Here's What I'm Thinking

Wednesday, December 6, 2023 – A Mid-Week Post

Greetings on the camel day of the week.

As you know this football season I kept a swear jar. During football games each time I uttered a swear word, I was to put a quarter in the jar. I did this in honor of Big Solid, who loved football, read and laughed at my blog, and cussed at football games like I do.

Today is the Brazos Valley Food Drive. I donated $100 from the contents of the Big Solid Swear Jar to the drive. Deny it until there are pictures so here I am with KBTX news broadcaster, Rusty Surrette. He loved the story of the swear jar so much, he had his picture made with me and took my name.

It is that time of year when our friends and neighbors (or maybe you) need help. Donate if you are able. No one should go hungry.

Monday, November 6, 2023 – My Monday After Saturday College Football Awards

In order to keep up with the important things of life … It appears that Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce will be spending Thanksgiving together. I have not received their RSVP if they plan to come to my house for the holidays.

My one and only award today is the James Murray Spangler award. It goes to every football team that hiked the ball this weekend. Who was James Murray Spangler and why is every team getting this award?

Spangler invented the upright suction carpet sweeper. He sold the invention to his cousin Hoover who called it the Hoover Electric Suction Sweeper or the Hoover Vacuum. Why? Because every game sucked! In fact, this entire season sucks. In fact, every game was so bad, I turned to the ID Crime channel for something interesting and exciting. Spoiler Alert: It is always the spouse!

Close games. Overtimes. Missed field goals. Missed winning field goals. Bad penalties called. No penalties called. And injuries all around. If it weren’t for bad luck, the Aggies would have no luck at all.  My Big Solid Swear Jar had a dollar in it before I even sat down to watch the game.. Twenty-five cents on the first play of the game.

Which brings us to the segway. There is a saying in Aggieland – Highway 6 runs both directions. It means if things are not going to your liking, or in this case, the liking of the Alumni with big incomes, it is time to hit the road and head north or south, Jimbo.  I must admit the hopes were high. But it has been five years and Jimbo’s record is the same as Sumlin’s, minus Drake and other rappers. Such a disappointment!

I am happy that basketball season begins at Reed Arena this week. On that bounce, you be happy too. Stay safe.

 Friday, November 3, 2023 – A Very Late Snarky Friday

The reason this is so late is because I debated whether to write at all. While there are a few games of interest, there were just not enough to garner attention.

It is the last Bedlam in Stillwater at 2:30 on ABC.

There is Alabama and LSU and Alabama in Tuscaloosa with the delightful and mouthy Bama Bigot, Gary Daniels at 6:45 on CBS.

Georgia hosting Missouri could be fun to watch at 2:30 on CBS. Please do not let Gary Danielson be in the booth.

But starting the morning at 11:00 on Fox THE University of Texas hosts Kansas State. This could be interesting with Ewers still out. Do not waste Arch!

And Hotty Toddy Texas A&M hits the Grove to play Lane Kiffin, The Quirky, on ESPN at 11:00. This could be a Shark Tank for Jimbo.

BTHO Ole Miss!

That is all I got.  Except Do not forget to turn back your clocks.

Friday, October 27, 2023 – Snarky Friday

Let’s all sing … “I’m getting married in the morning; ding dong the bells are going to chime; kick up a rumpus, but don’t lose the compass, but get me to the church on time.”

Of course I’m not getting married. But it was a good snark, huh? But I am attending a very fancy wedding in Houston at the Cohen House on the campus of Rice University. Great niece, #4 is getting married. I am very excited and looking forward to dressing up. I have not dressed up in this much finery since Baby Bush was in the White House. Of course there will be pictures.

I shall be wearing a three piece blue-gray pants suit ensemble. The embroidered top will be adorned with a lovely string of pearls. There will be make-up on the face and eyes. As you can see my nails are done in a matching color.

And of course my purse matches and ties it all together. I am calling the outfit 50 Shades of the Grey Goose. It will double as my Halloween costume.

I have no idea why the couple selected the Cohen House as a wedding venue. Not my wedding. Neither attended Rice. But the historian in me looked up the history of the setting. It is a beautiful wedding venue. First of all it is not named after the Cohen Brothers or George M. Cohen.

In the 1920’s George S. Cohen, a Houston business man and owner of Foley’s department store donated $125,000 to Rice University to build a faculty club in honor of his parents Robert I. and Agnes Cohen. The faculty club was officially opened at homecoming in November 1927. The building was enlarged in 1958 when the main dining room and terrace were added. The cost of this renovation, which was also funded by George S. and his wife Esther Cohen, was $260,000 and brought the size of the building from 7,100 square feet to 13,600 square feet. In 1976 a major renovation took place and in 1980 the Esther M. Cohen Memorial Garden and the fountain were dedicated. In 1983 the employee restrooms and locker rooms were renovated and the air-conditioning was updated. In 1985, crown molding and new wall coverings were added. In 1993 and 1994 more renovations took place to add wheelchair ramps as well as new club offices and restrooms. In 2006, further renovations replaced the ceiling in the dining room and placed early photographs of campus reprinted by Geoff Winningham from the original glass plate negatives.

You lost me at Foley’s Department Store! If you grew up in the Houston area, you remember Foley’s. I loved going to the downtown store. When I was little and we went downtown, I thought the sparkles in the sidewalk were diamonds.

As you read the Cohen House serves as the faculty club for Rice University. I am excited to breath the air of really smart people who taught and went to school there. People like Larry McMurtry – a  Rice faculty member until from about 1960, when he was a graduate student getting his MA, to 1969 when he said “I can’t teach and write.” If you are a McMurtry fan, his biography is outstanding. Wow! What an author. So many literary works. What a Texan. RL? Did you know his BA is from UNT?

Back to the wedding. Because of the wedding at 5:00 in the evening, I shall not be watching any football games this weekend. I must use my 11:00 hour for travel. Several family members expressed some concern over parking. Rice University plays Tulane at 3:00. But then again, we thought – It’s Rice and laughed! And we shall be on the other side of the campus.

Stay safe. I hope your team wins.

Thanks to Astros for a great year. Thank you, Dusty Baker.

BTHO South Carolina