, I can see how one of my previous pictures was a bit too crude, and I’ve taken it down.

In the immortal words of my good friend Lee, “It’s all GOOD!”

Sometimes,
I wish that this “journal” wasn’t online for everyone to see. And I also
know that if I really wanted to, that I could have a separate online journal
that noone else could read, but I don’t like to spread myself like that because
I know that if I have too many things to keep track of, I won’t keep track
of any of them.

Anyway, I feel like listing off all of the things I’m nervous about at this exact moment:

• The roommate situation with Ann is wearing on me.

…

Ok. Thankfully, I don’t believe in coincidences, because I never would have been able to explain this one:

Right as I finished typing that last sentence Ann “magicly” appeared behind me. By coincidence…yeah, right!

So, here I am, writing about how the situation with Ann is wearing on
me, only to hear a “Hello.” behind me. I never even heard the garage door
go off. I felt my brain go “KA-POW!”. I kept staring at the screen, half
hoping that she wouldn’t see, half hoping that she would see what I wrote
and get the message. Being the amazing roommate that she is, she asked if
there was anything I wanted to talk about. To which I said, “No…er…um…yeah.
I have been really annoyed with you lately.” She then listened to what I
had to say and what she did that really ticked me off and then I listened
to what she had to say that really ticked her off. At the end, everything
was calm and peaceful again.

That was DEFINITELY not predictable. And I also see the huge benefit
it is to just sit and listen to someone’s complaint/upset. Just listen.
She got what was upsetting me and I got what was upsetting her. And in the
end, we had a new relationship.

Life is good.

Every
now and then a dream pops into the mind.  Usually, the dream is killed off
through cynicism and resignation…”You can’t do that.”  “You don’t really
want THAT, do you?”  “Get real.”  And sometimes, through the sheer power
of determination and the power of committment, the dream wiggles and squirms
it’s way out of those thoughs and into the world.

Two dreams of mine which I gave up on a while ago are now coming true.

• Own a house I am in love with.
• All expenses paid travel.

Funny, now that I look at that, I think to myself…a year ago, I didn’t
think those were possible…ESPECIALLY at the same time.

On May 29, 2001, I closed on my house.  It is a beautiful, split level
house which overlooks a park, has a beautilful garden, 4 bedrooms, 2 living
rooms, and a beautiful kitchen.

On October 6, 2001, I am leaving for France to work there for 2 1/2 months. 
I have no idea what to expect when I get there.  Rude French?  Not knowing
the language as well as I would like?  Another flight disaster?

However, I will not be deterred by any of these thoughts.  I am about
to embark on a journey into a foreign country.  And with it, I plan to embark
on a journey into my soul.  Who am I?  What do I want to do with my life? 
What’s next for me?

In the words of my best friends, Lee:  “It’s all good, baby!”