Out Of Africa Vs. Panic Room

I’m not sure I have a lot to talk about today as I’m worn out from a weekend of surviving my Family, a literal shit storm in the downstairs bathroom, and being used as a trampoline by my two Nephews and one Niece. First off let me say if you haven’t listened to the newest Podcast then I feel sorry for you, it was amazing. I only wish my Brother would have played guitar throughout the whole thing, as he really is an amazing guitarist.


I’m not going to go into details about the family visit, because you can just listen to the Podcast if you care to know. I’m also not going to go into The Great Holiday Poo Storm Of 2012 except to say my toilets, showers, and drains are working. Currently. Now that it is all over I’m hoping that they had a good time, for the most part I did. Dave got a chance to spend some time ‘Among The Living’ on Thursday night and I think he was properly indoctrinated into my Family. I think this just led to the Podcast being even better because of the familiarity. So in summation, there were things that annoyed me, there were things that I wish would have never ended. Maybe that’s what life is all about though, hopefully we can do it all again as often as time, distance, etc. allow.

To wrap up here are my…

TOP TEN THANKSGIVING HIGHLIGHTS!

10) Jamming out to the Beatles ‘White Album’ with my Mom on the way back from St. Cloud. There are rare moments in your life where you feel like you are in sync with someone, sort of like you ‘get’ each other. That was one for me, lord knows there haven’t been that many between myself and my Mother, so when I get one I want to hold onto it tightly.

9) Watching Star Wars with Lucas. Luke had never seen Star War, episode 4. My Brother allowed me to be the one to show it to him, and that meant the world to me. Sure he didn’t make it through it, but c’mon he’s 5 cut him some slack. It was just cool to sit around my living room and watch that with my Family.

8) Thanksgiving at my In-Laws. Granted this could have gone better on a lot of different levels due to a lot of different folks, but overall I’d call it a success. The food was great, my in-laws are just amazing people, and best of all Luke got to hang out with Sean, Maddie, and Zoe. They had a blast, and really that was all that mattered to me.

7) Thanksgiving Chili. I think I might start doing Chili that way all the time. The slow oven roasting of the beef before the putting it into the crock pot really added a TON of flavor. I think next time I’ll take it out and let it cool, THEN cube it rather than shred it, either way it earned high marks from everyone who at it.

6) Dave hanging out on Thursday night. I’m not sure why my sister and David hit it off so much, but they have. She demanded he show up on Thursday night and hang out. SO my siblings and I were drinking with my mom, relaxing, when I was forced to call him and make him come over. What followed was a lot of Hostess mini donuts, Cheeze-its, and laughs. Welcome David, WELCOME!

5) The Weather. At first I was pissed when as they pulled into the drive way it started to sleet after hearing over and over again from the Weather Terrorists about how there was a ZERO chance for precipitation. Then when it began to snow it sort of made it seem like the holidays. Luke getting to see that also was a big deal because he doesn’t get to see much of it down in Kansas.

4) The opening of gifts. You have to understand that my brother and sister are HUGE Scrooges when it comes to giving gifts; they just REFUSE to do it. I have been giving them all, via the mail, their Christmas gifts despite protests for as long as I’ve lived ‘Up North’. This is the first time in over ten years I’ve gotten to see them open their gifts. Getting to see that was the best gift they could have given me.

3) Playing LEGO’s with Luke. I don’t get to see my nephew very often, and I regret that terribly. So when I get the chance to actually sit down and play with him it is a treat. He was so eager to just do everything together it blew me away. That is as important as I’ve felt in a LONG time to anyone besides me Wife.

2) The Great Holiday Poo Storm Of 2012. It could have been WAY worse. Without my lovely wife, my really smart and driven brother, my surprisingly sympathetic sister, my stoic sister-in-law, my giving mother, and my always excited nephew it would have been.

1) The Podcast. What is there to say, but go listen to it, if you read this Blog then rest secure in the knowledge that you’ll dig it. I only wish we could have those two on more often.

So the AWESOME Dave Gross reads this Blog; I know crazy. He had asked what Cassandra’s thoughts where on his new book, so without further ado Cassandra’s musings on The Queen of Thorns:
“I never try to write a review about a book or a movie without being able to discuss one or two elements I would like to change but that will be hard to do with Queen of Thorns. I loved this book!! I thoroughly enjoy the way Dave Gross weaves Radovan’s and Count Jeggare’s viewpoints into their individual chapters and how he is able to write a novel that simultaneously not below or above the average reader’s intelligence. The descriptive language is colorful and does not bog down the pace of the story while the story itself will have you saying “just one more chapter” every time you try to put it down. I am looking forward to reading the online story Ben has been telling me about and will try to patiently await my turn at Master of Devils. Thankfully Ben reads very fast! One little thing for Mr. Gross who Ben constantly reminds me reads these posts, what is the pronunciation for your two characters as this is a source of debate in our house?”

Two exclamation points? Really? Get your own blog Cassandra! How ‘bout some…

RANDOM CRAP!

- No Shattered Star preview this week. We’ll all just have to survive without them.
- I purchased an X-Box 360 today. That means that I’ll be buying WWE ’13 ASAP as well. I can’t wait to ‘whup ass’ on a new console!
- I guess my family did give me one other gift, a cold. I have a head cold and when you add that to my exhaustion and the stress you have one grumpy and tired Me.
- I won’t lie about it; it felt good this last weekend to be the coolest Uncle ever.
- I’m almost done with Essential Avengers Vol. 4, I expected a LOT more out of the Kree/Skrull War. It’s not bad, just abrupt.
- Friday night is the “They Call Me Panda Birthday”; cheap sushi, beverages, loudness, and Crappy BINGO. I just hope Heidi enjoys it.
- My Bro-In-Law Lee has surgery tomorrow to hopefully fix his ailing back. Good luck to you sir.

I think that’s all I’ve got today.

“I saw the colossal landscape
Of which I never was a part
It was a magical day
Of which I'd never seen before

The first time I saw colossal girl
The first time I saw colossal girl

Such glowing mountains before us
Pillars of life all fade away
Of all the things I need to say girl
All of these words are in my way

The first time I saw colossal girl

Well she's running to the hills again
Can you tell me if she'll ever return
She must be mother nature’s child
Cause she's runnin' to the call of the wild
She's talkin' to the trees again
Tellin' me that she's one of them
Lookin' at the bird in the tree
Though she's never gonna notice me

Oh is my love a confession
Will I just put it back today
If I had love left to give you
Would you still throw it away

The first time I saw colossal girl
The first time I saw colossal girl

Well she's running to the hills again
Can you tell me if she'll ever return
She must be mother nature’s child
Cause she's runnin' to the call of the wild
She's talkin' to the trees again
Tellin' me that she's one of them
Lookin' at the bird in the tree
Though she's never gonna notice me

Can you remember the first time we met
Living together in colossal times
Some things are given with no reason why
Living together in colossal times
I'm just a gypsy with wondering eyes
I'll tell you secrets that send you to sleep
All I can give you is all of my love
These are the things I can give you to keep”

      * = I wish I would have found this LAST week!  G-R-A-V-Y!