blogging austin

I'm on one of my solo vacations - this time, austin texas. everyone asks why...well, because it was cheap. and it seemed cool. cool people have gone to austin. and now I have too.

so, got up extremely early to catch a ride with jarrett to the airport. he left today too, only for las vegas. this is a trip we've taken together since we started dating. it has not sat well with me that he's going alone this time. to stop myself from sinking into a well of self-pity, and because it's been a while, I decided to go on a vacation too. I had already saved up money for vegas and taken the time off, so I figured what the hell. and roundrip airfare plus 3 nights' stay plus some extras (shuttle, interweb, etc) came out around $330. yeah. so I'm here till wednesday.

already I am homesick. I miss my kids. I really am enjoying being here but it's a bit of a...I don't even know how to finish the thought. it's always good for me to get away, because I'm the kind of person who needs a reset every few months. my head gets too crowded and I have to be alone and have to be completely independent so I get back to center. these are usually vacations where I am deeply introspective...but the last trip and this one have been a little less helpful because I'm introspective every week thanks to therapy. but I'm here, I can't leave, so I will make the most of it.

as I twittered, my first impression of texas was brown. I had a layover in chicago (I know, right? kinda out of the way.) and there was at least 6 inches of snow on the ground. something like 12 degrees. everything was white - cirrus clouds, as it was still snowing, and snow on the ground as we approached. dipping below the clouds in texas, everything was brown, taupe, cream, beige. austin texans have no accent. well, a little - it comes out sounding more valley girl than twang.

my hotel is not really a hotel - it's efficiency suites. so I have a kitchen and a table and a desk and a bed and a comfortable chair. a little habitat. I asked the girl at the front desk about a store and places to eat. and if it's safe to be out at night. flashbacks of the toe guy. she said it's safe to be out at night but not past 6pm. not sure if that even qualifies as night. it was 5:15 at the time, and the store was 5 blocks away, but I threw caution to the wind (her explanation was that there are alot of homeless people around so it makes it scary...grain of salt) and went to eat at someplace called opal's. was a shiner brewery at one point. everyone there looked like me or my friends. refreshing to be at a night spot with no tbp and excess skin. (tits be poppin.) very hipster but not pretentious.

I had poblano pepper stuffed chicken breast, spanish rice, roasted peppers. and a shirley temple. tipped extra well. then I went on to the store - a mammoth whole foods. hotel didn't have complimentary shampoo - or they did, but you had to ask - so I figured I'd buy some. organic shampoo is fucking expensive. got some milk, cereal, noodles for lunch tomorrow, cookies, vegetable straws. alotta $, but still cheaper than eating out.

now it's 7:41 local time and I'm already indoors for the night. well, that's the thing about being on vacation alone. it's never for the night if I don't want it to be. but my body is tired - I only got 4 hrs of sleep - or slept for 4 hours in 20 min increments. and catnapped on the planes. so my body's tired.

mission is to keep busy and/or pass out so I am not wondering what is going on in vegas. it's a battle I probably won't win. but, as my tattoo says, I have to let it go. but it still hurts.

more tomorrow. I didn't bring my camera with, wasn't sure of the lay of the land - too bad, there was tons of stuff I wanted to take pictures of. tomorrow. I brought my stuff to upload everything so it'll be on flickr.

wish me well.