An Arizona Cheesehead's Thoughts

My friend Tracy and I are serious fans of the bass player from a Trop Rock band called Jimmy and the Parrots. They're out of New Jersey and that's probably the only thing that stops Tracy and me from going to every one of their shows and stare at Hal on the stage with looks of utter adoration on our faces. Instead, we make do with seeing him (and the other guys, we like them, too) in places like Key West, Vegas, Laughlin and Irvine. Before each show, I scope out what side of the stage he's going to be on and then we pretty much plant ourselves in the very front for the duration. I also end up taking about 50 pictures of him...and the other guys, too. He's SUCH a good sport about it all. Seriously, the guy couldn't be nicer with two crazy old bats following him around like he was one of the Beatles. Poor Hal. We are mostly harmless. I swear. This was taken in Vegas last October. See, he looks happy to be with us! Tracy's husband Scott seemed to be c...

We have a tradition at our club weekend event, Parrot Grande, where people can pony up some cash to submit a sign for the golf tournament. It can be anything. A Happy Anniversary, a We Miss You, a This Is Just To Make Fun Of You. The latter happened to me this year. So Not Best Friends Forever Here's the story behind the sign. I grew up in Phoenix and Stevie's Dad owned Compton Terrace, an outdoor music venue. I went to a lot of shows there and, all too often, they would announce "We have a special guest tonight!" And, I would weep. I'm sure Stevie Nicks is a wonderful person. She's certainly beautiful. But, her live singing voice has nearly the same effect as nails on a chalkboard to me. Shudder. I would rage, "I didn't pay to hear her!" but it was all for naught. I think if she was in town, she got to sing. Fast forward many years and I still can't stand to hear her. It's so bad that I've learned to wait for the song t...

I came home from dinner with a friend on Monday night and knew there was trouble the second I opened the door. It was too dang hot. A quick look at the thermostat showed it was 87 degrees in the house. George was not happy but that could have been because I came home late. I tried all sorts of tricks. Turned the thermostat on and off, reset circuit breakers, turned it from auto to manual and even adjusted the temperature way down to see if just the thermometer was off. No go. Sigh. Fortunately, I already have an A/C guy. He's serviced the unit (I almost said "my unit" but I know how you people are) before and has told me every time that I should get a new HVAC. I tell him every time that I don't have $4K. After an overly warm night, I got up and opened the front and back doors and settled in to work under my ceiling fan. In the one good stroke of fortune I had, we actually had rain on Tuesday and the temps stayed low. It was a little warm but quite bearable. ...

The last in an exercise to feel more happiness. I posted 3 different things for 21 days for which I was grateful. The idea is that continued focus on the positive helps rewire your brain to feel it more often and more naturally. Joss Whedon's brain. There are a lot of very creative people out there whose work I enjoy but Joss is at the top. I'm grateful to him for his imagination and everyone who supported him along the way so that I could enjoy Buffy, Angel, Firefly, Dollhouse (sorta), The Avengers, Much Ado About Nothing and Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. The cherry on the ice cream is that his work has led to exposure to many great talents whom I enjoy watching in other shows and movies. One final bonus is that you can check nerd cred pretty easily if you drop his name. Most of us immediately start gushing. Born in the USA. I started life out ahead of billions of others by sheer accident of birth location. I share this good fortune with folks from many other countri...

Our club mascot, Phred Parrott, is no longer allowed to be in the state of Iowa nor in the vicinity of any Iowans. We might have to enforce a 100 yard distance rule. In case you've forgotten, there's this history. And, now we have a new story. Thom, Crash, Phred and I headed to Iowa to celebrate our friend Dawnie's 40th Birthday. I posted a check in at a rest area we stopped at and included Phred. Our friend Jason commented, "You brought Phred Parrott?" I replied, "I did and he better make it home with me!" Jason's reply was, "Challenge Accepted." Perhaps we should have left Phred home on Saturday when we went to the actual party which was held at the local VFW but everyone wanted to see him. I thought he was relatively safe when he was parked by the keg where all could keep an eye on him. Phred in a bucket. Well, we did give him a break from the bucket. Pull tabs and Rumchata shots - gateway activities to living out of...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. When people think of me and share. I don't want to know how high I'd score on an official narcissism scale but I suspect it's close to the top. Perhaps it's because I live my life so publicly that people can't help but think about me when they see cats, princesses, Jimmie Johnson, Doctor Who, Jimmy Buffett, cows, etc. (The full list is pretty long.) It's great to just be thought of but my friends take it another step further. For example, two different friends posted the above video on my Facebook timeline on Friday. George doesn't pack her own stuff like Simon's Cat but she does try to pack herself! I won't even go into the random presents I get but I hope everyone knows how grateful I am for them. And, for every picture, video and status update that I get tagged in. Weight Watchers at work. I've lost 20 pounds in the last year. ...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. Catching up because I was on the road. Again. Great traveling companions. Nothing can bum out a trip more than having someone who whines and complains about the inevitable  hiccups encountered while traveling. I'm always grateful when I'm with people who, even if they get frustrated, can shake it off and not let their frustrations overshadow the fun. Friend jumping. That's when one of your friends meets another of your friends and the two of them start hanging out without you. In my world, it's mostly a case of cyber hanging out but I love seeing people that I know separately develop a relationship together. We were in Iowa this past weekend and my friend Thom accumulated a bunch of new Facebook friends with people that I already knew. It made him feel pretty popular, too.  Staying home. Most of my travel of late has been self-inflicted but between work ...

Continuing on my quest to feel happiness, I'm going to post three things I'm grateful for for 21 days. I work with a lot of great people. If I did them all individually, I could have done all 21 days. But, there are a few that I really appreciate. Our receptionist. She is fantastic. She notices when people are gone for a few days, remembers when people tell her they're going somewhere and is a very warm presence to our guests. I've never seen her be negative and I always feel better after talking to her even if it's just a quick "Hi". It's nice to start your work day by seeing someone so upbeat. My cube buddy and software developer. This guy is great. He's a humble rock star and often my sanity check. We sit next to each other in the back of the room so we can turn and make "What the...?" faces at each other when things are nuts and no one else can see us. We also IM, especially when he's working from home. Oh, and he's a bi...