Here, let me be the boss of you

Read this: "Survival of the Sudsiest", Washington Post

Listen to this: My Morning Jacket's Evil Urges

Eat this: Rising Moon Organics raviolis

Join this: Kiva.org

Admire this: Woodblock prints of Hiroshige

And finally, contemplate this:

"If only it were all so simple! If only there were evil people somewhere committing evil deeds, and it were necessary only to separate them from the rest of us and destroy them. But the line dividing good and evil cuts through the heart of every human being. And who is willing to destroy a piece of his own heart? (The Gulag Archipelago)"
— Aleksandr I. Solzhenitsyn

I'm here all week, folks. Tips appreciated. :)

Neglect

Damn, I have totally neglected this thing. But there are some good reasons. As usual, I've been burning the candle at both ends lately. Got me a new job at Wheatsville (as HR Coordinator). And Black Star has really been gaining momentum in the last couple of months.

I originally started this blog to write posts about random topics, and put them out there in the world for people to stumble across. So I actually hate posts like the one I am currently writing that is merely a life update. But here I am. :) Now that I have explained my absence, I can return to the randomness that is my usual blog broadcasting.

SXSW recap coming soon...

Wow. 4 days, 39 bands, lots of free drinks and meals - it's enough to wipe anyone out for a few days solid afterwards. And as luck would have it, I've had to work 10 hour days all of this week.

But don't you worry, there will be an excellent recap of my splendid SX experience on here soon enough. I might even spoil you with links and embedded videos!

A Good Day to be an Austinite

There are rarely days where I don't feel lucky to live where I do. But there are some days where I just smile and appreciate how much I love my fair city. Today was one of those days. The weather was gorgeous - one of my favorite "winter" days with blue skies and just enough of a breeze.

As pretty as the day was, it was my evening that made me so grateful for my current geographical fate. I met some friends for a potluck in which we all made dishes with veggies from our local CSA, Johnson's Backyard Garden, and nibbled beforehand on local cheese, and then finished our night with locally made brownies (Mary Louise Butters) and chocolate (Arte Y Chocolate). Oh and let's not forget that we were drinking tasty home brew and listening to one of my favorite new Austin bands, The Story Of! Without necessarily intending to, we pulled together a night that revolved around celebrating all sorts of things that Austin has to offer. It is this effortlessness that I love about this town.

An out-of-town friend recently commented that it must be a requirement of all Austinites to proselytize about how cool our city is. I think that rather than a requirement, it is a side effect. You don't do it because you have to, you do it because you can't help it.

If I seem to be gushing more than usual about this subject, it is partly because I started planning my SXSW week today. So I am a bit giddy with excitement and filled with a sense of awe at the vastness of that whole endeavor.

A Life Soundtrack

Our lives all have soundtracks, made up of the music that we just couldn't stop playing for a period of time. Maybe others don't have these phases, but I know that I have no single favorite artist or band, but rather the favorite one of the season or year. And then I get that wonderful feeling of nostalgia when I hear one of those songs.

I don't know if it was the start of a new year or the discovery of the next piece in the soundtrack of my life, but I recently started thinking about what albums are inextricably linked to my memories. It's a lot of fun to piece together this list - and I think I may have the beginnings of an excellent mix cd. :)

Oddly enough, the albums that I listened to most in a certain time period (years aren't really the best method by which to categorize but they are easiest) weren't necessarily new releases. Judging from this list, it seems that I generally only keep up with current music trends when it comes to local stuff. I'm way behind the times on a lot of the rest of it. I need to work on that.

2001 Radiohead OK Computer / Moby Play

2002 They Might be Giants Severe Tire Damage / Spoon Girls Can Tell

2003 Okkervil River Don't Fall in Love with Everyone You See / Mason Jennings Century Spring

2004 Shearwater Winged Life / Belle & Sebastian If You're Feeling Sinister

2005 Micah P. Hinson The Gospel of Progress / The Decemberists Picaresque

2006 The Gourds Heavy Ornamentals / The Postal Service Give Up

2007 The Blow Paper Television & Poor Aim: Love Songs / Bob Marley Legend

2008 My Morning Jacket? (I'm currently neglecting all my other cds in favor of It Still Moves)

Warrior

I love yoga. I don't know why I ever stopped doing it. I suppose before it didn't seem as essential for me to have an activity that was both relaxing and healthy. But seriously, yoga is the perfect activity. It can be done very slowly for pure relaxation, or you can do a more vigorous routine (with lots of sun salutations, which I am learning to love). And the weather won't stop you since you can do it indoors or out. So yeah, I am happy to get back into yoga. :)

Here's my favorite new pose: Warrior III (This isn't where I take my directions from, fyi, I've got formal books and whatnot)

Ha, someday I'll look that straight and balanced when I do it. So not there yet, though.

North Austin beer drinkers have it made

Friday night I ventured down south of the river to the newest "brewpub" in that part of town, BJ's Brewhouse. I had been once before, but late on a weeknight. This was my first time to see it at a peak time. I was shocked at how crowded it was! The wait for a table was an hour or more. We waited in the bar and eventually just ate there as well. And even the bar area was so crowded that we were only able to stake out a tiny piece of countertop real estate at first.

The popularity of this place puzzled me, because the beer isn't anything to write home about, and the prices are high. But then I remembered where I was - Hwy 71 and Brodie. If I was your average South Austinite on a Friday night looking to go out, my choices of restaurants or bars serving good beers would be pretty slim. I'd either have to drive up north, or wait it out at a crowded BJ's. I hope I am not completely overlooking some South Austin gem that I'm unaware of, but as far as I know, there really isn't much down there for beer geeks. I suppose Uncle Billy's is technically south, but that area feels more like an extension of downtown these days.

In North Austin, however, we are spoilt for choice. We can start out north of the university at Crown & Anchor and make our way up to Opal Divine's Marina (in what I would consider to be south Dallas), with several quality options of beer hangouts that aren't overly crowded. And with the new Flying Saucer opening at the Triangle, we are about to have even more options.

South Austin beer drinkers - slam your pints down and demand beer-friendly development! And perhaps try to get yourself on the Black Star Co-op Location Search Committee... ;)