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| Summer-summer-summer-TiiimeSaturday, I was kicked out of my house while the termite people put circus tents over it and fumigated. No matter, Saturday was Chip's Ultimate Fun Day™! Chip had invited some adventurous folks to Go-Kart, play tennis/basketball/volleyball at the park, have dinner at the Hobbit Cafe, and go to RMT for a comedy show. (He also invited me to the water wall afterwards, but I respectfully declined.) First off, Go-Karting. Chip and Braden were ready to roll... 
I tried to take some pictures during the second race while driving since it was not as...death-defying...as the first (where Karen - in her rage that I not pass her - sent us both careening into the wall where we had to be rescued by the attendent). However, my picture-taking was foiled since, unbeknownst to me, my camera was on video mode. I got some good shots of my leg - which I will spare you from seeing- but here's the end as we came into the finish line.
After racing, we went inside. An air hockey tournament soon developed. Here's a snippet from round one, where Erica made a record comeback to best Karen (who helps her out in the below video by scoring on herself).
After being eliminated from the air hockey tourney, Karen and I played some Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Lethal Enforcers in the arcade. 
After Braden won the air hockey battle royale, the others shot some billards. Then it was time to go to Jamba Juice for some Colon Blow smoothies. All juiced up, we headed for the park. Tennis was the first sport we conquered... 
We shot some hoops afterwards, then went to clean up for dinner at the Hobbit Cafe where we met Liz, and the show at RMT, where Dan joined the group. Both dinner and the show were quite good. They were made even better shared with great friends. Thanks to Chip for organizing, Karen for shuttling us around, as well as Erica, Braden, Stephanie, Liley, Dan, and Liz for a great day being homeless! More pics on Facebook here. | | |
| Hawai'i!My parents had the idea at the start of this year to plan a summer vacation that included them, my brother and his wife, and me and my wife. They said we should all go before we start having kids, like that's going to happen soon or something.  The destination was left up to the 4 younger folks, who settled on Hawaii after considering some other options like a cruise or a European trip. None of us had ever been to Hawaii before. Dad really wanted to visit Pearl Harbor and I wanted to lounge on Waikiki beach, so we stayed in O'ahu the first two days and did both. Besides those two places, we went to a luau at Paradise Cove to complete our tourist experience before flying over to Maui. In Maui, we stayed in the cute town of Kihei on the south shore. The house we had rented backed right up to the beach and the back of the house faced west, so we enjoyed beautiful sunsets over the water each evening. 
In Maui, we went snorkeling, swimming, hiking, shopping, and kayaking, as well has had time to relax with various combinations of family members, go on a submarine ride, and cooking out for the 4th of July. You can check out a bunch of pictures of all our activities here, here, and here. The time passed pretty quickly and all too soon it was time to head back to the real world. We flew back to Houston overnight Saturday and got home around 9:00AM Sunday morning. We managed to stay awake through church, but getting up Monday morning for work was no fun. I have it easier that Taps though, since she flew out last night (after one night in her own bed) for the Netherlands, where she will be teaching dances to group associated with YWAM and King's Kids for three weeks. I will be busy prepping the house to be tented for termites this weekend (yay), but after that I should have some free evenings to hang out with some peeps, so feel free to call me!  | | |
| Me + cars = badDrive to work. Oil light comes on. Eek. Check owner's manual. Lock keys in car in process of checking owner's manual. Don't realize keys locked in car. Call Tapley. Tapley confirm oil puddle in my parking space at home. Hmmm. Work. Work. Work. 5:00. Discover locked keys in car. Freak out. Must pick up father-in-law from airport and drop off downtown! Must make 6:30 meeting near home! Must not run out of oil! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh! Walk to store and buy oil. 5:45. Wait for benevolent soul to come open my car. Blog while waiting. | | |
| Voting by RaceI just read this political commen tary on CNN that made me mad. So instead of talking about it with others, I'll go the 2008 route and blog instead.  Basically, Hillary Clinton is getting flack from some people for pointing out "Senator Obama's support among ...hard-working...white Americans, is weakening again" in her ongoing efforts to convince superdelegates that she has a "broader base" and thus would fair better in a general election than Obama. The author of this particular commentary took this to mean Hillary's "rationale for electing someone boils down to this: Vote for me. I'm white. I can win because other whites will vote for me." Fine, whatever, I see how her statement could be taken this way. But then he goes on... Meanwhile, some white Americans are turning themselves inside out to come up with excuses for why they're not supporting Obama. ... Some want to know why it isn't racist when 70 percent of African-Americans vote for Obama but it is when 70 percent of whites vote against him.
The author's answer to this question? Black people have never had the chance to vote for a black presidential candidate before, and that they have the chance they are taking it. Some white people are as well, but some aren't because of racism. Hmmm...so white people vote for white people because of racism but black people vote for black people because it's historic... Now, I agree that surely there are many in this country that - in the words of 2Pac - "ain't ready to see a black president" due to racism. But shouldn't voting for someone based on race be considered racist, no matter what race does it? Or is is just human nature to want someone that looks like you and may identify more with you because of it to succeed? I'll close my little rant with some interesting (to me) exit poll numbers from the latest primary Obama won - North Carolina. Seems that 6% of people admit race was the most important factor in their vote, and a lot higher percentage or people than that - black and white - vote according to their race. 
(Source: CNN.com) | | |
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