As I sit typing this, Matt and I are relaxing on his large couch complaining about a) how much our feet hurt b) how much alcohol the devil instills into a tasty, tasty Hefe-weizen beer.

Today we set out to do some hard-core Kelly shopping. The first destination was a local Target, in which Kelly managed to complete her circuit of the store in record time. Matt bought a tie rack.

Next up was the Galleria in downtown Houston. Holy crap. Holy crap on a crap cracker. This thing is huge. Not only that, but there are some high-falutin stores in this joint. Neiman Marcus, Tiffany, Cartier, Armani (and the lo-billy A|X). Craziness. Oh, did I mention an indoor ice rink? Yeah, that too. In related pseudo-sport news, Matt tells me that on Sunday mornings, the Houston Curling Club meets on this ice every Sunday. For a nominal fee, they will teach you how to curl. Now, my question is this: if the tradition of the winners buying beer for the losers is true, does that make this a bunch of 11AM Sunday drunks? Who knows.

So, we followed Kelly around, watching the weekend mall-warriors in their cutoffs mingle with the mile-high hair socialites. Quite the cross-section of humanity. So far, that pretty much nails Houston on the head. A large number of ethnicities co-existing here, for sure. A large Asian community, a large Hispanic community, and plenty of rednecks. (Note: Texas Wendy’s don’t know wtf a “vegetable sandwich” is).

My own purchase was a green shirt with the slogan “Getting Lucky in Kentucky” on it. Yeah, I went to Houston and all I got was a lousy Kentucky t-shirt. But the store I bought it was from was called Urban Outfitters. An interesting mix of indie-rock chic with just goofy kitsch like the “Everybody Poops” book by Taro Gomi. The final straw in the cool shake was the live turntable-spinning DJ in the back.

After snaking our way back through that maze, we attempted to find the “CostPlus World Market“, but no luck. Oh well, we did manage to get me a set of decent 26 gram 80% titanium darts. After playing with Matt’s set on Friday night, I *had* to commit.

Off to a great little chain-taqueria called Taco Cabana food was fair, but accented wonderfully by a great salsa bar replete with shredded cilantro. And I loves me some cilantro.

To the game!! Houst on Astros vs. St. Louis Cardinals. MinuteMaid Park was super-cool. The temperature was very nice, and the roof was open. The game was fairly non-eventful, but that’s cool. Houston sadly lost 0-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals.

Well, to drown our sorrows, we walked back to Matt’s apartment (a scant 4 blocks or so from the Park). Oh, I forgot to mention that Barbara and George Bush Sr. were in attendance. And you know what? They left early! Pshaw! That should be in the constitution or something. At least put some look-alikes in their places. I mean, how much faith would *you* have if you were on the Houston Astros, and even your former Senator and President — the man whom you named your airport after — has fled in disgust! Heh. Matt would like to point out it was the bottom of the 8th. I say that’s when the fun just starts! Oh well.

Meanwhile, we headed out from Matt’s apartment to the Flying Saucer, about an 8 block walk from his apartment. If I thought that Timberwolves selection of beer was impressive, The Flying Saucers was outstanding! (Chuck – both Timberwolves and The Flying Saucer were devoid of Caffrey’s Irish Ale, :( ) (“Out of this world” Matt would like to add. Followed by “Waaah”.) I had a Spaten Franziskaner Hefe Weizen followed by an Abita Purple Haze whilst playing a bunch of darts. I introduced Matt and his buddy BD to “21″, and Matt proceded to kick our asses. Well, I *did* beat him twice in Cricket, so I certainly had it coming.

Now we are back at the apartment and my stamina is waning! Museum and dim sum tomorrow. Pics will be uploaded here tomorrow AM.

Went down to Galveston today, and played around on the beach for a while (Kelly poking any and all dead jellyfish with sticks) and then headed back up to NASA’s Johnson Space Center! Giant rockets and basketball shooting robots! Oh, and we got Kristin some space ice cream as promised.

We are about to go get some sushi at “Todai”, a sushi buffet! Woo! So, why don’t you view the Houston – Day 2 gallery?

UPDATE – 2:05AM

Sushi and plenty of it. We went to Todai, the mother of all sushi buffets. Yeah, I said SUSHI buffet. Awesome. I normally don’t go in for sashimi, but DAMN. Yellowfin and dark red tuna, and UNAGI (eel). It doesn’t even taste like fish! Hot dishes such as yaki soba (fried noodles), hot noodles, miso soups, and tasty salads were also had. They even cut up the cheesecakes and tiramisus like sushi for ease of eating! Cool stuff, indeed. Note to self: next time in Chicago, go to Todai. Also, if its your birthday, you eat free (proof of birthday needed).

It is my opinion that a bar in Louisville needs to start hosting bocce. Matt, Kelly and I went to “Hans Bier Haus”, a little hole in the wall here in Houston. It’s a fairly small bar, but the cool thing about it is that the rear “beer garden” has two bocce courts in it! Essentially, a bocce court is a hard-sand rectangle of about 30 feet long and 10 feet wide or so. Large balls are thrown at a smaller ball, etc. It’s a game that is extremely easy to play, and hard to master — thus making it the perfect drinking game. Ah well, I restate that A BOCCE BAR IS NEEDED IN LOUISVILLE.

After the Bier Haus, we headed down the road to “Timberwolves”. Timberwolves on the outside and inside looks like a ski lodge or something, but its true mark of distinction is the 80 some-odd beers ON TAP. Oh goodness. That’s a lot of beer. I had a half and half to start off, followed by a tasty non-alcoholic “Root Beer” and then I had my first-ever “Old Speckled Hen” that I found to be very pleasurable with a great head and a good aftertaste for a “pale” beer. We threw some darts, with Matt getting beat at cricket by yours truly (I threw Matt’s darts, which are very nice and I think Kelly may procure a set of slightly heavier darts for me for our anniversary). We threw some double-in/double-out 301′s with Matt’s buddy Aaron and his date Allison. We split two games. Allison had bet Matt a shot of good tequila on the game, and thus anted up her agave later. Kelly also enjoyed a shot. Later, Allison was thus surrounded by 4 Louisvillians, so we regaled her with tales and trivia of Kentucky. Matt, Kelly and I then hopped over to IHOP to enjoy coffee and pancakes.

Tomorrow: Malls and Houston Astros Baseball! Woo!

Hey all — Kelly and I are chillin’ in the ayche-oh-ewe at the moment. The flight into Houston was pretty uneventful, but being a daylight trip, we got to watch all the scenery below which was pretty cool. Continental overwhelms you with stuff to eat, though! Normally, on Southwest, it’s just a bag of peanuts and a smile, but not on Continental! Let me expound:

1. (1) package of salami slices
2. (2) Two packs of crackers
3. (1) Gala apple
4. (1) bag of chips
5. (1) peanut roll

Well, that was pretty good, because I *was* hungry. But then, then they come around with pretzels! Man, I already ate!!

Well, we got into Bush (Sr.) International Airport and made our way to Katz’s Deli, a cool 24-hour deli joint in Houston. Free pickles!! All you can eat, and these were GOOD PICKLES. Anyway, we are off to Galveston and NASA today, so more later for the moment, enjoy the Houston Trip Gallery.

kelly and i are leaving today for a 4-day vacation to Houston, TX to visit with Matt (pictured). Pictures will be forthcoming as we will be visiting NASA, along with some interesting local places Matt has recommended, like a “bocce bar”. Awesome.

You know where I go when I think “I’ve heard of [insert indie band here] but I haven’t heard their music…”? I go to Epitonic and so should you. Example? “I ‘ve heard of Godspeed You Black Emperor!, but I haven’t heard their music.”

that damned incorrigable m@ beat me at darts today by a fairly sizeable margin. Not to say that m@ is incapable of doing so, but today I sensed some sort of renewed vigor on his part. Perhaps it was the new flights on his darts — PERHAPS NOT.

I give you a White Stripes Interview on BBC 4 (Realplayer necessary)

(14:35:54) bencorvus: good interview with Jack and Meg
(14:36:12) RoyalTrux666: dang
(14:36:19) RoyalTrux666: why dont you marry them already??
(14:36:27) bencorvus: maybe i will

so i went to the batting cage tonight, and decided to try some fast pitches (75mph). Well, that cage was initially in-use, so I tried 65 MPH. 20 swings later, and nary a hit. 55 MPH, only slightly better. 40 MPH was much better, but not fantastic. So then I decided to switch to a right-handed stance. I’ve noticed in practice that I seem to hit better on the right side, but with less power than my left. So I switch and starting killing 65 MPH. Not hard hits, but certainly good contact. The same with 75 MPH, but with obviously fewer hits. I’m thinking it may be because of my right-eye dominance. So, perhaps I shall switch my stance this season to right.

Kelly is currently in Chicago, with some sort of “training” for her work. So, I took the time today to finish up work on adding comments to my little weblog. I’d been working on it off and on when I had the chance for the last week or so, but now it’s all ready to go!

so, i’ve been hearing a lot about all this guerilla-style warfare being waged in Iraq. Many telepundits seem to derile this style of fighting. I agree with them that it’s unconventional, and, well, dirty. But you know how we won the American Revolution? The same way. People wearing civilian clothing with mis-matched weapons “running-and-gunning”. Yup. And I’m sure that if *we* were invaded that we’d act much the same. I know that I’d have a foxhole in my front yard defending my three cats and Kelly (the invasion would no-doubt be caused by some horrible breakdown of diplomacy, or from Peter Arnett and Jane Fonda’s Revolutionary Militant Party). (Just joking Peter!!).

Now having said that, I don’t condone what the Iraqi regime has done in its past or what it may do in the future. Some people seem to think that war has to be “fair” or has to be fought with “rules”. Well, you know what? There have been plenty of battles lost to that kind of thinking. It’s funny to even begin to think that war — by itself a chaotic breakdown of normal human relationships — could possibly foster anything BUT chaos.

Oh well, just some thoughts I’ve been having. I leave you with a cleverly sad GIF animation from Artamnesia via the b3ta board.

oh man, do i have a bunch of new galleries.

To start things off, we have a couple of shots from mother-in-law Andy’s Birthday.

Next up, we have Kelly in a Lighted Tree (waiting for our table outside Ramsi’s) and the subsequent Jessica Slack 22nd Birthday Dinner gallery.

Finally, we have some photos (and some cool panoramas) from the Papa Johns 10 Miler — Kelly’s second-ever road race. Where did she place in the rankings? Too early to tell. However, she ranks #1 in my heart ;) (awww…)