Snippid

A link to my Hurricane Ike web album:

Hurricane Ike

I’m posting a link to David’s blog rather excellently documenting our experiences with Hurricane Ike, which struck our campus in the wee hours of Friday morning.  (He also has some pictures, including some doodles of mine, a product of boredom the night of the hurricane).

We students are fortunate, as we have only been inconvenienced by a lack of running water for about 2.5 days, but have had almost uninterrupted electricity, internet, and hot food in the serveries.  In contrast, about 99% of Houston didn’t have power immediately after the hurricane, and a Houston Chronicle article written Sunday at 9 PM says that only 1 in 4 Houstonites have power.  Only the Medical Center area had power immediately after the storm, and I don’t know if the electricity at Rice has come from a Houston plant or one of our own plants, but in any case, we’re much more well off than the average Houstonite at the moment.  Water has even returned; at first, a brownish trickle from the faucet, then clear water at a close-to-normal pressure.  That is something to be grateful for, despite the horribly clogged toilets.

Some Bakerites put their energy to use by clearing fallen foliage and debris from the area surrounding our residential college.  It was great seeing people channel their energy and boredom into something constructive for the campus.  Looking beyond Rice, there are other ways people can help as well:  give blood, donate money to a reputable charity, get in touch with volunteer agencies to see if you can help on-site, if you live close to hurricane-affected areas.

More later on the hurricane, when I get around to uploading pictures.

As I was looking for inspiration for Snippid, I stumbled across a gem of a blog.  Tavi of Style Rookie is the cool 12-year-old I wish I could have been.  I don’t quite remember what I was like at 12 years old, but I was certainly not that hip.  Her blog is a whirlwind of commentary on fashion, photographs of crazy outfits that she puts together (and pulls off quite well), and random musings of a girl who is so different from all the kids I remember in middle school who were desperately trying to fit in.  I don’t read fashion blogs usually, but I was entranced by hers — at first, by the novelty of it (a pre-teen who can write well and has a unique but tasteful fashion sense?  Wow!), then by sheer interest in her ideas.  She makes me want to lose myself in a vintage clothing store for a few hours.

Kudos to you, Tavi, for having a voice and a style that is all your own.  I’m still trying to find mine, as I start off this blog.  We’ll see how this evolves.

Edit:  It looks like access Style Rookie has just been limited to “invited readers only.”  Sigh.  Suffice it to say it was a good blog.  I think it’s probably a good idea it was limited, however, particularly since she’s 12 years old. Anyone can see a public blog, including potentially unsavory characters.  This is another good thing to keep in mind as I embark upon this whole blogging thing.