Simply awash with goodies

The Web Guy and Shasta

First off, I would like to let everyone know that I found a great breakfast place.  Well... if truth be told, I should probably amend that to say that my young lady friend found it.  I just drove.  Anyway, it is the Fountain View Cafe.  My young lady friend always has a hankering for biscuits and our search turned up this place.  The food was great, the coffee was good and plentiful, and the biscuits were delicious.  A place to keep on the list.

Last Friday we had a birthday party for the University of Houston.  The University is 88 years young and we pulled out the stops.  We had the pep band, cheerleaders, dance squad and the mascot Shasta.  We also had cake (enough to feed about 400 college students), t-shirts, temporary tattoos, and a photo booth.  It was genuinely a lot of fun and we had the students turn out on a Friday.  Of course it should be noted that it is extremely easy to create a crowd of college students, just give away t-shirts and cake.

It is also hysterical to witness a group of 18-22 year olds trying so hard to look cool.  There is a band playing, cheerleaders cheering, dance squad dancing and the mascot is bouncing around, and here are about 400 students forcing themselves to look bored.  Being the rather exuberant man myself, I am of course chastising this group of dour individuals.  They in turn look at me as if I am a fifty year old man with mental issues, but that is okay... I am having fun.

Not-so Kinky Boots

Sixth Street Austin

...and a good time was had by all.

My young lady friend and I had a great time last weekend and I learned another lesson.  I learned that while it is great to visit some places, there is no place like home.  Pure and simple.

Austin is a great city.  The two of us roamed the South Congress area and 6th Street.  There were a lot of great vintage shops to peruse, music to listen to and places to eat.  The Young Lady also noticed that there are a lot more people wearing cowboy boots in Austin than they do in Houston.  I casually confirmed that notion on the theory that Houston is a much more cosmopolitan city than Austin.

So yes, Austin is a great place to visit but I do believe that I would rather live in Houston for one very important reason - breadth of activities.  You see,  I could definitely see enjoying "the weirdness" of Austin but I do believe that I would run out of things to do before long or end up in a rut of doing the same thing over and over.  Here in the Bayou City, there is such a laundry list of constantly changing thing to do.  Austin has South by Southwest, but Houston has so many more things.  Anyway, I'll stay here.

Next up was going with the Young Lady to see Kinky Boots at the Theater Under the Stars (TUTS).  Once again, the venue was gorgeous.  The Young Lady and I were a bit tired after two days of walking and making the three hour drive earlier in the day but the thought of relaxing at a broadway musical sounded great.

My review of Kinky Boots..."Meh" (shrugging shoulders).  You could recite what was going to happen three minutes into the show and while Cindi Lauper's score was good, it was much like her pop career and you could not remember any song ten minutes after you left the building.  Nothing stuck.  You enjoyed it while listening to it, but...

Anyway, a great (and much needed) weekend with the Young Lady.  I do miss her and can't wait to see her again.

The crust alone...

There is a jewel here in Houston that I am surprised I have not mentioned before.  It is the go to place for desserts and pseudo dining...

Ladies and gentlemen, I give you The House of Pies!

There are two locations here in Houston (on Westheimer and on Kirby) and while it bills itself as a "family dining" place, no one is fooled by this.  It is simply the place to go to get a slice of pie.  Everything from your traditional fruit pies to the creme pies to cheesecakes.  Now they do have a great set of cakes (the carrot cake is great), but the shiny baubles are the pies.

Now, this weekend the Web Guy is getting a visit from the very lovely lady and we will be venturing to Austin for my first visit there.  Now that SHOULD the center of our discussions, but no... we are ensuring that our schedule includes two mandatory stops.  Everything else revolves around this... pie at the House of Pies (which we will hit after seeing Kinky Boots at TUTS on Saturday night) and sopapillas at Molina's Cantina (traditionally before I take her to the airport).   It is funny (but not surprising) that places to eat here in Houston override pretty much everything else.

So eat up, folks.  Go out and grab a slice (or two) to go with a cup of coffee.  I know I will be...

Sunshine on my shoulder and Austin on my mind

Okay... it is February 12th and it is going to be 65 degrees today.  I know that this hackneyed explorer has said this type of thing before, but I still cannot quite grasp it.  It is going to be 65 degrees in the middle of February!  It is 17 degrees today where I grew up...

Lord how I love this place!

Anyhoo, I am also getting very excited because next weekend I will be making my first trek into the city of Austin.  My very special friend is flying in to Houston as a belated birthday present and we will discover the state capitol (supposedly there is music there...).  I have been scoping out the places to visit on Sixth Street and also on South Congress street.  I have no idea what we will find, but I know that we will have a ball.  The two of us have been in a blues mood lately so that will be the focus.

What we have a tendency to do is to map out and plan to visit a few places which gives us a battle plan.  Then, once we get there we have the total freedom to throw everything to the wind and wander.  I believe that the mapping give us something to fall back on if our wandering needs help.  It really is a great way to explore.

Now... I want to go walk around outside.  This weather is gorgeous!

Always something...

I have made a bit of a discovery.  It very well could be that I am the last one to this party, but the young lady I am head over heels for just introduced me to Jeff Daniels.  Yes, the actor Jeff Daniels...only did you know that he is also a singer/songwriter?

 Now I believe that the primary reason my lady knew this is because she and Jeff are native Michiganders and those people have a tendency to have some sort of telekinetic thing going on with each other...(people from Wisconsin have similar capabilities), but I am impressed nonetheless.  And I also have to say that I am very impressed with Jeff Daniels as a musician.  So impressed that I am going to buy his albums.

I guess it just goes to show you that there is usually much more than what is on the surface of things.  There is almost always another layer or aspect to what you see.  So, it is with a deep sense of gratitude that I learn that lesson again and again.  I try never to focus on the appearances but it is always great to have the lesson smack you upside the head every now and then.

And while we are at it...give Jeff Daniels' album "Days Like These" a listen.  You just might like it.

Winter lineup

Thick socks are a must!

Okay, okay... for Houston, winter is here.  The temps are dipping into the lower 40's... possibly even (gasp) into the freezing zone and the folks here are a bit taken aback.  As a born and bred northerner (where it is currently 7 degrees), I can offer a bit of advice to these poor stricken folks that will help.

First off.. THICK SOCKS!  Go out and get a few pairs of hunter socks from a place like Gander Mountain.  I cannot tell you how much this makes a difference in the winter.  "Warm feet, warm heart" is an old Amish saying and those folks know how to brave the cold.

The other winter time occupation has to do with the kitchen.  There is nothing that will warm you up and keep off the chill better than to make some home made bread, soup and stews.  Because of the length of time that it takes to make these items, it is a really great way to spend an afternoon basking in the warmth of an oven.  The smells of what is cooking will naturally cheer you up and the eating of your concoctions will (for some reason) keep the warmth with you longer.

So cheer up Houstonians.  These three or four weeks of winter will pass before you know it and we will once again be on our way back to the 70s, 80s, and 90s.  Go get some socks, make a hearty beef stew for dinner (or loaded potato soup), curl up in the blanket and watch a movie.  I will make the popcorn.

Back in the Saddle...

The Web guy and the Web kids

I sincerely hope that everyone had a wonderful holiday break.  I made the insane 14 hour drive up to the frozen north to see my family.  Now when I say insane drive, please take that with a grain of salt.  Sure 14 hours is a long time to be driving, but what I am referring to with my quip is the scenery during the trek....specifically a certain three to four hour period between Little Rock, Arkansas and the Missouri line.  'Taint pretty, McGee... (look up the reference).  I actually saw a house that had ten to fifteen mattresses on the front and side lawns.  But the best part was that the mattresses seemed to have multiple burnt holes in each of them.  It was as if they were experimenting with explosives... 

The trick to these marathon types of drives is to simply put your head down and bull through it...as my father has always done.  No, actually it helps to get out of the car periodically.  I always get out for a bit (get a drink/snack) when I fill up the car and get out about half way between fill ups.  I cannot stress enough how wonderful a bluetooth ear piece is as well.

A wonderful time was had by all as you can see by the picture.