Wow.

It’s been a few months since I’ve managed to blog. I guess it’s time to play catch up.

I moved to Austin, TX at the end of the December. I like it here. There’s been much to see and do. I’ve worked a couple jobs and got set up with my own apartment. I slept in Barb & Keef’s guestroom for awhile (an extended stay for which I am very grateful, thank you kindly friends, I don’t know that I can adequately express my graditude in words). I learned how to understand the bus system. I survived South By Southwest and approximately five days straight of alcohol fueled madness/debauchery- but hey, it’s still rock n’ roll to me.

Anyway, let’s jump backward in time and work our way forward:

December 29, 2006:

We crammed my worldy possessions (a garbage full of clothes, a small suitcase full of personal supplies, & my guitar) into Mike’s Corolla, along with Mike’s supplies, Barb, Keef, and a some other bags & suitcases, then hit the road.

It was a tight fit, but we survived and stopped off in Topeka, KS to see Barb’s family, enjoy some feasting, drinks, and general merriment. What kind of merriment, you ask? Well, let’s just say that I saw Barb wrestle an 80 year old woman and that in itself was kind of amazing in a way that defies words.

We also went and found The Westboro Baptist Church around two o’clock in the morning. I figured if we were going to do touristy things, one might as well see where one of America’s most notorious bigots does his work.

Here is some photographic evidence of this adventure supplied by Mike.

We were out until the wee hours on this adventure which also included some stops on country roads for photo taking. Not being much of a photographer myself or the owner of a digital camera, I spent my time chain smoking pallmalls and standing around.

December 30, 2006:

Luckily, we were meeting up with Irving outside of Topeka so our crammed quarters did not have to continue for the remaining 12 hours of driving to Austin. We unloaded some bags and spent the day driving through Kansas, Oklahoma, & Texas.

I don’t know what the fuck happened to Oklahoma, but they can keep it. Granted I’ve spent more time there than I would ever want anyone to experience (my grandparents lived in Bartlesville), but I’ve never actually been on a car trip through the entire state before.

I’d give more details, but I think I’ve repressed most of my memory of that drive because of a Shamrock station we stopped at in the southern part of the state. When words like ’shit stained public restroom’ & ‘horrible grotesque scent’ come to memory, added onto an entire debacle with an idiot cashier who tried to swindle Mike out of gas money- I guess it’s just not worth in the memory bank. Apologies, friends.

Anywhoo, we drove for a million years and finally made it to Austin. Here are some quick Austin facts:

Austin is the capital of Texas (I’ve been to the capital building. It’s pretty sweet as far as capital buildings go).

Austin is the 4th largest city in Texas & the 16th largest city in the United States.

Austin has an awesome public transportation system. I’ve been a bus riding fool since I got here and couldn’t be happier about it. I’m glad I’m not stuck in the midwest bitching about owning a car anymore. Or being too generally freaked out to drive anywhere. Good times.

Austin is home to a large Church of Scientology. I worked for a copyshop below it for three weeks. They brought in a lot of strange things for us to copy. I nicked one of their books my last day on the job. It reads about as coherently as Time Cube and is one of those texts that tells you that if you don’t agree with their teachings it’s because you don’t understand them and are wrong. Great logic, really. It’s designed not be argued with.

December 31, 2006:

We went to Emo’s for New Year’s Eve and had a blast. There were two stages worth of bands to watch. Gallons of Lonestar and Shiner Bock to drink. It was a good time with great pals. I believe Keef posted some photographic evidence of this event also.

Looks like I’m cutting this blog short as I’ve just been informed I can go home early from work today if I want to and it’s been so non-busy here all week, I’m going to take them up on that. I’m working in Tech Support again. For some reason, even with the occassional irritation this work causes, I find it comforting. Anyway, friends, I’m out for the day now. More to come for sure.