And last time....

And a few more...

Family Pics

I was feeling reminiscent and thought I would post a few of these...

Please Forgive Me....

For being a terrible daughter.

Happy Birthday Mom!

Happy Birthday!

Love you , Mom.

Fruits of the Labor

Dwayne, this is what I got with some of my profits. It will make the next project much easier. Also, I heard a news report today that said Universitys' are going to offer courses in "Old World" Architecture. It was described as a welcome departure from the modern teaching of today. He said it would utilize stone and iron like in the good old days. What's this all about? Have a great night, and tell Jenny Hi. Dad.

Other Firsts

So....in the spirit of the sweet potato post- I have another first to share with you.

Last night I had my first ever tequila shot. I know, I know....you're surpised because you have always been under the impression that I'm a complete lush (mom and dad), but I really don't shoot because shots are drastic. But, I had my first tequila shot....and it was pretty good. I understand why they do the salt and lime. It really makes it fairly tolerable. Anyways, just thought I would share. And no- tequila shots are not on the diet. I quit the diet....or, i altered it you might say. It wasn't working. It was making me feel bloated and fatter. So I'm changing things up a bit. I lasted about a week. However, I didn't quit because I didn't have the willpower. I quit because the diet was ineffective.

Have a good weekend. Party on.

Lindsay

Sweet Potatoes

So....I have recently discovered the joys of sweet potatoes. I hadn't had one until college, and when I did it was just a bite...and it was coated with marshmallow and junk.

Yet, recently, because of the diet- I have been eating sweet potatoes with a little bit of salt, butter, and cinnamon. It's a flavor explosion! They are so naturally sweet, and the little butter and cinnamon adds just the right elements to make them even more delicious. The marshmallow and caramel are not necessary at all!

I LOVE/HATE YOU DIET! THANK YOU FOR INTRODUCING ME TO THE JOYS OF SWEET POTATOES!

Lins

ps- My boss (principal) just informed me at lunch that in the South they call Sweet Potatoes "Poot Roots" because they grow underground and they make you toot a lot. Thanks for the factoid!

THE DIET

So...here is the diet that Cameron and I started on Monday. It's pretty intense, and it's a two-week process. It goes as follows

for first week eat:

can eat fresh or organic vegetables
no corn or potatoes
boil or steam veggies
only one tsp of butter with each meal
can eat beans (as long as no added sugar)
can eat fresh or organic fruits except for bananas
can only drink green tea
must drink at least 8 glasses of water a day!
you can use as many spices as you want including salt and pepper

you can't use artificial sweeteners.

during week 2
-you do the same except you add grilled or baked chicken and fish. more fish than chicken.

also, during the entire thing you get a box of pills that costs about 20$ from Whole Foods and you take them the entire time.

My friend Chad and his wife did this diet. He lost 15 pounds and 4 inches off of his waist in 2 weeks. And felt great!
this diet is pretty intense...but it works.

The best thing about this diet so far is what it is doing to Cameron and I mentally. Emotionally we don't see food the same way. We both sort of use food for emotional comfort and because it is so delicious (me more so than him), but now we just see it as nourichment for our bodies. Things that we used to find disgusting are really appealling to us because beggars can't be choosers. We are so limited in what we can eat. Sweet potatoes with butter and cinnamon taste like a dream, and a gala apple is like heaven. It's really changed our opinions on food and what we like. It's great.

We both are doing great, and we are 4 days in. The first couple of days were hard for me because I had to cut out Diet Coke's and Coffee. I basically detoxed from caffeine. I was probably drinking at least 2 Diet Coke's and 4 cups of coffee per day. That's a lot of caffeine. Now I get about 1/8 of that from the cup of Green Tea that I drink per day.

I cheated once. I couldn't help myself on Tuesday night and I had a granola bar. I felt TERRIBLE afterwards and didn't want to tell Cameron, but I felt really bad because we are in this together. But hey- I guess if I'm going to cheat a granola bar isn't such a bad choice. I should have had a Snickers or something to make it worth its while.

Anyways, only give me words of encouragement or I will kill you.

Happy Thursday.

Lindsay

ps- Oh, I've attached a picture of how I feel about the diet. It is a love/hate relationship. I hope that comes across in the picture.

Google Earth

oyler wu loft

(i wandered far away from) the old home


So, do you all know about Google Earth? It might just be the coolest thing ever.

It is a program available for free download:
http://earth.google.com/download-earth.html

Scmoozfest 2006

So I am back from TETA, or what I like to refer to as Theatre Schmoozfest 2006. It was just a bunch of Theatre higher-ups sitting around, tooting each other's horns, and drinking a lot. The convention itself was okay. I got to see some old friends and meet some new ones (as you will see in the soon-to-come Picture Diary that I will e-mail out this week).

Thursday Cameron and I arrived. There wasn't much shaking at the Convention itself. We met up with my friends Sarah Dickey, Candace Hooper, Jim McCoy, and Alex Peevy. We then ventured off to Greune, TX to have dinner with Cameron's Grandma, Aunt Mary, and Uncle Kent. Cameron gave me a tour of his hometown, San Marcos, and I saw his childhood home (snooze.....just kidding Cam!). Then we ate in historic Gruene at the Gristmill (I must also mention that this is our first meal that we are completely taking off of our diet. We took the entire weekend off to prepare for the diet we started today (which I will address later)). We also stopped by Greune Hall, the oldest honky tonk in Texas ( http://www.gruenehall.com/). It was pretty fun. After dinner we headed back to Austin, where my friends all wanted to stay in....consequently Cameron and I stayed in and hit the hotel bar. Luckily, we like hanging out with each other exclusively.

Friday, amidst the convention, Cameron and I went and met his hippy friend Jody. We relaxed with Jody for the afternoon, and that was so exhausting that we had to go back for a nap. That evening we had dinner with Jody at the Brick Oven for some Italian. It was a good time. We then venture out to 6th Street, where after hitting a couple of bars we met up with some of my Theatre friends who were also attending TETA (highlights will be in picture diary). After hitting McDonalds (because we were off the diet! Woo hoo!), we headed home.

On Saturday, after lunch with Candace and Dickey, we HAD to have a nap. That night we had dinner at P.F. Chang's with Cameron's childhood friend Erin and her fiance' Will. It was completely worth the hour and 45 minute wait! After that we headed out to 6th street where we met up with Tanya, Gibby, and a couple other friends to the Treasure Island Bar (yeah, lame name...but great specials).

Also, on a side note...they just passed a SMOKING BAN in Austin 2 months ago! Woo hoo! Let's inconvenience smokers more if we have to! I loved watching them smoking outside of bars on 6th street.

So after an evening, we headed back to the hotel. On Sunday we headed home, where we started planning for THE DETOX DIET (or as I like to call it, the "I want to kill myself diet"). I will have a separate entry for THE DETOX DIET.

Hope your weekend was as relaxing as mine.

Lins

Austin City Limits here I come!

So, I am off as of tomorrow morning to the great city of Austin. I wanted to bid you all farewell. The school is paying for me to attend the TETA (Texas Educational Theatre Association) convention Thursday-Sunday in Austin. They are putting me up at the Renaissance hotel, and paying for gas and meals. Ah....the perks of being a teacher, right? Cameron is going with me, and we're going to do super-fun things like go to dinner with his grandma. Awesome! No, but I am going to meet a bunch of his friends (this is his old stomping grounds after all), and we're going to have loads of fun. A little mini-vacation to get us ready for the New York trip in March.

My week was super-easy and super-great. I hope everyone is having a great week as well...SUCKAS!

Lins

ps- no one but mom was proud of me for learning how to drive a standard. You jerks.

King Kizzle fo Shizzle

So, we went to see King Kong this weekend. The critics are right- it has a little something for everyone...romance, action, sci-fi, comedy....it's the total package. It starts a little slow in the beginning, but quickly speeds up. Of course, it is 3 hours long. I recommend this film for really anyone....who has 3 extra hours in their life.

Naomi Watts was terrific. She really was perfect for this part. The casting was really the best part of this film in addition to the awesome graphics on Kong.

My favorite part of the movie- King Kong has fallen in love with Ann, and is battling two tyrannasauras rexes to protect her. I say, "man, that King Kong loves his lady" and Cameron turns to me and says "baby, I would battle two T-Rexes for you."

Classic. I give this film 3 out of 4 angry beasts.


On a sidenote, does anyone watch 24? I have never watched it before, but Cameorn is an avid watcher. He's got me a little hooked...not a lot hooked. I could quit at anytime....but just a LITTLE hooked. Anyways, you should check it out.

Have a great Tuesday!

Lindsay

Palm Springs House

Photo Collage


Back of House



Front of House

In response to your email... The clients really loved everything...Its obviously in the early stages now, but you can see our emphasis on their extraordinary view of the mountainside and the modern look of the house.

Standardized Lins

Get it? It's a play on words? Like "Standardized Loans"? You know, that kindof sounds like "Standardized Lins?" Oh, screw it.

Well anyways- big news! The other day, despite my protesting and being terrified (a baby).....Cameron taught me how to drive a standard. I drove a few circles in a parking lot and only killed it once. Then he made me drive almost a mile to his apartment. It was so scary! I stalled out at a stoplight and the people behind me were laughing. It was scary and by the end I was almost having a panic attack. But I got through it. And now I have that skill if I ever need it.

That's my big news this week. Oh, and I have a three-day weekend.

Oh, and I survived my first parental attack at school. I had a parent gripe me out not once, not twice, but she made a point to gripe me out 3 TIMES about her son's grade. She had me in tears after the second one. I don't get paid enough for that. Anyways, that's my week in a nutshell.

Hope everyone's week is going great.

I KNEW IT WAS COMING

The day that I could not help Katie with her math homework. She thinks I should put it on the blog so here goes. The equation is 3x = 15. Use it for the problems below.
1. solve the equation ( easy, 5)
2. multiply both sides by 10. Solve the new equation. ((3x X10 = (15x10) 30x=150, x =5).
3. Add 5 to both sides. Substitute the solution to the original equation in the new equation.
WHAT does that mean. Substitute it where??? (3x +5 = 15+5. 3x5+5=15+5, x=5.)
4. Subtract 2 from both sides. (3x-2=15-2. 13=13) Substitute the solution to the original equation in the new equation. Substitute it WHERE??? Then explain it to Katie
Anyway, it goes on from there. And we are only in 5th grade. Yikes!
Just keeping you abreast of how much fun we are having - I will NEVER make it through high school. I think I am going to be a dropout. Hope all is well with each and everyone of you.
And Amy, how is that grandbaby doing? Are you feeling well? Are you showing yet?
Love to all

My friend Tommy

My friend Tommy writes for a paper in Ottawa, KS.....This is his article this week. I thought it was awesome.

Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be cowboys

By Tommy FeltsThe Ottawa Herald, The Paris News

Published the week of January 8, 2006

As the gay cowboy flick “Brokeback Mountain” rides through the pre-Oscar season, it’s picking up more award nominations than a sheepdog has ticks. Without the film’s hype and surrounding controversy, however, would it really demand such high praise?

“We’ve been waiting for this for a long time,” one moviegoer at a showing in Olathe said. “It’s not about whether it’s a great movie. It’s about finally telling our stories – the real stories of the human experience.”

Good movie or not, Director Ang Lee’s “Brokeback Mountain” is wracking up kudos left and right (well, maybe not on the right) – seven Golden Globe nominations, seven Best Picture nods from various film critic associations, and, most recently, several top award nominations from the Screen Actors Guild.

Too bad most of these accolades are undeserved.

The film, initially set in the Wyoming wilderness in 1963, revolves around the relationship between rancher Ennis Del Mar (Heath Ledger) and failed rodeo rider Jack Twist (Jake Gyllenhaal). Hired to herd sheep for the summer, the pair suffer the usual pains of being alone in the wild – bad weather, bears, coyotes and nothing to eat but beans. They are bored, tired and look longingly at one another. Then – thirty minutes into the film – they get drunk and have rather violent, graphic sex in a tent.

Yes, it’s as romantic as it sounds.

The next day, marble-mouthed Ennis tells Jack, “You know I ain’t queer.” To which whiny Jack responds, “Me neither.” This masterful dialogue is immediately followed by another round of sex. Collectively, the two scenes come to epitomize the rest of the film, which becomes agonizingly sluggish as it lurches on.

After their sheepherding experience draws to a close, Ennis and Jack go their separate ways. They get married and start families. Ennis works at a ranch, Jack sells combines in Texas, and periodically they meet up to go “fishing.” They lie to their wives, largely ignore their children and engage in 20 years of self-absorbed, irresponsible indulgence.

In any other film – at least those involving straight couples – such activity would be reserved for the movie’s villains. In “Brokeback Mountain,” however, leading a secret life – one completely occupied by sex and desire – is treated as an acceptable, even romantic, part of this “tragic” tale.

For their part, audiences haven’t been overly offended by the film’s moments of male nudity or gay sex. After all, one would assume few conservative moviegoers would accidentally wander into the theater without having an inkling of what was to transpire on screen. At the Olathe showing, audience members seemed far more shocked to see Ennis and Jack shoot an elk than to take aim at each other.
Overall reaction to the movie, however, has been puzzling to say the least.

For some reason, gay and liberal activists have championed “Brokeback Mountain” as a film that promotes their cause – despite the fact that it does the exact opposite. The movie paints a bleak, hopeless picture of the gay lifestyle. It presents two main characters with few redeeming qualities and seemingly insatiable appetites for sex (Jack notably isn’t faithful to Ennis or his wife, taking a lover in Texas and frequenting Mexican male prostitutes). Here, there is no friendship, love or romance – only lust.

“Brokeback Mountain” is a lot of things. It’s the kind of movie that makes two hours seem like four. It’s the kind of movie that trendy folks love to call “groundbreaking,” but wouldn’t watch twice. It’s the kind of movie that you wouldn’t know was good if someone hadn’t told you before you watched it.

Near the movie’s end, Jack spouts the film’s most memorable catchphrase, telling Ennis, “I wish I knew how to quit you.” Audiences should be wishing they knew how to pick better movies.

Mom test photo

Mom wants to learn how to put photos on the blog. This is a test...and only a test.

Backdoor Mountain

Let me start by saying the good things about this movie:

The scenario in this movie goes as follows: two ranchhands working in the 50s meet each other and fall in love. They are reluctant to give in to their feelings and are confused by them. They go on to marry women and have families, but secretely continue their romance.

The wonderful thing about this movie is that it is probably a scenario that has happened thousands of times in past and present, but has certainly never been told on the screen before. That was the nice thing about the movie. I'm sure this story belongs to many men and woman forced to be in the same situation in a time when homosexuality was less accepted. I'm sure their are still men and women forced to ignore their innermost feelings and live a lie (I mean, how many of us know men and women who leave their marriages after 20 + years and admit that they are gay? *raises hand*). So, I thought that the premise of the story was very good. The romance betweent he two men wasn't the thing that was most interesting...it was the fact that at first they were very confused about their feelings and tried to fight them. It was also that they went on to try to live normal lives. It was also the way that their romance affected their familes and their lives forever. It was also that they knew by seeing each other they were risking people finding out and killing them. The situations in this fim are situations that are experienced by people all over the world, I'm sure. It just has never been put onscreen. This was, truly, a story that has never been told.

Another "pro" of the film was the acting. Heath Ledger was incredible. I went in to the theatre thinking that he couldn't pull it off. He's an Aussie after all. AND, while I think he and Jake Gylenhaal are both beautiful, I have never been blown away by their acting abilities. However, they both really impressed me in this film. Truly stellar performances.

Okay, so now for the CONS. The film moved a little slowly. No quite The Hours slow...but nonetheless too slow for me.

Another CON for me would have to be the graphic nature of the film. First let me say that I have many gay friends. I've seen them love each other. I even took in my male gay friend couple who had nowhere else to safely go and let them snuggle at my apartment. I am okay with gay. I have seen them love each other. However, this film was a little much for me. I mean, I understand why they put it in the film- because if it was a heterosexual relationship than the sex scenes would have certainly been included, so why NOT INCLUDE homosexual relationship sex scenes? I understand. However, it was very graphic...you could feel everyone in the theatre get a little uncomfortable. SO, if you are not comfortable seeing two men express their love by having man love...don't see this film.

So that's that. Does it deserve all of the Golden Globe nominations? I don't know...perhaps not the Best Film nomination...but certainly all of the acting nominations.

I give it 2 out of 4 SASSY LASSOS...

Lins

Movie Review

Lindsay,

I'm still waiting for your review of Brokeback Mountain. What did you think?

Jenny

Family Pics

So...here are the family pictures from Christmas. Joe Helmberger wants to see them....and see whose family is better looking.

BTW- Joe changed the oil and serviced my car yesterday. I think I told you that on the phone, Mom. Just wanted to reiterate, and let dad know that I was being taken care of as well. Also, Mom, remember my flight gets in at 7:15 tonight and I'm flying Southwest of course.

See you guys tonight!

Lins

Message from the KID

Hi everyone how are you been doing? I've been fine except on Christmas day i was sick. And I hated being sick when everyone was home because i hardly ever get to see you guys!!!! Thanks a bunch for every gift you guys gave me . I enjoyed all of my presents expecially my MP3 player I really miss you guys a lot. I am looking forward to seeing you soon!!!!!! Everyone did wonderful on Midnight mass on Christmas. Lindsay you sing beautifully!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
katie

Arrrgghhh

Why isn't anyone commenting on my Christmas pics? If you don't I'm going to send you the filthy pics from New Years!



...like here is me and my friend Lisa at New Years....

...and Cameron and I at New Years...

....and me and some other friends at New Years...

....and a suggested three-way at New Years...


Like that? Well...you're gonna get more if you don't enjoy the Christmas pics...


Lindsay

Photos on FTP

I am putting a bunch of wedding photos on the ftp site (about 10% of them). Dad - Let's talk by phone and I will give you instructions for the site (if Mom does not remember how). Just a sampling above...

Faggy Fu-Fu

Going to add Christmas and New Years pics today. Check them out tonight.

Also, I'm going to see "Brokeback Mountain" tonight. Review to come!

Lins

Wreck on the Highway

Don't mean to be "Dwayne the Downer"...but here's a song I thought you guys might like...it seems like something Andy would sing. Have you heard Bruce Springstein's "Wreck on the Highway?" The words get me every time. It's especially poignant for anyone who has ever come upon such a scene. I put it on our ftp site under Popular music- misc folder.

Sunday Best

I just got back from church where I hit more sour notes than Cyndi Lauper. Glad no one was listening. Last night your momma and I went to Holy Name Church Las Vegas Night. Church is my favorite place to gamble, because everyone is honest. You don't have to worry about some gentile hosing you. Had a great time at Christmas. Love you all.
Dad