07.24.05
Posted in News at 1:10 pm by Paloma Cruz
Hermann Park design wins national award
Residents of all ages enjoy the new amenities
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
The Heart of the Park, 18.5 sparkling acres that welcome visitors to Houston’s 445-acre Hermann Park, has gained national recognition as a recipient of the American Society of Landscape Architects’general design award of excellence.
The SWA Group’s award-winning plan for the $10 million restoration project, completed last summer, has restored a swath of public space from the Sam Houston Monument Circle to McGovern Lake. Along this north-south axis, the once-muddy, incomplete Mary Gibbs and Jesse H. Jones Reflection Pool is now a work of art. Interactive fountains at Molly Ann Smith Plaza have kids jumping for joy, and elegant promenades through an allee of mature oaks are an antidote for our too-busy lives. Architect William Neuhaus’ enchanting Arbor in the Pines features a curved green wall of Venetian plaster, limestone columns topped with stainless steel capitals and a wisteria arbor. The meditative O. Jack Mitchell Garden has a small fountain.
For more information, see www.hermannpark.org..
I found this article via A Thousand Thoughts (who is now on my RSS feeder list) and blogHOUSTON (who already was on my RSS feeder list). Both sources are worth watching regularly.
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Posted in General at 3:06 am by Paloma Cruz
Houston Photobloggers spotlighted Houston Then & Now, a Houston history book (photo based) that was a hot ticket item in bookstores last year.
I found a neat book while I was at the Bookstop on Alabama yesterday. Houston Then & Now by William Dylan Powell. It basically puts photos from the 30s - 50s side by side with photos from today. For example City Hall when it was built in the 30s across the page from the City Hall of today. The photos aren’t breath taking, but it was fun for a person like me who loves the buildings and architecture of Houston. I love seeing some of my favorite things like the Old Cotton Exchange and the Sweeney, Coombs and Fredericks Building, then and now. The book was about $17 at Bookstop and you can also purchase it at Amazon.com.
Perhaps I need to add this to my running wish list.
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07.23.05
Posted in General at 9:44 am by Paloma Cruz
Posts will be scarce for the next few days, because of a back pain.
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07.20.05
Posted in General at 9:08 pm by Paloma Cruz
Metroblogging Houston spotlights Hot Town, Cool City, “an upcoming Houston-based film project that focuses on the funky-cool parts of our sweltering city that we have all come to search for and love.”
From the film’s site:
Houston’s people are not just friendly —they are intimate —the City and its people are intimate, passionate, and diverse. It is the power of these qualities which makes Houston a COOL CITY. The passions of artists, chefs, philanthropists, business owners, and individuals have built a city of hidden gems that are right out in the open. When we read between the lines defined by the freeways we find a treasure map, with those gems waiting to be discovered.
On the surface Houston is about big oil, NASA, big medicine, big sports, big freeways, hot summers, and humidity. Behind that facade is a network of Cool— Houston is down to earth but still international, sophisticated, cutting edge, avant-garde and world class. The new documentary, Hot Town, Cool City, attempts to answer the question- Why Houston?
Should be interesting to watch.
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07.18.05
Posted in General at 7:45 pm by Paloma Cruz
Since I’m not from Houston, many pieces of info that others take for granted are just news to me. Tom Kirkendall, in his blog “Houston’s Clear Thinkers,” posted a nice bio/brief history of The Robertsons of Houston that provided info on “the business background of Houston’s First Family of energy and highlights the business talent that has helped make Houston the energy capitol of the United States.”
Included in the post are links to media coverage, and additional background info, on the family. Worth a read.
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07.17.05
Posted in News, General at 4:41 pm by Paloma Cruz
New biotechnology facility should bring thousands of jobs to Texas
– reported by KTRK ABC Channel 13
A $50 million grant from the Texas Enterprise Fund will be used to create a biotechnology institute that will bring thousands of jobs to the state and that researchers believe will one day lead to medical breakthroughs, Gov. Rick Perry announced Saturday.
The Texas Institute for Genomic Medicine is a partnership between the Texas A&M University System and Lexicon Genetics.
A diversified economy is what has helped Houston, and in some instances Texas as a whole, fare better than the rest of the country in these tough economic times. Bringing in biotechnology or rather bringing in more biotechnology to the state and the Houston area can only be good news in the long run.
Just my opinion.
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07.16.05
Posted in News at 10:16 pm by Paloma Cruz
Texas gasoline prices shoot to record levels
– reported by the Houston Chronicle
Texas gasoline prices skyrocketed to record levels this week as crude oil prices stayed near 60 dollars a barrel, according to the AAA Texas Weekend Gas Watch survey released today.
The weekly survey found the price of regular unleaded self-serve in Texas averaged a record $2.23 a gallon, up a full 10 cents over last week and 43 cents more than last year’s average.
I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’m definitely feeling the increases. Today I paid $33.06 for a tank of gas. Even a year ago, I wouldn’t have thought that that was possible.
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Posted in General at 9:34 pm by Paloma Cruz
Shameless promotion of headlines in my other blogs:
Bilingual Life
Library Life
- A Texas Digital Library. “Four Texas university systems and Rice University will collaborate on a digital repository whose goal is to offer online resources, such as teaching aids, dissertations, and practical information, although not books.“
- Sunday hours added to Houston Libraries
- returning library books on time. “LifeHacker recently published a post entitled How to finish library books on time which has a link to a tabbed system to… well, finish library books on time and (here’s the important part) return them on time as well.“
Ordinary Life
- I’m in a mood - welcome to retail therapy. “These posts will be things I want to buy, but can’t. It’ll be a virtual shopping bag, just shy of actually taking things to the checkout counter to pay for them.“
Pasadena Life
- watching Emily. “In case you haven’t been paying attention, Hurricane Emily is headed to Texas.“
- senior health workshop. “If you’d like help in understanding the new Medicare Prescription Drug Program taking effect in 2006, the Madison Jobe Senior Center is teaming up with the Pasadena District Social Security Office to host a free workshop, Tuesday, July 19th, 2 - 3 p.m., to explain the details to you.“
- great Pasadena photo. “Houston Photobloggers has a fabulous photo of Capitan Theatre, in Pasadena. As far as I can tell, it’s the only photo of Pasadena in their collection, but certainly worth a look.“
- the city of Pasadena has a budget… sort of. “At first glance, Pasadena’s 2006-10 budget forecast may look bleak. However, the document is intended to give the city a starting off point to plan for the future.“
Public Relations life
- work for Gizmodo. “Gawker Media is expanding its technology coverage, and is seeking to fill the following positions. All these roles are full-time, and paid accordingly, though we take a relaxed attitude towards external freelance.“
- do I own this brand? “The redesign of the Diva Marketing Blog has prompted a discussion centered on the question who owns a brand?“
- are bloggers journalists? “This is a question that comes up frequently in my life, from both ends of the issue. If I’m covering a topic in one of my blogs and request information from a company or organization, should they treat me the same as they would a Houston Chronicle reporter? At the same time, if a photoblogger calls my office wanting to set up a shoot of one of my clients’ buildings, would I give him or her the same consideration as… say, a photographer from 002+ Magazine?“
- the wonderful world of media relations. “John Wagner’s comments in Now It’s The Corporate PR Folks’ Turn To Be Slammed about his experience with the media has had me thinking about the adversarial quality of my daily dealings with the members of the press. And I’ve been thinking about the many things I do, every day, to make those dealings better.“
- PR blogging isn’t ego polishing…”…or so says John Wagner in his post PR Bloggers Not All In It For Self-Promotion. In it he responds to some recent criticism and attacks that public relations professionals have received, in particular PR bloggers.“
teaching life
- Operation Backpack. “It’s the city’s largest ever school supply drive.“
- more seniors are raising their grandchildren. “I come from a family of teachers, so I’ve pretty much heard every teaching story you can think of. I know, my sisters know, and all teachers know that more children are being raised by their grandparents these days than ever before.“
- back to school at Pasadena ISD. “The Pasadena ISD Web site has a Back to School Guide up to help parents get ready for the August return date. Here you will find everything from enrollment processes to meal prices and school holidays. Worth a visit.“
- a blog to save Fort Bend ISD. “A good example of how a community blog can generate conversation and interest in a grassroots initiative.“
Web Junkie life
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Posted in News at 6:56 pm by Paloma Cruz
Free fruits and veggies a Godsend to low-income families, reported by KHOU CBS Channel 11.
For families on tight budgets, the healthiest items are sometimes missing from the menu — fresh fruits and vegetables are often just too expensive.
But a downtown pantry run by a local church is offering struggling families healthy choices they seldom get to make.
The line continues to grow right past downtown symbols of prosperity. It ends at St. John’s United Methodist Church Bread of Life.
Every Wednesday, an army of volunteers helps fill box after box of fresh produce for hundreds of people.
Want to help?
[snip] …donations from the Houston Food Bank.
“We would not be able to distribute the food without the Food Bank,” said Wilson.
You can obtain additional information on making a food donation from the Houston Food Bank Web site.
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07.15.05
Posted in General at 9:00 pm by Paloma Cruz
Visit the City of Houston Web site, browse a while, then give them some feedback. This is a good example of why you shouldn’t let just anyone design a Web site. (So says the non-designer.) There’s so much javascript and drop-down menus and a lag-time in downloading Web pages that’s it’s just insane.
Visit it and you’ll see what I’m talking about… or not. You may think it’s the nicest thing you ever saw.
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