They're back.

Guess who fell off the wagon again? Yeah, I'm re-addicted to "Friends." It's all I can think about. I'm trying real hard to hold myself back from buying Season 5 on DVD.

To prove that I'm not totally pathetic, here are a few recent pictures ...

Summer lovin'

You thought I gave that up ... nope. I got the cliff-jumping itch on Saturday, so I threw Stephen in the car and hauled it up to Lake Whitney. The cliffs were crowded with high school kids, but it was still worth the trip. We made a few jumps, waved at park rangers, and ate some catfish. Goodtimes on Saturday. Good, good times.

And because you know I can't help myself, I went to El Tapatio Taqueria today for a Torta Al Pastor. Delicious. Much-needed summer fun.

If I had anything else interesting to say, I would say it.

The Cycle

I work with at-risk 7th graders at Brazos Middle School, and today was the first day I wanted to punch one of them in the face.

Carlos is an absurdly effiminate hispanic student who could, indeed, be repeating the 7th grade for the third time if he doesn't get his act together. Carlos is smart enough to do his work, but he refuses to focus. Instead of working on his Texas history assignments today, he complained of thirst (in an annoyingly gay voice), took his shoes off, and sang a song about fairies. He wasted 10 minutes running around the school, myself close on his heels, and asking random teachers for paper. When one teacher refused his request and scolded him for interrupting her class, Carlos kicked and beat on the door.

He's a nice kid. Annoying as hell, but nice. Today, however, I couldn't stand him, and I'm sure the look on my face reflected my irritation with him.

How do you make a difference with people who refuse to cooperate? Do you ignore his cries for attention, hoping he'll resolve to do his work himself? Is it better to be stern, so he'll move ahead in life, or to be his friend, since he doesn't seem to have too many?

Kids like Carlos make my volunteering efforts seem fruitless and desolate.

But Carlos isn't the only one. That school has no hope. Students run down the hallways, hit one another with shoes, scream, fight, backtalk teachers ... it's unreal. Should I have any faith in what I'm doing? Will even one kid be less of a hoodlum because of the time I've spent with them?

Travis, with whom I've worked for a year, has been in alternative school for weeks. He got in a fight with the campus police officer. There's no control, no order. Brazos Middle School is a place to temporarily hold back terror from the surrounding neighborhoods. In a few years, these kids will run wild in the streets, carrying guns, killing one another, having babies, and draining the good from society. There is no hope. Our efforts are futile.

Eccentric, 21-year-old white guys can't be role models for black middle-schoolers in the heart of the Waco ghetto.

Down by the sea

So I got an e-mail from Ezra O'Leary (of New Zealand), who has purchased both my records on CDBaby.com. Her message outlined a number of reasons I should pursue a fanbase in New Zealand, and contained the following line:

"Oh, and if it's any more incentive, I think the groupie action you could get down here would be amazing."

That really tickled my funny bone. I had to share it with you.

Hope finals went well for you. Mine ended yesterday, so now the fun (moving) can begin. So wherever you are ... have a delightful week.

Oooh yeah, that's tasty.

You're kidding me

New photos - from the Lubbock road trip and other fantastic events. Click here.

In other news: I have my first final exam tomorrow at 2. Yikes. Chemistry in Society. Then I'm heading to Dallas for a bit. I'm playing three shows this weekend ... two in North Dallas, one in Waco. Here's the rundown:

Friday, April 6th
Plano, TX
8 p.m.
The Coffee Haus
(15th and Ave. K)

Saturday, April 7th
McKinney, TX
Noon
Backstage Coffee
(downtown)

and

Saturday, April 7th
Waco, TX
9:30 p.m.
Common Grounds

See ya on the flipside.

Beautiful album. I picked this little puppy up today, and I love it.

I also began packing up my apartment. There are boxes all over the place, and books stacked to the sky. Mmm hmmm.

Crawl in to eat,
crawl away to die.

Thank you, Raid, for killing the ants in my room.

Boo yeah

And where did all the ants come from? There's no telling. Going to buy some ant traps today.

On the way back from Lubbock, we stopped and picked up fossils on the side of a plateau. Some pretty delightful little critters. Pictures will come shortly.

The last day of class is soon to begin. More on that later.