The Prettiest Girl at the Dance

Well actually we think if the Killer Bee as a boy; but staying the course (pun intended) of nautical tradition, in this blog entry the Bee is a hot chick. In human form, something like this:Because otherwise, if its a dude bee, you end up with the following:

Ok, enough of the nonsense. Days are getting shorter and for the Bee, that means time to get cleaned up and winterized for the coming cold. So Ferrari and I brought the boat to my house to clean it up and ready for storage. We have never done it before; usually we pay to have it done but this year we decided to take a crack at it. 5 hours and lots of cleaning supplies later the bee was the finest vessel in North Texas once again.
We also tested everything to make sure it made it through the summer ok. We blasted the stereo which I am sure the neighbors loved... $5k can get you one hell of a stereo in a boat. We even polished the speakers hanging from the tower. Shiny. Next was the lights. The series of 6 directional lights on top of the tower don't look very bright in the sunlight.. but at night on the water, it is like the second sun. Good for wakeboarding at night... WHICH WE NEVER DO BECAUSE THAT IS ILLEGAL! (for any legal inquiries into our wakebarding practices, please direct all questions to Tailim Song Esq.)As evening fell, we covered her up for transport and a long winters nap. It was tough.. I mean it is the equivalent of taking a hot chick in a bikini and wrapping her in a snuggie. But there is nothing like unwrapping a beautiful boat in the spring and rocketing across a glassy lake for the first time of the season. Sleep well little brother.

Laters,

jth

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Belizean Dreams

This picture was taken of the sun coming up over the western Carribean Ocean early in the morning off the balcony of our house in Placencia. Tonight as I watch the Rangers try to make it to the world series, I wish I was back there. Every day was fresh and exciting and donn't worry I am not sad... it's just that when I was there, I was surrounded by family and friends and a crisis was running out of beer and having to walk a quarter mile to the store to grab another case of Belikin. Here, there are more things to worry about.

If I happen to dissappear one day and you can't find me, these pictures are of a place where you might want to look...

Laters,

jth

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Hangin' with the boys...

Ignore the video, just listen to the music and bask in Top Gun volleyball scene glory. Because what did I do this weekend? Hangin with the boys. The ladies were out of town so it was full on awesomness. It was myself, Chris, Caven, Ferrari and Reid. There were drinks jokes and Reid actually spelled his full name on the fence with his urine. I swear he is the pee ninja. Sure he is a marine who did several tours in Iraq,,, he can snipe your ass from 300 yards with open sights and a hangover. But his greatest gift bestowed upon him by the USMC is the ability to create caligraphy with his leftover juices. USA! USA! USA!

We ordered pizza, had some drinks, watched multiple episodes of Tosh.O and told stories. Our bodies were warmed by brotherhood, laughs and pinion pine burning white hot in the iron chiminea. Good times. If you are jealous, don't feel bad, you should be....

Laters,

jth

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Nothing But You

Jeg har ingenting
Men jeg har alt
Nar jeg har deg.

This is what I am listeneing to right now. The lyrics are Norwegian and mean: "I have nothing, but I have everything when I have you. Good song and hopefully an ad doesn't pop up before the song starts but if it does, oh well.

I went wandering recently with my dad. We took a road trip out to where I spent my early childhood in far western Oklahoma to see what we could see. It is hard to describe the land to someone who has been up I-35 through OK as this area is much closer to Colorado as it is to Dallas. It doesn't look like what one would think. It is beautifully desolate; the air is soft, sweet and wild. The breaks separate river valleys where the ghosts of native american warriors from intertribal battles and Cavalry massacres wander at night, surveying their lost kingdoms. It feels enchanted to those who know enough to quiet themselves, lonely to outsiders, and like home to lost country boy like me.

We took off on friday as my dad had to work and rolled out of Dallas around 6pm. I will start by saying that it was a truly great road trip as the radio wasn't on once as we just told stories the whole time. We followed blue highways up through northwest TX until we rocketed across the Red River around 10:30. As we rolled down 2 lane country roads we came to a bridge that must have been almost a mile long around midnight. No traffic allowed for us to stop the truck in the middle of the bridge and hang for awhile. The closer we got to Shattuck, the more deer we saw and since he hit one with his truck on this same highway when I was about 6 yrs old, we took caution. Then we were driving a 1 ton, 4 door Chevy dually with a 454 in it. The deer did its damage on that truck so we weren't looking for a repeat performance 20 yrs later in his Chevy half ton. We got a stinky room in the only motel in Shattuck (population 1,207) around 2 am and called it a night. The morning brought bright sun and blue skies that can only be seen hundreds of miles away from any city or interstate for that matter.

We drove around and saw the farmhouse in which we lived, the land where we kept our livestock, Flat Top - the cross crowned diminutive mesa that overlooks the the town from the north. To me the land was beautiful, I could see a long way - from our old house the grain silo in Darrouzett, TX is visible over 20 miles away - the air is very clear as the elevation there is almost half a mile up. We tried to eat at Ed's cafe but it was closed. I got to see my old elementary school with the odd star shaped kindergarted building. We visited a few of my dad's old friends, one a famous knife maker who gifted his own knife to my dad. I listened quietly as they talked about Vietnam the way that retired soldiers do; i enjoyed it. After that it was time to head back south through the Black Kettle National Grasslands through Lawton where we HAD to stop at a couple pawn shops... its a thing.All in all it was a great trip and good bonding time. Now it is especially great since dad is leaving at the end of the month to go work in Abu Dhabi for a couple of years. Oh he'll be back for vacation and stuff and I'll go visit but mostly I am very excited for the adventure he is about to have.. and a little jealous. Mom and Sam are in France right now and I get picture texts from them. Today they are in Dijon so I think they are going to get me some mustard.

So the title of this particular entry is Nothing But You. Of course it is the name of the song I am listening to, but how do I tie it all together in my way. I guess the simple lyrics of the song help me realize that the only thing that we really have are worth anything are family, friends and the experiences we share that turn into memories. And to quote my main man C.W. McCall: "And as I saw the morning star come up over the mountains, I realized that life is just a collection of memories. And memories are like starlight: the go on forever." CW's cowboy poem is just below-

I haven't forgotten about my promise to do my Belize blogs, I will. I feel that since i was there for so long that the teling of the story will be quite an undertaking so I have been putting it off... I know, slacker. I will get it done. Phi phi.
PS, Celia was on tv.. she's hot.

Laters,

jth

I'm still alive

Dont worry friends, I have been out of the country for awhile. But I am alive; I've been over 100 ft. under the ocean, met great people, lived on an island that is smaller than my high school, fought fires, had a gun pulled on me in a 3rd world country... all just fuel for stories and you know how I like to tell stories.The picture is of me, Richard and our neighbors on Caye Caulker,; a doctor (she took the pic) and her husband, a marine and his lawyer girlfriend and a guy that has a weekly soccer show on the Sky Network. Stay tuned for the rest of the story....

Laters,
jth
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Texas Deep

Well, the hard Texas heat arrived with a hammer this past weekend. Both Saturday and Sunday, the guage hung just under 100F. With no wind and no clouds, options for outdoor activities were severely limited. “So where does one go to escape the violent heat?” you may ask? That’s an easy one, you go underwater. (The pics are all of me and the video is of Richard)With Celia and Sarah busy all weekend, Ferrari and I grabbed the scuba gear and headed to ASP on Saturday and then CSSP on Sunday. We got tons of diving in and even got some good pics and video with Richard’s nifty underwater camera setup. We dove on a sunken airliner, a few unlucky sailboats, and even a golf cart. It was a blast. Of course it is going to be much better when we touch down in Belize City on Thursday. We spent last night with the world famous Johnny Johnson: advanced scuba instructor, pilot, world traveler, boat expert, and a list of about 15 other things. He got us Nitrox certified so we will be able to dive longer on enriched air in Belize.

Congrats to Chris on accepting his new job at Warren Douglas. Well done sir.
I am sure Patrick, Laurie and Jackson are having a blast down in the Keys right now. Hope you guys took some good pictures.
I will be blogging while I am in Belize so check back for updates. Happy Birthday Superman, I can’t believe we made it into our 30’s without some awesome yet tragic skiing accident or crashing a truck while trying to jump it (if you don’t know what this means, then it is not for you, I still love you though)

Life is moving fast and changing even faster. I'm just trying to hang on; it is a great ride so far though.

laters,

jth

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Congrats Chris

You didn't think I forgot did you? Come on.... I wanted to say congrats to Chris who crossed the stage at Moody Coliseum, Southern Methodist University, with a Masters in Business Administration. Well done sir. And since this is your 2nd Masters, you now have more degrees than anyone that I know...


PS, dont forget to check out his sweet shoes in the video..

Laters,
jth
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The House That Wouldn't Let us Leave

As a modern family, we are pretty cool; Celia Chris, Moseley and I... that's my opinion anyway. And I have heard of objects that have feelings such as cars, or ships or whatever. but who knew that our house would be so upset that we are moving this week that he would try and stop us by knocking down one of the trees in the front yard? And there wasn't even a storm or anything... Well that's what happened and it was a huge tree. It fell, a crew came and chopped it up for pickup, and that was that. (I put Celia in there so you could have a size reference)Too bad house, although we love you very much, it's time to move on....

Laters,
jth
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For those that are still around...

Ok, so I realize that I have been a major slacker on here. But before the stones begin to fly, I do have several fantastic excuses:
1. They have blocked this site at work, probably my fault for blogging during office hours.
2. Nothing has been going on at all. But we have a bunch of stuff coming up so be excited.

There, so,,, yeah. In your face, I bet you feel like a jerk now! Nah just kidding, no worries.

So coming up, well I’ll just dive right in. Chris’s graduation is this weekend, awesome job buddy; I know for a fact that getting an MBA from SMU is no easy challenge; as a matter of fact, I’m like the only one of us that doesn’t have one. So I guess my overall feeling is that I hate all of you over-achievers. Thanks a lot for reminding the rest of us that we are mediocre at best… btw, the party is on Saturday. I’ll be the one sulking in the corner.

We’re moving at the end of the month. Not far though, just a couple of blocks west. I will miss the place on Waggoner Dr. but its time to go try out a new place.

We’re going to Belize in June. It will be a fantastic trip full of Scuba, tours, fishing, and relaxing. Everyone will be there for atleast 2 weeks, some of us longer. It is a big crew of atleast 8 people. We will be in Placencia and Hopkins Village. Ferrari and I are going to shoot over to Guatamala for a day or so. Action. When we get back we will be getting the boat out of storage for the season; Wakeboarding, skating and general sunset chasing. Of course when you are on a lake, the sun chasing is sort of in vain since you run into shore pretty quick. But one day, oh crafty Sun, we will take you down!
It’s going to be an exciting summer so get ready.

Oh yeah, Jacob came by to take pictures of Chris. I had to catch that…

Laters,
jth

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3 of my Favorites

I know it has been a few days since my last entry. But not alot has been going on.. Bret came down and we had a blast shooting guns, going to Damian's concert and then staying up til 6 am playing guitars and singing like old times. Then Caven was in town this past weekend and we mostly just hung out. Celia and I are looking for a new house and Chris is about to finish up his MBA. Bing bang boom. See what I mean? Not alot to write about... So I will entertain you with 3 of my favs.







Anyway, I hope that was the best 5 minutes you have had all day.
Laters,
jth
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The greatest thing to come out of South Korea since Hyundai...

It was a clear night with plenty of visible stars through the Bedouin cloud cover. I was sitting in my favorite hunting chair on the back patio. Casual conversation was the order of the moment as I was opposite Chris and flanked by Genevieve and Celia. Moseley let out a series of barks, not the warning kind, more of the “I’m happy because I see people I know walking up.” Chris had mentioned earlier that Tyler and Rob were thinking of stopping by. But he was mistaken. It wasn’t tyler and Rob; it was Tyler Rob and someone else, someone not so familiar.

수는 중대하다

I studied her form as she slinked down the back stairs into the party room. From the bottom up, simple but elegant pumps, a khaki skirt and white blouse, sleeves playfully rolled up. A double strand of pearls graced her stately neck; I surmised that at some point in her teenage years, she had most likely retrieved them, with nothing but a dive mask and a pearling knife from the magical depths of the Sea of Japan or possibly South China Sea. Her look was smart and appropriate for our informal gathering as well as she could have blended in at a Congressional session. I took a sip of my drink as I wondered who this woman, this Jade Princess might turn out to be…That’s right ladies and gentlemen, I met my verbal match this past weekend: Sue
Oh Sue, why is your banter so fantastic and clever? Tyler Rob and Sue were in town for easter and they stopped by the house for some drinks. A few drinks in, I was being verbally dominated by Sue who obviously takes no prisoners. She works at Capgemini with the boys. We had a lovely evening of smack talking and story telling. Sue even got to hold her first firearm. Sue I know that your first trip of length to Texas ended up to be one ridiculus stereotype after another, but you’re welcome any time. We have Damian G concert this weekend at Liquid Lounge Saturday night at 10:30. Come earlier for the opening bands. Bret is coming down from NYC this afternoon. Fantastic. Hope to see you at the concert. Laters,
Jth
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1st Anniversary

Yesterday was my 1 year anniversary with Celia. Man this past 12 months has FLOWN by,, I can’t even believe it. She wanted to go down to Pioneer Square in downtown. The place has special meaning for us because when we first started dating, I lived in a loft right across the street. One night we decided to go ride our bikes around downtown around midnight. Well, we came across all these giant iron cows (40 in all) being herded by cowboys through a stream. We got the great idea to climb up on the last cow in line and try to crawl to the first cow without touching the ground. Celia made it, I fell once. It was a blast and we hadn’t been to that particular spot in years. So we headed down there to check it out. I got some great pics. It is also a graveyard that holds the sleeping founders of Dallas. Their graves are all from the 1800’s.
Lastly, there is a memorial to the Confederate soldiers that fought in the Civil War as Texas was a one of the seceding states.After that, we headed to one of our favorite restaurants, Lover’s Pizza. I got the lobster ravioli which is AWESOME! Good evening all together.
BTW, Richard started a blog. http://outboundanddown.blogspot.com/ Go to it and click on Follow to stay updated.

Laters,
Jth

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