May 3, 2025

Where food is art too: Kata Robata

: Food & Beverage: Written by : 01-29-2015

Hamachi & Jalapeno Sashimi at Kata Robata

Growing up in Cajun country where fish is battered and deep fried, the idea of sushi was completely foreign to me. I first ate at a Japanese restaurant in 1986 when I visited a friend in Houston. It was something I had only heard of on TV.  I recall that excursion to Miyako—the original out Westheimer—I marveled at the novelty of dining on raw fish and balled up rice wrapped in seaweed. Over the years since then I have been lucky to experience a wide variety of Japanese restaurants all over the world and have come to learn that the cuisine isn’t just a …continue reading

Photo Friday: Erin Glover-Arathoon

: Photo Friday: Written by : 01-16-2015

Sandia Mountains, NM, by Erin Glover-Arathoon.

Today’s wintery pic for Photo Friday is courtesy of Erin Glover-Arathoon of Albuquerque, New Mexico–though originally from Jennings, Louisiana.  She recently shot this surreal, silvery forestscape while hiking in the Sandia Mountains near Albuquerque.  Snapped on her cell phone, the scene is exactly as it appeared to her without any photo manipulation.  Amazing isn’t it?  Thanks for the photograph, Erin!

A kick-off party for the Best Friends Brunch

: Lifestyle: Written by : 01-15-2015

aniMeals

I had a lovely evening a few nights back; I attended a kick-off party for the Best Friends Brunch. The Best Friends Brunch benefits aniMeals on Wheels, a division of Interfaith Ministries Meals on Wheels program. I found out about this worthy charity through my friends, sisters Kristy Phillips and Wendy Phillips who are serving as brunch chairs. Apparently administrators for the Meals on Wheels program learned of a need for pet food when questioning drivers about what they were learning on their routes. Seems program recipients were not finishing their meals in order to save a portion for their four-legged companions. …continue reading

How long can lights stay up after Christmas?

: Lifestyle: Written by : 01-10-2015

Christmas Lights by Anthony92931 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

No, I did not erect Santa’s Village in the parking court, a manger on the patio, nor a heard of reindeer pulling a sleigh across the rooftop. This Christmas season I very tastefully hung a row of white lights along the edge of the awning over my front door. And with sunset before I get home from the office I have especially loved coming home to their soft white glow, and I can see to open the gate and to get my key in the lock. It seems colder and darker than ever at this point of the year and …continue reading

A low key birthday with Sisterwoman, wine, and art

: Destinations, TroysArt: Written by : 01-08-2015

It’s me on my birthday with Picasso’s Seated Woman, the Museum of Fine Art – Houston.

I love having a birthday on January 2nd; I start a new year with a new age, it’s like a full cycle. But celebrating in a big way can be difficult.  It’s like just when you thought the holidays were over, guess what! People are partied out by January 2nd. And to travel somewhere sensational is expensive because airlines and hotels are charging New Year’s premiums. And then this year, given the loss of our dear Lisa Benitez and the epic funerary festivities that followed, I was absolutely exhausted both mentally and physically. So this year I opted for a low key birthday …continue reading

A few thoughts about Lisa Benitez

: Lifestyle, TroysArt: Written by : 12-29-2014

Mark Moss, Troy Broussard, Lisa Benitez, Amy Evans, & Stacey Abbott, summer 2014, Koelsch Gallery, Houston, by Smilebooth.com

On Wednesday, December 31st, we will say goodbye to our dear friend Lisa Benitez, a day that should have been reserved to celebrate her birthday.  Some would say that a funeral should be a day to celebrate her life, but how can one celebrate when a life is cut so short? I’ve known Lisa for 20 years, give or take a few–I met her through a mutual friend Johnny Hooks.  And it seems to me that everyone in Houston knew her also as she trancended every group and socio-economic class in the city.  She was able to touch lives professionally as well as philathropically.  But most of all she touched lives as a …continue reading

She WAS John Singer Sargent’s Madame X

: Artists, Literature: Written by : 12-28-2014

Madame X

There are few portraits by American painters as famous and recognizable as Madame X—perhaps American Gothic or Whistler’s Mother, or even Gilbert Stuart’s George Washington. But to most art aficionados, Madame X is considered one of the best portraits ever painted; and John Singer Sargent is considered by many connesseurs as one of the world’s greatest portrait painters. I just finished a novel about Virginie Gautreau—she WAS John Singer Sargent’s Madame X. Sargent pursued the wealthy and beautiful Creole socialite as a sitter for the portrait as a way to display his talents to Parisian society, hoping to build a …continue reading

Bah Humbug to Christmas Commercialism

: Lifestyle: Written by : 12-15-2014

Bah Humbug

Is it just me or did Christmas seem to begin earlier than ever this year? Sure, stores started putting decorations out the week before Halloween which I find disturbing, but not unusual. Perhaps the number of retailers opening on Thanksgiving for Black Friday acted to set the Christmas clock forward. I guess this is my own bah humbug to Christmas commercialism… I found a Forbes Magazine study from 2011 that over $450 billion is spent in the USA in the month of December, much of that spurred by “holiday” shopping. And Wikipedia states, “The exchanging of gifts is one of …continue reading

Dog on Monday: Lucy Dora

: Dog on Mondays: Written by :

A Jack Russell Terrier named Lucy Dora

This week’s TroysArt Dog on Monday is little Lucy Dora, a wriggly young Jack Russell Terrier.  Lucy lives in Lake Charles.  Her person is Terry Donovan. Lucy enjoys playing in her big back yard–especially when Delta Dawn stops in for a visit!  Delta Dawn is Lucy’s best friend… look out this Christmas holiday, the two will meet again soon. Thanks, Terry, for the cute photo!