Summer isn't quite summer without a day of...

[ it must happen soon...]

"I used to think anyone doing anything weird was weird. Now I know that it is the people that call others weird that are weird" - Paul McCartney

All the hopes i had for an artful outing on Friday were squashed when i woke up with a fever and quite swollen glands in my neck. frown. I called in to work, laid in bed and drifted in an out of uncomfortable sleep until my doctor's appointment. I got some antibiotics and allergy meds (because now, at the ripe old age of 27, i have developed allergies to tree pollen and grass, which i can not escape given my geographic location) and am now well on the road to recovery.

This coming 4th of July weekend will bring lots and lots of adventures and i need to be in ship shape for: [including but not limited to]

- trip to the airport to pick up precious cargo

- surprise dinners at undisclosed locations

- sunshine and water

- eggs benedict

- slumber parties

- fireworks

- cook-outs

- sleeping in on lazy sundays

- farmer's market

- mojitos and mimosas

- dancing

- smooching

- hot coffee in air conditioned cafes

- houston arts scene

- westheimer cruising

see?! so much to look forward to!

Although i kept pretty quiet this weekend, i did manage to get out during the day for a little while for some lunch and sight-seeing (until it became just too hot to handle). After a nice, long nap, I got a little brother-time in and went to the nighttime Houston Pride parade for a little while. Sunday brought delicious lunch and some much-needed visiting at mom and dad's house.

Below are a few photos from the Saturday wanderings and the parade, which really was a rainbow-laden spectacle.

I hope your weekend was filled with rainbows, too! (but no dr. visits..)

Tomorrow, I think, will bring my first visits to...

neighborhood museums!

[The Menil Collection: 1515 Sul Ross St. Houston, 77006]

Below are Byzantine icon paintings on display at the Menil. I'd really like to see these guys up close:

[Saint George and the Dragon, Greece, Creto-VenetianEarly 16th century][Saint Stephen Protomartyr, Thessalonica or Ohrid, ca. 1330–1350]

Also visiting the Contemporary Arts Museum to see what kinds of neat things they have going on there. [ 5216 Montrose]

“I feel very adventurous. There are so many doors to be opened, and I'm not afraid to look behind them.” - Elizabeth Taylor

Hibiscus Punch? Done & Done.

Hibiscus Punch Emerald Beach Hotel

July 1968

"Can there be a more appropriate mixological metaphor for British colonialism than a drink that combines rum and Pimm’s? Emerald Beach Hotel, the first in the Bahamas to offer air-conditioning, was demolished in the late 1980s.

How to: Shake together or blend for 30 seconds 3 ounces each of orange juice, and pineapple juice, 1 1/4 ounces light rum, 1/2 ounce Pimm’s Cup No. 1, 1/4 ounce grenadine, and a dash each of lemon juice, Angostura bitters, and egg white. Serve the drink in a chilled 12-ounce glass. Serves 1."

Photograph by Romulo Yanes

[Recipe taken from http://www.gourmet.com/recipes/1960s/1968/07/hibiscus-punch-emerald-beach-hotel]

Series 2: Rooftops of Montrose

C'est la vie

...sometimes you take your brother to see David Sedaris @ Jones Hall in Houston for his 22nd birthday..and you wait in the meet & greet line for an hour and a half @ 10:30pm on a worknight before giving up. "oh well". And then sometimes your brother meets David Sedaris at a reading in a Hastings book/video rental store in tiny San Marcos. *sigh*.

[ "To Peter, so very nice to see you again" - David Sedaris]

"I have an affection for a great city. I feel safe in the neighborhood of man, and enjoy the sweet security of the streets." - Henry W. Longfellow

I had the pleasure of having a sweet little house guest this weekend:

For the first time since I moved to Montrose in February, I had a good excuse to walk around the neighborhood with my camera. We walked 3 times a day for about 45 minutes each...sure it was warm outside, and I made him stop often so I could take a photo, but I really don't think he minded. There were so many new things for Jake to see and smell I had to enforce a 10 second sniff-limit.

I think I got some really neat shots that I'll be posting here throughout the week.

Series 1: Fences/gates

I hope you had a wonderful weekend, too and got to spend a little time with your Poppa!

[Dad driving the MG in New Orleans]