Saturday, September 12, 2009

It's Like a Whole Other Country

I've had several moments where it has dawned on me that I now live in Texas. Like when I walk into stores with large signs on the door saying "Weapons are prohibited on this property". Or when I woke up on Wednesday and thought about going for my weekly hike in the mountains but realized that the nearest "hike" goes up to 700'. But tonight as I read this article about some pretty amazing efforts being put on by some local Austinites, reality completely set in: I'm living in Texas. Be sure to read the comment forum posted below the article.

In case you didn't catch that number, 20% of slaves in our country are in Texas. My heart hurts.

Wednesday, September 2, 2009

What kind of moron doesn't bring a Bible to seminary?

At this point I've pretty much OD'd on orientation- between facilitating the YAV orientation last week and now receiving my own for seminary this week, my brain can't take much more! Since I'm barely able to form complete sentences, here are some thoughts on Austin so far:

Last night we went to Max's Wine Dive for Linda's birthday dinner. Their catch phrase is "Fried chicken and champagne...why the hell not?". I had the Max & Cheese with a glass of champagne. I had to wonder if I was in Heaven, only to realize that Austin might be the closest thing to Heaven on Earth.

There are 6 bars within walking distance of my apartment

The UT stadium is about 1/2 a mile from my apartment. If I could hear the Longmont High games at my house from 1/2 mile away, I can't even imagine how crazy noisy the UT games will be. I'm excited.

My hot water smells like rotten eggs. I can't tell if I do as well because of the shower I took yesterday.

I didn't bring a Bible with me. I vaguely remember packing one in the boxes which are currently sitting in my car in front of my parents' house.

I finally gave in and got a haircut yesterday. My new favorite thing in the world is gossiping ladies at a Texas beauty parlor. They are so much more animated than women at other salons.

My new tattoo has finally ended the nasty peeling stage and is now in it's pretty new phase. I'm very happy with it. Pictures to come.

Our student body president has a tattoo of John Calvin on her leg. She is fabulous.

I finished reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies on the plane ride here. Normally I would protest any sort of "tweaking" of that book, but I admit I laughed my ass off during parts of the book. Plus I loved how things turned out for Mr. Collins, Lydia, Wickham and Lady Catherine. If you haven't read it, do it. I have 23 books on my required reading for this semester alone, and I'm satisfied with P&P&Z being the last novel I get to read for a while.