Austin update

[sophiaserpentia]

I arrived in Austin yesterday. So far everything has gone very well.

Holy shit, I can breathe! My nostrils have been unclogged now for over 24 hours, without the use of decongestants or antihistamines. I'm MELTING, but I can breathe.

Some parts of Austin still feel like home.

I flew the only way to do it (well, maybe not): hungover, with two hours of sleep, totally unprepared, a suitcase full of clothes that need to be washed, a dose of dramamine, and after having had a gut-wrenching conversation all night the night before.

I like flying over the swamps; from above they look like algae-ridden puddles, teeming with life but free of the insanely-straight insect trails and right-edged insect nests that mark human habitation.

At the Austin airport I picked up info on the city bus system and got on the 100 line heading into town. This line goes up 6th Street through East Austin, turns onto Lavaca and then heads towards the state capitol. Instinct told me to get off at 15th and Lavaca, which I did.

So, I'm walking around downtown Austin on a Saturday afternoon lugging two bags around; it wasn't long before I conceded defeat. I would have been perfectly happy to continue wandering until I came across a hotel, had I not been lugging this stuff around.

I called Jeff. "Hi Jeff."

"Tony! What's up?"

"Um. I'm at MLK and Guadalupe. This is where I got off the bus."

"That's where... you... got off... the bus."

"Yes." Laugh. "It's possible I've gone temporarily insane."

"Do you need a ride?"

"That would be lovely."

Talking in the background. "Allen's offered to pick you up."

"Groovy." Hung up.

Twenty minutes later, I've eaten at the nearby Schlotzky's, and Allen pulled up. We shared a hug that felt more formal than a handshake.

Allen has done well for himself. He's been married ten years, has two kids, is the director of the International Size Acceptance Association, and is very active in his church. I've known him since the seventh grade, and he is practically a brother. But he knows so little about my real life that he wouldn't recognize me. I decided against telling him anything on the ride to Jeff's place. It would be too much for him.

Yesterday, coincidentally, was Jeff's birthday. I sent him an email Friday telling him that for his birthday I made a mix CD... which I would be delivering in person.

It was a good evening, a gathering of friends; Jeff, Allen, and me, who grew up together, in one place for the first time in three years. An old friend, Effie, was there too. We ate chili and watched Lord of the Rings I and heckled it like a B-movie.

Jeff and I took a midnight ride on FM 2222 and Capitol of Texas Highway, and talked. Being in Austin again has been good for him; New Orleans chewed him up and spit him out, like it does some people.

He dropped me off at a motel, where I got a full eight hours sleep. I slept well, better than in quite some time.

When I woke, showered, and broke fast, I had six hours to kill before ravenia would be available. Having no other plan, I took a cab to the Greyhound station and stashed the luggage in a locker.

Then I went walkabout.

Well, okay, I guess it's not a genuine walkabout. I have enough cash to procure any kind of lodging, transportation, food, and beverage I may require. But I had no goal or destination in mind.

As a result, my mind has been more clear and perceptive than it has been in a long time. I've also found myself following a few whimsies. First I stopped at a salon and had six inches chopped off my hair. It needed to go; the ends were a bit scraggly. Then I found myself at Highland Mall, wondering why the heck, other than air conditioning, I had been drawn to Mall Anytown USA. I found the answer to this question when I came upon the Claire's store and decided to get a new piercing in each ear. So twice today I had my apperance modified.

Walking around the mall I wondered if I would run into anyone I knew from school. My thoughts turned to people who I hadn't seen in 15 or 20 years but who at one time had been very important in my life. For example, I thought of Michelle Mallett, the girl who passed me a note one day in math class.

The note said, "I ran away from home last night."

Michelle was the first girl who ever met Sabrina, though her name wasn't Sabrina back then. Michelle was the girl I saw Siouxsie and the Banshees with in 1987, at the Austin Opera House, along with every other kid in Austin with funny hair, all of us crammed into an arena with pictures of Willie Nelson and other country musicians on the wall.

Last I'd heard, Michelle moved to New York City. But Austin has a way of pulling people back. I wonder if she's here now?

ravenia, shaktiboy, and lassiter picked me up at 5:30 and together we had Mongolian barbeque before heading to Scarlet Woman Lodge for the Gnostic Mass.

And that brings us to the present. I'm at ravenia's computer, seconds away from hopping into the shower and afterwards falling into a very deep sleep.