community

Wow. I’ve been saying these things for years. I’m glad to see Greg Savage really lay down the law to people who make a habit or intention of being late.

http://gregsavage.com.au/2010/06/07/no-you-are-not-%E2%80%98running-late%E2%80%99-you-are-rude-and-selfish/

…and some of them will make you think, too!

Thanks, Julie, for finding this one!

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

The BLUE Theatre Hosts Fundraising Event – Help Support the arts in East
Austin!!!

Austin, TX , July 1, 2010

The BLUE Theatre, the hippest artist-operated performance space on Austin’s
east side, is now under new artistic management! The previous company is
taking all of their lighting equipment with them; nobody blames them (this stuff’s
expensive!). However, in order for The BLUE to continue business as usual,
all of this equipment needs to be replaced. So, the BLUE is reaching out to the
community and local businesses for help …

On Sunday, August 1st, 2010, the BLUE Theatre will team up with local bands
Home By Hovercraft (http://www.myspace.com/homebyhovercraft), Abandoned
Warehouse (http://www.myspace.com/homebyhovercraft), and other local talent
to host BLUE LIGHT SPECIAL, an all-day music event designed to raise money
for the overhaul.

The entire community is invited to come rock out while supporting a local arts
institution in raising money for a complete lighting equipment overhaul. Give
till it hurts while listening to great music, drinking fantastic cocktails courtesy of
Tito’s Handmade Vodka, and mingling with music lovers, artists, patrons, and
neighborhood family and friends.

The BLUE Theatre is ‘home’ for many of our communities’ performing and
visual artists and with the community’s help we will continue to bring powerful,
innovative, thought-provoking works for Austin audiences to enjoy.

About The BLUE Theatre

The BLUE Theatre supports and presents artists whose work challenges the
traditional boundaries of art, theatre, music, dance, film and performance. An
artist-operated, multi-disciplinary performance space, community center and
gallery with roots deep in the Austin arts scene. We produce our own shows,
help support all artists and activists with our programs and can be rented for
productions, rehearsals, events and auditions.

For more information, visit www.bluetheatre.org.
The BLUE Theatre, 916 Springdale Road, Austin, TX, 78702

CONTACT: Nicole Portwood, Executive Director (512) 743-8089, info@bluetheatre.org
###

A Mississippi school board canceled prom because a senior girl wanted to take her girlfriend. Then they organized a “fake” prom (five seven students attended; it was reported that the other three two of them students were mentally disabled), while the rest of the students went to a secret prom organized by parents.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/05/constance-mcmillen-fake-p_n_525856.html

This is absurd! What’s next? Disallowing students of color? Oh, wait, they do that, too. Separate is not equal. We already learned that, in neighboring Alabama, in 1955! To treat a group of humans as though they are less worthy than others is inhumane. Constance didn’t break any laws or hurt anyone. She didn’t deserve to be rejected. The School Board and parents of Itawamba should be ashamed and embarrassed. What a calculated and cruel way to be a bunch of bigots.

I signed a petition to stand with Constance – and condemn the school board’s failure to treat its students with the respect and fairness everyone deserves.
http://www.hrcactioncenter.org/site/Advocacy?pagename=homepage&id=785

This is a great holiday themed add that is meant to deter drinking and driving.

We have been slow to update and that is mostly because we’ve traveled back to Bryan a LOT. After, getting the apartment, packing, and moving, we also traveled for these reasons:

• 30 May  – a wedding
• 13 June – a wedding
• 20 June – to have the carpets cleaned
• 22 June – to get something from the house that we both thought was already in Austin; Lori made a special day trip
• 27 June – Emil’s neice’s wedding
• 2 July – to Paris. Happy Birthday to Lori’s grandparents (3rd and 4th) and to celebrate Independence day with the Parisites.

For the 4th, we headed back to ATX. We wanted to hear the Austin Symphony play 1812 Overture with real cannon fire and see the fireworks over the lake. It was amazing.

photo from the Austin American Statesman

Read about the Austin festivities.

Happy Independence Day to you all.

We love to “adventure” together. Any time we have to go somewhere new, we make a game of it. Thanks to Emil, we have always taken the odd routes. Thanks to VZ Navigator (a GPS navigation system built into our Verizon phones), we can wander off any beaten path and still find our way. We both have a good sense of direction, but it’s nice to have technology when we want to be somewhere specific at a certain time. Thanks to technology, we frequently take the odd routes. On our last trip in separate vehicles from Austin to Bryan, we found a castle. Yes, a castle. It’s in Pflugerville. I’m sure we couldn’t find it again.

Since we’ve been in ATX, we’ve tried to take all the strange roads. You might remember we got lost on West Cow, but we have also found several short cuts to our home.

• One Saturday morning, I was supposed to meet Beth at Dream Dinners. I’ve been wanting to do the assemble-your-own meal thing for years! I even had people lined up to go with me (to Village Table in Houston) two different times, but things fell through—for good reason—both times.
• I tried Super Suppers in College Station, but they quit doing the assemble-it-yourself system in favor of their it’s-made-for-you version. While the food was good enough, it was difficult to get in and didn’t let me omit the things Emil won’t eat. It was too much hassle.
• I considered Mom’s Meals, but they were all too carby.
• I ordered “mixes” from another company in Hearne, and again, they were all pasta/rice based and meant to be made with ground beef. I can get Hamburger Helper at HEB, thankyouverymuch.

So, when Beth told me about Dream Dinners, and then shared a meal with me at their home, I was dying to sign up. I made plans to go with her to her appointment on Saturday.

In learning to get there, I found a fun route down a winding road, so I awakened Emil-the-adventurer to join me. For a couple of reasons, we got lost on the way, and I joined Beth a little late. I still had a fabulous time assembling stuff and learning how the whole thing works. I signed up for July on the spot! At least some of our cooking will be both easy and healthy.

{Trust me, this part sounds boring, but there is a punch line.}

• Emil & I ended up all the way back at the Arboretum for “breakfast” at almost noon.
• When we emerged, the battery on the car was dead.
• Luckily, we found a nice guy (who was wearing a Thai Coca-Cola tshirt like the one Stephanie gave Emil when she came back from an entomology trip in 2006) to give us a jump.

While we kept the car running, we used VZ Navigator to help us find a battery store and went to a National Tire and Battery. Guess what they didn’t have? Batteries. Why? Because they are getting a new product line and some dolt ensured that their “bad/old” batteries were removed, first, to make room for the new ones they were yet to receive. They didn’t cover up the words “and Battery” in the name… Why would they take out all the batteries and then leave these poor stores with nothing? I Tweeted the product change #FAIL while Emil found AutoZone. We bought a battery with the car running, (broke the apartment rules and) installed the battery (quickly) in our parking lot. $90 later and we are ready to start the car!

After half of a day of some serious adventure, we felt it was in our destiny for the weekend and followed a route to some new homes in ATX. We can’t buy until our house in Bryan sells. wink-wink-nudge-nudge. The homes called Agave are 10 architects’ 50 designs that are funky/odd. Normally, this would be right up our alley, but these are lame.

• The first floors are “polished” concrete, so they didn’t spend the money on flooring.
• The stairs and upstairs are bamboo, but the “kick” part of the stairs is painted white wood, which is already nasty just from viewers.
• The homes all face west, so the A/C bills are going to be a nightmare.
• Most of them don’t have garages. The ones with carports are single-car.
• The HOA amenities include an unused community garden and some single-lot-sized parks.
• The purposely-not-mentioned “amenities” include views of a trailer park, a train track along the neighborhood, and close proximity to the water-treatment plant.
• They expect $220-350K for a home that is way east of I-35 with few interior features just for a view of a very distant downtown.
• Oh, and you have to drive through some shady stuff to get to downtown.
• What a joke!
• We were reminded of how happy we are to have a Realtor. Thanks, @bennrosales!!!

Our next adventure consisted of finding cushions to support us on the futon in the living room and to serve as a headboard in our room. Regardless of the kind of home, it seems that setting it up is a very long process. After moving from a 3+1/2/2.5/2 home to a 2-2 apartment, who’d have thought we’d need anything??!?

Next, we finally found the adventure we’d set out for on Saturday morning. We followed the long/winding road to both some exquisite and some adorable neighborhoods. We also took some routes through nearby neighborhoods. We passed the very park where Beth and Marc took us (and their dogs) for an afternoon romp.

All in all, it was a great weekend of adventure…and one of many we hope to have in our new city!

Of course, we think Austin is paradise. It’s why we chose to move there.

Thanks to Brock for his cheesburger research and his friend Sandy who keeps it online.

Thanks, too, to the guys on the radio this morning for talking about it. Since we are back in Bryan for a couple of days, I don’t know how I heard it, but I’m glad I did….and more glad Brock is Googleable.