Houston - Week Nineteen

Oh yes a day off! Been five weeks but it finally arrived!!!
It was glorious. No, it wasn't the day I had envisioned but a day to myself, no matter what that day brings...is a glorious day. I wanted to be near the water. My plan was to get a rental car and drive to Galveston, hang on the Gulf, and just be. Well, Thrifty Car Rental decided to give my car away, and seeing as it was Memorial Day there were no other cars available. Note to self : Reserve with a credit card. So, with no car, I had no options. I spent the day in my hotel room, relaxing, reading, and watching Shaun of The Dead - one of my all time favorite films ever, period, end of story. Perhaps not the most imaginative way to spend the day, but completely enjoyable.

Tuesday, I got up bright an early - for me- at 9am. I got a car and went about finding the wacky things that Roadside America.com suggested. The first was something I really wanted to see called Pizza Pan Mary. Apparently, while serving reconstituted pizza to some students, the lunchladies at an elementary school here in Houston saw the visage of Mary the Virgin Mother, on their pizza pan. It became a shrine at the school, just begging me to come see it. Well after driving and searching, I found the school. They no longer had it, But sent me on to the church which was displaying it for their parishoners. I drove there only to be told, the Bishop had removed it and sent it on to the arch diocese. How dumb is that? No one will ever see it there. I was majorly bummed. No Pizza Pan Mary for me.

So, after that huge disappointment I moved on to The Museum of Funeral HIstory. THAT was cool. It was a bit of a drive to get there, being about 20 minutes north of downtown Houston. Not for Nothin but, these people drive like FREAKS. I dunno, maybe it is me and I am getting old. Pretty soon I will be an old lady who can barely see over the wheel, shaking her fists at the loonies zooming past. Anyway, the museum was really interesting. They had hearses from as far back as 1810, beautifully restored. No one was there while I was visiting, so I was able to just take my time, read all the little blurbs and take pictures as I wanted. There were coffins shaped like Lobsters, and entire section designated for the Funerals of past presidents. They had ribbons that the mourners wore at Abe Lincoln's funeral!!! They even had the original flame from JFK's gravesite. Ok, yeah, the place was a little creepy Goth, but really fascinating too.
After that museum, I headed out to the Beer Can House. Roadside America.com totally pulled through on Houston. This place was crazy. The entire house was sided in beer cans. I can't even imagine how long this took. Even the fence was all aluminium cans. It wasn't open to the public really, but it doesn't look like anyone lives there. The sign out front indicated that it would be open for tours very soon. So maybe the person who owns it is still trying to get through cases and cases of Keystone to line the inside of the place. Maybe all the furniture is beer cans too! How ecologically sound. Must be hotter than hell in the summer though....

Wednesday was a nite out at Slick Willies. It was a very cool place, just completely lined with at least 20 pool tables. The music was a pretty crazy mix, which matched the clientele. It was actually loads of fun. I played some pool, laughed a lot, and of course got sucked it Megatouch video at the bar. We must have sat there for an hour, playing trivia, Photo Hunt, and Mah Jjong. Oh the simple things that truly entertain me. Just a civilized pleasant evening out.

Thursday after the play, Angelina and Siobahn hosted an Italian themed party. Course the actors got all dressed up. It was pretty hilarious actually. They were all walking around with this Vinny BagADonuts attitude. The girls made a kick ass spread. Nothing like homemade Italian food. It was great, but I am a little old for water pistols full of vodka, ya know? Maybe it has finally happened. I am finally old. It could be. I could be old. I don't really feel old, but maybe I am just in denial.

Nothing else really happened. I mean, I could tell you the story of Judi, one of our dressers, who is legally blind (so she has these Coke bottle glasses) with an unfortunate set of teeth, wandering around looking for her notes. I don't think it translates on to screen, but she was just sort of waddling around looking for them, saying the same thing over and over like a Stepford wife. I couldn't stop laughing. Then, on Saturday, my stitcher was sitting there sewing and crying. I can't let anyone just sit there and cry, so I took her outside and she told me this horrible tale of how her boyfriend dicked her over and I wound up giving her this amazing advice, which I should totally take myself. All about how all the men we date, even the assholes, have something to teach us, so we can be ready when a decent man actually shows up on the scene. It's so easy to give someone else advice. Isn't it? giggles.

Sunday in between shows, Wayne took me out to dinner to the restaurant that is connected to the theater. It was a fancy schmancy place. probably one of the best meals I have had on this tour so far. Swordfish with grilled zucchini. Oh yeah baby. Yumm didley um. C'mon, admit it, you are salivating.

So my time in Houston is almost done. I get up at 5 am tomorrow to start my journey to NYC. I am home for two weeks to move out of my apartment in my beloved Brooklyn. I have been putting off and putting off anything having to do with this move. I keep calling Uhaul and Budget, getting halfway through the reservation, and when it comes time to give them my credit card - I bail. SO MUCH CHANGE GOING ON!!!!! Good God.
I am really trying to just roll with it all, but since January, everything seems to be in this constant state of flux. Maybe I should start meditating? I think I will start a pool to see how long you guys think I could actually hold my mind and body still. Ha!

Change or no, it is gonna be good to be home. YIPPPPPPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I will see most of you, very very soon!!!!!!


The Extra Pics



Beer Can House. Amazing really.




This was a diorama at The Museum of Funeral History. Made me think of Six Feet Under. I miss that show.




Arty Francesca Italian Party Photo.





So this is one of the many fountains I saw in Houston. I had this theory going that Houston prefers to have fountains where the water travels down, as opposed to traditional fountains where the water goes up and out. All over downtown Houston, there are walls of water and down flowing fountains. I thought it might be a statewide fetish, but alas, there were a few "normal" ones. Still, if I had more time I would investigate further....





OK. This is a major accomplishment I had to share with you. This is our Leading Lady Armor. That chainmail you are looking at was full of holes and bad repairs. All chainmail is made of are these little tiny rings mutilooped together at four different points for each ring. Here's a close up shot of it.

It was like cracking a code to figure this out, but figure it out I did!!! It took FOREVER to fix it. Hours of racking my brain right there, people. Every minute of this project was like sitting with a constant Math problem. My jewelery making skills completely kicked in on this. Well, that and all the swearing really helped too. It looks fanatstic and I am really proud of it.




This was hanging at The Museum of Funeral History.
It's all I ever hope for myself.