today's secret word

In case you need a dose of holiday weirdness, Pee-Wee’s iconic Christmas special is available on YouTube. Mekka lekka ho-ho-ho.

 

And remember:

 

scam SCAM scam

Gosh I thought I had a pretty good scam detector. I'm a lifelong cynic and so private I've been nicknamed The Vault.
And then I got this text from a strange number the other day.

Kind of a red flag, right? But I read it and thought about the guy who wrong-texted a woman a few years back and now they all have Thanksgiving dinner together every year. So I texted back. It only took one more reply to realize it was a scam.

Blocked.
No new internet friends for me, I guess.

sometimes I just want to

Time to laugh. Peace and love.

@bobthedragqueen #stitch with @Tony Finley ♬ original sound - Bob The Drag Queen

@boyjr.69 Replying to @Lime what else isn’t in the bible?! This song is not in the bible but it will be on streaming 11.17 📕 #notinthebible #oatmilkisnotinthebible #oatmilk #nickadamsalphamale #greenscreensticker #clonesquad ♬ Not In The Bible OUT 11.10 - Boy Jr.

https://moss-on-a-rock.tumblr.com/post/735262885140381696/that-catholic-shinobi-jaehaerys1

[Video: a construction worker shoveling dirt as children on the other side of the fence yell “YAY!” every time dirt is moved.]

big kid friendship

Ahoy and hello.
The colonialist holiday got the best of me last week so I laid low and worked on some writing projects.
Check out this article about making friends as an adult.
As a work-from-home newcomer in a place grounded in centuries-old traditions and generational relationships, it's been hard to develop new friendships.
One of the first things I did here (as per the article) was reach out to acquaintances.
Lol.
One ignored me, one strung me along, then ghosted. The third met for coffee once and then disappeared, only to pop up here and there to ask how my holidays were (rude, I'm alone, duh) or when I'm moving back to the PNW (ok bye).
So, I pivoted to new friendships. Those have been tough, too but I've been patient and finally met some transplants and a local writer or two.
Had to weed out the religious because they just want to convert me but otherwise I'm keeping expectations low and flexibility high.
It feels unnatural to this Capricorn! But I don't know what else to do.

public-private (emphasis on private)

BSP spent a few days in Houston last week, to see art, enjoy some Tex-Mex and learn more about this Gulf South City. I wouldn’t say it’s a pedestrian-friendly city but my traveling partner is adventuresome so we decided to try and walk to the Urban South brewery, home of my beloved Paradise Park beer and which seemed to lie directly north of our Fourth Ward digs.

Urban South Brewery

Google showed a bewildering criss-cross of pedestrian paths near and over a body of water; however, when we walked along busy Dallas Avenue toward the cut-through street, we were confronted with a locked gate. The same thing another street down.

So we proceeded to even busier Montrose Avenue and went right. Just before a bridge over the waterway, I spied a well-kept pathway and bridge to the right. A sign noted it was part of Houston’s Buffalo Bayou network of hiking and biking trails and we eagerly walked along in the growing twilight.

There wasn’t much signage so when we got to a fork--lower bridge down to a busy street (Memorial?) or higher bridge toward the brewery, we chose the latter, crossed a waterway and found ourselves on another pathway with a couple of dog-walkers and couples. Again, no signage, so we went right, hoping to find a gate or way out/up. The first gate I found was locked from the other side. Hm. The next gate had a keypad, also locked. One exiting couple saw me and hustled to get through before we got close.

Clearly this was intentional.

We headed back the other direction and I finally asked an older dog-walker how we got out. You have to go under the car bridge, she said, pointing. These are all gated communities. I.e., not offering her own gate code, clearly.

Irritated, we walked on a few more minutes and finally came to the busy car bridge. A pathway to the right led up to the street, where we walked along busy, muddy sidewalks, crossed a six-lane street and then two dusty railroad crossings, before arriving at Urban South (who were out of Paradise Park, of course).

I did some research on the Buffalo Bayou trail network and learned this is part of a public-private partnership in Houston. Emphasis on the private, i guess. How are public funds being used in such an exclusionary fashion? What would happen if we really had to get out and oops -- didn’t have a code? Not a few folks have been mugged and robbed. One woman went into the bayou to escape her mugger. The news story doesn’t mention the locked gates.

It’s a question of public safety.

And general old decency and humanity.