I returned yesterday from a visit to the enchanted realm of New Mexico. My bosses, who are also my friends and insist I refer to them as such , wanted me to see the new office building and to discuss some of our big current projects. They essentially pay me to be Drey and I make cool things for them, resulting in probably the best work situation I could ask for. I do regularly talk with them on the phone, but it is great to reconnect face to face a few times a year.

I had been back last December, but this time around felt a lot different. I felt like I was still in Austin and had just sent a serviceable hologram of myself on the plane. It took a few days to shake the dissonance, but I never stopped feeling like a stranger. Ghosts haunted every street corner and layers of emotional data augmented every interaction.

This has nothing to do with my friends or Albuquerque, but I just didn’t want to be there for very long. I felt like in order to fit into that realm and feel at ease I would need to morph into some old version of myself, a proposition I found horrific. Although there were major changes in the worlds of all of my friends, my version of Albuquerque remained the same.

It really is true: You can’t go home again.

Tags: Albuquerque, Austin, work

I witnessed a shooting across the street from my apartment. Me and six other witnesses had to go downtown to give our statements to homicide detectives. Had I known I was about to witness a crime, I would have paid closer attention to the make and model of the getaway vehicle and what everyone was wearing. I got to draw a map and illustrate how it all went down. But for the most part I got to experience all the boring hours in between the interesting scenes you see on cop shows. I kicked myself for forgetting my phone. For once something interesting was happening and I couldn’t give an account.

The case was turned over to homicide because the victim wasn’t holding up too well at the hospital. I don’t know if he lived. I guess I have to check the news like everyone else.

Also, fuck you, bad guys.

Tags: Austin

This is how I spent my Saturday.

Pictures will explain what words cannot: http://www.flickr.com/photos/birzer/sets/72157604762416387/

Tags: Austin

Another cycle completes, stars spin with the sound of calendar pages, and the bats are once more beneath their bridge. The heat and humidity begin their steady encroachment upon the city, breathing at my doorstep, getting down to business a few minutes earlier each day. It is spring, so everything is tinged with an ecstatic madness, as though sex could leap from the trees, coffee cups, anywhere. All people shine with mystery. All people are generous and kind, and even their narcissism becomes a wonderful twisted mirror, scattering light.

Today I received a letter from the Texas Department of Public Safety. Inside I found a plastic card bearing my photo, my face already strange. They wanted to let me know that I live here now. Officially.

Tags: Austin

Tonight I decided to go downtown for a change. Seems like I haven’t been out and about in my fair city in quite some time. I hung out with some folks at the Ginger Man, a charming establishment with a long wall of brews. I tried the Bigfoot Ale, which I detested at first, but then grew to, well… endure.

Then I headed over to the next block to Fado, where I heard a U2 cover band was playing. For all intents and purposes, their lead singer was Bono. He looked just like him. He even had all the stage moves, engaging us in wild, rock star antics. They played mostly B-sides, but threw in some of the hits. They were very good.

All the while I was painfully aware of this sea of attractive women, all on someone’s arm or wearing a ring. I always wonder where they were before. When does that window of opportunity occur?

And then there was the waitress. She resembled Juliette from Lost, who, as some may know, is a representative of archetypal hotness  for me. The whole night, she had to squeeze past me on her way to and from the bar. It almost made me cry.

Tags: Austin, music

I had the most amazing BBQ last night. I heard the legends of the Salt Lick, but I had never ventured out there. The Discovering Austin Meetup group was having a get together there, so I jumped at the chance.

It’s about 40 minutes southwest of Austin, a journey I took through dark, rolling hills. The restaurant itself is sprawled across two ranch-like buildings and a large outdoor picnic area.

The Salt Lick is a BYOB establishment. Let that sink in for a moment. When was the last time you went to a restaurant and they told you to please bring all the beer you want? I came with a six-pack of Sam Adams. Jay, the Meetup organizer, had a better idea: a rolling cooler stuffed with beer.

Once we had a table, our group ordered ribs, sausage, brisket and turkey, accompanied by piles of potatoes, beans, slaw and bread. For about $10 a head. The meat was slow roasted for 8 hours, ascending into some higher state of being. It was delicious!

Tags: Austin

At long last, the new Alamo Drafthouse downtown is open! Tim League took over the old Ritz theater and completely renovated it to support the unique movie going experience that is the Alamo.

To celebrate, we got to see an advance screening of No Country for Old Men, which I will say right now is the Coen’s masterwork. And, by the way, Javier Bardem is utterly terrifying and I’d book passage to the moon if I knew his character was pursuing me.

Then Quentin Tarantino showed us some old Japanese monster movie from his collection: War of the Gargantuas. He was obviously a bit inebriated and he geeked out for quite some time before getting off the stage. He’s great.

Tags: Austin, movies

For the first time in years I got excited about Halloween! Halloween in Austin is like Mardi Gras in NOLA. It is a huge, citywide party where all manner of debauchery and craziness ensues.

I put together this dark knight costume. No, not Batman or the kanniggit from Holy Grail. I got this chest armor, some spikey shoulder guards, these sweet skull gauntlets, and a badass 4-foot long sword. I also had this huge, matching skull shield, but it proved unwieldy to take everywhere.

I went to a fabulous party at the Enchanted Forest. Normally, this is a three-acre art space in the woods. Imagine a small Burning Man or Three-Sided Hole, but in the woods instead of the desert. But for Halloween, they transformed it into a Haunted Forest. It was BYOB, so you just show up with a cooler of beverages, pay the fee, and walk through this archway into another world.

It looked like a gigantic rave as designed by Neil Gaiman. Imagine hundreds of people in bizarre costumes, all dancing around immense trees while bands play in front of trippy projected light shows. There was a drum circle around a fire pit. There were lightsaber duels (and, briefly, lightsabers vs. a badass 4-foot long sword).  There were crazy tents where people were doing awesome improv. It was, to summarize, the best Halloween party ever.

I got home at 7AM!

Oh, and I got to make out with a beautiful woman.

Tags: Austin, coolness

One of the first things I did when I got to Austin was to sign up for interesting groups at Meetup.com. I get to meet people with similar interests and check out cool new places in Austin.

Right now I’m part of Discovering Austin, a couple wine/coffee/singles Meetup groups, a sushi group, two Landmark groups, and two movie groups. One of the movie groups is the Alamo Drafthouse Fans, which I am an assistant organizer for. That means I get to pick movies, schedule events and get people to come to the Alamo to have a good time!

Tags: Austin, dating, Food, Landmark, movies