Marfa, TX, I love you!

I traveled to Marfa, TX last weekend with my husband, C. We were going to help out with the opening of El Cosmico, the new Liz Lambert venture in Marfa, along with some co-workers and friends.

Liz has a interesting story. She was an attorney working for the attorney general’s office who tired of the business and decided to take a seedy, trashy old motel and turn it into the Hotel San Jose, which is now one of the hippest and most relaxing places to stay in Austin while still having excellent access and proximity to great music, food, and entertainment. She even made a documentary about it called The Last Days of the San Jose. She’s also the force behind the cool coffee stop Jo’s Hot Coffee.

El Cosmico is (and I quote the website), “… the latest lodging concept from Liz Lambert and her management company, Bunkhouse… Lambert’s new project, El Cosmico, is currently under construction on 15 acres of land in Marfa, Texas. El Cosmico will be part yurt and hammock hotel, part residential living, part art-house, greenhouse and amphitheatre – a community space that fosters and agitates artistic and intellectual exchange…”

All of that translates in to a super cool opening party that was laid-back and fun in a truly Marfa way. C and I camped. Here’s our spot…

…there was a yurt…

…and a lonesome train…

…gorgeous dogs (in fact, I think the dogs thought the whole thing was about them)…

…transcendent music, courtesy of one Miss Barbara Lynn…

…amazingly delish Corn Raspberry muffins from the The Brown Recluse…

…and, of course, contemplative cowgirls.

Sure do miss you, City of Marfa…

…you took my breath away.

ACL wrapup!

Austin City Limits festival this year was fun. I can truly say that after it’s all over. Some bands I was looking forward to dropped out , but I got a VIP pass so !

Friday and Sunday were the best lineups by far, but Friday and Saturday I was afflicted by the worst allergies ever. Most people who live in Austin experience horrible allergies at some point, and I thought I had ‘em licked. I felt like a frickin’ allergy meds commercial with the constantly runny nose and sneezing. I normally don’t take pills (even for headaches) but I tried antihistamines and when those didn’t work, I finally gave in and got the big guns. Decongestants. I’m normally fairly high strung and any kind of speed makes me nuts. However, the payoff was worth it and I felt WAY better on Sunday. Saturday I mostly spent sitting around the VIP area, relaxin’ and drankin’. I didn’t see one band. Not one.

My pictorial of the highlights and lowlights (click to see larger photos):

Best- Bjork

Worst- The fire(s)

Most hilarious- M.I.A. inviting the crowd on stage

And possibly regretting it:

That guy with the white headband is awesome! He’s so happy to just touch M.I.A.! He has a total “Hi, Mom! Hi, Dad!” expression on his face.

Overall, it was a lot of fun and I am a new fan of Bjork’s live show. The Christian protesters awaiting the festival revelers on the street after the show were a little creepy (and straight out of a movie), but, hey, it’s a free country.

Ahhh, Austin, you gotta love it!

It’s as boring as being alive

The title is the most pretentious thing I’ve ever heard and so, appropriate for today’s theme: douchebaggery. Austin City Limits festival is upon us, and along with it a lot of silliness. This is one of the times of the year when everyone in Austin instantly transforms into a jackass. Suddenly, there’s an obsession with getting on lists and going to afterparties and what level of pass you have. I remember when this event was very small and I worked for my friend in the VIP area and had a great time. Over the years, it’s gotten better known and more crowded and had to deal with all the problems that come with huge crowds, big acts, and unpredicable weather.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not pining for the “good old days” because that’s just a waste of time. But my best friend and I have agreed that during festival times, Austin suddenly becomes a mini-L.A. or New York. It’s funny because most people live here to avoid that sort of thing. I was going to sit out the whole ACL madness this year (there aren’t really any bands that I was dying to see in the lineup) but my friend got me a VIP pass which is the only way to do this particular festival. It was an offer I couldn’t refuse.

I hope I don’t regret it.

Nothing to fear but fear itself

Lately, I’ve been asking all my friends if they believe that there are people who can communicate with the dead. Kind of a weird and heavy icebreaker, but people usually have fairly strong opinions about it. I went to dinner with some friends the other night and in the middle of the conversation posed that question. My girlfriend hemmed and hawed a little, but her fiancee was surprisingly vehement. His eyes got all squinty and he maintained that nothing happens when you die. I was surprised because I expected HER to be the vehement defender of logic (she’s a scientist).

Even though I’m not particularly religious (raised Catholic) and I don’t necessarily believe there are mediums who can contact your dead relatives, I do wonder about the spark of life. Call it spirit, call it energy or whatever you call it, there’s undeniably SOMETHING that sets apart what’s alive from what’s not. You can look at a fallen bird and tell if it’s dead. It’s lost its spark.

When we are feeling peppy and particularly energetic, we say we feel ALIVE. When we have expended a lot of energy and work to achieve something (climbing a mountain, say), we feel alive. To paraphrase the first law of energy, energy is neither created nor destroyed. So what happens to the spark? Does it just dissipate and fade into the ether? Does it remain whole and journey somewhere else? Is it different for everyone?

No wonder religion is so full of reincarnation beliefs. Personally, I don’t know what happens but I think there is potential for just about anything. I can respect any religion’s views because I think, hey, it’s POSSIBLE. I brought this up with my husband last night. He, like me, isn’t sure about anything but is a very spiritual person. He’s always talking about how things affect his soul. So I know he knows what I mean. I speculated that maybe it’s when you experience the loss of someone important, knowing what happens next becomes more consuming.

My father passed away in 2000. When I think about where he is now, I can only think of a coffin full of bones. Morbid, I know, but I can’t get the image out of my head. I want to think that his spark, at least, has transformed into something good.

Also, when you find happiness with someone, the next stage seems to be fear of losing them. I can’t imagine what it was like for my mom to lose my dad, her partner of 28 years. He was much older than she, so he practically helped her to grow up. He was a friend, a mentor, a father to her children, a husband, everything.

I can’t imagine losing C , nor would I want to contemplate a life without him. It’s scary to feel so grown up, yet so vulnerable.

Overheard in Austin, Labor Day weekend

The Mohawk, Red River

“Hipsterish girl: (sneezes)

Other hipsterish girl: Bless you!

Hipsterish girl: When you die, nothing happens.”

WTF?

New Bohemia, South Congress

“Crazy girl: Should I get this? (holds up a pin that says, “IKE”)

Reasonable girl: No!

Crazy girl: He beat his wife. That’s cool, right?”

Hmmm…