Geology Rocks!

This past weekend I went to the gem, mineral, fossil and jewelery show that took place at the Pasadena Convention Center right behind SanJac Central. Even if you have never had a geology course, gem shows are amazing! I mean at first it may sound a little boring (old people looking at rocks..) but, once you actually go you will understand. There are so many awesome crystals, gems,  and fossils it will blow your mind. With row after row and box after box full of rare fossils and gems from around the world it’s very easy to spend hours (and lots of money) there. This time I managed to control myself and not spend a ton of money, thank goodness. My number one rule for gem shows is, always go to gem shows on the last day – vendors tend to be more lenient with their prices.  “So what would one buy at a gem show?” you may be asking yourself. Well, there are tons of things to buy : fossils, geods, conversation pieces for your house, gems to put into jewelery, one of a kind jewelery. etc…  You can even find a gift for the person who has everything at a gem show. I always buy my little cousins fossils, geods, or little crystals for their birthdays or Christmas and trust me I am the favorite cousin!

The next Gem, Mineral, Fossil & Jewelery Show is Nov 9-11 at the Humble Civic Center near Intercontinental Airport. Trust me, it’s worth the drive!

Click here for $1 off the next gem show.

-Lindsay Floyd

Nerds and Their MMORPG’s

When I was a kid, and I played video games, you only had two options: play by yourself, or play with one friend. That was it. Now you can log on to the “fabulous” World of Warcraft and play with anyone around the world…. of warcraft. These games are called MMORPG’s, which stands for Mass Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game. To me, the problem with that is now, at work I have to hear about them all the time. People say “Oh Dennis, I just equipped my troll with some staff, that does something cool”. By the time I hear the word troll, I have turned off my “listening ears” as the kindergarten teachers put it. Sometimes I just want to say “You know that sounds cool and all, but I enjoy life outside the basement, oh it’s real nice, they have all kinds of food, besides Ramen and Twinkies, and nobody has worn a hooded cloak since the 15th Century.” I understand that they enjoy it as much as I enjoy being above ground, but it would make the conversation more interesting if we could find something else that we both like to talk about. 

Dennis T.

Daytona 500 + 2 Hours and a side of cutie pie

This Monday I became enthralled by something I never thought I’d enjoy. NASCAR. I mean, who enjoys the redundancy of cars driving around in circles for hours upon hours? I suppose I do.

This year’s Daytona 500 was a historic one so I felt pretty cool having witnessed such an event. First of all, the race, which is always held on Sundays was postponed because it got rained out. The Daytona 500 has never been postponed in the history of the race. The next day, Monday, was a typical day in Daytona. A bit foggy, but where is it NOT foggy in the USA?

Once the race started, Danika Patrick and several others crashed during the second lap. Some might say it further proves the stereotype that women can’t drive a fact. Thanks, Danika…  Although it wasn’t really Danika’s fault so now that I think about it: Take that, men! Anyway, the next incredible thing that happened was like a scene out of a movie. Around 9:50 pm, Juan Pablo Montoya spun his car into a jet drying truck. The impact dumped about 200 gallons of fuel onto the track and burned for a good five minutes until it was put out. The fire caused so much damage that it delayed the race a good two hours.

During the two hour delay, the drivers were allowed to get out of their cars which is a rare sight for Daytona.  The drivers formed circles and chatted while the track was being repaired.  Driver Brad Keselowski became the first driver to ever tweet from his car. A tweet that helped him gain 100,000 new followers but if it were any other sport, a tweet that could’ve gotten him fined or penalized.

It was a pretty cool sight, truthfully. What I also did not mind was actually seeing all these NASCAR drivers’ faces. I’ve never have actually clicked all these famous NASCAR names with faces. The only face I know is Danika Patrick’s because I’ve seen her in a lot of commercials. I think of logos and sponsors when I hear their names. For example Tony Stewart didn’t have a face to me, he was just the guy driving around with the Office Depot car. So I got to see a lot of these famous drivers’ faces. A face I did not mind enjoying was 21-year-old Joey Logano. I’m gonna get girly but helloooooo Joey… If I were still in high school, I would totally be making a video asking him to go to prom with me.  His smile is just so nice. He is just absolutely adorable and he is probably the main reason I will watch NASCAR now.

Anyway, I hope my boyfriend doesn’t read this because he got upset last time I mentioned a cute, famous guy. Toodles.

-Janeth

Authors out of ideas?

We hear every day that Hollywood is out of ideas and that the only movies coming out are remakes and carbon copies. While there is some truth to that I feel it is unfair for  Hollywood to receive all of the criticism. Have people not noticed all of the novelized versions of hit films? The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Harry Potter, The Hunger Games, Battlefield Earth; all of these movies had some no name author copy the screenplay and turn it into a book. I think there are no more original ideas in the world of literature. A medium that was once highly regarded has been reduced to nothing more than a predatory, get rich quick scheme. For shame, authors.

- Nicholas P.

Faith

     Faith is a very strong word and it’s not very descriptive. While the true definition eludes me, I’m sure now that faith is a verb and not a noun as most people use it. The same can be said for love. This weekend I’ll be leaving for San Antonio for four days to go record my part in my band’s first full-length album. This should surely be enough to cause celebration on my part, which it has, but unfortunately, it’s also been a topic of worry. 

     My girlfriend and I have been together for almost 10 months and since the beginning it’s been a dream. We share so much in common from our beliefs and our appreciation for music and art. We like the same kind of tv shows, food, and blah blah blah. (You get it. I’ll shut up now). We’re also the same in the fact that we both have had major trust issues in past relationships. 

     This hasn’t been a problem. Mostly because we’ve been either busy at work or busy with each other. We got a place together about 7 months after we started dating and, for 4 months before that, I was crashing at her place almost all the time. This weekend will be the first time we’ve been apart from each other for an extended amount of time. I’m going to San Antonio for four days to have an all out sweaty bromance with my bandmates and she’s got four days off of work to be alone at our apartment trying to find ways to entertain herself. Let the imaginations go crazy…

     Can someone let me borrow a hidden camera teddy bear? lol. Just kidding. The reason I write this is because I feel like I should share my discovery with the world who wants to hear it. Because I’m sure that other people have felt this way at some point in their lives. I’m not the only one who’s crazy, right? I’ve decided the best way to handle this situation is to let go and have faith. My rationale? I came to the conclusion that we both want the same thing. 

     While our minds may take us to some pretty weird places,  I have a feeling that we’re both going to be spending most of our time thinking about the other. Which is a good thing if you can set your mind in the right place. We’ll be worrying about/wondering what the other is doing and the only way to turn that worry into wonder is faith. A relationship with another person is never ever a sure shot. It’s always a gamble. You will always put yourself on a ledge and you have to have faith that the other person isn’t going to push you off. When you can do that, then you can make yourself a little nest-egg right there on the ledge and the excitement will never end. 

 

-Brandon Hurley

Barber Shop Nightmare

The stereotypical male likes sports and girls–Sports Clips understands that. When I sit back in  that leather chair, feeling the heaven-like feeling after a full head massage, and get to tune in to the game, I know I will be getting a great haircut. And they never ease to please.  Each time I come in they have “the usual” for me. And each time I nod and say, “Yes, I’ll be having the usual” and, as usual, the lady smiles and cuts my hair how I like it. This is heaven for guys.
But, of course, perfect doesn’t last forever. I went in to Sports Clips expecting a great haircut. I was excited. I was scheduled to be on TV in about two hours, I had to go to a couple interviews afterward, and my producer told me to go find girls at a race park and have them promote us. This was a dream come true!
So, like usual, I went to Sports Clips. But this time, instead of walking in, the door was locked. The open sign was turned off. The place was dark. I panicked.
It was an hour before I was scheduled to be on TV. So I drove to another well-known place that, fortunately, charges a lot less and was open. A lady at the counter greeted me and said, “Come with me.” This was the worst thing I could have possibly done.
The lady was young and sick. The first thing she said when I sat down was, “I have to wear this doctor’s mask; so don’t laugh.” I smirked and she ended up deciding not to wear it. No problem, I thought. I just told her what I wanted and she said, “Ok.” Still, no problem. She started the razor. The buzzing noise started getting me a tad bit uncomfortable. Still, no problem. She put the razor to my head and, without hesitation, the lady shaved almost to the top of my head. We have a problem.
She smirked and asked, “Do you usually cut it like this? Because you had a lot of hair.” HAD. I told her no and said it was wrong. She knew she made a mistake. But instead of making this into a big situation, I sat there watching all my hair fall to the ground. She had 1 year of experience under her belt, and told me she moved from another barber shop because she didn’t have too many clients.
I watched my hair fall onto the solid ground. It was that moment where I knew there was no turning back.
Half way through my hair cut she said, “Oh, you’ll get used to it. I like it.” Stylists don’t suppose to say that.
When she got done with my hair cut she gestured and said, “It doesn’t look that bad.”
I wanted to cry. I wanted to yell for help. I wanted a time machine to just pop up right in front of me.
I paid for my hair cut and left without a word and an unsettling feeling. Never will I go there again. Still, till this day I regret walking into that barber shop.
This was officially my barber shop nightmare.

-Steven Tallas

1. “Almost” is the longest word in the English language that the letters are in alphabetical order.
2. Martin Van Buren was the first natural born President of the United States.
3. Mark Twain died on the same date he was born. (Which both days were when Hailey’s Comet passed Earth)
4. Jim Carrey’s real name is Eugene.
5. Mark Wahlberg turned down a role in Ocean’s Eleven, to star in the remake of Planet of the Apes.
6. “Jingle Bells” was originally a song for Thanksgiving.
7. Lincoln had an advisor whose last name was Kennedy, and JFK had an advisor whose last name was Lincoln.
8. Lucifer is only mentioned once in the Bible.
9. “The” is the most commonly used word in the English language.
10. If you cut a grape in half, put it in the microwave, an turn it on, you will see sparks between the two halves of the grapes.

DENNIS T.