Purely Picture Post (pretty much)

ABQ - New Mex

I went to New Mexico for a week in February… Santa Fe, Albuquerque, and Jemez Pueblo. Got to see House Made of Dawn I.R.

Sandia Mtns at dusk

Jemez

In May, I went to see the Dalai Lama in Indy give a talk on Facing Challenges with Compassion and Wisdom.

Letter to my soul.

Dalai Lama - Indy

The same weekend, I went to Chicago with Ryan and Kailey. So much fun. Love them both and so glad that I get to have them in my life.

The Bean - Chicago

Sleeping and drooling at Gino's East

Root root root for the Cubbies

The Blues.

Chicago Playboys

Just when I tried to get out, they pull me back in

Long time since I’ve pressed any words and made sentences. A brief summation of my events since September:

I went to school for two weeks in Virginia for my Army job; the funding for my Army orders changed, so I couldn’t get orders for the new fiscal year; I got the flu and discovered that, while Tamiflu does work against flu symptoms, it also makes you violently vomit for two days.

I went to Kentucky and celebrated the uniqueness of my state–I toured the Wild Turkey Distillery, saw the Cats blue-white game, went to the horse races a few times, and hiked a lot in the pretty wooded mountains.

I went to Cincinnati and shopped, and I toured my mom’s hometown in greater Ohio; went to Arkansas, basically, to see a Katharine McPhee concert; I went to D.C. and borrowed some couch space from Sarah and Nicki (thanks guys); I went to Chicago and saw Jersey Boys (and found Sarah’s long-lost thong).

I went to Indianapolis and saw Peyton and Tony U beat the Titans… was amazing (thanks for getting us tickets, dad).

I went to Mississippi and gambled; I went back to Kentucky; I went to Mississippi and gambled on the beach; and then I came back to Houston.

I’ve only been back in Houston for a couple weeks, so haven’t done a lot since I’ve been here. When the weather was good, I hiked with the gators a lot at Brazos Bend S.P.

I’ve been reading some of my fave guy the Dalai Lama, mulling vegetarianism, working at the HAWC some and, most importantly, I’ve hung out with my BFF Cara

I have a new job that I start on 8 Feb. at BHP Billiton. I’m psyched for that. I extended my apartment lease based on that, and I got a surprisingly good deal on the price.

I became addicted to the AMC show Breaking Bad. I read about it online, and I knew that the critics loved it, so I downloaded the first two seasons from iTunes. It’s far and away the best show I’ve seen since The Sopranos. The premise: A high school chemistry teacher discovers he has stage 3 cancer and decides to cook crystal meth to sell so that he has enough money to leave with his family when he dies. The slightly outlandish-sounding plot becomes plausible when watching because of the show’s writing, acting, directing, overall awesomeness, quotes from Hank like the title of this blog, blurring the line between good and evil, yadda, yadda, yadda. Give it a chance, watch the first season, you won’t be disappointed.

Having this week free before I start work is making me itchy itchy to explore, so I’m thinking of taking a trip tomorrow.

Time doesn’t exist, so do it now.

Mind Traveling to Thoughts of Travels

Seeing as my future isn’t so much in limbo anymore, I’m able to plan for being in Houston, which means I’m able to plan travels from Houston. I’m super psyched about the rest of the year. I will be here:

Fort Monroe, VA

And here:

Seattle, WA

And here:

Washington, D.C.

And here:

the NYC

And here:

Kentucky

More important than where I’ll be, it’s who I’ll be with. Mom and Dad, Seester, Courtney, Seester again, and Mom, Dad, Brother. I guess most people don’t really understand what it is to have ZERO relatives in the town/vicinity where they live, but it is something that I’ve started to become accustomed to, and it makes my travels that much more important. I think about how nice it would be to drive over to mom’s for dinner, or go see a movie with my sister on the weekend. I don’t have those opportunities for now. Maybe some day I will. But for the time being, I’m enjoying the 3-day weekends here and there that I get to go and see loved ones.

As for the travel bug, I still got it. Having a job is good for it b/c it both funds it and curbs it (a little). One thing that’s totally sweet about the Army? 30 days of vacation a year (or 2.5 days a month). So, next year I’ll be looking at one or two excursions… probably two broken down into 2-week stints. The locale I’m considering is here:

Belize

And here:

Mongolia

And here:

Fiji

And here:

Maine

And all of here:

South America

A word I like is here:

Possibilities

The world is huge, and life is beautiful. I’m just trying to make the most of it. Opening doors. Moving mountains. Believing.

City Cemetery Survey and Seuss’s Sylvester McMonkey McBean

Although it’s morbid, I love good obituaries, and I love cemeteries. Obits of famous people are well-written and interesting, usually telling a story about the person that I haven’t heard before, and they always leave me feeling some type of emotion. As for cemeteries, I remember exploring two of them in my “neighborhood” when I was young. Standing on someone’s grave and reading a few facts about them was very intimate to me and, again, always left me feeling some type of emotion.

Today, a quarter of a mile from my apartment is a huge acreage of a cemetery, Glenwood, that sits quiet and unassuming off of Washington Ave. Everyone who’s anyone that has lived and died in Houston is buried in Glenwood Cemetery. Some of my favorite tenants: Howard Hughes, the Allens–the founders of Houston, Oveta Culp Hobby, Roy Hofheinz, governors, mayors, military leaders, businessmen… and more: http://www.glenwoodcemetery.org/about/. Lots of celestial statues, headstones, and monuments. These are some of my favorites:

I had been wanting to go visit the Houston National Cemetery as well, and today the weather was great, so I decided to go there too. It’s really pretty, the grounds are very well taken care of, the architecture of the chapel is unique and reason enough to visit. I don’t know anyone buried there, but I did feel like going and paying my respects was something that I should do.

I wonder if there are anymore notable cemeteries around Houston?

On my lazy Sunday, I also read some Dr. Seuss because I like poetry, and I like children’s books, and no one mixes that concoction better than the good Doctor. I don’t remember ever reading “The Sneetches” before, and what a special story I’ve been missing. I can’t find the text anywhere on the internet, but there is a decent explanation and links to video of the cartoon here: http://www.squidoo.com/thesneetches.

Between the Star-Bellied Sneetches, Plain-Bellied Sneetches, and Sylvester McMonkey McBean, who are you?

That Seuss was a man with some wittiness, smarts

Who focused on progress and progressed through time–

He worked throughout decades and grasped all the arts

With drawings and colors and meters and rhymes.

Waiting on the Wild Things

I’m so super excited for Where the Wild Things Are movie to come out. I’ve watched the trailer about 10 times. This morning I learned that the screenplay was co-written by Dave Eggers, and he also wrote a novel called The Wild Things that is going to release the same week as the movie. There is an excerpt of his new book in the latest issue of The New Yorker that you can read here. My only dilemma is deciding if I want to wait to watch the movie and read the book first or just go ahead and watch the movie as soon as it comes out and then read the book. Both are going to be awwwwwesome.

Speaking of awesome, check out the professional bio of Dave Eggers. You can google him and learn about all that he’s overcome in his personal life and really get inspired. And, he’s good looking!

My new J-O-B

I finally got a J-O-B! After two weeks of transitioning with the officer I’m replacing, I know about one thing: I’ve got a lot to learn. I’m completely unfamiliar with the ROTC program, “normal” college campus functions, interaction between student and professor, etc. So, I’m definitely projecting a whole whole whole lot of work ahead. But, I’m so excited, the job will be awesome.

Basically, I go around talking up the Army to anyone who’ll listen. And function as the department’s academic advisor. Ish! But, the funnest part is meeting so many new people, with so many different stories. And it’s super cool to talk to a young person who’s smart and athletic and has amazing potential and know that they have their whole lives in front of them to accomplish anything they want.

I work in the Hofheinz Pavilion building on UH campus (referred to as the Coog’s house by some), and it takes 9 to 12 minutes to get to work. Uhmazin. I spent about 5 hours in my office today cleaning/organizing… there were years of binders and memos and old Army publicity items accumulated throughout. It’s a relief to have everything pretty much in order now, so I can walk in the office on Monday and feel comfortable.

There are almost 20 schools that I’m responsible for, so I will be traveling all over Houston frequently. I’m glad that I’ll get to know the city better, but it’s also going to take a lot of time just driving. Good thing is, I have a government sedan. UH, UH-D, Rice, TSU, St Thomas, Houston Baptist, all HCC campuses, Texas Woman’s University, all San Jacinto College campuses, all Lone Star College campuses, Alvin Community College, and the UT Health Science Center fall under my ROTC battalion.

I established a Twitter page where I can tweet all things Army that I’m doing and maybe spur some interest amongst the younger set out there that have been using Twitter for years. Follow me here: http://twitter.com/captainharris.

Adios for now.

Peace and love, sales and marketing.

Bonjour Pee-Wee?

My poor blog… It’s been so long since I’ve logged in that they even changed the format of the wordpress homepage. I’ve been busy though–summer in Tejas is in full swing, and I started my new job last week (more on that later). I woke up at 4am this morning to watch the meteor shower, to no avail. I guess the illumination from the city lights is just too much for a girl like me to be able to stand on her balcony and watch the stars. Perhaps the most significant event in my life since I last wrote?

The Pee-Wee Herman Show is having a revival! How sweet is that?!

I must admit, I was a little bit worried about him in the 90′s(?), but it seems as though he’s making a comeback on the stage–Cowboy Curtis and all! Check out this article with the details: http://babies.rightcelebrity.com/?p=83.

Unfortunately, he’s only going to be in L.A., but I’m going to hold out hope that it’s successful and the show will tour other cities. Until that happens, my fingers are crossed that he doesn’t screw up.

Now, I must run (literally) and administer a PT test to some future leaders who were 9- and 10-years-old when 9/11 happened… Ugh, I’m getting old!

-Peace, love, and knitting