Technical Difficulties

The reason I haven't posted sooner about the craziness of Austin is because well... my computer is dying or something like that. I don't know what the hell happened but all of the sudden my usual browser won't launch and neither will iTunes. I get the pinwheel of death all the time and things are slower than molasses. ugh. To top it off, on the way down to Austin, my camera fell from my lap at a rest stop and now it won't focus. fuck fuck fuck.

I also have a cold of some sort. hooray! Wait... there's more...

The last night in Austin we built a fire. Somehow, I was the only person to get poison ivy all over their face. great! Man, I certainly have my fair share of afflictions. Good thing I'm too busy to be able to care/whine/moan/roll around kicking and screaming/cry.

Austin however was a lot of fun. The drive down took us 44 hours of highway, Skyline Dr., Lefty's Barbecue and thousands of miles of fog. I drove a little bit while everyone was asleep through Tennessee and Arkansas. Thankfully I never really needed to downshift until we got to exits. Driving a standard is difficult to say the least. There were some weird gendered power dynamics as Geneva and myself were not willing to relinquish what control we had- it was geneva's car and the girls were practical. Perhaps, it's just because I can't see through their eyes and think with their minds... whatever. The things we bickered about were of little importance really and easily resolved.

Since my camera got busted on the way down, I was taking photos with just my medium format that Guy gave me for christmas. I'm eager to see how they turn out. Funny thing was, geneva's cellphone pictures were the only digital format we had.

Mark lives in a nice little neighborhood one the east side of Austin with two roommates- Nate and Mollie. When we arrived in Austin, we had to quickly pick up other friends- Bronze and Nickie, from the airport then it was off to Mark and Mollie's performance at a local outdoor coffee joint. I was in a serious funk that night and had to call Emily to snap myself out of it a little. Things have felt topsy turvy.

Wednesday was SXSW for our weary group of travelers. Harrison never showed up. Nevertheless, I got to see Yoni Wolf, Themselves, and Akron/Family perform FOR FREE!!! SXSW really utilizes the layout of Austin as the city has two intersecting streets that are lined with bars. Because of the weather, most of these bars and clubs have indoor and outdoor venues making it soooo easy to have a shit ton of music going on.

After Akron/Family's set, I got to talk business and propose that they play HOWBOWT. Man, it would be out of this world if they came! Especially since I initiated the deal.

We all reconvened to head back to the house (I hadn't eaten since the morning- a muffin and some fruit. Yes, I sacrificed food for music). As we were walking towards the bus stop Mark saw someone sitting on a stoop eating an Abba Zabba. He stopped and we started talking to the kid for about an hour or so. His name was Justin but he always liked Joshua so we called him Joshtin. He was a crazy fellow who has been traveling around to music festivals and slowly becoming disenchanted with the world- diving deeper into solitude. Through his mental anguish, he must have drawn us to him because he said we were some of the coolest people he had met in a long time. I don't know how cool we were, but I don't doubt that the forces of the universe brought us together for the purpose of hope for human connection.

more to come...