Category: inspiration

Birthday girl!

I headed down to the University of Texas campus today to meet up with a bunch of friends to celebrate Laura’s birthday. Not all the ladies could make it, but we had a great lunch at Gabriel’s Cafe in the AT&T Hotel and Conference Center, just down the street from the UT Tower. We all enjoyed catching up with eachother. Afterwards, we walked the few blocks to the Blanton Museum. Tuesday’s are free!

UT Tower – funny story… I was down here a month ago in May, right before graduation…the groundskeepers were spraying the grass on the medians with green spray paint. 🙂

I haven’t been down to the museum district since before COVID. And things sure have changed! There is a new pedestrian-only mall that goes all the way from the Capitol Building, up to the Blanton – and huge new office buildings where there used to be only a surface parking lot.

This is a pretty cool feature – the new Capitol Mall. The Bullock Museum is on the right.

The Blanton has done much work on their grounds, and this pretty awesome feature consists of a dozen 3-story tall structures that they call Petals. They provide much needed shade.

The new Petals architectural feature at the Blanton Museum. I LOVE this.

I need to come down more often to enjoy the exhibits.

Happy Birthday, Laura!

Expanding horizons.

Recently, a friend shared that her daughter and colleagues were starting a used and vintage online book shop. Wanting to support them, I signed up. After taking a look, I was intrigued. The company is called Vignette Books (@vignettebookshop on instagram, http://www.vignettebooks.com). Their approach is that customers self-select an “Edit;” which is essentially a category of books. They have a quiz for customers to find out which Edit most matches their interests. I took the quiz and found the “Natural” Edit was a good fit for me.

So, you select an Edit, and then order a set of 1 to 3 books that Vignette Books picks from you from a curated set of used and vintage books in their inventory.

My order came a week or two ago and I was pleasantly pleased with the selections. One was a book about whales, their evolution, and history. I read that one first. I think I could now have a chance in any Jeopardy category about whales 🙂

The second was a biography about Rachel Carson, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I knew Carson wrote Silent Spring, but I didn’t realize that her background was marine biology and that she had written 3 award winning books on the ocean, sea birds, and other sea life prior to writing Silent Spring. So, now I’ve begun reading them. See how that expanding horizons thing works?

The next book of my three from Vignette Books is in the on-deck circle, and it is a story of a trek through the Arizona desert to find a stone carving of a maze similar to one found in Wales. I’m looking forward to that one, too.

If you, too, are intrigued, check out Vignette Books!

One more show for the road.

The Texas Performing Arts 2022/2023 season is coming to a close. I worked as a volunteer usher for my eighth event yesterday, a production of the Broadway in Austin musical Hairspray – very colorful, talented singers, and great tunes. In a month or two I’ll decide whether to sign up for the next season. I very much enjoyed the shows I was able to work.

Happy Birthday, Paul!

How is it that we know so many old people?! :). Today we celebrated Paul’s big birthday with him and his crew. It’s getting hot out there!!!

John Boy live.

Today I ushered for the final two shows of the Broadway in Austin play, To Kill a Mockingbird. Richard Thomas, formerly John Boy on The Waltons, played the lead of Atticus Finch. He doesn’t have the physical presence of Gregory Peck, who played in the film version released in 1962. But he made a great Atticus. I really enjoyed the show.

Fun fact: the actress who played Scout in the 60’s movie version had a different role in this production. Pretty amazing that she’s still involved with the show and its message, 60 years on.

Happy Mother’s Day!

New trick.

When I was a kid, the zipper on my favorite pair of jeans broke. Back then, my solution was to cut and sew buttonholes in the inside of the top zipper placket, and sew buttons on the inside of the bottom zipper placket, ala button-up Levi’s 501 style. It worked, and my favorite jeans lived a while longer.

This week, I mended a pair of waterproof rain paints. The zipper had essentially corroded onto the zipper teeth and was permanently stuck in the down position. I considered the button-up solution again, but that wouldn’t be great for waterproof pants. So, I decided to go for it… replace the zipper. I’ve never done it before. So I stared at it for a very, very long time. There are like 10 different sets of stitching on a zipper placket. I had to figure out which ones to rip out to get the zipper out, which ones to leave in place, and figure out the right order of steps to sew the new one in. So, after mentally reverse-engineering the entire zipper placket assembly, I decided I could do it.

In the end, the amount of time I spent staring at it took much longer than the amount of time it took me to rip the necessary seams, remove the old zipper, and sew in the new one. I used a little waterproofing goo on the inside to waterproof the new exposed seams. And voila!

The “after”… new zipper installed.

It’s not exactly Saville Row work, but I learned a new thing. #proudofmyself

Time warp.

This afternoon I went to a movie theater with several girlfriends to watch the film Are You There God? It’s Me Margaret. I think Diana suggested we go, but what a great idea!

Original cover art.

I don’t think I’ve been inside a movie theater for over 5 years. Probably a lot longer. But the new cinemas sure are comfy. Monte and I need to get back to it. Plus… bottomless popcorn!!!!

I didn’t even know this movie was made, but when I heard about it, I knew I had to see it. Judy Blume’s book came out in 1970. It’s about a 6th grade girl, ~12 years old, spanning one year of her life, going through puberty, moving schools, and making new friends.

I read this book when I was 11 or 12, myself, a few years after it was published. It struck a chord with me back then. And, it struck that chord again today in the theater. I enjoyed the movie. It even brought a tear to my eye as it brought up feelings from nearly 50 years ago. I can’t understand why anyone would have a problem with this book, let alone ban it.

Go see it!

Heeling.

Monte and I crewed on Camelot for Kurt & Kevin this weekend during one of the Austin Yacht Club Summer Series races. It was a hot and steamy day on the water but we had a great time.

Graduation on the 40 acres.

I ushered for two University of Texas graduations this weekend at the Bass Concert Hall. I need to remember to wear earplugs next time. Wow. One ceremony had about 500 grads. As each walked across the stage, their friends-and-family-posee cheered. Very loudly.

A quiet moment before the ceremonies.

It’s all good; it was a special day for each of the graduates. Well done Class of 2023!! Go live your best lives!

Tax relief.

I just finished and submitted this year’s tax return. Yahoo!!! I do our taxes myself, and take the time to read the IRS documentation to understand it as best I can.

I saw this in the documentation on calculating and sending in quarterly estimated taxes. I guess I’ll have to break my payment up into multiple checks. 🙂

Throwback.

I worked the Easter Sunday matinee of Riverdance – the 25th anniversary show. 25 years ago I was knee deep in work projects, so I wasn’t a huge fan the first time around. My mother had all the DVDs, though – Riverdance AND the Three Tenors. So I signed up as a nod to my mom…and my Irish dad.

The show was pretty toe tapping good!

We got hitched.

Again. We just got the trailer hitch installed on our new Outback. We’re back in business to haul things!

Wishing everyone a most happy Easter with family & friends.

It could happen.

After two decades in hibernation, my potter-self may make a reappearance this year. The control board on my wheel needed replacement (AMACO part # 22103G). Monte ordered one and installed it yesterday and it is operational again. Now…. to get a kiln and some clay!

Thanks, sweetie.

Musical.

I’ve started volunteering at the Bass Concert Hall as an usher. Today I worked the matinee for the Broadway musical “Ain’t Too Proud,” the story of the lives of the members of The Temptations. The venue was full of music, dancing, and lights…. a great story and show.

I got home from the show in time to watch the FAU Owls play in the Final Four. Sadly, we lost. Should have won, but a great game played by all.