(nasa) new gym

i tried out the 24 hour fitness near nasa today - much closer than the one in friendswood. it's not as big, but i liked it better than mine, AND there's a taco bell conveniently located right there in the same strip mall. the friendswood one just has the golden arches out the front doors, and you have to go a whole block to get to the taco bell (and the whataburger and schlotsky's and jack in the box and double dave's pizza). i was trying to cram before my weigh-in/workout with buff branden tomorrow. but i don't think cramming works with working out. thanksgiving week is a tough week to start a workout program. i seem to have lost only one pound since beginning my body transformation program a week ago. my theory is that of course i've lost two pounds of unsightly fat and gained one pound of gorgeous muscle. shut up, justin.

(clear lake) target markets

apparently, target is working on expanding its markets with creative new mind altering merchandise. i wonder if this is only available in california.

addendum 11/30: target seems to have removed this link. sorry if you missed it. it was funny.

(Interstate 45) the road to mars

we didn't take



the road to mars today. but anytime we want to, we can, because now we know where it is.

we did, however, stop at a glorious, mysteriously uncelebrated yet amusingly overprotected cement truck yard.


if only i'd had some black paint and my invisible suit (and perhaps a few other superpowers) to get past the surveillance cameras, barbed wire, and alleged guard dog, there would have been some serious spirals on these sweet little cement truck pods.

(arlington) fun central

just as texas is the center of the universe,

apparently arlington is the center of fun, perhaps because visitors are encouraged to

spit responsibly. surprisingly, no one seems to own www.spitresponsibly.com. someone ought to jump on that real-quick-like.

(friendswood) adult swim

all i really wanted was a pair of goggles. i seem to have lost mine in australia. so today we drove to the local academy (sporting and outdoors store) and spent some time browsing before asking where in the store we might find swimming goggles. we were informed that swimming gear is seasonal, and they had just gotten rid of it all to make room for the hunting gear. of course. silly us, thinking we might find goggles at a sporting goods store. argh, texas. they cheerfully recommended we try the galveston store. ebay would have been faster. after a couple hours of driving, we were obviously obliged to go for a swim. adult swim with gramma kelly and grampa justin - the goal for next time is to last more than a half hour. must... acquire... pool... stamina.

(galveston) thankstaking

lovely dinner and two movies (and 46 advertisements). before the first film (finding neverland (mmmmmm johnny depp and kate winslet), justin talked big about making a stink that we have to pay money to see so many advertisements. but i think all the steam went out by the end of the second film (ray).

isomething's wrong with my pool still/again. when i turn on the recirculation pump, it spits out cloudy water into the pool. it started doing that when the guy came to clean the filter and there's also a hose that appears to be leaking. sigh. a woman's work in the pool is never done.

(friendswood) duff vs. buff

here they are, jo...what do you think?

(friendswood) sore

yesterday was my first workout with my new personal trainer, buff branden, floor supervisor at my neighborhood 24 hour fitness. i'm having a hard time moving my limbs and other moving parts. he didn't call me maggot (as justin suggested he should), but he did make me cry. well, ok...*he* didn't make me cry. *i* cried. but these days it doesn't take much. bit of gravity here, bit of self-disgust there.

(houston) new studio?

i spent a good hour revisiting a studio in the heights that i'm contemplating buying. this would be a stretch, of course. it would involve a long commute in my new hybrid, if it ever arrives. it would involve living in a building that was really designed more for commercial use than residential. it would involve giving up my life in the suburbs, which, as anyone knows, is utopic. if, that is, your idea of utopia is stepford. it would take a lot of work, and it would be a decision to stay in houston for a while.

all of this is a lot to think about, since i never planned to stay in houston, and i'm ever so antsy to leave. on the other hand, it may be wise to just kill the ants and homestead for a while.

another thing on my mind is etiquette, in general, and more specifically the modern unspoken rules of behavior. why do we have social rules? what happens when one person decides that these rules or expectations don't apply to him or her? an example might be johnny ramone, who said people never asked him for interviews because he was grumpy and unfriendly. which people get to be outside the rules and expectations of society and why? how should and how does it affect others when one person doesn't play by the rules? at best, it can be entertaining, strange or just slightly uncomfortable. at worst it can be alienating, hurful, and sometimes insulting or offensive. where are the lines and who draws them? who is responsible for them? how do they change?

(houston) winter in houston

(houston) art crawl

we got a late start, but we made it to the art crawl, or at least part of it.

(nasa) cat and dragonfly

despair plays with me like my cat plays with dragonflies. it hides in the grass wiggling its butt until i make myself just vulnerable enough. it conspires opportunistically and shrewdly with nature and entropy. it captures me solidly but gingerly and takes me in its jowls to its master's bedroom. it maims but doesn't kill, because it derives its greatest pleasure from my struggle. and when it grows bored with me, it leaves me on the carpet to flail. when i recover the strength and courage to move, i'm trapped in a place i don't want to be. and where is the Master to pick me up and take me back outside? or do i have to find my way myself? or am i better off just staying where i am, so that nature can complete it course and despair can just stop playing its cruel little game and eat me already?

(friendswood) dinner party

thanks for a wonderful dinner, two star! everybody, go see the houston phenomenon two star symphony this weekend at helios after the bobbindoctrine puppet festival.

(friendswood) my dog ate my battery

ok...i know i missed a day. really, i didn't mean to, but i was starting on my post after work yesterday when my battery died and then i had to cook dinner and then we had to watch two episodes of the daily show, and ...you know... i just never quite got back to a computer to finish. so i'm cheating. yes, cheating. i'm going to post this today (thursday) with yesterday's date, just so i don't spoil a perfect record of posting. it won't happen again. i promise.

perhaps if i feel really guilty about it or someone gets on my case (i'm pretty sure no one but me cares), i may change the date stamp back.

(friendswood) so far

so good. well, at least so-so. yesterday was, indeed, total advanced fresh. today, not so fresh. back to some of my old tricks. i got distracted looking for a new space for the studio, in case i decide to stay in houston permanently (which, in my world, doesn't really mean permanently - it could mean anywhere from 1 year to...well...let's say 5 years? beyond that, i can't really say). i found an interesting building that i'm going to go look at tomorrow. it's an 8000 ft office/warehouse building in the heights. i distracted myself further by daydreaming of turning this place into a combination rehearsal space, performance space, and recording studio. daydreaming is probably my number one procrastination activity. today i was procrastinating preparing my slides for an 8:30 presentation tomorrow. in fact, it's 10:30pm and i haven't started to prepare. why do i always do this? it's so typical. i guess i'll be going soo. i will report on the possible new (real) home of it's not rocket science studios (which, incidentally, also needs a real website) tomorrow.

i missed the first 3/4 of justin's radio show tonight because i interviewed a woman from san antonio who wants to cook, clean, and run errands for me (and take care of my cat) in exchange for a room in my house. this seems like a great deal to me. i showed her the room and she seemed happy about it. she is married, but her husband and all her animals and stuff are staying in san antonio for the time being. even better! i liked her. but i'm going to sleep on it.

and finally, i hired a personal trainer at my gym today. i know. it's ultra-lame. but i'm doing it anyway. things were just getting out of hand. i have my first session on thursday. go, fight, win.

(friendswood) total advanced fresh

6:30am monday. off to a good start for the week. even more ready to work than i was saturday.

(friendswood) sunday drive

(houston) work ethic

halfway through this 4-day weekend, and i feel cured of my work-related-malaise. i'm fully over feeling burned out and tired of nasa and its ways. i'm ready to go back on monday morning and work on all the things that have been suffering from my lack of interest in them. miraculously, a newfound enthusiasm has gripped me. one of my friends, a true role model of mine, says that his goal is to have 10 productive hours of science a week. that doesn't sound like a lot, but it's surprising how many people even get that much real work in, between travel, writing proposals, keeping up with emails, dealing with administravia, sitting in meetings, and chatting in the halls with coworkers. so i'm going to do the same, with the goal of having two rough drafts of scientific papers done before the new year. i know i should set realistic goals, but i'm feeling ambitious.

(friendswood) Birth of Baha'u'llah

wow - i've been home a lot since starting this blog. most of the entries say either friendswood or nasa. that's a good sign. i like being home.

today was a Baha'i Holy Day (the Birth of Baha'u'llah, founder of the Baha'i Faith), so i had a little lunch at my house and invited people over. and that was my day. now going to see "found" with justin in the city. going to drive the studebaker, which i should post a photo of here one of these days.

(friendswood) veterans day

thanks to all the people who have fought for good causes.

(friendswood) heeeeeeey!!!

hey, what happened to my wednesday post??? why does blogger keep eating my posts?

(nasa) i'm disappointed

no one has yet surfed to my blog by googling "killer cement truck." i was certain it would only be a matter of minutes or hours. sigh. what do all you people do on the interweb all day?

ohohoh, in cement-truck-related news, i spotted a SPIRAL CEMENT TRUCK in the movie "the graduate" this weekend!





this was my first spiral cement truck siting in years, and it was exquisite. bigger sigh. did they stop painting them this way in protest against 80's pop music? disco? what? what was it? whyyyyyyyy? somebody please help me.

and, as if to torment me further, there seem to be more cement trucks per square inch in the greater clear lake area than anyplace i've ever lived, including LA. they are sometimes striped, sometimes logo'd, sometimes otherwise decorated.

somebody please give me spirals. the world needs spirals.

addendum nov 12: here is a photo i took just after posting this blog entry of the construction at nasa across the street from my office. justin's friend arturo's dad apparently works for a large cement company, and he said that in the 70s, lots of cement trucks were painted in all sorts of interesting ways, but that they've stopped doing that. but that still doesn't tell me why... why, arturo, why? can your dad pull some strings and get them to start again?

(friendswood) attention concerned citizens

ladies and gentlemen, you may now cease your hysteria. it has come to my attention that mr. crane has FOUND his SOCKS. i repeat, FOUND his SOCKS. search parties may now return to their familes. please do your best to resume your normal daily routines, as if nothing happened. that way they won't win.

(friendswood) redhead again

the black, which had turned first to blue, and in recent days a kind of sickly yellowish greenish grayish black has once more been attacked with feria bleach and is now a kind of bright red with black highlights. i think i like it.

(nasa) happy birthday to you

happy birthday, sweet jo!

(friendswood) the way weekends should be

i am really getting used to this weekend thing. only now, in my advanced age, am i giving myself the gift of weekends at home with nothing much planned. it's delicious and indulgent. i don't reckon it will last for long, but for now, i'm living it up. let's see...today there was jumping on the trampoline and watching justin try to swim in the frigid pool waters. then there was some shopping at the mall (ok, this part wasn't very enjoyable, but sometimes it must be done). there was mexican food at morenos, which offers free softserve ice cream cones after your meal. there was measuring the distance around the runway to see how far we are walking every evening - 1.5 miles! then the walks themselves at night around the loop. i dance while justin walks. i also try to avoid his punches. and then there is the mixing of tenses and sloppy grammar. and there was the watching of 'the three kings' and 'the graduate,' neither of which i had seen and both of which justin was reminded when we saw 'i heart huckabees' saturday night. (by the way, i thought 'i heart huckabees' was brilliant. i'd like to see it again.) and saturday afternoon there was croquet in the park with jo and celeste and all the cool kids. not to brag or anything (ok, to brag), justin and i kicked some major butt at croquet. and finally, there was the making of ginger pomegranate muffins, which turned out OK.

mmmmm great weekend.

(houston) pickle schnitzel

for reals, at the black eyed pea in river oaks, we had fried dill pickles and ranch sauce. there's not much to say about this, really. i guess if you can fry corn on the cob, you can fry pickles. the austrians would be impressed.

(friendswood) blogger

blogger was down last night. i sat down to update and it just wouldn't work. so perhaps i'll post two today. i don't want to ruin my record.

(friendswood) home

justin has lost his socks. we both have independently imagined them flying out the back of the truck when we moved his stuff, so if anyone in houston has seen a little mesh bag filled with brightly colored socks, those belong to justin and he would very much like them back. we're considering posting a reward.

in other news, i cooked tonight. this is newsworthy because i rarely cook. not because i don't like to cook, but because i never have anything to cook. and this, in turn, is because a) i'm rarely home, and b) i don't like to shop. but, i had to go to the store tonight to cash a check, so i figured while there, i might as well pick up some food. tonight we had marinated teriaki tofu, rice, and my special dill yoghurt. the good news was that we didn't have to go to sonic afterwards.

i also snagged a killer cement truck rug at randalls. check it out.

("the district") no façade left behind

sigh. bleak night. i'm bewildered and concerned.


but there were some small joys.

every time i go on travel, i receive an assignment from justin of photographs to take (with my phone). the assignment for this trip was:

1> The interterminal train at the Atlanta airport.
2> The Washington monument.
3> A congressman/woman or Senator/Senatress.
4> CIA headquarters.
5> The Black Cat club.
6> A flyer for a band on Dischord records.
7> The Udvar-Hazy Center.

so right around midnight, to take our minds of the dismal numbers trickling in, loretta, chris and i decided to take a drive to tackle my assignment. i'd already gotten #1, #5 (twice), and #6. so we headed out in search of politicians, udvar hazy, and the cia. we decided first to stop at the reagan building (site of the republican gathering) to catch some congresspeople. i got as far as the security checkpoint and was denied entry. as i hung around outside, a small group of young women started squealing and jumping up and down, and another man told me that ohio had just been called for bush. i visibly wilted, but then remembered where i was standing and straightened myself. i took a couple photos of senatorial-looking people, as well as some photos of the security guards and the building, and then hopped in the car again before all the police could descend on us to tell us we weren't allowed to stop there (they were waiting for bush to show up).

next we made our way to the udvar-hazy center, snapped some photos in the dark, and whizzed back on the highway. the most notable part of this journey was the return tollway trip, because we had no coins, and there was noone manning the toolbooth. we spent nearly 13 minutes outside our car hunting for $.35 in change on the ground. triumphantly scrounging up 3 dimes and a nickle, we threw them into the basket, but the light didn't turn green. one dime had to go through several times, and when it eventually did take, the light still didn't turn. eventually we gave up and just drove through the red light. at the next tollbooth, we told the agent that we'd paid our .35 cents at the previous booth but the light hadn't turned. she said that's fine, there are plenty of cameras that will show we paid. hah. i'd like to see that videotape.

but the best part was the cia. first we tried access via the mystical magical george washington parkway. as it is designed to do, it confounded us and spit us back onto the 495, so we decided to take a different road. finally we saw the sign for the CIA, and we were so delighted by the road sign that we decided we must have a photo of it. as we pulled over and i got out of the car, a white suv pulled over behind us and a young officer got out, looking very suspiciously at me (it was, after all, 2:30 am on election night). he told me i was not allowed to take any photos. i asked him if i could just take a photo of the sign. he said (as if he were thinking, "duh!"), "this is the CIA, ma'am, no photos." i said (incredulously, with a "this is AMERICA! where's my FREEDOM?") "i can't even take a picture of the roadsign?" he looked a bit flustered and said, "well it's not really safe for you to be out of your vehicle on the side of the road... i looked at him like that was a pretty lame thing to say, and he looked like he knew it. he then repeated that we were not allowed to photograph any of the CIA buildings. i said i hadn't and would not, and that all i wanted was a picture of the sign. he asked to see the other photos in my phone. so i showed him the pictures of the udvar hazy museum, and he seemed somewhat satisfied that i was sincere. he told me to hurry up and take my photo and then be on my way. that whole experience made the whole night sparkle. god bless america.

so here they all are, justin. what's my prize?

1> The interterminal train at the Atlanta airport.


2> The Washington monument.


3> A congressman/woman or Senator/Senatress.






4> CIA headquarters.


5> The Black Cat club.



6> A flyer for a band on Dischord records.


7> The Udvar-Hazy Center.




as the sun rises on the mall here, the official electoral votes are Bush 254/Kerry 252. it's all on ohio. people are still down the street waiting for president bush to show up. i'm going to go to sleep now for an hour or two.

(dc) waiting

not much to say. just waiting for results.

(DC) eve

tomorrow is a big day here in america, and i'm in the nation's capital. it would be great fun, except that i'll be in a meeting at nasa hq all day on lunar precursors for human exploration. so i should keep this short (besides, i'm on dialup) and get to bed.

but first, i really wanted to share with you this photo of an unfortunate little lizard who has been nicely preserved in my friend juan's garage doorframe. poor guy.