Everyone is attached to these odds and ends

The holidays aren't quite over just yet, and I couldn't wait to get back to some routine here in Austin and out of the money vehicle that is Dallas. I've got my computer (well, my mom's 3 year old laptop), a cup of warm green tea, and a nice window overlooking the neighbor's porch. Seemingly everything I need to call this newly furnished office picturesque.

But before getting tired of the humbug in Dallas, I did have a few quiet afternoons finishing up Christmas shopping for my mom and sister. Most notable was a visit to Dolly Python, a doodad and whatchamacallit shop on the south side of town. Similar to Uncommon Objects here in Austin, this place has the warmth of Texas hospitality and even an elderly chocolate Labrador guarding the front door. Hey, you can never be too careful when you have vintage decorative JFK pillows and Las Vegas ashtrays laying around.

I'm glad that people seem to be having such a resurgence of nostalgia these days. I would much rather see a store like Dolly Python prosper in the face of all of the Pier Ones and Brookstones out there. I mean, do we really need to act excited about warming office supplies anymore? Are we even supposed to like things being unnaturally warmed around us? Even after Becky and I got lost Saturday night on Lovers Lane, we ran into another odds and ends store that I had never even glanced upon before. The possibilities are endless in these stores, and I never let myself stay too long for fear of prematurely draining my bank account trying to afford different sized deer antlers. Way classier than a hat rack, if I do say so.

And I say yay for the one of a kind!




Other than that, I spent a few afternoons on the beautiful Flag Pole Hill, a historic park in Dallas right on the verge of White Rock Lake. This seems to be the place I always jet off to in times of frustration or when I have been sitting in just too much traffic. I consider this to be one of the most underrated park in the whole city, but with that comes peace and solitude far away from the hustle and bustle of places like Highland Park. So maybe I'll just keep this place a secret after all.

This week is set to live out all vices before the new year, and boy do I have some catching up to do since I have been out of town. Up next- resolutions and de-solutions for the upcoming decade.

Two extra ladies in the house

It's Saturday, and Jake and I were awake and ready before 10 am today, a large feat for our "no leaving the house before noon" policy bodies. We had just spent the better part of the day out in Fredericksburg at Alamo Springs Cafe, devouring a feast of Texas beer, roasted garlic and goat cheese, green chile and onion burgers, blackened shrimp salad and beer-battered onion rings.

Needless to say, we were in some sort of heaven.

After putting ourselves into painful food comas, we headed to Main Street to check out the other German fare and relive Germany in one of the many biergartens they harbor. We stopped at the Auslander, a restaurant/bar (a.k.a biergarten) that served up hefty liters of German and Belgian beer, included my beloved beer from Munich, Paulaner Hefeweizen. It was the first beer and the last beer I ever tried in Germany, and it will always hold a soft spot in my heart.

Later on in the evening, after indulging in some guilty Homeslice margherita pizza, Jake and I settled in at the Continental Club to dance and jig to White Ghost Shivers, an Austin vaudeville/jazz band that had Jake and I moving in our britches. We even dressed up in matching old-fashioned country hay time outfits, complete with socks and heels! White kids were dancing to that fiddle, making all worries of climate change and a failing monetary system melt away as the free feelings from the 20s rushed back in wearing a tattered pinstripe vest. Watching this scene take place in the club made for a festive cold and rainy Friday, but we were gone after a few songs to catch up on movie nights.

We picked up the essentials for any stay-in Friday night. Some kook movie about the Freemasons, Magical Mystery Tour and Big Man Japan. I recommend any movie if you're not looking to understand anything moving on the screen. Big Man Japan, a mindfuck in its own right, still remains to be finished, and it's due back tomorrow.

Brendan has a few lady guests over this weekend, and after showing them around the true Texas town, Lockhart, and devouring over 5 pounds combined of meat, the five of us are going out again this evening. The New Movement Theater features the talent of Chicago-trained improv troupe Aphasia, which combined with BYOB freedom, holds to be another choice evening.

Christmas is coming fast, and I've got ideas and plans for gifts and gags. Keep your mail boxes open.

Understated culture jamming

The last couple of days in Austin have been nothing short of cold, dreary, and too wet for me to ride my bicycle any further than Central Market. Creative projects dominate my mind this week, and there is no better time to stay in and chain myself to this notebook than during a week of no holidays and no plans.

But just because Jake and I are working hard doesn't mean we don't stop to eat and drink well, and yesterday we found ourselves at Asia Cafe, an Asian market that expanded into its own restaurant and had 5-star reviews, a large feat considering it was all the way up off Spicewood Springs and in the same shopping center as Big Lots.

So when we get hungry for lunch, we are usually in a predicament. You see, Jake and I have a habit of eating lunch promptly around 3 or 4, usually just during the 2 hour time slot when small niche eateries close after the lunch hour rush and before dinner menus are ready. So when we found that this gem was open all day, we had to at least try our luck.

When we arrived, the restaurant was definitely on its down slope for the day. A few guys sat around a table, while an older couple grappled with what selections to make for their early dinner. Jake walked right up to the counter, and we were ready for business.

Jake ordered the General Tso's chicken, a trick he uses to find the best Chinese food wherever he goes. I stuck to the pan fried tofu with crushed red pepper, the wild card on the menu.

Jake's chicken seemed pretty good, but I am no giant General Tso connoisseur so I can't say for sure. My tofu was spicy, crispy, and coated in red pepper, a perfect way to wake up aften being rained on for my entire bike ride home that afternoon. One thing is for sure: You get your money's worth. Nine dollars got be a full meal of spicy seared tofu and grilled veggies, and even enough to take home with me for later.

Sometimes I just love Austin.