Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 2.5

In case you didn't notice, I didn't do any running this weekend. I hate to run when the allergies are acting up 'cause I can't inhale/exhale.

Anywho...here's a quick recap of my comings and goings.

I did make it to LeFittes yesterday for a light weight workout. Skedaddled home and walked The Calvinator and then headed out to Ft. Bend County for a surprise Welcome To Houston Stan Sikorski! Party. It was also an afternoon to memorialize Audrey Sikorski. It was a wonderful afternoon filled with great conversation.

I arrived at the house and had no idea where I was. LOL Good thing I packed a lunch and First Aid supplies for my nosebleed. (Just kidding.)

For those of you who don't live in Houston and don't know the joke, there is a segment of the population that never traverses "outside the loop" (OTL) The loop is I-610. Keep in mind, The Galleria is OTL but it is attached to the loop so it is sorta annexed. So if you ever go OTL you might get a nosebleed and you might get lost and need a snack.

I did get up this morning and run 3 miles. The legs were rested and I had new shoes and shorts so it was a good run. It was VERY humid.

The Mirror and The Mask

Portraiture in the Age of Picasso

Harlequin With A Mirror by Pablo Picasso

When The Calvinator and I did our road trip a couple of weeks ago, I left him with his grandparents one afternoon and went to the Kimbell Art Museum. They have an exhibit that will be there until September 16, 2007 and it is really interesting. So if you're in the city Where The West Begins I highly recommend that you check it out.

Quappi in a Pink Sweater by Max Beckmann

Bust of a Woman with Hat by Pablo Picasso

Franzi in Front of a Carved Chair by Ernst Ludwig Kirchner

Many of my readers may not know this but I have taken a few art history classes and some actual hands-on art classes. So it is always cool to see some the paintings that I studied. Here are a few of my favorite paintings in the exhibit.

Mlle Yvonne Landsberg by Henri Matisse

Self-Portrait With Monkey by Frida Kahlo

Andre Derain by Maurice de Vlaminck

La fille aux yeux verts by Henri Matisse

Man With A Pipe by Pablo Picasso

Self-Portrait by Vincent van Gogh

The Weekend in review (Part II)

7/7/07

My post for 7/7/07 pretty much tells you what I did during the day. Let me tell you what happened in the evening and it may “esplain” why I’m muy cansado.


Sikorski gave me a ticket to the Astros game. He was going to sing the National Anthem. He also invited AttyHou and Everyday Italian. Well…we had to get there around 530P to get our tickets and get seated. Just as we were loading up The Cal Mobile, the heavens opened up. High winds. Torrential downpour. Sheets of rain coming sideways.


We’re not that far from Minute Maid Park but the traffic signals were messed up downtown and the lightrail was slowing things down. And while the typhoon was swirling around us, Rihanna’s Umbrella (Rafael Lelis Radio Mix) started playing. Too funny. We found street parking about five blocks away and ran with our umbrellas. They didn’t do much good. We were soaked! Not sure if you can tell how wet I got from this photo. Look at my shoulder.

Can you see how wet I am????

The game went into extra innings. We left at the top of the 11th. The Mets won in the 17th…yes, as in 8 extra innings.

Here is Sikorski singing before the game.

Brad Ausmus at bat.

Sikorski, Everyday Italian, AttyHou & Steve

We went home and did costume changes (changed out of our wet clothes) before heading over to Quadra-3. Trevan, Dan, Gary and Ray throw a joint b’day party. It was fun to catch up with people that I haven’t seen in awhile. There was some buzz going around the party about Kaye Sedilla returning to town on July 15 at Miss Mint Julep. I sure hope she knows to expect a crowd!

So I had every intention of calling it an early evening but I was hungry and so were AttyHou and Everday Italian. We load up The Cal Mobile again and head over to House of Pies (aka House of Guys). Can you believe they were almost out of pie? Granted it was close to midnight but still! Puhleeeze. I wanted Bayou Goo Pie and all I got was Italian Dream Cake…oh and a chicken fried steak sandwich.

I didn't take this photo. THIS photo has pies in it.

July 4 recap

It rained most of the day here in the Bayou City. Neighbors Dale & Linda were having their annual Feagan Street July 4th Celebration. Even though I don't live on Feagan, I live close enough to be included.

Last year was the first time that I went to the party. I enjoyed it because it gave me the opportunity to meet people that I see when I'm out walking The Calvinator.

The weather obviously kept people indoors so it was a small crowd. Good Egg Neighbor Mike (Jack's owner) showed up. We never really talk in the mornings when we're dog walking 'cause we're still both 1/2 asleep...bed head and all.

In my conversation with him I found out that he is in the Training & Development Dept. at NASA. He has some assessment tools to help me with my career exploration phase. All I need to do is call him. (Hmmm...maybe I should become an astronaut?) You see...I told you he is a good egg. :-)

After partaking in some adult beverages, I made my way back home, walked The Calvinator and took a two hour nap. Calvin was not happy about wearing his bandanna. It took me about 15 frames to come up with one good pic. While we were on our walk, he received a compliment on his attire.

Wayne had a small soiree at his townhome in Midtown. I drove Jim and Ben in The Cal Mobile. We live really close to the big celebration that occurs in Houston so leaving NoRO was a bit of chore. We heard an odd noise and thought something bad had happened to The Cal Mobile. Turns out it was 4 F-16s doing a fly by (really low) for the big festival. It scared the cr#p outta me. LOL

Wayne's gathering was also a b'day party for Sikorski. The food was wonderful.

I never realized that Wayne had a third floor deck. We were able to see the fireworks at Hermann Park, Galleria and FreedomFest on Buffalo Bayou. I tried to take some photos of the fireworks but I was too far away. So, if I had been closer I'm sure they would have looked like this. :-)

Hope everyone had an enjoyable holiday!

Independence Day '07

I returned to NoRO a little while ago after doing the run wild 5K in Uptown Park. Proceeds from the run benefit Special Olympics Texas.

It would have been nice if the moisture hadn't fallen from the sky just as the run was going to begin. Look at it this way....1,000+ people running/walking on asphalt that is just getting wet. Surprisingly I didn't see anybody slip and fall and wipeout. Some of the streets were a bit uneven. (A teenager pulled a Zola Budd. I would have called him Zola to his face but he was too young to even know what I was talking about. LOL)

And speaking of the 1,000+ crowd. I looked around and realized that all walks of life were there. Anything from young to old, too skinny to overweight, and people of different ethnic origins...everyone was out there to kick off the July 4th holiday. Diversity is what makes the United States one of the best nations on this planet.

SIDEBAR: I deleted several paragraphs from this post before I published it. I didn't want to subject my readers to political repartee today.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Today is Jim Sikorski's birthday. Jim was a Mardi Gras virgin until this past February when he was defrocked in New Orleans. It was on that trip that we realized we had known each other 10 years.

Jim is a regular on the National Anthem circuit at Minute Maid Park for Astros games. Isn't it appropriate that someone born on July 4 gets to sing the National Anthem? How cool is that?