Power to the people!

Saturday started out very ominously. I woke up to the alarm at 5:30, set up in bed and the power promptly went out. Not wanting to miss any of the activities I had planned for the day I put my best Girl Scout foot forward and showered by candelight (not very romantic when solo). Things were going well until I realized that the power wasn't going to reestablish in time for me to blow-dry my hair (horror!). So at 7:00 I left the house in a semi-frizzy state, only to face the fact that my car was trapped in the garage. Noooooooooo! What would Brown Owl do? Okay, there's a piece of rope attached to the pulley system, maybe if I pull on it it will... break the metal lever that retracts as the automatic opener kicks in. $hit! Stay calm, think, think, oh, maybe I can just lift the door up. Ta-da!

After blow-drying my hair with the car heater on max while driving down I-10, things started to turn around.

I picked KC up and we headed to the George R. Brown for my first Blueprint Houston meeting. I didn't really know what to expect. We were grouped by tables of 9 where we listened to speakers, facilitators and even our wonderful Mayor, and periodically brainstormed about various city issues including flooding, developing successful neighborhoods, transportation corridors and parks. We were lucky to sit at a table with such a great group of people; everyone was already heavily involved with Blueprint or was in the design industry so knew the options and terminology that were being flung around the table. We were asked set questions and given the chance to answer using a key pad (as modeled below by the lovely Miss K), the answers were instantly shown on the screen so we all had a chance to see which way the room was swinging. It was fascinating, I can't wait to go back for more. Even though I got the feeling that the questions were loaded, and the group hired to process the input and ideas given by the public seemed to be angling the previous years answers to suit their desired scenario outcome, I did feel like I was contributing something to this city I love so much, and also learnt a lot from the little effort it took to make it there.



After the meeting KC and I went across to the orchid show. Now, KC is the big orchid fan here, but guess which one of us ended up spending money, hmm? While she didn't see anything that caught her eye, I spotted a hoya plant, which I had to scoop up immediately. My grandmother had a hoya in her sunroom, it produces the most fragrant tiny flowers which develop a nectar that as a kid I used to devour every chance I got. It was so reminiscent that I had to buy it. Luckily it's a pretty hardy plant so I may manage not to kill it. Here are some of the orchids...






After walking around for a while we decided we were famished so headed of for sushi. As always it was incredible; Sushi King is the best...

I dropped K off at home and headed down to the MFAH for a showing of Lagaan: Once Upon a Time in India. Great Bollywood movie, an incredibly moving tale of faith and courage. It actually made me rethink a very important current news issue, but that's for me to know and keep to myself. Revelation. Thanks to GC for suggesting it and for the company. How about that free beverage!

Sorry to K and M that I was a no-show at Blues on the Bayou. KC, I had a great time with you; your energy and enthusiasm are an inspiration. Thanks : )