Confessions of a Middle-Aged Fan Girl

It's a *beautiful*, early spring day in Houston. 62 degrees, crystal clear sky and a shockingly low 38% humidity. Perfect day to be out and about... so I did.

I stuck my iPod in my pocket, put on my walking shoes and went to the grocery store. It's not a terribly long walk, but it was perfect. I also discovered that Eye of the Tiger is great to help me keep my pace up. :-) Dirty Laundry and Gimme Three Steps aren't bad, either. Rockstar is crap for it, but the song's too much fun to skip. :-)

Oh, and Highway to Hell is *terribly* appropriate for standing in the checkout line.

This has nothing to do with fandom, save that it has to do with the arts.

I heard a story on our local NPR station this morning that makes me quite proud of my city. I'm proud of Houston anyway, but this is one of those things that helps go a long way to show we're not *just* about oil and good ol' boys.

The Business of the Arts talks about, as you might have guessed, the business impact of having a thriving arts community in a city. I knew we had that, just as I knew we had some world-class talent, but this one thing amazed me:

"The results of the cultural impact study were impressive: the non-profit arts are a $626 million industry, bringing in more revenue than the city's convention industry and higher attendance than Houston's three major league professional sports teams combined."

All I can say is *wow*!

If only the Hannah Montana concert hadn't sold out, I'd've been contributing to that amount by letting my kid go. ;-) (She's crushed, btw, because not only is she missing Hannah Montana, but she's also missing the Jonas Brothers - oh, the crushes of 13!)