Bigger or Better: Life outside of Texas

My uncle once asked me if I was OCD. I'm pretty sure not, but I've been reviewing my personality lately (beats me what for; an upgrade?) and I do have some obsessions. All to do with the smell/taste senses. Coffee, spiced pumpkin, ginger snaps, and pine (although cedar will do). I've never had coffee. My fascination is with the smell. It just smells so...earthy. I think I got hooked on it after smelling the coffee beans that fragrance shops put out to clear your olfaction in-between smell tests. When I went to school in Utah, there was a definite lack of coffee smells. So now when I grocery shop, I make a specific stop at the coffee aisle. Okay, sometimes repeated stops. I know which is my favorite coffee mix at H-E-B. Besides making me look somewhat autistic, it's a harmless and priceless obsession. I don't know if that can be said for my obsessions of spiced pumpkin and ginger snaps. Because I do eat those. Without ever feeling like I've had too much. Tha

I've decided that despite my fear of depths, it would be really cool to learn to scuba dive. I mean, just the sound of the words 'scuba dive' is alluring. So in a step to becoming more awesome, I attended scuba orientation last week. Turns out that sufferers of migraines need doctor clearance prior to diving, on the perfectly logical reasoning that increased pressure may induce a migraine to be born. Well, okay. It's not like my neurologist has ever witnessed the crowning of any of my migraines; she gives me abortive medications (really, that's what they're called. I love this analogy I have conceived here) and helps manage symptoms. And I like her. So I faxed over the PADI medical release form last week. Today I got a call from her nurse saying she recommends me seeing a cardiologist [peanut gallery: Why? I saw a cardiologist something like 3 years ago and he said my heart was perfectly healthy. What's to add?]. I tried to reason with the nurse, but she s

So I've really struggled with the same-sex marriage debate; no argument really held water. I've been thinking, though, and since I have a platform for such thoughts, here they are. All men/women should be equal before the law in their beliefs. It is in their actions that they are judged, especially when those actions interact with others’ actions. In gay marriage, I think the most vulnerable group is any children adopted by the gay couple. Actually, children are likely to be the most vulnerable group in any type of marriage, but the difference in the gay marriage argument is that in placing children with gay couples, the government is actively allowing a social experiment work out its conclusions on subjects who probably had little input in their participation. Wherever possible , children should be raised by a father and mother figure, because gender does carry essential, God-given roles.  By allowing gay couple adoption, or (to bring other social issues in), single par