by Ethan Johnson
July 26, 2007

Quick notes from Big D:

Looney Tooney: What I would probably look like as a Simpsons character, per the Simpsons Movie site:

It's not easy to figure how the artists would actually choose to render you. I went with the "big meathead" physique, because I'm not quite as doughy as Homer. I added the Simpson stubble though. Mar wanted to know if I gave my character an FC Dallas shirt. No, but "Springfield Isotopes" works. Clearly I'm not "foreground" material, at least not in Springfield.

Scrappin': Yes, we really are doing scrapbook stuff. I know that I talk a lot about scrapbooking, but I have yet to produce much in the way of tangible results. And I still don't have any to provide yet; just a work in progress shot by way of our temporary scrapping area.

I'm going to deliberately not explain what the layout is about. Instead, check out my neat-o Nokia 770, which is streaming internet radio in the upper left hand corner. It sounds like an AM radio from the good old days, but it beats working in silence or blasting the TV with XM stations from the other room. My complaint is that AccuRadio's selection makes Dallas radio sound positively deep by comparison. But it's free, so I guess that's the extent of my complaining about that.

And yes, the layout will be explained and uploaded later. I promise.

Great Idea: I'm not female or a Vegan, but wow, this is a great idea. Amber, who writes the My Aim is True blog, decided to create a new feature called Fat Fashion Thursday. This is a but choppy on my part, but the money quote for me was:

So I decided: less pouting, more scouting.

Yes! This is a great reminder that a lot of our problems are "idea" problems. I know that's going to sound amazingly naive, to say the least, but seriously. I see it time and time again that people fall into ruts, and they develop vicious circles and so forth, and can't imagine any other solution. Kudos to Amber for taking a different approach to solving her idea problem. That pithy quote was just the kick I needed today.

Beckham Beckons: Tuesday, July 31 is the so-called "Beckham" game for FC Dallas. Tickets are pretty darned expensive, and for what? No Beckham, I'm told. Supposedly he is not going to play in any more MLS games until August. Yeah, about that guilt trip some of the hardcore FCD fans are trying to lay on us no-shows for that game: I already saw FCD kick LA's ass, in person, much cheaper. I'm not paying premium rates to see Landon Donovan do his "salt on one hand, then the lime, tequila shot" ritual before penalty kicks. Or whatever that is. Kiss my Tennessee grits. I'll boost the TV ratings. That's fair.

It's a Gas, Gas Gas: No worries, we don't live anywhere near where that gas explosion was yesterday. I was thinking it's sure not 2001 anymore, as that incident would have normally been met with media hysteria and a Code Red threat level or whatever. Now? Some doof who was walking next to the explosion tried to get closer to it to get a better viewing angle, I guess. Duh. For everyone who kept wanting things to get "back to normal" after 9/11... it's pretty normal down here, looks like. (Clarification: The people in the linked story are not "doofs". I'm talking about this other goofball who was ambling along and apparently couldn't get a good enough look at sky-high explosions from his nearby vantange point.)

Fitness Update: FYI, I have now lost 40 pounds since February 3, 2007. Still no offers to appear on infomercials or write a book. I must be doing something right. <EM>