Of speeches, fishes, and Ethan Hawke

I'm nervous now. Or maybe the better word is anxious. It's only a minute and a half to two minutes, but I have to stand up in front of a group at a lunch in about a half hour and speechify. Nothing even really challenging, just a greeting, a thanks from my company, and an…

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Brush with airborne greatness

Made it home. House intact. Losses: One Tupperware container, easily replaced. I am the Queen of Packing, I have to say: In one medium-sized rolly cart, one smallish backpack and a handled-paper sack I managed to transport all of my clothes and living materials for five days, plus a sleeping bag and sleeping bag pad,…

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Hand to hand combat

On the one hand …. Stubb's was closed. On the other …. Rudy's was not. So…. I had ribs. Yay! Burp! On the one hand … I dreamed about a young Michael Caine, and we made plans for a dinner date. On the other hand … He didn't make it into the real world, so,…

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The family way

Still trying to process much of the weekend. Still down in Austin. Are we done yet? For years I've heard of friends talk about their crazy families and how they drive them crazy even though they still (in theory) love one another, and how glad they are to get back home. I've always been sympathetic,…

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Deep inna heart of….

Well, after last night's airport debacle, I finally made it to Austin. At 1:30 in the morning. From a flight scheulded (originally) to leave at 6:55. The craziness went like this: 1) Huge unmoving line at Terminal 3 security. Why? We think — we think — two guys rushed the security gates. And they couldn't…

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So far away … yet so near

Stuck at Jfk … Delta blows! Update: A 6:45 pm flight to Austin boards … around 7. Sits on tarmac. Diesel spills everywhere. Cleanup crews with whirly orange lights are called. Cleanup begins. We de-board (never a good sign) around 7:30. We sit. And we sit. And we sit. And around 9:30, the news comes:…

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Over a barrel about pork

In honor of my impending trip back to Austin — twice in a month is some kind of record for me, of a visit to any state, much less Texas — I am taking up my good buddy and all over wise woman Lynda's request and writing a blog entry about something I like about…

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Is that a billion pre-tax?

Can I Use A Coupon? Yeah, so, I'm in the middle of watching Michael Caine in this late 1960s film (the final one in the Harry Palmer series) called "Billion Dollar Brain." Mainly because Netflix recommended it, but also mainly because, well, Michael Caine. And spy stuff. But this film is completely, utterly, totally ridiculous.…

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Austin messes with me

Movie madness! It's a remote post! Not that you'd know it. Texas is messing with me for a few days: I'm down in Austin for the film portion of the South By Southwest (SXSW) festival extravaganza which begins today, switches to an interactive and then music portion, then dies in a haze of beer and…

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