Is it any wonder I've got too much...

A few weeks have passed by, and a lot of stuff happened.

For instance, one of my coworkers went away on vacation and came back a husk of his former self.

I imagine I'll be in similar circumstances by the time I finally get to take some time off...which is coming up in a couple of weeks! Alison and I have planned to visit the NY Gibbs in June, and we're slowly combining ideas together for an itinerary. Hurricane Sandy, unfortunately, put the kibosh on a lot of my ideas, like walking around the Statue of Liberty, visiting Ellis Island, or seeing the Space Shuttle Enterprise. Then again, I've heard that mutual commiseration can bring out the best in some people...

Although it may not bring out the best grammar

Also, I learned that the Guggenheim Museum is largely under renovation. I guess you can't always pick the perfect time to visit somewhere, but I'm sure there's still enough cool stuff to do and to see. Since I've never been before, I don't have any aversion to acting like a major tourist n00b.

Even though New York City is steeped in history and culture, a big city like Houston certainly attracts its fair share of...attractions. One thing that's really nice is the number of performance centers. I got a deal to go see Philip Glass and his ensemble perform an original soundtrack to the Bela Lugosi classic Dracula. On the way, we stopped by one of the many restaurants we love downtown: the Hearsay Gastropub.

It's built in the second oldest building in the city, and attracts a younger trendy crowd. So we qualify, right? The food is great too.

The city is full of neat sights, like old Volvos...

...and old school newspaper headquarters.

Our seats at Jones Hall were way up in the nosebleeds, but that didn't really distract from much since the movie was projected on screen, and the orchestra was plenty audible.

I have a great love of classical minimalist music, Philip Glass being my favorite. I would very much like to see Einstein on the Beach someday (well, as much as I can, because I hear it goes on for hours). The soundtrack was classical Glass (hehe) with running strings and winds. Unfortunately, as of late, whenever I get put in a darkened room, I drift off to sleep. Alison did her dutiful best to rouse me, so I caught about 3/4 of the performance.

Food trucks are also a thing, although Austinites may claim that they own its true spirit. Regardless, they are in Houston as well, and we had a blast at the Houston Food Truck Festival. There were a lot of trucks with odd novelties, such as Korean BBQ tacos (which we did not try, because we didn't want to wait an hour in line). Each truck has a distinct personality. I particularly liked the Japanese/Mexican fusion truck (chicken keraage). Alison liked Tila's Tacos (tortas with succulent fajita beef), and we both really liked the Golden Grill (grilled cheese extravaganzas like Green Eggs and Jam or Smore).

We also took more pictures of our house's model home in Fallcreek.

We also had to go to our design center appointment, where for 3 grueling hours we picked everything that wasn't "standard" with our home. Turns out that the standard options are often bleh and bleh. Another unfortunate thing is that it's hard to visualize what your flooring and tile choices will look like in a real house. I asked the design lady if they had any software they could give a visual representation of your tile, carpet, and paint choices, and she said no.

So I sought out my own.


It's not perfect, but I think it is a fair representation. Sound off if you hate it! Or even better, sound off if you like it...