Austin, Texas

Where to begin with Texas?

I left San Diego for Austin on the 15th. All together it took about 6 hours to get there. On the flight to Houston, I sat next to two young college men, on their way back to University of Texas, Austin. As soon as they sat down, the one next to me pulled out a book on the Triangle Factory Fire. He said to his friend “He gave me this one. He said it’s supposed to be interesting. As much as history can be interesting. I can’t believe I have to read this in two weeks. I can’t even skim it.” To which his friend replied “Yeah, and know there will only be like 5 questions on the test about it”, then their conversation was cut off by my putting headphones on. But I have to say they were polite and handed me my water from the flight attendant and didn’t put their elbows in my space.

The flight from Houston to Austin takes about 45 minutes total, most of the time is spent lifting off and touching down. I listened to two long songs while in the air. When I arrived in Austin, the lovely Julia was waiting for me with Pierpont, a bear made from balloons. He used to have legs but they exploded. She took me back to the show she was working at and I met some of Austin’s finest musicians. And noticed that my driver’s license was missing. I combed the car, my pants pockets and my bags, but it was gone. I was stuck in Texas.

Once back at Julia’s, I phoned the airline to see if someone found it on the plane, but all I could do was file a report with my contact info. I knew I had it before I boarded in Houston, so I think it fell out of my back pocket on the plane to Austin. The woman from the airline told me to call back on Tuesday, because no one was working until then. I couldn’t sleep that night, so the next morning I crashed out while Julia went to work. I started to get a headache from the stress and caffeine withdrawal.

Julia came home and took me to downtown Austin. I went to a record store called Waterloo, bought a book on Marie Antoinette and got some food at Whole Foods. Then I waiting for Julia to finish up at the building she was working on. I made some phone calls and I got my shit together. That night I had a huge migraine, so we stayed in.
The next day began with calling the airline. No dice on finding my license, but they told me that if I had a photo ID and a copy of my birth certificate, I should be able to get through security, but it all depended on the airport. My brother faxed the birth certificate to Julia’s office and after morning taco time, we went to get it. I got to play with a puggle while there and I met some of Julia’s co-workers. After that we checked out a guitar store and I played with a beagle puppy. Then a thrift store and I played with a cat. Animals are drawn to me. See two posts ago.

We then went to a movie theatre to see Slumdog Millionaire. This was a very special movie theatre because they serve beer and food with the movie. As I scanned the menu, I was faced with a conundrum, I didn’t have a license. But I did have a copy of my birth certificate and my picture ID. The lovely young Texan waiting on us let me run to the car for my birth certificate and use it for ID. So I got to have a mimosa and watch Slumdog. Which I have to say I liked better the 2nd time. I knew when all the horrible parts were coming so I could shut my eyes and enjoy all the other parts.

After the movie, I talked to Frank from PH and McGraw who was also in Austin. We decided to meet him for dinner. His hotel was way up North of Austin, but we had Julia’s handy iPhone GPS to show us the way! 45 minutes later and one stop at a gas station for directions and gas, we made it! Only about a half an hour late! Julia taught me an important message on this trip. Blame Texas. It’s always Texas’s fault.
We got lost on the way to the restaurant, but once there it was worth the wait. Good Mexican food and giant glasses of water. We only got slightly lost bringing Frank back and we made it all the way back to Julia’s without a wrong turn. We passed out pretty quickly and got up early the next day. The big day. The day I try to get through airport security in Texas without a drivers license. Buh bah daaaaaa! When I got up to the security guard, my hands were literally shaking. I kept repeating to myself “You’re a young white woman, you’re a young stupid white woman, no sarcasm, no quips or obscure references, you’re just a young stupid white woman”. They let me through, no problem. I guess it happens all the time. Or maybe it was because I was a young stupid white woman. I got back to San Diego and took a long shower. So ended my first trip to Texas.
A few impressions that I had of Texas:
- Lots of pets, mostly beagles
- Lots of VW vans
- Texas in winter looks like upstate New York in winter, but flatter and much much warmer. Everything is dead and grey, but humid and warm. Very strange.
- The best part about Texas is the people. Everyone I met was very friendly and although they moved a lot slower, you got their full attention while speaking to them. There was a certain edge to a lot of the locals but no one was rude or angry. I really liked the Texans.

I applied for another license and I’m going to try and have my passport rushed. Nicole is coming down from LA to pick me up today. I’m not sure how the internet connection will be up there, so if I go off the radar, that’s why.