Siber-Den
31 July 2003
Civic Activism
I went to a Townhall Meeting (yes, that's what they called it) this evening about the Spur 527 construction. Quite a few people in attendance this time, the third time around. There is some progress being made to call for the decoupling of the project into two projects. The current plan calls for 59 AND the spur to be torn up at the same time. Calls for decoupling take into consideration that, yes, the spur and the elevated portion of 59 do need to be completely redone, but separating the project into two phases will at least keep most of the cars on the freeway, not in the neighborhood. At least, not in the numbers TxDOT has been quoting (60,000+ per day).
Interesting to note that several mayoral candidates were in attendance. Mr. Bill White got up to speak first. He started out by telling us that we, as customers, are not being heard by government. It was weird. I almost had to squelch a laugh when he started into the whole customers spiel. I know, he's a businessman, and he's running on his experience as a businessman. He seems a bit forced in public. I guess I need to chalk that up to his lack of public exposure. At least he's publicly pledged to fight this current plan.
More interesting to note was Mr. Michael Berry's little turn at the mic. He's so gawky in person, so child-like, but he was surprisingly...good. He lives a block or two from the spur, so I know he can be counted on to fight for the neighborhood. He actually made several good points about TxDOT hiding this from the city for so long. Said that they didn't want the ensuing hullabaloo, or at least wanted to put it off till it was too late (quoting Councilman Mark Goldberg, also in attendance, who was privy to an actual TxDOT meeting that discussed keeping it quiet). He said for the past ten years, since the current plan's creation, the city could have put several million dollars a year aside in preparation for traffic mitigation. Instead, the city only recently found out about it and has been scrambling to adapt. He also talked about how the city leadership really is at fault for this mess. He went on to make the point that if we'd spent more time and money analyzing various construction projects, this one in particular, and making and maintaining contacts and lobbyists in Austin to keep us more informed of the goings on, instead of erecting monuments to city leaders at the airport and sending city officials to China, maybe we wouldn't be needing to meet today. I led the applause on that last note.
Holy cow, I applauded for Michael Berry. Wonders will never cease.
I'm happy at least to report that one of my usual breakfast haunts, the Whataburger on Shepherd, is a usual hangout as well for another mayoral candidate, Mr. Raymond Rodriguez. He's also from the neighborhood and felt the need to throw the Whataburger reference into his little three-minute turn at the mic. He also pledged his support.
There are plans for lawsuits and injunctions. There is talk of the current 527 plan being in violation of NEPA because no current environmental impact study for the neighborhood was ever developed. Unfortunately, that entails filing suit in federal court.
I'm not sure this will do any good at all. I'm not sure all this meeting and planning will do anything. The construction needs to be done. I just wish there had been more time to plan and more input from the neighborhood they're about fundamentally to alter.
At least people feel like they're doing something to make a difference.
[Posted @ 22:38 Texas Time on 07/31/03] [Comments (1)]
30 July 2003
You're A Sick Man, Wesley
Kev has a database. A bootleg database. He just made me come over and take a look at it. He beamed while showing it to me. He called it cool.
Kev has a database. *sigh*
Kev has taken my little bootleg hobby to levels I never even dreamed of. : )
[Posted @ 20:57 Texas Time on 07/30/03] [Comments (2)]
29 July 2003
Almost Like Taking A Stroll In Montrose...
I have a long list of journals that I read regularly. Fred's is one of them. His wife's is too. I don't know Fred personally. I don't know his wife either. But their journals get regular visits from me through the week. I like the way they write. They're also cat fiends, so their sites help ease my cat addiction.
Anyway, I'm doing my nightly journal perusals and stumble across this entry over at Fred's. Holy Cow. Yep....that would freak the living hell out of me too. Why the police didn't seem to be concerned is beyond me.
Holy cow.
[Posted @ 21:30 Texas Time on 07/29/03] [Comments (3)]
Kate Musings
Weird the differing reactions to her entry. I had nothing but sympathy for her. My high horse took a long walk without me while I was reading her entry. I even wrote up this longish post to my site about it but decided just to get it out of my system and delete it afterwards. Talking about my own situation and approach and relationship methodology didn't really seem to take into consideration that we're talking about Kate here. Woo hoo for me that I'm sitting prettier and have less stress and deal with someone who doesn't mind mopping the floor and doesn't expect me to thank him for it. Woo hoo for me that the way things work is how I want things to work.
The fact that she talked it over with her s.o. and tried to work through it in her own head afterwards and that she dealt with the myriad of emotions that come after a loss of control like that proved to me that she's not unworthy.
It is not an indictable offense to wonder what has happened to one's happiness. It is not an indictable offense to remember that at one point, things were just as they should be, things were just as you always dreamed. It is not an indictable offense to be overwhelmed with everyone needing every part of you. It is not even an indictable offense to have it build up to the point that the walls come tumbling down.
We're not supposed to lose control. We're supposed to have everything perfectly arranged and organized and let everyone know exactly what it is going on inside and as a result, everyone responds accordingly. Hunky dory prevails.
Except, it doesn't always happen that way.
[Posted @ 19:51 Texas Time on 07/29/03] [Comments (0)]
28 July 2003
Make Your Hay When The Sun Shines
Kev and I are strange and similar in many ways. We had been listening earlier in the evening to the boot of the Blue Door show we just recorded this weekend. It ain't perfect, but it's one of the best sounding boots we have. We can't take the credit for that. Most of it lies with the venue, the equipment, the sound board mixing, and most important, the band. They were amazing Saturday night.
Anyway, so it's been silent around here for an hour or so (besides the clacking of keyboard keys : ), and I leaned over and mentioned to Kev that I'd like to hear Make Your Hay one more time before we go to bed. This is a song from a Groobees cd. On the Groobees cd, it sounds NOTHING like the way the band has played it the two times we've heard it. Nothing. Saturday's version is amazing. I can't stop wanting to hear it. I think we just listened it to a dozen times. In a row.
It's an exhilarating thing. It's wondrous to hear a song that touches you and then want to hear it over and over and over again until you begin to question your sanity. And then, you go hunt up the lyrics from the cd case and sing along. It's just amazing.
Scott and the rest of the band have completely written a new song. The lyrics are the same, but it's more...affecting in its current form. It's a road song now. The music has leaving written all over it. And coming back. I love it.
At some point, I'll have listened so many times that I won't want to listen anymore. But right now, I feel like I've stumbled across a hidden gem.
[Posted @ 23:43 Texas Time on 07/28/03] [Comments (1)]
Delicacies
Speaking of yummy foods (weren't we?), I just finished downing my second freshly picked tomato from Kev's father's garden. One of the benefits of meeting up with Kev's parents, besides getting to see them and enjoying their company, is getting goodies like a couple dozen home-grown tomatoes, assorted cukes, and a melon. Omigosh. I just cut up a tomato, drizzled olive oil and red wine vinegar over the pieces, seasoned them, and sliced up some feta to go along with it. Yumm!!
I wish I had some thick bread to mop up the juice now.
Thank you, Frank and Louise. This is one of the reasons I feel the need to pay for dinner whenever we see you. : )
[Posted @ 21:11 Texas Time on 07/28/03] [Comments (3)]
27 July 2003
1000 Miles Later...
Evelynne, Cathy, you can stop posting comments to the last entry. I decided to update finally. : )
We just returned from a really enjoyable couple of days in Oklahoma City. Yeah, yeah, what's the big deal. It's Oklahoma City. Maybe it was just the people we hung out with (I love Kev's family), or maybe the food (*groan* what was I thinking...fried chicken livers? They were good but I'm still downing Imodium to counter the effects) or the amazing music (courtesy of the Dead End Angels) or the cool venue, or hanging out with the band for so long after the show (Troy is fun and a gun nut to boot : ), or the extremely nice people we encountered, or the trip to the Oklahoma City National Memorial today.
Speaking of The Oklahoma City National Memorial, what a surprisingly moving experience. The moment I stepped foot in the main area, chills swept over me. Keep in mind it was ninety degrees outside. The goosebumps/chills didn't stop till we got back to the Jeep. Why was I so affected? The knowledge of what happened there? The beauty of the Memorial? The serenity of the place? Every corner turned, every new observation, every piece of the memorial took my breath away. The small chairs representing the children who died killed me (there's an empty chair for everyone who died). The Jesus Wept statue across the street almost moved me to tears. It's a beautiful tribute to the people who lost their lives.
It was a long drive back. We're both exhausted at the moment. Too tired to retrieve Ms. Ki from her slumber party with the huskies.
Is it really Monday tomorrow?
[Posted @ 23:09 Texas Time on 07/27/03] [Comments (8)]
19 July 2003
Thank You, Kind Sir (And Yes I Mean Kev)
It seems the resident internet/website/techie expert has this thing set up in Nucleus now. The change over was set for the weekend of The Hacking, but a couple weeks later is better late than never. Or something.
We're off to The Firehouse for music now.
[Posted @ 18:43 Texas Time on 07/19/03] [Comments (20)]
06 July 2003
Long Weekends... Good
What a nice, restful, Kev-filled, not-long-enough weekend. I spent most of Friday sleeping, resting, having much Kev interaction, watching bad television, and wishing the rain away. I got to fly the flag for one hour before the heavens opened (very sad). The rain and the clouds broke right after our pub dinner, so we ventured over to an empty field near Buffalo Bayou with chairs and coffee in hand to watch fireworks. The mosquitoes were happy to see me, but I still enjoyed the show. Smiley face fireworks are the weirdest damn things.
Saturday was spent doing more of the same...sleeping, resting, Kev, bad television...and wishing the intense heat away. Kev's grilled hot dogs and steaks were the highlights of the afternoon.
I worked for a few hours today, but that still didn't put a damper on the nice weekend. Kev wasn't far away. He hung out around the corner at a coffee shop chatting with a friend. It felt weirdly nice to know he was a block away.
Back to the grind tomorrow. All good things... : )
[Posted @ 23:57 Texas Time on 07/06/03] [Comments (0)]
She's Such A Good Girl
Kiwi gets about 2+ walks a day. She's always walked ON LEASH for several reasons: I'm used to huskies and their vagabond ways, this is more or less the inner city...nothing but streets and crazy Houston drivers, and it's the law.
Tonight, Kiwi and I got saddled up for our nightly constitutional (as Kev calls them) and got a couple of blocks over when we came across two women walking a schnauzer. Off leash. They both called the schnauzer. The schnauzer didn't respond (not having recall over a dog and STILL walking it off leash is evidence of complete stupidity). Instead, the schnauzer ran straight at Kiwi and proceeded to pick a fight with her (little dogs and their little-dog syndrome). I held Kiwi back the best I could, away from the little bastard, er, terror until its owner came over and pulled it away. She apologized profusely. Without lecturing, I pulled Kiwi on.
I met them again on the next block and the dog was on leash. They apologized again. I again did not lecture, as I wanted. I've already had one shouting match with another idiot after her off-leash dog got into it with Kiwi. Shouting is never a good way of convincing someone they're acting in an irresponsible, reckless, and/or dangerous manner. All I wanted after this incident was to shout, so I refrained altogether. In my opinion, this little dog's doomed. The next dog may have a prey drive or the next driver may not see it.
Kiwi's fine. My biggest concern in instances like this is that she thinks she's done something wrong. She hasn't. She's more concerned about my approval than she is about kicking some weenie dog's butt, but I probably embarrassed her by not letting her show the little squeak toy what's what (*anthropomorphism alert*).
It's not the schnauzer's fault its owners are idiots. Kev wants me to start carrying a stick. I want to know if it's for the dog or for its owners.
[Posted @ 23:15 Texas Time on 07/06/03] [Comments (1)]
01 July 2003
Eau De Decay
There's only one thing worse than a dog rolling on a dead animal, and that would be a dog getting skunked.
There are no skunks in Montrose (not of the four-legged variety anyway).
It's fun to bathe a dog at 11 P.M.
[Posted @ 23:21 Texas Time on 07/01/03] [Comments (0)]
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