Psst...

Hey Kate,

FritoRay here. Get that Polaroid of yours ready. You made it to the Superbowl. Just barely, though. That was neck and neck. Gotta love some buttery crust around a kielbasa. Nice touch. Okay, so here's the deal. I'm tempted to change the rules again, but I'm afraid that Michelle friend of yours might lose her mind. So, we'll use the same four criteria Heather, Cheryl, and Claudia laid out at the start of football season.

Your secret ingredient, in case you haven't figured it out yet is Fritos.

Who are you competing against? Why, none other than the King of Krunch, the Colonel of Corn, Master of Muncha a Bunch and the Deacon of Dip. Yours truly, FritoRay. Kate, you better leave all that sweetness behind. This is the real deal. You're going to have to dig deep. The Deacon of Dip is going to dish out defeat and you're first in line at the buffet.

You've got until Friday at midnight to post your recipe, so Struble Suds can get busy in their test kitchen. This is for all the glory......and of course the hand painted Highlowaha super bowl. Good luck Kate, you're going to need it.

What about the rest of you? Other than rooting on Team Ray in the Second Annual Snack Throw Down, what will you be doing Super Bowl Sunday?

FritoRay out.

Psst...

I'm sharpening my barbs. Get ready, cause you know what's coming.

Meet me here next week, ready to commit.

Signing off until tomorrow...

Rayndeer Games

Ho Ho Ho. Can you believe we're having a White Christmas in Dallas? Yesterday it was 70 degrees. Today, snow. That's Texas. Gotta love it. I've been beaming on snow for a week now. I love the Law of Attraction. All you have to do is think it and low and behold it's snowing in Dallas. Claudia's inside doing last minute Christmas stuff. I had to come out, sip on my coffee and enjoy my handiwork. I can't stay long. I'm expecting my snow bunnies to show up any minute. You didn't think my only wish was snow did you? Dream big baby!

Did you check out my antlers? My boy Donner gave me a set. Donner means thunder? Blitzen means lightening. I've been telling everybody. It seems that I'm the only one that didn't know this. Even the kindergartners look at me strangely when I tell them. Oh well, what are you going to do? Oh, gotta go. I think I hear my snow bunnies. What about you?

What's Santa bringing you this year?

Psst...

PaRayde, here! Just hanging out high atop the Macy's Parade. Last year it was Rayflower reminding us of our Thanksgiving traditions. This year it's me....a 200 foot tall floating beacon of shine. See that big smile on my face? That's the helium. When I talk, I sound like a Chipmunks record on 78. For those of you youngsters out there, a record is what we had before CDs. Record players had three speeds. 33 rpms for full size records, 45 rpms for small records and 78 rpms for the really old records. Still confused? Google it or get over it.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Thanksgiving. I guess we should talk about what we're thankful for. Here are a few things that I'm thankful for:

I'm thankful that somehow, after all these years, Macy's has been able to keep this parade going. Can you imagine how many times a select few Shining individuals have had to convince management that it was more than just a marketing tool and that there was no way to calculate the Return on Investment. How many times has this parade been saved from the chopping block I wonder? Way to go Macy's.

I'm also thankful for the men and women who are in harms way in the military, while we eat ourselves sick, watch football, and try to keep Uncle Mikey from hitting the twelve beer mark before dessert. Semper Shine!

I'm thankful that some Shining inventor came up with the Widget that keeps my Guiness Draught bubbly and fun.

I'm thankful for traffic attorneys that have kept me out of court and out of class. You're worth every Shining penny.

The last thing that I'm thankful for is............

homemade yogurt and granola. You thought I was going to get sappy didn't you? Hah. Never.

So tell me, my fellow sultans of Shine. What are you thankful for?

Free For All Friday

One more thing about Ray's birthday. Then, we'll put a fork in his celebration for another year and get on with the business of watching our weekly video.

Newcomers to our site don't know that Highlowaha readers ascribe to the science of Colorstrology. For those who don't know, the book, Colorstrology, by Michele Bernhardt assigns a different color to every day of the year. You, in theory, should feel some affinity for the color assigned to your birth date.

My color is Languid Lavender (a color I very much like and for which I actually own a few items of clothing). Heather's birthday, only five days later, is Eggshell Blue. The colors and tones are completely different (and yet... she also owns a sweater of her exact color!). Point? There is no connection between months and colors assigned. One day could be Opaline Green and the very next could be Terra Cotta.

Ray's birthday landed on July 21, last year, by chance. It was National Tug of War day and seemed like the perfect occasion for selecting his name. That was the extent of thought given to it. We would never have known to engineer something "appropriate," since we could never have anticipated the life (and personality) Ray would take on.

I was curious to know, of the 365 colors and descriptions that could be his, which color was appointed to Ray's birthday. Ready?

AMBERGLOW!

Can you believe it? There's more. Listen to the description.

Amberglow: Magnificent, Different, Daring. If you were born on this day your mind is quick and alert. Everything about you tends to move more quickly than the rest of the world. You are highly dynamic and are not afraid to go where no man or woman has gone before. You can be entertaining and generous, especially with your energy.

All's right with the world, isn't it?

Now onto the video...

Signing off until tomorrow...

P.S. Ray's compatible birthdays are January 21, May 22, and May 16. Does your birthday fall on one of those days? Inquiring minds want to know.

P.P.S. Congratulations, Peggy for being the most clever and snarkiest of all! You win your very own Raysin in the Sun t-shirt (and bragging rights!).

Psst... Part II

Yup, still your turn.

If you're tuning in for the first time today, there's lots to know. The light bulb is Ray - our HLA friend. He's snarky, but lovable, a little direct, a lot sarcastic, and on a mission to spread his message around the globe... Shine (dammit).

Ray shines. With two feet, he jumps into whatever he is doing. Celebrating National Ice Cream Month? He transforms into StrawberRay. National Friendship Day... CompadRay. Thanksgiving... Rayflower. Writer... HemminRay. Baker... Sugar Ray. Surgeon... Ray's Anatomy. And the list goes on. Don't believe me? Click on the link to GalleRay.

AnyRay, his birthday was earlier this week and in true Ray form, we're still celebrating. Yesterday twenty of you "whacked" your thinking and took a crack at using the picture posted above to create your own name for Ray.

Impressive work. He'd be proud. GuadalupRay; SunRays; Summer VaRayation; MerRayly, MeRayly, MeRayly...; Rayver Rat; Sitting on the Dock of the Ray; Raysin in the Sun; and yes... even Anonymous's snarky suggestion of OveRayted... to name a few.

Today you get to embrace your inner Ray. Be the Ray you love to hate. Wordsmith one paragraph narrating the above picture - Ray style. We want to see your inner snark. Let your sarcasm and twisted sense of humor all hang out.

Start your paragraph off by restating the name you generated for Ray yesterday. None other than Ray himself will be judging which of you has the best overall entry (name + paragraph) and he's impatient. If he has to do the matchmaking, your entry will suffer. Sad but true.

Didn't submit an entry yesterday? Take a crack at both today.

As if we're not having enough fun here, we've thrown prizes into the mix. Complete challenges from yesterday and today and you will automatically earn a patch for your patchwork denim. Have Ray select your entry (name + paragraph) and win a limited edition t-shirt printed with the image and your winning name.

Fun, right?

Signing off until tomorrow...

Happy Birthday Ray

1,000,000 shirts by 2013, spreading Ray's message about the power of "Shine." That's our vision and we're sticking to it.

But first, great dialogue yesterday about Ray, the content of our blog, and the purpose of our community. Join me sometime this Sunday if you want to continue yesterday's discussion or if want to see what's on the mind of others. I'll open up the floor for discussion early Sunday morning and you chime in as interested. No rules. No structure. Just a simple dialogue among friends and stakeholders. Thanks again for your interest in our community. I hope to see you there.

So how are we going to do it? 100,000,000 shirts by 2013? Slow and steady and with lots of creativity and hard work on our part. That's how. We're starting with the simple goal of printing as many shirts as we can for $800.00. We'll sell the first run of shirts at cost and then use that money to print a second run of shirts. We'll sell the second run for profit and use the money from those sales to print a second design. On and on we'll go until slowly Ray builds a following of fans.

Shirts will appeal to anyone who shines or to anyone seeking the perfect gift for someone they know who shines. They'll go to friends, colleagues, neighbors, graduates, sons, daughters, honor roll students, and the baby sitter who takes such good care of your kids. Even groups can get in on the action by letting us custom design a Ray shirt for your soccer team, your walking club, your Bunco friends, or your favorite alumni reunion.

To get the ball rolling, we thought we would return to the very activity that got this party started - Tug of War.

Yes, Ray's birthday falls on the same day as National Tug of War Day. Newcomers to our site will be interested in knowing that Ray Wattson got his name, one year ago today, after a long and strenuous game of Virtual Tug of War. Want to know what names, other than Hal and Luigi, Ray was up against? Click here to see last year's post.

In honor of Ray and his birthday, I thought could tug over the inaugural Shine t-shirt design. Here's how it will work. We will have three brackets of tugging.

Bracket #1: Design 1 v. Design 2; 4:00 a.m. - 10:00 a.m.
Bracket #2: Design 3 v. Design 4, 10:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
Bracket #3: Winner Round 1 v. Winner Round 2; 2:00 p.m. - midnight CST

Here we go, Round #1...

Design A

OR

Design B

Winner from Round #1 is.....Design B!!! Here we go for Round #2!

Design C

OR

Design D

Okay, so the winner from Round # 2 was Design D! Here is our final round of the tug-of-war for today...Round #3!

Design B

OR

Design D

Signing off until tomorrow...

Rayvolution

If all you want is the creative idea promised here each day, then the next line is for you.  

Hosting a party?  Include name tags and do what employees at Sea World do.  Have each person list a descriptive moniker below his name.  My tag, for instance, might read, "Claudia, Starbucks Coffee Lover."  This allows strangers to strike up conversations more easily than they might otherwise.

Want to be a part of a movement that matters?  Than read on.  Warning:  This post is longer than those of recent past.  You won't be disappointed.

Ray Wattson celebrates his birthday tomorrow, but to me it's so much more.  The birth of Ray Wattson symbolizes the magic of people giving 100% of themselves - Raydiating, if you will.

Snarky Ray Wattson, our beloved light bulb, hit the scene because long-time reader, Peggy, had an idea.  She didn't say, "It's not my job to come up with ideas for Highlowaha.  That's Claudia's job."  No.  Instead,  Peggy raydiated creativity and decided to share it with the rest of us.  Then along comes another reader, raydiating artistic talent.  She volunteered to draw Ray for us and, some 30-odd Ray's later, Cheryl has literally brought Ray Wattson to life.  Are you catching my drift?  We should follow the example of Peggy and Cheryl, jumping in with both feet and raydiating excellence.

If what you do is have an attitude, then heck... raydiate attitude!  Such is the case with the person responsible for giving Ray voice (I could tell you who, but I'd have to kill you).  Think he pussy foots around?  Heck no.  When Ray is in the house, we know it.  The voice of Ray jumps in with two feet, raydiating attitude and making his presence known.  

Yeah.  To me, Ray, and the story behind Ray, symbolizes excellence... living life full throttle.

Then, in January, I met Jackie at a conference.  Immediately upon meeting Ray, Jackie fell head over heals in love.  He insisted that young people, college students, famous people, and old people alike would all universally fall in love with Ray if only given the chance to meet him. 

Hmmm... you mean, let Ray raydiate the globe instead of casting a narrow beam of light over our small, but distinguished community?

It seems so fitting.  Raydiate.  Full throttle.  No holds barred.  My wheels were turning.

January, February, March, April, May, June... every day thinking, dreaming, talking, hashing, and rehashing ideas for how to help Ray get out his word.

What exactly is his word? What is the single word that best summarizes the message we want Ray to carry with him across the globe?  

Raydiate?  Those who don't yet know Ray might wonder why we spelled it wrong.  Won't work.

Excellence?  Right sentiment, but trite and overused. 

Brighten?  Too soft and flowery.  Ray would never stand for it.

Someone suggested...." Whatever you are, be a beacon of it." Beacon = light = light bulb = Ray.  Getting closer, but too long. 

Why not ask Ray himself.  You know what he said?

SHINE!

That's what he said, "Shine" and immediately I fell in love.  Short, sweet, and to the point.  Whatever you do, "Shine."  

Hair dresser?  Shine at it.  Be the best hair dresser in your town, state, region, or country.  Are you a farmer, teacher, lawyer, painter, chef, stay-at-home-mom, tour guide, salesman, student, coach, babysitter, or accountant?  Whatever you are, whatever you do, whatever your contribution to this world we live in... Shine! 

Ray's seen the light.  He seen the work of Jake and Otis and the whole, "Life is Good" crew and he's willing to take them on.  He's willing to go head to head with a new message - a bigger, bolder message.  Sure, you could sit back relishing in the idea that life is good or you could join our Rayvolution to brighten the world and just SHINE!

So that's it people.  You heard it here first.  Ray is starting a Rayvolution.  He's taking his message on the road.  Sure, he'll remain our special Highlowaha friend, continuing to make his regular visits and with all his usual snarky comments.  But, he's got another gig going now too.

1,000,000,000 shirts by 2013.  Wanna see?  Check back tomorrow to find out more.

Signing off until tomorrow...

Psst...

I'm back!  Stingray - your biggest nightmare - here.

Claudia spends yesterday talking some mumbo-jumbo about the glass being half full or half empty.  Enter even more psycho-babble when suddenly we're talking about circumstances of the glass and from where in hell the drink even came.  If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, did it make a noise?  PPPP-leeease!

Let me clarify... the drink isn't mystical or magical.  It wasn't retrieved from the Fountain of Youth and it wasn't served on a silver platter by a tall skinny guy in tuxedo.  But, it also wasn't my pee.  Render yourself lucky. 

Here's what I know.  We're half way through the year and most of you have done squat about your new year's resolutions.  Or, you've made some pathetic effort, but you started seven minutes ago and you'll be out of steam again by the time I say, "Monkey's Uncle."

Get off your duff.  

You could curl up in the fetal position crying "Woe is me" or you could wake up, face the music and realize you have 176 days left to make that damn goal of yours happen.   What's it gonna be?  Lose a few pounds, save some cash, organize that mess of yours or listen to me ride your @$$ come January 1? 

And... if you wanna talk psycho-babble, they say the first step to solving your problem is admitting you have one.  So what is it?  

Psst... It's Me...

HoliRay

Claudia's stuck in her loaner car somewhere between here and Houston. Crazy Texas weather! Speaking of crazy...

Look who has decided to visit me after six years..........it's my cousin Noel. As you can imagine, this is her time of year. She's visiting from Brooklyn where apparently they still love big red X-mas lights. All I've been hearing for the last six hours is "One Italian family has 350,000 red lights... and that's just in the backyard" or "People just love me. It's not Christmas without red lights." "Why don't you just let me try......if you don't like it we can remove the red paint. I'm telling you, once you go red you'll never go back." Blah blah blah blah blah. Don't get me wrong, I love my cousin......just not in December. What was I thinking inviting her to visit?

Six years ago, I vowed never again. I decided to invite her to a party I was having. It was just supposed to be family. A quiet little affair. You know low wattage type of thing. She's shows up with 249 of her friends. They're all the same......red, bright and loud. Those crazy c-16 bulbs scared the heck out of the minilight side of the family. One of the minis burned out and that was it......half the tree was in the dark. Then what do you do? It's impossible to figure out which one freaked out. Can't take the lights down. Can't fix the string. Nightmare. Then the big red ones think it's all funny and they try to scare the other minis. Half the neighborhood went down that night. Kids crying, dogs barking, I think they even caused a fire. Total bedlam. I vowed never again. Who knows what this visit will bring.

What about you? Who in your family is blacklisted? Give me some dirt. Help me feel better about myself. I'll tell you what, I'll read your whacky stories and for the one I like most......I send you a cool ornament for your tree. It's in the little red and white box under my tree.......bet you'll never guess what it is. It's a "mystery." For those of you who have been hanging around this joint for a while, that was a clue.

No chance of Claudia showing up anytime soon, but still I'm outta here. I need to find a stiff egg nog.

Psst. It's Me...

DemocRAYcy 

Psst.

Roses are Red

Violets are Blue

I'm the real Maverick..

Just look at my boots!

Had to throw that in there.  Hey, it's finally here.  Election day.  I can't believe I've been watching 4 hours of CNN per day for nearly two years.  I know more about David Gergen and John King than anyone should.  When you're watching John tomorrow with his Magic Map watch how he flings the states up and off the screen.  I don't know why, but I want to slap him when he does that.  Claudia thinks he's neighborly.  I've never had a neighbor like that.

David Gergen on the other hand, now he seems like a neighbor.  Only your neighbor could have that bad of a comb-over.  He probably mows the lawn in a jump suit with white socks and black dress shoes.  Probably wears safety goggles too.  That makes me crazy.  Oddly enough though, if I had to pick just one pundit to listen to it would be him.

I voted early, because I don't have a job and I could.  I just kind of hang out and I'm good with that.  At any rate, I'll be camped out in front of CNN hanging on David's every word and lunging at the TV every time another state gets flung out of sight.  I've got dinner being delivered and I'm going to sit in my PJs and boots and soak it all in.  Good luck to all of you that will be standing in line soon.  I'm going back to bed to rest up.  Vote well, all.

Ray out.

Psst... It's Me...

Count Raycula

Blah, blah, blah... I've come to see your blahg.

Before I forget, I'm supposed to tell everyone (as if you didn't know) that it's Free-for-all Friday.  What a "pain in the neck!"  All this finding the hidden HLAs in my picture, and talking about random stuff.  It's driving me batty.  Is it too early for a Bloody Mary? 

I kill me.

But seriously, Halloween......how cool is that?  This is the day that millions of people start out giving each child that comes to their door a couple of pieces of candy from their 20 pound stash and by the end of the evening are doling it out by the double handful to every kid parent and dog that walks by.  There are of course a few thrifty souls who secretly fear having to lock the doors, turn off the lights and hide in the closet till the last roving band of barely costumed, bowl dumping, pumpkin smashing, hormonal teens flee the scene of the crime.  Which are you?

Being a vampire, I only get to see the after dark activities.  I've heard rumors that these "helicopter parents" - (look it up) are out their with the kiddies way before the sun goes down.  Frightening.  Do me a favor and let me know when you get your first little goblin at the door.  If they look tasty enough I may have to buy some good sunscreen.  While you're at it, make a post later tonight letting me know how many kids showed up and how much candy you have left over.

Make a post with all that info and anything else that comes to mind.  I'm sure they're dying to know.  Uh oh, sun's coming up and I can hear Claudia trying to decide which Halloween scarf to wear.  Got to go.  See you tonight.

Psst... R. Wattson, Here

School is cool!

Three days into the new school year and I'm loving life. Girls, school supplies, and all-you-can-eat-lunch lines. What more could you ask for?

Did someone say... "A giveaway?"

O.k., o.k. I know Claudia throws a bone your way every once in a while and if I'm going to get you to take me seriously about helping spread good ideas, then maybe I need to, "see the light" and offer up a prize too. I can do that.

But I have more than a prize. Check me out. Where ever you see me, you'll find the letters "H" "L" and "A" cleverly hidden . The letters might be hidden somewhere on me or somewhere in the surrounding picture... or BOTH. Wanna an idea of how many to look for this time around? There's a number next to my boot. That's the number of HLAs for which you should looking.

What? You still want a prize. Darn, you're a tough crowd. Alright. Here's what we'll do. I'm picturing a particular school supply in my head. You have to guess what it is... SPECIFICALLY. For instance, instead of guessing "pencil," you would guess "Dixon #2 pencil."

Here's how it'll go. We'll play hot or cold. You post your best guess and I'll reply either "hot" or "cold". Back and forth we'll go until someone guesses.

How's that for fun? Let Claudia try and top THAT today.

Psst... It's Me Again.

Pssst.  Me again.  Ray Wattson, here.  

It's been a while, I know.  I've had a busy summer.  After flying Claudia's coop, I camped out at Cassie's for a while.  She bought me the cool purple boots I'm wearing.  Check 'em out.  Go ahead, say it... You like 'em... you love 'em... you want a pair of 'em.  Too bad.  They're mine.  The closest you'll get is a pair of purple cowboy boot cookies.  That's provided you can get Cassie (or Stacie) to bake you some.

Cassie showed me a great time with her three kids, swimming at the pool everyday.  Much as I loved hanging out in Euless, it was time to go.  

You can't keep a good idea down.  I had Olympics to see and people to meet.  So, while you all were enjoying your Virtual Dinner Party, I was enjoying the real thing.  Since opening night it's been one party after another... rubbing elbows with Michael Phelps; rooting on Nastia and Shawn; leading the cheering section for Misty May and Ms. Six Feet of Sunshine; trying to keep pace with all the track athletes; and last night watching the diving (did you see me, Alden, and Amy on the Jumbo-tron?).

Anyway, the Olympics end any day now.  Kids around the country are returning to school and I have to  be back in the states by then.  I love the smell of crayons and new school supplies really boost my wattage!  After that it's off to Pennsylvania.  Rumor has it you all are meeting up in Philly the weekend of September 5.  Maybe I'll pop in for a visit.  

Oh, I almost forgot.  Today I bought a t-shirt while shopping the Beijing markets.  I figure I'll make Claudia proud and give it to one of the lucky readers smart enough to send Claudia a postcard for her Random Act of Kindness (RAK) box.  She'll like that.  In fact, if she was here, she would probably say, "Don't forget to remind readers to send in a postcard with their home mailing address."  I'll appease her.  If you've moved or you've never sent Claudia a postcard with your mailing address, take a second and send her one.  First of all, you could win a prize.  Second of all, maybe just maybe, she'll shut up!  Her mailing address is 4012 Harvestwood Court, Grapevine, TX, 76051.  

As for the lucky winner... Sue Kolkmeier!  It'll be on it's way to you just as soon as I get back from China.

Gotta go.  Claudia will be posting any time now and I don't want to take a chance she'll spot me.