I missed a whole season of sharing the Houston fine arts calendar with everyone. I am very bummed.
In the meantime, I did want to advertise my own upcoming choir performances, Wednesday and Thursday December 19-20th @ 7:00 p.m. at Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy.
Expect anything but your typical Christmas music, as we tend to add a bit of everything to our music including country, hip hop, spirituals, and a little gospel to boot. We aren't the perfect choir, yet what we may lack in operatic musical talent is more than made merrier by the smiles on our faces and the joy we feel enter our bodies as we sing. Expect a few hands waving in the air, some clapping and foot stomping, and a bit of dancing (yes we Baptists dance, for God, of course!).
Saturday, December 15, 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Hurricane Dean...sweating out the hurricane season
As I monitor the internet http://www.wunderground.com/ and TV's The Weather Channel for the latest updates on Hurricane Dean, I have to wonder how much better we've become in the last 20 years at predicting hurricanes. I've been reading up today on all the different models such as the Mariner's Model, the Historic Model, the computer model, and the 3-day and the 5-day cone of uncertainty. All of it leaves me very befuddled, especially the computer model and the historic model which change radically with every three hour NOAA update.
Each time the hurricane changes from a category 2 to a 3 and vice versa, the model changes. The smartest model to me looks to be the Mariners 1-2-3 model which tells folks where to stay out of harms way.
When the storm enters the Gulf of Mexico and and is 600 miles due south of Galveston, I end up with "my model", which has me looking up every barometric pressure reading from Brownsville, Texas to Key West, Florida. The map point that has the lowest barometric pressure readings is generally where the hurricane goes in. I was only 200 miles off (to the east) when Hurricane Rita hit in 2005. I thought for sure that Rita was going into Freeport, Texas and that Houston would be on the eastern or dirty side of the storm. Luckily, Houston remained mostly out of harm's way, but everything in the coastal areas from Port Arthur, Texas to Morgan City, Louisiana was wiped off the map. (I know, most of what you heard about during 2005 was Hurricane Katrina.)
Although I was off about the landing point that year, I will never regret evacuating my family early, two days before the storm hit.
We'll keep our fingers crossed for good luck, and I'll let you know how it goes.
Each time the hurricane changes from a category 2 to a 3 and vice versa, the model changes. The smartest model to me looks to be the Mariners 1-2-3 model which tells folks where to stay out of harms way.
When the storm enters the Gulf of Mexico and and is 600 miles due south of Galveston, I end up with "my model", which has me looking up every barometric pressure reading from Brownsville, Texas to Key West, Florida. The map point that has the lowest barometric pressure readings is generally where the hurricane goes in. I was only 200 miles off (to the east) when Hurricane Rita hit in 2005. I thought for sure that Rita was going into Freeport, Texas and that Houston would be on the eastern or dirty side of the storm. Luckily, Houston remained mostly out of harm's way, but everything in the coastal areas from Port Arthur, Texas to Morgan City, Louisiana was wiped off the map. (I know, most of what you heard about during 2005 was Hurricane Katrina.)
Although I was off about the landing point that year, I will never regret evacuating my family early, two days before the storm hit.
We'll keep our fingers crossed for good luck, and I'll let you know how it goes.
Tax Free Weekend in Texas (Aug 17-19)
Guess what? It's Tax-Free weekend here in Texas, at least on school-related items, up to $100, including backpacks and athletic shoes. If you are braver than myself and enjoy shopping with mass crowds, go for it! 8.25% is a lot of sales tax in Houston. In addition, some stores offer additional discounts.
You may see me at the local grocery store. My back-to-school shopping is complete, other than the few odd supplies such as binders and a few more t-shirts.
Enjoy the discounts...Terre
You may see me at the local grocery store. My back-to-school shopping is complete, other than the few odd supplies such as binders and a few more t-shirts.
Enjoy the discounts...Terre
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Life in West Texas
I sat in awe tonight at a local community center in Sealy, Texas. It was a benefit to raise funds for the local public library and the guest of honor was none other than my great cousin, Mr. Elmer Kelton, renowned author of Western fiction. We didn't get to chat for long, as he was hosting a book signing for his latest book, an autobiography, entitled "Sandhills Boy, The Winding Trails of a Texas Writer".
The last time I met Elmer, I was a teenager, sitting in the basement of the Houston Public Library in downtown, wondering why my parents had dragged me along. Needless to say, I'm glad they did, because it explains a lot about my family history.
Elmer Kelton is not an easy read. It's like he explained tonight - it's all about West Texas, cattle ranching, the oil business and all the inherent, unspoken jokes and suggestions that go with it. It explains a lot to me - why, for instance, my grandmother always had such a smart mouth, and perhaps why her oldest grand daughter (me) locks inside her some of that brashness and outspokenness, and lets it out in mini-meltdowns.
As I always tell my son, you can learn a lot about the present, by looking into the past. Cheers for a great weekend! Terre
The last time I met Elmer, I was a teenager, sitting in the basement of the Houston Public Library in downtown, wondering why my parents had dragged me along. Needless to say, I'm glad they did, because it explains a lot about my family history.
Elmer Kelton is not an easy read. It's like he explained tonight - it's all about West Texas, cattle ranching, the oil business and all the inherent, unspoken jokes and suggestions that go with it. It explains a lot to me - why, for instance, my grandmother always had such a smart mouth, and perhaps why her oldest grand daughter (me) locks inside her some of that brashness and outspokenness, and lets it out in mini-meltdowns.
As I always tell my son, you can learn a lot about the present, by looking into the past. Cheers for a great weekend! Terre
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