Austintatious
I just spent 3 days in Austin, Texas.
My thoughts:
There’s stuff between NY & LA? Weird.
Anyhow, the trip was lovely, and my time with my dear friend who helps moderate this site, mushmoosh, was incredible. He was a great host, especially given his perspective both from similar mutual cultural backgrounds, and because he doesn’t buy into current hypes and trends. But despite all his comparisons to other cities and such, I loved my time in Tay-Haas.
What amazed me about the city was how green it was. Maybe I’m too used to the faux desert landscape of LA, but I’m in awe all the time of that fresh humid smell. Granted, my bangs looked like an experiment most of the time, but hey … it felt like vacation. Middle America might not have the busy city lifestyle and work opportunity that brings mobs of people to move to LA or NYC, but it has something else. It has the ability to pursue your dreams with a different type of potential. You .might not be able to be a movie star, or big shot investment banker on the NYSE floor, but you get something else. You can friggin own a house. Which for starters, is something that’s diminishing in the large cities. What can you do in LA or NYC or SF after you’ve gotten your dream job and make it “big” doing whatever your career is? You need to make it bigger if you want a piece of property, something tangible to call your own. But I guess it all depends on what you want.
Here are some homes in Texas that cost the same as bungalows in Venice, CA. (perhaps a little exaggerated there)
I’m moving again in a few months, and the idea of living with my parents frankly sucks. But realistically, this is a rare privilege. I mean, I get the opportunity to at least save some money to begin what I’m calling my “Post Post College” Phase of my life. And that involves big expenditure, with the emphasis being that I don’t want to see anything that reminds me of the past, only the future. I’m ready for some positive change. First though, I’m going to let my mom do my laundry for a bit.
PS: Apparently I have a real mis-use of categories on CultureMash. So one last post with retarded categorization, and I’ll soon be doing some cleanup.
