What Alec always wears these days

Ate a muffin from the expensive grocery store this morning for breakfast. While I waited for Neri to get ready to go, I figured out how to escape from the compound and walked to the water wall near the Galleria mall. To be honest, this area is marginally walkable with decent sidewalks, good pedestrian crossings, and a slightly higher density. Its still car land, but its possible to walk around without wanting to tear out your eyeballs.

The water wall was created in the 80s by Phillip Johnson, who also did a lot of other work here, including the massive glass tower at the other end of the lawn in front of the water wall. The water wall is actually pretty cool. The wall wraps around you, so when you pas through the super-80s postmodern interpretation of a roman proscenium, your vision is totally filled with the sight of rushing water, and the air is filled with the fine mist. Must be really nice in the heat of the summer.

Nobody there except the safety-vest clad Mexicans blowing leaves around and a few smokers from the glass phallus. I backtracked to the Galleria mall which had just opened and wandered around. Not many people there. Too early for the spandex housewives; the college kids are still hungover, which leaves a few random tourists. The cart vendors made their catcalls but I waved them off. One of them, obviously gay, told me he liked my style. Believe me, this does not happen often. I was just wearing what I always wear these days:

WHAT ALEC ALWAYS WEARS THESE DAYS:

Underwear and socks - unmentionables not worth mentioning.
Jeans - slim cut Levi's, size 29, one of only two pairs of jeans i can wear now because I've lost weight in the last year of grad school.
Belt - neon green webbing
Tee shirt - graphic whatever.
Knit Henley - from Target, Gap.
Shoes - olive-colored leather chukkas from Florence, an obvious ripoff of the classic Clarks "desert boot"

I ended up picking up a fitted dress shirt from the Armani Exchange, on sale. Its nice to have at least one nice shirt that will look really good on me. That was all, I walked back to the apartment afterwards.
I joined Neri on some errands and then we went downtown to the relativly new Discovery Green, an urban green with some pavilions and a few places to eat. DG is right in front of the horrible pomo convention center, which was a stillbirth between the high-tech Centre Pompidou and the smooth, brightly colored rounded forms of the rest of Houston's pomo crap.

The restaurant, the Grove, was good. Decent food. Overpriced and a bit pretentious, but really nice glass wall views out onto a grassy field and an oak alley. Glad we just came for lunch; dinner would have been fucking ridiculous, although it seems like a power spot for drinks.

Drove to Buffalo Exchange afterwards, and a few other clothing exchange stores which all cluster along a certain stretch of Westheimer in Montrose. Didn't see anything I couldn't live without.

Another round of coffee at the nearby Agora, and I crossed the street to browse the unique selection of books at Domy, eventually picking up a HR Geiger retrospective.

Dad's out to California tomorrow early, and it looks like rain all day, so I'm thinking the mall might not be a bad place to spend the day.