Best Feel-Good Video Ever!

I don't normally post videos and the like, but this one caught my attention. It's just so dang happy -- even if it kinda makes me teary-eyed, too. But in a good way. Give it a look!

Where the Hell is Matt?

P.S.  Austin's in there! Yay! Represent!

7:30 AM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Firestarter

So I'm beginning to wonder if there's some old gypsy woman out there who's pissed at me. I've talked before about my "car curse," but now I'm beginning to wonder if I have another kind of curse on me: a fire curse.

Let's examine the facts:

In the time I volunteered for KOOP, they underwent three fires. Three fires. The first two were accidental, and the last was set by a disgruntled volunteer who didn't get his playlist loaded correctly so he took revenge by dousing the station equipment in gasoline and topping that with a match one night. I had nothing to do with any of these fires, but the first one happened within a few months of me joining, and the last one presaged my departure (mostly I was burned out -- no pun intended -- and I really couldn't handle the thought of another pledge drive where we had to beg for money to recover from a recent fire yet again).

The warehouse that my Dad shared with his business partner, Lance, went up in flames late one night. This one turned out to have been accidentally set by his nephew, who had a little apartment inside the warehouse. He and his girlfriend were smoking, and had dropped the cigarette on the bed (well, assuming it was a cigarette). They thought they had put it out, and then left -- turns out it smoldered on the bedspread before catching flame and burning the whole place down. Way to go, dude.

Today, at Tracy's, there was, um, well, a little incident that involved her oven catching on fire. And it was my lunch in there.

I'd gotten one of those Amy's frozen dinners -- some kind of Indian dish -- and since Tracy doesn't have a microwave (really, who doesn't have a microwave?), I had to pop it in the oven for half an hour. I read the instructions clearly and did exactly as they said. What I failed to notice when I stuck the tray in there was the black plastic cutting board stored, for some inexplicable reason, on the bottom rack of the oven.

There was kind of a weird smell while my food was cooking, but Tracy's oven usually smells kinda weird, so I didn't think much of it. But when the smoke alarm went off, we both headed into the kitchen to see what was up.

Smoke was rolling out of the oven door, and when we opened it, there were flames shooting up along the bottom. Tracy freaked out, but at least had the presence of mind to turn off the oven. I kinda stood there in shock for a second while she managed to find her fire extinguisher. She didn't know how to work it, though, so she hands it to me to figure out (like I had any clue!), while she calls 911. I'm standing there, reading the frickin' instructions on the damn thing and hoping the flames don't spread. Fortunately, they had pretty much died down by the time I popped the oven back open to spray the interior. I was promptly engulfed in smoke and extinguisher dust, but at least it did the trick. The fire was out by the time the fire truck arrived.

So the good news is, no one was hurt, and nothing was really damaged beyond the melted cutting board. The oven will have to be looked at, and possibly replaced, but it certainly could've been a lot worse. I took a shower as soon as I got home -- I could still feel that grit in my hair, but the firemen assured me that it wouldn't melt my skin off or anything.

All in all, I guess I can just chalk it up as an amusing anecdote, but I am beginning to wonder if I've got some kinda curse on me. Jace says that if Nomadic Notions goes up in smoke, he's turning me in. To whom, I'm not sure. The fire curse police? Maybe I oughta find some old gypsy woman and see if she can lift it.

In the meantime, I think I'll purchase a couple of fire extinguishers. They sure come in handy.

-Astra

P.S. Okay, what is it about firemen? All of them were cute! Is there some kind of screening process, or do they just magically become cute as soon as they don the uniform?

1:46 AM - 4 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Fun in the Sun
Current mood: relaxed

No movie-related rants this time. Just wanted to chronicle the fun we had frolicking out at the lake yesterday. I've got the sunburn to prove it. It's not so bad, though. I'm pretty dedicated to the application of sun-block. Besides, it'd be nice to turn a color aside from pasty white (though Tony insists it's "lily white," which is a lot more flattering, even if it's still the same color).

Anyway, we headed out to Pace Bend yesterday, which is out more-or-less in the Hill Country (for non-Texans, most of Texas is fairly flat, so the appearance of rolling hills is noteworthy enough to deserve a name). The weather had reported a 30% chance of rain, but the rain never showed. It was a gorgeous sunny day, with a few clouds to break up the monotony of blue skies.

We got there around 1:30 (by "we" I mean Tony, myself, and his friend Joseph), inflated our inner tubes, and started basking. There were a few other clusters of people out there -- most of them camping -- but no obnoxious groups like we'd encountered for our own camping trip. A lot of them brought their dogs, and it was fun to watch the pooches frolic in the water, too, or play games of "fetch" by paddling out to retrieve beer cans or tennis balls.

There was some excitement with the appearance of a snake or two (I could never tell if it was the same snake, or two different ones). It would appear near the shore and poke its head out of the water, presumably looking for a patch of dry land where it wouldn't be pestered. But of course everyone would freak out, send their dogs after it, throw pebbles, or otherwise harass the poor reptile. I'm not sure what kind it was; probably not a water moccasin (although now that I've seen the Wiki-pic, I'm not so sure). In any case, no one was bitten, and I think the snake was more troubled by all these antics than we were.

We stayed out there several hours, alternately floating, swimming, or lounging in the shade -- and of course swilling beer. Lots of beer (although I'd brought a flask of vanilla rum mixed with Dr. Pepper and mostly sipped on that -- mmmmm, yum!). Around 8-ish, we packed up and headed on our way, but not without stopping first at Rudy's for a big ol' smorgasbord of barbeque. Frolicking in the sun sure builds up a hearty appetite!

So that was my Saturday. Juuuuuust perfect. I think I'm really beginning to enjoy this whole outdoorsy thing. Maybe summers in Texas aren't so bad after all.

-Astra

P.S. We'll probably be doing a lot more of this sort of thing -- there's a tubing trip down the Guadalupe on the horizon -- so if anyone's interested in joining us, let me know. The more the merrier!

8:50 AM - 2 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Bryan’s Movie on TV!

Just wanted to post a quick blog to let folks know that one of my brother’s movies, "The Cassidy Kids," (which he wrote and produced) will be premiering on the IFC (Independent Film) channel this month. You can read a little write-up about it here:

http://ifc.bside.com/?_view=_filmdetails&filmId=62358555&timezone=America/New_York

If you have cable and a means of recording, I encourage you to watch for it -- the first showing is this Sunday, April 6, at noon, eastern time (11 am central).

It’s even got some kinda-sorta famous folks in it, such as Dwayne Wayne from that Cosby show spin-off, "A Different World," Anne Ramsay from "Mad About You" (she played the sister), and Judah Friedlander who’s currently in 30 Rock.

Hope you get a chance to see it. I’ve already got my DVR primed to record!

-Astra

3:54 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Birthday This Friday!

In case everyone doesn't check their "upcoming birthdays" notices, mine's this Friday. So far I'm leaning toward just hanging out at the Hideout Pub -- it's a laid-back little bar owned by the same folks who own Mug Shots, another of my favorite local joints. It's right near Parmer & MoPac, just off the service road heading south onto MoPac, I believe (let me know if I'm wrong).

Don't worry, no prezzies required. Just good company. Who wants to join me?  I'm thinking we'll gather around 9-ish. I'll post more details closer to Friday, but for now, I just wanted to get the word out. Hope some of you can make it!

-Astra (Soon-to-be *gulp* 34!)

7:18 PM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment

Jewelry-Peddling

I put some new jewelry up on my Astraea Designs page. And that got me to thinking. The chances of me managing to squeeze in some kind of show between now and Christmas are pretty slim, what with work and all. But that doesn't mean I can't still knock out some pieces (watching episodes of Three's Company and old, cheezy movies seems to be an excellent accompaniment to mindless activity). So here's my offer:

Anyone want some custom jewelry made between now and Christmas?

Maybe something nice for your Mom or sweetheart? Something one-of-a-kind and made by hand by a struggling young artist? ;) There are a couple of pieces in particular that I can knock out with no problem -- I'm including the images below:


$60.00


$50.00

The exact colors will depend on what's available in either my stash or at work, but I'm sure I can come up with something. I can do either of those pictured above (behind the cut) for the prices cited below each photo. Or, perhaps we can arrange some kind of trade, too. Point is, I'm willing to negotiate.

There's still, of course, the whole rest of my site to browse through if you want to just get something already-made. Or, if you want something special -- maybe a variation on one I've already got, contact me and we'll see what we can work out.

Please drops me a line if you're interested! Thanks!

-Astra

3:37 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

Telephone Rant

I've always preferred land-lines over cell phones. Cell phones come in handy, indubitably, but the sound quality isn't usually as good, and one of my favorite things is late night phone calls, lounging in bed while talking to friends hundreds of miles away. So I've always tried to maintain a land-line, but admittedly, sometimes I'm late with the payment and it gets cut off. No biggie. I'd eventually get the payment in and they'd turn it back on.

Well, I guess this time I waited a little too long to finally pay 'em. I paid online a couple weeks ago and had been waiting for my phone to get turned back on, with no luck. I finally called them the other day, thinking I'd just been overlooked in the system. Turns out that there's some kind of grace period, and if you don't pay in that time, you have to go through the whole rigmarole of signing up again and paying some installation fee and yadda yadda yadda. The fee is $100, so I told 'em to forget it -- I'm moving out soon anyway and there's not much point in maintaining a land line in the meantime.

But, the part that really galls me? Apparently I overpaid them. On the phone, it sounded like the guy said that they owed me $7.00, but when I saw the bill today, I realized it was $70. So essentially, they lost a customer over 30 bucks. With the advent of cell phones, I figured phone companies would bend over backwards to try and keep their land-line customers happy. I guess not.

Oh, and they're only gonna get around to paying me back in a "couple of months." Stupid phone comany.

All this is to say that my land-line is gone, so I'm stuck with just my cell phone in the meantime. Keep that in mind if you try to call me.

-Astra

11:14 AM - 1 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

"Dear Pillow" DVD Release Party!

Yay! Bryan's movie is finally gonna be available on DVD! I'll have more details about it below, behind a cut, but I wanted to post about the DVD release party this Monday, Nov. 12th. Austinites and fans of my brother's work are welcome to come, and best of all, you can meet the cast & crew and pick up your own copy of the DVD the day before it's available in stores.

10:36 PM - 0 Comments - 0 Kudos - Add Comment

"Dear Pillow" on DVD!

My brother's movie, Dear Pillow, is finally available on DVD! You can read more info about it on his blog, but the pertinent link to pre-order it on Amazon.com is right here. It'll also be out on Netflix pretty soon, and you can watch the first five minutes on YouTube or Vimeo. Yay, Bryan! If you'd like to help him out, please help spread the word. Blogs and bulletins are convenient that way. ;)

-Astra

11:36 PM - 4 Comments - 2 Kudos - Add Comment

Jewelry Website

I think my brain has melted. It's seeping out my ears. I spent all day either in front of the computer or outside in the hot sun taking photos of a dummy. But I've finally got a jewelry website up! Ta da!

Astraea Designs

I'm still not thrilled with the intro image, and a couple of photos seemed a little blurry, and I'm not totally sure on the pricing, but hey, it's there. Take a look-see and let me know what you think. Hopefully now I'm a little closer to having this whole jewelry thing take off.

Now I'm off to crash.

-Astra

P.S. Er, the dummy I'm referring to is Dolores. Not my friend Leah, who's also featured in a lot of the shots. Figured I should clarify. ;)

12:38 AM - 3 Comments - 4 Kudos - Add Comment