Savvy Women

I bought my first home, in Texas, a couple of years ago. Up until that time, I’d always been a renter or had had housing provided, free of charge, through my employer. I had never been an actual home owner, mostly because I had lived (and continue to live) such a nomadic lifestyle. The only way I was able to swing the deal this time was to have a member of my family hold down the fort while I’m off gallivanting around.

Since purchasing my house, I have noticed a change in my psychology. I now feel rooted in place even though I’m not. I think knowing that I have a place all my own to come to has provided me with a sense of security. I guess I’m trying to say that my home has begun to feel like a retreat.

But what happens when the desire to nest comes up against today’s hard economic realities? That question can best be answered by watching the two videos I’m blogging this week. Both show versions of tiny, affordable houses.

I think I’d feel a bit constricted in some of those, especially the first house shown. I applaud Austin Hay. A fellow that young, with that much spunk and imagination, has probably got a bright future ahead of him.

The next video is interesting because it demonstrates how the feeling of spaciousness has more to do with perception than reality. Though the “penguin home”—does it look like a penguin to you?—is indeed small, notice how large it seems, just because of the tricks used by the architect.

If I were going small, I think I’d try for a hybrid design, a blend of the American and Japanese approaches. It might be hard to put wheels on that penguin, though.

Final thought: I guess size does matter, but in this particular case, small is what you want.

Christmas has always been one of my favorite holidays because it inspires many people to engage in acts of imagination and creativity. To prove my point, I’ve included two must-see videos. If, as the old saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words, then I’d like to know how many words these clips are worth. A lot, I’d say.

So here it is.

I don’t know how you felt while watching Tim’s film, but for me, I think like he captured the mood of the holiday season wonderfully! And the music was a perfect match for those images!

In clip two, it’s not the videographer that’s the talented one. It’s the person or people who conceptualized this holiday light display and then put it all together. The home you’re seeing is in Darby, Wisconsin, near Appleton. I have not been able to find out much more than this even though I Googled and Yahooed! as hard as I could.
The person who posted this video on You Tube explains that this home looks this way every year and that the displays are computer-driven. That makes sense. It would take a computer to do what is shown in this clip.

I have to guess that the music is broadcast via speakers so that passersby can hear it quite audibly from the street. Speaking of music, this is only one of many songs that have been choreographed. I actually had a hard time choosing which video to embed. I also very much liked the display accompanying the song “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town.”

If you’d like to see more of these displays, check here.

Troy Headrick
The American University in Cairo
Maadi, Cairo, Egypt
contact@savvy-women-magazine.com

The computer keyboard is a delicate piece of equipment. It has zero tolerance for liquids of any sort being spilled, poured, or even dribbled on it.

I learned that lesson this morning when I drooled on mine while watching this video. As soon as I did so, the monitor sort of flickered and then an ominous warning box popped up that said “IMMINENT SYSTEM FAILURE AHEAD!” Luckily, this “imminent failure” was not so imminent. In fact, it never took place.

Shortly after I dried the thing off with a paper towel, I felt a wave of nostalgia wash over me. That’s because I’m a little more than a month away from flying home to Texas, that Lone Star State and the Mexican food capital of America.

I have this friend named Georgina from Albuquerque who also teaches as AUC. Not long ago, while eating lunch together, I said to her, “Hands down, Texas has the best Mexican food.”

Mid-bite, she replied, “No way! New Mexico does it better!”

“Come on,” I retorted, “when was the last time you heard the term New Mex-Mex? Never, right? That’s because it doesn’t exist. The Mexican food in Texas is so good they had to invent a new term to describe it, and thus ‘Tex-Mex’ was born.”

Georgina had no comeback to that.

I’m such a Mexican food nut that sometimes, when I’m back on one of my yearly visits, I plan my whole day around the trip I have planned to one of the Tex-Mex restaurants in Big Spring, the town where my mother lives. For my money, La Posada, over in “North Town,” is Big Spring’s finest. In Georgetown, the place my father and stepmother call home, there’s this eatery called Dos Salsas that is absolutely to die for. In either one of those places, I’m very likely to order the most deluxe plate on the menu, something that comes with a taco and perhaps two cheese enchiladas and a tamale. Of course, it goes without saying there’ll be big piles of refried beans and Mexican rice on the plate as well.

At this point in the blog I’d like to make a recommendation: If you’re ever down in Texas, you just have to sample a bit of authentic Tex-Mex. It doesn’t matter where you choose to do so. Even the smallest of towns, places so doggone tiny they don’t even have a single stoplight, have at least one such eatery. And as soon as you step through the front door of such a restaurant, just look for paintings of bullfighters on black velvet and absurdly large sombreros hanging on the walls. If you see gaudy décor like that, you can bet the farm that the food is going to be muy bueno.

Now, getting back to the video and Yolanda Navarro’s Houston taqueria, Villa Arcos Tacos. Not only is Yolanda a very savvy businesswoman, she comes across as something of a philosopher as well. She names “quality, consistency, and personal attention” as being key to the success of her place.

I’d say those things will help you succeed in just about anything, including making the meanest tacos around.