Another week, another loss…

So after reading that title, this week’s softball result won’t come as much of a shock – we lost. At least this week it was pretty competitive. The final score was 13 – 12. Not as bad as last week that’s for sure. We got a new player on the team named Margo. She actually spells it Margeaux but I told her I don’t speak Cajun so I was going to have to spell it Margo. Pretty funny because I think it worked!

 So in other news, I’ve been working very hard for quite a few weeks on a new website that I will hopefully be launching later this week. It is going to look similar to the blog which is coincidentally, the reason the blog looks the way it does. It was much easier getting the blog layout online than the webpage. Anyway, I am pretty excited about it. Please give lot of feedback on it when you see it – positive or negative.

So my good buddy David finally broke down and proposed to his girlfriend of the last 30 years (which is odd because while David looks old, Mari doesn’t look a day over 25). I am really happy for them. It also brought up kind of an interesting situation in that I would really love to shoot it for them because, knowing them like I do, I feel like I might be able to get them to relax in front of the camera where a colleague might find it a little more challenging.  Let’s face it though, when you’re as ugly as David you tend to get tense when ever someone points a camera in your direction. So in addition to wanting to photograph it, he also asked me to be a groomsman. Decisions, decisions. I really want them to love their wedding pictures for decades to come BUT I still kind of want to get my drink on like any good groomsman would at the reception. There is a compromise in there somewhere – we just need to find it.

In other news of interest, ‘The Office’ resumed programming last week. Pretty good premiere all things considered. I’m keeping my eye on Toby though, he just seems shady to me…

Brian

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Conspiracy Theorists…

So at least one person has written me this week asking why there was no softball update on Wednesday. They made some sort of obscure reference to the fact that we probably got spanked or something and I was too scared to talk about it. I had to tell that person, ‘just because what you’re saying is true doesn’t make you a psychic or anything there Dr. Phil.’ I mean a person watches one episode of the Ghost Whisperer and then just happens to make a lucky guess – what do you want us to put you in the Psychic Friends Hall of Fame or something?

So, for those keeping score at home, yes we got crushed in softball this week 28-6. I am sticking with my theory that the other team had dudes dressed as girls (we play coed) and that karma is eventually going to spank those guys right back. Anyway, our record is now 1-2. I may have to quit making the weekly softball update because it is just getting depressing.

On what should have been a happier note, Halo 3 was released this week. For those of you not intimately familiar with my day to day life, my wife gave me a copy of Halo 3 for Christmas last year. No you didn’t read that wrong, she pre-ordered the game on Amazon thinking it would be out soon and when it did come out she would get it for me. So now, here I am, waiting the entire year for one of last year’s Christmas gifts and what do you think happens? That’s right, we get an email from Amazon on the day of the Halo 3 release saying that it was shipping that day and we should have it no later than the 1st of October – an ENTIRE WEEK after it’s release. I know Amazon can do better than this. My wife got every copy of Harry Potter from Amazon and every time it arrived on the day of the release with big letters stamped on the front ‘DO NOT DELIVER BEFORE X’. Needless to say, I’ve had better Christmas gifts and I am officially putting a curse on Amazon.com.

Stay tuned for a new series next week – I am going to start commenting on the progress (or lack of) I am making in restoring the old car sitting in my garage. Maybe a little peer pressure from you guys will help motivate me to get it on the road… or something…

Have a great weekend!

Brian

MK Spray - Greetings all, this is Mrs. Sprayberry. I’m Brian’s much smaller, but decidedly better half. I usually don’t get involved in Brian’s on-line escapades, but I feel that I need to jump in on this topic. It appears that Brian has neglected some important details about his belated Christmas gift. For starters, I originally placed the order for a special edition copy of Halo 3. This order was secured for early delivery. Brian asked me to change the order to an “un-special” edition because he doesn’t want another metal game case. (Apparently he has a bit of OCD when it comes to his X-box cabinet) When I changed the order, I lost the early delivery option, despite the fact that I paid extra for expedited shipping. So basically, amazon is a scapegoat for Brian’s need for neatly stacked plastic game cases. As soon as I found out the order would be shipped late, I offered to go out and buy him a copy. He declined. I think he prefers to hold onto his anger at amazon and Harry Potter fans.
I think we can all use this as a learning experience:
1 – Amazon had to prioritize. It is clearly more dangerous to delay delivery of gratification to lovers of literary lore. We, in contrast to gamers, don’t have blogs as outlets of frustration. We will simply riot at Barnes & Noble.
2 – If you are ever in the unfortunate position of selecting a gift for Brian, just get him cash.
xo
Mrs. Spray

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So, that was above average…

This weekend my wife and I went to Corpus Christi to shoot an e-session for two really cool people – Melissa and Matt. As you may or may not know, I got my start as photographer in the Navy and I was stationed in Corpus. After the Navy, I worked for several years with one of Texas’ best photographers, Raymond Gray. We used to do a lot of portraits out on Padre Island and when Melissa and Matt mentioned they would like to do something on the beach, I jumped at the chance to head down to Corpus and shoot with them. We had such a good time shooting, my wife and I decided to make a weekend of it at the coast.

Awesome recommendation for dinner Matt – we loved The Dragonfly! Thanks!

brian

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Happy Wednesday, or something…

So today is probably Wednesday and due to the over-whelming popularity of last week’s poll (6 whole votes) I’ve decided to come up with a new and even more compelling question this week. Just try and limit yourself to only one choice, go ahead I dare you to chose from that group of characters!

So I know some of you are desperately waiting to find out how we did in softball last night. I am scared to look at the stats for this blog today because you’ve all probably been here hitting refresh all morning waiting for me to write about it. Well, I am sad to report that I STILL didn’t get any pictures of the team last night and it’s probably a good thing because Jenny decided NOT to grace us with her presence. Turns out when you’re a teacher, your school expects you to do crazy things like have parent teacher conferences and stuff. Regardless, she totally flaked on us so I am pretty sure it is unanimous among the team that she is responsible for out loss last night. That’s right, you read it here first, we got SPANKED last night 14-4. The only thing that went right last night was that the beer was cold after the game.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a picture of me exchanging pleasantries with an opposing team in Nashville a few years back…

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Rebecca is CRAZY!

So I have this crazy friend in Nashville that makes crazy statements like “What’s the dealio? I start reading your blog and then you don’t write anything for THREE DAYS!” So to me that is just a silly statement to make because first, it is football season and I am not just running around looking for things to do. Second, she is from Tennessee and I am not positive that ‘Reading Is Fundamental’ there like it is in other states! 🙂 Third, has she even looked back at the Archive and noticed that I didn’t write anything from February to July??? Nobody was exactly complaining about that – at least that I know of – I mean I wasn’t exactly checking in on the blog so much if you know what I mean… haha…

I love Rebecca, she is really cool, BUT if you would like to start writing her hate mail because of this ridiculously callous outburst of hers – I am all for it! heh – just joking… kind of…

So there is this really cool photographer in Austin named Eric Doggett. I haven’t met him yet but I love his work and I keep up with him through his blog at http://www.doggettstudios.com/blog – he had this really funny picture on his blog that he shot in his neighborhood the other day. I thought I would post it here (with E. Dog’s generous permission) for your viewing pleasure.

If you get that, ummm, you’re old!

I also thought today might be a good time to update those of you keeping score at home on our new softball season. I actually thought yesterday would be a good day to do it too, but I didn’t have anything else to write yesterday so now today is the best day. Anyway, due to our awesome success in the Recreational Level over the last two seasons, we got bumped up to the D Level which is supposed to be more competitive. So being the Reigning Champions of the Rec League, I just knew all those D League teams were going to be pretty intimidated when they saw us step on the field. I mean, we have new jerseys and everything! Awww, who am I kidding? We were about to get hammered every single week. We knew it and all the D League teams knew it too. Heck even the guy at the beer stand knew it and he doesn’t even have all his teeth!

So what do you think happens? That’s right – after a neck and neck game all night, we came back and beat our first D League team 21-20 in the last inning. Rumor has it that the team we beat went undefeated and won the D League Championship last season but that has yet to be confirmed so we are tempering our optimism and hoping for a few forfeits along the way so we can finish with a respectable record and go back to sandbagging in the Rec League next Spring! 🙂

One of these days I am going to remember to bring a camera to get a picture of this group of hooligans so if you see any of them on the street, you can buy them lunch or something. Until, enjoy a new Deep Thought by Jack Handy…

brian

Rebecca - In my defense, I did read the archives (all 23 of them). I also recall that your July 24, 2007 blog entry said you were, “going to make an honest attempt to keep this thing up to date.” I also realize that you went on to say to contact you if the blog went for more than a week without an entry. The disconnect is actually related to something you pointed out…I am from Tennessee and while reading is fundamental (thanks to Al Gore and the state lottery) math is not. : )

Eric Doggett - Hey congrats on your first D League victory!!! 🙂

Sarah Q - Damn, that means I’m old (and I have a crappy song stuck in my head!)

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