More Catch Up: Black Friday At Mesquite Walmart

Just a sample of what it was like out there.  "After all, what are we? Barbarians?"

Pick Me Up -- Make Up Edition

During the Aggie/UT game, the cameras kept catching the Aggie QB's fiance in the stands. If I hadn't been so tired, I would have blogged it at that very moment.

Hey, Now.

Random Monday Morning Thoughts

Edit: I didn't notice that the coozie says, "Restraining Orders Are Another Way To Say I Love You"

• I took a trip to the Clinton Library while in Arkansas. Really interesting. And I felt a little geeky being especially interested in  96 notebooks - one for each month - that contained the daily schedule of Clinton for every day in office.
• A Barney Fife like security guard got on to me for standing by the entrance while waiting for Mrs. LL because "I don't know what you've got on you."
• There is a section dedicated to the Lewinsky scandal and the Impeachment.  Baylor's current president is (justifiably) not treated well.
• The Tea Party would have its collective head blow up during the tour. There was not a problem, it seems,  that wasn't tackled with new federal legislation. And then you see the section dedicated to the the economy in the 1990s where there was actually a balanced budget with a surplus.
• The portion of I-30 from downtown Dallas to Rockwall is depressing.
• Can't find a picture of her, but a cute girl with a six month old baby in her car was arrested for Intoxication Manslaughter after driving the wrong way on I-35 in Fort Worth over the weekend. Oddly, she never came in physical contact with the person who died.
• Sad to hear the NBA will be back.
• I think "Cyber Monday" doesn't exist. That is, I doubt this is the busiest online shopping day of the year. 
• A kicker did what on the sideline of a NFL game yesterday????
• Over the weekend, the house I was in became like the scene in Raising Arizona where Glen and Dot bring all their kids over to see Hi and Edwina. I retreated to a bedroom. Huge. Quickly. 
• And in there I came across the Kirk Cameron film, Fireproof. I started watching it because I was cynical, and the acting was just as bad as I thought it would be. But, you know, there was nothing wrong with that message. 
• Sports: (1) The over/under line on Baylor v. Tech was 102. 102!! And if you bet the Under, you lost; (2) In the first ever Pac 12 Championship game this weekend, Oregon is a 31 point favorite over UCLA; (3) Turner Gil got fired at Kansas after only two seasons and will be paid the $6 million still remaining on his contract; and (4) the Cowboy cheerleader who was tackled by Jason Witten had her Twitter account allegedly killed by the Cowboys.
• Crazy Sheriff Joe will endorse Rick Perry. That's the equivalent of stopping life support on his campaign.
• To not be a "people person", I sure have been around a lot of people over the last four days.

Messenger Above The Fold

Random Check In -- From The Land Of The Hogs

• Who has two thumbs, ran an 8 mile Turkey Trot, did not take a nap, stayed up later than expected on Thanksgiving night to watch the Aggies and Horns ending, and then got up at 4:00 a.m. to drive three sleeping humans to north of Little Rock for lunch? This guy!!!
• I'm delirious.
• So delirious I created a "Do you have a ticket to the carnival" game today with a four year old that required her to bring me every card in a playing card deck so that I could check her ticket to see if it were valid. Even I don't know what that means.
• If I pump The Ticket through my phone into the auxiliary jack in the car on this road trip, do I have a problem?
• Back to the Aggies and The Evil Empire. I have never seen a UT offense that was in so much complete chaos. Then again, I've never seen an Aggie team that gives away games in the second half more than this Aggie group. Absolutely amazing.
• Aggie coach Mike Sherman would have been fired last night if he hadn't been given a huge contract extension last year.
• I don't mind admitting that I get a little emotional during the Turkey Trot run. I put a bunch of songs on the iShuffle from my past and, when they pop up in random mode, I reflect upon where I was when the song became important to me. 
• The new Omni hotel in downtown Dallas is really cool looking. 
• There was the weirdest fog cover about 200 feet above ground level at the beginning of the race. When the course looped us back around to downtown Dallas, we were less than a quarter of a mile away from downtown and couldn't see the top of any building. 
• I got to watch the Arkansas/LSU game in Arkansas amongst Arkansas fans. Kinda cool.
• I'm in the house of Mrs. LL's grandparents who are still pretty feisty despite their age. The grandmother is a huge football fan and actually used the phrase "unabated to the quarterback" when we were talking about an offsides penalty during the game.
• I intentionally didn't look at the comments for the last couple of days. Even I need a break every now and then.
• The Runaway Bay Golf Cart Assault probably had the local PD going insane.  
• The Rifleman just came on (in the Arkansas house) and I said, "Let's watch Lucas McCain kill another person in self defense!"  All I heard were crickets.
• But I just looked up and Lucas is building up a ton of resentment towards this episode's Bad Guy. If I'm the Bad Guy, I wouldn't make a quick movement towards any weapon.
• Oops. Too late. 
• On the morning road trip I started listening to a new audiobook, Chuck Klosterman's "Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto".  I wished someone would have told me that I was going to be bombarded with F Bombs during a discussion of love, John Cusack, and Coldplay. (Thank goodness the rest of the car was asleep.) 
• I went to my parents for lunch on Thanksgiving and took along a four year old niece of Mrs. LL's. Words cannot do justice to the nursery rhyme presentation she provided to the Extended Family Unit where she repeated (over and over and over) a word that sounded soooooo inappropriate for a family gathering. I don't think I've ever seen my brother laugh so hard. 
• My Halftime Cowboy Game Observation upon seeing Pitbull take the stage, "I bet that's a real crowd pleaser." Mrs. LL (about three minutes later): "Oh, I get it!!!"
• A triple murder in Desoto?

Random Friday Morning Thoughts

Dallas Cowboys tight end Jason Witten (82) rolls into Cheerleader Melissa Kellerman

I've got none. You know why? By the time this is automatically posted I've been on the road to Arkansas for at least a couple of hours. Probably more.

Thanksgiving

As this post appears, I will be in a mass of bodies in downtown Dallas for the annual Turkey Trot. I'm there because it has become a passionate ritual for me. I will stop when I can no longer do it -- a thought which scares me a little bit.

And that brings us to Thanksgiving and my annual call back to this post, a favorite of the Liberally Lean readers,  that I put up six years ago. . You know, I love going back to it. It is still true. And it t needs to be read slowly -- the way it was written.

Thanks to all of you for this crazy little club we have.

Descendants Of First Thanksgiving Taking Us Into Thursday

Congressional Redistricting Tired Head

Since a federal court said the state Republican lawmakers [hereinafter referred to as "The Man"] tried to screw minorities in the constitutionally mandated redistricting after the last census, that court today released a new map which will at least be in place for next year's elections. (I think.) The above graphic depicts how Wise County will be impacted by the new map in the Congressional House elections.

I want to see the candidate for District 26 who appeals to Denton County and the Newark area of Wise County.

We Got A Spunky Witness. I Support Him.

Watching the chick in the back at around :29 is pretty funny the second time through it.

How Not To Put Up A Christmas Tree

Edit: Alternative source.

Random Wednesday Morning Thoughts

• That judge on trial for bribery over in Collin County was actually convicted yesterday. She faces prison or probation, and I'd be a little scared if I were her.
• Fox 4 was live from the airport this morning covering what looks like a normal day at the airport. What are the odds of broadcasting live from a mall on Friday?
• Finished my  jog last night and came home to find a huge inflatable Christmas monkey on my lawn.
• If you don't exactly understand what an "Internet meme" is, here's the recent "Pepper Spraying Cop" becoming one.
• Newt Gingrich went to the front of the pack (in my opinion) last night in the GOP debate when he said, “I do not believe that the people of the United States are going to take people who have been here a quarter century, who have children and grandchildren, who are members of the community, who may have done something 25 years ago, separate them from their families and expel them. I’m prepared to take the heat for saying, let’s be humane in enforcing the law without giving them citizenship but by finding a way to create legality so that they are not separated from their families.” Preach on, bruther.
• And if you known someone for 25 years who began his family as an illegal immigrant, you'll feel the same way -- or there's something very wrong with you.
• Is there a girl from Paradise on Twitter who has Barefoot in her name who wants to be a model?
• The Aggies and Longhorns end their rivalry tomorrow. It's like watching old friends get divorced.
• Mrs. LL, I dare say, may be a bit of a procrastinator, and she decided to be in charge of a big family lunch today. 
• The Drudge Report used to break news (i.e. Lewinsky) and was famous for ending the short basic text news bursts with the "Developing . . . " moniker. It really doesn't do that much any longer. In fact, I can't remember the last time I saw it.
• Miley Cyrus turns 19 today. Get ready for her to go crazy this year. 
• I'm running the Turkey Trot again tomorrow. I need to count up the years I've done the eight mile race but it has to be around 10. It seems longer. Both the years and the distance.
• The jokester who sent me the older woman pic yesterday sent me this one last night as an alternative Random Thought Girl to make up for it. 

Messenger Above The Fold

Lee Harvey Oswald Burial Bill

Credit.

And the unusual story behind his grave here.

DPS Really Celebrates Thanksgiving

Black Friday Flashback 2010: In The Middle Of The Recession

Some Jokester Sent This To Me As Potential Random Thought Girl

Random Tuesday Morning Thoughts

• I dreamed I spent hours roaming around a huge hospital like Parkland where most of the individuals in it were unwatched inmates.
• That was a heck of a lightening show in the county around 5:00 p.m. yesterday. Multiple lightening strikes with crashing thunder. Delicious. 
• The "lone wolf" terror suspect arrested in New York a couple of days ago is yet another example of an incompetent fool used for law enforcement for publicity. Proof: Even the Feds wouldn't touch the case which is why the State is prosecuting it. The government had him "under surveillance for more than two years and made more than 400 hours of secret recordings" and he still didn't even know how to make a pipe bomb. 
• The Decatur Lady Eagles lost to a bunch of home schooled kids last night. A very religious group of home schoolers at that. 
• How much would I have to financially benefit before I would spend five days in a tent on a sidewalk outside of a store which includes missing Thanksgiving? $10,000. Maybe.
• Do gasoline prices seem to change by 30 cents overnight?
• Buddy Ryan and sons Rex Ryan, and Rob Ryan seem like a group of guys that would still laugh at Jeff Foxworthy.
• Individual frames of the Zapruder film. (It is November 22nd, by the way.)
• The Texas Theater, where Oswald was captured, is replaying the exact movies at the exact times that they rolled 48 years ago. Admission is $1.
• Mark Cuban has written an e-book. Let me guess, "Find what you love to do then go to work in that field." And then there will be a footnote that reads, "An do something simple like stream audio over the Internet and then sell the technology to a company that will never use it for $5.9 billion."
• There's something poetic about the TCU kicker kicking in a door in Denton to try and recover a stolen cellphone. I wonder if he took three steps back and two steps sideways before the kick?
• I was wrong when I said Tony Romo would have received a 15 yard penalty for trying to call a timeout when the team had none. The refs would have just ignored it, the clock would have run out, and it would be a 5 yard delay a of game. 
• One of my old "skattershooting" columns from 2003 where I have a ton of JFK thoughts at the bottom.