I know this one's kinda long...but I got it in an Email from my aunt today...and...well i think it speaks for itself...
TEXAS
When you're from Texas, people that you meet ask you questions like, "Do you have any cows?" "Do you have horses?" "Bet you got a bunch of guns, eh?" They all want to know if you've been to South Fork. They watched Dallas.
Have you ever looked at a map of the world? Look at Texas with me just for a second. That picture, with the Panhandle and the Gulf Coast, and the Red River and the Rio Grande is as much a part of you as anything ever will be. As soon as anyone anywhere in the world looks at it they know what it is. It's Texas. Pick any kid off the street in Japan and draw him a picture of Texas in the dirt and he'll know what it is. What happens if I show you a picture of any other state? You might get it maybe after a second or two, but who else would? And even if you do, does it ever stir any feelings in you?
In every man, woman and child on this planet, there is a person who wishes just once he could be a real live Texan and get up on a horse or ride off in a pickup. There is some little bit of Texas in everyone.
Did you ever hear anyone in a bar go, "Wow...so you're from Iowa? Cool, tell me about it?" Do you know why? Because, there's no place like Texas.
Texas is the Alamo. Texas is 183 men standing in a church, facing thousands of Mexican nationals, fighting for freedom, who had the chance to walk out and save themselves, but stayed instead to fight and die for the cause of freedom. We send our
kids to schools named William B. Travis and James Bowie and Crockett and do you know why? Because those men saw a line in the sand and they decided to cross it and be heroes. John Wayne paid to do the movie himself. That is the Spirit of Texas.
Texas is Sam Houston capturing Santa Ana at San Jacinto.
Texas is "Juneteenth" and Texas Independence Day.
Texas is huge! Forests of Piney Woods like the Davy CrockettNational Forest.
Texas is breathtaking mountains in the Big Bend.
Texas is the unparalleled beauty of bluebonnet fields in the Texas Hill Country.
Texas is the beautiful, warm beaches of the Gulf Coast of South Texas.
Texas is the shiny skyscrapers in Houston and Dallas.
Texas is world record bass from places like Lake Fork.
Texas is Mexican food like nowhere else, not even Mexico.
Texas is the Fort Worth Stockyards, Bass Hall, the Ballpark in Arlington, the Astrodome and the Alamodome.
Texas is larger-than-life legends like Michael DeBakey, Denton Cooley, Willie Nelson, Buddy Holly, Waylon Jennings, Janis Joplin, Kris Kristofferson, Tom Landry, Darrell Royal, ZZ Top,Eric Dickerson, Earl Campbell, Nolan Ryan, Sam Rayburn, George Bush, Lyndon B. Johnson, and George W. Bush!
Texas is great companies like Dell Computer, Texas Instruments and Compaq. And LOCKHEED MARTIN AEROSPACE - Home of the F-16 Jet Fighter and the JSF Fighter.
Texas is NASA.
Texas is huge herds of cattle and miles of crops.
Texas is skies blackened with doves, and fields full of deer.
Texas is a place where towns and cities shut down to watch the local High School Football game on Friday nights and for the Cowboys on Monday Night Football, and for the Night In Old San Antonio River Parade in San Antonio.
Texas is ocean beaches, deserts, lakes and rivers, mountains and prairies, and modern cities.
If it isn't in Texas, you probably don't need it.
No one does anything bigger or better than it's done in Texas.
Texas even has its own power grid!!
By federal law, Texas is the only state in the U.S. that can fly its flag at the same height as the U.S. flag. Think about that for a second. You fly the Stars and Stripes at 20 feet in Maryland, California, or Maine and your state flag, whatever it is, goes at 17 feet. You fly the Stars and Stripes in front of Pine Tree High in Longview or anyplace else at 20 feet, the Lone Star flies at the same height - 20 feet. Do you know why? Because it is the only state that was a republic before it became a state.
Also, being a Texan is as high as being an American down here. Our capitol is the only one in the country that is taller than the capitol building in Washington, D.C. and we can divide our state into five states at any time if we wanted to! We
included these things as part of the deal when we came on. That's the best part, right there.
our townhouse is like a maze of boxes..but its slowly getting whipped into shape. Our new roommate got here this evening. she'll be moving in tomorrow during the day, and im really excited. i just hope our internet problems are going to be resolved. Seriously, this is the first time we've had internet in two days, which makes me VERY upset, cuz i pay for it now..and i refuse to pay for nothing.
work and school are very much the same old thing...exhausting. we did get a new boss at work..and she insists on changing the way we do just about everything, which is gonna take some getting used to.
given that the last sentence i wrote had some very severe typos before i corrected them, its time for me to go to bed. hopefully, next time i'll have something more exciting to report
Goodnight!
PS: my kitten is freaking cute...she's slept with me every night since we've got here
is it me or was this holiday WAY more fun a few years ago? my dad bought liek this giant box of sparklers..which haven't been fun the normal way since second grade. Then, i got in trouble for inventing new uses for them. what is that about? He did let me and leah build a little fort to blow up with m60s though. that was entertaining..briefly. we did get some good video footage. We also got some bottle rockets wich we couldn't shoot because he was afraid we were going to light the neighbor's houses on fire. so that was sad. We used to get like mortar shells and all kinds of cool arial fireworks, but not this year because its been so dry. also, we used to have parties with family or our crazy "uncle" who lights pretty much anything on fire. I miss those days.
Tomorrow, i leave to go back to the townhouse and get started on unpacking the kitchena nd finishing my room. Im bringing the most adoreable cat in the world with me..hopefully she doesn't freak out. oh im also bringing robin's heathen cat, who thinks she's a parrot. she climbs up your leg to get to your shoudler, and she doesn't particularly care if you have on jeans or short pants or no pants at all when she does it. She's cute too though and i can tell our productivity levels are going to plummet when we get back...but i've been waiting forever to move into this townhouse and i never thought the day would finally come.
im exhausted and somehow covered with firework soot even though we didn't shoot many off...hope everyone had a much more exciting fourth of july than i did!
im exhausted. i even took a nap today. why's that, you ask? well thank you for asking. its because i'm moving tomorrow, and i've been packing all week...some of the stuff isn't even mine...which is frustrating. Anyways we move tomorrow morning..its going to be burning hot...hopefully we can get the majority of the outside stuff before it gets too late. right now im debating packing a little more tonight or going to bed soon...because honestly if i stay up too late..i'll be no good to anyone tomorrow..and its probably not going to be a good day for my irritability standards...which are already pretty low as it is. BUT: when its over, i'll live in this really cool place with my adoreable kitten and my best friend...so im really excited. now if i could only fast forward...anyone working on a time machine i could borrow?
also..this has been building for awhile and i haven't said it but: my micro professor is the evil doctor on lilo and stitch. you know, if he were animated instead of a real person. but he has the same body style, the same face and the same mannerisms. he even has an accent. i've decided that the animators based the character on him. funny how thinking about that doesn't help me stay awake when he's talking...oh well
we had our first bonus quiz in there today. i kind of didn't study cuz i was packing so i was a little nervous. then, at the end of class he gave us the quiz: list five things you don't like about the course and five things you do like. that's pretty easy..i was all nervous for nothing. oh well, easy points. anyways time for me to pack or sleep..still haven't decided which...have a great weekend and a happy 4th of July, since i wont be back until after!
