Photos taken on March 20.
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Rice University + hundreds of thousands of water balloons + hundreds of college kids + early morning wakeup calls + pouring rain = 2010 Beer Bike parade.
Balloons loaded in the trucks pre-parade
Alumni reunions
Brown College getting ready for the parade…right before it starts to rain
Brown moves out in spite of the rain
Remnants
Still catching up with 30-photos/30-days. These were taken (very early in the morning) on March 19.
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A couple of weeks ago, when I was talking to Alex about my upcoming trip to Houston, he mentioned a plan to stay up extremely late one night and then go eat Shipley’s Do-Nuts at five in the morning, when the donut place first opens. I thought he was kidding.
But I should know better than to doubt my old roommate, and, sure enough, on my first night in Houston I found myself staying up way past my bedtime, cramming into a car with five other people, and driving down Kirby to wait around in the parking lot of Shipley’s, because we’d gotten there ten minutes before opening.*
I tried to shoot this as a modified five-points-of-view assignment, just for practice. I’d edit the series way down if I were actually turning it in, but I’m okay with all ten of these pictures being up on on the blog.** That’s what blogs are for, right?
One of the perks of a thesis-filled semester: the flexibility to take a week for Spring Break according to what fits best with my own schedule, not Mizzou’s.
See you soon, Texas!
Sunset along 1-55 in Kentucky
Early morning haze between Memphis and Nashville
Cruising down Broadway in Nashville…
…stopped in rush hour traffic on Broadway in Nashville.
Once upon a time, I went on a road trip and didn’t bring any memory cards with me…so I bought a disposable camera.
Vanderballoons
Vanderbricks
Vanderbikes
At first, ice skating in Texas makes no sense at all. It’s not cold there (most of the time). It doesn’t snow (often). The Rio Grande doesn’t freeze over.
But technology is a wonderful thing, and, speaking as a person who learned how to ice skate in Naples, Florida, I am usually more amused than weirded out by ice rinks in Southern climes. Also, I love skating in general, so the more places I can strap on my hockey skates (never, ever figure skates–fallout from growing up with a lifelong goalie for a dad), the better.
My baby Canon Rebel doesn’t do well shooting at high shutter speeds in low light, so these will have to do for now:
I love the little kiddie rink they’d set up
The very crowded (note to self: don’t go skating on a Saturday night…) big-people rink. If only I had a picture of the Zamboni…
Maine
Texas
(vignetting is in-camera)
I never truly realize how much I miss Houston until I get there. I haven’t managed to stay away from the city for more than 9 months since 2004, when I started my freshman year at Rice. I didn’t really have any feelings in particular about Houston when I first got there–it was just ‘that place where Rice was’–but have since decided that it’s a very underrated city. Sad. If nothing else, it should be better known for its food, which I would argue is on par with the cuisine in New York, San Francisco and Chicago–and those places don’t have the Texas barbecue, which I hear is also pretty good (I can only speak from the vegetarian side of things).
I had two mental checklists when I was in Houston over winter break- one of people I wanted to see, and one of places where I wanted to eat. I am pleased to say that I only missed seeing a couple of people (those darn med students)- and that I made it to all of the necessary restaurants.
We start with Taco Cabana:
…which is very good for fueling up before shooting a bowl game. Also, get lots of extra pico de gallo. That’s key.
This wasn’t restaurant food, but my friend Niki makes a mean 8-layer bean dip, and her boyfriend makes a mean Screwdriver:
Killer New Year’s Eve combo.
Niki is also a supremely talented baker:
On the dessert note, I made a special point to go to Swirll, the frozen yogurt place in the Village. They’ve ramped up the selection there in the past year, so it’s way more fancy than it used to be. As far as I’m concerned, though, you can’t go wrong with plain tart yogurt and lots of toppings:
This is about a third of the topping selection.
Now. I have lost track of the number of times I’ve been to Niko Niko’s (for Greek food) and Mai’s (for Vietnamese food). Mai’s was the first restaurant I ate at in Houston, and I made it a point to bring everybody who ever visited me at college to the late-night place of awesome. Niko Niko’s is just plain tasty.
Falafel plate. Dr. Atkins would cry at the sight of the pita + mountain of rice.
Vermicelli bowl (spring rolls in the background). I ate the whole thing. Yup.
Mai’s, unfortunately, doesn’t have bahn mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) on their menu, but that’s really no biggie- the good sammich place is right across the street and down a few blocks.
This picture doesn’t do banh mi justice at all, but I’m including it anyway.There’s also marinated tofu on the sandwich; the bread has been coated in olive oil and baked to a crispy goodness.
Unfortunately, I didn’t take any pictures at Patu (otherwise known as The Place With The Best Pad Thai in the Whole World Exclusive of Thailand). I guess I’ll probably have to go back sometime…
