A-K-A

Whether you're creating a character in a work of fiction, or picking a nom de plume for yourself, creating a name is a challenge.  It requires a bit of science, a little art, maybe some magic and a whole lot of luck.

The name should sound familiar, but not common, and, in the case of a name you will be calling yourself, it should feel natural and easy to remember.

When I first started my career in radio, I chose to use my middle name as my last, becoming Bob Allen on the air. 

This worked fine until I had a chance to move to the Houston market.  There was already a Bob Allen in Houston, a sports reporter who was beloved by Houstonians for half a century until he died of Cancer last year.

As with most rules, the guidelines for name selection has exceptions.

I woke up this morning with Bolivar Shagnasty on my mind.  Now that's not a name that is particularly believable, but it is certainly memorable.  He was one of the many characters created and portrayed by Red Skelton. His pearls of wisdom included "Blood is thicker than water, and harder to shave with." and "Stone walls do not a prison make.  That's why they have iron bars."

Hurricane Season

The "experts" at Colorado State University are predicting 14 named tropical storms in the upcoming hurricane season.  They expect 7 to become hurricanes and 3 to become major (cat 3 or above) with winds in excess of 111 mph.

I have never seen an explanation of why the go-to guys for hurricane prediction are up in the Rockies where they have never seen a tropical storm and never will. That strikes me as sort of like getting parenting advice from a gay proctologist. 

Over the years the CSU prediction has been right about 70% of the time - 66% for actual hurricanes, but those of us who live on or near the coast know these predictions are just a number - a SWAG (scientific wild-assed guess) at best.  The only number that really counts is the number of hurricanes that will actually hit you.  

Just Checking Again

I was doing some on-line banking yesterday, and saw a one dollar charge from Good Sam.  It took me a while to remember that they did the same thing a year ago - JUST CHECKING.
I don't have many things set for automatic renewal, but Good Sam is the only one that uses this method to make sure a credit card is up to date.

Around 60

I think that I may have told this story before, but I did a search and couldn't find it, so....

Back when my wife and I first met, we were both going to Stephen F Austin College in Nacogdoches, and we often came home to Houston on the weekends.

One Sunday evening, I asked her if she would like to drive, and she said yes.  Honey had her license, but very little experience behind the wheel, so driving my MG Midget was a treat.

We headed north on US-59, and I fell asleep about Porter.  Just over an hour and a half later, she was waking me up, parked in front of her dorm.

A few things you need to know -

• My car was almost new and there was some minor warranty work I wanted done. I had disconnected the speedometer cable so the odometer wouldn't go over 12,000 miles before I could get it into the shop.
• Highway 59 back then was mostly two lane road with traffic lights in every town.
• Houston to Nacogdoches is approximately 155 miles.

I looked at her, back at my watch, back at her and said "My gosh, Honey! How fast were you going?"

She pointed at the tachometer and said "I kept it around sixty."

All the News

The World Series Champion Houston Astros are off to a great start.  Of course there's a lot of season to go, but they won three out of four in Dallas, and won their home opener here yesterday.
Liberty County deputies busted a cock fighting ring near Cleveland over the weekend.
And - - - The latest fad among teenagers is sucking condoms up their nose.  

Jesus

We watched Jesus Christ Superstar on NBC last night, and I guess my word for it would be interesting.
Several great voices involved, but most of the time they seemed to be drowned out by the orchestra. 
Even the less-than-glowing reviews this morning are calling the show a success, but I'm not so sure.  There were great moments - Brandon Victor Dixon's reprise of I don't know how to love him for one - but the best grade I could give the show is a C.

Terrenos

I had to go to New Caney yesterday, but after the rains earlier in the week, the East Fork of the San Jacinto River was over the road causing the closure of FM1485.  I chose to go via Plum Grove and Splendora, a route I hadn't taken in about a year. 
Wow, what a difference a year can make!

Just a couple miles north of the old Boggy Thicket a small city has blossomed in the woods.  It's all because of Terrenos Houston, a Spanish language real estate company on 1485.  Some of the homes are ratty old trailers, but many are new brick homes with well-tended yards. There is even a home builder with model homes and a sign out front reading No Credito - No Problema.