Unit Production

I was working on a new project, at my desk. I was in my groove, and then I found something on the Chevron website that distracted me pretty badly for a few minutes. I saw the picture at the top of the screen, under the heading purpose. The man pictured clearly has purpose, and is most clearly an oilfield worker. He has the necessary hat, he has the rag to seal his neck from almost any chemical spray or splash, and he has the oh-so-dour expression necessary to really excel in his profession.
The thing that distracted me so much was when I mentally compared this picture to a picture of a unit in Warcraft or Civilization. This is the human race's basic production unit, maybe?
Next, and with a similar theme, is the picture of the scientist, so unstoppably focused on the search and research that she desperately desires to drive mankind forward. Both pictures are so bold!
I really like the thought that I may be a little portrait inside of the "Industrial Center," beside which it says "Training: Engineer - 25% Complete."


Edit: There are a lot of little birds in my neighborhood that love to stand in the road, so you have to drive slowly to let them hop away.

Eyes Open!

Snow Patrol was amazing! None of you (I think) listen to them, so I'll keep the details brief, but they played mostly from Eyes Open and Final Straw. The very best moment was during "It's Beginning to Get to Me" when the lead singer totally stopped, and the audience boldly filled in, singing at least half of the song. During the chorus, the band played different harmonies to the melody than the ones on the cd, and it was so wonderful.

The lights on stage were the best I've ever seen. They seemed to be textured and made of so many colors at the same time. During Ways and Means, and blue-green-purple starburst surrounded the lead singer, whose arms were extended just how you would to embrace everyone there, and then suddenly, the theatre went black, but only for a moment, right before the most wondrous shiny thing I've ever seen.

The entire stage burst into brilliant white light, that seemed to flash, brighter and faster than earthly lightning, not letting the darkness creep back in for even a moment before another burst, and individual, prismatic, rays seemed to climb stately from floor to ceiling starting right under the feet of the band.

The lights and the crowd singing are the two things that define this concert for me, and probably a little bit of emotional attachment to the lyrics on Chocolate and How to be Dead.

And it's beginning to get to me,
that I know more of the stars and sea,
than I do of what's in your head,
we try to talk but then shout instead.

Are you beginning to get my point,
that all this fighting with aching joints,
is doing nothing but tire us out,
and no one know what the fight's about.

Hey, I got my camera out (yay)

This post inaugurates the age of photos, in which I will post photos.
This is an exciting time, and for some of you, it may even be a scary time, but there are counselors standing by if the anxiety becomes too great. They're right over there. No, not there. Good, you've found them.
Most of these are from my trip downtown yesterday, but a few date back to when I was exploring the house and getting my bearings.


The first picture is the Chevron building downtown. I come here from time to time for meetings and official-ish stuff. It's actually really pretty inside.

Next comes an awesome skywalk thingy that connects my building to another big building, and one that was once owned by the unfortunate Enron corporation. When it died, it had no capital assets - the building, even the desks were all leased - so there was no return to investors, or for unemployees : (

The third picture is of a really pretty entrance to the building, on the west side, underneath that skywalk. Also of interest (it really is interesting!) is that the skywalk looks like a weird circle or something on google earth satelite map. It's worth checking out. 1500 Louisiana Street.


Next, number four, comes the inside of that cool entrance. It has a cylindrical globe laser cut onto glass, and it's really pretty.

The next picture is of my room here on Neff St. I love the bed. It's a million times more comfortable than my bed at home. Also, the suitcase on top I use like a dresser drawer / bookshelf.

The second to last picture (yes, this uploading makes me weary!) is of the house itself. It is nice, clean, and comfortable. I just wish there were more people here (my roommate is away on business.)

And finally! Me standing here sporting my new, much shorter hair (I actually really like it this way.) I don't really have good or bad hair days anymore. Maybe they're all good. I like that.

Now, I go to make some biscuits for dinner, and soup too. I really hope there is butter around here somewhere. Two nights ago I had a whole pan of canned chili, with no crackers, and juice to drink. I actually ate the last quarter of it from the pan. I don't remember why, but there was a reason. There must have been. I know that I wouldn't just do that! Anyway, I got all 140% of my daily sodium right there, so it was at least healthy.

Hahahahahaha. I bought a small pizza at lunch today and ate it, and it was altogether worth doing. Now I just need to practice music for a bit and find dinner. Alright, I can handle that.

Basic Exercises

Today was my first Tai Chi lesson. From what I've been able to see so far, Grandmaster Cheng is a really cool person. I can tell, both by the way he walks, and (he's a lady's man, no time to talk. no) from when he showed me the proper way to stand and breathe, that he's a a tremendously strong person. He might be the most physically powerful man I've ever met. During one Chin Na sequence that he demonstrated, I had the feeling that he could, at any time, actually tear my arm off. He had one hand on the other guy's wrist, and his other on the elbow, ad quickly and unstoppably dominated that arm. He probably has to write that guy's arm off on his taxes as "miscellaneous income." I mean that in all available seriousness. Anyway, the class was swell, and my back feels the best I can remember it feeling, since I got tall.

The other cool event today was going to the downtown office (huge shiny building!) and attending a meeting in the conference room on the 39/40th floor. The view was excellent, and I got a bunch of pictures. Also, I wandered downtown afterward and found a Starbucks, and got an iced mocha and change for the bus ride back to Bellaire (I'm the closest thing this part of town has to a 'fresh prince') which is about ten miles southwest of the sprawling downtown.

Rawr! I've got to get up at 6:00. Goodnight, everyone in Tulsa. Have a nice sleep.

So unbelievably panicked!

I had the most terrible fright today. I knew that I had to wake up at 5:50 a.m. so I could make it to the Bellfort bus stop by 6:40, and get downtown for a really important meeting. I awoke all of a sudden, confused about the passage of time, and realized I was still fully dressed. I started to panic! Short sentences! carry more emotion. Anyway, I looked at my clock, and it was 7:00 already. I flew out of bed and whirled about, like a hurricane, in a frenzy of activity, and ashamed of myself for sleeping so grievously and irresponsibly in. Just then, I realized it didn't feel at all like morning.

The resolution to the story is that it was, in fact, 7 o'clock p.m., and I'd just fallen asleep after I got back from work, and the meeting still isn't happening until tomorrow. I relaxed my straining nervous system and microwaved some leftover Chinese food, and called a couple of friends. Whew. If I'm going to wake up on time tomorrow, I should probably go to sleep at about 10 o'the'clock. Tomorrow should be really exciting, so I'll take my camera along with me, and see if I can get any interesting shots. I'll be on the lookout for interesting people (crazies included! I mean this in the nicest way, just that, it's a big city, and there may be crazies.)

I really wish we had some jet skis on the lake at work. That really would be perfect. When I get a picture up of the office, I'm sure you will agree.

Time for cello. It's always time for cello. There's always room for cello. /out/

China Town

Today is the first day that I went out to find some good thing here in Houston. The day had cooled off by the time I left work, so I drove with windows down and Rilo Kiley on, and totally forgot my takeout container of Mexican food in the refrigerator. I was hungry, and maybe a little bit solitary, and just about then I remembered the grocery store my roomie told me about, so I searched out Bissonet Street, and the supermarket there.
Its name is "HEB" which are the initials for "Herbert E. Butz," the store's founder. I walked around looking at people for awhile, and finally got to the business of picking out food. I bought juice, spaghetti-Os, chili, and hamburger helper. After I left I realized "that's all so unhealthy!" but it was too late, and I wouldn't try to turn around on these streets for anything! Traffic here is really intense, and requires lots of attention.
Anyway, I got home and realized that the Houston Go Club was meeting today. so I high-tailed it to the China-district. They have a Chinese district! I eventually found the Chinese language school where the club meets, and when I came in, I found just two Chinese men there, talking in front of a television. Both of them seemed very excited to see me there, and the older one introduced himself as Vincent Wang, and I got the feeling that he was probably very skilled at Go. He asked me about my strength, and I said that I was somewhere around 19 kyu. He told me to take nine stones (AAAAHHHHHHHHH) and I did, having never done anything like this in my life. He destroyed me! It was so beautiful! He totally killed one of my corners, and he decimated almost all of my other territory! Eight o'clock came around, and he had to go, so I thanked him for the game and his instruction.
I walked outside and got into my car, feeling very happy to find a club that I could join, and some friends to make! I hadn't considered what it would be like to have no one to spend time with, but now I understand, and it's a little bit sad. Anyway, I got to know Houston a little bit better today, and I feel relieved.
Back to the part where I got into my car! I drove a block down the road, and passed a little Tai-Chi school. I've always been a little bit interested in how graceful it seems, and in my current exile, I could probably use some exercise, so I went in. The teacher was also, and not to my surprise, a middle-aged Chinese man, and he began by asking me a question I couldn't understand, over and over. We eventually abandoned it, and moved on to another subject. He showed me a succession of Tai-Chi magazines, all of which featured him on the cover. At first it seemed to me that he was bragging, but I eventually understood that if he was as good as he seemed to be, he was allowed to brag. Cutting to the chase, it seems that I'll probably be taking weekly lessons from Master Cheng Jin Cai this summer, and getting destroyed and rebuilt by Vincent Wang 5 Dan. I wonder, can the Chinese culture do a better job on me than the Anglo-American culture? Oh no! I still need to make dinner and play my cello! Take care, everyone!