Pic Of The Day - 11.11.15 - I Had Some Dreams There Were Clouds In My Coffee

Well, not really but I did have a dream that included this coffee mug and my friend Lauren. No big deal you say, well...

I was in Sydney around this time in 2002 and purchased this mug. Now THAT is a big deal.

Welcome 2015!

There are many ways to welcome in a new year. Sydney lights up the Sydney Harbor Bridge with fireworks. Paris, London, Shanghai and New York City all light up icons within their respective cities. And then there is Key West and Bourbon St. Pub.

Sushi appears at Bourbon St. Pub and does the shoe drop. It is unique and is something I would like to attend one day.

AP Photo/The Key West Citizen, Rob O'Neal) MIAMI HERALD OUT

Whether you dropped a shoe, a clam or a crystal bar, I hope you had a safe evening. I stayed in with The Calvinator and was quite content to be here with him.

Everybody wonders what will happen in the new year; it's difficult to predict. We do know that there will be highs and lows and hopefully we will all weather the storms and enjoy the bright moments.

When 2014 started I had no idea that I would meet Betty Buckley and Bette Midler. I also didn't know that at the end of the year, I would be vacating the residence I had occupied for almost 9 years. As I said, highs and lows. And, most of these were documented right here on the blog. I once read a quote that stated, "You never know how strong you are until being strong is the only choice you have." There were many times, especially in the last quarter of 2014, that I had to remind myself of this quote.

So, speaking of the blog...how did I do?

My goal for 2014 was to take at least one photo a day. It didn't necessarily have to reflect the day but it needed to document the day. I was inspired by something that I read several years ago about Carly Simon. She would take one Polaroid photo a day.

Looking back, it appears that I missed about 6+ days of not taking a photo and most of those days occurred in the last quarter. Yes, I did fudge a few times and use screen shots or create a jpeg to reflect the day. Considering that I last tried this in 2010 and only made it through the month of March, I think I did really well! So...

Let's give it another try in 2015. Thank you to everyone who reads this blog.

Wishing all you the best in the new year!

2015 Comes In Down Under

I always enjoy viewing the fireworks photographs from Sydney as they usher in the new year. This one was taken by Wolter Peeters.

If anyone in Australia is reading this post, it is 4:02 p.m. in Houston on 12/31/14. How does the new year look?

The End Of The Year Begins With...

the beginning of the year in Sydney.

It was a fluke that I was able to watch the fireworks from Sydney as the Aussies rang in 2014.  You see...

I woke up at 4:15AM after sleeping on the couch for no apparent reason.  I woke up The Calvinator to give him his pill and walk him and decided to head the gym.  Well, I got there and they were closed.  I remembered they were closing early today but didn't realize they were opening late.  So, I went home and streamed the fireworks from Sydney.  7:00AM is 12:00AM there.

I saw an interview about the cost of the display.  $6M (AUS) was spent and for the first time in 10 years the iconic Sydney Opera House was aglow with pyrotechnics.  2014 marks the 40th anniversary of the Opera House which was controversial when it was built.

My love affair with Sydney continues.  It was rather fitting that my the beginning of the last day of 2013 was started with fireworks from The Land Down Under.

525,600 minutes

We are about to receive a new batch of 525,600 minutes. That is the number of minutes in a year.

2010 has already arrived in Sydney, Australia. I posted a question on Facebook to a friend of mine who lives Down Under and I asked him, "What does 2010 look like?" I haven't received a reply yet.

source: Getty Images

I'm meeting a friend for lunch and will be with friends tonight. And in there will be a couple of walks with The Calvinator and a run to the grocery store. That is how I will spend my last minutes of the 525,600 minutes that were given to me in 2009. What will you be doing?

Travel Tips

The Inconspicuous Tourist
Wearing a fanny pack? Don't do it if you want to stay safe and blend in
by Richard P. Carpenter
Boston Globe

Money isn't the only thing you should try to save while traveling abroad. You also want to save your possessions, and perhaps your neck. One way to do that is not to look like a tourist. Mobal Communications recently surveyed its phone subscribers and came up with some suggestions:

Ditch the white athletic shoes
There perhaps is no surer way to announce, "Look at me! I'm an American tourist!"

Editor's note: OK. So in 1994 I made my one and only trip to Europe. The former friend I was traveling with was/is a control freak.

I had some trendy black shoes that I was going to wear and he told me they were too clunky and no one in Paris, Brussels or Amsterdam wears those type of shoes. An argument ensued and I left the shoes behind.

We get to Paris (after missing our connection at DFW, getting routed to London, landing at DeGaulle instead of Orly, and no luggage) and after being there a few hours he says, "You should have brought your black shoes. Everyone is wearing them." UGH! I did have my white athletic shoes though!

Ditch the fanny pack
"I've never seen a non-American wearing a fanny pack," writes a Mobal contributor.

Editor's note: So. It's 2002 and I'm in Sydney. The two friends that I met there had left for a few days and I was on my own. I was really needing some type of murse/man purse/fanny pack or something because my backpack was a bit too big.

So. I'm having dinner with Sydney Mark (friend of a friend) and I tell him that I'm looking for a fanny pack. Food came flying out of his mouth! He said, "What?" and I said, "I'm looking for a fanny pack." He says, "Shhhh." I start laughing 'cause I can't figure out why I have to lower my voice.

It seems that the correct term in Australia is waist belt or something like that. You see...

fanny is slang for vagina and he couldn't figure out why I needed a vagina pack and besides what is a vagina pack?

I never purchased a fanny pack/murse/man purse

Wear black
As one observer notes, "Folks in Paris, London and other European capitals tend to wear lots of black, and as a tourist you tend to blend in if you're wearing it, too."

Editor's note: I stood out like a sore thumb on my first trip to San Francisco. I know. It's not in Europe but my point is, do your homework before you leave home. I was walking around San Francisco in bright colours and the residents were in black, brown, gray, taupe, etc.

Put on a few local accessories
Wearing a scarf in Europe, for instance, helps women blend in.

Use hotel concierge services
Having a good idea where you are going prevents you from looking like a lost soul.

Don't forget the basics
These almost go without saying:
Avoid piling on the jewelry;
Wearing shorts & t-shirts in cities;
Studying maps in public;
Wearing your camera around your neck.

Editor's note: So. On one of my many trips to New Orleans for Mardi Gras with AttyHou we're sitting in a restaurant/bar in the French Quarter waiting for our food and adult beverages.

A group of high falutin' people from Memphis (of all places) come in and sit next to us. As it turns out, this was their first trip to Mardi Gras and New Orleans. The women were dripping in gold and jewels and the men had on nice watches and big rings.

Being a good citizen, AttyHou told them they all needed to go back to the hotel and but glitz & glitter in a safe. They looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language. Well, he was speaking English and they were from Memphis so...

So then I chimed in and told them they were setting themselves up to get mugged. They finally got a clue.

When we saw them later in the day, they were naked. Not really but you know what I mean.

And yes, I know. New Orleans isn't in a foreign country but it is still an applicable rule.

Learn a few words of the language
This won't camouflage your tourist identity, but it may be appreciated by the people you deal with and even get you better service in restaurants.

Editor's note: Una cerveza por favor is all you need to know.

Kylie Minogue

Kylie Minogue's publicist must be working overtime or the publicist is finally earning their money!

I fell in love with Kylie several years ago and my love for her was heightened when I went to OZ in 2002.

So on Monday she was on the Today Show with Matt Lauer. Wednesday night she performed on Dancing With The Stars. Her cd dropped in the U.S. yesterday.

Pop icon. Dance diva. Sex symbol. Global phenomena. An institution. That's how Matt Lauer described her.

She overcame some health problems in 2005 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer.

In the interview she says that she received a letter addressed to: "Kylie Minogue. Pop princess. Australia."

If you're not familiar with Kylie, I think you will enjoy this clip.
EDIT: For some reason, the video doesn't always load. You can click here and go directly to the MSNBC website to see the interview.

Ramblings Of A Caffeinated Mind 9.5

Something I forgot to show you

Bobby Vanquish snapped this pic of some cool looking Absolut bottles. I had heard about them but had never seen them.

Sh_t Happens

Seriously. It really does! Yesterday I was driving down Memorial Drive, enjoying the beautiful weather and out of the corner of my eye I see something on the front passenger window of The Cal Mobile. It wasn't there a second ago.

I swear. It must have been a really big bird to leave this deposit! It actually kind of made me sick. I lost my appetite. Seriously.

So I went home and got the water hose and washed it off...after I took the pics.

Catching Up

The other day I went to a party and was very suprised to see someone there that I had not seen in years! He is one of those people that I lost touch with and it was good to visit with him. And actually, it was a good mix of people and the guest of honor looked really pleased with the assembled group. (Just wish I didn't drink so much!)

Down Under

Tall Bryan of the ATL is in Sydney right now and he sent these pics. I need to go back to SYD. Looks like they're having beautiful weather.

And Speaking of Things Down Under

With or without the Wolverine sideburns he still looks good. Hugh Jackman was at the beach the other day enjoying the weather Down Under. I wish I had those abs, pec and arms. Thanx to Just Jared for posting the pics.

support my efforts to raise money for:

AIDS Walk Houston 2008 click on the link for the 411

I had a dream

Before I go into details about a dream last night (or was it two dreams), I need to tell you what I did last night which might explain part of my dream.

Last night The Empire of the Royal Sovereign, and Imperial Court of the Single Star Incorporated (E.R.S.I.C.S.S.) held Investures at E.J.'s. I had never been to this event so I might incorrectly describe it. The new Emperor & Empress were introduced and they presented their court. The outgoing Emperor & Empress and Board of Directors presented a check to Legacy in the amount of $41,000. This is money they had raised over the past year. THAT folks is a BUNCH of money to be raised in one year...and we're talking one dollar at a time. And a BIG THANK YOU goes out E.R.S.I.C.S.S.!

So...there were many former monarchs in attendance and visiting monarchs from out of town and out of state. As well as Board members and staff members from Legacy. I didn't read the invitation in detail so I was dressed on the casual side while many in attendance were in black-tie, formal attire or cocktail attire. And with all of the royalty in attendance there were crowns, tiaras, jewels, rhinestones, etc.

Here's the dream:

I'm at Mood in New York City. (Until Project Runway I had NEVER heard of Mood.) Tim Gunn is there. Katy Caldwell (Exec. Director of Legacy) is there and she needs a dress to wear because she is getting married. She doesn't want to wear a traditional wedding dress so the challenge is to design something that Katy likes. I am pulling bolts of material (blues, reds, browns, black) and draping (thanx Rami) material before it is cut. Katy was a tough client to please and I don't know that we ever decided on anything. We were also pulling out rhinestones and bracelets and necklaces trying to make it work.

I finally had to take a break and when I do I realize that Mood is actually part of a store that I shopped at (for real) in Sydney. (So am I in NYC or SYD?)

I go for a walk and next thing I know I am at a trade conference with former business associates. My responsibility is to take photos of them while they are riding in hot air balloons. To do this and to get the closeups, I have to be at the same level. So I am in a gigantic cherry picker that is moving as the same speed as the hot air balloons and I'm getting some good pics.

Well...we are on ground level on a Houston freeway and I realize that the balloon is going to run into an overpass. They're having too good of a time to hear me yelling at them and...

...they slam into an overpass and the balloon deflates. This in turn halts all traffic and brings the conference to an end. No one was hurt.

***end of dream***

I think I have commented before that I have always had vivid dreams. I was often ridiculed by my own blood relatives (i.e. immediate family) because I could remember in detail my dreams. Oh...and I do dream in color.

So if you're wondering what that clip is about, it is Everything's Coming Up Roses from Gypsy. Mama Rose sings, "I had a dream..."

Koala Kronicles

(EDIT: If you're new to this blog you may think that I just returned from Australia. The trip was 5 years ago and I was reliving some good times.)

I know that one should never have regrets about things that have happened in the past. We all have our "I should have done..." lists.

Well, one of the things I should have done was print out or save to a diskette my Koala Kronicles. You see, everyday I would send an e-mail to family and friends and tell them what I had done the day before which according to their calendar was actually the same day of me writing my column. So if on Friday I was writing about what I did on Thursday, they were actually reading it on Thursday. Confusing isn't it?

From what I recall, my columns were quite funny. I even had a contest one day and offered prizes to the first three people to answer the question.

And since I promised my blog readers I wouldn't spend all week boring you with my trip Down Under I thought I'd do a recap at the end of the week. So here ya go with some highlights...not Nina Garcia Fashion Editor of Elle Magazine highlights...just highlights from the trip.

I went to the zoo and I wanted to see a dingo. Well the dingo wouldn't come out to see me. So for a day I kept saying to myself, "The dingo ate my baby." Can you name the movie that the line came from? Cute David from SFO was the first to reply followed by runnerOne and then JKaye.

One of the weirdest things that happened was when I was in the hotel and was getting ready to head out for one of my field trips and I had the telly on in the background. They interrupted the broadcast to bring live coverage from the States of Winona Ryder in the court room getting ready to hear her verdict in the shoplifting trial(?). My column for the next day was titled Koala Interrupted (get it? Girl Interrupted...her movie.)

The people in SYD were awesome. However, they were still reeling from the bombing in Bali that killed a bunch of Aussie nationals who were on holiday. It was the equivalent of our 9/11 and it was like they were our brothers in arms. Sydney Mark who is a friend of a friend kept me entertained part of the time I was there. The perfect host.

I do think I spent too much time thinking about koalas and hanging out at Starbucks. I had a dream one night and I kept saying, "No more koalas. No more koalas."

The beaches in SYD are beautiful. I didn't make it to the famous Bondi Beach. There was one too many bus transfers to make and I was afraid I'd end up in the outback rather than on the beach. So instead I went to Manly Beach. It sounded like the butch thing to do.

I ran a 1/2 marathon while I was there. I'm glad I didn't plan on doing the whole marathon because it was hotter than Georgia asphalt that day.

The chocolate macadamia nuts were yummy. I forgot how many boxes I brought back with me. I did give some away but I ate most of them.

I first saw Mamma Mia! in SYD. So every time I see Mamma Mia! I think of SYD.

One of my favorite quotes is this:

"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." - St. Augustine

Sydney Opera House

Manly Beach

You pay $2AUS to visit with the koalas. However, they're only awake a couple of hours a day so there's no guarantee they'll be awake when you're there. So there's a mad rush off of the ferry to get in the koala line. Well it's only a mad rush if you're hellbent like me to have you're photo taken with the critters.

Those claws look like they would hurt.

This is a tasmanian devil.

OK. Maybe, just maybe I was in Oz a bit too long and spent too much time visting Starbucks.

And the name of the movie was A Cry In The Dark starring Meryl Streep.

If you can't run with the big dogs,

stay on the porch!

UGH. I'm worn out but I'm worn out from having fun so it isn't a bad thing.

I'm sitting here waiting for the season premiere of Amazing Race but it is delayed because football games ran late and now 60 Minutes is late and so it goes (oh...that's not 60 Minutes; that's Linda Ellerbee.)

Where to begin?

Let's start with Amazing Race. I *heart* Amazing Race. I am so sure I could win with AttyHou as my travel partner. Team Calvinator. However, as I pointed out to Running My Mass Off we wouldn't make for good television. I guess I could act and put on a show but that's not me. I'm definitely the geography nerd and the logical thinker and the travel logistics person. He's more of the athletic Let's bungee jump type of guy and the let's put the bicycle together and travel through Beijing kind of guy. So we'd make a good team...just not good television.

I must thank Amazing Race for increasing my knowledge of things I didn't know. For instance, I didn't know that you could climb the Sydney Harbor Bridge. So prior to traveling to Oz I made my reservation to do a climb of the bridge and it happened 5 years ago today!

I think my family had some concerns about me going to Oz but I think they were OK with it except for one thing. Helen wasn't too hip on me climbing that bridge. She told me not to do it and so I did.

When you climb the bridge you are really doing a gradual ascent once you clip yourself to the bridge. There's a whole bunch of things that happen before you get to that point though. You attend an orientation class. You take a breathalyzer. You don a Mini-Me looking outfit. And anything on your torso that could fly away has to be clipped to your Mini-Me costume (i.e. sunglasses).

So here's how it played out. We line up and start our walk to get into the bowels of the bridge which means we are climbing a few ladders and walking on some catwalks. The guy in front of me informs me that he has a fear of heights. Uh...

Well he's doing this because his bf wants him to do it. Everything is OK until we're on the catwalks and he can see the cars traveling underneath us.

Our tour guide was named Edward. He was very personable. It was his job to make sure we got to the top of the bridge without falling off and to make sure we had our pictures taken so that we could spend oodles of money when we turned in our Mini-Me costume.

Edward had a headset like Madonna ala Blonde Ambition Tour. And we had headsets so that we could hear him. I could not have ordered better weather for that day. Edward even commented about how far in the distance you could see.

So there is one photo in my collection that is my favorite from that day. The SYD skyline is behind me and right before Edward snaps the shutter I tell him that this bridge climb is the one thing Helen told me not to do. So Edward says, "This one's for mum!" And I start laughing.

Near my hotel was this odd little trailer that had people eating there all of the time! Cops. Firemen. EMTs. Club kids. Business people. Steve reminded me that it was one of the detours when Amazing Race was in SYD.

The contestants had to go to Harry's Cafe de Wheels and order a meat pie. They do something odd with the meat pies (picture a small pot pie filled with beef and gravy). They top them with mashed potatoes AND mashed peas. That was a bit odd.

Steve recognized the girl who was serving meat pies to the contestants. He asked if it was her and she sort of got an attitude (like she couldn't be bothered) and acknowledged that it was her.

So many stories to tell about that trip. All of them good...even though I almost got myself killed when I looked the wrong way before crossing a street because remember they drive on the wrong side. :-)

In other news...

I met a fellow blogger today. Running My Mass Off was at The Tasting Room for a Farmer's Market. It was a fun afternoon and it was fun to talk about our parallel lives...sort of parallel lives. She was impressed that I was able to blog early this morning after spending an evening drinking copious amounts of GOOD vodka.

I REALLY needed some wine this afternoon. Not quite hair of the dog but it helped. Add some laughter to that and it was a fun afternoon.

I briefly spoke with Neighbor Nina and AttyHou. I guess you could call it The Walking Wounded of Roy Street which proves a fun time was had by all last night.

Sydney

I promise not to spend TOO much time over the next few days reminiscing about my 2002 trip Down Under. I was there for about 8 days and part of that time I was there by myself.

A funny thing happened on the way to the hotel.

After spending 18 hours flying from LAX to SYD, going through customs, doing a quick currency exchange and being disoriented it was time to get in a taxi and meet up with Baron and Steve. They had been there for a few days and were leaving on the 3rd to go diving but would be returning after a few days.

The hotel was located in Woolloomooloo. Woolloomooloo is a neighborhood in Sydney and the hotel we were staying in wasn't one of the big ones so I sorta had to tell the taxi driver how to get there based on an email from Steve.

I couldn't EVEN say Woolloomooloo and try saying it with a Texas accent on top of it. The taxi driver couldn't figure out what I was trying to say. So I show him a piece of paper where I had spelled it out and he knew the neighborhood and then I said it was near the W Hotel and off we went...on the wrong side of the road with the driver on the wrong side of the car. Talk about a mind f__k.

Baron & Steve asked if I wanted to take a nap but you see it was only 1000A or so in the morning and I knew that if I took a nap that would be the end of it. So off we went for a quick orientation of Sydney. Opera House. Botanic Gardens. Starbucks. Sydney Harbor Bridge. Hyde Park. Starbucks. Circular Quay.

We had a big party to go to that night after dinner and lo and behold we got separated. UGH! I had NO idea where I was and with it being night time I couldn't find any landmarks to orient myself.

So here I am walking down some busy street and I'm tired, jet lagged, etc. and our cell phones aren't programmed for international calling and I can't get a taxi to save my life. So just about the time that I decide to start crying I run into three guys from Houston (yes, on a busy street in Sydney at night time) and they ask if I'm OK and I told them that no I wasn't.

I tell them that I'm lost and I've lost my friends and well they're no help. So one of them says, "Where is your hotel?" And of course I can't say Woolloomooloo. So after stumbling through Woolloomooloo in all of my smartness, I say, "It's near the water."

OK folks. Look at this partial aerial view of Sydney and then you'll understand why they started to laugh.

So I go into the lobby of small hotel hoping to be able to grab a cocktail and calm down because the tears are about to start flowing. No bar.

I then have the brilliant idea (and why I didn't think of it sooner) to grab a taxi and tell the driver to take to the W Hotel because EVERYBODY knows where that is.

So wouldn't you know it, I get in taxi and we're stuck in traffic AND we're heading in the wrong direction and he can't turn around and the meter is running. So he tells me to get out and go to the OTHER side of the street and grab another taxi. I finally hail another taxi and get this...in a matter of minutes we're at the W and I only have to walk 2 blocks.

Baron and Steve were sound asleep. They knew that eventually I'd make way to the hotel.

I figure I would have come in last on that episode of The Amazing Race. More on that later.

PS After that evening, I learned how to pronounce Woolloomooloo

Flashback!

Wow! I just remembered something.

Five years ago today I was packing my bags and getting ready to leave for Sydney. I wasn't concerned about Halloween because my itinerary had me leaving for LAX around 700P and then catching an 1100P flight to SYD.

In theory, I never should have seen Nov. 1, 2002. However we had a flight delay and I spent part of the evening in the Qantas Club watching live coverage of the Halloween festivities in WeHo.

It was well past midnight before we boarded the plane and took off for SYD. If I remember correctly, that was an 18 hour flight and after a few cocktails I went to sleep. Missed out on most of the food service in Business Class.

I did get up a few times and walk around and let me tell you...there's nothing like an 18 hour cocktail party at cruising altitude of 30K feet!

I was more concerned about being rested, not drunk and ready to hit the ground running when I met with Steve and Baron in SYD.

That was a fun trip and I would love to go back to SYD. I *heart* Sydney!