on friday, henri and i drove to houston for Halloweekend 2007, presented by matt and meredith.
and it was awesome.
friday, we walked from the rice (where they live) over to our favorite bar, warren’s. as usual, warren’s did not disappoint, esp. cos they had halloween decorations!! look!!!
any bar that takes the time to hit up the local party city is obviously a fine establishment.
we had some drinks and chatted up a storm. then henri ate my hair.
um, ew? this picture was *obviously* not my idea.
walking home, we fell for the “frank’s trap,” which is basically the smell of pizza at 2 AM which then seems like a GREAT IDEA and before you know it, you’ve ordered a whole pizza and henri said he was only going to eat one piece but he ate three and then when you wake up in the morning you feel kinda gross.
here’s meredith, cutely waiting for our order:
the next morning, i ate brunch at one of my favorite places of all time!!!! house of pies!!! home of a zillion pies that i can eat!!!! open 24 hours!!!!
we met up with mark and stasha, who i hadn’t seen in aaaaaages. it was *wonderful* to see them, esp. cos stasha is about to have a little girl!
her name will be emma, and she will wear these shoes that i bought her at maker faire:
are those emma shoes or what?
i love talking with my doctor friends, cos they always have stories about cray cray patients and strange medical conditions. mark told us about how he rescued the robot who delivers medicine around the hospital; she (yes, it’s a lady robot, and her name is jules) was stuck in a corner, repeating the phrase, “please remove the obstruction.” mark said that after he freed her, he was expecting a little “thank you” or “you’re my hero!” or something. instead, jules just rolled away, as if nothing had happened (she was probably embarrassed). stasha said, “i don’t know how i feel about you manhandling a female robot in the middle of the night.”
ah, medical ethics!
stasha also talked about decorating emma’s room and how mark didn’t remember the “theme” of the room, even after stasha showed him the pink bedding with daisies that she bought. he wanted to buy a rug with bunnies (bunnies!) EVEN THOUGH the “theme” was “flower garden.”
poor mark.
however, stasha made letters that spell out “EMMA” for the wall, so at least mark can remember her name.
guess what? i had pie for breakfast! strawberry rhubarb, to be exact.
I KNOW IT WAS DELICIOUS.
after brunch (pie), henri, meredith, matt and i drove to galveston for the day! writing about king’s candy shop had me all nostalgic for the strand and the beach, and the weather was Absolutely Perfect.
i was able to visit my old friend pappy, who lives in the old-fashioned emporium and moves his eyes from side to side in a way that makes you wonder if maybe, JUST MAYBE, there’s a soul trapped inside pappy’s body.
i wanted to make a wish to be “big” so that i could end up with a sweet loft apartment in NYC with trampolines and a job at the toy company, but i didn’t have any quarters.
as we strolled down the strand, we discovered yet another reason why it was the perfect day to visit galveston: it was Pride Day!!!! awesome!!! there was a little stage set up, and we saw a drag queen doing as salsa/disco dance:
henri had chosen to wear his costume, Jem’s #1 Swimfan, all day long. the fact that it was Pride Day was a lucky coincidence.
after the drag queen, we watched the newly crowned Mr. Gay Galveston 2008 sing “walking in memphis.” he’s actually a pretty good singer!
american idol, anyone?!!
the best part of the show, however, was a drag queen dressed up like karen from “will & grace.” her performance began with a lip-synched reenactment of a scene from “will & grace”… honestly, i have never seen anything like it. she only mouthed the words to karen’s part (and poorly), and then kinda stood there when other characters on the recording were talking. and then, suddenly, she launched into jennifer hudson’s “and i am telling you i’m not going” from dreamgirls!!! look!!!!!
ok, but it gets even BETTER. there was an old man in the audience who was simply *enchanted* by this queen’s performance, and halfway through the song, he couldn’t contain himself any longer, so he got up and danced with her!!!!! ok, well, he TRIED to dance with her.
after that, we left. because honestly, there’s no way to top an old man who *probably* thinks a drag queen is actually a woman and then tries to dance with her in the middle of the show. you can only go down from there.
next stop: king’s candy shop!! oh sweet candy bliss!
we lucked out, cos the taffy-making demonstration had just begun! I LOVE WATCHING THE TAFFY MAKING MACHINE!!
gah i wanted to lean over the banister and stick my fingers into that pink sticky softness! squish squish!!
here’s a little video so you can see their (super antique) machine at work:
i swear, i could stare at that thing for hours. it’s just like that show where you can learn about how certain foods are made, like hostess cupcakes or licorice. i wish i could host that show, and get free samples.
speaking of samples, i got some fresh taffy!
note the best part of that picture: meredith, taking a massive bite out of her pistachio ice cream cone. MWWARRR!
of course we had to trek into colonel bubbies, which, yes seth, still smells like cat pee. i have sooo many memories of walking through the cramped aisles with my mom and dad and finding all kinds of treasures, like busted up canteens and funny helmets. i still have this super cool nurse’s cape that i bought there, many years ago. and you know, they probably still have some in stock.
it’s really easy to lose people in this store. and honestly, i have no idea how they keep inventory here. it’s just insane.
calling all angsty teenagers!!
we were getting a little hungry, so we drove to the sea wall for some seafood at casey’s! they have shrimp!
after reading the sign, henri called meredith a “little shrimp.” scuffling ensued.
i can’t count the number of times on this blog that i’ve mentioned meredith and henri rough-housing. however, no flip flops were thrown in this incident, so the injuries were minimal.
casey’s also has big shrimp, just like the sign said (truth in advertising!!!).
guys, it was the PERFECT MEAL for our galveston day. we sat outside in the sunshine with the balmy beach air blowing through our hair, and we ate all kinds of fried things from the ocean.
you know a meal is good when everything is brown.
we decided to hit up one of the many tacky souvenir stores on the beach, cos hey, that’s what you do! i remember exploring this particular store several times when i was a kid and begging my parents to buy me a hermit crab but they said no because our dog would probably eat it. and then later our dog killed a bird i was pet-sitting, and i realized that my parents were right. that was a pivotal day.
henri found a hat that fit him *perfectly*.
i decided to change my apartment decorating theme to “nautical” just so i could buy everything on this wall:
i thought this lamp was a pretty good deal, *especially* for only $14.99. i mean, it’s decorative AND useful!
i picture it in my bathroom, actually.
mermaid pier has a great patio in the back, so we chillaxed for a while and watched the waves. it was bliss.
i like this picture, cos it’s like “beaches”!! except meredith isn’t dying of cancer, as far as i know. yay!
we walked out to the end of a jetty, which always makes me feel like i’ve reached the edge of the world. everything– work, people, buildings, cars, stress, distractions– is behind you, and yr entire vision is simply filled by the ocean’s horizon.
like i said, it was the perfect day.
[more tomorrow]
LINKS
finally! a gum ball dispenser belt buckle!
new research on genes and sexual orientation.
the office convention happened last week, and they even had office olympics! i totally would have nailed the “waste as much time as possible on the internet” competition.
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