From Twitter 05-30-2010
08:34:47: @emoontx I think they spent either $1M or $2M to build a soapbox derby racing hill here in Houston.
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The musings of a weary mind. Conversations on aikido, gardening, cooking, travel and, maybe, woodworking.
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The spotlit shop this week is On Pens and Needles, a husband and wife team.
Here are a couple of their pieces that I like:
I think that's the name of the joint. Out front it just says Taqueria. This one's on El Camino Real near the Sunny's convenience store.
I attempted to order the fajitas, but the lady at the counter kept responding back with "Tacos?" I ended up with beef fajita tacos in corn tortillas. Next time I'll ask for the mixed fajitas and see if I get what I want.
The tacos weren't bad. The meat had some flavor, the onions and the pico de gallo were decent. The salsa they provided was ok, tangy but not hot.
This might be the site of a return visit.
We played Passing Out and lost all three. We were competitive, but they are the stronger team.
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I'm the featured shop in my guild this week. I'm thinking about running a special little promotion in addition to the Father's Day Sale (10% off of everything).
I do take custom orders. If you see a pen style you like, but I don't have one in the type of wood you're looking for, let me know. Something can be arranged. The same can be said for the bottle stoppers. Some of the wood can be difficult to get in a size appropriate for bottle stoppers, but don't hesitate to ask.
If you want to commission a stained glass piece, great! I'd recommend that only if you're in the triangle of the 3 Texas metroplexes (Houston/DFW/Austin-San Antonio) as I'd prefer to be able to hand deliver them.
Here are a couple of the items I want to showcase this week:
Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and Brad. We also had a visitor and potential future student watching from the sidelines.
Ukemi: Full warm-up, no big falls.
The Walk: Twice.
Releases: With Brad and Trey. Trey uked on the right side and I uked on the left side for Brad.
Techniques:
We attempted to have Brad do 1 through 7 of Ju Nana Hon Kata on both sides, with just one shot each. He did well. We did end up doing some tweaking on all of the techniques. We need to go back to left-sided Ushiro-ate, and we need to give him more time with Oshi-taoshi and Ude-gaeshi.
Aftermath: None of note.
Aikidokas: Tim, Trey, and Dan.
Ukemi: Partial warm-up. I actually hit my head on one of my warm-up falls. I don't think I've ever done that before. No harm done, though. I spent a good bit of time with Don, teaching him how to fall again.
The Walk: Twice.
Releases: None
Techniques:
Trey and I spent the evening working on Shihonage and Ushiro-ate from O Waza Ju Pon. Introducing Trey to the separating centers of these two throws.
We also had a discussion on re-working the teaching and approach to Ushiro-ate in Ju Nana Hon Kata. We're going to go back to the more difficult approach for Ju Nana Hon Kata.
Aftermath: None of note.
Friday
Aikido
Saturday
I didn't get going until time for me to leave for Aikido
Aikido
Dinner at Durango's
D&D
Sunday
Another late start to the day
3 hours of yard work in 90 degree heat with 65% humidity. I did reclaim a bit of the yard that had been claimed by some ground cover. It was previously the home to a wisteria bush, as well.
Dinner at Joe's
Prompted by my darling wife, K.: I did forget to mention seeing Iron Man 2 between the yard work and dinner at Joe's. I'll post my mini-review later today, but I'll give it 3 out of 4 stars.
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This is a little mom and pop place on NASA 1 in Seabrook. It looked like they have a regular clientele, but they weren't very busy. the waitress had to go call the cook in from out back when I ordered.
They push their hamburgers, so that's what I tried. I ordered the guacamole cheeseburger with fries. I received the plain cheeseburger with fries. In fairness, she might not have heard the guacamole, and the order she took down didn't *look* right, so I'll give them a pass on this).
The burger was pretty good. The cheese was melted onto the patty while it was still on the grill. Just how I prepare them at home. The patty looked too uniform to have been made by hand.
The fries were a battered variety, probably Sysco supplied. Still, not bad.
It took quite a while for the waitress to drop off my check. The waitress did miss the opportunity to sell me a slice of pecan pie by not checking back with me while I was eating. That may be a good thing as far as they're concerned. If it had been bad, I wouldn't be returning. As it is, I might return to try the guacamole burger and a slice of pecan pie.
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