Author: Brandon Moeller

Photos: San Marcos for the weekend

Last weekend, Kim drug me to San Marcos to attend the wedding of one of her best friend’s sisters.

It was a blast.

On the road again with Kim and Brandon

So … much … outlet … shopping …

San Marcos River gawking

Check out 95 more photos of our trip here or see my 8 favorites – among other great photos of the two of us – here.

For Kim, the trip was a vacation from planning. Which meant there was no itenerary. So a day or so before the trip, the idea pops in my head that we should see my cousin Michelle and her husband Dan. So I e-mail her and plans are thrown together … but they were in no mood for pictures, because the day was also the first day they biked home from work in downtown Austin. They estimated the trek at 15 miles, mostly on a bike trail through Austin’s green belt … but Michelle said it was more brown than green.

Here’s an old picture of them anyway.

Michelle and Dan Bost, Thanksgiving 2006

Anyway, so we were going to see the Bosts, and their new house in Austin. OK, it’s three years old. But I don’t get out much.

Since it was a vacation without planning, we had planned to not plan dinner, and Michelle was going to treat us to her famous shrimp and grits. But as we were driving, Kim mentioned that Texas Monthly mentioned that Luling, Texas (pronounced “Lull-ing” … just kidding, Kim!) was home to two of the top 50 barbecue joints in Texas. So, we stopped and I bought dinner at what Texas Monthly said was one of the 5 best “Smokin’ Joints” in Texas:

City Market in downtown Luling

City Market in downtown Luling

It turns out that when buying barbecue, you don’t need a pound per person. I know this because I bought four pounds of this stuff, and as a result, was eating it all week. What a tragedy! Nah, it was really good barbecue, perhaps the best I’ve ever tasted from an eatery. And, the smoke is still on my clothes from stepping into the smoke room at City Market. Yum.

Almost a week later: The last of the barbecue, shot at Kim’s house.

Also during our trip, we went to the outlet mall in San Marcos and the San Marcos River. I took lots of photos of everything I saw. Oh, and there was a wedding. So go check out the photos already.

Spring resident captures video of power line explosion

Today, an article I wrote appeared on Tropical Storms / Hurricanes blog on Chron.com.

For the article, I interviewed Spring resident Steve Guthrie, who was in the right place at the right time with a video camera to capture a power line explosion following Hurricane Ike.

Storm blog post
This story was published on the Chron.com Hurricanes blog following Hurricane Ike.

Here are the first few graphs of the article:

When the lights flickered on last Wednesday evening, and then began to dim, Steve Guthrie began to realize what was wrong.

After Hurricane Ike knocked out power to his house in the Oaks of Devonshire neighborhood in Spring, a pecan tree in his backyard lost a limb that became entangled with a power line. With no power, that was no big deal.

But when power was restored to his neighborhood, Steve was ready with his camera to capture sparks and explosions that nearly shocked him off his feet. He later posted his videos on YouTube.

Installed: ShareThis!

Last night, I added a new plugin to my blog which allows users to share my posts across any imaginable social network or link posting service.

I originally stumbled upon the ShareThis service by avidly reading Wired.com, which uses it. I used it a few times to forward articles to that certain someone, you know, to further affirm my geekness 2.0. When I first saw the ShareThis interface, I thought: How much is too much? I mean, seriously: All of the latest and greatest Web services just seem to be small variations on the same four-pronged theme: Post content. Share it. Comment on what your friends are posting. Repeat.

Of course, the only problem with that idea is that, thanks to the outburst of all these nifty services, everyone does the same thing a different way. Usually, compatibility seems to be the last consideration.

With ShareThis’ more-is-never-enuff approach, though, at least none of my readers can claim they were left out.

7 Questions with Tonja Jones: Houston Alumni Organization director of Operation School Supplies

Today, an article I wrote appeared on the East End neighborhood news section of the Houston Chronicle’s chron.com website.

For the article, I interviewed Tonja Jones, the UH alumni director of a project that benefits local schoolchildren.

Chron article about Operation School Supplies
This story I wrote appeared on Chron.com.

This story was part of our ongoing series titled “7 Questions,” where we interviewed local leaders and wrote a story for the website that we advertised in the print edition.

Here is the first four graphs of the story:

Every year, Houstonians have the opportunity to make a difference in a young person’s life by donating to a project called Operation School Supplies.

We chatted with Tonja Jones, Vice President for Alumni and Student Programs at the Houston Alumni Organization who also organized the annual drive. For more information, please visit http://www.houstonalumni.com.

Q. Can a pencil change the world?

A. I believe in the concept of each life affecting another. Everybody’s affected by people who have the things they need to succeed. The project only serves the youngest students, K-5th grade. But it’s a building block. You have to build from the basic time of their lives. Having self confidence starts from a very small age.