The ocean at 5am

Wow!  Did I need this past weekend...

The past two weeks at the office have not been a picnic and the cracks from the stress were beginning to show.  So, how do you remedy this?  Take a Friday off and enjoy a three day weekend, of course.

Now... just because I am who I am, I had to do something constructive so I became a legal resident of Texas.  Yup pilgrim, I got myself one of them there driver's licenses... so now it is all official-like (although when I tried to "mosey", I almost got beat up).

I spent a wonderful Friday evening cooking a pizza (from a box), having a great conversation and watching a movie with a wonderful friend.  Life is good.

Then I got up at three thirty in the morning.  Now there was a purpose for this.  I went with another friend to take pictures of the sun coming up in Galveston.  Being the sailor man that I am, the ocean has always held this draw for me.  But philosophical BS aside, it was simply a wonderful adventure.  I got to take a lot of pictures (see my Flickr site), FINALLY got to ride the Galveston ferry, and visited the Kemah Boardwalk.  Relaxing with a friend and a camera.

Sunday was simply a PJ day.  I made some bread and vegged out in my t-shirt and shorts.  Listening to music, playing games on the computer, did laundry, and watched NetFlix.

Mental recovery at it's best.

Look at the faces...

People are wonderful things.  People have viewpoints that drive you crazy, make you think and some will just make you stop dead in your tracks and wonder.  People have styles and habits ranging from the hilarious to the awe inspiring.  Here in Houston, we have some of the widest variety there is in the United States.

Diversity is woven into the fabric of this city from the variety of places to dine to all of the ethnic festivals.   You can just walk down the street and see it.  You can hear the languages spoken and the garbs being worn.  All of this coming together into one city and it is magnificent.

My apartment complex is a great example.  Just in my little section there are three hispanic families, four Indian families, a Pakistani couple, a group of (I believe) Nigerian taxi drivers, and an Arabic family.  All of these wonderful people all living together in one (what would be) small, city block of apartments.  The folks are all polite and happy.  All of the kids are rambunctious and fun to watch.

Life is really good.

A familiar itch...

Wanted.  One traveling companion to visit San Antonio for a day (or weekend)... or it could be Austin... or the wine country... maybe even Dallas... Nah, never mind... not Dallas.

The point is, I have that ever-so-familiar itch to hit the road and do a little exploring.  Which brings us to another wonderful point about living in Houston.  There are some wonderful places to travel to that are not that far out of reach.  San Antonio and Austin are about three hours away.  Add an hour from Austin to be in the "Hill Country" (although that is really a misnomer - the land is "wavy" not "hilly").  There are so many places to gravitate to that it can be wonderful.  For that matter New Orleans is only six hours.

So I have the itch.  Not sure if it will be this weekend or the next, but the road calls out to me.  It would really be nice to have someone tag along.

But hey, you have to buy your own drinks...

With a little bit of this...

First off, the ExxonMobile symphony series continues at Miller Outdoor tonight.  For any of you that have never seen a live symphony performance, you really should.  A live performance is so much better than listening to the radio or a recording.  I don't know why, but it really does...

Staying in the listening mode, I just have to reiterate that there are concerts and happenings going on all the time.  Discovered that the burb north of Houston called The Woodlands has a pavilion with an outstanding line up this summer.  They have everything from Big Time Rush to the Jonas Brothers to Black Sabbath playing this summer.  This is something to definitely check out.

I will also try to do another photo walk somewhere.  Not sure where yet, but I know I can find somewhere.  Also starting to get the itch for a new city.  Maybe Austin, maybe San Antonio...

What a weekend

There is something to be said about laying out in the grass watching a performance.  I have always enjoyed this type of venue, whether it be the Springfield Muni Opera, or the Muny in St. Louis or (especially) the wonderful Miller Outdoor Theater here in Houston.

It was especially appealing this weekend because the Houston Symphony was playing there this weekend.  It was their 100th birthday concert and the music was just simply beautiful.  Add on top of that the fact that the "large moon" thing is happening and it really made for a great evening.

My two rugrats have flown back to Indiana, so this old man is a bit down at the moment.  So this evening I will be heading over to 14 Pews for a movie entitled "Hey Bartender".  I think I know what the subject of the film is...

When the munchkins arrive...

Two of my favorite people showed up over the past weekend and will be here for a couple of weeks.  Since I have not stockpiled enough vacation time yet, these two will be heading off to camp during the day.

Note to parents:  there are more camps and daily activities to do in this city than you can shake a stick at...

My two are enrolled in the Main Street Theater summer camp.  This wonderful camp has the kids creating their own play complete with dialog and choreography.  And we are not talking a live improv at show time.  No, they will have lines to memorize, marks to hit, and scenes to fill.  Of course, the folks who run the camp are smart because the first day the kids learned stage fighting.  My ten year old daughter came running to the car and yelled "I learned how to fake slap someone in the face and kick them in the head!" That is my little princess...

Aside from the camp, we will be visiting the zoo (one of my favorite places), the Natural Science Museum and heading down to the beach in Galveston.  Since my kids live in Indiana, which to my surprise does not have an ocean or gulf to it's name, they will love to frolic in the salt water.

There are a number of other things that we will be doing such as enjoying a couple of performances at the Miller Outdoor Auditorium and listening to zydeco at the Juneteenth celebration.

Fun is to be had as always...

Dancing the night away...

...and then tipping back a few.

Houston Metropolitan Dance Company - Photo by Simon Gentry

The Houston Metropolitan Dance Company is performing tonight at the Miller Outdoor Theater.  I will admit that it took me a while to warm up to modern dance.  I credit the television show "So you think you can dance" with educating me in this realm.  Now, I have come to appreciate a lot of modern dance for the beauty that it displays.  The stories that can be told through dance are as wonderfully pleasing to watch as the sheer elegance of a Viennese waltz.

As I have stated on this blog repeatedly, this is one of the benefits of living in the fourth largest city in the United States.  I have seen the Houston Ballet, the Houston Grand Opera, and tonight, the Houston Met.  Life is really good.

Tomorrow is the Houston Beer Fest.  It is basically a showcase of different beers from around the world with musical acts playing near Hermann Park.  Where I grew up in Springfield, IL (hometown of Abraham Lincoln) we had a yearly festival called "Lincoln Fest", it was a street festival that became known as "Drinkin' Fest".  Wonder if this will be similar?

Almost forgot to mention that I went to Jones Hall to see the Blue Man Group on Tuesday night.  If you have not been to Jones Hall, I would really recommend attending an event there.  It is a beautiful theater.  From what I understand, Jones Hall is home to the Grand Opera and the Symphony.