I met her for lunch in Gruene, Texas so our first stop was the Gristmill.

We then went to the Winery on the Gruene. I am not a huge wine drinker, but these were pretty tasty.

My favorite was the Blackberry Merlot. Really tasty. It was sweet but not so sweet that it gives me a headache.

We also hit up a few antique stores, and I saw Lucious Malfoys cane.

Afterward we headed to historic Gruene Hall to listen to some live music. Because of the rain I avoided shooting with my camera and kept to my iPhone.

So here is a real photo of the band that played.

And some video of the band.

The name of the band was the Chris Reust Band.

Pretty good band, with a pretty good sound.

Sunday was spent Apartment hunting so nothing exciting there.

For New Year’s eve a friend and were going to Bandera Texas, however after a bit of car trouble we decided it would be safer to stay within the city limits. So we headed to Blue Star Brewery for some beers.

This is me and my friend Kelly hanging out at Blue Star.

Upstairs at the Brewery they have these really cool bikes for sale. I have a nice bike that I do not ride enough, however these are reasonably priced and are perfect for this side of town since they are all fixed gear bikes.

This must be where the recipes for their tasty beers are conceived of. After a while we decided to head a little closer to downtown to see the fireworks. As we got a little closer we saw Casbeers had a bunch of people out front so we pulled in and decided this would be the perfect spot.

Casbeers had a little band setup and they played Auld Lang Syne to ring in the new year at midnight. The name of the band was Blue Cat food.

This was the perfect spot to see the Fireworks from, without having to fight crowds.

Sunday I went to Comanche Lookout to hike the trail. The Trail was really short, but there are side trails that can make the hike more interesting.

All trails lead to this little fort structure.

This fort was never used as a fort. It was built to be part of castle built by an Army Colonel. in 1923.

I know, this is a video and not a photo however this little guy amused me for a long time last night.

I like lizards, they are cool little creatures in my book.

Saw this little guy laying in the driveway on my way to visit my grandparents.

At first I thought he was dead, because he was flat against the ground. But as I approached he scurried off to lay in the tree.

Maybe he was just really hot.

So here are my top five things I will miss.

No. 1 Friends

I have met a lot of awesome people at Tech.

The first group of people were the people I met in the dorms, they were a life line during those first six months. Lots of football games took place within the dorms, and the LAN parties were always a blast.

It later grew when I worked for the radio station and then the newspaper. And then to towards the end there was the tweetups, where I met a whole new group of people.

No. 2 Texas Tech

Let’s face it, without Texas Tech there would be no reason for any of us to be here.

The classes were great, the campus is beautiful and the football games were a blast.

Honestly, without Tech, Lubbock would have fallen apart a long time ago.

No. 3 Weather

West Texas gets some awesome storms. Visually they are really fun.

I have spent many afternoons in a car driving straight into the heart of a storm. Only recently with a camera.

It is great to sit on the back porch, light up a cigarette and just watch the lightening roll in.

No. 4 Prairie Dogs

What is not to love about these little guys.

They are cute, fluffy, noisy and tasty. Ok, so three of those things are true.

I have always wanted one as a pet, although I do not think I could teach it to play fetch.

And where is the fun in that?

No. 5 The Sunsets

Look at the sunset to the left.

Look closely.

How amazing is that, and this is not even the best sunset I have seen.

There was the time the sky turned purple.

Just look at the stuff I have tagged as a sunset.

Awesome, right?

The sunsets all over West Texas are like this because of all the dust in the air, so when the sun light hits it, the light scatters into something that is glorious.

No. 6 Badgers

I know, 6 items in a top 5 is a little strange, however this one gets an honorable mention.

This is Badger, or Jacie depending on who you ask.

She is my badger, and I am her meerkat. There is a weird story behind this. I might tell you one day, but not today.

But I will say that Badger and Meerkat are friends, and that there is a lot of love there.

Meerkat will miss badger, for this we can be certain.

These are the five six things I will miss about Lubbock. What do you think are things I will miss?

Last night, over drinks a plan was hatched.

We would drive up to Amarillo and visit a spot next to historic Route 60 called Cadillac Ranch.

Cadillac Ranch is an interesting site to see, and even though it was rainy a muddy today. People showed up to fulfill the time honored tradition of covering them in spray paint.

You can read more about the Cadillac Ranch here.

And if you want to see some awesome pictures taken along Route 60, my friend Charlie Stout has an awesome project over at RouteSixty.com.

VidCon Take-aways from SMCLBK on Vimeo.

Today was the first SMCLBK meeting. It was a blast, we met at Orlandos on Ave Q and Jacie Hood gave a presentation on how to get the most out of YouTube.

Helped a friend moving today, we got in her car bright and early this morning and drove to Abilene to meet her parents and trade cars.

While in Abilene we went on a mini photo adventure. I would love to show you the photos from said adventure. But, the memory card had an issue; and all the files are corrupt.

So instead, here is a video I shot today while exploring the Museum in Abilene.

Today I got my iPhone and began snapping with the camera on it.

Sadly, when I sync’d the phone with my computer; everything I shot was lost.

But here are 3 of the tests I made. More to come tomorrow.

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This is my father down in Rockport, Texas.

My dad has been a good friend of mine for a long time. He taught me how to use the computer, at the time it was a Headstart Explorer.

He took me camping, and even joined Boy Scouts because I wanted to.

I remember a few years ago, my Dad was informed that he was going to become a Grandpa. My family spent the rest of the day trying to decide what my parents would be called. My grandmother was always called Nani and my grandfather was always called Popo; this was a variation on what my great grandparents were called by my parents.

We decided on Nono for my mom, because with all the breakable items in the house we assumed we would hear “No no Keller, don’t touch that” often.

My Dad, however insisted that he wanted to be called “Viejo.” I remember asking him why, and he stated that he wanted it because he was an “old man.” I tried to explain to him, that Keller would likely not be able to pronounce “Viejo” and that it would come out as “ahoe,” which sounds like asshole.

He simply replied, “I can be that also.”

On an unrelated note, here is a video I made from my iPhone after showing off qik to him.

Happy Fathers Day Pops.