I am currently sitting in a lobby/coffee shop in the downtown Houston Hilton. I would much rather be in my wee hotel room to the north with my shoes and socks off and my feet up than here, but here I am. It has been a long day, though I must admit there were parts of it that were pleasant enough.

The weather the last few days has been great. Highs in the low 80s, a light breeze, few clouds, and lots of green. I really love green. Houston is a strange city and I wish I had more time to explore it more fully. It seems to have less traffic than DFW though that impression may be mistaken and I have just not been on the right road at the right time. However, I was on one road at 4:30 and it was not a park and go lot the way I-35 E is at that time.

The conference is over for Carol and I, well mostly. Carol is upstairs doing a meet em greet em thing at the moment, but that is the end for us. We will be heading home tomorrow morning though I am not sure what time we will leave. I would like to be on the road early so we can be home early, but we shall see.

Houston has not felt like the big city I expected it to feel like. Maybe the downtown is as dead here as it is in so many other cities? I guess I was expecting more traffic, more pedestrians, more bustle.

I did manage to attend a few interesting sessions at the conference. I don't know if it was really worth my time though it might have more relevance if I were working in a library. It has been interesting to observe it as a sociological experiment, though I must admit, all my observations are colored by my participation within the group.

There is a little park just outside the George R Brown Convention Center that I found interesting. A nice green space with a pond and play pool for kiddies that is built above the underground parking lot. Not far away is a grocery store/deli/restaurant called Phonecia that had some decent food. Last night we ate at the Green Vine, a mostly vegan eatery. It was nice going into a place and knowing that there were a lot of options to choose from and that the staff knew what a vegan was and what we did and did not eat.

I am soooo ready to be home with my monkey and my dog.