I’d picked up a copy of John Steinbeck’s early novels and stories to
read on the plane from Burbank to Austin for Nora and Danny's wedding. Somehow I'd gotten lucky with a good enough seat to look out my window and watch the clouds drift by and cast shadows on the brown hills stretching for miles and miles below.
Friday night I hopped in the car with Paul and Cammie and we
headed down to the bar at the top of my Food To-Do List, The Jackalope, to meet up up with friends, grab a couple of cold Lone Star beers, and wolf down some
burgers.
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| Ice Cold Beer and the Best Hamburgers in Austin. Period. |
We grabbed a table and swapped stories on everything from new tattoos and gun-toting crazy
neighbors to kicking butt in a triathlon and going backstage to meet Ian Astbury
of The Cult. We talked music, bands, and about the only time the table got quiet was when we'd all stop and stare and ask, What movie's playing on the patio TV?
Other than the food and cheap drinks, there were a couple
of reasons for going to The 'Lope during my trip to Austin. A good
friend, Ester, had tended bar on the back patio for the last year or so
and-after putting on a successful fashion show and
getting more work heading her way-Ester was setting down her bar key and
stepping away from the bar to
focus on her career as a designer. After all the long hours at school and working behind the bar, good things were starting to happen for her.
Saturday Cammie and Paul took me to see The Expendables 2 at
the new Alamo in South Austin. The Alamo has finally nailed the best type of
tables for their movie theaters. Gone are the long tables you'd have to try and limbo under in the dark. The new ones are smaller cut-outs that are just the right size so you can get in and out. Back at the house, I watched Paul change out the thermostat on his
car and now have a better idea of just how it’s done and just how messy
radiator fluid can be. I threw on a shirt and tie and my boots and headed out to watch my
friends Nora and Danny get hitched. I’ve known the two for years. They’re great
friends and a great match, complimenting each other with their different personalities, and of course any party they throw is guaranteed to be a good time. They'd pulled together a slew of good people from across the country.
Between glasses of wine
and chips and queso, friends told me stories of how things had improved for
them and the projects they were working on. Getting to watch Donello, Riley,
Jeremy, and Adrienne all onstage together was an added bonus. There's a certain enjoyment a person has seeing friends perform music on stage. Especially when they're good. The band was great, the vocals were spot on, and the transition between bands to Soul Track Mind was seamless. Not an easy thing to pull off.
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| Onstage: Jeremy, Adrienne, Mike, Riley; Dance Floor: Nora & Danny |
People started grabbed their drinks and kicked off their shoes and the dancing started. This was a party for Nora and Danny. By the end of the night if you weren’t
dripping with sweat when you walked off the dance floor then you just weren’t trying
hard enough.
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| Surprised I took a picture of the drum kit? |
On the car ride to the airport on Sunday Cammie asked if I was
"burgered out".
I told her there was no such thing.
We stopped to grab
a Hatch Chili Burger from Hopdoddy’s and I kept checking my watch, doing the math in my head, subtracting out the time in the car to the airport from the time they pre-board. I do this. It's probably something to do with project management, but it happens.
The third time I checked my watch Paul
told me, “I guarantee I’ll get you to your plane on time.” Then he told me to have some french fries.
Of course Paul did get me to the airport with time to spare. Never a bad thing at the Austin airport. It means you can grab some Aimee’s ice cream while you wait. And that’s exactly what I did. And I ate that ---
up.
Though it didn’t taste like ---. It tasted really good.
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| I ate this. |
