Report on a trip to Houston

I didn't have a camera with me, so this entry will be photograph free. My journey started Wednesday morning--I had a day of on-site work planned with a client. The day went really well, though it was punctuated by several calls and emails from happy fellow progressives who wanted to talk about the previous day's election results and--happily!--to inform me of the resignation of Donald Rumsfeld. Capped off the day with a great catch-up dinner with my best friend from law school at our favorite Tex-Mex haunt.

Thursday was just as busy, with a quick but productive visit to my firm's Houston office, followed by a training session for a client and lunch with my retired mentor. Lunch with him was an odd experience, as he retired due to the onset of Alzheimer's and I found myself mentally racing to keep up with him as he dashed from one fact to another. The lunch ended on a sad note for me, when he took me back to my car and before I pulled away, two guys approached his car, apparently asking for money. I was terrified of what they were trying to do to him, as it would not take much time speaking with him to realize that he isn't your typically man; I feared they would steal his money or car-jack him or worse. So I found myself trying to tell them without him hearing, "Get away from him or I will call the police." They finally left him so I felt safe pulling away and watching him leave the place, but this was a scary and sad string of moments for me.

That afternoon, I checked into a really comfortable little hotel downtown, where a client was hosting its litigation conference for its outside counsel. I learned a lot and had a great dinner with them before heading out to meet some friends--two who live in town and one, a pilot, who had a layover there that night. We had a nice time having drinks at a typical Houston place with outdoor picnic tables that permit a person to enjoy the fresh fall air. I returned to my hotel way too late for the next day's early start.

Somehow, I managed to rise very early on Friday and conduct a few hours of business before heading downstairs for the remainder of the conference. The morning whirled by until it was time to head out to the golf course together for a "shamble" tournament. My golf game is best described as rusty, but luckily, I have no pride whatsoever in it. I played with a couple of nice guys who were supportive of my pathetic efforts, and other bright spots were the fun I had with the nice light titanium rental clubs and my enjoyment of an occasional nice shot. I need to play more this fall--I really have no excuse, as just down the street from my house are two of the city's nicest public courses. Our round would have been perfect if not for the massive mosquitos that emerged when the sun started setting--I think we will all bear scars reminding us of our battle with them. The night ended with a few pleasant hours spent at the house of my friend who works for this client--I was able to spend time with her and her husband and kids and catch up in a way there simply wasn't time for at the conference.

Saturday was one of those shining "only for me" kinds of days that I do not have the pleasure of experiencing very often. It began with breakfast at a favorite place, where I lingered over the newspaper and a trashy celebrity magazine. I moved on to the mall, where I priced the ring I have been dreaming about (ooh.) and checked to see if my favorite clothing store, which just opened a Houston location, had items of interest to me (ah!).

Dashed off to the theatre to meet friends for a showing of Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan. I don't remember the last time I laughed out loud so much during a movie. The film came in at a trim hour and a half (previews included) and left us wishing there was more, a rare feeling in this day of the five extra scenes. If you are politically correct at heart, this movie may not be for you, but if you want to see something totally fresh and different, a skewering political commentary wrapped in the mantle of totally inappropriate comedy, this movie may be just the thing. For those not in the know about Borat, he is a character invented by Sacha Baron Cohen who is at once totally likeable, naive and charming and a sexist anti-semite. The movie is a documentary chronicling his travels across America. Without spoiling any scenes for you, I will say that two of my favorites involved him learning the ways of African-American urban youth and the mores of Mississippi society folk. A must-see!

Quickly returned to my favorite clothing store to stock up on new and lovely items, then darted back to my friends' home to change into some such items for our opera outing. We had the most amazing dinner beforehand--not an expensive dinner, but a very fine one. (My choice was duck confit, with duck wrapped in tortillas and drizzled in orange chocolate mole and asiago cheese.) MMM. We made it to the opera just in time to take our seats before the curtains parted and were treated to an excellent presentation of Don Giovanni. The opera was comic in nature and as funny as a movie about a charming serial rapist can be. A memorable moment was when the person behind me spent 11 minutes opening a piece of candy so as not to have the wrapper noise disturb anyone. Spent some time over wine catching up with my buddies at their newly-decorated lovely loft and then back to my host's home and off to bed. I found in the morning that my flight was much earlier than I realized and pushed it back by two hours so as to not have to rush crazily to make it in time--oh, how I have grown up. :)

And there you have it, the not-so-exciting tale of my whereabouts for the last several days. Now I must hie myself to work, where there is a definite whirlwind between now and Thanksgiving. I shall try to slug through it while fighting off whatever cold/fever has descended upon me!