If you have been wondering what to buy your Republican friends in California, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Total Body Workout, a recent CD release of the old classic vinyl album, may be the perfect gift for them.*

There is nothing more exciting for a die-hard political junkie than a vigorous workout to the commanding voice of the state’s Republican governor.

In this exciting collection of songs, Governor Schwarzenegger will admonish you to “squeeze your buttocks” and “make your thighs burn.” Buy now while supplies last!

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I do not know much about the issues raised by Mr. Schwarzenegger during his campaign in California. However, I can almost guarantee that he did not utter the words “squeeze your buttocks” or “make your thighs burn” during any of his campaign speeches. It’s unfortunate. That would have much more interesting news to me.

FakeNews Network at the top of the hour: At a news conference earlier today, Arnold Schwarzenegger promised to fix the state’s budget crisis, reduce taxes, squeeze your buttocks, and make your thighs burn. His opponents responded that they are concerned about his abilities to increase the budget while reducing taxes at the same time. In other news…

The song samples from the album are worth listening to for a good laugh.

Song samples:
SonyMusicStore | iTunes Music Store

*The album also makes a great gift as an annoyance to your Democratic friends.

“You did really well. You should be proud of yourself. I’m looking forward to training with you in our next session.” — Arnold Schwarzenegger speaking over the tune of I Think I’m in Love by Eddie Money

My parents bought me a gift certificate for the iTunes Music Store.

For quite awhile, I’ve had a substantial amount of songs lined up in my shopping cart. I’ve been waiting for some cash to flow my way. Now, that I’ve got that going for me, I’m not so sure I want the music that I picked out a month or so back.

Too many decisions. Too many great songs. Oh, and some really bad ones which I may end up buying for the fun of it all.

My mom had this to say about yesterday’s post.

“That was Dad’s hat. You always liked hats at that age. You thought you were pretty cool trying them all on.”

I have to agree with my mother. I am pretty cool.

It’s odd to read that I liked putting on hats. I don’t wear hats very often.

I remember that during my college years, I had a fitted baseball cap that was pretty cool. It was white and burnt-orange. My school colors. It was cool. I wore it a lot.

Of course, on the odd winter day when it’s actually cold in Texas, I’ll put on a knitted cap on my head to keep my ears warm. I can’t remember many other times when I wore one. I’m not completely sure why. I guess I just really don’t like the way that I look in hats.

I have to admit though that even though I don’t wear hats and caps, I was, for an extended period of time during the 1990s, a big fan of the “do-rag.” Basically, a bandana wrapped around my head and tied in the back. I have an extensive collection of bandanas which has served me faithfully on hiking excursions, during summers when I worked as a camp counselor, and on the occassional late night run to the convenience store.

No hats though.

Peachwater, Tx. is currently the 5th link for the Google search “Trista and Ryan ski pictures in Colorado.”

I’m oddly proud of this little fact, but I’m not sure why.

Maybe it is because I became burned out on the whole reality TV craze about two years ago, and now I’m getting hits from people who are still loving it all. In some ways, I wish I could still enjoy the shows, but I don’t.

Sorry, but I’m fresh out of pictures of Trista and Ryan.

You might check out the bottom of this page.

I ran across this great picture of myself earlier this evening.

This is from December 1972. I was just over a year old. (Yes, I know. I was a big kid.)

The look on my face leads me to think that I might have been up to a bit of mischief on that particular Christmas. I’m amazed that I actually grew up to be a responsible adult. I’ve had 30+ years to work out the details.

As I am writing this I am realizing that I don’t have any memory of Christmas 1972. This will be a shorter post than I thought. I think that at the age of one, my brain was still struggling with the simple things like talking, walking, remembering to not eat dirt, and learning how to annoy my older sister. I didn’t store away any Christmas ‘72 memories.

I’ll have my parents tell me why I put on the cowboy hat or who put it on me. This quite possibly was the only time in my life that I have ever worn one.

I would like to point out that the television has knobs. It still has both knobs. No need to have a pair of pliers handy. Yet. That would come later in life.

I bought the most amazing book this weekend. It’s all about one of my favorite subjects.

It’s called The Face of Texas. It contains a wonderful collection of portraits by photographer Michael O’Brien and stories by Elizabeth Owen O’Brien.

The introduction to this collection says it all quite well:

…a book that celebrates the individuality and independent spirit of Texas through its people–from powerful, big-city movers to unique, small-town characters.

Take a look at a few of the excerpts. (After opening the link, click on the thumbnail images at the top of the page to view excerpts from the book.)

This is a great people book. Great photos. Great stories. Great people. Ordinary and famous. All Texans. You just can’t get better than that, can you?

If you love photography, buy this book.

If you love Texas, you must get this book.

Or we’ll drag you kicking and screaming into Oklahoma. And we’ll leave you there. I mean it. We will.

Buy it.

P.S. I met Michael and Elizabeth O’Brien at the local Barnes and Nobles bookstore. Very lovely people. I have a very cool autographed copy of The Face of Texas. I’m very happy with my purchase.

Rachel of cre8d Journal has started a Blog Design Showcase.

If I ever stop being lazy, I might actually add some more designery elements to this site. (Yes, I think I just created the word designery.) Oh, don’t hold your breath about that not being lazy anymore stuff. That’s just crazy talk.

Yet more signs that Christmas is approaching in Texas:

It’s 75 degrees. I’m wearing shorts.

I have mixed feelings about whether or not we should have gone into Iraq in the first place. I have a lot of questions still. At this point though, those questions are more or less fine points of history. We are there. That cannot be undone. We must make the best out of it all.

There is one thing in all of this that I have absolutely no mixed feelings about: Saddam Hussein is an evil, evil man.

If you want to know more about Saddam Hussein’s history, this Frontline report from PBS is worth a look, especially the ten interviews and readings.

I believe that the Life-Size Spider-Man Sculpture is on the top of the Worst Christmas Gift Ever list.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m definitely a Spiderman fan. I met him when I was young. He was at the local Sears store. Nice guy. Didn’t say much though. He was kind of like Santa but with fewer elves and not as many questions.

Of course, years later, I realized that the Spiderman at Sears was a hired stranger in a costume.

Maybe I’m just scarred.