Almost a brush with greatness, twice removed

My sports fever is starting to shift from baseball to football now that it's almost Labor Day. Bring on the pigskin! But I've still been following Major League Baseball.

The Rangers are my fave, but there are several players around the league that I dig too; one being Torii Hunter from the Minnesota Twins. A friend of ours grew up with Torii and they party at his house in Dallas during the off season, but I've never had the chance to meet him. I would probably get all nervous and fail to squeak out any real words if I happened to be face to face with him.

Well, last night Torii's brother was at our house and I wasn't home. Insert frustrated grunt here! At the very least I could have had his brother pass along the message of admiration. I could have asked him all sorts of questions about what it was like to grow up with Torii, what the backyard baseball games were like.... Okay, maybe it's best I wasn't home. Staaaalkerrrr...

What in the world was Torii Hunter's brother doing at our house? Uhh...Dropping off a huge stash of Torii's bling and asking us for insight on ways to increase batting average. Okay, not really. Although that would have been sweet. Actually, he was helping our friends load up a TV that conked out on us. Our friends are going to fix it and keep it and we're getting a different one. The real story isn't nearly as exciting as the fake one.

Hmmm....maybe I'll break more of our stuff and it will just happen to coincide with Torii's offseason in Dallas...stay tuned!

I've been healed!

I've been dealing with some sort of throat funk for about two weeks now. The first week I had a slight fever and pretty much lost my voice for three days, then I was a little better, and then at the end of last week my throat got really sore again and it stayed that way for four days. I had a strep test and it was negative.

I went to webmd.com and looked up all sorts of throat ailments, and after that careful research I decided my problems could be one of two things: allergies, or cancer. My mind works in extremes at times. Okay, all the time. But really, shouldn't a sore throat go away after a day or two? Pooey I say.

My chiropractor mentioned to me last week that perhaps this was a fungus, and in that case I would need something anti-fungal. Anything other than a regular ole virus would make going to the doctor and begging for antibiotics fruitless.

So I finally went to a homeopathic medicine store today and talked to them about my issues. They were super helpful as always. Very friendly peeps. They hooked me up with Grapefuit Seed Extract, which they said is deathly bitter in liquid form so rather than buy that and gargle, I opted for the pills. But it's sort of a natural antibiotic I guess. What do ya know! After one pill I felt a million times better. I just popped a second one. (Don't worry Mom, I can take 3 per day.) I also bought some Olive Leaf Throat Spray. It's raspberry spearmint flavor, which is fairly pleasant at first but makes me cough as it's soaking in. Anyway, I'm totally sold. I've been cured! I dealt with this crap for two weeks, and after just seven hours of the right drugs, I feel like a million bucks. I hope I'm still cured tomorrow!

Yay for nature! Olive leaves, grapefuit seeds... Next time I think I'll just go roll around in the garden.

FINALLY! The store is up.

You think I'm kidding, but my head nearly did explode while putting this store together. And there's only one product in it! But there will be more to come. My goal was to have the store up by the end of this week, at we did it today at 5:27 pm. Whew! If I wasn't at work right now I'd go to happy hour. I have a feeling I will continue to see visions of html, php, and ssl for quite some time.

The store is on the navigation bar at jenaustin.com under Participate, or you can click on the link below.

http://www.jenaustin.com/shop/

We added a new pages of games at jenaustin.com, and we'll be adding a new message board/forum shortly. Yay for growth! Hope you'll check it out frequently.

Thanks to all who helped with the store, especially Julie and Sam. Ya all rock!

Couple of extra notes about the book

Beginning this Sunday (maybe sooner) the book will also be available at Sources of Hope, the bookstore inside Cathedral of Hope at 5910 Cedar Springs in Dallas.

And the other thing, I suck at setting up e-commerce! There are a million steps in setting up a store, and there's all sorts of technical configuration talk that makes me want to scratch my own eyes out. But we're almost there. Hopefully it won't be longer than a couple of days.

After the store is set up I can move on promotion, marketing, and wider distribution. All things that scare the snot out of me. I'm in the process of analying why that might be the case...fear of rejection? success? all of this interferes with my sports-watching time and it's almost football season? Who knows. I'll continue to ponder. But it's so much easier to wrap up in a blanket and sit on the couch. The writing part is great, because I'm totally in the moment and owning it, and therefore relaxed and fulfilled. With all of this other stuff I feel like I'm wandering aimlessly through a forest of wet noodles, and like I can never really get a handle on any of it. That stresses me out. There it is; I can control the writing and I can't control this other stuff. All it took was a little blogging to figure it out. Dang it, I hate being a Virgo sometimes!

One more thing that has nothing to do with the book. I created a new page on www.mix1029.com that's cooler and more interactive. So if you get a sec, check it out and let me know what you think. There's a message board there that you have to have an email address and password for, but once you set that up it's easy to log back in. I'll try to stay as involved with that as possible, and update that page as frequently as I can. I'm not going to get rid of this blog, but the new page needs love too, especially since it's new.

All for now!

My book has been released!

Coming Out Christian is available now!

We will have a store up at http://jenaustin.com very soon and that will be credit-card enabled, but if you would like to send a check now, please email me at jen@jenaustin.com and I will respond within 24 hours with an address to mail payment. We're accepting paypal right now as well.

The cost is $15 per book. Texas residents pay 8% sales tax, which is $1.20 per book. Right now, shipping is a flat rate of $5.00. (Unless you order 4 copies or more.) If you live in the Dallas area, arrangements can be made for pick up to avoid shipping costs.

At last! The process has been lengthy, but it all worked out at the right time. Thanks for your patience.

Prenatals and peppermint schnapps

How wrong is this.

Angela has been taking prenatal vitamins for quite awhile now since we're going to try to start a family in a few months, and since she started taking them she has become immune to all the diseases that befall the rest of us. I started thinking...what would happen if the whole world started taking prenatal vitamins? A healthy bunch we would be.

There was some sort of virus that was going around Angela's office, and nearly all of her co-workers got sick. Some of them lost their voice, some became achey and feverish, and nearly all of them had some sort of head/throat issue. So this virus latched onto Angela, rode home in the car with her, jumped onto the doorknobs and faucets in our house, and infected me the second I touched those surfaces. In the past couple of days I've been achey, coughy, feverish, sore throatish, and without much of a voice. Angela remains symptom-free. Dang it! She brought this home, yet suffers from none of its ugliness. I really need to start poppin' the prenatals.

If any of you tuned into the show last night I apologize. Mad props to the person who called in and suggested I try a hot drink with a few drops of peppermint extract. I like that idea, but I like the idea of peppermint schnapps even more. Perhaps I'll try that tonight. I had to lecture at the Connecticut School of Broadcasting this morning, but I'm spending the rest of the afternoon in silence in the hope that I won't sound like crap later. Cheers!

I have a theory

Blog novelty has worn off.

Since nearly everyone in the world has a blog now, blogs on the whole have become mundane and there are very few people who are still interested in them. I mean, does anyone really care what some guy in Paducah happens to think about Neil Young, or what some drunkard in a wet t-shirt looked like at a frat party the night before? I don't know. I do like a good sports-reporter blog that gives me behind the scenes info on the goings on at an NFL training camp. I guess it's all relative.

I'm sure I'll continue to contribute to the big sea of blogs out there, with my own insignificant ramblings. Once I start something I have to finish it anyway; otherwise it will gnaw at me until I'm a big bloody pulp and no one wants to see that.

Rick wants me to add a new personality page on mix1029.com that would incorporate blogs, pictures, and other fun stuff instead of the basic bio that's up there now. We would put Videos on Demand, Music on Demand, and other cool links at the bottom, so there would be more to do than just skim quickly and go away. I think that would be groovy. Interactive is good. If I can find the time to build the page, we'll have it up in the next couple of weeks. Then this blog may go away, we'll see.

There, I just wrote a blog about blogs. New heights of insignificance I tell ya.

Just to make it interesting...cheddar cheese! There's at least one compelling thought.

I have a confession to make

I secretly love the way fake tan lotion smells. Not the mystic tan. I did that once and I wasn't really a fan of the feeling, the smell, or the way it resembled an eighty-year-old lady with age spots. Maybe I did it wrong and didn't do the proper quarter turns while I was in the booth. But that's neither here nor there. I'm enjoying my cheap ole Loreal fake tan lotion. It gives a pastey white girl like me a little color (and no, it's not orange), and the smell is sort of soapy and nutty. I don't know how to properly describe it. But I'm diggin' it.

My cousin told me awhile back that I should check out Dove Energy Glo. I think that's the name. But how's the smell? There must be a hint of hazelnuts if I am to try it.

So I'm all fake tanned for the weekend. Well, my legs are. I don't fake tan my arms. I wonder if my colleagues notice the imbalance. No one has said anything. But I'm nearly always in 3/4 sleeves, so maybe they can't tell.

We're going to go on one of our favorite adventures tonight...fajitas and a margarita or two, then shopping! Taking the happy hour happiness to Target and Petco is way fun. We end up buying crap we don't need though. One time after happy hour we went out and bought granite countertops at Lowes. Loads of fun to buy, and we tell them daily how much we appreciate them. So I guess they were worth it no matter what had the final influence. Anyway, there is fun to be had this weekend.

If you feel like shopping, I'll be at the Famous Footwear in Frisco tomorrow from noon-2 giving away loads of free stuff. Famous Footwear will have some awesome prices, so come buzzed!

Cool River rules!

Hey, Mix is hanging out at Cool River in Irving tonight from 6-8. This is THE place for happy hour, dinner, or just hanging out. If you've been there before you konw what I mean.

Tony Zazza is usually there on Thursday nights, but he's in Chicago at radio school so I'll be there instead. It's Ladies Night! Whether it's Tony or me, the same rules still apply. ;-)

The address is 1045 Hidden Ridge in Irving if you want to mapquest. Otherwise just get off of 114 at Macarthur and head south, cross Walnut Hill and you'll see Cool River near the intersection of Macarthur and Hidden Ridge. Come on, I'll give you some fabulous Mix parting gifts. Love to see ya there!

Umm, maybe we shouldn't turn relationships into reality shows?

The MTV curse is picking up steam. First Nick and Jessica, then Carmen and Dave, and now Travis Barker of "Meet the Barkers" has filed for divorce from Shanna Moakler. Hang in there Ozzy and Sharon!

I can't imagine having cameras in the house that would follow us around and capture our every move. Can you? I mean, I understand these peeps are getting paid, but if doing the show contributed to the demise of the relationship, now they're stuck with thousands of dollars in lawyer bills and they could lose more in the divorce settlement, so all that money turned to mush anyway. The sell-out backfired.

Angela and I are far too boring to warrant a reality show anyway. Last night we watched Mrs. Henderson Presents, brushed the dogs' teeth, and fell asleep watching the Rangers game. Come on MTV, don't cha want a piece of that action? {Insert Beavis grunts here.}

Back to the Mix show. We're about to play Gwen Stefani and Jewel. Those are some gals with committed relationships to be admired. Hope I didn't just curse 'em!

New albums to be excited about

Lisa Thomas is out on vacation again this week so I'm doing the midday show on Mix 102.9. I've become so used to doing 7-midnight, that it's tough getting up early! I don' t know how I ever had the motivation to get up at 3:30 when I did traffic for Kidd. I guess I got used to that too. This week I'm getting up at 5:30 so I can get my off-air duties done before the midday show starts at 10. Enough irrelevant logistics...

Angela and I will be able to have quality time in the evenings this week. Yay!

As I was prepping for the show today, I ran across release dates for some great new albums. I hope they're as good as I think they'll be.

8/8 - Ani DiFranco, Reprieve
8/15 - Pete Yorn, Nightcrawler
8/22 - Paris Hilton, Paris Hilton (Just seeing if you're paying attention)
8/22 - OutKast, Idlewild
9/5 - Beyonce, B-day (just cuz I'm a Virgo too)
9/12 - Barenaked Ladies, Barenaked Ladies Are Me
9/12 - Shawn Colvin, These Four Walls
9/12 - John Mayer, Continuum
9/12 - Justin Timberlake, FutureSex/LoveSounds
9/19 - Indigo Girls, Title TBA
9/26 - Janet Jackson, 20 Y.O.
9/26 - Scissor Sisters, Ta-Dah
10/3 - Evanescence, The Open Door
10/3 - Jet, Shine On
10/3 - The Killers, Sam's Town

I'm playing the new Evanescence tune on the show today at 10:40ish. Great tune called "Call Me When You're Sober." Love Amy Lee's voice. If there is such a thing as haunting/cool, her voice is it.

Especially looking forward to the new Shawn Colvin and Indigo Girls releases. So much cool stuff...

Schnauzer Rescue society in the Dallas Voice

I wonder why so many gay people are getting schnauzers. Maybe they're the new toaster oven? Interesting observation.

If you want to check out the article....

http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_2928.php

Props to Mini Schnauzer Rescuers

The Dallas Voice contacted me yesterday and asked me to comment on a story they're doing on miniature schnauzer rescue.

They're interviewing Nicole, the VP of Miniature Schnauzer Rescue of North Texas (MSRNT). We adopted Harry from Nicole last fall, after she and her mom fostered him for several weeks. The first pic is Harry last fall before we adopted him, and the second pic was taken yesterday. He's such a king now.

Nicole and her mom nursed him back to health after a broken leg, malnutrition, and just a general poor start in life. They named him Lil Bit because he was so darn scrawny. He weighed nine pounds and his hair was thin. We named him Lil Bit Harry when we got him, and now we just call him Harry.

Someone dropped him off at the Humane Society in Fort Worth last summer with the broken leg. They couldn't pay for treatment so they just left him there, and MSRNT picked him up. We think he might have been raised in a small kennel where he was forced to relieve himself in there, because he had some house-breaking issues at first. He has overcome all of his issues--he no longer walks with a limp, he's got an amazing appetite, and he taught the rest of our schnauzer clan how to use a doggie door to go outside and do their business. No more gathering at the back door when it's time to go out. They're all independent now.

Harry is proof that all dogs can thrive if they're put in a supportive environment. MSRNT is an important step in that process. Nicole is an amazing person, and animal lover, and she deserves the recognition the Dallas Voice is giving her. Without MSRNT who knows...maybe Harry wouldn't even be alive today. Kudos Nicole! The link to MSRNT will always be in this blog if you get a hankerin' for a schnauzer too. We're stopping at 4!