LIT FOR CHRISTMAS 
Our warmest and brightest holiday greetings to you — for Christmas and for any other important seasonal remembrances you celebrate. Swamplot is checking out early today, full of good cheer. And we’ll be taking a break from publishing for the long weekend, but our extensive archives of Houston real estate lore will of course will be available to resolve (or reignite) any heated disputes that might arise at family gatherings. Do please check back in with us again on Tuesday for the latest in late-2017 coverage of Houston’s vast built environs. Photo of O’Quinn Medical Towers: Russell Hancock via Swamplot Flickr Pool
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HAPPY BIRD DAY! 
In honor of Thanksgiving and the retail frenzies that follow, Swamplot will be suspending its regular real estate coverage from now through the weekend. May you find moments to express gratitude — and make the most of your holiday celebrations. We’ll try, in our way, too. And please join us again right here on Monday for more Houston takes. Photo: bloomsberries (license)
Thanksgiving
TAKING OFF FOR VETERANS DAY 
Swamplot salutes the many brave men and women who have served — or still serve — in our armed forces. And we’re off for the long Veterans Day weekend. Please join us again Monday for more of our regularly scheduled Houston real estate fun. Photo of Wings Over Houston: WoH2009Â (license)
DEMONSTRATING SOME INDEPENDENCE 
Got exciting weekend plans? Swamplot is skipping out for an extra-long weekend packed with fireworks. Our best holiday wishes go out to you, our patriotic readers. Check back with us on Wednesday, July 5th, for more explosive Houston real estate coverage! Photo: elnina, via Swamplot Flickr Pool
SWAMPLOT IS HIRING AN EDITOR 
There’s still a little time to throw your hat into the ring for that full-time editor job Swamplot has been advertising. Love diving in to the wets and dries of Houston real estate? Think you can write quickly and well while sifting through a flood of stories, photos, and tips from all corners of the city? Maybe you know somebody else who fits the bill? Now’s the time to check out the posting here and drop us a line (or pass it on to a special someone, so he or she can get in touch with us).
If you’ve got today off, you could go check out the recently reinstalled Broken Obelisk in front of the Rothko Chapel, dedicated to the doctor back in 1971 (and balanced back in place last month as shown above, following the statue’s extended reparative staycation in Connecticut). Swamplot is pausing for the afternoon to pay a quick visit; we’ll be back tomorrow with our regular coverage of Houston real estate back-and-forth.
Footage of reinstallation of Barnett Newman’s Broken Obelisk at the Rothko Chapel: Rothko Chapel
Happy Birthday MLK
Ready or not, 2017 is right around the corner. Swamplot is taking a couple of days to tidy up and get in gear — join us back here Wednesday morning as we wade boldly forward into a new calendar of Houston real estate shenanigans. Until then, we hope you enjoy the last dregs of 2016, and that your new year starts out rosy and bright.
Photo of 5313 Chenevert St.: Swamplot inbox
Happy New Year!
TODAY’S YOUR LAST CHANCE TO VOTE IN THE 2016 SWAMPLOT AWARDS 
You’ve got just a few hours left to vote in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate — all polls close at 5pm tonight. Until then, you can still put in votes for all 8 categories: Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition of 2016, The “Where Are They Now?†Award, Best Industrial Incident, Special Achievement in Parking, The Houston High Water Award, Neighborhood of the Year, and Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate. If you need a final refresher on how to vote, read back through the voting rules. Tune in later this week as we tally the votes and announce our 2016 winners. Best of luck to all of this year’s worthy candidates!
Hey, wait! One last thing before we dash off for the holiday — now’s a great time to make sure you’ve voted for all 8 of the categories in this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate!
All votes are due in by 5pm Tuesday, December 27th — so you’ve got all weekend to whip up support from friends and family for your favorite nominees, too. As a quick recap of the awards at stake, here’s the complete list of this year’s official ballots, built out of your thoughtful and entertaining nominations:
- Favorite Houston Design Cliché
- Best Demolition of 2016
- The “Where Are They Now?” Award
- Best Industrial Incident
- Special Achievement in Parking
- The Houston High Water Award
- Neighborhood of the Year
- Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate
For the complete guidelines on how to stuff the ballot boxes with all 4 of your votes for each category — that’s once each by comment, by email, by Comet and Vixen Facebook and Twitter  — check out this explainer page. Now vote away, vote away, vote away, all!
Merry Christmas! Happy Chanukah! Swamplot is skipping off a little early to go get into the spirit of the holiday, uh . . . “season,” such as it is. We wish you a joyous and peaceful remembrance of whatever brings you and yours together this time of year, be it Kwanzaa, Boxing Day, or the birthday of Emperor Akihito. We’ll meet you guys back here on Tuesday to wrap up that last bit of 2016 together.
Photo of Hermann Park and refurbished Memorial Hermann seasonal lighting: Meredith Nudo
Deck the Halls, Crank the AC
This is it, folks. We’ve reached the final ballot in the final category of the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: the award for the Greatest Moment in Houston Real Estate.
What makes something great? This award aims to honor the event this year that stood out above all the rest. Is that a Houston real estate happening that made the city a better place? Or is it something that left its mark on the local landscape in other ways? It’s up to you to decide who gets this award, and what it means — so be sure to explain yourself when you cast your ballots!
You can vote by adding a comment below, or by email, Facebook, or Twitter. And you can vote using all 4 methods — as long as you follow these rules. Tell us which of the following nominees represents the greatest moment in Houston real estate — and then tell us why.
Here they are — your 2016 nominees:
The 2016 Swampies
Voting begins this afternoon for the penultimate category in the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: the Neighborhood of the Year Award. A big thanks to everyone who took the time to submit a nomination!
Please note: This category is not meant to recognize the Houston area’s “best” neighborhood (whatever that might mean). It’s meant to recognize the area’s Neighborhood of the Year — which affords you, the voter, much more latitude in your choice. It also means that it’s especially important that, as you vote, you take time to tell us why the nominee you’ve selected deserves special attention above all this year’s other worthy contenders.
You can votes 4 times for this category (as is the case with all of this year’s awards) — once each by means of a comment below, an email to the Tip Line, and a proclamation of your affections on Facebook or Twitter.  If you aren’t familiar with Swamplot voting rules, check out the explainer here — and be sure to get your friends in on the action (which ends on Tuesday, December 27th at 5 pm, when voting for all categories will close).
Without further ado, we present the nominees for 2016 Neighborhood of the Year:
The 2016 Swampies
The final wave of ballots for the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate begins this afternoon! This week’s first new category open for voting is the Houston High Water Award. Which of the nominees on the roster have earned this prestigious accolade? That’s for you to decide!
You can vote in 4 ways for this award —  by commenting below, by emailing us, or by posting on Facebook and Twitter. Make sure all 4 of your votes count by checking out the official voting guidelines, posted right here; don’t forget to stir up support for your favorite nominees from your friends, and don’t forget that voting for all categories will end on December 27th at 5 pm.Â
If you haven’t already sent in your choices for the first 5 categories — that’s Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, the “Where Are They Now?” Award, Best Industrial Incident, and Special Achievement in Parking — here’s your chance to catch up! (And for those of you keeping count, we’ll have our last 2 categories open for voting later this week.)
Now, take a gander at the Houston High Water Award’s official nominees:
The 2016 Swampies
It’s Wednesday — and it just so happens we’re now over the hump on the ballots for the 2016 Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate, too. Quick refresher: So far voting has begun for Favorite Houston Design Cliché, Best Demolition, the “Where Are They Now?” Award, and Best Industrial Incident. The official list of nominees for this year’s Award for Special Achievement in Parking is now ready for your perusal, too; thanks again to everyone who joined in to help round up the contenders.
Remember, you can stuff the ballot box by voting 4 times for this award — that’s once by commenting below, once by shooting us an email, and once each by Facebook and by Twitter. Get the complete details here to make sure your votes count, and don’t forget to ask your friends to help push your nominee to the top! All votes are due by 5PM on Tuesday, December 27th.Â
Who made the greatest strides this year in the oft-stagnant field of parking? Take your pick from the nominees below:
The 2016 Swampies
We’re off to a good start already with voting in the first 3 categories of this year’s Swamplot Awards for Houston Real Estate: Ballots for Favorite Design Cliché, Best Demolition, and the “Where Are They Now? Award opened last week. Now, which of the candidates will clean up in the Best Industrial Incident category?
As with all of this year’s award categories, there are 4 ways to vote for your favorite nominee. (You can even do all 4, if you’re really enthusiastic about a candidate!) Vote by leaving a comment below, by sending us an email, and by blasting your choices to Facebook and Twitter. Don’t forget to send your friends to the polls, too — just be sure you all get your choices in by 5 PM on Tuesday, December 27th. Check out this year’s complete voting guidelines, if you need a refresher on the specifics.
What qualifies a nominee as a strong contender for Best Industrial Incident? Was it the most visually stunning event? The one that touched the most Houstonians? Or the one with the most interesting fallout? That’s up to you — now check out the official nominees:
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The 2016 Swampies
