APRIL 2007

04/07/07 - The Murder Express – It was a dark and rainy night aboard the Trans-Siberian Express in Russia.  Tensions between the Japanese, Chinese, Russian, and British ambassadors flared when Mr. Big Job met an untimely and mysterious demise.  It was up to our dinner guests to solve this dire crime.

This mystery was quite a bit more structured than the other ones we have tried - we probably won't choose this brand again (I think the free-form accusations are much more fun than the "scripts" this game provided).  Nevertheless, I do think the most humorous aspect of the evening was all of us trying to nail down our respective accents.  *ring ring* Do you hear that? - Whatever it is, it isn't the actor's guild calling ;).

- Nathan

04/08/07 - BodyWorlds – At the risk of sounding insensitive,  I feel I must quote Cole from The Sixth Sense - "I see dead people".  In fact, I saw a lot of them. 

At first I was a little apprehensive about going to view the BodyWorlds exhibit in Dallas.  Essentially it is a display of cadavers, filleted open, revealing all the wonders of human anatomy.  It is done through a process called plastination which preserves tissue in such a way that it still looks very natural to the eye.  I wasn't sure if I would be nauseated, grossed out, or genuinely fascinated.  It turns out it was mostly the later, but a little of the first. 

Some of the most interesting aspects included the following: 

1. The massive damage caused by years of smoking was obvious in several subjects.
2. I had absolutely no idea the circulatory system was so intricate.
3. The heart is much smaller than I expected; the liver is HUGE!

The exhibit was very well done and extremely informative; despite my before mentioned hesitance I would highly recommending viewing this at least once.

On a related note I feel the need to point out each donor selects this program for their body.  My first thought was "I need to take my name off the organ donor list", but it turns out you have to make a very specific request and these donors specifically wanted to be used for this exhibit.

Afterwards we walked around the rest of the museum and eventually met up with Susan's high school friend, Christi, for a late lunch at a local Cuban restaurant.

- Nathan

04/10/07 - Wellington Warriors (2-1) – Well, we finally suffered (and suffer may be too light of a word) our first loss of the season.  Damage Control, an obviously seasoned team, was able to hit everything we pitched to where our players weren't standing.  In addition, they were able to quickly field nearly everything we could smack with the bat.  On top of that, we were a few regular players short and our team had some difficulty staying focused on the game - we had several errors.

Although this game wasn't very fun (the final score was 18 to 5), it was a learning experience; hopefully, we will do better the next time we face this particular team (which will be at least 1 more time).

- Nathan

04/15/07 - Caterpillars! – Susan took me on a tour of the backyard this afternoon to show me some of the new blooms, the growing plants, and many caterpillars!  It turns out they are VERY attracted to dill (which Susan planted last year and is consequently growing out-of-control...well, not really).  They are soft and subsequently extend little yellow antenna when you touch them :D.  If you touch them for too long they excrete some type of odor (not pine) in an attempt to make you flee ;).  They are very cute and I hope they spin some cocoons for us to photograph.

- Nathan

04/15/07 - The Wolf Experiments : Review – So it has been nearly a month since I finished Carey’s book, The Wolf Experiments. I’ve been intending to publish a review, but I didn’t want to slip in a half-hearted effort with only a few words: Good book – go read – time well spent. Besides, that would probably just be a sure-fire way to get a nasty email from her asking questions to try and figure out if I really did read it ;) (I did, I promise!).

Here is a synopsis from Carey’s website:

First let me point out – this is a Fantasy novel! More accurately, it is a blend of Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Mystery, and a little dab (make that a big dab) of Animals. The story definitely has hints of Ladyhawk and a touch of Chronicles of Narnia (which I haven’t actually seen but I do know a little about). If you liked either of these movies (or books) then The Wolf Experiments is going to be right up your alley. With that all being said, the Sci-Fi portion of this novel is very minor. It does take place in the future, and there is some technology mentioned that is beyond our current capabilities; however, it isn’t critical to what I feel are the underlying genres of the story – Fantasy and Mystery.

Carey does an outstanding job of outlaying a mystery from the very beginning. We start off with a girl (who undoubtedly must be based on Carey herself) who is without memory and thrust into a situation in which surreal and unexplained phenomena abound. Throughout the novel these mysteries are all unraveled and most of the reader’s questions are answered. In my opinion the finale is very rewarding in this aspect. Only a few items are not nicely tied up, but of course, a sequel awaits!

The characters are multi-faceted yet very different from each other. Alex is the strong central character and she is surrounded by a cast of unusual friends and several potential enemies (although it is uncertain at first who the enemies truly are!). Thus, in addition to the mysteries which must be resolved, the book also concentrates heavily on Alex’s growth and personal interaction with each character in the book. The relationships develop over time (the timeframe of the novel is over several years) and you really get a feel for how the characters care for each other.

I mentioned before about the animals. The period of the novel is during a time when the population of our planet has tainted and poisoned itself. It is a world that really couldn’t be too far off and one in which much of our plant and animal life is extinct or dying. Carey lays out an underlying theme of a desire to protect our environment and the animals that co-inhabit it with us. It is a nice touch and it definitely fits in with the overall theme of the novel. So, in addition to a good story she is also tickle our common sense with a few moral responsibilities – sly.

So that covers the good points…are there bad points? Well, I feel it is only fair to touch on a few – every review needs some kind of criticism. Carey’s novel has lots of “scene-switching” that occurs throughout the story. She normally does a wonderful job transitioning and describing (in vivid detail) the surrounding environment of her characters. Sometimes, however, a scene will change without the reader (or at least me) realizing it. There was a few times where I caught myself having to flip back a page to figure out where the transition had occurred. In addition, Carey might want to chastise her editor on the number of missed typos; that being said, this IS only a first edition. They weren’t very common, but when they occur they can distract from the story.

All in all this was excellent reading material, intriguing, and I definitely find myself looking forward to the sequel.

- Nathan

04/22/07 - Wildflowers – The wildflowers are certainly in bloom!  I stopped by a patch near our house and snapped a few pictures with Susan.  I'll definitely have to remember to drop back through this area each year...

- Nathan

04/26/07 - Off to the Races – I had a great opportunity to participate in a company event at Lone Star Park today in Grand Prairie.   One of the companies we do business with was hosting a party for some of their favorite (I presume) clients.  I've never been to the horse races before, so I don't have any basis for comparison; however, I bet this is the way to go.  The occasion was held on one of the upper floors of the Lone Star complex overlooking the finish line.  Our suite had snacks and a full bar at our disposal.  There was also a huge buffet out in the hall with all sorts of goodies.

Wagers could be made from kiosks located in our suite and the current odds for the next race were always displayed (although I didn't use the odds very much since they seemed to change dramatically as race time approached).  A bugle would sound a few minutes before the start of each race.  Thus, each time we heard the bugle, we stepped out onto the balcony and watched the race and cheered for our respective horses.  When each race was complete we stepped back into our suite and participated in the festivities until the next bugle call.  It was definitely a fun experience!

Our hosts provided each of us with $15 in funny money for our wagers.  If we happened to win then we actually received real funds in return (bonus!).  I didn't perform very well with my betting, but I did pick a few winners:

- Nathan

04/29/07 - Random Pictures – I just wanted to upload a picture of the lone cherries on our cherry tree (which I'm sure the birds will feast upon in the very near future).  I also had an interesting picture from our poker game last night (which I took first in - woohoo!).

- Nathan

04/29/07 - Southlake Art Festival – Ahh...another opportunity to gawk at art we'll never buy, admire photographs of places we'd love to visit, and eat food we probably shouldn't have.

Joe joined us for the trip this weekend to the arts festival in Southlake.  This is very similar to the Main Street festival in Fort Worth, but perhaps on a slightly smaller scale.  It is held at the "town square", which used to be a small square of restaurants and shops; however, it has grown into a very large complex with lots of places to visit - it is very nice.

We browsed quite a bit of the art before ducking into the Cheesecake factory for a small lunch.  It was actually fairly warm today and just the hour out of the sun did us quite a bit of good.  Once our tummies were full we hit the streets a second time.

We stopped at the stage (in the middle of the square) a few times where several entertaining shows were being hosted.  There was a really neat shows displaying exotic animals, a show with local singers, and even some dancing.

- Nathan

04/29/07 - Florida...an entry by Susan! – I had a unique opportunity to go to Florida last week. Hill’s (makers of Science Diet pet foods) sponsored our trip to Sunny Isles Beach (North Miami Beach) for a conference on lower urinary tract disease (something we see a LOT in a feline only practice). Besides providing very nice meals, Hill’s reserved a small cruise ship for all of us to tour the bay (complete with cocktails and supper prepared on the ship). The hotel they provided was the Trump Sonesta; a very nice place right on the beach. Unfortunately, our room did not face the beach, but we had a personal hot tub on our balcony to make up for it. After the conference was over, we spent time on the beach and in the local area shopping. It was very relaxing and beautiful and fun.

- Susan