trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Feb 5, 2012, 1:20 pm
String lines to give the tender pea plants something to grab onto to keep them up out of the wet soil. As gray and cold as it is outside, one can almost believe the prediction Punxsutawney Phil’s prediction that spring won’t come for another six weeks.  Despite the mid-40s temperature, I put t...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jan 29, 2012, 3:35 pm
Planted 2 weeks ago, these pea sprouts are about 4 inches tall. Again it’s garden time!  I know it’s still January, but last year I planted on the 1st, but this year I didn’t get seeds for some leafy greens into the ground until the 15th.  In addition, to various kinds of lettuce,  I als...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jan 16, 2012, 10:50 pm
Some days I’d like to write a post, but the evening is just too short.  I feel a bit guilty of neglecting my housekeeping duties around here.  Recently, I mentioned liking the station Latitude Franco from SiriusXM on my car radio.  Well, I’m still likin’ it even though I understand next to ...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jan 9, 2012, 10:21 pm
The garden rain gauge shows 1.8 inches, for a total of 2 inches in the past 24 hours (1/09/11). Annie barked at the bumps of thunder as I showered for work this morning.  Then the .20 in the rain gauge gave evidence to some showers during the night which I hadn’t heard.  However, the weatherman...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jan 9, 2012, 9:59 pm
Wind turbines of the Smoky Hills Wind Farm line the wintery horizon in pastures along the Lincoln and Ellsworth county line, not far from Wilson Resevoir. A wet, grey afternoon with some unexpected early hours off from work make it a good time to try out one of my Christmas gifts.  I received a s...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Dec 22, 2011, 9:36 pm
All of the Christmas cactuses are blooming at the same time this year, giving me time to enjoy them before taking out on the road. The year is quickly coming to an end.  I’ve got the car almost packed, and in the morning, I’ll add the last few items and stick Annie in the co-pilot seat for our...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Dec 20, 2011, 12:42 am
How the 9 button got pre-set to 155 I don’t know, but luckily this mystery put me onto a kind of music I probably wouldn’t have tried.  My car came with 6 month’s worth of Sirius XM satellite radio on it, and I liked more than enough channels to renew it when the free time was over a couple m...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Aug 27, 2011, 11:02 pm
Having participated in the snarl of freeway madness along with millions of other Houstonians to avoid Hurricane Rita in 2005 , three years later I decided not to evacuate during Hurricane Ike, thus, spending a mostlysleepless night listening to the winds and rain.  After the electricity went out, I...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Aug 21, 2011, 12:29 am
The Aspire One netbook makes a good accompaniment for multi-relaxing. As an excuse for not posting for awhile, I could blame  the 100+ degree heat that seems go on without a reprieve.  I just haven’t been in the mood to do much posting lately. Another reason might be that I’ve gotten myse...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jul 30, 2011, 10:12 am
Another magnificent jungle cactus bloom--just the thing to spark up a drab July. Here we are at the end of July, and this is only my second post of the month.  Blame it on the heat.  (“Don’t blame it on the bossa nova.“)  It’s been that kind of month; one that has seemed to drag on, mayb...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jul 3, 2011, 1:12 pm
Passion Flower--Is there anything other to say than "Wow"? Because Houston is a city that has experienced most of its growth in the last several decades, it feels pretty much the same, no matter which part of the city that you find yourself in.  Despite the ubiquitous strip centers, fast food re...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jun 26, 2011, 1:23 am
Houston Gay Pride Parade 2011 is off and running!Jonathan Lovitz, from LogoTV's "Set Up Squad" was one of this year's honorary grand marshals. The 2011version of the Houston LGBT Pride Celebration (commonly known as the Houston Gay Pride Parade) was attended by a large crowd.  (I’ll be intereste...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jun 25, 2011, 5:22 pm
Gay flag is waving under the hot Houston sun at the Westheimer entrance to the festival. Sunscreen applied, I drove in to Houston’s Montrose area around 1:30 PM.  I felt the sun blasting down on me as I dashed from one shaded spot to another one the few blocks to the main festival area, just o...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jun 25, 2011, 12:30 pm
I just got finished doing the lawn.  After the almost 2 inches of rain this past week, the grass finally grew enough that I could mow it, only about the third time this year, because of all the dry weather. Now I’m about to jump into the shower (pretty scummy and drenched after being out there p...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jun 25, 2011, 12:09 am
Tonight is another good night.  After a long week of expectations and delays, the New York Senate voted to approve same-sex marriage by a vote of 33-29.  In the Republican-controlled senate, four of those voting in favor of passage were of the majority party.  After frequent internet checks all ...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jun 16, 2011, 11:13 pm
Last year, in El Paso, Texas, voters pushed by evangelist Tom Brown to penalize gay workers, voted to take health benefits away from domestic partners.  Their mean-spirited ballot measure took away some other municipal workers’ benefits as well. This week the El Paso City Council voted to resto...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jun 12, 2011, 2:42 pm
This T-shirt from 1979 came from one of the dances put on by Gay Services of Kansas, at the University of Kansas. Another hot Sunday is already upon us, and later on, when the driveway gets a bit shaded, I’ll tend to one of the planned weekend chores–washing the car. The last time I was ready...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jun 11, 2011, 10:44 am
From the increased number of clicks onto my previous posts about Houston Gay Pride 2009 and 2010, people are once again trying to get information about this year’s events.  Living for such a long time right in the middle of Montrose, there were some years that I just skipped it all.  Now that I�...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jun 4, 2011, 11:55 pm
A magnificent early morning discovery; this jungle cactus flower (cactus orchid) nearly hidden from view by the oak tree. I don’t know what my M.U.D. bill will be this month, but with such a long period without much moisture, I’ve been watering a lot.  The vegetable garden and the grass get a...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - May 29, 2011, 5:26 pm
Pickled beans and canned tomatoes--today's fruits of the garden and the joy of remembering and doing. I’ve been itching to do some canning.  I have been waiting since last summer, when I found how much I enjoy the entire process, from the picking of the vegetables to having them sealed tight in...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - May 22, 2011, 4:41 pm
The Bissell 3-in-1 Vac (The porcelain chicken is not an attachment.) From time to time on here, I like to recommend (or criticize) products and services that I have purchased or used.  When I first moved from an apartment to my own home, I had to buy quite a number of items that I had never needed...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - May 21, 2011, 1:22 pm
The little garden behind the garage, May 21, 2011. It’s been awhile since I’ve added any garden photos, but this morning after spending a leisurely couple of hours dozing in bed, I got up, made some freshly ground coffee, and headed out to the little patch behind the garage.  Since I didn’t ...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - May 21, 2011, 12:10 pm
Sex bomb, that is.  This rapturous bomb got three big yeses from the judges in “Australia’s Got Talent” this past week.  It’s long past 6 PM in Australia.  Haven’t heard about any earthquakes there yet, but if they’ve got more “bombs” like this one, let the rapture begin!
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - May 21, 2011, 12:18 am
This is just another reason that shows why religion is whack.  If one preposterous story is whack, it’s all whack. I’m going to bed, not worried that any earthquake is going to blow me out of bed, but wondering if these hand exercises I’ve been doing will help with the carpal tunnel aggrava...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Apr 30, 2011, 10:36 pm
Spending almost 2 hours a day commuting these days, I hear a lot of music on a variety of stations.  I don’t know all the new artists, but my ear tells me there’s a lot of lifting from older music.  I can appreciate Lady Gaga’s stands on gay issues, but despite her over-the-top outfits, she...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Apr 28, 2011, 11:17 pm
 All of this has happened in 2011: Tennessee–State Senate panel advances law that would prohibit the discussion of homosexuality in schools. Virginia–The State Attorney General says that state board does not have authority to allow gay adoptions. Georgia–Atlanta Braves pitching coach is inve...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Apr 26, 2011, 5:12 pm
I have fond memories of my Air Force days in Greece (read more here), and especially of going out to local tavernas or finding one near some isolated beach.  Although its cognate in English, tavern, generally conjures up images of a place where men sit around tables with a mugs of beer in hand, som...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Apr 10, 2011, 9:48 pm
Barely out of the car, Annie is panting in the hot sun at Washington-on-the-Brazos State Park. These were some of the few bluebonnets we encountered. Having finally accomplished the long-put-off doing of my income taxes before noontime, and with the yard and garden work already finished for the wee...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Apr 8, 2011, 11:50 pm
Click below to watch Christian TV.
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Apr 6, 2011, 9:28 pm
Mine is a quiet, one-block, cul de sac street.  In fact, even though a couple of families have teenage kids, I didn’t know it until I had lived in my house for about six months.  Aside from lawn mowers and edgers, the loudest it gets around here is on the rare occasions when the Vietnamese fami...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Apr 2, 2011, 11:12 am
Annie is always ready to assistant in checking out how the garden is growing. (4-2-11) When it becomes garden time, this blog could be one of the most boring in all of the blogosphere; however, my little patch helps keep me on an even keel, so I like to add a pic here and there just as a record f...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Mar 27, 2011, 10:52 pm
Freshly made wilted lettuce, ready to be placed in the salad bowls With the time change adding an extra hour of sunlight after I get home on work days and all the tending to yard and garden on the weekend, posting on here hasn’t been something that I’ve had much time for recently. There have b...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Mar 21, 2011, 12:25 am
Spring, and it's time again to record the growth of the garden. As always, Annie ready to check things out. Today is the first official day of spring, and these fingers that have been pulling, digging, and clutching rakes, hoes, and shovels for most of this beautiful, long weekend feel a bit reluct...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Mar 15, 2011, 11:45 pm
It has been just a bit over a month that I got involved in what most would have seen as a “fender-bender” (details in previous post); nevertheless, my car was totaled.  Luckily, no one was hurt, nor was I the driver who caused the accident, but unluckily, my car got the worst end of the deal....
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Mar 12, 2011, 10:33 am
Considering the nearly 50 miles I drive in heavy traffic every day, perhaps it was bound to happen.  I don’t know. What I do know is that my blog posts here have been almost nil for a month because I’ve felt like I wanted to write about what happened, but just haven’t been able to:  1) beca...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Feb 27, 2011, 5:36 pm
The only thing that would make these home-cooked green beans better would be if they were also home-grown. Blustery breezes and an uncertain sky haven’t put a damper on this penultimate day of February.  For the first time in a couple of weeks, I’m back in my groove.  (I’ll try to add anot...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Feb 9, 2011, 11:16 pm
Not in any of the national, well-read LGBT blogs and other sites have I seen this mentioned today, but I think it’s pretty amazing because it’s happening in my old home state, and in the very town where I spent a couple of college years and also came out.  This is Kansas, mind you, old, foreve...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Feb 9, 2011, 10:19 pm
“Say Something” seems to be Australia’s equivalent of the “It Gets Better” Project, a youtube campaign that was started Dan Savage, a Seattle columnist, after the rash of gay teen suicides last year.  “Say Something” has been set up as part of the 2011 Sydney Mardi Gras, one of the la...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Feb 6, 2011, 7:21 pm
A view from one of those "roads less traveled"in Bear Creek Park--backgrounded by an amazingly blue sky. Those green shrubs are the fan palms that grow in many of the woods of southeast Texas. If by yesterday afternoon, Friday’s icy weather, along with the resulting bad roadways, was hardly wor...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Feb 4, 2011, 4:24 pm
Ice still lays on this agave plant after the temperature rose above freezing. Nothing significant has changed weather-wise since my previous post earlier this morning.  The sun tried to peek through for a bit, but the temperature only rose to 35 for about an hour, and now it’s grey again, and th...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Feb 4, 2011, 10:01 am
The agave leaves are slick with ice from the sleet and rain that came during the pre-dawn hours. The predicted snow didn’t come to Houston.  Having gone to bed even earlier than most work nights.  I woke up around 5, and the light from the streetlight outside showed no snow on the ground, nor e...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Feb 2, 2011, 12:42 am
The first, and maybe only, pickings from the winter garden. Perhaps fried green tomatoes will be on the menu soon. The temperature was right at 70 when I got home from work last evening, but after I let Annie out, I started carting all the potted plants that I could into the garage, knowing that th...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jan 31, 2011, 12:00 am
Like many others, I’ve given quite a lot of attention in the past several days to what’s been happening in Egypt.  For certain, what changes will be made there, whether there will be a complete change in government or whether Mubarek will stay in some sort of power, remain uncertain. I think ...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jan 25, 2011, 10:59 pm
The sun came out today.  I’m not sure when because I was tied up inside (not literally, mind you) most of the day, but I felt almost gleeful turning down the visors in the car on my way home this evening.  The rain has been good for the garden, and hopefully, some of it is getting down for some...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jan 16, 2011, 2:35 pm
It’s one of those luxurious Sunday mornings, luxurious but lazy.  Outside it’s a grey, drizzly day, but because tomorrow is a holiday, I’m not feeling the pressure to get things done for the work week ahead. Two airy loaves of panettone, ready to go into the oven. Even so, I’ve gotten a l...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jan 11, 2011, 10:29 pm
So there’s always someone who goes out at 9:15 in 33-degree weather in their blue fleece pants to take a photo of covered-up tomato plants.  And that’s the back end of a little dog, there, on the right. It’s cold other places, I know, but when the thermometer dips down below 30°F., it’s d...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Jan 5, 2011, 12:34 am
It’s a little late to say it, I suppose, but “Happy New Year” to anyone who slips and falls upon this page.  This is the first post of the new year, as other interests, including just lying around, have gotten in the way of writing. I haven’t made any New Year’s resolutions, but on Jan...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Dec 22, 2010, 11:24 am
President Obama signs law repealing "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" on December 22, 2010 “It’s a great day,” stated the President, and, indeed it is a great day.  I got up at Annie’s regular going-out time, and even though I have the day off, I did not head back for the coziness of the bed.  I f...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Dec 21, 2010, 2:25 pm
Some events are so staggering that they leave an indelible image in our minds of where we were and what we were doing when we first heard the news. I remember Kennedy’s death, the Challenger disaster, and 9/11 that way. It seems that it’s the disastrous events that stay embedded in our brains mo...
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trip t. posted an article on Trip to the Outhouse - Dec 18, 2010, 3:50 pm
Announcing the vote count of the repeal of "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in the U.S. Senate. Today, December 18th, 2010, at 2:30 PM (CST), the U.S. Senate approved the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”, the 17-year-old law which denied openly gay military members from serving.  The final vote in...
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