I'M GOING TO AUSTIN!!!

From Wikipedia:

Austin, Texas

Residents of Austin are known as "Austinites" and include a mix of university professors, students, politicians, lobbyists, musicians, state employees, high-tech workers, blue-collar workers, and white-collar workers. The city is home to enough large sites of major technology corporations to have earned it the nickname "Silicon Hills." Austin's official slogan promotes the city as "The Live Music Capital of the World", a reference to its status as home to many musicians and music venues. In recent years, many Austinites have also adopted the unofficial slogan "Keep Austin Weird"; this refers partly to the eclectic and progressive lifestyle of many Austin residents, but is also the slogan for a campaign to preserve smaller local businesses and resist excessive commercialization.

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So, as many of you know, I just got my MFA in acting from LSU, and I'm about to move to New Orleans to chase roles in the growing Louisiana film industry, aggressively attack standup comedy as a political performance form, and argue with poets and anarchists in coffee bars. I may also play a few open mike nights with my guitar. But before I do all that, I'm going to visit Austin.

Austin has probably had more influence on me than any other place I've lived. I cut my teeth on indy experimental theater there. I morphed from a suburban conservative to a more urban oriented progressive while I was there. I became an artist there. I fell in love there more than once. I did my first open mike nights there. I went from being a kid to being an adult there. The city profoundly influenced my overall aesthetic, and taught me how to be a Texan without any redneck shame. In many ways, I've always regretted leaving.

So I'm going back for a few days to re-experience my roots, visit with old friends, and get my head straight before I move on with the next phase of my life. Kind of a spiritual journey.

No posting until next Tuesday. I'll try to take some pictures while I'm in the Capitol City. Until then, here's one from Wikipedia:



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