Closed For Business

This is the end
Beautiful friend
This is the end
My only friend, the end

Of our elaborate plans, the end
Of everything that stands, the end
No safety or surprise, the end
Ill never look into your eyes...again

Can you picture what will be
So limitless and free
Desperately in need of some stranger's hand
In a desperate land

- The End by The Doors


I'm shutting this site down and opening another:

http://neilmassey.us/wordpress/

There's still quite a bit of work to be done at the other place - from configuring layout to deciding what to do with posts from July 2005 to July 2008. But if I waited for it to be perfect, I'd never fully make the transition.

This, the last post, is quite fitting - two songs from my favorite artists.

There is no good nohow, no good reason, no easy way to say
Goodbye, bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye, bye-bye
No matter how many times we try

Cry as we might
There is no better time than tonight

We have no friends and no fear and no reasonable reason, no bad feelings of pleasing you
Oh changin', I'm changin', forgettin' you, I've forgotten too

I do not want to
Try as we might
There'll be no sleepin' tonight

There are no big deals, no deal-breakers, no hand shakers, no purebred papers
And no pain, no guilt, no powers that be, baby, there's just no bein' me
Forgettin' you, I've forgotten too

Try as we might... there'll be no leavin' tonight
Try as we might... there'll be no leavin' tonight

- Untitled, by Jenny Lewis

Possum Kingdom and July 4th Weekend

Despite the inauspicious beginning of family vacation, it eventually smoothed out and we ended up having a very good time. Most notable of all was playing golf with my wife for the first time.

Below: What a cool chick. Eight months pregnant and can still tee it up.

From Dallas to Wimberley

: When I visit Wimberley, particularly during the summertime, I often find myself wishing that John Hill would have kept running from the law until he found more temperate climates. But then the Hill Country sun settles, a gentle breeze cools off everything that was scorched just a few hours prior, and I find myself remembering why this is the place that reminds me of the one I love deep in the heart of Texas.

: The toughest stretch of highway was from exits 321 to 295. That is the distance from the first advertisement of Robertson’s Hams to the restaurant’s front door; it’s become one of my favorite stops along the way. In addition to the sandwich I always pick up, I also got some summer sausage and pepper-jack cheese for snacks that night.

And, yes, perhaps I did subconsciously pick up the hiking staple knowing that the next trip will not occur for a long time. Which brings me to:

: IMAX’s Grand Canyon Adventure: River at Risk was definitely worth the few months wait to see it. It was odd seeing Havasu Falls in 3-D and remembering the hike through the red rock canyon it took to get there. But as I sat in the theatre, I was, for perhaps the first time in a year, able to reflect on what an accomplishment that trip really was.

There are few things I’ll never forget that the movie didn’t show: the complete disappointment of walking 8 miles thinking of nothing other than the faucet we saw on the way down and the cool, fresh water it would surely provide only to find it didn’t work; the sheer exhaustion of walking up each thirty yard switchback and having to rest for a few minutes until enough strength was reserved to conquer the next switchback – and doing that for a mile and a half.

On the other hand, I’ll also never forget the coolness and clarity of the turquoise waters.

Geez, that was such a fun trip. Trip report begins here.

: For the past several years, I have wanted to start a Ronald Donald telescope fund.

There aren’t too many activities I enjoy more than laying out on a clear night and identifying the various stars and constellations. However, I don’t think Jackson and Ethan were as impressed as I thought they should have been.

Anyway, I’ve finally decided, after three years, that a telescope should be a purchase for several more years down the road.

One of the many highlights of the weekend was pulling out the borrowed telescope and getting a close up of Polaris, Vega, and Antares. Though the juice was worth the squeeze, it did take several minutes to get each star within the viewer and in focus. Many times, I reverted to the binoculars to make sure I was close.

Sunday night when we got home, I came across an old copy of Sky & Telescope magazine from 2006; its main article focused itself on the best way for amateur astrologers (and some professionals) to pursue this hobby: binoculars. Those I already have.

I figured it was a sign that I should be content. For now.

: And the real reason for the visit: family. While it's always good to see my immediate family, I appreciate every minute I get to spend with my grandmother, nephews, nieces, cousins, aunts, and uncles.

The Hill Country, as much as I love it, is incomplete without family.

From the Weekend

- Forget about being born thirty seconds earlier or later, as I previously wrote about. What if you were born as somebody else, or worse, if somebody else were born as me?

Last week, I retrieved a voice message from my county's Central Appraisal District. It informed me that my homestead exemption no longer applied to our home because I also claim homestead in another municipality within Collin County. I figured it was an innocuous error and called back to correct it.

Indeed, the lady I spoke with showed me another Neil and Melissa Massey living about 20 miles from our home.

Melissa is very conscientious about shredding pre-approved credit card applications or anything else with our personal information. I used to think she took too many precautions. Now I see why she does what she has to do.

I don't trust anybody named Neil Massey.

- Part of our summer itinerary has been to frequent the Dallas Symphony Orchestra. Friday nights are styled Casual Fridays which means, to me, that while jeans may be worn, they should be more the exception than the rule. As happenstance, I also lost an argument.

Last weekend, I saw two kids, about ages 13 and 10, in shorts and t-shirts as they took their seats. I told Melissa that my kid would never be caught in that attire at the symphony. She awarded partial credit and said, Well, at least they're here. I conceded the point and added, And if they're old enough to be here, they're old enough to wear pants and a collared shirt.

Her - I'll bet you Jackson would be in shorts and a t-shirt.
Me - No, Chris wouldn't let him dress like that here, either.
Her - Who are you kidding? Chris would be in shorts and a t-shirt, also.

Game over.

- Behavior analysts say that most actions result from learned behavior. Even if that is not true in its entirety, cause and effect still applies. So, here's my own cause and effect, as I see it:

Have a baby, take six strokes off your handicap.

I'm hitting the ball better (caveat: never said playing better or scoring lower) than I have in the past several years. And I'm not the only one in our regular foursome playing better.

For the first time in my life this summer, I played three weekends in a row. I've played at least once a month and that trend will continue until at least August.

Another observation from yesterday: our foursome welcomed a good friend of ours and we played with five. To make it interesting, we played Lone Wolf and greenies.

On the course, nobody cares about money. Each clamors to pay for drinks, snacks, hot dogs, whatever. But when it came time to settle up, I've never seen five men become so observant about every dollar on the table.

R.I.P. Tim Russert (1950-2008)

The American political community lost its most independent, non-partisan, and non-ideological icon today.

Sundays will never be the same again.

Congrats, Mule, Dominator, and Hockeytown

It wasn't the triple overtime thriller like the other night, but it kept me on the edge of my chair.

Some People Are From Minneapolis

I often wonder how different my life would be now were I born just thirty seconds earlier or later some 35 years ago.

I've had a theory that usually reinforces itself when I hit a light on yellow, miss the first thirty seconds of a movie, or the phone rings just as I'm ready to walk out the office.

If our personal experiences are traceable to specific events based on location and timing, and if our personalities are derivative of those experiences, and if those experiences can be tracked on a time continuum over several decades, then I believe our experiences, our personalities, and even life occurrences would in some way be altered.

As a devotee of the collective consciousness, I wonder how, from the mundane to the epic, history would be different.