Blabbity Blab Blog

Bonnie's Going Away Party

2011-08-13T19:00:00.002-05:00

The Meaning of Life...

2011-08-13T18:58:00.001-05:00

Tha Napkin Fanatic

2011-08-13T18:57:00.002-05:00

2011-06-27T10:48:00.001-05:00

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Artscapes Dallas.mov

2011-06-01T19:24:00.000-05:00

How to LOSE FRIENDS & ALIENATE COLLEAGUES

2011-05-19T15:04:00.013-05:00

Being right is over-rated. Yup, I said it!

I admit; I’m a control freak…but I’m getting better. When it comes to many things, if I’m “in the game” like deciding where to park the car—I can see twenty steps ahead and before you’ve realized there’s a decision to be made, I will have crunched the number of available parking spots and calculated the most efficient route, or so I think, and I will nag you to stick it where I say. I was born with the burdensome, yet magical gift to quickly visualize the most effective way to do things. This has made me useful to some—and a pain in the ass to others.

i.e. I drive slow people crazy.

I thrive on efficiency. “Anything worth doing is worth doing quickly.” It’s a philosophy, but not a good one.

Of course, its undesirably affected relationships, how could it not? Debating about your significant other’s cooking style or how they stack the dishwasher is never pleasant and most often over-baring. Wanting things done my way is a flawed concept, even if it is the most efficient use of water, time, space, etc… it only serves to frustrate me and piss you off.

So, why do I still do it? Good question…commenting adversely on the way your coworker organizes the presentation or your spouse cleans the garage is stupid on so many levels, I get it, at least they are organizing and cleaning and not me. I thought I was being helpful, come to find out—not so much. It turns out most people find my controlling character trait to be annoying. Who knew?

So, now I must learn to Let Go of my inner Control Freak. Oh, you too? Well, perhaps these tips will help…No promises though.

Acknowledge it. Own it.

First, we must lovingly acknowledge our inner Control Freak. Admitting we have a problem is half the battle. Where have you heard that before? But here’s the new twist; then we must accept that we are NOT powerless against it, meaning “OWN IT”! That’s right, we must first own something before we can change it. I know this goes against the AA manifesto. Actions speak louder than drunken words, or put your money where the drink goes, or something to that effect is all I can say to them. Back to my point, we have to own our shit! The same goes for your neighbor’s dilapidated shed. As much as I’d like to fix it, I don’t own it, so I can’t.

Acknowledgment is the AH-HA moment rapt with great relief.

Owning it—is the power! And who doesn’t want more power over themselves?

Once you admit and own that you have issues and that they negatively affect your relationships—you feel relief in knowing and the power to change it. By the way, once you own it—you can’t put the genie back in the bottle. You have to now and forever take responsibility for this inner demon, otherwise look the fool. Sounds like a downer, so let’s move on.

3 Steps to Free the Beast.

Easier said than done. Acknowledgment and owning it are two things— truly changing an ingrained behavior is a whole other wrestling match. So here’s what I suggest:

1. Practice letting someone else do it his or her way.
For example: Jump in the passenger’s side with the worst driver you know and choose a difficult place to get to, then sit back and enjoy the freedom of not having to nag them. Even, if it takes all day, even if you miss the flight. Bring a book, like this one, pack some sandwiches and bottled water and settle in for an adventure, script unwritten.

2. Don’t be judgmental.
No comments from the peanut gallery! Speak only in positives, like “Hey, look at that homeless man. Aren’t you glad you’re not him!” or “Wow, who knew Texas had so many trailer parks!” However they get there—is how they get there. It’s the journey that most Control Freaks lose sight of and that’s just sad. We get so focused on the destination; we can’t see the road kill along the way.

3. Help them help you.
Let them know you are trying to be less obnoxious. Mia Culpa! Tell them you appreciate their handling the trip, making all those annoying driving decisions and allowing you to relax like a Movie Star riding shotgun! Be encouraging! I know, it sounds so inspirationally cliché. Gross. But, the point is to play like it’s an alternate universe until none of it matters. This way you learn to relax and enjoy the scenery.

So, the message here is to discard the “my way or the highway,” mentality. FREE THE BEAST and be more, “Damn, this highway has all sorts of road side attractions!”

No. You won’t be cured overnight.

I still envision all the “better” ways, but I try to keep it to myself and laugh at my Control Freak when she tries to rear her ugly voice. Instead of nagging, I stop myself with this little poem:

Once upon a task so dreary, I pondered ways that made her weary.
Over many a dumb and curious dispute—It dawned on me that it’s all-moot.

You can make up your own poem or create a pattern interrupt. However you are able to jolt yourself awake before you speak the controlling nonsense, works for me. Using the poem, I open myself to trying other people’s way of doing things. Practice the old stop and listen, rather than shoehorn your ideas down people’s throat.

It’s amazing the things we discover when we let other people solve the puzzle. By forcing my well-intentioned Control Freak to shut up and move aside, I have a lot more free time to surf the net, tweet, and creep on people’s Facebook. Bottom line, I get more done if I leave well enough alone, so everybody wins, like in grade school.

To be honest, this new methodology isn’t always more relaxing, YET! But, it’s getting easier each day I practice, improving my relationships and saving myself from all that un-necessary bickering. So, right there the end justifies the means, in an efficient sort of way. Did I just digress? Hey, you can take the freak out of the girl but you can’t take the girl out of the freak!

10 Concepts to Inner Peace

Being right is over-rated.
Let them do it. Go have a beer.
“Anything worth doing—is worth letting them do it their way”
Alternative solutions won’t kill you, but they may salvage your relationships.
Expecting others to be like you is a good way to lose friends and alienate colleagues.
“It doesn’t always have to be efficient. Stupid works too.
Go with the flow, Joe. The water get down stream—the rock stays put.
It’s not about the destination—it’s about the journey, so don’t fuck up THEIR good time.
Relinquish control, or if you prefer it in Rock-n-Roll, terms “Free yourself and the rest will follow.”
Everything has side effects. Not sure where I’m going with this one, so figure it out on your own.

2011-02-09T12:03:00.000-06:00

Snow Day - a Dogs Life

2011-02-01T16:13:00.000-06:00

Babbles Live!

2011-01-26T12:35:00.000-06:00

UAM Suitz Movie

2011-01-23T10:04:00.000-06:00

Microsoftee Must Be Stopped!

2011-01-21T12:50:00.000-06:00

Microsoftee Must Be Stopped!: "

Audrey Hepburn

2011-01-04T16:03:00.001-06:00

No doubt I love POP ART! Here's my latest illustration using Photoshop.
I could use some freelance work. Contact me at cindyhigby@yahoo.com

Was up people?

2010-10-29T13:34:00.008-05:00

When the girl at the top of the ladder you are trying to climb, describes the view as "unrewarding", be concerned.

I read the above quote somewhere and recently stumbled upon it jotted inside the margin of an old notebook. Notebooks are good for that; reminding you of thoughts and feelings you once had, yet forgot. I'd be willing to guess we forget 80% of the stuff we once deemed important or worthy of discussion. Whose got room for all that retention? To be able to recall it all effortlessly would be like sitting in your basement surrounded by all your old boxes of crap you've thrown out. Or maybe it would be like flipping through photo albums day in and day out, so that you are never surprised by a picture of yourself taken somewhere you don't recall being. That's half the fun of looking back; discovering something you completely forgot. What's funnier than a friend reminding you of the time you laughed so hard you tinkled your pants?

There's a reason we purge. Some of us more than others. We purge to make room for more stuff and we purge just as a good way to do a mental house cleaning. I know a few people who never really seem to purge the painful stuff. They hold it in pretending no one knows they hurt. News Flash: We Know. If you went through something difficult, traumatic, challenging, painful, scary or nerve wracking - everyone knows you have issues surrounding it that need purging. So, just purge the truth and be done with it.

Not too long ago I read Hugh MacLeod's book called "Ignore Everbody", it was a hoot. He's made a career out of illustrating cartoons on the back of business cards. The cartoons are sharp witted like "The Far Side", but with more edge and social purpose. In an interview he discusses "social objects" in relation to his art, and new outlets like YouTube, Twitter, Flikr, his website www.gapingvoid.com being a venue for the sharing of social objects। He uses his cartoons to say things he thinks, and leverages twitter to instantly share. The dude is pretty funny and worth checking out, and who knows you might just learn something. He's like a present day comic-prophet sort of guy.

Later...

Part 1: TX-OU Football

2010-10-05T17:42:00.000-05:00

Laser Image iPhone.mp4

2010-09-30T13:12:00.000-05:00

Sarah Palin on the Larry King Show "Spoof"

2010-09-23T16:57:00.000-05:00

Pingy Gets High.mov

2010-08-31T13:36:00.000-05:00

New Project

2010-08-16T17:03:00.000-05:00

2009-12-09T08:03:00.001-06:00

Cynthia created this Canvas Art at Canvas On Demand

2009-12-09T08:02:00.001-06:00

Cynthia created this Canvas Art at Canvas On Demand

2009-12-09T08:02:00.000-06:00

Cynthia created this Canvas Art at Canvas On Demand

To the Adirondacks and Back to 1977!

2009-08-05T18:53:00.037-05:00

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation 2009
By Cindy Higby

Vacation 2009 was a winner. Barbara and I hopped two planes and stole a Ford Edge from the Albany airport (just kidding we rented it) making our way over clouds, past security gates, between migrating bands of weird people, and then cut a swath through thick green forest to get to our lake house in the Adirondacks. She was grumpy on the way there, due to the fact she did not get much sleep the night before. She has travel anxiety and instead of counting sheep like me, she was packing and repacking in her head and worrying about details for things she had no control over, like the fact she might not get any ATT bars in the mountains. She's usually more animated during the travel phase of a vacation, but this time I think she was stressing the length of time it takes to get to Raquette Lake from Dallas, approximately 10 hours, as well as the fact we still weren't sure we'd have wi fi either, just dial up (ugh!). Disconnecting from the universe is hard for us, since we mainline technology. Normally our vacations are not so remote and room service is just a button on the phone.

Regardless of the lack of amenities, I slept like a baby and jumped from the sack before the alarm even went off, excited like a little kid on Christmas morning. The lake house has that effect on me, even after 35 years of going there.

Here's a picture of our view from our dock in the morning. Imagine waking up and strolling down to watch the fog burn off as you sip your warm coffee, listening to the sounds of a Northern Loon and the lapping of soft waves against the rocky shore. Not too hard to take.
We spent nine days with my entire family tucked into two waterfront pine cabins that smell a little musty and decorated oddly (like empty wall space was a bad thing) (see this is where Barbara is such a trooper - she is used to the Four Seasons and the Ritz, not a little One Season hut in the woods). The Higby Camp walls of the big house are covered with my mother's favorite pictures (mostly Loons), as well as a deer head, a stuffed Bass my father caught, and various old photos and lures. It's cluttered to say the least, but it's also "campy", and we are used to it.

My Dad, right before he died this year, bought us a new fish and ski boat, and man was it fun. That boat can buzz to the village and back in under ten minutes - I know this cuz Cale tested it to get emergency ice cream one night. It was easy to fish out of too, even in tight corners. The trolling motor was smooth and the foot pedal placed comfortably so I could sit, cast, motor, and detangle my line...and drink a beer all at the same time.

Mark, Scott, Kathy, Faye, Quinn, Natalie, and Cale all piled in one day and took it to a little cove/beach and tubed and partied. They came back all excited, tired, happy and tanned. Barbara and I had been fishing in the smaller bass tracker that day, and had gone to the Tap Room (which Faye renamed the Tap Worm) for lunch and a beer. then came back and sat on our dock sipping cold wine watching the waves. By now we were fully de-stressed, and realizing the power of the mountains and what getting away from it all really means. At the end of the week were were sad to leave, but had my Class of 1977 50th Birthday bash to attend, in my hometown of Orchard Park, NY.

My friend Mary Pat and I used Facebook and other electronic means to get the word out about this impromptu 50th birthday bash for the class of 1977, and not surprising - a whole bunch of old friends showed up. (if nothing else my class could throw'm down). It was great seeing my childhood best friend Sherrill, my party pal Lauren, my buddies Mark and Dwight and the carzy cast of characters from high school. The key phrase (as we introduced ourselves - not having laid eyes on most of these people since graduation in 1977) was, "Holy Shit!". Some people recognized me - some did not, and I had the same trippy experience with them. It's fascinating how age can change people, especially when you fast forward them 32 years.

Once again Barbara was thrown into the thick of it and carved out her own good time making friends with my old friends and shooting a slew of great photos with our new camera.

The last day we played golf with my friends Mickey and Deb at the Orchard Park Country Club, Thanks to Mary Pat whose a member. All in all it was a great trip. No one lost an eye. Everybody got along. We had a ton of laughs and it was great getting to see so many people I knew in one trip. I highly recommend the Adirondacks as a getaway, but don't go to Raquette Lake cuz well we like that its not over populated. Try Lake George instead!

Here's a short retro slideshow of the class of 1977.

There is No Cool Way to Puke

2009-07-01T15:02:00.006-05:00

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out what is cool and what’s not, although I’ve met a ton of people who just don’t get it and I’m perplexed as to why. Understanding the cool factor, regardless of whether you are young or old, good looking or fugly, fat or thin, make very little money, have no friends, were born in a lean-to in the woods and raised by wolves shouldn’t matter… when it comes to understanding “cool”. It should be innate. But it’s not.

People made/still make fun of Michael Jackson’s nose and appearance. They say he looked like a woman, had carved up his nose to be too small and that it would fall off, joked about his girly hair, pale skin, and his penchant to wear military sequined jackets and such. But when he danced, everybody knows to shut the eff up. End of discussion. There isn’t a soul on this earth who had the “rights” to cool, like MJ did when he sang and danced. If you don’t agree then I’m sorry - you are one of these clueless people I speak of who don’t get “cool.”

Perhaps you want to know why we think Michael was so cool to watch? How did he figure out that his hand gestures, head nods, hip jiving, foot sliding, finger snapping, together with the glove was going to make people stop and stare and admire his talents? The answer is; Michael thought it looked cool and that’s all that mattered. Honestly, most of the time it’s that simple. If you believe you look cool – you will feel cool – and thus you are cool. Bottom line, no big secrets to reveal here folks; If you feel cool you will project that confidence and it doesn’t matter if you are wearing a bright orange life jacket to the Emmy’s, if you think it’s “the bomb” and it makes you feel good, enough people will be influenced and agree with you, as if you slipped them some kind of drug induced crowd think pill. The next thing you know everybody’s wearing orange life jackets. So, the moral of this example is: feel it – be it.

For those who didn’t buy the Michael Jackson example, lets’ take “Larry the Cable Guy”. Larry will tell you he’s not cool, he’s just a redneck, hillbilly of sorts. Truth is he’s very cool! Why? Because Larry first off is way smarter than he pretends. Larry also refuses to follow proper decorum, and in the process makes no apologies. That’s cool. Larry is also a smart man posing to be dumb for the sake of humor. Thus, lots of people who would have otherwise thought Larry to be a big stupid bubba, now think he’s way cool. They will stop channel surfing to hear him talk, regardless of the subject. Larry figured out a way to make “Hillbilly” cool. My guess is Larry feels he looks good in a torn up flannel shirt, otherwise he couldn’t stand in front of thousands of people and deliver jokes. So Larry’s confidence in wearing flannel - made flannel cool. Yup, it’s that easy.

There are however some things in this world that no matter who does them, where or how they do them, there is no way it will ever look cool. For example, there is no cool way to puke. I don’t care if you are Cameron Diaz just out of hair and make up looking like a sex goddess, once she leans over a toilet and foul smelling vomit shoots out her mouth, all bets are off.

I pretty much believe that just about anybody can be made to look cool, but getting them to act cool takes more than you think. Hair and clothes are a beautiful thing, but acting cool is a whole other deal. Unmistakable cool people have inner wisdom and unexplainable skills. Some might say you either have it or you don’t. I think you can be taught how to act cool, eventually, but you have to really listen, take notes, practice for hours, test and retest, and most importantly be willing to change. The last part being the hardest part, of course.

Despite how much people want to be cool, change is beyond their mental perimeter. Just the other side of reachable. Like a dog on a short chain and a juicy steak laying a few feet away. All the “want’n” in the world won’t bring it to you. So, you can either start chewing the metal chain and see where that gets you, or bark your head off and wait to be shot, thus putting you out of you misery. Being cool and understanding cool, don’t always meet.

Let’s start with the playground. Do you remember what it was like to be among a screaming bunch of five year olds in kindergarten? Think back to your first year of school when you were allowed outside for thirty minutes to run off some energy before your teacher tried to sit everyone back down to teach Dick and Jane. Perhaps, like my friend “Bob” you by accidently wet your pants in all the excitement of swinging, climbing and playing tag. Bob was very cool though and he quickly assessed that a couple of times down the hot metal slide - no one would know he wet his pants. On the other hand, if you were my friend “Betty”, unfortunately, you saw no way to cover it up, and just stood their and cried, which made everyone look at you and try to determine why you were crying, at which juncture they pointed and laughed, humiliating you beyond repair. Not fun I’m sure, and yet so easily avoided -so knows Bob the cool kid. Had Betty been cool and had Bob’s inner knowledge, in a quick second she’d have figured the fastest way out of her potentially devastating, life altering mishap was hot metal, and would have turned out to be a high powered attorney instead of a one legged waitress at iHop.

Nuf said.

2009-06-28T10:52:00.003-05:00

Michael Jackson 1958-2009

The media has said everything you can about this musical genius - personal life disastor. Similar to Elvis, Anna Nicole Smith, Marilyn Monroe, fame destroyed Michael Jackson. Like a moth to a flame... it's more like a person to fame, they get burned to death in the end. It was a shock to hear of MJ's death. I expected this person to grow old with me, and sing me through the latter years. It is not to be and that's a loss for everyone who enjoyed his beats.

Of course Michael Jackson will live on, into eternity. His photos, music, interviews, family, kids, etc...he's left a legacy. he's left us all talking. But most of all he just left us.

2009-06-27T14:59:00.003-05:00

2009-06-15T08:34:00.001-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Our Trip to New York City, May 2009

2009-06-02T09:36:00.060-05:00

We flew to NYC for my birthday week, arriving just in time for cocktails with Claudia and Chele, our gracious hosts. Who gave me gifts (Thank You) and a gift card to shop at Bloomingdales (I did serious damage to the card plus some)! C&C rented a 2 bedroom apartment on 44th street and 3rd for the entire month of May to get that true NYC experience, where you can walk outside and be right in the action, catch a play anytime you want, listen to live music, check out the amazing galleries and museums, etc. You know, the cliche brown bag with the baggette and carrot sprigs poking out, or in their case a fine bottle of Cabernet and some tasty cheese!

In the flurry of our first full day we took in Grand Central Station,

walked across the street and placed a few bets at the OTB hole in the wall - Chele had won 5 clams the day before. C&C then cabbed us all down to Soho (note: cabs now take credit cards and it's so easy!) to their favorite dive bar, "MiLady's" where we threw back some cold beer and wings, then walked down the cobble stone streets of Soho checking out couture boutiques. Barbara bought me a gorgeous tension set diamond necklace at Teno and we had a Famous Persons sighting when we crossed paths with Keith Urban and Nicole Kidman, who strolled past us at a fast clip, arm and arm. We finished the night off in a quaint french jazz club-bistro on St. Mark's street called Jules (check it out), where the waiter barely spoke English and the garlic snails were to die for...or so the others said, since I was grossed out and just sopped up the juice with the delicious bread, followed by superb sips of red wine. Two bottles later and all warm and happy we cabbed it back up to 44th and slept like worn out pups after a fox hunt.

Day two was my birthday and I think I had a subliminal mission to shop till we dropped, and we did. Shuttling our butts back down to Soho we combed through the stores picking up new Tretorn (just like Ellen DeGeneres wears) sneakers from the flagship store, New Addidas for Barb, a slew of T-shirts from True Religion, all while consuming adult beverages.

As the sun was setting our bellies were craving authentic Italian, so we sauntered a few blocks south to Little Italy, where the Feast of Saint Anthony's was in full swing with a street fair, a live marching band playing the theme to the God Father, dark hairy men in velour jump suits the size of Pavarotti arguing in front of a Mobster bar, and of course outdoor seating where the sounds, smells, and people all add to the great NYC ambiance. The food was simple. Barbara had spaghetti and meatballs and I ordered the baked ziti. I promise you I've never tasted anything better!

Day three started with Claudia and I hiking up to Central Park for a landscape painting lesson with an odd man who painted on our canvases, smearing our pretty work into muddy backdrops. He would go from my canvas to hers and say, "Well Look At You!" and then grab my brush and smudge everything up. It was actually quite fun despite his idiosyncrasies and the damp cold, I would recommend everyone try it at least once in their life. Needing to warm our hands and shake off the chill we walked over to Sarah Beth's where I

had a hot bowl of the best creamy tomato soup, full of chunks and parmesan cheese. Chele and Barbara had a meeting in Rye Brook NY and returned just in time for cocktails at the "Wheeltapper". They kept the limo and we had him drive us down to Chelsea to gallery hop, afterwich we grabbed a bite in Hell's Kitchen at the "Eatery" where the food pictured here was delectable.

The next day we booked a room at the Soho House, (check it out) an eclectic London boutique hotel in (check it out) MPD - The Meat Packing District . It was the coolest hotel room I've ever stayed in from an artsy standpoint. Large windows looking over the street in a 750 sq. foot loft space with a thick oval tub standing in the room, a zen like shower, modern sink and fixtures, soft robes and sofa seating, not to mention a bar stocked with Patron, Grey Goose and Makers Mark. If you haven't been to the MPD while visiting NYC, you are so missing out. Granted it's very upscale, big name couture shops like Stella McCartney's, thin gorgeous models sashaying up and down the streets, and yes we had another celebrity sighting and spotted Eli Manning checking into our hotel. The best thing about Soho House is the rooftop pool bar, where the europeans and wealthy NYers hang out to people watch, grab a spring tan, and imbibe in some mixed drinks. After a drink at the pool we hiked all over the village. I took Barbara to my favorite Falafel place, "Mamouns" just off Washington Square Park near NYU. If you ever go to the village you must, I repeat, must go to Mamouns. You'll thank me after, promise.

Later that night we ate at "Vento (check it out)" across the street, again snagging a great sidewalk table. We truly enjoyed the food and the two shots of espresso - badly needed to give us the boost to go run around the village on our last night. The coffee jacked us up and off we ran to "The Duplex" on 7th Ave and Christopher Street, across from the memorial "Stonewall Riots" park where an aging, drunk, gay man insisted we study the statues and listen to his rendition of the heinous crime scene and charged us a dollar for this oration. Minutes later police raided the park and scooted off the loiters and whatever else was lurking in the bushes. We jammed into the upstairs Duplex cabaret bar where we somehow got front row seats to a strange act where a girl belted out show tunes and told boring stupid stories. We clapped loud when she ended and scooted downstairs where the real action takes place in the main bar. Just like 20 years ago, the bar was packed, the piano player was loud, and people stood on stage and took their turns singing their hearts out. Our favorite was the blonde waitress who got the crowd to sing "All the single girls" Beyonce song. We had so much fun we practically closed the joint.

The next morning we chugged our tired butts across the street to the diner and wolfed down some eggs and bacon, hot coffee and toast. We had an hour to kill so we watched a photo shoot and did a little more shopping.

In the limo riding back to the airport we were sad to leave, discussed turning around, as we always do, but decided it would be too hard booking 1st class seats on another plane, thus forcing us to keep our flight plans and head back to Dallas.

And ya know, when you get home and see your cats and sleep in your own bed, you realize thats where you really love being the most. The shiny objects, pretty people, newness and strangeness of exotic trips are all great, but the best warm fuzzy feelings always come from your own home.

Our TV Debut on Renovation Realities

2009-01-30T13:27:00.003-06:00

Our DIY Network program called Renovation Realities aired on New Years day. It was called "The Morris Project" We watched it with one eye closed. It was quite a shock to see that TV does add 10 lbs, and 10 years. UGH! But despite not liking how I looked or sounded I laughed my way from beginning to end. Ya gotta admit we were funny. In fact we did laugh pretty much the whole shoot, sans a moment here or there when fatigue set in. Next air time is Jan 31st 9:30am est...and it airs all thru February too. catch it. Here is a link to the onlone video clips where we explain what not to do. http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_drvd/

Finny shit... everyone should do one Reality TV show before they die!

2009-01-09T15:35:00.006-06:00

Here it is January and we aren't moved into the new renovation, which we started in June. This is a picture of the foam insulation we had blown in this week. Once that's been inspected we will drywall, tape & bed, paint, install cabinets, sinks, toilets and more! if we are lucky we will be drinking champagne in the new tub by March! This has been a long, painful process and we can't wait until it's over.

I think it looks like we built a vanilla ice cream house. Check out these photos. Crazy stuff.

Reality TV is Harder Than it Looks!

2008-10-06T14:49:00.011-05:00

No kidding...We were picked to be on a new HGTV show called "Renovation Realities"...which means no one helps you do the renovation project--we were all on our own.... We filmed for 60 hours... from Tuesday-Sunday... that gets edited down to 21 minutes and it will air in December on two networks...DIY Network & HGTV! Plus we will be on the HGTV website...as in... see more of "Barbara and Cindy" after the show airs...(that interview was done at the end of the last day - and I'm not sure either one of us made any sense - we were so spent)

The week long shoot was depleting...we were wired with mics (mine kept pulling my pants down so I hope they edit out all the ass shots) and we had a camera man in our faces the whole time...the true challenege was to do all the work and not lose an eye or a limb. We tore out two interior walls and one weight bearing exterior wall!... which had a huge glass window and a front door...here's the crazy part: we know nothing about home improvement!! I've never really used a drill, except once to hang a shade (we thought we could use our friends and our contractor- they fibbed about that)...Soooo, it was a wacked out, free-for-all of Barbara and I problem-solving our way thru it...swinging sledge hammers, a gold miner's pick and anything else I could find in the backyard, weilding power saws, almost getting electrocuted, dangerously firing nail guns that had a bigger kick than Tina Fey doing Sarah Palin on SNL, sawing two-by-fours incorrectly, cutting dry wall the wrong way, slapping mudd on too thick and taping (what a mess), sanding - talk about eating chalk dust, painting the walls and unfortunately the floor got some too--and then setting up the art room to make it all seem pretty.....at one point bricks were falling on us and I went and got the bicycle helmuts!!! And when Barbara was power sawing nails smooth with sparks flying in her hair I made her wear a blue rubber wig (the crew laughed their way thru the shoot) the producer Lori Golden-Styrer said "we were great-just what they'd hoped for."...so I translated that into "crazy people make for good TV watching!" And may I remind y'all - we are nearing 50 yrs. old...so six, 10 hour days, of hard labor was a physical & mental accomplishment. The room actually turned out great...(if you stand back and squint your eyes.)

I still can't feel my fingers, my arms won't raise above my chin, my back is throbbing, my calves are cramping, and I dropped a pant size...

UPSIDE: it was beyond fun!! I am so glad we did it and I'm even happier it's over!

I'll let y'all know when our episode airs in December, the name of the program is "Renovation Realities" and it starts airing on Nov. 13th...we saw the first episode - its nutty.

Do You Know What a Widget Is?

2008-09-26T13:29:00.008-05:00

Widgets. Those cute internet search boxes you can download for free from Yahoo, Google, Widgetbox and a bunch of other cool sites. You can pick a weather widget, a travel widget, a clock widget, a countdown to Bush's last day in office widget, or a see my Redbubble.com artwork widget - which is there in the right column of my blog. Whatever you're into, there is probably a widget out there you can post on your blog, Facebook, or website.

I'm involved in redesigning the Travelocity Widget Search Boxes for our World Choice Travel partners. No kidding and it's fun! We have the stand alone widget box for searching Hotel, just air fare, or just car deals...we have the MPSB (Multi Product Search Box) Ha! Don't ya love acronyms! and the list goes on.

When I was first hired I spent days Googling and downloading widgets to my Facebook and this blog. I was testing their functionality and stability as well as how hard were they to post. Some are good, some not so good. But, one thing they all share is the "cool" factor once they are on your page.

Widget designers are like "Gods"...well More like Cardinals next to the IT Gods who can hack the un-hackable. Anyway....everyone needs a widget...so go find one now. Google free widgets, and figure out how to get it up on your Facebook. They are fun and a great way to spread the word...what ever word that may be...God's word, Webster Dictionary words, or Urban slang words...there are widgets for everyone just waiting for you to download!

What’s it mean to be “Creative” in the 21st Century?

2008-09-16T11:50:00.005-05:00

Here’s the test. If you pass it - you are 21st century creative.

Goes like this. (1.) Do you find that your brain likes to visualize things? And by things, I mean you like to picture big parties where you’ve decorated the tables with lemons and green apples, except you’ve put them in translucent blue-green pipes that shoot 23 feet in the air… or you day dream what you’d do with a wind fall - right down to what your toilet looks like and how your new cars smell. (2.) Do you ever fill in the blank when people pause for too long? Like in TV ads or regular conversation, example: Bob is telling you about his fishing trip and how the mosquitoes were biting and then he pauses too long…..and you blurt out the first thing that comes into your head and say, “You whipped out a chainsaw and went after them little buggers until you got every last one of them, but accidentally chopped your wife’s ear off”. And he looks at you all strange and says, “No?” (3.) After a day at the office you find that watching TV doesn’t cut it so you go in your garage and break out a blow torch and melt old army men together for the fun of it? (4.) You hear a great sentence or spoken line and you immediately see how it could be turned into a website and you start jabbering all the ways to promote it and make money. (5.) You rewrite people’s emails, billboards, print ads, license plates and such, to make them funnier or better. (6.) You see a great house but can’t help thinking, if they’d only put a little more energy into their windows and landscaping it might actually pass as cool. (7.) Sometimes when you should be focused on a boring task you completely ditch it in favor of a spontaneous trip to the casinos (8.) You find yourself oddly drawn to well-designed department store windows and the way they draped fabric over stone and fake pools of water to create a Dali-esque environment. (9.)You understand post modern and all it’s magic and you’d never get caught with a porcelain rooster or duck in your kitchen, or anywhere in your house for that matter. (10.) You’ve been known to go to Home Depot and buy colorful, shiny lacquer outdoor paint and start changing the finish on anything that looks shabby.

How’d you do? You said yes to a bunch of them? Ha! Great, but here’s the thing, I was just kidding…these things don’t necessarily make you creative, more like weirdly innovative, inspired, original, imaginative, etc. Good for you and go forth, carry on, and continue to shake the world up a bit!

Jamaica Mon!

2008-08-19T13:23:00.001-05:00

Hi there. I've just returned from a short biz/vacation trip to Jamaica... all I keep thinking is I don't know why anyone would go back for a second visit, unless they like to smoke weed.

Seriously, Jamaicans are the slowest people on earth, and I have to wonder if it's because they are all stoned.

Take their customs agents...they have ten or so booths, but only 3 people working, with over 200 people trying to get into their country at the same time...to spend lots of money! Why not staff accordingly instead of making your visitors stand in line for 2 plus hours in a hot stuffy room? This is a no brainer. Make the newcomers feel welcomed and comfortable and they will return. And yet, the Jamaican's don't seem to care.

Once you are through customs and have proved you are not smuggling any small birds or rare plants in, you have to wait for another hour or more for a shuttle ride, even if you are going to the Ritz! No one cares if you requested a town car four days in advance for a particular pick up time... they'll get you when they get around to it. Sit and wait in the heat, drink your Red Stripe and be happy Mon!...not so much.

Let's move on to the Grand Bahia Principe...an all inclusive...ooooh..."all inclusive" another term for crappy buffet food and watered down drinks. Even the restaurants on premise sucked. For three days I ate the worst food on this planet and had no other options, cuz it's too dangerous to leave the resort.

I will give the Grand Bahia points for nice architecture and a big pool with lots of activities for the thirty and under crowd...and that's where the kudos end. I arrived at the front desk in an open air room and the heat was

oppressive as I waited for the bellman to go to my room to see if it was ready...I got into my room and they were just finishing cleaning it...which was fine, except the soap had been rewrapped and was damp

...gross. They do not supply cream rinse...in a country where the humidity stays at about 80%...The toilet seat was broken and the AC and lights go out when you close the door to leave, which means your clock resets, your room gets warm and you can't charge your phone or computer unless you are there. If you ask for a 7am wake up call, expect it around 7:45. And the saddest part of all was they dressed their employees in long white shirts, vests and ties and they were sweating like hogs! For the love of God people, throw a nice golf shirt on them and some shorts and call it a day!

When my town car arrived to steal me away from the Grand Bahia to the Ritz - I wanted to cry.

The car was clean, cool and had champagne waiting in it with my girlfriend. We drove to the Ritz and the place was gorgeous, air conditioned through out and the food and booze rocked the party that rocked the party! Go Ritz. Worth every penny. The staff was dressed for the weather, they were efficient, very friendly and went out of their way if we needed something, like help.

The pool was fun and the beach was adequate...our driver took us into Hip St. in Montego Bay and we had drinks at the Bob Sled Cafe, shopped and

gambled. The gambling is coin slots only. No doubt the funniest thing was when my girlfriend dropped a hundred dollar bill down the wall (by accident) and it landed behind the pinball machines on the lower level. I heard her scream my name and reluctantly I went over to see what her issue was...looking thru the crack down the wall I saw the lone hundred dollar bill and promptly tore ass downstairs, bowled over a kid and grabbed the bill out of his small needy hand.

On the way back our very nice driver, Warren, a resident and self proclaimed Jamaican chef, took us to a local joint called Mobay Proper, where we had us some proper Jamaican soup and beans. Very tasty, and sweaty, cuz we sat outside and watched the Olympics on a sheet they hung from a tree. Yeah Mon!

Back from another excellent adventure...

2008-08-04T14:34:00.001-05:00

So many funny things happened on this last vacation, it's hard to know where to start. There was the super-duper fat woman behind the fried dough cart in Boston. I think her purpose is that she serves as a warning to others.

There was the creepy hunched over guy in Ptown who followed us one night in the pouring rain and looked like a character out of a Hitchcock film as he ducked in and out of the steet lamps.

There was this really wierd guy in a bar who icked us out so bad we just left full drinks and went on to the next place. Then there were all these people who resembeled their dogs, and, oh yeah, there was this half-girl with no legs or arms that people were pushing in a baby carriage and she was sun burnt to hell. We firgured she couldn't talk and wasn't able to ask for some sun screen. I know it was so wrong, but we laughed anyway. I agree, we're bad people for that. But you know how it is sometimes when reality is a bit too harsh. We were sitting at a bar looking out the window when the half-girl passed by for the second time, and well, one or the other of us had to finally say something funny to take away the desparity. What are you going to do when you know you can't laugh and all you want to do is bust up? You've all experienced it at some point, ya know milk shooting out your nose, or laughing in church when its so quiet. Retard jokes and cripple jokes have been around a long time. That's all I'm saying.

Then there was the pig. But I won't go into that one.

Blah Blah Blog

2008-07-22T14:19:00.001-05:00

Okay, so I'm a newbie to blogging. Not sure what kind of brain dumps will happen here, but God knows the voices need a platform!!!

Ha...okay so here goes....la... ti... da..... I posted an iMix today called "That's so Shibby" on iTunes. Tomorrow, if all goes well, I will put a widget on my Facebook page that points to it. I'm into widgets. And I don't know crap about code. I just like the way they look and work. Speeds up life, ya know? Like...I have a widget that counts down how many days Bush has in office...cool huh? I've got a create your own Simpson charactor widget-way fun. And, I've got a bazillion widgets loaded on my desktop. They range from weather widgets to travel, music, finance etc...very shibby!

Nuf' of that...here's a question...why is it when someone says something that hurts our feeling's, we get mad? Shouldn't we get sad first?...nope...sad comes later when we are forced to explain why we got so mad...and in the instant that we get mad we spout off something just as ugly and insulting, or... if we are wordsmiths, we possibly let slip something sharp and even more biting, a good bitch slap, just to make a point that "your rude comment was uncalled for", and so, I have stooped to your level to show you how it feels to be cut down....then... we step back and do some mental masterbation until we un-glue the truth and realize; I'm mad cuz I'm hurt, insulted, disturbed, and saddend by your words!!!...and well, frankly...anger was the first human instinct to arise. I really didn't see it coming...or coming out of my mouth, until it was "out". "Coming" from the mouth, now there's a "proxymoron"...as in it's moronic and I phoned it in.

that's it for my first blog. I hope you enjoyed it.

L8R

cHiGbY