Oy, Ike!

Congress is in chaos; the Federal government broken! Dow Jones plunges into a deja vu Black Monday. Wall Street fears trickle down to Main Street. The automobile-addicted Southeast faces empty gas pumps. And Kruschev’s due at Idlewild (sorry, when panic ensues, an old TV theme song plays in my head). 
Who cares about run on banks [...]

“Lost: The Sequel”

Nearly three weeks after Hurricane Ike pummeled the upper Texas coast, upwards of 400 of its residents cannot be located, according to today’s Houston Chronicle. Hopefully, many of the missing still may be without the power to contact worried family. Or some evacuees chose not to return. Or those who could afford to jet to [...]

Those Winking Blue Eyes

My mother held a crush on Paul Newman. Even in black-and-white non-Technicolor days before she could swoon over those trickster deep blue eyes, mother venerated Paul. She carried the torch not so much that he was a cinematic god, as he was our cinematic god — a lansman, one of the tribe, a Jewish Cary [...]

Enlighten Up, Already! River Oaks Update

Yesterday, I discussed the serious problems Houstonians face in the aftermath of Hurricane Ike, specifically the endless wait for up to 500,000 customers to get any semblance of power restored.
After reading today’s Houston Chronicle, I realize that not only do the poor folks in Galveston and surrounding small towns suffer, but that Houston’s swankier [...]

Enlighten Up, Already!

 
Enlightenment leads Buddhists to Nirvana.  However, here in the post-Hurricane Ike Houston area more than one-half million of us wait not for enlightenment but for any sliver of illumination to lead us to the bathroom after sundown.
The Galveston area is without essential utilities such as electricity, potable water, sewage (except that which is in streets [...]

A Little Ego Can Be Beautiful

After hassling Hurricane Ike for two weeks and suffering from post traumatic hurricane exhaustion, I indulged in a much needed visit to the local beauty salon — now that the lights are on and the water is again potable.
I now sport a beautiful new hair style along with a new outlook on life!
Sometimes [...]

Ike Disaster Strikes River Oaks

The beach front communities of Gilcrest, Bolivier and Crystal Beach are no more. Tattered debris of people’s lives line city streets up and down Bay Area communities. Galveston residents still may not return to their homes and those already there find mud, sewage, toxic chemicals and various varmint homesteaders in their houses. Hundreds of thousands [...]

Remembrances of Storms Past

Since we stalwart residents of the Texas Gulf Coast suffer from post traumatic hurricane exhaustion, I’m much too tired to retell the adventures of the last week as my family evacuated from Hurricane Ike.  Thanks to good karma or just that recently upgraded roof, the storm limited damage to the elderly trees throughout our neighborhood. [...]

Cyber Zen

I became a Apple computer disciple decades ago when I saw a demonstration of Apple’s new computer code named “Lisa.” Although too expensive for my corporation to consider, its ease of use and incredible graphic capabilities totally overwhelmed me. I beheld cyber-Nirvana and performed prostrastrations to the Enlightened One, Steve Jobs. From that [...]