Messin' with Texas

So a tornado struck Beaumont and wrecked the Walmart parking lot, which is only a few hundred yards from where I live. I am very worried about the state of my apartment and my porch garden. The tornado was strong enough to flip cars. See the picture below if you don’t believe it:
You can check out [...]

I got a little bit of money back on my taxes this past year, and I decided to donate the return to various things. The first reciepent was of course NPR, my favorite radio station. I donated to the local Beaumont affiliate.
The other donation i made might be considered a bit odd. I was [...]

Yeah so it’s not a joke. There is a place in Texas called ‘Cut and Shoot.’ I know, i was amazed too. I took 105 back from the Woodlands (north of Houston) after visiting my cousins. Well 105 goes right through this place. I had to stop and take a few pictures because i thought [...]

My down stairs neighbors got hanging baskets
They were very nice. I was jealous. They reminded me of the baskets my father has at home.
I got hanging baskets.
Mine were nicer.
My downstairs neighbors threw out their hanging baskets and got new ones.
Mine were still nicer.
My down stairs neighbors asked me to buy them plants the next time [...]

Several of the pipefitters that I work with down here in Texas are quite interested in politics. One of our discussions was on guns and gun control, an issue very close to the hearts of Texans. At the time of the argument I hadn’t really formed an opinion on gun control. To me, the issue [...]

This past weekend my new friend Elizabeth invited me to a wedding with her as her guest. She was in the bridal party and she hadn’t invited anyone so at the last minute (11pm the night before the wedding) she called me up and invited me. I had nothing better to do so I went.
The [...]

A friend of mine took these pictures. She said:
“I was able to fool my friends and family and now they think that Beaumont is a great place.”
Thanks Carolina for letting me post your pictures. Hopefully everyone else is fooled as well. Great shots. They really do capture the best views of Beaumont.

Last week I was lured to one of the many “tea parties” that went on around the country on April 15th, 2009 (tax day). Two friends of mine were going and I figured that it was something worth seeing. I remember living in Turkey and thinking how cool it was to see people out in [...]

I recently went to Art in the Park, an outdoor art festival in Orange, Texas (a small nearby town). It felt just like a small town art festival. Nice charming people, locally made crafts, music, food. It was small but nice, and I am glad I went.
This is the main street through Orange. It was [...]

Two weekends ago I went down to Pleasure Island, an island south of Port Arthur, Texas on Sabine Lake. It doesn’t really have much of beach but it has a marina, or at least it did. I went there to look at boats. A friend and I went to look at sailboats. I have been [...]