hem|mungen

so, will you go see bands?

You know, that's where the love stops. It's so expensive to go to the music part, and even if you spring for a wristband you're not guaranteed entrance to a showcase. Then, once you do get into one, the band you're there to see goes on at midnight and plays for thirty minutes. Bah.
But we'll try to get to some of the free day shows - those are often a lot of fun.

(All the people we know who come into town are here for Interactive, few stay for the music.)

What is it about the ten year mark? I absolutely hate-hate-hated Austin (I joke about the Top Ten list I used to keep that included all the things I hated about this city), and suddenly in my tenth year I realized that I actually loved it. Maybe it is because I have lived here longer than anyone else. Maybe it is because I had finally become settled or it was finally familiar or something. Anyway, it's home :-)

It's a very organic process, I suppose, and sometimes it happens more quickly than others...Apropos of this: I just had an odd encounter with someone who said to me, really by way of an introduction, "I've been here in Austin 12 years," kind of out of nowhere, as if that were his defining characteristic. He knew already that we live here, too; it was obvious he wanted to impress upon me that he'd been here slightly longer. Yeesh.

I found it! But now I wonder: can I hold my own? Am I playing with the "big boys" now? I mean, I've only been here, what is it, going on 4 years...
Can't wait for the 10 year mark. And yeah, it's gonna happen.

This is the 3rd time I've tried to leave a comment here. I don't even know anymore what I meant to say, except that I've only been here for going on 4 years... so I guess that makes me a lightweight or something? I mean, can I hang with the "big boys" now?

Hee hee, at first I thought you meant on my blog. Ha. But yes - you'll be surprised how quickly ten years go by. All of a sudden it's the place you've lived longest, outside of wherever you grew up...