Not All Those Who Wander Are Lost

Over the weekend I had the privilege of being part of the Grand (Re) Opening of the African American Library at the Gregory School, the newest branch of the Houston Public Library.

I say REopening because the library is located in the completely restored* 1926 Gregory School building in the Freedmen’s Town area of Houston. The reading rooms are on the second floor; the first floor is taken up by historical and art galleries

and a restored classroom with furnishings appropriate to the original building.

The Library has done a sweet job here, and they’re not finished yet.

One of the major focus points for the library is the collection and conservation of historical artifacts and oral history relating to Houston’s African American community.

Much of the history presented here is within living memory — many of the participants at the grand opening spent time in the exhibit halls reminiscing about personal experiences at the school or people they’d known as community elders.

The library features a recording studio accessible to members of the community who wish to contribute, and is making strides towards digitizing and recording documents, photos, and artifacts from that period.

Information about contributions, donations, and so forth is found on the Library’s website.

* I have some shots from the restoration on another computer; I’ll add them into this post later in the week. Come back soon.

Small Person. Big Slide. HUGE fun.

Okay, so (a) it’s not yet Friday, and (b) There’s probably not much flying for this guy…

but certainly he’s decorative enough… and although the book says he’s shy and retiring, I don’t think he reads much – he nearly stepped on my foot.

Saturday evening in Sugarland for the finals of the Sugarland Superstar talent show.

Somewhat better than it might have been, though as a dedicated non-fan of Amateur Hours and Open Mike nights, I had no trouble thinking of places I’d rather be.

Fortunately, one doesn’t have to be lost in the performances to photograph the performers.

Cedela Abdulla sings Mariah Carey… and quite nicely, too.

Scanning proceeds at fairly slow speed, organizing as we go and throwing out many many slides of which I was once quite proud… I’m better, smarter, and have higher standards now. This is a great deal of a good thing.

Some of the old stuff was good, even now, though… and it brings back good memories of good times.

Going way WAY back here… when we were all very young.

Girl In a Purple Coat

Girl In A Top Hat

Girl with Keys

Girl with Sticks

Fort Worth in summertime isn’t a great deal cooler than Houston in Summertime; it’s preferable only because (a) in a Fort Worth summer, evaporation still works, and (b) Fort Worth does actually have OTHER seasons as well.

These small, but meaningful, differences mean that it’s possible to actually venture out of the air conditioning for brief periods during the Fort Worth summer without an environmental suit.

One can, for example, visit the lovely Japanese Garden in the Fort Worth Botanical Gardens.

Mind you, in mid-July the dominant color is definitely green (with minor tinges of yellow), and it’s still pretty hot…

but it’s a very nice place. I’ll have to make arrangements to go in with serious photographic intent sometime this fall. (For Houstonians: Fall)

On the too-rare occasions that I get time and opportunity to visit Mom in Fort Worth, we make it a point to visit Oscar’s – a justly popular Mexican eatery and one of our favorite spots.

Complete with mariachis.

Apropos of the Creation and Naming of a new computer to run scanners and video capture…

I remember all over again why I like film.

Now just a little less than four years behind….

In the course of doing some computer reconfiguration, I found a folder full of shots I’d planned to process and post… several years ago. Of course, one thing had led to another and they just never made it somehow. Very annoying, since they’re pretty decent work if I say so myself.

So over the last few days I’ve cleaned them up and scaled them down, and now I’m happy to present…

The Li-Mei Hua Dance Academy 2005 Dance Gala
(just a little late)
(Click Pic)

Enjoy. At long last.