Um. Texas.

There was a big police/SWAT standoff this morning in North Austin, and it's all over the news. The thing that really shocked me is this: Austin Police carry semi-automatic weapons.

Yeah.

Texas.

Or maybe I'm naive and all urban police carry semi-automatic weapons?

Road Trip!

It's 60 degrees. So WHY AM I SO COLD?
This is insanity.

Dallas was fun. As promised, pictures and details:

We left at about 7:30 am. Still dark. I think we are both total rockstars for getting up and on the road that early on a Saturday.

We stopped at Whataburger for breakfast. I'm not usually a fast-food person, but I've heard that they have the best breakfast sandwiches you could ask for, and it was pretty damn good. Plus I love those little fried hash brown things you can get.

greasy deliciousness

It's a loooong drive from Austin to Dallas. Long and flat and... that's about it. I looked at the map and discovered that we would be driving past Italy, Texas. We decided we really must stop in Italy. So, we pulled off the freeway, and immediately discovered this:

It's a UFO!!!

So of course we stopped and looked around. Turns out, the Pegasus is for rent or sale. It used to be an arcade/ice cream shop/mini golf course. I want to buy it. Too bad it's in the middle of nowhere.

Side view of the Starship Pegasus

Road trips were invented for this shit.

To infinity.... and Beyond!

Aliens! Or, bored teenagers?

After that brilliant discovery, we drove into Italy, Texas. The only thing Italy, Texas has going for it is the name. Also they apparently once had a good boys basketball team.

1997? 1987? Who knows?

The rest of the town looks like this:

Italy, Texas. Nothing happens here.

Why are there so many cities with names like this in Texas? I know there's also Odessa... people missing home back when Texas was being settled?


Onward we moved. We made it to Dallas at about 11 and went to the Farmer's Market.

Yeah, that's me and a tractor.

Pretty produce
Okra. Very pretty. Not very tasty.

Talleri bought corn. Yum.

I want to live this farmers market. I realize this is an unrealistic dream, but a person has to have dreams.

After the farmer's market, we went to the Dallas Children's Theater and got a tour from one of the staff members. They have been in the building for about 4 years, so it is really neat to see such a new space. We then got to see the show, Lily's Purple Plastic Purse.

...SCT is so amazing, it's really hard to see Children's Theater anywhere else and not judge it very harshly. I know the script is great, Kevin Kling, who also wrote Busytown, (and who I think is an amazing genius and is how I daydream my Minnesota family to be) wrote it a few years ago, and it premiered at SCT. So the potential for awesomness is there. However, I was disappointed. (Sadly though, not entirely surprised.)

After the play, we went to Cafe Brazil, which I had been told was not to be missed. We stuffed ourselves silly with delicious food, then drove around until we found the Dallas Theater Center, where I have applied for a job (which I hope to have news on this week.)

The DTC building was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright

As it was Saturday, there was a matinee of the current show, so we walked around a bit. The theater is right next to Robert E. Lee Park. Yeah. Welcome to Texas.
The park has a creek running through it, and turtles live there. Very neat.

Turtle!!!

We picked up a bunch of literature on the new Dallas Center for the Performing Arts being built in Dallas while at DTC, and decided to go check it out. The Dallas Theater Center, the opera, and several other performing arts groups will be moving there when it is completed in October 2009.
It's a pretty freaking big deal.

The building in process.

I had been looking on Craiglist at apartments in Dallas, and found some cute affordable ones in The Bishop Arts District, so that was our next stop.
What a freaking adorable neighborhood! Had I thought to Google it beforehand, I would have known what to expect, but as it was, I was pleasantly surprised. Obama signs could be found in many front lawns. The little shopping area is full of cute boutiques, restaurants with delicious smells, and quirky little shops like The Soda Gallery, a store full of every kind of soda you could imagine. In addition to soda, the store also housed a comic book shop. I had never been in a comic shop before, and I think that's probably a good thing. They have Shaun of the Dead comics! And then there was an action figure and the guy and I talked about Simon Pegg and he told me the name of his business was Boomstick Comics and I loved it all. So, if (and it's still a big IF) I do move to Dallas, I have found where I would want to live.

Now I have Simon Pegg in my bedroom!

Then began the drive home. Our one stop was at The Czech Stop, a Czech themed convenience store in West, Texas. I purchased two Kolaches,* an energy drink, and a ridiculous straw cowboy hat that says "TEXAS."

The End

*Kolaches are very big here. They are delicious in that greasy weird way, and I can't quite figure out why they don't exist in Washington.

Blog post - now with pictures!

So the horrifying heat of the not-so-distant past has it's benefits:
It's mid-October and I'm wearing a tank top, driving around with my windows down.
Nothing quite beats driving around with all the windows down.

Went to the City Wide Garage Sale today. It was fun, I got a "new" bedspread and spent a lot of time wishing I could afford amazing antique turquoise jewelry.

Pretty New Vintage Bedspread

I really want to carve pumpkins and get into the "Halloween spirit" but it seems far too warm for that. Tomorrow I'm going to see if Target has any of their amazing stuff on sale yet. My friend Kate told me about this website that has Obama pumpkin patterns. Amazing! I want to make one like this:

OBAMA!!!

Friday I had my second phone interview with the Dallas Theater Center. I think it went really well, the opportunity is pretty amazing - running the teen programs already in place and creating new ones. I'm thinking about driving up to Dallas next weekend to see what it's like, as I have absolutely no idea.

The weather is so lovely that I opened a bunch of windows in the house today. As I opened one of my bedroom windows, I noticed another bug of GIANT proportions hanging out on my screen. I tried to get a decent picture of it - I still have no idea what it was.




I decided to treat myself to a steak dinner tonight. We made potato stamps at school last week and I had a leftover potato, which inspired me to do the whole classic "steak and potato dinner thing." It was pretty good, but I've now added a cast iron skillet to my list of things-I-need-to-buy.



I was planning on going to Maker Faire tomorrow, because it sounds awesome and fun and ridiculous. However, I have now discovered that it costs $25 to get in. So I will probably not be going to Maker Faire tomorrow, which is kind of a bummer. I'm a little confused by the fact that an event centered around the DIY movement and basically being frugal costs that much money. I guess that goes to show how much I know about the world.

I'm still thinking I really want to be a children's librarian, and it looks like UW has a good program. I don't hear good things about the program here at UT, so that's kind of a dissapointment. (apparently it recieves a majority of it's funding from Dell, which is centered here, so the whole College of Information is very Dell/Microsoft-centric and not so much about the books.)
Basically I think I'm just not ready to apply to Grad School yet. It's a really big step, and if I'm this unsure about what I want to do, I think I just shouldn't do anything yet.

I'm thinking about moving back home when my lease is up (mid-December). It would suck, and I would feel like I was giving up, but it might be the best thing. I'm feeling very lost here, with nothing to ground me. At least back in WA I would have family, friends, and familiar surroundings to keep me from blowing away. I'm not making any decisions right now, but I am keeping the option open. That was a big reason I took this room in the first place - to give myself an out in December if I decided that this wasn't where I needed to be. As cool as Austin is, I'm not going to stay here and drive myself crazy when I don't have to.


So, to sum up my day: I bought some stuff and still don't know what I'm doing with my life. I guess that's an OK Saturday when you're 24.

What's that in my hand, you ask?
Why, it's my very own Texas drivers license. With pretty much the best license picture ever taken. Thanks, tiny little Georgetown Department of Public Safety. You rock.
It also has my real signature, not the "I'm trying to make this legible" signature that was on my last license. And oh yeah, it's not all weird and vertical, because I am over 21, thankyouverymuch.

Ike update.

Um so it's a little breezy, but other than that, no real wind/rain/other weather to report. There is, however, a HUGE SPIDER hanging out in its web on my front porch. I'd rather have the giant moths, thank you. 

Local Wildlife

The bugs here are crazy. The ants bite. There are fireflies. And then there was this: 

I realize there is no real frame of reference for the size of this thing.... but it had a wingspan of at least six inches. I've seen smaller birds.

It found a nice spot to live on the ceiling of our back porch for a few days. 

There are also cockroaches, but I like to pretend they don't really exist.

No geckos, though. Bummer.