A Long Story

As Rita hovered in the Gulf, they were saying that it would still be a Category 5, with sustained 140 mph winds and gusts up to 160 when it passed directly over Houston. So we decided to leave. Lilly has family in a town called Delray, TX, which is about 200 miles north/northeast of Houston, and normally a three hour drive. On Wednesday afternoon, Chamber Orchestra rehearsal was cancelled, as well as all activities at Rice from then until Monday, including the concert that was supposed to be Saturday night. After dinner, Lilly and Emily departed for Delray, while I stayed behind, preferring to get a full night's sleep before driving on Thursday. It turns out that I needed it.

When I awoke the next morning, I found out that it took the girls a total of 11 hours to reach our destination. On the way, just outside Houston in a town called Humble (don't pronounce the H, it sounds like Umble. I have no idea why), Lilly's car broke down. So Emily picked her up and they drove the rest of the way together, which ended up being good anyway, because they were both falling asleep from driving all night. They arrived in Delray at about 8 in the morning.

I left Houston at about 11:30, which was late, I realize now. I would have had (slightly) better luck leaving earlier, I think. As it was, I got on Route 59 and took it through downtown with no problems. I hit traffic for the first time just north of the city, and decided that I would take the next exit and try to get around the highway traffic on back roads. This also ended up being a mistake, because as I headed East from the highway I hit even more traffic coming up from the coast east of Houston (which is where the hurricane ended up hitting in the end). So I sat in bumper to bumper traffic for what had to be at least 8 hours. For most of this time I was in a hellish area known as Tarkington Bayou. Not only was it easily 100 degrees outside (somehow I was able to leave my AC on the whole trip, and didn't run out of gas), but there were bugs everywhere. I mean everywhere. These buggers were coating the outside of my car for a good couple of hours as I crawled through the bayou. They were some kind of flying, ant-like beasts, and they came in pairs, landing on my windows locked in a strange mating position, facing in opposite directions with their abdomens connected. It was completely bizarre, and I hope I never have to go back to that place.

The road I was on eventually intersected with 59 again, and all the traffic was getting on, so I once again took a back route, this time one recommended to me by Emily, since she had taken it before with much success. It was then that I dodged traffic for the first time in a long while. But it didn't last long. I hit another jam, this one worse, when I got onto a back road leading to the town called Point Blank. I would sit for about 45 minutes to 1 hour without moving, then move at about 5 miles per hour for 5 or 10 minutes, then sit again, then briefly move, and so on. For the entire night. Finally, around 2:30 am, I pulled close to the town of Point Blank. A 15-year-old boy then approached my window, and asked "D'you need fuel?" I answered no, and he told me to get in the left lane, that I would get around faster that way. I did as he said. There were a few of us in the left lane, which was basically the wrong side of the road, rolling by an endless line of cars in the right lane waiting for gas. There must have been a line 100 cars long for that one gas station.

Though I could have maybe used the gas, I was at about half a tank, I was glad not to have stopped there, because after I got through the town, the traffic was once again moving nicely, and stayed that way for the rest of my drive. When I got up near Lufkin, I stopped for gas at a station with much less demand. It was only another hour or so before I pulled into the driveway at Lilly's uncle's house at 6 in the morning. In total, I spent 18 hours on the road. I stopped twice, once for gas, and once early in the drive, near Tarkington, when I pulled off to the side of the road, opened both passenger side doors, squatted in between them, and urinated.

I slept for about four hourse before I was awakened by my next challenge. I found out then that Lilly, Emily and I were sharing the house with Lilly's Father's Cousin's Neighbor's Daughter Sarah and her 8-year-old son Thomas. Thomas woke me up at 10 on Friday, and didn't leave me alone for the next three days. In an effort to keep him entertained somehow, I showed him Back to the Future. He loved it, of course, since it's a wonderful film, and immediately wanted to see the next two movies. I thought his attention span wouldn't last, but over the three days that we were in the house, he watched all three movies in their entirety. I guess it's not that unexpected, though, an 8-year-old boy stuck in a house for three days is going to need something to do.

That night, we went to Lilly's Aunt Genevieve's house for dinner, where we had Chicken and Dumplings, sweet corn, cornbread, field peas (otherwise known as beans), salad, and macaroni and cheese, with a delicious pound cake and peaches for dessert. After dinner I learned to play dominoes, specifically a game called 42 which is played like Bridge, only with dominoes.

Saturday morning was when the storm began. Thomas woke me up at 9. It was raining hard all day, and there were periods of heavy wind, but no serious damage or flooding. By the time Rita got to us, she was a tropical storm. At night we went over to Genevieve's house for Chicken Pot Pie. After dinner we played dominoes.

Sunday was a beautiful day, and Lilly wanted to take advantage of it by going out on the lake fishing. Thomas woke me up at 9, and by 11 we were heading out. Lilly and I were taken out on the lake by her uncle Cary, and we were joined by her uncle Steve in his own boat. Lilly caught three fish, but I caught nothing but a bad sunburn. Still, it was fun and relaxing just to be on the lake. For dinner we went over to Lilly's uncle Richard's house (all these houses were on the same street, where Lilly's family, on her father's side, has lived for years), and after dinner we played dominoes and a card game called Phase 10. We decided we would head back to Houston early Monday morning.

The drive back was nothing like the drive up. We left Delray at 6:30 am and reached our house in Houston by about 9:30. We hit basically no traffic, not even the detour that we thought would divert us from 59 where a barge had hit a bridge. But that was cleared up, and it was a straight shot. Houston had missed the worst of the storm, the most damage I could see in the city were down branches in various places. It was good to get back, though I was exhausted from so much driving and from lack of sleep due to the early riser who kept waking me up for the past three days. All in all, I was happy to be back.

Things are just now getting back to normal, I'm starting to become quite busy, as I was before our little weekend vacation. Rita could have been a lot worse, but it was still good to get out of the area and have a little time off.

Exhaustion

Yes, I'm back in Houston. I drove back yesterday morning, we left around 6:30 am expecting to be driving all day, and it only took us three hours to get back. That's the same drive that took me 18 hours last Thursday, when everyone with a pulse was getting out of Houston. Apparently some people stayed away, because not many people were coming back when we were. Anyway, the internet is not working again in our apartment, possibly due to the hurricane, since I think I could blow on the modem and make the internet stop working in our apartment. Otherwise there is no damage to our house or neighborhood, other than some fallen branches. A complete account of the trip, where I went, what happened, and how I entertained an 8-year-old boy for three days will be forthcoming, as soon as I get the time to write it.

Here are some pictures

Of me, stuck in traffic, around hour nine.

McSweeney's

Hey, I'm on McSweeney's! Check it out here. It should be close to the top of the page. If not, click "Edit" then "Find (on this page)" and then search for "Burns."

Fajitas and Hurricane Ritas

Okay people, first and foremost, it's Josh Bisker's birthday today (yesterday in Japan, today here. It's confusing, but this way he gets two birthdays, which is totally sweet!). Before you read on any further, you should go to his blog, http://biskerboy.blogspot.com (or just click the link at right) and wish him a happy birthday. Seriously, even if he doesn't know you (even if I don't know you) you should leave a comment on his blog. He would love it a lot.

Okay, secondly, Hurricane Rita is apparently set to hit the gulf coast of Texas sometime late night Friday/slash/early morning Saturday, and people are already talking evacuation. I just read that there is an official 10% to 19% that Rita will pass within 75 miles of Houston. So I might be an evacuee for a day or two while the storm blows through, but I'll keep you posted on how everything goes. Because we have quite a bit of warning on this, because we have Lilly's uncle's house to go to about three hours North, and because Houston is above sea level whereas New Orleans most definitely is not, I'm fairly sure that everything will be fine. Still, recent events and images I have seen are scaring me a little bit, so I'm taking all necessary precautions.

Until next time, then, when I will regale you with Hurricane stories, maybe.

New Developments

1. I had an audition today for a solo part in a piece we are playing in Brass Choir, and I won! That means that I will be playing a solo cadenza on the Brass Choir concert later in the semester. The piece is Fanfares Liturgiques by Henri Tomasi.

2. Journey is playing a concert in Houston this Friday, the 23rd. I am extremely tempted to go, or at least to try to get tickets. This may very well be my one and only chance in this lifetime to hear such classics as "Faithfully," "Open Arms," and "Don't Stop Believin" performed live. I'm listening to Journey right now, in fact. And singing along. Loudly.

3. I was finally able to beat level 2 of Q-Bert recently, which meant that I reached level 3 for the first time ever. And it's damn hard. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to stop playing this game.

4. The Jr. Bacon Cheeseburger, which used to round out the famous dollar menu at Wendy's, now goes for a steep $1.29. I want to know who is responsible for this price hike. Seriously, that's not cool. Next thing you know, one precious Jr. will cost more than a gallon of gas. If only the gas was as delicious (trust me, it's not).

5.
Highway run
Into the midnight sun
Wheels go round and round
You're on my mind
Restless hearts
Sleep alone tonight
Sendin' all my love
Along the wire

They say that the road
Ain't no place to start a family
Right down the line
It's been you and me
And lovin' a music man
Ain't always what it's supposed to be
Oh girl, you stand by me
I'm forever yours...

Faithfully.

Truer words were never spoken. Let alone screamed in high tenor range. Oh, Journey, how I love thee.

On the Real Reason I Want Internet So Badly

The internet is back! SBC finally decided to start letting us use what we have been paying for! And, as a result, posting will be (somewhat) more regular (maybe?). To celebrate this achievement, I am going to go play Q-Bert!



Beware: If you click the link above, I must warn you that this game is extremely addictive. It's also quite difficult. Let me know if you get to Level 3, because I will have to hate you forever.

On a Week in the Life

Hello, I'm back. It's been a while, but we still can't seem to figure out how to get internet to come into our apartment. The CD came yesterday that was supposed to fix everything, and of course it did not. Our downstairs neighbor Jordan spent about four hours last night trying to make it work, and all he learned was that apparently our account with SBC is still considered "inactive," which means that they are charging us for internet, but not sending any actual internet signal through our phone line. The plan, the last I heard, was to call back today and scream at whoever answered the phone, but I'm trying not to involve myself too much, so I'm not sure if that's going to happen or not.

Anyway, lots has happened since my last post. Most notably, I attended the wake and funeral for my grandfather. It was a sad time, especially for my grandmother, my dad, and his brother and sister. It made me think a lot about family and made me miss my sister, who is studying abroad in Buenos Aires for the semester. Though it was sad, it was good to see my parents and the extended family.

On Wednesday I went to Minute Maid Park to see the Astros cream the Florida Marlins, thanks in large part to a dominant performance by Roger Clemens, which was made all the more impressive by the fact that his mother had died the night before. I hadn't seen Clemens pitch since he was on the Red Sox and I was quite young, so I was very happy to see him pitch again. After the game, they showed a video in memory of Mrs. Clemens. All in all, it was a memorable experience, and hopefully my first of many visits to the ballpark.

This is the view from our seats in right field. I think that's Juan Encarnacion in right for the Marlins.

If I looked over to my right, I had a good view of the "short porch" in left. No homers reached the porch on that day, sadly. Notice the Citgo sign above the train tracks. I think they're trying to steal some of the good Red Sox karma with a Citgo sign of their own. Too bad it's puny and weak compared to ours.

Last night I went with my housemates and several others to a Ravi Shankar concert downtown. Ravi and his daughter Anoushka both played the sitar, which was amazing to see, even though we were about half a mile above them in the last row of the highest balcony in Jones Hall. That's the hall downtown where the Houston Symphony plays, and where the Rice trombones played in the lobby before the Symphony concert last weekend. I didn't take any pictures to post here, because you wouldn't have been able to see anything. Still, it was quite good.

After the concert, we went back to the Flying Saucer. We walked in just in time to see Manny win the game for the Sox with the bases loaded in the bottom of the tenth against the A's. He was hit by a pitch. It wasn't the most exciting way to win, but I was happy that I got to see it, even if I only saw the very last at-bat. Though I'm starting to get worried because, just like I knew would happen, the Yankees are refusing to go away. They're now only a game and a half back in the AL East race, and if they should pass us there, there's a fair chance we wouldn't win the wild card spot either. It's getting down to the wire, and I hope our Sox are up to the challenge. All I can say is GO SOX! and GO INDIANS! Keep those dirty yanks out of the playoffs.

'The Spirit of Pigcinnati'

Elderly woman in Cincinnati airport: "What is all this business about flying pigs?" I thought it was an appropriate question.

Tonight, a Tuxedo; Monday, a Suit

The internet once again no longer exists in our apartment, for reasons that are impossible to understand. We switched the phone line to our name, which for some reason also required changing the phone number. So the phone number got changed. At which point, the modem and router that we are using both began to work, and we had internet. Then we were told that the internet would be switched into our name on Friday. Friday was when the internet stopped working. Apparently, now that the internet is in our name on the new phone line, we need a startup CD (which is "in the mail") to have our computers recognize the internet. Can anyone explain this to me? What has changed from when we had a new phone number, same modem, same internet connection, and working internet, to when we now have the same new phone number, same modem, internet on a different account with the same company, and no internet? My guess is that the CD will do absolutely nothing, and it will become apparent at some point that we need a new modem, which will take 4 to 8 weeks to arrive. Stupid SBC.

Tonight I and the four other trombonists in my studio are playing in the lobby before the opening night Houston Symphony concert, after which we get to go to the concert for free. Then tomorrow morning I am leaving the house at 4:30 am to catch a 6:20 am flight to Long Island for my Grandfather's funeral on Monday. He passed away on Wednesday. I am looking forward to seeing my family, as this has been a hard time for everyone. I am also hoping that going there will help bring some closure, as being far away and hearing about this has up to now seemed very surreal.

Well, for now, I will sign off, for I must go change for the concert. I will be back in Houston late Monday night.

Stream of Consciousness

The past two days have been kind of a blur. How strange to be in a new place, starting a new world, separate from the old. How strange when an event both expected and unexpected comes upon you suddenly and puts both worlds into perspective. How strange when independence and dependence, loneliness and companionship suddenly share the same meaning, carry the same emotions.

I played darts tonight at a bar called The Ginger Man. We won the first game, Elizabeth and I, somehow, against Jory and his friend whose name I forget already, but lost the second. The whole time my mind was racing. It's hard to say what it was I was thinking about, like when you are lost in thought and someone asks you what you are thinking, and suddenly your train of thought disappears, and it's impossible to remember exactly what it was you were thinking. All I can say is there are a few people that I suddenly want more than anything to see, to talk to in person. Some I will get the chance to see very soon. Others I cannot, because they are so far away.

So far away. One of those things that keeps taking on new meaning. If I move around enough in my lifetime, will I eventually find one place from which I can measure all the others, a sort of absolute zero on the scale of how far away I am? Perhaps, but I would never know it when I got there.

In every heart there is a room,
A sanctuary, safe and strong,
To heal the wounds of lovers past
Until a new one comes along.

Maybe my real problem when people ask me what I am thinking about is that I'm never thinking about one thing. Thinking about one thing leads me to thoughts about another thing, which leads to another, in some random order, until my thoughts have touched everywhere once, and then they start over again. What am I thinking about? Everything. It's either that or nothing, there's no in between. Nothing is just an easier answer. I can't even stay on one subject when I'm writing, I'm always jumping around, so that the end result is unintelligible to anyone but me, when in all likelihood all I needed in the first place was someone to understand what I was trying to say.

And now, the eternal struggle: Do I press that button down there, putting this crap all over the internet for anyone (and everyone, as it seems) to read? They'll all think I'm crazy, they'll sympathize, try to comfort me, that's not what I want. But if that's not what I want, then why did I write it? I'm not used to people knowing so much about me. It's not my fault that I'm not nearly as forthcoming in person as I am in writing. Well, okay, it's my fault, but only because I can't think of anyone else to blame.

And we'll keep working on the problem
We know we'll never solve
Of love's uneven remainders,
Our lives are fractions of a whole.

On Furnishings and the Lives They Lead

Here is a picture of our living room!

I just took this picture, and now it's on the internet. Wow. Technology, man. Yes, we have a black leather sofa. No, we didn't pay a stinking cent for it. It is covered with that colorful blanket in order to keep the southwestern theme to our decor. No, not really. We put the blanket on it because we got the sofa for free from a lady who had apparently kept it outside for quite some time, and it was very dirty. But we cleaned it (somewhat) and covered it, and now it's a perfectly good leather couch. The most difficult part about it was that it is extremely large and heavy, and the only way into our apartment is up an extremely rickety wooden staircase:

Ooh, creepy picture! But as it turns out, we got the couch on the same day that Lilly and her mother were paying four friends (in beer) to carry stuff into the house, so they had the fun job of getting the huge couch up the rickety stairs.

The coffee table in front of the sofa may look a little small, but you should have seen it before we put the top on it! The wooden top to the table is not actually attached to the rest of the table. Emily bought the bottom, which she thought was a coffee table, but is more like a pair of shelves which are meant to go in a closet or something (Target can be pretty random sometimes), as they are too small to really be a table. But we found a piece of wood (our place was oddly full of random planks of wood) and now it resembles some kind of coffee table.

You can kind of see our table and chairs in the "dining room" past the sofa on the right. It's more of a breakfast nook than a dining room, but it's nice. Anyway, the table and chairs are Ikea, but we got them from a couple that was moving and couldn't keep most of their stuff. A table, two chairs, a TV stand, another chair that is kind of falling apart that they threw in for free, and a blender, all for $55. Not too shabby. Other than that, there isn't really a story behind anything else in the room. You can't see Lilly's six-foot candelabra in this picture, it's off to the left, but it's gigantic and strange and gives me nightmares.

Today was Labor Day, which meant a day off from all my labor. I was going to put a joke here about the irony of a woman going into labor on Labor Day, but then I couldn't decide if that was actually ironic or if by making the joke I would risk being compared to Alanis Morrisette, so I decided to leave it out. I don't actually know of anyone who went into labor today (do you? That would be hilarious!) but it just popped into my head.

So anyway, tomorrow is Tuesday, and as the day after Labor Day, it holds no special status at all, which means it's back to class for me. I have another lesson tomorrow, which will be my second, and which reminds me that I should probably get some sleep tonight. With that in mind, I will sign off for now. Before I do, though, I want to say quickly that I do not intend, with the lighthearted entries on this blog, to ignore or make light of the disaster and tragedy going on around me as a result of Hurricane Katrina. I am new to Houston, but several thousand people have arrived here recently from New Orleans who are even newer to the area, and are without homes or food. Despite the fact that I live only a few miles from the Astrodome and Reliant Stadium, I have seen little of the effects of this migration. As a student at Rice, I feel very sheltered and very fortunate compared with those around me. Right now I am not sure what I can or should do, but hopefully I will have an opportunity to help in some way. Until then, my prayers are with the victims here in Houston and elsewhere all around the Gulf Coast.