Happy Holidays!

The Nutcrackers are courtesy of "Shaun Hollis Designs" copyright 2008!

My Brother Is The One In The Hood!

Posing as superheroes Superman, Spiderman and Batman for the Tonganoxie High School Aim for Excellence assembly on Friday at the Tonganoxie Performing Arts Center are assistant principal Brent Smith, industrial arts teacher Don Schaeffer and principal Jamie Carlisle.

---- and I thought I was the colorful member of the family - - - - -

Polar Bear Perils!!!!

It's Official! My Daughter is TOTALLY Obsessed!

Dear Patrons of the Hotel,

Julia read Twilight twice (but oddly none of the other books in the series), and then re-read it last week in anticipation of the release of the movie this weekend.  Then she saw the movie Friday night, Saturday night, and Saturday evening, making poor Schyler watch this Vampire/Teen/Chick Flick each and every time (poor guy!).

I was asleep before they got home from last night's showing was over, so when I get up around midnight to check on my little pumpkin, make certain the door's locked, etc. . . . . She's awake and reading the second book in the series . . . New Moon . . .

It gets better . . . .

I got up at 8:00 this morning and checked on her, and she'd moved from the downstairs t.v. room to her bedroom, which is progress for those of you who know I've been fighting with her to actually sleep in her bedroom and in her bed!  But oh, no, my enthusiasm was remarkably short-lived, for when I tip-toed upstairs to check on my sweet child, she (a) WAS in her room, (b) WAS in her bed, but (C) SHE WAS STILL READING HER BOOK!   When I told her to go to bed, she replied "Dad, I only have three pages left, and then I'm going to sleep!" as if this were the most natural thing in the world for her to do.

So like her mother!  But I guess I should look on the bright side . . . she's at least reading!

The Proprietor

It's Official . . . The Next Hotel Abandon Extravaganza Will Be a Watchmen Premiere Weekend!!!

Julia Channels "The Empire House" Melodramas . . .

Julia looks like a cross between her mom and Susan in "Foiled by an Innocent Maid"

Conjunction Junction, What's Your Function . . . Opening Night Pictures!

Julia's Glamour Shot!

My Little Texan . . . Isn't So Little Anymore!

My Niece Bags Her First Deer . . .

This is my sister Amy's daughter with her first kill, which is very important in that family. When I go to visit for Thanksgiving it will be proudly displayed on the game-room wall with all the other dear, and for that festive holiday touch, they will all be sporting red and white "Santa" caps.

Not lying here....

The Reviews On Tina - Dallas Morning News

At American Airlines Center, Tina Turner was fabulous and flaunted it
08:05 AM CDT on Monday, October 27, 2008
By MARIO TARRADELL / Music Critic mtarradell@dallasnews.com

Tina Turner. In a word — fabulous.

The 68-year-old icon performed for more than two hours Sunday night at American Airlines Center during her first tour in eight years. Before what looked like a hair-from-sold-out crowd, Tennessee's Anna Mae Bullock rocked 'n' rolled, turned soulful, got the blues and even summoned the heavens during a bit of Tina-styled gospel.

The woman looked fabulous, easily fitting into mini-dresses that showed off her lithe legs. She's a force of nature, maybe even a freak of nature. Time has been mighty kind to her, both physically and artistically. She offered up a career-spanning set of songs, all of which felt new again in her capable hands.

The opener, "Steamy Windows," and her signature tune, "What's Love Got to Do With It," among others, proved every number for her is an emotional experience. She puts her being into each song.

She also knows how to put on a show that delivered on spectacle without ever using flash to compensate for a lack of artistry. Ms. Turner chews up production. During "We Don't Need Another Hero" from the 1985 film Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, she was in the classic costume for her role as Aunty Entity. With dancers in appropriate get-up, she sang under a steel arbor-like contraption.

For "Goldeneye," it was all about Bond, James Bond. She emerged from a lighted ring up high. Her dancers were decked out in gold trench coats.

The eye candy was wonderful. But she doesn't need it. She was fiery during "What You Get Is What You See," sultry during "Private Dancer," explosive during "Undercover Agent for the Blues," electric during the Rolling Stones' "Jumpin' Jack Flash" and fearless during "Nutbush City Limits." She sang that one from a crane that stretched out into different areas of the audience.

Watching Tina Turner perform is akin to witnessing entertainment royalty. She remains simply fabulous.

So Julia and I are sitting in her doctor's office. . .

 . . . and I'm looking through the dearth of magazines in the examining room and one of them is all about pregnancy . . . Hey, I was desparate, and I turn the page, and see this advertisment for the "hands free" double-expressing, breast pump. 

I couldn't breathe, and just handed the magazine to Julia, who immediately started busting out laughing....and of course, at that time the doctor chose to make an entrance.

Julia was like, "Dad, I'm sure he believes I'm in here for anxiety and depression when we're laughing our heads off!"

Well, can you blame us, the woman's just talking casually on the phone, entering appointments in her calender, and she looks like the Borg are hijacking her colostrum! 

Halloween Cartoon!

Sad . . . but True!

This Cracked Me Up! Watch This Girl Wipe Out . . .

Performance Schedule - Schoolhouse Rocks! The Musical!

Thursday, November 6th - 7:30

Saturday, November 8 - 7:30

Friday, November 14th - 7:30

Saturday, November 15th - 2:00

My Dearest Daughter . . .

For those of you who haven't been emailed . . . . I can't imagine who I might have forgotten . . . 

Julia came through this week in spades.

FIRST, she qualified for the Texas All-Region Choir in Soprano 1, even though when she qualified last year it was in Alto 1.  She was the first female vocalist to qualify in recent memory last year, and as far as we know the only vocalist from her High School to qualify for two consecutive years.

SECOND, the has all A's but for Algebra 2, which she has been struggling with all six weeks (and never gave up, by the way.

FINALLY, tonight, Julia gave me a birthday card that she told me she found to give me from "Mom" . . . I read it, thinking how sweet for Julia to pick out a card to give me as if Debbie were still here with us.  No.  When I opened it up, it had Deb's signature.  It was a Valentines Day card that Deb had given me God knows how many years ago, and Julia found it a few weeks ago when she was going through her Mom's sheet music.  Certainly, Deb had a hand in this "timely revelation" . . . and it brought me to tears.

We See Amos Lee this Saturday Night!

Laura is driving down on Friday evening, and my sister Betsy is coming Saturday with either my neice or her husband in tow to see Amos at the Granada theatre in Dallas. Gary and Phillip will be joining us for dinner and the concert, so it should be a blast!!!!

My Dad . . . Watching My Mom's Clown Act At The Old Settlers' Picnic . . .

Tina Tickets Have Been Purchased . . . You Lucky Boys and Girls!!!!

We have Tickets in Section 219  (yellow, second level) that are so much closer than the other tickets I could have bought (Ground Floor, but Section 114 or 115 . . . WAY much farther away)... So we ARE GOING TO SEE TINA!!!!!!  I Can't Wait!!!

Julia and I See The Eagles Tonight!

I took Julia, Taryn, and Caitlin to see The Eagles at American Airlines Center in Dallas this evening.  It might have been the best concert I've ever been to in my life.  They started a few minutes after 8:00, and they didn't stop until a quarter to midnight.

We got home around 1:00, and I'm going to bed as soon as I hit "publish" for this post.

They sang a lot of the new stuff from "Long Road Out Of Eden" and all the good old stuff as well.  The girls had a ball.  They wanted to eat at "Dick's Last Resort" which worked out great, because it was downtown right across from The House of Blues, so we could walk over to the AA Center after dinner.

It was definitely a night for the memory books, and well worth the money for the tickets.  It was really nice to do something extra special for Julia, and of course I loved every minute of it.

Although the highlight might have been every time Julia spotted some drunken middle aged man dancing his butt off to the music.  She spotted on man on the other side of the arena, who was wearing a bright red shirt and dancing right under a light, so he was very visible, and quite animated.  I heard Julia laughing (screaming) and couldn't figure out what it was.  The people next to her had to ask what she was laughing at, and once they say the guy, the started laughing too.  It was all very funny, and a great night all around.

Oh, well, Anankah is meowing downstairs for me to come to bed.  She's obviously feeling neglected with us running out on her all evening long.

I can't wait to get under the covers, but morning is going to come awfully early, I'm afraid.

 - Q

Our Houston Office Suffered Hurricane Ike Damage . . .

Our firm's largest office (with over 150 lawyers) is in Houston, and we received word today that their building suffered severe damage from Ike, and will likely remain closed for most of the coming week.  Thank goodness Ike drifted East of the DFW Metroplex.

All we got here was gentle, persistent rain yesterday, and today is sunny.  I might even take a quick nap in the pool later on.

We go to see the Eagles this evening.  Julia is taking Caitlin and Taryn along as well, so it should be fun, but it is going to be a long drive home this evening, as I don't imagine we'll be home much before midnight!

Betsy has emailed with an update from her area of Houston.  Her house suffered minor damage (broken fence . . . downed tree limbs) but her parents' house is reported to be nearly a total loss (more on that when she can get down there to see for herself).  Luckily, her parents had moved into an assisted living facility over the summer, so they were not there for Ike.

Julia is Cast in the Fall Musical . . .

Her character's name is "Dina" and in addition to a bunch of group and girl ensemble numbers, her solo is "Interjection!" and is the penultimate musical number in the show. She is so excited about everything to do with this. She has wanted this since she was a little girl, and turning off her lights last night and tucking her in (it was after midnight before I could calm her down enough to get her in bed), she said "Daddy, I'm just so happy."

Thank God for days like that in your child's life.

A Beautiful Spring-Like Autumn Begins at The Hotel Abandon . . .

Only at The Hotel Abandon, do the flowers think it's spring on the edge of Autumn.  The weather has been mild, the pool a delightful 82 degrees, and life is settling into what will soon be our "Junior Year" mode for Julia and I.  We begin week three of this penultimate high school year for her, and already it's beginning to feel less like an experiment and more of a routine.  She told me twice today, "Daddy, I love my life."  Wow, what a wonderful thing to hear from her lips after all the heartache she has been through the last five years.  It made my heart sing to hear it once, let alone twice in the same day.  I think she's finding her "stride" and it's a wonderful thing to watch, truly.

We were talking about the final Harry Potter movies over lunch the other day, and I said that with the delay, we'll at least have a movie every year for 2009, 2010, and 2011, and when the word "2011" came out, we both looked at each other with a shock, as we both realized that she'd be in college before Harry Potter finished his run at the multi-plex.  That didn't seem right, that my little girl could grow up before I finished taking her to all of the Harry Potter movies.  But time and life march on.

And I'm beginning to love my life again, as well.  Autumn cleaning is almost done, only two rooms and a garage to go (which will mercifully wait until next weekend) and I'm ready for the year, which is good because the holidays will be here before you know it.  Of course, the "holidays" start on October 1 at The Hotel Abandon, as that is the day we always put up the Halloween decorations.

Surely a Sign that the "End of Days" is Coming . . . .

My daughter got the highest grade in the class on her first physics test yesterday, a 90 that got curved up to a 95. My little princess set the curve! I was so proud! She's really taking Junior Year very seriously.

The I-Pod Breaks A New Record

I've been without a functional desktop to update my I-pod for almost a month, so today I had a lot of work to do getting recently acquired CD's loaded into the I-Library, and I just hit a new benchmark ---- 24,000 Songs and Counting!!!

I know . . . it's a sickness......

Labor Day At The Hotel Abandon Was Festive!!!

Labor Day At The Hotel Abandon. . . .

My friends left at noon today after a long, wonderful, relaxing weekend spent mostly by the pool at the newly landscaped "Q-Lagoon"  . . .  We celebrated 27 years of knowing each other yesterday, August 31, 2008 . . . and what a long strange trip it's been.

Laura made up several new words, shared her thoughts on her work with the Carter Administration during the Metric System push of the late 70's, and of course, moderated over another scintillating session of "Think Like Laura" - which Paul barely won, squeaking out over Shanna and Shaun who were second and third in what a point spread of -1 and -2, respectively.  Betsy has what I would deem to be "probable" incriminating photos, most of which were take by the aforementioned "Betsy" although we affectionately refer to her as "Aunt #%^&*#*#(!!" - - - and Paul shared some fascinating information about "Potential Spaces" - - - which definitely has NOTHING to do with home renovations . . . . . 

The only thing that was missing this weekend was the presence of our dear friends John and Don, Patrons of The Confused Castilian, who would have made the weekend complete.

I am so blessed to have all of these wonderful people in my life.......

 - Q 

Tim Otte Featured in The New England Blade!

William Henderson August 27, 2008
Fab Faces

The Re-Imagination of Legendary Pop Icons

Three years ago, Tim Otte walked into the then-forthcoming Ma-Tini’s Cabaret, introduced himself to the owner, and said, I think you need something on your walls. He had only been sketching and painting portraits for something like six months, he said. It was ballsy, his decision to suggest the owner hire him for the job.

But when the owner told Otte, yes, you’re right. Do you think you can paint a series of gay icons? Otte considered for about half a second and said, yes. Sure, I can do that.

“And then I went home and said, oh my God, I need to figure out how to do these portraits,” recalled Otte during a recent telephone interview.

The resulting eight paintings featured iconic singers such as Judy Garland, Bette Midler, Cher and Liza Minelli, and they proved as popular as the club itself. Soon, Otte was fielding phone calls from patrons who wanted him to paint one for them, and ever since, says Otte, it’s been “a roller coaster,” which has landed him, at least through the end of the summer season at Whaler’s Wharf in Provincetown, where he has available for sale more than 30 paintings of some of our favorite entertainers: Miss Richfield, Varla Jean Merman, Dina Martina, Coco Peru, Margaret Cho, Lea Delaria, Janet Jackson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Mae West, Madonna (circa 2008) and Sandra Bernhard.

His re-imaginations are rendered in bright acrylic paint, enriched with pastels, charcoal, pencil and pigmented glazes, and are quite unlike anything we’ve seen before. Otte frames each painting in a one-of-a-kind industrial-inspired frame which he designs and embellishes with steep spikes, nails, chains, ceramic spheres, and hand-painted metallic highlights in silver, copper, bronze, gold and pewter

"My frames come after, and more importantly, from, the finished pieces they compliment,” says Otte. “I present art and frame together as singular creative expression — inseparable, each incomplete without the other.”

Which could be said of Otte and his paintings. Having come out as a gay man in the early 90s, Otte says that working with imagery of drag queens and gay icons has given him a way in which to express himself, while at the same time introducing into his life a sense of joy and freedom, perhaps even completion.

“I’ve probably got a drag queen in me who is never coming out,” he says. “Until I do, though, I’ll just paint them.”

Otte has a long list of entertainers he’d like to paint. Capturing Madonna, for instance, in each of her incarnations is near the top of his list. There’s just something about her. And then there is Liz Taylor, one of the only people Otte has unsuccessfully painted. There is a finished painting, just don’t ask to see it. He isn’t happy with it, and only when he is happy with a finished painting does he make them available. Otte professes an interest in refining and perfecting his collection of divas and drag queens, he does take requests — sometimes he’s asked to paint an entertainer he had never considered, and there has been the occasional request to paint someone’s relative in his distinctive style.

“Not everything I do are gay icons necessarily, but it’s funny. I never intended to be this portrait person, but I really do enjoy it. I relate to the portraits and I tend to — well, during the time I work on the piece, I’ll get online and look at tons of pictures about people, reading about them, watching Youtube stuff, I become obsessed,” admits Otte. “Sometimes I have dreams about somebody I’m working on, It’s funny how the mind works.”

//Otte’s “Art In the Rear: Divas, Divos and Drag Queens” will be on display at Whaler’s Wharf through the end of the summer season. He will host two meet-the-artist receptions on Thursday, August 28 and Saturday, August 30 from 6-9 p.m. For more information go to www.timottestudios.com.

Back From The 117th Annual Moss Springs Old Settlers' Picnic

These two photos won the blue ribbon for still life and for black and white photography. Julia won a red ribbon for animal photography, beating out not only my seahorse photo but here Grandma Carlisle's photo of a goat (which was hilarious). They made me pitch horsehoes, which resulted in me getting a blistered thumb and a thrown out shoulder (those things are heavy). I advanced to the second round, only to be soundly defeated by a Septagenarian (who in my defense went on to win the tournament, and besides, they let the over 70 crowd throw from a shorter distance).

Help Me Decide . . . Which Picture to Enter at the Old Settler's Picnic This Weekend?

The category is "People" . . . .

Pray For the Immortal Soul of my Computer!!

I have a virus that won't let me boot up into windows at all. It seems someone in my household was not aware that opening email attachments (particularly pornographic attachments) could leave your computer open to an attack. Seriously, pray to the patron saints of the computer world, because all of Julia's Hawaii photos, show choir photos, everything is on that computer and I haven't backed up all summer (I need to do it every month, I know).......

- Q

Photographic Proof the Awful Tower is a Texas Treasure!

There has been a difference of opinion (as I wouldn't dream of calling it a disagreement) with the Proprietor of The Confused Castilian about the location of The Awful Tower . . . although is it possible that two such treasures exist? Is The Confused Castilian set atop some time/space dimensional rift? Skeptics may scoff, but it would explain a lot of the strange happenings at that most excellent (but confusing) resort.....

My Beautiful Neice Hannah Pendergraft . . .

One of the "Non-Tarot" photos we took this weekend. She is a remarkably mature and beautiful girl, as those patrons who have had the chance to know her will attest.

I Went Bowling Last Night . . .

. . . and won the trophy for most improvement during the evening. We had our final summer associate event last night, which was the AK Bowling Tourney. It has been at least ten years since I've been bowling, and my first game was terrible . . . I guttered both balls in three of the first four frames, and the two year old son of one of the partners was beating the pants off me in the next lane. How embarrassing! I ended up with a 45 for the first game and then came back and bowled a 158 in the second game (the fourth highest score of the evening, no less). More importantly, I spent an evening with my colleagues and had an absolute blast. Something I really need to do more often.

An Excerpt from the Texas Lawyer Article.....

Big-Tex Firms' Pro Bono Hours Rose By Nearly 15 Percent in '07
By Jeanne Graham and Brenda Sapino Jeffreys
Texas Lawyer
July 28, 2008

........

A Future for Children

For more than a decade, Alexis Hefley ran a nonprofit in Dallas providing financial support for orphans in Uganda. But when she decided to leave Uganda Children's Charity Foundation to form a new charity, Hefley was the one who needed some help.She found that assistance at Andrews Kurth, where lawyers volunteered to help Hefley set up her new Dallas-based charity, Empower African Children, and negotiate an underwriting deal with Macy's Inc. for a photo book about orphans in Uganda. Andrews Kurth Dallas partners Scott Kline and Quentin Faust as well as other lawyers at the firm devoted 200 hours in 2007 to pro bono legal work for Empower African Children. The 200 hours represent 4.3 percent of the 4,636 hours Andrews Kurth's Texas lawyers devoted to pro bono work in 2007. Houston-based Andrews Kurth had 402 attorneys firmwide as of Jan. 1, and 341 in Texas.

"They were just amazing," Hefley, founder and chief executive officer of Empower African Children, says about the Andrews Kurth lawyers. She says the firm provided Empower African Children with free legal work valued at $70,000 to $75,000. "They helped me cross a lot of bridges," she says.

Hefley met Kline through a referral in 2006 from her longtime friend Stephen Malouf, a plaintiffs lawyer in Dallas. Kline says he and Malouf are also friends, and he agreed in the fall of 2006 to help Helfey do the paperwork needed to set up her new nonprofit.

But that work expanded in a big way in 2007, as he and Faust helped Hefley negotiate a deal with Macy's to underwrite the creation of "Transcendent Spirit: The Orphans of Uganda," a book by photojournalist Douglas Menuez that would financially benefit Empower African Children. According to a Macy's press release, the book captures "the story of the children in Uganda, the impact of AIDS and how the transforming power of the arts has provided a message of hope."

Hefley, a native of Amarillo, says she first went to Uganda in 1993 at the invitation of Janet Museveni, the first lady of Uganda, who was active in projects to assist orphans there. Hefley says she met Museveni through her volunteer work at a ministry in Washington, D.C. While in Uganda, Hefley started working with Sister Rose Muzinza, who founded the Daughters of Charity orphanages in Uganda.To raise money for the orphanages, Hefley helped organize a cultural dance troupe called Children of Uganda, which gave a few performances in the United States and England in 1994.

In 1995, she returned to Dallas and founded the Ugandan Children's Charities Foundation to raise money to help support the orphanages and a scholarship program to bring some young people to the United States from Uganda for education, she says. The dance troupe, Children of Uganda, which expanded over the years to about 22 performers, was a major fundraiser for the charity and is the subject of the book "Transcendent Spirit."

Hefley says she decided in 2006 to form a new charity, after seeing dramatic changes in the lives of some of the youth who have participated in the dance troupe or the scholarship program. She says education gives the youth hope for the future - many plan to return to Uganda after their education and do good - and she says the mission of her new charity is making education possible for more youth in the African nation.She says 2.4 million of the 27 million people in Uganda are orphans; many lost their parents to AIDS or civil war.

Hefley says the Andrews Kurth lawyers helped her negotiate her departure from Uganda Children's Charities Foundation. She brought the program overseeing the dance troupe, now called the Spirit of Uganda, and the scholarship program with her to Empower African Children. But her big plan is to build a secondary school in Uganda, where many orphans and other poor youth cannot afford to pay for secondary school. She notes that only elementary school is free, and in a country where more than half of the population lives on $1 a day, secondary education costs about $300 a year.Hefley says she needs to raise about $4.3 million to build the school, and hopes to have it open in 2010.

The work Kline and Faust did for Hefley and Empower African Children isn't typical pro bono work, such as representing a person in a landlord-tenant dispute or representing a convicted murderer in a death-penalty appeal.

Initially, they helped set up the new nonprofit."She became kind of a pro bono corporate client where we were advising her on [nonprofit] structure, establishing a board of directors, setting a goal for the organization, obtaining tax-exempt status, those types of things," says Kline, who does corporate and intellectual property work.

But he says that after he and Faust met some of the Uganda youth who participated in the dance troupe, and they became inspired by the dancers' "amazing spirit," he and Faust agreed to work on the book project. Faust says most of the negotiations were with Macy's business executives, although an in-house lawyer at Macy's participated in some of the talks.

Faust says he briefly served on the board of Empower African Children in early 2007, because the charity needed a certain number of independent directors to obtain 501(c) charitable status, but all of his pro bono hours relate to work he did as a lawyer.

Macy's underwrote the book to commemorate the 25th anniversary of Passport, a Macy's fundraiser for AIDS projects. Actress and AIDS activist Elizabeth Taylor wrote an introduction to the book, which Hefley says documents the lives of the young children on the tour. Many are orphans who lost their parents to AIDS, she says. Macy's also agreed to be the national sponsor for the 2008 Spirit of Uganda dance tour.

Kline says, "Most of the work last year was on three things: the book, the tour, and then helping Alexis with general and administrative and corporate work as she hired people and worked through finalizing tax issues and things like that."

A Macy's West spokeswoman did not respond to questions about the book project or Macy's sponsorship of the 2008 Spirit of Uganda tour.Pamela Brannon, executive director of Hefley's old charity, now called Children of Uganda and based in Charles Town, W.Va., refers questions to Dallas lawyer Michael McCue. Brannon says McCue was chairman of the board of Uganda Children's Charities Foundation at the time of Hefley's departure. McCue, a partner in Meadows, Collier, Reed, Cousins & Blau, did not return two telephone messages.

Faust says his work for Empower African Children has been the most intellectually stimulating pro bono work he has ever done.

"When you do mergers and acquisitions and securities filings, it was very interesting to work on a project where there's an artistic end," Faust says. "I got to hold the book in my hand. I got to see the kids perform. It makes me feel amazing."

He adds, "This is as sexy as pro bono gets."

Texas Lawyer Article . . . Follow The Link . ..

http://www.law.com/jsp/tx/PubArticleTX.jsp?id=1202423265973

Award Winning Short Story . . . .

The Mayans . . .

Some of the Interesting Animal Life at The World Aquarium . . . .

Mayan Dancers at the World Aquarium!

One of the Mayan dancers performing in front of the Jaguar cage at The Dallas World Aquarium last weekend.

Self Portrait With Sting-Ray!

Captured at the Dallas World Aquarium last weekend during John and Don's visit.

The Costilian Proprietors Visit The Hotel Abandon !!!

And we went downtown to see the Dallas World Aquarium, ate at the West End, and are leaving momentarily to go back downtown to see . . . George Michael!

The Confused Castilian Rocks!

What a blast! Here is one of Mr. Escalada's famous "Long-Arm Shots" of the gang in the pool. The only thing that could have improved on a fabulous weekend was the presence of Senor Hollis, who was living through a grueling weekend at "Hobby Hell!"

Sometimes . . . You Get Lucky . . .

Especially if you take over 4,000 photos . . .

You Have To Ask Yourself . . . "Why?"

Peter Petrie makes separating eggs easy. Crack the egg gently into the top. His big nose blocks the yolk, but allows the whites to flow easily into your bowl. You get the job done-with a giggle! Stoneware is dishwasher, microwave, freezer and oven safe. 6" diam. x 6" high.

Miss Julia Update . . .

She called me last night from Hawaii. She rehearsed yesterday with the honor choir (said it went fine), shopped with Mrs Hamilton (of course) and had beach time in the late afternoon. I've already had to put more money into her account (no surprise there, but she's still got Fri, Sat, Sun, Mon to go!) The sound of homesickness in her voice on her first day was nowhere to be found last night, which was a huge relief. I'll keep you posted!

Bush - Foreign Policy Skills

To the Prime Minister of Luxemborg, 2005:

I was going to say he's a piece of work, but that might not translate too well. Is that all right, if I call you a piece of work?

Our Girl Julia's Gone Native!!!!

She left this afternoon for Hawaii to join the USA Honor Choir week long extravaganza in Honolulu. She is gone for a whole week, and I thought I was going to be okay, until I got the Internet-Confirmation that her flight had left DFW (I had to leave her behind as the Security Checkpoint) . . . and I lost it. And I was so sure that taking her off to College was going to be a piece of cake . . . who am I kidding?

Another Show Choir Shot!!

She just had so much fun at the Spring Show . . . and it showed on her face in every number!

A Slice of Americana

The front porch of the Carlisle's farm, Sweethaven. It's like stepping back in time. We have breakfast every summer morning on their screened in back porch. The sound of the birds is amazing at all times of the day or night, and there are twinkling wind chimes and my mom's two turtle doves cooing. Deb said that the only time she ever saw me truly relaxed was when we visited Sweethaven, and I think she may have been right.

The Party's Over ! - By Eliza Gilkyson . . .

The Party’s Over
Lyrics and Music Eliza Gilkyson

The party’s over, we had us a time
Everybody got loaded, everybody looked fine
We emptied the coffers of water and wine

The party’s over
We had a good time
We danced on the tables midnight til dawn
Til all the time was up and the good stuff gone

The house is a shambles, broken glass in the streets
Guttering candles, blood on the sheets
We burned all the kindling, passed the bottle around
Watched the last coals dwindling
And the ice melting down

We danced on the tables midnight til dawn
Til all the time was up and the good stuff gone

The party’s over, we had a blast
Brought in the lawyers to cover our ass
Left a note for the children to clean up the mess
The party’s over . . . it was a big success!

We danced on the tables midnight til dawn
Til all the time was up and the good stuff gone

Julia Needs An Audition Song!

Dear Friends of the Hotel,

Julia will be auditioning for the Fall Musical the first week back from Summer Vacation, so she wants to select and practice her audition piece over the Summer.

The show is "Schoolhouse Rock Live!" and there are only three boys and three girls, so the Diva had better be good if she's going to snag a slot! The Friends of the Hotel, being highly insightful and opinionated individuals can surely make some suggestions as to what she should sing for this very important audition.

The Proprietor

Link to Autumn Leaves

Follow this link to YouTube! . . . where you can view Julia's performance of "Autumn Leaves" from the Lake Dallas Spotlight on Jazz! The clip starts with the tail end of the preceding number, which features Jessica in the front and center!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7ZX4ZFyuB4

Iowa Flood Waters!

Father's Day At Sweethaven!

Julia talked me into gathering the energy to make a trip to Missouri this weekend to surprise my foster parents with a pair of unexpected visitors (at 11:30 PM on Friday evening, no less). Julia rang my folks four (yes, four) times before Grandma answered the phone. "Grandma, it's me Julia" she said. "Is tomorrow's reunion open to the public?" "Well, yes," Grandma answered. To which Julia replied, "Then open the door and let us in!"

It was a wonderful weekend, and I snapped a few pics of Julia around the farm on Saturday morning. The day was beautiful, full of family and food and laughter. It was a perfect way to cap off a week away from the hassle of law firm life. I'll fill you all in on more details of my week off in the next few days, but for now, I wanted you to see my beautiful daughter enjoying the sunshine at Sweethaven, which is what my folks call their farm.

A Priceless Miss Manners!

Dear Miss Manners:

I am an average 14 year old girl who has a problem. My mom won't let me wear thong underwear and it is the kind I want to wear. My friends make fun of me for not wearing that type. Can you help me convince my mom and tell her it is all right to wear them?

Gentle Reader:

Of all the advice columnists in the world, you chose Miss Manners as the most likely one to support the cause of thong underwear? And you wonder why your mother questions your judgment?

Denoument . . .