We all know them. They are people that we go to school, work, and even are friends with. They may even sound and look like us but they hold a belief and paradigm that we do not. Who am I talking about you ask? I say unto you the prideful Texan.
I had my first encounter with some my freshman year. It was an apartment of girls that all had that southern drawl and a huge Texas flag in their living room. (not that refined Virginia southern accent but that full on DRAAAWL). I had never seen people so loyal to a state in my life and being an open minded person I thought, hey, maybe they’ve got something down there. Maybe it is a great place to be from, live, and visit. So over the past 5 years I’ve been to that state on many occasions even staying as long as a week and I can say with all confidence: it’s not that great and mediocre at best. So then where do they get this weird pride? Can anybody answer this? I think that all t-shirts, billboards, and other paraphernalia that say Texas is the greatest state in the union should have a disclaimer at the bottom that reads: If you’ve never been to any other state in the union. If you constantly have to remind people how great your state is, then maybe it’s not so great and you are trying to compensate for that deep down insecurity about its greatness.
But I digress. It’s only natural to love the place your from and have some loyalties there, that’s not what I’m addressing. I’m addressing the fanatical loyalty that some exhibit. Ok, ok, I understand some of states history but even still. Where does it come from?
I once saw a girl that is a friend of a friend on myspace sporting a “Texas is for Lovers” t-shirt. Whhhhaaaaaaaaaa? Texas is for Lovers? Really? I thought that Virginia was for lovers. If anything, Texas is for greedy arrogant politicians and a couple good indie rock festivals.

Am I the only one that has pondered this? Will someone please help me understand this "Texas pride"?

PS The Dallas Mavericks lost in the NBA finals this week. Many fans are crying conspiracies about the league being against them and the refs making calls to that end. So they stuck around to boo the commissioner and the Miami Heat team when they were receiving the championship trophy. They can’t see the world clearly through their Texas pride and realize that they got out played for 4 games straight so they blame anybody but their Texas team. The Seahawks got screwed by the refs in the Superbowl, in their finals, the Mavs did not. (Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest :-)

For those of you that haven't seen it, I had to pass it along. 15 seconds of comedy genius.

I remember hearing those words when I was 12 at an Andy Warhol exhibit in Chicago. It made sense to me at the time and I wondered when my 15 minutes would be. Taking into account that fame is relative, I'd say that this August is my month for, ummm, 5 minutes of my 15 to be used.
Here is the deal: My wife and I's favorite channel is HGTV (Home and Garden Television) There is something about it that just sucks you in especially with shows like "House Hunters" and "I Want That!". Well to make a long story short we were contacted by a producer of "I Want That!" because they are doing a new spin off of that show focusing more on tech toys. Tiff had sent in our info as possible participants a month ago and they came calling. So we both were filmed using and talking about the gadgets that they gave us each in our own little segment of the show. ( I had a fabric keyboard and Tiff a new webcam). The whole experience was actually really enjoyable not only because we are going to be on national TV but also because the camera men and director were so much fun to work with. The dates for the show are still unknown but the new season starts in August, and I'll update my blog the moment I know our clips will be on.
The other way that I'm using some of my 15 minutes that month is that an article that I have been helping with is being published in one of the most prestigious family research journals in the land which is: The Journal of Family Relations. Granted, I'm the 3rd author of 5 but even still it feels good to have my lit reviews and endless coding yield some results and recognition.

So how about you? What experiences have you had with being on TV, movies, or some form of media? I know there has to be some people out there that have had brushes with fame, tell us about your 15 minutes.

I have purchased a couple domain names for the future and decided to post a fun little personal site I've been working on with my mac. You can get to them by going to either of these:

www.wilcoxryan.com

www.ryanwilcoxmft.com

Enjoy!