You stay classy, bammers.

 Hat tip to friends of the program

On open windows and Armadillos

After along stretch of very hot weather (ever since we got here in mid-July it's been in the mid 90's), we've gotten a reprieve and temperatures have plummeted to the low 80's. Here's our forecast for the next five days

Today - high of 82, Sunny

Tomorrow - high of 80, Sunny

Saturday - high of 78, Sunny

Sunday - high of 74, Sunny

Monday - high of 75, Sunny

Not very consistent, sure, but beautiful, nonetheless. Because of this, it's time to open the windows and blow the stink out of this joint.. Also, when the humidity is low, there is no better sleeping weather. So, we've thoroughly enjoyed the brisk evenings. We even pulled out our comforter to keep warm and toasty.

Because of the cooler temperatures and our open windows, we pretty much hear everything that is going on in the neighborhood (the opposite is true, as well, of course). And lately, we've had a visitor to the neighborhood. As this post's title suggests, our neighborhood has served as a buffet table to an armadillo.

Yes, we have them here in Alabama. I was surprised by this, frankly. I had always thought they were basically just in Texas for the sole purpose of providing fodder for cars. (You just hit an armadillo! 10 points!) But no, according to this Wikipedia article, the little buggers are all over the South, reaching as far north as Nebraska!

And they're ugly, too. Look at them. They're creepy looking, a leftover from a distant age. Like alligators or a rhinoceros, they look like they could have been roamed the Earth with the dinosaurs (which they probably did.) Brrrrrr....gives me the shivers.

As some of you also know, we have a Jack Russell terrier who like to do two things: 1) act like he's protecting us, and 2) kill rodent-like animals. So last night at 2:30 am, our visitor makes his appearance in our rose bushes looking for grubs underneath the pine straw (quick aside: instead of mulch, we have pine straw. Same idea (inhibit weeds), different ingredient) and our little guy hears him. And he goes nuts, barking his head off. Me being the man, I get up with the flashlight to go check out what is causing our little guy to freak out and wake up the rest of the neighborhood. I look out our window, and directly under our window, I see the little bastard, grunting away. 

Grunting. They sound like piglets searching for food. And I have to admit, I was little skeeved out. I mean, it was grunting, and it looked like a giant rat, except armored with sharp claws.

Yes, I admit. I was emasculated by a 10 pound rodent. 

But it has claws! And it grunts!

Anyway, now I have to apologize to the neighbors for my dog's barking at 3 am, contact the landlord to see what he wants to do about, and grow a set. Maybe purchase a long broom stick to hit it with? Hmmmm....

Dog and cat (1 @ least)

In harmony.

Ahhhh......

Anniversary in the ATL

Wife and I had our wedding anniversary weekend in Atlanta this past weekend. Shout out to Il Mulino for bringing excellent Italian to the South. Good god that was good. Prior to that, we were hanging out on the roof of the Glenn Hotel downtown, the Sky Lounge as they like to call it. And, truth be told, the wife and I were looking forward to going out to a club that plays hip hop and R&B. And man, good god the DJ that was there was awesome. Old school rap (man, we walked in to the Digital underground's "Humpty Dance" playing) and hip-hop. We were the only white people there. It was sweet.
Trouble is, we had to go to dinner (the aforementioned), and the lounge closes down at 8, switches dj's, and re-opens @ 10. No big deal, right? But it was, because every where else we went we ran into things we didn't want, or were closed, or whatever. In fact, the whole weekend was like that.

We arrived at 1:30 on Saturday afternoon, checked in, and made our way to the High Museum. Great, right?  No, because there was a line a mile long and when we got to the end of it, there was a museum employee with a sign saying that they were no longer taking any more walk-up customers. No mas.

After dinner, we went to another lounge our hotel hostess had told us about. And while the music and such was fine, the drinks were very expensive, the music was loungy (expected, but when we asked for a hip-hop club, she suggests this....grrrr....I want my booty-shaking rap!!!!!), and I get hit on. By a guy. (I was flattered, actually,  but totally didn't realize I was getting picked up. The wife helped me out on that one.) And then when return to the hotel to go back up to the other SkyLounge, its douchebag central listening to bleeps, bits and blops electronica.

Atlanta, you were bit of a disappointment.

Now, maybe this was my fault. Admittedly, I don't like to plan too much when it comes to leisure time. Sure, I get the general outlines sketched out, but my itinerary is rarely fleshed out  in detail. But maybe that's what these quick weekends require. More details. More plans. More pre-investigation. More Hip-hop. Less electronica.

The next day we did salvage a bit of good feeling for the ATL. We spent several hours at the National Historic Site dedicated to MLK, Jr., saw his house, looked at his grave site, and hung out. Then we went to Buckhead, walked through massive malls, and got back in the car, shivering in fright from the sheer amount of marketing that had been thrust in front of our eyes. Ye-gawds. Makes me want to do the Freedom Trail from Selma to Montgomery all the more.

OMG - FOOTBALL!!!!!!!!

First off, a confession. I used to hold it as a source of pride and "better-than-you" esteem that I went to schools that did not have football programs. In fact, my two main criteria for choosing an undergrad program was that:

1. The school did not have a Greek system
2. The school did not have a football team.

See, I wasn't allowed to play football when I was a kid. Nor hockey for that matter. Both are sports I would have loved to have played, and currently love to watch. (Alright, hockey's not my favorite, especially not on television, but I like to see a good fight, just like the next guy.) And it wasn't that I wasn't friends with guys on the football team that made me not want to be around them. It's that I wasn't friends with all of them. Specifically, there was a specific sub-species of football player I did not approve of, did not like, and did care to associate myself with.

The meathead.

You know that guy. The guy who punched out the panels of your garage door because he showed up at your house for a party he wasn't invited to and you didn't let him in. The guy who punched your books out of your hands as he passed you through the halls. The guy who grabbed the ass of the girl you liked. The guy who reveled in belching. You know that guy. We all know that guy.

That guy.

So when in came time to pick schools, it was a no-brainer that I would not willingly put myself in an environment that shared space with them.

What's that? What that, you say? What about Carnegie Mellon's football team? (I went to CMU for grad school) Uhm, well...let me put it to you this way.

Dorks playing football.

Do you have the image? Ok, 'nuff said.

Look at that sea of orange. Isn't it magnificent?

Now, quite possibly one of the coolest things that Auburn has going for it, (that everyone can agree upon), is the football. Holy cow, I was impressed. I mean, wow, that's 83,000 people, for goodness sake. Just look at them all.

And that's only 1/2 half of the stadium, and the upper deck isn't even completely full. 

Here's another shot, from a different angle.

 I think that shows the rest of the stadium fairly well, right?

That's just a lot of people, a lot of orange, and a lot of people who previously spent a lot time hanging out in the parking lots, drinking, eating, and tailgating.

And that was part of the whole experience, too. The tailgating. The hanging out with friends, the throwing around of the football, the subtle barbecue one-up-mans-ship subtly playing itself out between RV's and campers (I've got something cooking here that will really impress you!)

But sometimes, the students take it a little too far. As in, holy cow, I don't think she's going to be able to keep herself up. Ladies and gentlemen, I present exhibit A.

Oh, dear Lord, not good. This one was not a happy camper. Eyes glazed, lolling about, teetering on her 2 guy friends who were clearly trying to keep her from being arrested from public drunkenness. Man, she was about 2 seconds from totally puking her guts out. Fun stuff!

Anyway, the wife and i had a great time, and we can't wait to go to our next game.