my view at barton springs this past weekend. shot with the iphone. nothing spectacular, but it captured the mood… can’t wait to have the same view in just a few short days…
Tag Archives: austin
flipnotics again
a mermaid saw a swimming lad,
and picked him up for her own.
pressed her body to his body,
laughing, and plunging down,
forgot in cruel happiness…
that even lovers drown.
this bittersweet prose lines the table that i’ve sat at for three days now.
i always enjoy my time in austin, but this time especially, i have had a truly memorable experience. lounging lazily at barton springs… swimming in her cool, natural waters. spending time with my brother, his wife, and their three little ones. enjoying time with my friends, whose lives have hurdled in different directions than my own. and i feel in love.
austin has pressed her body to mine, and laughingly pulled me under. i gladly kissed her lips and descended to the depths.
how long must i pretend that i don’t need austin? how long must i pretend that austin doesn’t need me?
well, it would seem a little while longer. but i have already drowned…
we are the swarm
unfortunately, i wasn’t able to make it down to austin last week for sxsw. however, all was not lost. dallas reaps some of the benefits of south-by simply due to proximity. so, when andrew bird came to town sunday night, i got a little taste of what makes the annual music showcase so special.
haley bonar opened for andrew, and brought a fresh, poppy, singer-songwriter sound.
andrew bird just might be the most talented musician i have ever seen live. it seems as though he thinks in terms of rhythm and sound textures.
and his lyrics are so technical and scientific, i sometimes feel that i’m in a trippy, high school biology class. it’s great.
i tried to shoot some video, but handheld proved to be less than ideal. regardless, here are a few short clips i strung together…
and so it begins…
i’m back in austin this weekend for a shoot, and once again i’m wondering why i don’t live here. right now: i’m at my favorite burger, beer, and darts joint, crown and anchor, watching my texas longhorns in the big 12 tournament semifinals, and it occurs to me – if i plan this out, i could be back here for good in a year.
dallas is crushing my spirit. it’s time for a change. austin, you’re on alert…
and so it begins…
keeping austin… something, something
ahhhh… major sigh of relief. i am sitting outside at my favorite coffee shop, flipnotics, uploading a recent magazine assignment, john coltrane playing quietly in the background, sipping my favorite french organic medium roast. it’s dreamy. partly cloudy, 70 degrees. i drove in this morning, so i could get a few last-minute work things done before enjoying the next week in my favorite city in texas – austin.
“i used to live here, you know,” i think jealously to myself. i then bitterly justify why i no longer live in austin, “well, things have changed here anyway.” but that’s not the full truth.
yes, austin has changed. a lot. i can see the new high-rises that tower above town lake. all those damned new york and LA transplants! someone let the secret out about ten years ago, and since then, just like every other cool place in this fair country, it has been slowly californicized.
but i digress. bitterly. so… the real reason i don’t live here anymore is that there simply isn’t enough work for me. i tried to make it here after college. but the work was scarce, and competition fierce. don’t get me wrong, i love competition, but the situation down here is rediculous. a young guy making his start is better of in a larger market where he can establish himself. so I sold out and went to dallas.
and so i’m a little sad. but then i look around… and i remember the good times i had here. i used to spend 8 hours a day, six days a week here at flips. before i had a laptop, i would study, roll my own cigarettes, read thoreau, daydream my time away. it was a time of free thought and incredible amounts of creative expression. granted, much of that expression was destructive, and i no longer “express” in those ways, but it was good. a time that was needed… to get me where i am, and to help me see where i want to go. but austin is like that; it can serve as a helpful transition for many of us.
austin is a place for learning. sometimes for learning about how weird all of us really are. i also learned about what i am not. and that took a long time to come to terms with, but i am happy to be able to say that now.
i miss this place. even when i’m here. so maybe more than a location, for me it was an era. but i feel like i can appreciate it more now for what it is; awesome, and weird as hell. maybe now i can move back and usher in a new era…
andrew slaton | blog 