It's Universal

I'll wrap up the Peru adventures eventually, but it's been so long, I just wanted to get started again.

For a person as average as myself to blog stream of consciousness seems mundane, even to me. So the first thing I do before each time I log on to write is ask myself, "Why would anyone want to read this? I must have the least interesting life of anyone I know." Then I inevitably begin to compare what could be considered the interest level of my life against others that I do in fact know. Friends, family, acquaintances of course come first, and then it's on to famous people, particularly ones who write their own blogs like Mark Cuban, Ryan Adams, or my personal favorite, Gilbert Arenas. So I think they must have some really profound, interesting things to say. And sure enough, Gilbert Arenas said he wanted to drive his car into a pole after he posted a DNP because he's still being held out for injury, and I think, surely there will never be a time when I say something that unfiltered, especially not relating to my lack of playing time in a pro basketball game. But I guess there's nothing really profound and interesting about that. Certainly everyone has wanted to mash their head into a wall at some point in reaction to one of their coworkers or bosses, just for most of us it's a cubical wall, which really wouldn't do that much damage.

I recently started my first cubical job since one I had back in college, as I just moved to Austin, jobless, and ended up getting on with a pretty cool company. I shouldn't say completely jobless because I was doing an unpaid Political Science undergrad's internship equivalent as a job when I got here, running mail once an hour to the Capitol, as well as tutoring 5th graders in the afternoon. I was a valet job shy of being on Anthony's post-Dignan-masterminded-heist program from the movie Bottle Rocket. But it seems to be working out.

So we'll see what happens now. I'm still strongly considering trying a hand at the teaching gig. I always heard that those that cannot do, teach, so maybe, just maybe, one day my ineptitude will translate into someone else's achievement.

I like the new place.

When I picked up and moved to Austin, I crashed with my sister and her family as they were gracious enough to allow me to stay while I sort of got my feet on the ground. Two months later, I moved in with a couple of great guys, Adam and Paul, and am now fighting a bout with Avian bird flu. That last sentence may make it seem like they are the cause of it, but that's probably not true. It was probably the Avian birds.

So now I just write, and I guess we'll see what comes out.

Austin is a good place. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. There are good people here, some of them just wandered in, and most of them don't want to go. It's not a highly calculated moving place. People don't come to Austin because they think there's a great job market or large affordable housing or the city has a lot of glamorous things to offer. They just come because it's cool, and they want to be here. If they end up here for work or something like that, they generally don't want to leave. There's no having to justify it either. In Dallas, people would say, "Oh Dallas is awful" and you'd say, "Oh it's not so bad". Or they'd say, "Oh Dallas is awesome, it's so much fun" and you'd say, "It's really not all that great". Houston's about the same, just in a different way. But in Austin, people just say, "Yeah man, Austin, that's cool." And then you say, "Yeah man, it's universal." And then you grow your hair long and you grow a beard and people can think whatever they want. You might be in politics, you might be a writer, you might be in a band, or you could be homeless. There are probably an equal amount of people working diligently at each of those professions here. It's universal man.

It's Business Time

Even after having to sit front row at The Bourne Ultimatum, I was still inspired, at least for a moment, to immediately enlist and attempt to become a Navy Seal. That dream, however, was quickly quelled when I remembered another movie starring Charlie Sheen (or was it Emilio Estevez? I can never keep those two straight. It's a wonder, you would think they were brothers or something) which actually depicted Navy Seals which was called Navy Seals, and realized that maybe that would not be the career path for me. Actually, if anyone could give me a hint as to what that might be...

Here...the Good News:

- We finally got internet turned back on in the apartment, biggity bam, hence; blog update.
- The Texans looked good against Arizona in Pre-Season game #2. At least it counts...
- The 5th Annual Rockport Weekend is 4 days away...I don't need to say anymore on this. Perhaps anecdotes will ensue.
- Danny will be looking to topple his personal best of 26 beers in one day at said Rockport Weekend; he has been on HGH for months in preperation.
- Guaranteed, Jeff eats an entire block of gourmet cheese all at once by Friday night.
- The flight is booked for a 2 week jaunt in the Andes of Peru, followed by a weekend stay in South Beach...I know, I thought it sounded terrible too.
- The Yankees are closing the gap on the Red Sox...wait, that's not good news.
- Trent Green just completed his first pass this pre-season.
- I've been playing more guitar than Guitar Hero.
- Vince Young is on the cover of Madden 08, so he's sure to have the worst season in NFL history and rupture his duodenum.
- The new Cadillac CTS comes out this week...hands down, the best American sedan ever made.
- Alex found a new off-beat bar where we can watch Monday Night Football.
- I just watched Flight of the Conchords.

Brody

The last few days have brought about some interesting events. They are listed below in order of importance.

1) The Rogers family welcomed Brody Ross Rogers into the family on Tuesday, June 26th 2007 at a whopping 9 lbs 8 oz. Ghaaa! That kid is going to be enorm-o! He was born to my brother Bryan and his wife Olivia, and for those of you who don't know, their combined height is actually greater than that of the collective population of the province of Sichuan, China. Congratulations to the new parents who have just taken their largest step thus far toward a secure retirement.

1a) As if there could even be a sub-category to my third nephew being born, the weekend brought my family into town including my parents and my sister, Jennifer. Her husband Ethan was missing in action as he was needed back home to take care of their two kids. At first I suspected his absence might be because he was having trouble on long road trips due to his vertigo flaring up after a "spin" class he has been taking since becoming a member at Lifetime Fitness, but then I realized in this instance "spin" referred to riding a stationary bike and not turning in circles at all. Either way, I also suspect he is probably not doing that class. While we did miss Ethan, the weekend was good. Jen hung out with me at the apartment here in Dallas (more on this to come) while my parents stayed at a Hampton Inn in Arlington which was being refurbished.

After Brody was born, I met them all at the hospital and then we went to lunch, where my mom experienced the glory that is McAllister's Deli for the first time. They regaled us with tales of sticky carpet, black socks, and plaster float falling from the ceiling at their hotel while my sister passed on a Coke refill, even at the urgence of my mother, and I enjoyed my tomato basil in a breadbowl. My mother was decidedly unimpressed with the lack of sourdough usage for the breadbowl and went as far as to proclaim that there is not a breadbowl soup worth making if it not made with sourdough. 400,000 loyal McAllister's customers respectfully disagree.

After lunch I had to go back to work where the bizarre on-again off-again nature of inclimate weather here the the Metroplex, which has been more volatile than my previous relationship, made for another slow and painstaking day and is capitalizing an equitable type of month. At least I had the model apartment to look forward to.

2) The Friday before my sister got to town, the air conditioner unit for my apartment went the way of Rush Limbaugh's ESPN career, and we were sans A/C for the weekend. As to not let us suffocate in the Texas summer heat, the super gave my roommate and I the key to the model apartment to stay in for the weekend. Being that I was going to stay on my couch and give my bed up to my sister, I now gave the model bed up to my sister and I slept on the model apartment couch. I would have been more comfortable sleeping in an 1850's cast iron bath tub. I did receive good news from Alex however, who said that while we did not notice any level of discomfort in the bed the first night we stayed there, partially due to our level of alcoholic intake, the second night the bed proved to be quite uncomfortable, essentially letting me know I did not miss out on much. I'm not quite sure just how we did it, but we survived the harsh conditions and made it back to our apartment Monday night.

3) Wednesday night was my friend Nick's Going-Away soiree at Javier's as he is moving to Phoenix, AZ. He will be missed, but we are all very excited for him and wish him the best. I am actually very excited to have a good friend in Phoenix as it is a place that for no particular reason, I love. Scottsdale doesn't know what is about to hit it...

4) Tomorrow I am headed down to College Station after work to meet some of the pals and then it's on to Austin on Sunday. I am spending a few days with my sis, Ethan, and the nephews. We hope to visit some of the Austin-type spots and we're also going to Six Flags Fiesta Texas on Tuesday which should be interesting. I estimate we will make it until 3 o'clock before we are like "f#*$ this"...I'm excited though...yaaay.

See you next week, Happy 4th of July, yaaay capitalism!

Thanksgiving 2006

(My apologies; I have removed the previous poetic injustice due to many readers’ perception of its “poor man’s Suessical” type nature and have decided to stick to asinine recounts of life’s happenings for the time being. Regards.)

I jumped in the Blazer late last Wednesday night and set out on one final, old-fashioned, solo Texas road trip; with roughly 10 hours of driving scheduled in the forthcoming 48 (final referring to “trip for the Blazer”; I get a company car on Tuesday), and I was feeling just fine about the whole thing. I’m not much of one for rock solid agendas, but this one included a trip home, a brilliant dinner with the fam, 27 fall birthdays all celebrated at once, and a trip to Austin for a meeting of the college roommates for the first time since graduation. All I needed to get started was some traveling music and some gasoline; luckily we’ve stabilized the Middle East, meaning both of those things were readily at my disposal.

Meanwhile, my roommate Alex had planned to surprise his family by driving in to San Marcos for their Thanksgiving/Chanukah celebration later that night as well, and called me at 10:30 to see if traffic was ok. Since I was headed down Interstate 45 South to Houston and he was taking 35 to Austin…oh yeah, and it was 10:30 at night…I couldn’t compute why he would be calling to ask me that question, but like most things involving Alex, I just figured that whatever the case was, it was likely I would have to clean it up when I got home.

Four short hours later I was in League City and ready to crash. The next morning I got up and watched The DaVinci Code on my parents new 1,900” Projection Screen In-Home Theater, but unfortunately, it didn’t make the movie any better than when I watched it on my 19” at home. Talk about brushing over the story…geez. The last time Tom Hanks and Ron Howard co-operated on a quality film, Hanks kept the Earth in his window and fit a square peg into a round hole…ba-zing!

I am getting progressively worse over time, aren’t I?

Then the rest of the family showed up: Bryan and Liv; Jennifer, Ethan, Will, and Wes; Pat and Doug; Skip, Neely, Josh, and Tessa. The night was pretty standard family-time protocol; I, of course, was the lone ranger, and as usual, Jennifer called me a black sheep…soon afterwards I burned down the rec center and yelled “Kill Whitey” at a protest rally. Like I said, pretty standard stuff. After dessert and some small talk, I was on the road again, headed to Austin.

I met my college roommates Jeff and Danny, and Danny’s girlfriend Tiffany, on 6th street at around 11 o’clock and we immediately fell into step. Unlike the wallet-unfriendly taverns of the Metroplex, Maggie Mae’s on 6th had everything for $2. It was like I had died and gone to heaven…but then they decided it wasn’t my time yet so they sent me back down to a bar in Austin. Later in the night, we ran into some Ol’ Ags from college who were playing Flip-Cup in the bar. We joined in and it was a great time. Little did we know at the time just how much fortune we Aggies would see that weekend.

Jeff’s wonderful mom (and I do mean wonderful Jeff), made us an absurd spread for breakfast and then we were off to watch the Aggies. For those of you who are awful at life and did not know, the Aggies beat the despised Longhorns in Austin for the first time since the Taft Administration, and it was a sweeter high note for the weekend than in that song, “Loving you, is easy cause you’re beautiful; a-doot-en-doot-en-doot-doo….AAAAAAH”, sung by John Stamos’ older brother, Richard Stamos.

Unfortunately, after only a few short hours, the roommates all had to part ways and go back to our awesome lives of buying and selling and auditing and drawing houses.

It really was a great weekend; I even got to see some more good friends Saturday night out at Knox Street in Dallas, including Mavericks point guard Devin Harris…yeah, we go way back.

We all certainly have a lot of things to be thankful for, but something’s wrong if the good relationships we have with the people closest to us don’t top the list.

Summer in Reverse

So I know it's been a good while since the summer, and an even better while since I posted, but I thought I would do the 4 of us that read this a service and post a quick recap of the summer/early fall '06 in Dallas as it occurred through the eyes of one Allen Rogers.

Let's start, June 1: I moved into a nicely equipped apartment adjacent to the American Airlines Center and down the street from the uptown area with my long-time college roommate/good friend/nemesis, Alex Brownstein. (I'm just kidding about that nemesis part Alex, everyone knows your nemesis is Rick and mine is Amy Graff). At any rate, when I say nicely equipped, I'm talking about a seemingly unnecessary opaque glass-cube wall and a ceiling-mounted pot-hanging rack which currently holds only a beer bottle opener, not to mention a pea-green painted accent wall that I was forced to repaint a dark hue of slate when my dad gave me their entire former furniture set that is a sort of dark sea-blue/green to fit in our 12'x8' living room. After living here only 5 short months, we (and by we I mean me) finally got a few items of decor on the wall, which include 4 framed black and white photographs of different types of apes from the San Diego Zoo and a large framed print of an old-time shot of the NYC skyline as seen by Marlon Brando in "On the Waterfront"; two motifs that inexplicably go together. Ok, enough of that nonsense.

So, we moved in and it could be considered slightly below fiasco on the Richter Scale. Then, it was off to work for poor Alex, who after finishing a tour in Neiman Marcus' Women's Intimates office, decided that perhaps panties is the only place he is truly happy.

Shortly after, I used two free plane tickets I won by attending the Mavericks regular season finale to book a flight to St. Louis for a weekend with me and the Britt. St. Louis doesn't seem like the city of choice to go to for a weekend with the lady so-to-speak, but it was very enjoyable. The Arch is better than advertised, as its magnitude is translated only in a personal meeting, much like the Grand Canyon or Mark Foley. We also attended a St. Louis Cardinals game at the New Busch Stadium, and while there were privy to the best Bratwursts of all time, as well as an exquisite Buffalo Chicken Sandwich. The Americana food and locally brewed beer gets a 10 in St. Louis, MO. The awful nature of East St. Louis, IL however, gets a 0 in the department of feeling safe, as after a late night at the casino our cab driver drove us through possibly the most crime-ridden 2 blocks in all of America. Despite it all, we made it back to Texas safely, as you might have inferred from the existence of this diatribe.

Next, my parents had a housewarming in their lovely new home they moved to after leaving Pearland. It was really heart-breaking for them to leave Pearland, and by heart-breaking I mean resoundingly joyous. They are doing very well and just trying to find new adventures to attend to now that they've shipped all their kids off into mire of the real world.

Despite work and bills and no Saturdays off, life is pretty good here in Dallas. When not working, which seems like 8 minutes a week, I've found time to pursue some new interests and delve into some older ones. I did see The Departed, the new Scorsese flick, and it was brilliant; so I've got that going for me. Also, I'll be headed to Las Vegas for a bachelor party in two weeks, so I'm sure there will a post coming up; but I guess I can't say too much because apparently the pundits have decided that what happens there stays there. Oh well...we'll see you then.

CARPOOL Gala Weekend - 2006

Where to begin on a weekend such as the one I and some of my closest friends have just bared witness...

The weekend started out well. Britt and I promised ourselves and each other on the drive down to College Station that we would attempt to stay drama-free, meaning no fighting, no throwing tantrums, and no Schief-bashing (ok, well, try to keep it to a minimum anyway). Fortunately for us, the first two came true, and to the chagrin of comedy itself, so did the latter. As it turns out, there is really no longer any need to even worry about the latter because it's over, and the situation is unfortunate for a handful of people, and that's about it. So like I said, the weekend started off well.

Britt and I left Dallas around 6:30 pm, a little later than anticipated, but spirits were high. We were in her new convertible, but unfortunately, had we put the top down, the 97 mph wind would have converted our faces into Rocky Dennis Look-a-Like Contestants (oh, that wasn't the only Rocky Dennis reference of the weekend either...you'll see).

After a delightful trip to the Waco Cici's, where the NASCAR crowd was in full effect, we headed down to 2315 Auburn Court, my old stomping grounds. To our great delight, Danny, Ben, and Sara Langlitz were awaiting with some Miller Lite and the cheapest bottle of Vodka Ben could skim off the one bum that roams the streets of Brentwood. To our dismay, Jace was stuck at home in Fort Worth, waiting on his dry-cleaning and cleaning up the 37 Grilled Stuft Burrito wrappers in his bedroom. However unpure, the vodka did the trick, mixed in huge glasses with a touch of Red Bull (particularly for Danny), and the night was started off right.

Before leaving on a reunion night at Northgate, the five of us got into a healthy debate about how one might distinguish bear arms on a man vs. any other type of hairy animal. I suggested gorillas, but Ben refuted, citing opposable thumbs. He then suggested wildabeasts, but that was right out, because they have hooves. Finally, Danny exclaimed werewolf men transformed from having thumbs to no longer having thumbs, to which I argued, claiming the mutant wolf creature on TMNT II: Secret of the Ooze in fact had thumbs. Danny flawlessly rebutted me, proclaiming, "A: That was a movie...wolfmen are REAL!". Who could argue with logic like that? We all conceded defeat to Danny's wisdom, and headed to the bars.

Once out, the good times rolled...and rolled...and rolled...and rolled...akanarollllllleld...alndlkjtajlkjl........................you get the picture. They rolled all the way back to 2315 downstairs bath for me, and of course the Mother Teresa of friends and loved ones who've had "too much fun", Brittany, was there to take care of me. God bless her in many ways. We all woke up too early the next morning, and 1 El Patron meal and 15 Advil later, I was ready for the Gala.

Going back a step, Jace arrived early in the afternoon, and after ffejing about for a good portion of the day, he, Ben, Danny, and I went to shoot some hoops. After quickly tiring of 2 on 2 full-court, we invented a game on the tennis court where we played tennis with the basketball, throwing the ball with one hand back and forth. It was even worse than it sounds as I describe it to you. Hopefully someone from Uzbekistan reads this and turns this game into an Olympic sport so they can win a medal, however, let me say that even someone who wins at a game like this is still truly a loser.

So, after a farce of athleticism, we trudged home to shower and get ready for Gala. Everyone in the house looked brilliant and full of life, and we headed up to the beautiful, brand new, Miramont Country Club. After gladhanding a few of the highrollers, we made our way to the silent auction items. The layout, the items, and the women all looked fabulous; particularly one Miss David, but it's been said that I am biased. I also think my nephew is a prodigy, so what, someone have a problem with that?

Most everyone at our table bid on and won some sort of auction items, so that made the night even more fun and interesting. Jace put in for a gaggle of raffle tickets and ended up winning a live auction item; a two-day fishing trip to South Padre. Pretty awesome, and honestly, poetic justice; written in iambic pentameter to be exact. The most far-fetched situation however, was when I got up to go pay for my item with 15 seconds left in the live auction, and when it's over, I find out Ben bought a 3 month old labrador and immediately sold it for net $(150). This was but the first time I would let Ben out of my site for less than half a minute and he get himself into some sort crazy antics.

Jace, Ben, Sara, Britt, and I all went home extremely satisfied and very excited about the state of CARPOOL. Come to find out, nothing has really changed, as the after-after-party was scheduled at my house that I no longer live in and none of my old roommates are in CARPOOL. Sounds about right, doesn't it?

After changing, we caught up with Danny, Alex, and Danny's brother (a big brother to us all) Wiley. Wiley was in town in order to avoid having to be at his house while his live-in girlfriend who he gave the boot packed up and left. No surprise that Wiley was extremely intoxicated by the end of the night, and out of three young ladies there with him, ended up making out with the one most closely resembling Rocky Dennis (I told you there was one more). The night was great, and we all saw a lot of friends we had not in a while, including one Harrison Tucker, up from UH Law. It was great to see that guy, along with many others. I even convinced my old (old as in nature of our working relationship, not like haggard) advisor, the one and only T-Boyle, to come out and traverse the scene with us for a while. Times were good.

Plenty of Gatorade at the end of the night prevented any unwanted nausea in the morning, and as we all finally awoke, cleaned up, and went our seperate ways, most of us didn't want the weekend to end. It was a brilliant glimmer of our not too distant past, and it couldn't have shined any brighter.

Thanks to all for a weekend for the books, and this one won't even need an asterisk.

Where in the World is Wes Jackson (going)?

I have been struggling with what the subject of my first trip back on the blogwagon should be, and then it came all too easily the afternoon of March 24th, 2006. My sister Jen gave birth to her second son, a not so wide-eyed 8+ lb. boy named Wes, and I realized the moment I picked him up what a strange and amazing place is the world in which we live.

The first and most profound question to come to me was, "What does the world have in store for you, Wes Jackson?" You see, I've never seen or held a newborn before, not on the day of birth anyway, and it really is something else. If you're out there and you've never tried it, you really should give it a go. If there aren't many accessible babies within the family, you might try wandering a maternity ward one afternoon...it should go over well with the newbie's folks, no?

I was going somewhere with this. Ah yes. So, here is this kid, and it's his first day of life, and already everyone wonders:
What will he look like?
How big will he grow?
Will he be talkative?
Will he be smart?
Will he be an artist? Athlete? Musician? Rocket scientist? Soldier?
What sort of people will he hang out with?
What sort of student will he be?
How much will he like his parents? Grandparents? Uncles?

What does the world have in store for this kid? Think about how much of it is really so far out of his hands. So much of who you are happens at a time when you can't walk or talk or feed yourself or wipe your own ass.

The obvious thing is, everyone in that room wants the best for the little guy and at some point will probably give him advice about what is best for him, but his road will be different...it will be unlike any one that you or I or his mom or dad have ever walked, and that is just such a mindblowing thing to me. Perhaps I'm too simple-minded, but I find it so intriuging. There is just absolutely no telling what this little person; this living, breathing, future contributer to society (well, hopefully, right?), will be like.

There are so many things you can speculate on in the world, whether it's sports or the weather, and most with some degree of accuracy. But how do you speculate on the life of a newborn person, born tabla rosa, with a clean slate? Impossible. And that, my friends, is what I call exciting.

Good luck out there Wes, write your script well.