Onward

Quack's Bakery

So far I have seen two Texas tattoos: one on the shoulder and yes, a tramp stamp.

You won't believe it, but I had a 2nd bus ride result in injury. A guy konked out and was unresponsive and the EMS had to be called. It was a little awkward sitting there while emergency crew inspected the guy, but he became responsive after some nudging, so I assume he's ok. I guess riding the bus in Austin carries a bit of risk.

Walnut Creek Park

Speaking of bus rides, I was actually dropped off of a bus stop last Friday with no sidewalk. Just on the side of a four lane road. This was me trying to branch out of my small Austin bubble, which I will think twice about doing again. This city is not very walker friendly. I was trying to get to Walnut Creek Park Pool (which nobody seems to know exists, I asked two bus riders and Meagan's friend Caleb if they knew where it was). Seemed like a nice enough pool if it wasn't closed due to thunder. So back I walked to the side of the road to bus back home. The park did have some nice trails in a wooded area, so I might risk getting run over and return. The bus ride also drove by Chinatown, which was basically just a strip mall (as if there's no shortage of that in Austin), so now I know where to get some Korean BBQ if I need it.

SPEAKING of Korean BBQ, I finally went to that Korean burger place near my house, Burger Tex, and had their bulgogi burger which was delicious as expected.

Bathroom near Gourdoughs/Odd Duck, etc.

Other culinary adventures include the Democrat and Republican tacos at Torchy's (thanks for the recommendation, Katie). The Republican had sausage for the meat, and I don't mean crumbled Italian sausage, but a whole wiener. In a taco! Also, I visited Gourdough's- a donut trailer. Mom and Katie may remember it from our trip in June (it's next to Odd Duck). Their donuts are sort of like pizza- you choose the toppings. Meagan and I split the Strawberry Shortcake (I'm sure you can guess what the toppings were) and Caleb got the Black Out: chocolate donut, brownie batter, fudge icing and brownie bits. OMG. It was delicious, but then I woke up in the middle of the night with the worst stomachache and burping the taste of donuts. I'm going to have to go again to see if this was a one time occurrence.

I almost forgot!

Barton Springs! I did go, twice now actually. The water was FAH. REE. ZING. I actually gasped the first time I jumped in. But that was great because I got off the bus one stop too early and spent an hour lost in Zilker Park trying to find it (don't ask). I asked this guy if I was going the right way and he decided he'd show me the "discount Barton Springs", basically the runoff outside the gate that smelled of dog and pot. I figured I could spring the $3 and walk around to the entrance. I took the very scenic route apparently.

SPEAKING of torture, I came across the Modesty Survey, because of my propensity for masochistic indulgence in mysogyny. I know there are people who think differently thank I do, but it is 2010, can we not assume women dress simply for male attention? Or that their clothes reflect their supposed morals. Do people in this country even take the word modesty seriously anymore? It's so creepy to me thinking about all these people- men especially- voting on what "message" they think women are sending out with- GASP- a one-inch gap between their top and jeans. God GOD is that an anklet? Then there's the "politically correct" question "As a guy, what is your responsibility in this area? What is your role in guiding your eyes and mind (as opposed to the women's role of dressing modestly)?", where most men answer "it is ultimately my responsibility" while completely disregarding the fact that they are voting on a woman's "modesty" by her dress. Saying "the fact that a girl makes that clothing decision tells me a little about her sense of modesty" while turning around and saying "Guys have every bit as much (and probably more) responsibility in guarding their eyes and minds from immodesty" is like saying "She was asking for it, but I take full responsibility for the rape". Anyway, thanks Gertie for sharing that (but I take full responsibility for looking at the site).

Does this post sound bitter? There is a bit of a melancholy tone. I'm actually doing swell. The room is set up, save for a few posters that need to go up. I have a couple other pools to check out this week, hopefully without the challenges of the last two. I also test drove a couple bikes this weekend and have been trolling Craigslist looking for one. Then my mobility won't be hindered by heat and medical emergencies. I guess that hour in Zilker Park didn't kill me, but I was very sweaty.

This is what it looks like outside right now.

Sorry about the long, detailed post, but I have all the time in the world it feels like.. I haven't heard back from any of the libraries I put in applications for, so I'm pretty sure it's another month of unemployment.

Getting Settled

Here I am, over a week in Austin. I've been breaking away from unpacking a bit (but how I want it finished!), most notably to go swimming at a nude beach at Hippie Hollow Park, where I got burned.

Yes, those are tan lines. It's odd getting strange looks because you are clothed. The beach was beautiful, but the water had really cold and really warm spots (and not of the pee variety), it was so weird. I'm going to go to Barton Springs this week (maybe even today!), which is THE pool in Austin. I hear it's more consistently cold. But, I'm glad I got to branch out a bit with my first swimming experience here.

I've done a bit of shopping now that I've gotten my finances together. Meagan and I went to Ikea, and on the way we stopped at Room Service Vintage, where I got this cool gold swivel chair for $25:

Of course I had to do some less practical shopping as well.
I got the sunhat (finally!) and the orange faux suede dress from Cream Vintage on Guadalupe (where I learned that my new walking limit is 6 blocks, whereas it was about 15 in Seattle). The rest is from some shops on South Congress (Goodie Two Shoes, Parts & Labour, and New Bohemia if you care). The red dress is made by a girl from Austin, Curry Beth, who's on Etsy.

I finally got some bus riding in on my way down to South Congress and there was a bit of drama. A driver got "run over" as my driver said. She continued "someone's supposed to take over this bus at this stop, so let me make sure it's not him". What?! How about seeing if he's ok first? Ambulances and police showed up and after awhile, our new driver got on to tell us that he had to give a statement to the police and that we were running 7-10 minutes late. Oh, and that the driver's BONE WAS STICKING OUT OF HIS LEG. "But we'll get you guys back on schedule". Who cares about my schedule? A man was run over!! Why was he even crossing the road?? I have not heard many good things about Capital Metro, but the drivers seem to care about keeping a schedule.

Anyway, the room is getting better, I've pretty much emptied all the boxes, now it's just down to dealing with piles of random stuff.

I've also handed in a few job applications and finally got that walk around campus I've been meaning to do. I was covered in sweat. The weather report yesterday said it was 97, but "felt like 109". I don't think I would be able to tell the difference. It did rain, though. Weird.

I'll leave you with a passage from The Year of the Flood by Margaret Atwood, which I'm reading now. It's a dystopian novel about a future run by corporations and corporate police. The main characters are part of an environmentalist cult called The Gardeners.The leader, Adam One totally reminds me of the Uptight Seattlite (may Seattle Weekly rest his soul), though it's not meant to be funny:

"Others may take the Specist view that we Humans are smarter than Fish, and thus an April Fish [an April Fools joke where the children tape paper fish to the backs of the adults] is being marked as mute and foolish. But the life of the Spirit always seems foolish to those who do not share it: therefore we must accept and wear the label of God's Fools gladly, for in relation to God we are all fools, no matter how wise we may think we are. To be an April Fish is to humbly accept our own silliness, and to cheerfully admit the absurdity - from a materialist view - of every Spiritual truth we profess"

The Ride Down

I know I start a blog every time I leave Seattle for more than 24 hours, but I thought this would be a good way to keep everyone updated on what I'm doing without clogging up inboxes with e-mails and attachments.

I spent my first week of unemployment in Burien, getting everything together and saying goodbye to the dogs. Here I am saying goodbye to Old Man Buck, who I hope I see again.

I had some business to attend to that week, but I also got a day off to go river rafting on the Wentachee. Our first rapid was our biggest one, it threw our guide (but strangely, no one else) out of the boat. So after that, all the rapids weren't as exciting. No pictures of that, they're all in my memory.

So off we went on July 2nd. Anthony stayed home, so the stars of the show are Mom, Dad, Katie and myself. Here is Mom enjoying an article on Megan Fox.

Dad usually started out the day driving.

And here's me being a dork in the backseat.

Katie was probably napping in the car and didn't want a portrait taken of her, so I took another stupid one of myself. I don't think all the pictures need to be quite so big. Or at least the ones like this.






Washington looked like this when we left. In July.

First stop was the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland OR, where the weather was already looking better. We saw Pride & Prejudice, which I realize is not Shakespeare. The plan was to see P&P and then a Shakespeare play, but cheap seats sell out fast during July 4th weekend. The play was fabulous, the actors did such a good job. Ashland was a cute little town. We stopped at a wine cellar for lunch and tasting and went shopping around town, where I found a bit of a gem: a stamped-signature photo of Mary Pickford. With puppies.

After the play, we drove down to Yreka, California and made the necessary stop at the Black Bear Diner.












And Mom had to stop in Weed, California.

On the 4th, we made it to Reno. First stop after checking in at the Sands was happy hour at Roxy's for $5 martinis (or a Laphroaig, in Dad's case). I had a Cajun martini with a jalapeno stuffed olive (Joel, I know what you said about olives in martinis, but it's my favorite part!). I think Katie got a strawberry-lemonade martini.

Mom joined us later.

After drinks, it was dinnertime. El Dorado had a 4th of July seafood buffet. Bad news for me since I don't like seafood. Note mom's specifically-worn-for-the-4th patriotic red shirt.

We saw crowds gathering that night and assumed there were going to be fireworks, but we were too busy indulging in various vices to wait. Mom and Katie hit up the slots, and Mom won $30 on the nickel machines.

And so we trekked on through the deserts of Nevada, being sure to stop for ice cream in Tonopah.

We got to Vegas pretty late on the 5th. There was only enough time to get dinner and for Mom to lose the $30 she won in Reno. We spent the next morning walking around the Strip, visiting Caesar's Palace and the Bellagio and having breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi at the Paris hotel.

Next stop: Arizona! Look! A road runner! It runs the exactly the way the Loony Tunes character does, but it does not make the same sound. Ask Katie to give you my very inaccurate version of it.

We stopped in Flagstaff our first night and it was actually a really cool town. Dad, Katie and I went to Beaver Street Brewery for dinner (Katie chose the best dinner, a Navajo Taco Pizza) and walked around window shopping.





Everyone in Flagstaff is really mellow and they dress in hippie hemp clothes, it makes me wonder what they're studying at Northern Arizona University. I like to imagine it's crochet arts and medical marijuana nursing.

Of course we went to Arizona for the Grand Canyon. None of us brought our papers, so luckily no one asked about our immigration status or we'd all be deported to Ireland.




The Grand Canyon was beautiful. Please ignore the black spot that shows up in all my pictures, I really need a new camera. If anyone has Photoshop and wants to erase it out of the picture for me, I'll repay you with a REALLY big hug.

There were these 10-year-old kids totally scaring their mom by leaning over this edge. Then, it turns out Dad wouldn't even look at the pictures Mom was taking of Katie and me until we got back up to safe ground. I guess it happens at any age.

We took Route 66 through New Mexico, stopping at the Silver Moon for some fucking amazing Mexican food (and the f-word is a necessary adjective, Mom).

The only roadside attraction we stopped at was Billy the Kid's grave (on the left). We were all a little disappointed we decided not to go to the meteor crater, so this made up for it. Besides Billy, there were 5 or 6 other early settler graves which were pretty cool.

I just killed a cockroach, and they really do roll over on their back when they die.

We got to Texas on the 9th. Mom and Dad wore their Longhorns shirts for the occasion. It was so funny, probably within 10 miles of crossing over from New Mexico to Texas we saw our first oil rig and they just kept coming. We also saw a real longhorn. The UT Tower creeps out Mom, but she wanted a picture anyway.

Dad has finally accepted the fact that one of his daughters is going to be a Texan for two years. He showed this by making a Longhorn in his macchiato. He was also unable to find a suitable macchiato during the trip, with no more than one teaspoon of foam.

We spent the 10th running a few errands and seeing the sites. We visited the capitol and shopped on South Congress. My family is fully equipped with various Longhorns gear from the Co-Op. Now I feel like my friends: "Where is your University of Washington ephemera?" Except my friends don't use the word ephemera.

We had a lovely morning on the 11th and my family turned around and went home (which they should be arriving shortly, it's a lot faster without a U-Haul on the back of the car). So now I'm left to contend with this:

along with mosquito bites, crazy loud cicadas and muggy heat. It's like the rainforest (and I'm not exaggerating, I have been to the Amazon).

So I'll update in a few days. I've pretty much just been unpacking and being lame, so hopefully I'll get out a little more later this week/early next week. But Meagan (the new roomie) has been great about making me feel welcome despite being wonky on painkillers this week. We even had a Crafternoon on Sunday and I got to meet some of her friends. I'll post the bag I tie-dyed on the Craft Blog when I get a chance.

I miss everyone like crazy! Move here.