Dozen's of
Jason's Rants
Pics!
August 2001 - December 2001 Edition
The Super Info-Packed Year-Ender!
Jason Dooley...Editor-In-Chief...Senior Reporter...Senior Photographer
Inside This Newsletter...
1. August 2001
Not much, just chillin' and having a good time!

2. September 2001
September 11th? Ring a bell? Be prepared for an authentic rant by yours' truely!

3. October 2001
Cows, cows, and more cows!

4. November 2001
Thanksgiving with the folks, and Quynh gets a taste of my mom's dressing!

5. December 2001
Quynh meets the grandparents! Christmas with the family! The perils of shopping four days before Christmas Day!

6. Wrapping It Up
Um...I, like....wrap it up. Plus, be prepared for changes in the way you see my rants pages!
After work on Friday the 17th, we saw the Nicolas Cage movie �Captain Corelli�s Mandolin�. I was shooting for a romantic movie, but came short with this flick. It was a so-so movie. If you like Nicolas Cage or Penelope Cruz, then check out this movie, but if you�re looking for a good romantic movie, then keep reading and see what movie we saw in October! That same weekend we spent in Galveston. For those of you who don�t know much about Texas, it�s a coastal city with a few sights to see and a few things to do. What did we do while in Galveston? Well, let�s see�we saw the sights and did a few things! Seriously though, we did see a few of the sights, went to church, hooked up with one of my co-workers and his wife, and went to a comedy club, and finally played a round of miniature golf! All in all, just a weekend to get away from family and work, and just relax with each other!
August 2001
August seemed to remain a pretty low-key month. Now don�t get me wrong, I�m not saying it was boring! To avoid any confusion, let me go ahead and clear up something right now�since meeting and being with Quynh, my life is never boring and is always getting better and better with every moment I spend with her. I say August was low-key because we didn�t do to much. Oh yes, we spent every waking moment with each other and loved every minute of it, but we didn�t go visit the Grand Canyon or anything!
On August 11th, we saw the Nicole Kidman spook-fest �The Others�. It hasn�t made it to DVD or VHS yet, but when it does, I highly recommend getting a copy of it! Watching it in the dark with a date is recommended to! Trust me, you�ll be thanking me! The following day was spent at the park with Quynh and her little brother. Just a day to semi-relax in the sun (I say semi, because any one who knows 2 � year olds will know that there is no such thing as full relaxing)!
So Happy Together: Aside from being the name of a song, those three words seem to suit us best! The three pictures above were taken at a water structure in Houston... I call it a water structure, because, frankly, I don't know what it's name is (or if it even has one)! The picture to the left was taken in Glaveston, Tx while I was beating Quynh at miniature golf. Don't fear folks, I beat her fair and square! If you think that I'm gonna go easy on her just because I love her, then think again! Besides, she's beaten me more games than I can count! Sigh!
September 2001
This month began by seeing the movie �Jeepers Creepers�. It�s a semi-gross horror movie that does make you jump in one or two places, but for the most part it was too predictable. The ending had a little bit of a surprise though! The fact that it was left open for a sequel was of no surprise, but the part where�well, you�ll just have to see it!

Unfortunately, the month took a turn for the worse with the events of September 11th. Here�s where I kick into full rant mode! Let�s start with a top ten list:
Jason�s Top Ten Things He Would Do If He Were President And Some Crazy Crap Like September 11th Happened While On His Watch
Clownin': My baby and I clownin' around at the post office. My pimp moblie and my baby are in the picture above.
10. Tighter security in airports.
9.   More inspections of people and things that are getting onto any public modes of transportation (i.e. buses, planes, trains, boats�)
8.   Tighter restrictions on how you get any type of license (driving, pilot, boating�)
7.   Tighter restrictions, better background checks, more monitoring of any person who wants to enter this country who is not a citizen.
6.  Allow sky marshals to be used again in airplanes.
5.  Allow guns to be kept in the cabin of an airplane and make sure that all pilots, co-pilots, navigators, stewards, and stewardesses know how to use the damn things with deadly force! Screw that takin� em alive crap, kill em!
4.   Since most of our terrorists come from Middle Eastern countries, keep tabs on all of the ones we got and don�t let any more in (I think we can find other people to run our gas stations, don�t you?)
3.   Kick some serious ass in whatever freakin� country that is harboring terrorists.
2.   Capture Bin Laden, douse him in pig�s blood, seal him in a 6 x 6 foot box that has a close circuit camera in it, bury him alive, and then create a new television channel, free of charge for the American people, and call it the �Watch Bin Laden Suffer� channel. Oh yeah, did I mention that the only thing that he would be given to eat would be pork?

And the #1 thing I would do�

1.   Pray for forgiveness!
That following week, we went to another park, this time just her and I, goofed around in the local Kroger�s supermarket, and checked out a comic book store. The weekend of the 22nd though, that was a big weekend! It began with us hunting down a very small theator in Houston that shows movies that are made by independent film makers. Movies like these, very rarely see nation release and almost never have a lot of advertising attached to them. Before finally finding the theater, we stumbled across something that puzzled us both�cows. Cows, you say? Well, these cows were painted strange but interesting colors and a few had things attached to them. This was something I just had to investigate�but after the movie!
The movie we saw was a Vietnamese movie with English subtitles. I thought that a little taste of home would be something that Quynh would like, and I was right. The movie, called �Vertical Ray of the Sun�, was filmed in the capital of North Vietnam, which just so happens to be where she grew up, Hanoi. Now, the movie gave her a little bit of satisfaction, getting to see her old home and all, but we both agreed, the movie just plain sucked! Oh, well, ya can�t win em all!
Remember: I'm sure that these images are already burned into your memory, but I put them here as a reminder... don't ever forget that this happened. People died in this tragedy... innocent people. Heroic men and women perished in this abomination trying to save the lives of others. I think we owe it to their spirits to never forget.
More Goofin': Yes, the camera goes everywhere with us! The pic at left is at the grocery store (don't ask me what possessed us to take pics here), and the pic below is at the movie theater (and no, I wasn't going to try and pirate the movie using my camera... besides, the movie sucked)!.
For the most part, I was widely unaffected by the events that transpired on 9.11. I�m sorry that it happened, and yes, it is a tragedy, but I was not directly affected. There have been a few heated debates on the issue at work, and a lot of what I said on my top ten list I would like to see happen, but life went on for me. I just wish the same would happen with our country. Patriotism is at an all time high, but I would love to see businesses and advertisers STOP CAPITOLIZING ON OTHER PEOPLES SUFFERING!

Anyway, September 16th saw Quynh finally getting to meet my immediate family. She met my mom, dad, sister, and my 2 nephews (Oh yeah, and the dog�). My mom was unfortunately, laid up in bed with a back injury, but Quynh still got to meet her! Lucky for me, everyone loves her! Although, that�s not that hard to do�she�s just so dang lovable! We ate dinner, watched a little T.V., and that was about it.
The weekend of the 28th, 29th, and the 30th, was a pretty good one also. During the week after seeing �Vertical Ray�, I checked it out on the internet and discovered that the cows we saw, was part of a big campaign to raise money for some charity (you can see that I cared about the details!) It turned out that there were more cows in various locations throughout Houston�when I say more cows, I mean somewhere in the neighborhood of 325 of em! Our Official Cow Count was only at 9, but that was okay�we still had two months to see them all! The 28th of September, I introduced Quynh to one of the best hamburger joints in the country, Fuddrucker�s! The cook the meat the way you want it, give you various choices at how big you want the meat, and also give you one of the best set of buns (insert joke about my ass here) for your burger that I have ever tasted! The best part is, it�s up to you to build your burger! Put as much mayo, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, or onions on it as you want! Rock! On the 29th, I introduced her to one of the best steak places that I know of, Texas Land & Cattle Steak House! The food is top notch as is the atmosphere! Check both places out if you can! The 30th was the big day! I took her to see the Houston Museum of Natural Science, which was a treat for her! She got to see dinosaur skeletons and a real �live� mummy! The added bonus was, we upped our Cow Count!
The Official Cow Count: 28
Menagerie: The picture to your upper left is a pic of Quynh, my nephews Christopher and Daniel, my sister, and my dad. The picture above is of my baby eating the biggest damn hamburger she's ever seen at Fuddrucker's! The pic to the left was taken outside of Texas Land & Cattle Steak House. The pictures you see in this issue of Rants is just the tip of the iceberg! You should the dozens of pics I have scanned! Maybe one day, I'll be able to post the majority of them all on another website. Hhmmm...gives me an idea....
I've Found A Winner: The upper left picture and the one next to it, were taken in my kitchen at home. These pics were taken on the same day that Quynh and I had went and saw "Vertical Ray of the Sun", which also was the first day we saw the multitude of bovines. As you can see, my family loves her (but not nearly as much as I do). The picture above, and the one to the left, was taken at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. The bones of the T-Rex were only one set of so many more dinosaur bones on display at the museum. The pic to the left was a lucky shot. I didn't realize that you were not allowed to take pictures of the mummies on display and had just taken this pic when a security guard came up and told me that no pictures were allowed. Well, of course, I told him to shove it. Next thing I knew, the security guard and I were on the ground, beating the crap out of each other. During the scuffle, I managed to get the film out of the camera and swallow it so he couldn't confiscate it. Okay, okay. All of that was a fib, but it made for an interesting story (and it filled some space too!)
October
The beginning of October saw us starting to get into full swing on the cow hunting. The trick with hunting these cows, is that they are located all over the city! Thank God for Key Maps! By the end of October 7th, we had already begun to seriously hunt the cows!
The Official Cow Count: 59
October 14th found me going somewhere I had not fully explored yet�downtown Houston! This was a treat for both of us! We had both been through downtown, but neither of us had ever explored it. We saw city hall, snuck into an office building and got thrown out by security, snuck into an Art Festival, visiting Enron Field home of the Houston Astros baseball team, seeing where they print the Houston Chronicle newspaper, seeing several parks, and checking out the Theater District! And one of the bonuses of this trip was that our cow count skyrocketed!
The Official Cow Count: 164
Houston, Tx: The picture at the very top of this section, is of my baby and the Houston downtown skyline.The pictures above left and above center are of Quynh & me posing with 2 of the hundreds of "Art Cows" spread out all over Houston. The other five pictures in this section, I added for the benefit of my viewing audience. These are just various pics of my baby so that y'all can take a gander at the queen of my heart. I especially like the picture to the left. I call that my "Pot 'O Gold At The End Of A Rainbow" pic. Is there a pot of gold at the end of that rainbow? Don't ask silly questions! Of course there is! Just look! Well.....she's a treasure in my eyes at least!
An added bonus: we got to meet the artist of three of the cows!
An extra added bonus: one of the cows had a digital camera attached to it. So what, ya say? Well, the artist took the pictures that were taken that day and loaded them onto his website�unfortunately, at the time of this writing, it appeared that the website was either having difficulties or had been disbanded....sigh!
Before the month finished, we brought Quynh�s little brother with us, and, you guessed it, saw more cows!
The Official Cow Count: 215
If you thought cows were turning out to control our lives, you�re almost correct! We did escape for a few hours and check out two movies this month� �Serendipity� starring John Cusak and �Iron Monkey�, a pretty cool kung-fu action movie! Remember earlier when I said I would tell you about a good romance movie? Well, that was it� �Iron Monkey�! Just kidding! �Serendipity� was a great romance movie that I recommend to anyone who has an ounce of romance in them, to check it out!
November
The cows were about to soon be taken up and sold in various live and internet auctions, so seeing them all was going to be tough. By the end of the first weekend of November, we were done looking for cows.
The Official Cow Count: 286
We may not have gotten to see them all, but we did have fun trying!
Jason�s Top Ten Reasons Why I�m Thankful This Thanksgiving
10. That America is not sitting around on its ass anymore and is taking the war to the terrorists.
9.   That I�m slowly getting my finances back out of the red!
8.   That my nephews have taken a liking to Star Wars!
7.   That my future is starting to look brighter!
6.   That my extended family is still around (my grandpa has come close a few times!)
5.   That, so far as I can tell since no one emails me anymore, all of my friends are happy and healthy.
4.   That I still have a job (thanks to this crappy economy!)
3.   That I�m alive and healthy.
2.   That my family is happy and healthy.
1.  I�m extremely thankful that I have the love of a wonderful woman! Quynh sees through all of my faults and sees the wonderful man inside! I love her so much!
That same weekend, I had the privilege of attending a Vietnamese wedding. I don�t get to actually go to the wedding� that honor is only reserved for the family, but I did get to go to the reception afterwards. To be honest, the atmosphere was a little too formal and the food was mediocre. Sorry, but I�m used to American weddings where you get to get up and visit with people and you eat tons of B-B-Q!

A long overdue car washing was also on the list of things that we did this month!

Thanksgiving was spent with my immediate family and Quynh at my parent�s house.
Of course, what would a month be without seeing a few movies! �13 Ghosts�, �The One� starring Jet Li, and a little known film called �Harry Potter and the Sorcerer�s Stone� were all films that we took in this month. All of them were pretty good, especially �The One� and, believe it or not, �Harry Potter�. I�ve never read any of the Harry Potter books and neither has Quynh, but we both enjoyed the movie and plan on seeing all of its sequels!
Weddings, Water, & Weight Gain: Below, you'll see pictures of the wedding Quynh and I attended (don't ask me their names, because I don't have a clue!), my baby looking sexy by a lake near my house, Quynh washing her car at my house, and my entire immediate family sitting down for Thanksgiving dinner. I'm sure you've noticed by now, the amount of pictures on this website...hopefully they'll all load! If not, let me know so I can fix it!
December
For those of you who don�t know, Quynh has been going to beauty school in order to get a license to do hair and nails in salons. Well, she finally finished her studies and took the test at the beginning of this month. I took her to Austin, where you have to take the test, and we stayed there for three days. The first day was mostly about getting some rest and checking out our surroundings. The second day, December 6th, was the day she took her test. Just to let you know, recently, Austin finally contacted Quynh to let her know that she passed both the written and the practical parts of her testing! What�s that mean? It means she passed! But, after the test, we had no idea if she had passed or not, but I had a good feeling that she had. So, since we were in the neighborhood (sorta), I took her to San Antonio, Tx to visit the famed River Walk. We both enjoyed the romantic atmosphere and plan on another, longer trip later in 2002! The final day of our mini-vacation was spent visiting the State Capital of Texas in Austin. It was pretty cool! Kinda hard to believe that I�ve lived in Texas all of my life and have never seen it!
On December 23rd, due to scheduling problems with my sister�s in-laws, we had to go ahead and have our Christmas early. My whole immediate family was there at my parents house, including Quynh. I gave Quynh a stuffed animal that was built with love. What does that mean, you ask? Well, I went to the local mall and visited a place called the �Build-a-Bear Factory�. What you do is, starting from scratch, build your own bear! It even gets a name and a birth certificate! Perfect for special occasions! Anyway, I recorded a my voice on a voice chip, they installed it in the bear, and whenever you squeeze it�s paw, it says, �I loooove you so much baby� Anh yeu em my my vo.� That last part is Vietnamese for, �I love you forever my wife!� Yeah, yeah, I�m a sap! Anyway, I also bought her a star in the sky! What that means is, that for a small fee, I got to name a star in the sky after her! They give you the coordinates of the star and a map to find it! She thought that was pretty romantic, especially after I explained how that star was a symbol of my love for her, eternal and everlasting! This leads to my last present for her. I took her back to my room, got on one knee, and gave her her last present, an engagement ring! She, of course, said yes, and we both cried for a little bit afterwards. Yep, that�s my big news� I�m engaged! I�m off the market ladies!
December 25th was another big day for Quynh. That day, other than being her first real Chrsitmas since Vietnamese people don�t really celebrate it, she got to meet the bulk of my extended family! She even met my grandparents! Of course, everyone loves her!

Oh yeah, also this month we saw two more movies, �Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring� and �Kate and Leopold� starring Meg Ryan and Hugh Jackman. �K & L� was another good romantic movie, and, although I never read the books, �Lord of the Rings� was an excellent movie! Both Quynh and I loved it and are eagerly anticipating the sequels!
Mini-vacation: The picture at the top left was taken in Austin, Tx, just outside of the place where Quynh tested for her beautician's license. The pic next to it was taken in San Antonio on that same day. All of the pics I took came out too dark (at least in my opinion...damn nightfall!) but the River Walk is what is in the background, along with a few hundred Christmas lights! The pic at the bottom left was taken Austin, and it's of Texas' state capital building. And last but not least, the pic at the bottom right is (obviously) Quynh and I in front of my Christmas tree.
Hope Everyone Is Hanging In There...It's Almost Over!
The End of Another Year As for everyone else that I email and never get a response back, get yer butts in gear and get those emails to me! Ya never know, maybe the next Rants will include a few more people in the shout out section!

Well gang, that about wraps up what's been going on with me, now email me and tell me what you think of this "extended" Rants newsletter! I always love to hear from all of my friends and would greatly appreciate it if everyone updates me on how their lives are going. So...what are ya waiting for? Email me Pronto!

Okay, okay, I'm finally out of here. Besides, I think we have some Scooby snacks in the cupboard and they are definately calling my name! Zoiks and Jenkies....I'm gone.....
Well, that�s my last six months in a nutshell, ya can�t say that I haven�t kept in touch now! I�m sorry that it has taken so long, but, these days, all of my time is spent away from the computer and living my life. I still want to keep in touch with everyone, and would love to see some of y�all at my wedding. Oh don�t worry, my wedding is still a couple of years away! Good news for y�all though, bad news for me� Quynh is working more now and I only really get to see her on Wednesdays and after work on Friday and Saturday nights, which means that I have more time to keep in touch! Why is it bad news for me? Because I miss her!
Changes in the Rants
Jason
"As Good As
It Gets"
Dooley
The big changes for my Rants page, is that I will now be using this format, where I only do a Rants page every six months. I might change my mind and do it every two or three months, but I haven�t decided yet.
Last but, of course, not least, I would like to give a special shout out to all of the people that have been emailing me in the past week.
Tanya Lane
Mark Davis
Heather Sheffield
Shana Hurst
KC Pohts
Violeta Miranda
Dee Jackson
Zulema Rodriguez
Amy Bishop
Monica Ortiz
Stacie Sylvia
Nancy Yocum
Amanda Davidson
Take Me Home!
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