Recently, my fab former boyfriend and now new husband, RT, and I were in St. Martin on a little getaway. I couldn’t resist dusting off my hard acquired, yet long unused French to give it a whirl. Again, as when I was actually living in Paris many years ago, I got bogged down on the masculine/feminine treatment of nouns. In spite of having a tough and scary instructor, I never got that part down and most of the time, I just gave up and threw out the le or la and tried to blur it enough to make it passable.

Of course, having what I am told is a very Southern accent (you know who you are…wink, wink) made it a pretty hilarious process to just try to speak passable French. But nearly six months of Alliance Francaise submersion lessons were not in vain.

I tooled all over France and some other neighboring countries and did OK. It was my time in the City of Light that completely turned me onto amazing food and truly gourmet dining. Even truck stops in France had stellar food. Who knew? Other than a very poorly chosen dish of a hideous nose of beef entree atop a salad which was truly grotesque, this period started my love affair with everything Francaise.

So back to Houston…

A while ago, I wrote that I thought Houston’s word was “Eat.” You know, the word that describes a city like in the Eat, Pray, Love book. Most people would choose “Energy” to describe Houston and wrote to tell me that.

While I understand why they would say that on all of the levels it implies, the energy business and the magnetic energy of the citizens of this dynamic city, it was too obvious for me. I am sticking with "Eat." It’s a solid choice and since I read virtually every day about burgeoning food trends that are coming our way, I think it works.

As I contemplated all of this while attending the rodeo (hoping my cowboy boots didn’t look completely stupid with my dress) and swinging through the food concession court, it also occurred to me that while every city in which I have ever lived has a name that goes with their image, they also seem either decidedly masculine or feminine. Don’t you think? And boy, oh boy… is Houston the most obvious example of a masculine city ever in the history of cities! Houston = Man.

But not just any man… Oh no, no. Houston is bad ass—like a man who can wear fitted jeans and cowboy boots and not look ridiculous. Worn, sexy, cool cowboy boots that fit like they were custom-made, and probably are.

Houston is like the man who can go to an ice house and drink beer and eat chicken wings and then head home, and change into a tuxedo and drive his new Audi A8 or Toyota Land Cruiser to a charity event at the Houston Museum of Natural Science or the MFAH.

This guy can also hit up a fashion show at Saks or Neiman Marcus or attend all of the events during the Jared Lang-led Fashion Houston week and then head out to his friend’s ranch for a weekend of deer hunting. Wine tastings, golfing, polo, art fairs, charity events, the opera, theater, fine dining at Tony’s and similar venues…? Check, check, check.

Barbecue cook-offs, fast cars, an interest in pick-up trucks, deep sea fishing, and hunting dogs? Absolutely. These are hallmarks of what I would see in a Houston man. Macho, yet stylish—a man’s man, but with cool fashion-forward interests, sophisticated tastes, a wicked sense of humor and playfulness, and possessing a strongly forged desire for helping numerous charities.

I also think that men who represent Houston are tough but have a soft spot. Fiercely protective of their families and laser-focused in their business dealings, these are men who love a good time. They are fun. They like to make every event the MOST FUN EVER! Who could argue with such a man? Gotta love these guys that represent this vibrant and ever-changing city.

What do you think about Houston as embodying the traits of a super awesome man? Do you see Houston as a masculine image, too? Is there a man either living in Houston or a celebrity that personifies the “Houston” image? Inquiring minds want to know...