Christmas 2008

-
 

[caption id="attachment_146" align="aligncenter" width="720"]By the mantle at Stonebench. By the mantle at Stonebench.[/caption]

To Our Familiar Friends & Friendly Family:

A year cannot help but look frantic in retrospect, dozens of important events and scores of only somewhat less vital ones all clamoring for mention in the space of a few hundred words. Contrary to last year's message, we kicked off the year in Plano instead of Austin, the first of many changes-of-plan.

The primary object of our discretionary time and treasure has been the new dependent we took under our wing last spring, the recently christened Stonebench, aka 1905 Rainy Meadows Dr. Spring Break brought the first Big Project . Master-izing the guest bath didn't sound so hard, but the plans went from walling off the second door, to replacing all the doors in the hall, to remodeling the hall completely. We made it over the finish line just in time to rest before work the next day. Other such endeavors saw the creation of a built-in book case, re-garage-ification, and the rehabilitation of the deck. Currently, we're finishing the job the dry summer and Russell's “water conservation” began, and are replacing our grass with hardscape, replete with limestone and river rock.

We didn't spend all our time at home, though. We hit the road to east Texas twice, exploring a new city each time. In June, Christina's sorors joined us in a van piloted by Russell to the energy hub of Beaumont for their Regional Executive Board Meeting. We, being the Regional Zeta Male Network Coordinator and a Male in said Network, took the other fellows about town for a morning. They both seemed to enjoy themselves, but we wound up organizing an outing to see The Hulk that afternoon with a Male Network of one. On the other end of summer, we changed plans several times, but ultimately ended up heading to Galveston for a weekend, exploring the island by foot, car, train, and retired DUKW assault vehicle. As always when we visit a new town, we not only see sights, but also eat bites. We'd heartily recommend the delights of Benno's crab cakes and new potatoes, as well as Leon's smoked meats and stepped-up rice. That is, if they're to be found following the widespread obliteration wrought by Hurricane Ike, which hit the lovely barrier isle a week after we did.

Not only did we visit, we but hosted as well. As July turned to August, the Allen side of Christina's family came to town - enjoying local flavors and sights including a personal tour of the state capitol given by Russell, testing how well he paid attention during the many iterations he heard on school field trips. The clan reached the southernmost extent of their road trip in Russell's parents' home, conversing and enjoying his father's grilling skills.

The New Year will bring with it many wonders, among them Christina's first coursework toward her master's degree in Library Information Science, Russell's continuing adventures with tools and various kinds of goo intended for Home Improvement, and everyone trying to pronounce the years twentyXX instead of two-thousandXX. Wherever you are and whatever you have planned this holiday season, we wish you safety, health, and happiness.

And of course,
a Very Merry Christmas,

and a Happy New Year!

Popular posts from this blog

Halloween Man vs The Invisible Man, by Drew Edwards and Sergio Calvet

-
The second entry in Drew Edwards’ series of Halloween Man specials, Halloween Man versus The Invisible Man melds emotional realism with the titillating and the fantastical to create a gritty and satisfying adventure. Solar City’s fetish community has been rocked by a series of unexplained deaths when the grand dame of the scene, Claudette, comes to visit her old frenemy Lucy Chaplin, or more precisely, Lucy’s beau, Solomon Hitch. Our hero is reluctant to engage in this sort of heroism; while he’s commonly called upon to thwart the ghastly and creepy, the problem is a mystery, and he’s no detective. While comic book heroes often express token reluctance in order to build suspense, it can usually be chalked up to a gruff misanthropic streak or false humility; in this case, Solomon is genuinely out of his depth and has good reason to defer, only taking the case out of a sense of solidarity with a subculture that is marginalized and sensationalized by the media in the same way he is. The
Read more

A Year on the Strida Evo 3

-
When I resolved to rationalize and expand my bicycle stable, I realized that my trusty, elegant commuter and reliable little folding bike would have to go. Ivy Mike was a lightly modified 2011 Novara Fusion that met all my on-road needs in style. However, when he was in the shop, or I needed to be flexible with my transportation plans, it was Nightbeat, a 2014 Novara FlyBy that took up the slack. In order to make room for a folding mountain bike and a folding road bike to explore the many trails in Austin and the many long organized rides around Austin respectively, the roles of my two steed would have to be met by a single new bike. What folds small for logistical flexibility, has multiple internal gears, disc brakes for wet stopping, fenders, and can mount panniers? I'd been pining after the Tern Verge S8i for some time, but at $2,100, it was simply more than I was willing to spend. I examined its features and picked what I could reasonably compromise on. Hydraulic discs were n
Read more

Halloween Man: Hallowtide, by Drew Edwards and Lucio Inzunza

-
The world of Drew Edwards' Halloween Man is, despite it supernatural flavor and horror pedigree, very down-to-earth. Opponents are dispatched with physical weapons, often of the melee variety, and generally have at least one bloody bite taken out of them by the hero. When greater powers do appear, they may be mysterious, but they're not exactly revered . The mystic who made Solomon Hitch into the titular hero, Morlack, is such a greater power, as well as a lush, a slob, and an all-around horse's rear. While Solomon and Lucy do the heavy lifting of dispatching Spring Heeled Jack, whose powers flow from a source similar to Halloween Man’s, the engrossing part of this Samhain story is the embroidering of the universe in which it’s set. While it’s a small window into Morlak’s lengthy past, it helps round out the enigmatic and frustrating character by  adding a few data points about just where his line between right and wrong is drawn, as well as a better idea where his moral c
Read more