Houston Day 229 - some thoughts about Melbourne

I woke up this morning thinking about what Melbourne's "word" is.  In Eat, Pray, Love there's a bit where the main character is in Italy discussing what word describes the flavor, the values and the goal of each city.  She and her friends conclude that New York's word is "work", and that one of the cities in Italy (I forget which) is best described by "pleasure", and another's word is "sex".  I think I'm remembering that right.  After I read that book I got talking to my friend Bry, who recommended the book to me, about what Melbourne's word is, and I can't remember if we came up with one or not, but now I've been away from it for a while I think Melbourne's word might be something about "difference" or "special" or "uniqueness".  I'm not that well-travelled compared to some people but more than any other place I've been, it seems that Melbourne is full of people and businesses all trying to be special in some way.  Fewer people than here in the U.S. are content to live in houses that from the outside look identical to their neighbours'; most Melburnians dress in their own special style, or at least try to; and each of the millions of cafes and restaurants and bars manages to be different from most of the rest.  All of those tiny theatre companies that never get any money are seeking to be unique.  Everyone's trying to develop their own one-of-a-kind flavor and add it to the city's melting-pot.  So there's a certain amount of self-consciousness about that, but it also means it's an incredibly creative place to live.  Am I right about that? Or am I romanticizing Melbourne now I'm away from it?
I haven't got a sense yet of what Houston's word is.  Other than "hot".  Yesterday was so warm (although apparently about ten degrees cooler than L.A.) I'm worried that winter is over already and we're slowly inching our way toward a boiling-hot spring.
We dropped Lex and Monica and baby Chase off at the airport yesterday, with their six or seven large pieces of luggage.  Travelling with a child is not something I'm going to sign up to anytime soon.  But it's been so nice to see them.  And now it's back to work: I'm getting new headshots taken today, which should be fun although I'm a little nervous, Lucas is back at work today and tomorrow (Saturday) he's helping me set up my home office.  2012 is underway.

Lucas assisting Chase in his exploration of our backyard

To see all my photos from December, check out this link.