From Austin

In case you haven't heard, yesterday in Austin, Texas, a plane flew into one of the office buildings. On purpose.

While there are numerous tradegies and travesties going on in this world right now, this one hit home. After all, I could see the smoke from my office. I could smell the smoke and the stench of death on my way back home. He was a software develepor. And that is my world.

The guy was mad at IRS. He was not fond of paying taxes. Well... neither am I or anyone else for that matter. But we do it. I hate needles and hate taking the flue shot but I do it. I hated having to take my little kids for their immunization shots. But I did it. 

Every society and country has its rules. If you don't like it, move out.

But this guy had a vendetta. Allegedly, he had a fight with his wife the previous night. She went to a motel with her daughter to spend the night. She came back in the morning just to see her house exploding. I cannot even imagine what she and her daughter are going through right now. It is unclear if he was the father of the girl. 

So allegedly he set his house on fire, went to a local small airport, got on his plane and flew into a building. What you may not know, in Austin we have a huge IRS building. The building he decided to ram into was just a small office in the building. It certainly wasn't the main IRS office in Austin. Hardly anyone knew that IRS had an office there.

But somehow, he decided to target the small office and the very innocent people who worked there.

The man was sick, sick sick. 

So at least 2 people died due to his madness. And numerous others injured. One of the reason of that many people were saved is that his plane hit the break room. And not many people were in there at that time. At least that's what I've heard.

 My heart goes out to the victim and their families.

Violence against innocent people never solves anything. Never ever ever.

So Texas

While in Texas, take a tour bus to visit the wineries.

Texas Wineries

OMG! Why have I not been to these before? They are amazing and a ton of fun.

Saturday started off kinda bumpy. We were supposed to go to my friend's house in the morning. I kinda knew where she lived. We've gone there numerous times. But I didn't have her address. So I called her and emailed her but got no response.

I almost thought of giving up but did not want the 2 people who read my blog down.

So I told my hubby that we had two choices. First was to stay at home and clean up. The second was to head out to the winery area and sooner or later my friend would call me. We could hook up there someplace.

So off we went. And sure enough my friend called. And we hooked up. And what a fabulous time we had.

We went to 5 wineries. The wineries are gorgeous. Unlike California, you have to pay to sample the wine at most places. Which is fine with me. And they give you very small portions of each wine. Almost half an ounce.

I figured out that I am not really a good wine taster. I told my friends and hubby that my taste buds were saturated. They could go ahead and taste the wine and I would go take some photos.

At the last winery, we had dinner at their fine restaurant. The food was fabulous.

So there is that. What did you do this weekend?

Happy B'day Hubby!

And a big happy July 4th weekend to all!

Yesterday I was a wild, wild, wild.

I went out with my hubby for drinks, food and dancing to celebrate my friend Alex's birthday. We met at a restaurant called 219 west. The food was great. The service was excellent. We had some drinks and food. I was not driving and I was safe with my hubby to take care of me so I could drink as much as I wanted to. So naturally I was quite the party animal.

And then the best part came later.... I went dancing!!! I went dancing!!!

I convinced my friend Alex to convince my hubby to go dancing later. My hubby does not like dancing at all. I would say that the last time we went, it was 1999. When I convinced someone else to convince my hubby to go to a night club.

While we were at 219 west, I kept asking Alex... Let's go dancing now!!! And she kept telling me, "Seriously? But it is not even 10 PM yet!"

Apparently nothing starts until 11 PM. And my bedtime is 9:30. Groan.

So anyways, we went to this club called Qua. It is very beautiful. They have a dance floor that is made of hard glass and underneath is an aquarium. And there are sharks in the aquarium. So essentially you are dancing on top of an aquarium. It is way, way cool.

Unfortunately the music sucked. They played very very un-danceable songs. But that did not stop me. I danced and danced away.

It was so nice to just dance without strange men approaching me. I had fun!

At one point, I went to the DJ and asked him to put some Michael Jackson songs and he said, "maybe in 30 minutes." How rude! The DJ there simply sucks.

So off I go to pack up for my trip tomorrow. Meanwhile, you guys be good.

And dance, dance, dance!

Lunch

Yesterday I went to have a nice lunch with my co-workers at a restaurant called Ski Shores. It is located by a river and you can arrive in a car or a boat. They have the best hamburgers in town.

I had a great time. We guzzled down hamburgers as we watched people in boats arrive for lunch. So what do these people do to support themselves? How come they are cruising along the river on a working day?

Oh well.

My friend has a gorgeous tattoo. I've been wanting one for a while but my family is vehemently opposed to the idea.

I really, really want one. I have no idea why. Certainly not for the cool factor. My birthday is coming up in July and I was thinking of getting one. I am terrified of the pain but I am sure my friend will hold my hand during the procedure.

What do you think? Should I get a tattoo? What kind? Do you have tattoos?

Tornadoes!

Yesterday, we had numerous tornadoes touch down in Austin, Texas.

My hubby and I met some old friends for dinner and came home. The weather was just fine. It was cloudy but no rain. I plopped myself in front of the TV and started watching taped episodes of Judge Judy.

In the far distant, I could see some lightning. I hoped it would rain. And then went back to watching Judge Judy.

In about 5 minutes, my son yelled, "Mom! Pause your show and watch the weather news. I got a text message from my friend. A tornado is coming our way."

Frankly, it was hard to believe because it did not look that bad outside. I've seen worse. But I changed the channel and this is what we saw.



Two tornadoes had already touched in Austin. And the storm was heading our way.

We all got into action. The guys scrambled to get the car in garage and cover it up. Hail would soon follow. I did what any normal person would do. Grabbed a flashlight, candles, and my camera. I prayed and prayed that the camera batteries had enough juice.

I took photos of the TV but there was no rain yet. The guys were busy trying to cover up the cars outside the garage. Everyone was shouting.

"Get me a scissor to cut this rope"
"Not that scissor. The other one!"
"Guys! Another tornado touchdown! Debris is falling! It is headed our way!"

Yet there was no rain. Only gloomy silence. Soon we started hearing what sounds like gun shots. Thud. Thud. Thud.

What is odd about tornadoes is that you get this isolated hail even before it starts to rain. That's when you know it is really, really serious.

It was a tornado event.

The guys all got in the house and we huddled around the TV. And it started to rain. And hail. We only got a little hail. But it was very scary.

We don't have a basement. We really don't have a closet that we can all fit into. So we just waited.

It poured and poured. And then it was over. The worst had passed us. We were all safe.

This morning, I will take my camera to work. And take photos of the impact of a tornado event.

One half of a hail.


Big hail

Hot Love

Yesterday I went to a theater in Leander Texas to hang a couple of my photos for an exhibit. The theater is called Way off Broadway. They are displaying this piece and this one that Mythos and I did together. The theme is last of the red hot lovers. A play by Neil Simon.

I call this piece hot love. For some reason the red on red makes me think of turbulent relationships. And of mad crushes. That is all I have to say about that.

So I had to frame 2 pieces. And let me tell you that it is a pain in the a$$. I am simply not mechanically inclined nor have any desire to be. So I bought ready made frames with matting. I paid extra per frame to get a wire hanging thingy. All I had to do was pop the photo into the frame.

And I could not do that. I mean I ended up doing something but it took longer than what I expected and it was so not fun. And the job was mediocre at best.

Next time, I delegate this task to someone else.

Happy Monday! And do tell me about any mad crushes you've had. I will tell you this... Years ago, I stood on one foot (a yogic position) and prayed for 15 minutes. I wanted a certain boy to fall in love with me.

It did not work.

Thank God!

Wild flowers

Wild flowers grow in abundance along the Texas roads.

This week, I went to a new University in town. The University itself is old but recently moved to a new location. It is on a nature preserve and they have done an amazing job preserving it.

I was supposed to take photos of the buildings for a project. But I got distracted by the flowers. They were everywhere. They were beautiful. And they were calling me. So I took a bunch of photos of the flowers.

Photography I've discovered has a lot to do with chemistry. As a photographer, you've got to have some kind of chemistry with the object. Otherwise, it is just a very flat photo. At least that's been the case for me. When I shoot beautiful cars, I don't really produce good photos. That's because I am just not into cars. At all. Ask me what car I drive and my answer will be, "a red one". Flowers though invoke some feelings in me.

So if you are a photographer, go and find something that you feel passionate about. And see the difference between that and something you have no chemistry with.

Enjoy the weekend! For us in the US, it is going to be a long weekend. I am planning on taking a whole bunch of photos. I hope you too.

Dashboard View

So this is what my car looked like from the inside this morning. I had the hardest time getting it started. You don't want to know the details. But I can tell you that even cars don't know how to act in an ice storm in Austin. My poor car was confused. Yesterday AC full blast on and today all this ice?

I slept through the whole ice storm since it happened middle of the night. I asked my friend Carol this morning if it was sleet or snow or tiny hail. And she said, "It was serious white stuff. It came down all night. It was extremely windy too. It was so loud that I couldn't sleep all night. But it was big white stuff falling from the sky."

See how we Austinites are ignorant about this stuff?

I had turned on the TV in the morning but the Weathermen were all super hyper. Snow Event! Ice Event! Blah blah. So I muted it.

Anyways, I have started doing some yoga in the morning. On day 3, I am loving it. And I hate to exercise. Its been helping me with sleep problems. I've been sleeping through the night. Yeah!

I also got on this diet. I had a cold last week and have recovered from it other than the fact that I squeak instead of talking. But I drank a ton of homemade soup during that time. And loved it.

So I decided to quit all meat and carbs this week. And I did a great job! I think. Here is my status:

Day 1: fabulous no problem.
Day 2: I had a dream about a huge baked potato with tons of bacon. It was as big as me and I was lying next to it. Don't even try to interpret this one my friends:)
Day 3: I crashed.
I had the best lunch today. Healthy but with meat and potatoes. Yeah! Yummy!

So there you are.

Are you regretting my commitment to blog every day in December as much as I am?

Ice

So yesterday I went to work wearing a cotton shirt and cotton pants. The temperature went up to 71 degrees. I had AC on in my car.

And then the cold front came. This morning, I wake up to this.

There is sleet everywhere. And no one in Austin except me knows how to drive in this weather. I don't put makeup on or talk on the phone while I am driving in this weather.

Folks up north don't have an idea how hard it is to keep up with weather like this. Shorts and a tank top yesterday and lots of woolen clothes today.

Where is my jacket? Where are the gloves?

No idea.

Folks in sunny states like Florida and California don't have to deal with this. They have consistency.

In Austin it is so erratic.

So off I go. It is going to be a long drive to work.

Fall is here

In Austin, Texas, fall comes suddenly. One day it is hot hot hot. The next day, cold. It almost seems like winter except the day time high is in 80s. You never know what to wear.

The leaves don't really change colors as they do in North. They turn yellow and then just fall. I wish that someday I could be in say Vermont to experience a real fall. And take some pictures.

Meanwhile, I wanted to share what I see in fall here. If I was really dedicated, I could drive for a few hours to take some decent fall photos. By now you should know that I am only dedicated when I want to be.

So fellow bloggers I am relying on you to post some fall photos for me. Meanwhile, I am going to figure out what to wear today.

King's Inn

King's Inn Secret Recipes

Wow!

Someone sent me top secret recipes. Not sure how authentic they are. Still waiting for the avacado salad oil.

Bombay Salad Dressing from The King's Inn

1 pint sour cream
1 regular size package onion soup mix
2 large soft avocadoes mashed
2 cloves garliccurry powder, salt, lemon juice to taste

This is best if you let it sit in the fridge for a couple of hours before serving. I pour a thinnish layer of lemon juice over the top then put plastic wrap directly on it before sealing the bowl to keep it from turning brown. Then before serving I stir in the lemon juice.

Tartar Sauce

1 1/2 cup Miracle Whip (Yes, Miracle Whip)
½ tsp curry powder1 tsp garlic (jar kind is fine)
1/2 onion
1 to 2 boiled eggs
5-10 serrano peppers chopped fine (to taste)
10 Saltines

Mix the first 7 ingredients. Just prior to serving, crush the saltines, stir. You may want to adjust the egg yolks because I don’t remember using them, only the whites. The curry powder is very light, barely detectable flavor. Some people think there is bell pepper in there but I think it is just the serranos.

Coating for Fish and Shrimp

1 cup Buttermilk
1 cup crushed cornflakes

Dip fish in buttermilk and then cornflakes.
Deep fry.

Kingsville Texas

King’s Inn Texas







Things to do: Kingsville Texas

If you are ever near Kingsville Texas, do make an effort to visit this fabulous restaurant.

Established in 1945, this restaurant serves family style meals. Whenever we drive down to South Padre, we make it a point to stop there. This is a very family friendly restaurant.




The best things on their menu are:

Tartar Sauce

This is a to-die-for tartar sauce. It is so scrumptious that you can eat it by spoonfuls. Instead of salsa and chips, they serve thick slices of tomatoes. Be careful to save room for main courses!





Fried Fish


So crispy and crunchy yet melts in your mouth. Flavorful and delicious. Yummy!




Fried Shrimp

For those of you who do not have the opportunity to eat fresh, fresh shrimp, this is an absolute must.



Avocado Salad

A top secret recipe. The avocados and fresh and drizzled with a secret oil dressing. I always ask for the recipe and they always politely decline. But every trip, I know more. It takes 3 days to make the dressing! If only I knew the ingredients!