Hi. I'm Pull and I live in Austin, Texas. For those of you not familiar with Texas, Austin is the state capital and is located right smack dab in the middle of the state (or close enough not to make any difference). This region of Texas is an area that is commonly referred to as the "Hill Country". The climate here consists of summertime and January for the most part. In the last few years, it seems that there are quite a lot of folk who want to move to this area to share in our "good thing". For those of us who have lived in Texas all of our lives, the biggest drawback to all of the "foreigners" coming here is that they keep driving up the prices of everything. Don't ya just love progress?
Austin is also known as "The Live Music Capital of the World". I don't know whether I agree with this tag or not, but it sure does sound good on the marketing campaigns that the City puts out for the rest of the country to look at. In March, musicians from around the world descend on E 6th street on for a weekend of heavy partying known as "South by Southwest" (SXSW). I refer to it as "South by So What". The promoters want the general public to pay a bunch of $$ for a wristband that MAY get you into clubs where different bands will be playing during the event. You aren't even guaranteed that you can get into the clubs for the price of the wristbands! Many people love to go down and get right in the big fat middle of this stuff in the hope that their group will be discovered or to hear the different groups. Me, I steer a clear path of downtown while this is going on. Maybe it's just that I prefer smaller crowds and easier, more secure parking, or that I'm getting more cynical in my dotage.
Another popular sentiment here is "Keep Austin Weird". It seems that much of the "weirdness" in Austin is being slowly eroded away by all of the influx of people from other places moving in. However, there are some things that are really just too weird to be affected by outside influnences. By this I mean Austin iconic personalities like Leslie Cochran, known locally as Leslie the Transvestite. This is a guy who you may find on any given day walking around Austin in, let's just say interesting apparel. His wardrobe includes leopard print bolero jackets and pink tutu's. He could also be seen out and about in tights or a thong. If you ever come in for a visit and see a strange, skinny fellow walking down the street in heels and a bra, with a purse, and is wearing a thong, just give him a wave and try not to stare too long and hard.
Don't get me wrong. I love living in Austin. This is the third time I've lived here. I keep coming back and this time, I've lived here for sixteen years with no end in sight. I think I'll say something about one of the really wonderful features of the Austin area in my next post: the Area Lakes.
Austin is also known as "The Live Music Capital of the World". I don't know whether I agree with this tag or not, but it sure does sound good on the marketing campaigns that the City puts out for the rest of the country to look at. In March, musicians from around the world descend on E 6th street on for a weekend of heavy partying known as "South by Southwest" (SXSW). I refer to it as "South by So What". The promoters want the general public to pay a bunch of $$ for a wristband that MAY get you into clubs where different bands will be playing during the event. You aren't even guaranteed that you can get into the clubs for the price of the wristbands! Many people love to go down and get right in the big fat middle of this stuff in the hope that their group will be discovered or to hear the different groups. Me, I steer a clear path of downtown while this is going on. Maybe it's just that I prefer smaller crowds and easier, more secure parking, or that I'm getting more cynical in my dotage.
Another popular sentiment here is "Keep Austin Weird". It seems that much of the "weirdness" in Austin is being slowly eroded away by all of the influx of people from other places moving in. However, there are some things that are really just too weird to be affected by outside influnences. By this I mean Austin iconic personalities like Leslie Cochran, known locally as Leslie the Transvestite. This is a guy who you may find on any given day walking around Austin in, let's just say interesting apparel. His wardrobe includes leopard print bolero jackets and pink tutu's. He could also be seen out and about in tights or a thong. If you ever come in for a visit and see a strange, skinny fellow walking down the street in heels and a bra, with a purse, and is wearing a thong, just give him a wave and try not to stare too long and hard.
Don't get me wrong. I love living in Austin. This is the third time I've lived here. I keep coming back and this time, I've lived here for sixteen years with no end in sight. I think I'll say something about one of the really wonderful features of the Austin area in my next post: the Area Lakes.
