Cast your bread upon the waters
1 Cast your bread upon the waters,
for after many days you will find it again.
2 Give portions to seven, yes to eight,
for you do not know what disaster may come upon the land.
3 If clouds are full of water,
they pour rain upon the earth.
Whether a tree falls to the south or to the north,
in the place where it falls, there will it lie.
4 Whoever watches the wind will not plant;
whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.
5 As you do not know the path of the wind,
or how the body is formed in a mother’s womb,
so you cannot understand the work of God,
the Maker of all things.
6 Sow your seed in the morning,
and at evening let not your hands be idle,
for you do not know which will succeed,
whether this or that,
or whether both will do equally well.
I was curious, and last night I found out that I’m #1 in Google again for a search for “I hate Texas“. It’s always nice to be #1 at something. But it’s kind of funny, since I really don’t hate Texas any more like I used to. Even though I was tremendously unhappy living there, it’s turned out that my experience there has been a very positive thing in my life, especially now in 2008 Los Angeles. That’s one of life’s little Funny Stories.
This year has been a Trying Time, with Cathy leaving me and all the attendant misery that entailed. But the turning point was when I found out about how the club I started in Texas back in 1993 has turned into a Big Deal. It made me a minor celebrity in certain circles here in L.A. And it also led to my connecting with Susan, which was truly wonderful. So something that only happened because I spent my unhappy time in Texas has had a tremendously positive effect on my life here and now, and right at my Darkest Hour. It’s truly one of those ‘cast your bread upon the waters’ stories.
(And I’m sure that nobody who knows me ever thought I’d be putting Bible verses on my web site. But it just seems appropriate in this case.)
December 5th, 2008 at 2:35 pm
The Empress is pleased…
March 9th, 2009 at 1:16 pm
austin texas was the biggest mistake of my life!
I moved there in such hopes of being closer to
my family but they became so distant to me
and they told me how they hated it too!
it was a nitemare worrying about who is going to
try to get you!
We watch our mother die under poor health care in austin during Katrina
we were so helpless
I knew I made a mistake selling my home back home
and getting one out in texas!
so I sent my kids back home to my ex
just one and I kept one with me in texas till
I could get out of that hell hole called austin!
but it was nothing but a nitemare
day in and day out
then I was assaulted right outside of austin
the police did do nothing about the guy
was it a game?
I was scared all the time I got tired of being scared!
then I got hurt again…but nothing was done about it!
maybe austin and the area was fun years ago but not anymore
but I think it was loosing its charm
I got hurt at work the insurance wouldn’t cover it
I was thrown out the door and denied a ride to the clinic in austin!
my kid was mocked at where he went to school
was this the city where i dreamt of moving to??
we needed to get out of this place! asap!
I am still suffering and crying at nitemares from here
my kid and I hated it!
one thing for sure of
I am so glad I spared one child the pains of ever living here!
October 1st, 2009 at 5:02 pm
HILARIOUS – 50 Reasons Why Texas Sucks
1. Texans. Socially retarded acts of bravado. Lack of self awareness. Isolationistic in thought. Kind of like someone who was raised under a rock, but the rock was big, so they boast about how big the rock was.
There’s more, but, man, it’s so sad – and they don’t even know it!
2. Texas politics. I am a conservative who votes republican. Texans are rednecks who vote republican. should I buy an “I’m with stupid” T-shirt?
3. Tx is a Mexican border state. Complete with roads traveled by drug cartels feeding the increasing violent crime rate, drug use, and ever expanding prison population in Tx. That isn’t nice and I don’t have this problem in my state.
4. Is EVERYONE in Tx chewing tobacco??
5. Leading state for hate groups. There are more known hate
groups in tx then any other state. They all hate different groups for different reasons. When you get right down to it, no one is safe in tx – not even texans. Testament to tx long tradition of nice, down to earth, clan members and level-headed cult fanatics.
6. There are Two seasons in Tx, hot and hotter. There is a third if you count the hurricane season. A fourth if you count squirrel
season.
7. Texas’ branding of Tex-mex. Uh, we all know it’s just Mexican.
Maybe Kansas should capitalize on Cantonese food and call it
Kan-Can. It’s catchier, and doesn’t sound like a gas station when
you say it.
8. Over industrialization of undesirable industries. Yes, when you visit tx, you get the full impact of what a cesspool they’ve made out of their state with factories, oil refineries, and chemical plants. Don’t get me wrong, it is good somebody is manufacturing this stuff out there, but, man, you’ve got to be six flags short of a theme park to live amongst the stench-filled, chemical run-off, heat-fest that is tx.
9. Texas as a state ranks in the top 5 of all states for all major pollutants. Go figure. The EPA says you can’t breathe the air for fear of carcinogens, can’t drink the water for fear of toxins, can’t eat the seafood for fear of mercury poisoning, and the Taiwanese plants spill high levels of run-off into the neighborhoods. That isn’t good either!
10. “Clampet” stereotypes which aren’t all together untrue. I’ve never seen any other collective bunch unwittingly living up to negative stereotypes. Perhaps some t-shirts can be air dropped to them. You know, t-shirts that say something like, “thank god i struck oil, cuz my double-wide needs a fixin”
11. Texan’s general confusion between pride and reason. there is a healthy pride, and then there is a texan pride. actually, a texan is proud of his state like a branch davidian is proud of his cool-aid.
12. “DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS”. Why would I need to mess with
Texas when it’s already messed up? What’s wrong with the old standby: Yeeeeeeehaw!!!!..and other inane slogans that demonstrate
an inability to articulate one’s self.
13. Corrupt institutions of business. Enron was a great. But, no one can beat the oil companies for blood money, environmental destruction, greed, and corruption. a texan would tell you that corruption only exists in zip codes outside their magical state. is this true?
14. Cults and fundamentalists. Kind of self explanatory. Apparently, tx is the perfect place for those who like to organize and be merry while preying on kids. Gotta love tx.
15. Backwards thinking. State first? Country second, or is there
something between state and country like, i don’t know, socks or
peanut butter? You gotta love state first mentality. If the country is attacked, would tx try to side with mexico just to save their own state? Kind of like, if the house was burning, you’d only save your favorite bathroom. Lots of reasoning there. wait a minute! i’m going to start a new one. it’s called home owners association first! Hey tx, do you shoot people in the back too? Buncha anti-american secessionist quitters! just kidding, only 20% of you are the American Taliban.
16. Worst humidity and dew point. Yes it is true. Houston/bay area is tied with annual averages for the worst humidity and dew point in the united states per NOAA. In a nutshell, it’s like a sauna. a constant sauna for 7 months out of the year. so is hell.
17. Hurricanes. you got it. more of my tax dollars go to natural
disasters like hurricanes in tx. nothing like every hurricane season fearing the wrath of god upon your family and home.
18. Tornadoes. this must have to do with the fact that tx leads the nation in the amount of trailor homes as a percentage of all homes. the good thing is, tx is flat and has nothing around for 100’s of miles. so, not many people should get hurt except those who ask for it. you know, texans.
19. Trailer trash. “T” stands for trailor trash, tornadoes, truck
stops, terrible, tacky, terrorist, taliban, travesty, and one
more…uh…dang, i forgot.
20. Prison over population. tx just can’t kill ‘em fast enough.
21. Gun rights. Hey look, texans need their guns because the state is unwilling foot the bill for adequate policing and safety like other states. state first! citizen last!
22. Highest unwanted teen pregnancies. According to a Houston paper, they like to do more than play with barbies down in tx. Apparently they like to get pregnant and be a mom at age 12 too.
23. Poorly educated. STILL poorly educated compared to other states. when are the oil guys going to pay for schools.
24. Lack of affluence. This is something oil money cannot buy. you can be rich, but you can’t find Oklahoma on a map.
25. Cities annex neighboring towns just to boast on size. truly texas. guess what, everyone can see thru this. when your metro area is a 10th the size of other metro areas, you kind of get the idea your just being typical tx.
26. Highest accident rate of any state. Listen, you have to drive 2 hours to get to what places the rest of us can get to in 30 minutes. I would drive fast and not care about my life too if I lived in texas. of course, the accident rate also includes factory explosions, etc.
27. Texas consumes more energy than what is produced by the state in terms of gross product per the dept of energy. texas is an energy empire. unfortunately, their bragging is unsubstantiated when they claim the power the world.
28. highest in-sourcer (more people working for foreign firms -
helping make $ in foreign investments). guess what, more citizens in tx by percentage aren’t contributing a dime to u.s. investment.
29. High cancer rate. of course. you don’t roil your state with
anything goes industry without paying for it do you?
30. High obesity rate – must be the dependence on mexican food, bbq. That’s Mexian food, you know, it’s what makes tx so exotic.
31. Rated one of the ‘least livable’ of all states in 2008. It’s just an article. but it was nice.
32. Floods. It is wonderful how tx is famous for its natural
disasters. Stevie Ray Vaughn sang about it. He’s a texan, i like
Stevie ray Vaughn, and if i lived in texas I’d sing the blues too.
he’s just telling it like it is.
33. Lack of water to most of the state, high cost of water. Are you kidding? you can’t drink oil?
34. Toxic levels of mercury in fishing off texas shore. Already
covered. I like eating thermometers. maybe i should move to tx.
35. No mountains. Tx is beautiful with flat dusty fields of dry dirt
for 100’s of miles until you get to some hills with nice folks with
guns. tx. great place to drive thru on your way to somewhere else.
36. Beaches are contaminated. Galveston is called a resort town.
compared to my state, galveston is a cesspool with an oil platform right on the beach while you swim among signs that warn you about hepatitis.
37. 4 out of the 10 fattest cities in America just happen to reside in Texas. Now, we all know that Texas toast is so dang tasty, but slather on some bbq sauce and top it off with a block of lard and you got you there an o’fficial Tx-sized snack for the kids!
38. Pronounced pride and prejudice. back on the pride kick. can’t have pride without prejudiced. oh wait, i can.
39. Nice people – to your face. The rest is some kind of judgment call made on their own arcane beliefs.
40. American history, or lack there of. First Tx wanted nothing more than to be annexed by the U.S., once it was ratified in, then it wanted out, then it barely contributed to the confederate forces in the civil war! Is Tx acting like a bipolar adolescent who just found out he was adopted, or just too hopped up on peyote?
41. Nasty critters. Fire ants, Africanized bees, scorpions, etc.
42. Texas flag. Ok, now, what flag does the Tx flag look like if you stare at it a long time (.01 seconds)? Give you a hint: It was designed nearly 70 years before U.S. citizens declared Tx sovereign! Where is the originality? Did Texans burn up all their creativity when they coined “Tex-Mex”?
43. The rankings among the states: Percentage of Uninsured
Children-50th, Percentage of Population without Health Insurance-50th, Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) Scores-47th, Percentage of Population over 25 with a High School diploma-50th, Percentage of Non-Elderly Women with Health Insurance-50th, Rate of Women Aged 40+ Who Receive
Mammograms-44th, Rate of Women Aged 18+ Who Receive Pap
Smears-47th, Cervical Cancer Rate-5th in the nation, Women’s Voter Registration-43rd, Women’s Voter Turnout-49th, Percentage of Eligible Voters that Vote-44th. Texas, please change your name to New Iran.
44. Lost perspective of their country. I guess if your trapped in an abyss, you lose all hope that there is more out there.
45. Texas tea smells like wafting B.O., a sulfur pit, and a manure farm. oh wait, tx oil towns are right next to sulfer pits which are right next to ranches. that leave’s B.O., which is the illegal immigrant day laborer who has to work illegally at all these places in order to make ends meet.
46. BIG Hair. This is what they mean when they say everything is bigger in Tx.
47. dallas cowboys. greatest NFL expansion team to ever bandwagon on (if your in to that kind of thing)..even though they haven’t been to a superbowl in 15 years.
48. Propaganda. Texans love to embellish the truth and distort the facts in attempts to sell their state to us. must be easier for them than having to do any of that pesky research or providing boring factual substantiation. Once they realize we know better, they tend to get louder and more aggressive – kind of like a silverback gorilla when threatened by poachers.
49. Income Inequality Between the Rich and the Poor- Sate ranking: 49th. Hmmm, 13 billionaires and 15 million low income earners. We’ve come a long way as Americans…except for tx who is just now building pyramids for their oil pharaohs.
50. Sports are competitive. That’s why academics aren’t. Luckily they’re close to country where they can get cheap anabolic steroids and other enhancement drugs you cant buy in the u.s.
March 5th, 2010 at 6:11 pm
Reading this just helped calm my nerves. Im a 22 year old college senior who was pulled over in Denton,Tx at 2:20am leaving a friends concert in January. I partially ran a stop sign on accident because I was too busy trying to figure out how to get back to the highway. Needless to say I was pulled over but not cited for a ticket oh no, they believed me to be highly intoxicated even though my speech was clear and I complied with everything. I had ONE drink, very small cocktail glass two hours prior to leaving plus a large order of fries on top of that, no way was I “drunk”. I did a field sobriety test in 17 degree windshield freezing weather wearing tights, a tanktop, and a light jacket with no lining in it. I was shaking so bad I couldn’t hold my foot off the ground for 30 seconds prompting them to arrest me. I then refused specimen because I had always been told to say no to everything and keep quiet. Well I was released on “no probable cause” but now my license has been revoked for sixth months even though there wasn’t very sustaining evidence to convict me of DWI. I wasn’t convicted but yet they took away my license. The officers were rude to me and even handled me like a death row inmate while being booked, typical of Texas officers. I went early to my ALR hearing, stated my case, was very polite and eloquently spoken. Let them know Im a UNT senior education major on national honor society and a full time nanny for two young children and I have no previous offenses. They didnt care. Now I have no way to get to school or work. I am fuming mad and feel I was unjustly treated. Its all about quotas and money when it boils down to it. They dont care about you or if you are doing good things with your life, they’ll get you however they can. I have an endless list similar to yours on why I hate Texas, this just was the tip off for me. I can’t wait to get out of here where the quality of life is better.