RiceCrispy

2010-05-16T10:35:00.006-05:00

And it is over

The last two Xerxes performances were uneventful. Which is I guess what we all want. No split pants, no missed cues (on anyone’s part), the audience applauded, make-up stayed on and in place, no one twisted an ankle or broke a leg, snacks were comfortably eaten, jackets had buttons, no backs were wretched out of place, vests were laced, wigs stayed in place, voices were in excellent shape – it was a smooth and happy time. During the thunderstorms Friday night, Susan came out of her dressing room wearing her Act II costume and her reader glasses and did a Ben Franklin impression where she was looking for lightening with a kite. Reminding me why she is so funny, and has such a creative, infectious look at life as we live it.

Susan’s boyfriend was here, so there was less time on the iPhone since he was (happily for her) in H-town. Her brother and very funny sister-in-law were also here, which is always nice. When you have dressed the same person for years, you get to know many of their family members, as well as managers, and longtime friends. Betty (Susan’s mom) didn’t make it to Houston this year, but I did get updates on her and Leon. I also miss that Libby is no longer perched on a chair in the dressing room, Susan’s delightful poodle that has gone off to doggy heaven.

The costume, wig, props, etc. crates are ready to be packed. After the closing night show, all the dressers participate in “packing out” the show. Most costumes get dry-cleaned, shoes get restored to stock, socks, spanx (or other hosiery), binding, cravats, suspenders, and assorted other accessories go back into Houston Grand Opera inventory. After cleaning, they either go to be stored (if HGO owns the show) or to be returned to where it was rented from, or if a co-production, it may go to whoever gets it next, or who built it originally and will be keeping it warehoused. A variety of options can happen with the costumes. Houston Grand Opera has a long history of new productions, or co-productions with other companies, with the original costumes being built (made) in Houston. HGO has really great technical shops where costumes, wigs, props and other stage paraphernalia is artistically created.

I assume Susan and the boyfriend made their early morning flight. While I am not jealous of the difficult life of being on the road most of the year, I know she has some time at her home in Santa Fe coming up, and I am very jealous of that. Susan will be back next season, so this blog about her may have a repeat performance a year from now.

2010-05-10T20:57:00.005-05:00

Sunday Matinee – May 2, 2010.
Saturday Evening – May 8, 2010.

TMI or FYI?

Sunday Matinee was for the most part, uneventful. Susan sounded good, she felt good, she remembered what she was doing, she had proper hydration, life was good.

Saturday, not so much. The demands made on an artist are great; there are social obligations that sometimes bleed over into opera donor schmoozing and fundraising events, which sometimes require more talking than an ailing singer between performances might be comfortable with. Susan is good at these events, and as you would expect is very popular. Because she has contact with alot of people, I am comfortable telling her to use hand disinfectant after she touches people and things backstage, or to stop seeing visitors (and do unnecessary talking) before the show - things she doesn't need a reminder about, but I do it anyway. My controlling nature often kicks in after the show because singers need time to get out of costume, and dressed, which may mean me guarding the door.

So back to Saturday. Not sure if this falls into TMI or FYI, but it is a question I have gotten elsewhere, so here goes. After drinking all that water, and wearing all those costume pieces, what happens when they need to pee? The multi-talented Susan was very successful in that area on Saturday. We were all so proud of her – Mother Nature called during the Act III quick-change. Susan came into the dressing room for the change and said “I really need to pee” to which I responded “go ahead, we’ll make the change in time” so she did, coming out of the bathroom very proud that the measures put in place worked. So you ask, what were they? First of all, the shirt she wears has a snap crotch (pictured right as April is about to wash it), so she doesn’t have to worry about it coming untucked. More importantly, she wears pantyhose, specifically Spanx, which has an “open gusset” option. The Spanx are tucked under the “make her a boy" binding that I talked about earlier. Quite a few singers wear Spanx, it is comfortable hose/general body wear. Now there has been some discussion online about what this opening is truly for, and whether women really use it for its intended purpose. I can tell you that Spanx keeps things tight and in place, which makes taking them off, especially when you have been sweating, or your hose is tucked under costume pieces, a less than pleasurable experience. Only worse than peeling them off, is putting them back on. Think wet bathing suit, but covering more skin. Perhaps this image is too much information, but Susan was rather successful at using the hole for its intended purpose, and thus, making the costume change in time, and not having to sing with a distracting bladder. Not to forget, it is not healthy to hold it.

So now you know. Too Much Information? Or wow, I always wondered about that and think I am glad to know.

2010-05-08T18:03:00.006-05:00

Opening Night. April 30, 2010

Susan didn’t feel well. If you were in the opening night audience, you heard HGO General Director Anthony Freud reference Susan Graham’s fear she might be under the weather, and to please be understanding. It is sometimes hard for a singer to determine – am I getting sick? do I have an infection? am I just really tired? is this allergies wearing me down? What? Susan went through that the last few days, feeling under the weather. She did what most singers at HGO do if you don’t feel well, you make a trip to Dr. Richard Stasney to hopefully verify what is going on, and see if there is anything serious (he is also a supporter of CrimeStoppers of Houston, I ran into him at their annual luncheon). If you are Susan Graham, you come in the dressing room that night and show Larissa (who thought it was really cool) and Dotti (who looked away) pictures of your vocal cords showing that there is nothing major going on.

Well, the curtain went up, and out she went, and she had not a worry in the world. Precautions were taken of course. Dr. Stasney stopped by backstage before the performance to check in with her, we had energy/electrolytes drinks ready, as well as other comfort items - but she gave everyone an “all clear” and off she went to a stunning performance.

I can’t say opening night went completely smooth backstage. A zipper on the leg of her Act I pants split (fixed on the spot), and a button came off her Act III vest. A quick sewing job while the vest was still on fixed that. For the pants, we were afraid of the zipper splitting again, so we zipped it closed, and used the buttons to take the pants off. A picture of the pant’s buttons was on my last blog posting. The zipper held for the quick change.

She also had beautiful flowers waiting in her dressing room from her family, longtime friend Jackson Hicks, and a fan. Not to slight him, her boyfriend did send her flowers, but to home, so no picture. I realized my picture has the tea pot and makeup in the picture. Oh well.

At the end of the show, she was tired – but happy. It was a terrific show.

2010-05-06T22:06:00.001-05:00

Final Dress Rehearsal.

Susan’s energy is in the upper levels, and when I walked in her dressing room she was stretching out, doing high kicks. This is a common occurrence, as she warms up her body as well as her voice before a performance. During this rehearsal, I discovered that she was backstage, out of my sight, and doing high kicks in costume. She was SOOOOO busted. She knows if she tears a costume she is in trouble because she can’t just wear something else out on stage. She can be incorrigible, but her energy and humor is infectious, and I wouldn’t win the argument with her over it.

Most singers don’t push themselves too hard for final dress. They generally don’t sing full throttle, and while they aren’t plodding along in the staging, they aren’t exerting the energy of a real performance. Pace.

Final dress rehearsal was fine. In fact, in went very well. Xerxes is a big role, a very demanding role for a singer. It’s been a busy couple of hard weeks of rehearsal, and Susan had months of preparation before that. This is a new role for her. A singer’s voice, and their body can be so fragile, so sensitive to changes. Singers have to pace themselves, saving energy for opening night, and the following performances.

Any guesses what costume piece the picture below is?

2010-05-05T21:51:00.005-05:00

Stripping down the hallway.

Quick changes sometimes have a way of being quick not because of how soon the performer’s next entrance is on stage, but to give the performer a little bit of personal time in their dressing room before going back on stage. It may be so they can drink water – singers drink A LOT of water to stay hydrated, go to the restroom (see first item), look at upcoming music, eat a snack (fruit and granola bars are popular), or simply just to sit down for a few minutes. Many principal singers at HGO now have recliners in their dressing rooms, thanks to Susan. I can’t remember the show, but it was very demanding physically, Susan was rolling around on stage, sliding, bumping and bruising. Trying to make her more comfortable for an aching body, she was offered a recliner for her dressing room. Word passed among divas that you too can have a recliner when you sing with Houston Grand Opera, and the rest is history. Wouldn’t you want to quickly change clothes so you can sit and relax in a recliner? On the left is a picture of Susan from a previous production, taking a break between scenes, in the recliner.

So what does Susan do this show? Wortham Center’s Brown Theatre has a backstage hallway where principal singer’s dressing rooms are located. Susan has one costume change, and it is in Act III. She is wearing gloves, a coat, and vest that she strips off as she comes down the hallway to her dressing room. I have the door propped open so she can come right into her room. By the time she reaches me, she is down to pants and shirt, and just barely wearing shoes. We change her pants, shoes, vest, jacket, and add a sword in a very short time. Dotti from wigs and make-up will also be there to make sure she didn’t smudge her make-up, and that her hair is in place. By getting her change done quicker than needed for stage directions, she gets some personal time.

Soon, she is back on stage, I go back to reading a book – a common practice among dressers (Kindle's are gaining popularity), and wait for my next call. Next on the sheet, take her sword at the end of Act III, she doesn’t need it for curtain calls.

2010-05-04T21:46:00.009-05:00

Second Dress Rehearsal. 04/23/10 – Only Acts one and two tonight.

It is all about the gloves.
Susan Graham’s only costume change is in Act Three, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have anything to do. There are the gloves, and everything is about the gloves. The first night of rehearsal, my paperwork said that Susan has a pair of gloves that are pre-set on the prop table stage right. I needed to ask her if they should be buttoned or unbuttoned, does she put them on while onstage, does she “do something” while putting them on, etc. Well, she was getting her wig fluffed around by Dottie, department head of wigs, and I forgot to ask. Her dressing room is stage left, and I was stage right leaving the gloves when I remembered I didn’t ask her. I could have called her on my cell phone – I would then be kind of like the people you see at the grocery store who were told to buy spaghetti, and they don’t know if it is spinach, gluten free, whole wheat, or what they are supposed to buy. A quick informational call, but I also know she might be on her iPhone. When you are a singer on the road for weeks or months at a time, you grab the few minutes you have to check in. It might be a call to mom and Leon, her boyfriend, or a variety of friends she stays in touch with long distance. Depending on who she is calling, or is calling her, I watch for a signal to give her privacy. I also try to do this in person when privacy is needed with fellow cast-members, directors, conductors, HGO staff, and other visitors. But sometimes, you just can’t – you are on a deadline getting them in costume so they won’t be late going on stage, so you have to think of something else in your head so you don’t listen to the conversation while working around those in the room. More often than not, the singer is moving while talking, and you are scooting around the room lacing and tying – and if you are lucky, you become invisible and nobody notices your show preparations.

Back to this show. While it shouldn’t seem surprising that an article of clothing might play a role in a character’s life on stage, in Xerxes, in seems like all the dressers are “tracking” gloves, for all characters. Tracking is a term where you are following a specific prop, costume piece, or other often used item throughout a production. In Xerxes, singers are putting on gloves, they are taking them off, people are handing each other gloves, they are bringing them on stage – then hand them off to someone, they put them on tables, chairs, and anywhere else you can leave them. And dressers need to know where these gloves are going, and how they are being used. In some cases, they are left one place at the end of a scene, but are worn by a character in the next scene, so they need to be “tracked” by a dresser who has them ready for use again, in a different setting. The stage management and wardrobe department at HGO do an incredible job creating run sheets (think really detailed schedules), that tell you where costume pieces are, where they need to be, who is wearing them, when they wear them, and often where they end up after they are worn. The same thing is done for wigs and make-up, since all of these must be coordinated as well. For Xerxes, we have tracking sheets specifically for gloves.

Here is a picture of Susan mid-glove change. And no, she did not start moon-walking, although she does wear pants, vest and a jacket that Michael Jackson would have swooned over.

2010-05-04T20:59:00.008-05:00

I wrote this (with Susan Graham's support) for Houston Grand Opera because they responded positively to my offer to write about being a dresser for their production to stage blog. For whatever reason they are not using it, so I will revive this old blog of mine, and start posting what I wrote. Here goes - we are starting with the first night of rehearsal.

Various back stage trades bring an opera to life. One of those is what is called a dresser. At Houston Grand Opera, dressers are members of IATSE Theatrical Wardrobe Union #896. These are the people who get the performers into their costumes while throwing clothes everywhere when a singer runs off stage in one costume and hops back on 45 seconds later in an entirely different costume. And all of this is done in tandem with the wig and make-up team who have their changes at the same time, in the same place, on the same person. As part of Houston Grand Opera’s blog giving patrons a view into backstage operations, Susan Graham’s dresser, Larissa, will talk about its current production of Xerxes, and what it is like to be dressing this outstanding singer.

Torturing the Mezzo.
I am very fortunate to be dressing Susan Graham. Yeah, yeah, I get to hear her sing, and I have the pleasure of seeing her on stage every night, but it is more than that. Her attention to detail flows from onstage to backstage. I have dressed her (this is my 20th season as a dresser with HGO), wearing armor in Ariodante (with a clunky quick change), ball gowns in The Merry Widow (with LOTS of corset lacing), glorious robes in Coronation of Poppea, and assorted other costumes. What people don’t know is she is routinely tortured to create the right look. Susan realizes the fine details of a character’s look are sometimes only created by binding her body in corsets or brassieres, yet amazingly, she is still able to sing. In the majority of these roles, including Xerxes, my first task is binding “the girls.” The female body parts that needs to be, uh, suppressed flat to give her that boyish look. Houston Grand Opera has an incredible costume shop, with extremely talented stitchers who make every costume part you could image. This binding that mezzos have the pleasure of wearing are custom made in the HGO shop to make them as comfortable as possible. They stretch, they Velcro, they wrap, they pull, and they work. Yes, this is torturing the mezzo, but it is something a singer coordinates with wardrobe and their dresser to have the basic core of their character’s costume. Virtually all mezzos sing pants roles, and they have to deal with, and embrace this need in a weird way - so I thought it was a good place to start out there in the public domain.

Susan doesn’t have any major quick changes in this opera, but there are costume pieces to “track” – something I will talk about next time.

2009-04-18T21:49:00.007-05:00

A long time since the last post. I have finished my Masters, and graduate May 9th. Take a look at www.thelmapatten.com to have an idea about who I am researching.

As school and other things wrapped up, we took a driving trip through the Old South, and tried alot of new barbecue.

Natchez, Mississippi was the first stop, where we not only took in the Antebellum Home Tour, but the Pig Out Inn bbq, featured in the April issue of Southern Living.

The next stop on this journey was to Vicksburg, where we drove the Civil War battleground, seeing the Texas memorials, among the trenches and other things of interest. No barbecue in Vicksburg, but we did visit Jake and Rip's in Grenada, MS. It was our first real taste of dry rub pork bbq. It is recommended in the book Off Beat Mississippi.

On to Memphis, where the real earing took place. We visited Corky's where we both had pork ribs, Stuart chose the dry rub, I went with wet. We also tried Beale Street, and Interstate. Some awesome eating.

Memphis also was a place for more serious reflection, at the National Civil Rights Museum at the Lorraine Motel. The exhibits in the museum are excellent, and do very well at telling an important story in our nation's history. We have seen the pictures of Matrin Luther King, Jr., slain on the balcony, but seeing the actual place was very sobering.

More details of the vacation to come - Graceland, Sun Studio, Hal & Mals......

2008-09-24T19:05:00.004-05:00

I wish I had excuses for not posting in, oh 6-8 months. Yeah, school was busy last spring, summer got lazy, and the fall has come back into existence. Hurricane Ike got me thinking about the need to post pictures of the tremendous destruction and life changing devestation this storm brought into our area. But there is alot of that, it is oftens seems so overwhelming for people. But I have been just floored at the callousness of anti-choice protesters who choose to harass women coming to Planned Parenthood while this city is still in crisis. I was VERY pleased to see the following email from Planned Parenthood's CEO.

I hope you agree with me, while we all try to make sense of a nation in crisis.

Enough is enough.
I arrived at the Fannin Health Center this morning to find the protesters moving forward with their annual 40 Days of Harassment. No matter that half a million people are still living without electricity, or that thousands of homes have been destroyed, or that schools are unable to open. These protesters are choosing to harass women in need of medical
services instead of help their neighbors.
This is a time to come together for our community. With city resources stretched to the limits, Planned Parenthood is filling a need in this time of crisis. Our Houston health centers began providing services to distraught and displaced citizens as soon as power returned to each neighborhood.
The women and men in our community have been through enough. Help clients access the health care they need without harassment.
Sign up to escort clients into our health centers over the next 40 days or donate to cover the costs of these unnecessary protests.
On the national front, time is running out to stop the Bush Administration’s recently proposed regulation that would allow health care providers to withhold information from their patients based on the provider’s personal beliefs—REGARDLESS of the impact on the patient’s health.
Take a few seconds to make your voice heard. We have until Thursday,
September 25th to send a comment and HELP KEEP POLITICS OUT OF THE EXAM ROOM.
We appreciate your support,
Peter DurkinPresident and
CEO of Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas

2008-03-04T22:03:00.008-06:00

The Texas Two-Step is still going on at 10pm. I went to my Precinct 002 Meeting (pictured left) for the caucus. Below is a nice wrap-up from Kathy Vossler who presumably will be our new Democratic Precinct Chair for Pct 002. Kathy is smart, responsible, and a good Dem. She was running against Maria Isabel Norman.

Together with Precinct 001 and the very small Precinct 680, we had a packed
house. Precinct 2 elected 14 delegates - 6 for Hilary Clinton, and 8 for Barack Obama. Even with the turnout, we completed the entire convention - sign-up, caucuses, delegate selection and resolutions - in 1 hour and 4 minutes! Everyone was pleasant and cooperative and attentive, and I think everyone found it to be a rewarding experience. And, we have a good slate of 14 delegates and 14 alternates to go forward to the Senate District convention.

There were 68 votes for Obama and 50 for Clinton at the Pct 002 Caucus.

And here is a picture from Precinct 001's convention on the right (with a few 002's in the pic). They ended a bit later than 002, but not long. Everyone was really rather organized for an event that few had experience doing.

A very historic evening for Texas.

2008-02-12T14:16:00.006-06:00

Cuban Missile Crisis

OK - it's been a while since writing, but a Cuban Missile is striking the Obama camp, and I can't keep my mouth shut. I like Barack, I also like Clinton. I don't want to see either torpedoed, but that is just what is happening. In no way do I think this is Obama's belief, I think it is a rabid campaigner who thinks more of herself than the candidate. Rule number ONE - you simply don't say, show, or sign anything that does not reflect your candidates point of view.

The Che Guevara flag that is flying in the Barak Obama Houston Headquarters is no doubt the work of Maria Isabel, who I have talked alot about in this blog. She and her husband Barry Norman fought the historic preservation regulations that Old Sixth Ward residents were pushing hard for. They demolished the historic 1890 Valentine house.
In fact, that is Maria in the picture, she is in the red and black with long hair.

I have seen the flag flying over their apartment on Washington Avenue. You can see it from Center street. This is not the location where they demo'd a house, here is that location.

Doesn't Obama have enough problems with people accusing him of being a terrorist (which he is NOT), why would ANYONE want to do this to him? Does she just not get it? Did she learn nothing about name calling when Houston's Mayor, Bill White chastised here for her comments about her Old Sixth Ward neighbors. No, she went on to talk to the media - something she LOVES to do.

According to Isabel's blog on the barackobama website, she has been working on his campaign for awhile. Did they not notice something was not right?

Yes my friends, we have another Cuban Missle Crisis.

2007-11-23T20:51:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving! School is finished for the semester, so time is a bit free - for the most part. I have had about enough of Wagon Wheels, specifically why your see the wheel rotate backwards, especially in film.

We normally ignore "Black Friday" as a stand against consumerism and commercialism, but there we were at 7am at Academy on the Southwest Freeway. Can we blame a pair of three year olds? Jonas is a big fan of firetrucks. He was a fireman, inside a firetruck costume for Halloween. So when I saw that Academy had a tent that looked like a firetruck on sale ($10), which is much less than it was selling for elsewhere ($20-30), we had to get it. At the same time we bought a bus tent for Rocco. These will probably be early presents. I had a few other errands to run, things we would normally do, so while we spent money, it was not shopping for sales buying, with the exception of Academy.

There was an impulse buy at Academy though. A Bear Rug dog toy for Moon Pie. It is $19 at Target, $12 at Academy. It has FIVE squeakies in it. She has already removed three of the squeaks, and loves the toy. She is currenlty asleep, cuddled up with it. There is little to unstuff in it, and it lays flat. A happy puppy dog.

It is supposed to rain this weekend, so I will catch up on household chores, many which have been delayed for months. Last year at this time I was planning some YouTube videos to shoot over Christmas. Perhaps my videos this year will be non-neighborhood related, or nothing at all!

2007-09-20T20:58:00.000-05:00

The first of the awards has come in! the Old Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association and the OSW TIRZ #13 has won a Keep Houston Beautiful award (Honorable Mention) for improving the quality of life of Houstonians by protecting the Old Sixth Ward. We reduce the rubble heading into landfills by stopping demolitions, maintain green space, and practice the three R's - reduce, reuse, and recycle. Jane Cahill will be accepting the award for the OSW, the luncheon is December 3rd. WHOO HOO!

2007-08-25T13:43:00.001-05:00

We finally got Protected Historic Neighborhood protections in place - effective August 1, 2007. I thought thing would really calm down after that, but life hasn't really slowed. At our National Night Out we filmed a Thank You video for the Mayor, City Council and Contoller. It was of course uploaded to YouTube.com.

A number of use have been getting calls from other neighborhoods wanting the same thing, which personally, I don't think they have the support to do this. I am getting a number of applications to fill out to apply for awards for our achievements. We'll see. A few I had already planned to apply for. Others, who knows.

2007-07-17T20:14:00.000-05:00

It is so easy to pick apart Coalition for Life's statements. The following is posted to their website where they are talking about the "40 Days for Life" Campaign of Harrasment.

"In the fall of 2004 the Brazos Valley Coalition for Life launched the
first ever 40 Days for Life campaign. This peaceful campaign focused on prayer,
fasting, and a constant vigil outside of the local Planned Parenthood abortion
facility for 24-hours a day, for 40 days. This effort led to a 28% drop in local
abortion numbers that year and rejuvenated the pro-life community."

They say that their event in THE FALL of 2004, which if I am correct the FALL is that October, November time frame of the year where we prepare to overstuff ourselves with food, gifts, and treats. But I digress. Their FALL event, resulted in a local drop in abortions for the year. I have to ask - were their efforts so strong in THE FALL that people who had AB's in the winter, spring and summer, didn't get to count them? For awhile I thought they meant the number dropped during their 40 days, but nope, I re-read it, they are talking about how their efforts affected an entire year's worth of abortions, including the ones that happened BEFORE the 40 Days event was even planned! Now that is spin! Damn, Somebody needs to give me some retroactive power.

2007-07-12T10:50:00.000-05:00

The TIRZ meeting on Monday, July 9th was very good. Following years of trying to get Historic Preservation Protection passed using the TIRZ (it was in the project plan), the plans have shifted to a City Ordinance, expected to pass in August. The pressure is off the TIRZ, and onto the Old Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association to get these protections passed, and it looks like we will have protections.

Knowing we will retain our historic character, the TIRZ has been working closely with engineers for implementation of historic street lights, historic brick pavers, historic corner monument street sign markers, and more. The historic style and expense would not have been appropriate without knowning what plans are in place for the future. Claude Anello, our TIRZ #13 Board Chair has been doing yeomans work with these engineers, planners, financing and bond negotiators, and with City Staff. Untold volunteer hours by Claude have gone into these projects to get them where they are, and move them on to the next steps. At the same time, he has been fighting SWPO (Sixth Ward Property Owners) who have been lobbying the Mayor and City Council - and anyone else who would listen - to disband the TIRZ, saying it was not needed, a waste of texpayer money, useless, etc. The TIRZ budget just passed Council, fortunately the City disagreed with SWPO.

Over the past few years, local developers have been buying up vacant land around the Old Sixth Ward to plan new communities and commercial areas. Claude, Steve Kirkland, Parke Patterson, and Jane Cahill who served before Claude, have kept an open conversation with many of them over the opportunities and options of working with the TIRZ. Claude is continuing that conversation with Frank Lui of Lovett Homes & Commercial Properties for the new development he is planning at the corner of Silver and Washington. Designed by RTKL, it will have similar features to the designs of the Post Midtown properties - where Farrago, Cyclone Anaya's, and other mixed retail/residential development has taken place.

These wonderful new developments for the neighborhood were announced at the TIRZ meeting Monday. Unfortunately, some people just don't get it and refuse to accept the desires of the majority of the neighborhood. During the public comments SWPO demanded Claude Anello's resignation. Here is the letter from the SWPO Board. I asked at the meeting if they were a 501c3 nonprofit organization or otherwise incorporated, and Maria Isabel replied no.

Many neighbors have been hesitant to work on restorations of properties until they know protections are in place. I know of two pending house sales that are waiting to be sure they are not spending money on a house and renovation, only to have a "McMansion" or "Miami Dream Home" be built next door. We work at different paces, and it is time to stop criticizing if someone is slow to renovate. It may be financial, elderly parents, desire to be a "do it yourselfer", or any number of things. Trying to lay shame and blame on an individual is not going to speed things up. Our houses are structurally VERY sound, they have lasted through numerous hurricanes. Cosmetic needs, and yes there are many, should not be equaled with structural deficiancies.

I don't want to have individuals or groups trying to shame their neighbors with emails, pictures, letters, displays, and accusations. It is unproductive to live in a society of blame, shame, and ridicule. We should be above that.

2007-07-04T09:50:00.000-05:00

No Dressing.

No, I haven't been dressing any shows since February, and I truly do miss it. School, foot surgery, and neighborhood activities have gotten in the way. I saw the Octavian costume worn by Joyce DiDonato while at SanFran Opera and was overcome with the beauty of the detailing.

On a more local note, I think it is funny as can be that Matt Stiles was late for Houston City Council this week, as Miya Shay noted.

We are back to Planning Commission this week on Old Sixth Ward Protected Neighborhood hearings. What a long, long process this has been. In the mean time, SWPO continues to spew venom - which only hurts themselves. You'd have thought they would have learned by now that their nastiness, which has been seen by many, gets them no-where. Even folks on Houston Architectural Forum are making them the butt of their jokes. That can't be good for their leadership's business contacts, people such as Jamail Real Estate, Paul Gainey, Bumpass, and Laraina Hailey. Kind of an embarrassement, from what I hear - yet I don't run in those circles.

2007-05-25T21:27:00.002-05:00

We had the first hearing for the Old Sixth Ward protected historic district, it was before the Houston Archeological and Historical Commission. One of the spokespersons for SWPO loves to point out her version - or is it vision - of "blight" in the Old Sixth Ward. Funny thing, it is only preservationists she likes to target. She ignores properties owned by SWPO members that are in need of repair. Like many other SWPO members, she wants no rules on her property, but LOVES telling people what they must do to THEIR property. She doesn't actually live in the historic district, unless she is living in this old motor home - which some think of as dilapidated, moldy, decrepit and stinky - with an expired inspection sticker parked on the property where the 1885 Valentine House once stood. She demolished the historic home a few years back so she could build her Miami Dream Home and Garagemahal, saving the palm tree in front. You can see her on youtube from a Channel 13 report by Miya Shay.

2007-05-15T15:36:00.000-05:00

Day Six with the Dog.

After having minor foot surgery on Thursday I have been house-bound while healing. I damaged my heel last August, then didn't take care of it. I tried alternative therapies, and finally got tired of the pains so I said "start cutting!" The healing has gone well because I am following directions. So Moon Pie Bailey and I are spending day six together. I go back to work and school tomorrow. I also go back to the foot doc for a check-up.

School finishes May 30th, and I've really enjoyed this semester, but I am ready for a summer break. I have things to do - like sell Joycee's PT Cruiser. Pictures to come.

2007-05-08T19:58:00.000-05:00

May is National Historic Preservation Month. As part of that celebration, today, May 8th, has been proclaimed Old Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association day in Houston. Thank you to Mayor White and Councilmember Garcia for the presentation at today's Pop-off.

EVERYONE in the OSW neighborhood should be very proud of the work done to preserve our special area of Houston. Whether you have lived here 20+ years or 2+ months, every effort counts - and is noticed by City Council, the media, fellow residents, and citizens of Houston. Thank you - this is YOUR recognition!

2007-04-18T15:58:00.000-05:00

Been swamped with Old Sixth Ward stuff. The Mayor is polling people yet again about Historic Preservation desires. Not a worry, we are quite comfortable with our level of support. It is simply time consuming. Virginia Tech has been an unhappy diversion. I'd rather be dealing with neighborhood than consumed with sadness.

Most news stories that our government wants hidden gets a release date of Friday afternoons. Lost emails? send a release at the end of the week. Government official lied - it'll never make it to Friday happy hour conversation if you release the info late enough in the day. That is sort of how I feel about the Supreme Court releasing their Carhart ruling. It is horrible. I am waiting for the day that SCOTUS overturns Roe v Wade and makes all abortion illegal. In the mean time, I like David Crary's opening sentence:

NEW YORK -- The Supreme Court ruling Wednesday that bans a particular abortion procedure will encourage anti-abortion forces to push for an array of other restrictions in legislatures across the country, activists on both sides of the issue agree.

There was a clinic blockade in Pennsylvania on Good Friday. Do I think there will be more? Hmmm, what does Operation Rescue think? Here's what Crary wrote:

"The time is now right to launch aggressive legal challenges across America to abortion on demand," said Troy Newman, president of Operation Rescue. "The court has now said it's OK to ban procedures. We can do more than just put hurdles in front of women seeking abortions - we can put roadblocks in front of them."

Well, isn't that lovely. And what is forecast for the future? Did the Republicans NOT get the message in November?

Peter Brownlie, executive director of a Planned Parenthood branch serving Kansas and Missouri, said he expects many bills to be introduced by anti-abortion lawmakers in both those states, but he wondered how centrist lawmakers would react.
"We can anticipate a slew of bills that will aim to pry open the window that the court opened today," Brownlie said. "But that will be happening at the same time as we're seeing a clear shift in public opinion around politicians meddling in health care and private medical decisions. We'll see some interesting collisions as we go into an election year."

Politics will no doube be interesting this November and next...

2007-03-17T12:03:00.000-05:00

I was fortunate enough to be invited to the Hillary Clinton breakfast this morning for local Houston Community Women Leaders. Jane (my neighborhood cohort) and I were able to get very near Senator Clinton. She took questions from the audience (there were about 100-150 of us) and really seemed to give heartfelt answers. I was quite impressed. I saw her during the 1996 campaign as part of the Democratic Party's Women's Leadership Forum, she has mellowed with age. Her answers were concise, and clean, and thorough. I didn't feel like she evaded anything and she didn't speak circles in talking points as so many politicians do. She answered the questions asked, and explained how an issue can affect a broad swath of the American public. Thanks to U.S. Representative Sheila Jackson-Lee and Councilmember Garcia for suggesting me for the list.

2007-01-30T12:28:00.000-06:00

The Sixth Ward Property Owners (SWPO) delivered a letter to Mayor White and Houston City Council on January 7, 2007 calling the Old Sixth Ward Neighborhood Association and TIRZ efforts "un-American", and our efforts to have architectural standards for historic preservation "unconstitutional". The two groups have sat down at the table to work out differences, with Councilmember Adrian Garcia as the moderator. SWPO wants no restrictions whatsoever. The OSWNA wants restrictions to be decided through public hearings by local property owners in a proposed protected area. And yes, we want "No Means No" when it comes to demolishing a historic structure.

In the proposed protected area, the OSWNA has 65% support from property owners, SWPO has 16% support. SWPO does have support from outside the area, but those individuals are not stakeholders, and they will not be affected by the regulations. As a result, I don't feel as if they should be calling the shots for those trying to protect their historic homes.

An interesting list of who is part of their organization, and the title each of them hold.

2007-01-05T10:51:00.000-06:00

A Bryan, Texas area anti-abortion group sent out the following in an email on January 4th:

LUFKIN DAILY NEWS REPORTS NEW ABORTION FACILITY

Planned Parenthood of Houston and Southeast Texas (PPHSET), which includes the Bryan abortion facility, is reportedly building a 6,700 square foot, 1.5 million dollar facility in Lufkin, Texas. Planned Parenthood claims that this facility will not be used for abortions, the same line they used before opening the facility on East 29th Street that has killed over 3,000 local babies since 1999.
...[and it rambles on]

***********************************************************

This announcement is brought to you by the Coalition for Life.

The Coalition for Life was formed in 1998 when Planned Parenthood
announced plans to build the first abortion clinic in the history of the Brazos Valley. Since that time, Planned Parenthood has aborted over 3,000 children in Bryan.

The Coalition for Life is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit
organization made up of dozens
of churches and thousands of individuals
dedicated to ending abortion...
peacefully and prayerfully.

Uhmmmm, when you are going to tell lies (the quote in the Lufkin Daily News from Planned Parenthood said it was only a family planning clinic) you should change your email signature to reflect your latest lie!

2006-12-21T12:53:00.000-06:00

The Old Sixth Ward TIRZ is trying to implement historic preservation restrictions in a proposed protected area (not the entire area since part of it has already lost its historic character and thus doesn't have anything historic to protect). One argument made by those opposing building restrictions, calling themselves SWPO, has been that so-called zoning restrictions will drive down property value prices. One of their leaders, Janice Jamail Garvis wrote the following:

"I have been real estate professional for over 30 years working with neighborhoods to preserve and provide dignity for the property and their values. The path the you are taking, WILL reverse the property values in the OSW. "

Yet one of SWPO's supporters, upset at being "red tagged" for working without building permits put up the following sign, a left over from a years ago zoning battle. So - uh, does zoning raise or lower taxes - i.e. property values? I think we have a little talking out of both sides of our mouths here. Perhaps they are really anarchists, afraid of having any rules at all.

OOPS - I forget - they DO want rules, but only their own. They have made a list of houses they think need demolished or renovated or painted or other repairs and want to be able to tell others what they must do to their property! The TIRZ and OSWNA are trying to keep the status quo - people renovate as they can, and when additions are done to homes they are sympathetic to the surrounding homes. Same thing goes for new construction - but no one is FORCED to paint, or to mow their lawn to a specific height, or weed their garden. Live and let live.

2006-11-23T21:13:00.000-06:00

It is Thanksgiving, and school is over for the semester. I enjoyed the class, but am looking forward to the break.

I have been a big fan of Zamboni's for years. In fact, I once had a Houston Aeros Hockey team bumpersticker on my car that said "My Other Car is a Zamboni". Because of this obsession, I found the following story a bit more humorous than others.

Idaho Zamboni drivers fired after trip to fast-food drive-thru

(11/22/06 - BOISE, ID) - Two employees of the city's ice skating rink have been fired for making a midnight fast-food run in a pair of Zambonis.
An anonymous tipster reported seeing the two big ice-resurfacing machines chug through a Burger King drive-through and return to the rink around 12:30 a.m. on Nov. 10. The squat, rubber-tired vehicles, which have a top speed of about 5 mph, drove 1 1/2 miles in all.
The Zamboni operators, both temporary city employees whose names and ages were not released by Parks and Recreation Department, had to negotiate at least one intersection with a traffic light on their late-night creep from Idaho Ice World.
"They were fired immediately," said Parks Department Director Jim Hall. "We're pretty sure it was just the one time. When we interviewed them, they didn't seem to be too concerned about it. I don't think they understood the seriousness of it."

Hall said neither the $75,000 Zambonis nor their $10,000 blades appeared damaged, but the city could charge the employees with operating an unlicensed motor vehicle on a public street.
(Copyright 2006 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
http://abclocal.go.com/ktrk/story?section=bizarre&id=4787859

And they were apparently sober? Gotta love it.

2006-11-18T21:12:00.000-06:00

I'm reading Daniel Ellsberg's book Secrets: A Memoir of Vietnam and the Pentagon Papers. In talking about Vietnam, Ellsberg says (p149) "For purposes of our own, involving both external and domestic politics, we were carrying on a war in someone else's country, a country in no way implicated in attacking our own or anyone else's. To continue to do that against the intense wishes of most of the inhabitants of the country began to seem to me morally wrong."... and in the next paragraph he says "The belief that we ever had a right to try to "win" in Vietnam, to impose our political preferences by military means, died for me in August and September 1969 as I read these volumes [The Pentagon Papers]."

Gee. Are the neocon hawks in charge of the White House familiar with this concept?

2006-06-08T20:43:00.000-05:00

Planned Parenthood, along with many other family planning organizations are facing funding cuts from the State of Texas. Do these legislators not understand that fewer birth control visits equal more unintended pregnancies? Or is that the goal - to simply bankrupt the entire social service system?

2005-12-05T18:14:00.000-06:00

A day doesn't pass that you don't hear about bird flu in the news. It is only second to the occupation of Iraq. Next in the news line is so-called "Intelligent Design" in the schools. So I wonder - of all these people running around like, well, chickens with their heads cut off about bird flu - do you think they also believe in evolution? Because ya can't have one without the other.

If you think bird flu will mutate into humans, you have to believe mutation is a fact of science - and that my friends, is evolution! Somehow, I don't think this point is made clear to most people. They only want to believe what they want.

Same thing about Emergency Contraception and Birth Control. Planned Parenthood tries to make these things as available as possible to reduce unintended pregnancy and abortion. The same folks who believe in creationism AND bird flu mutating, think being responsible - like using a condom and EC if your birth control fails - are against God's plan. Enough.

2005-12-01T20:50:00.000-06:00

Frustrations over the current administrations moving toward a theocracy are becoming daily. Bush and Co. have appointed the former head of Patrick Henry University as the head of USAID (International Development Organization). How screwed up is that?