Dress To Kill

Starbuck (aka my sister) visited this past week. We had a full docket of plans, which was mostly accomplished. Mostly. I think I still aimed a little too high, but considering how rarely I will be getting any visitors (this would be the first time in the year since I moved here), I couldn't help but get ambitious with the itinerary.

My work schedule makes Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday my weekend. Starbuck went to a wedding in Dallas on Saturday and made a quick flight from there to Austin on Sunday evening, capitalizing on her "spring break" and my weekend.

Monday night we went to Mozart's Coffee, a place I've always had my eye on but never had the justification for making the relatively complicated and aggravating drive all the way to the river, west of downtown, just for coffee. So we went there as a prelude to hitting the bar scene downtown.

I must say, Mozart's Coffee is awesome. Way more awesome than their website lets on. The coffee is the best I've found in Austin, period. Enough to redeem the overall lack of good coffee shops relative to other cities I've lived in. Not only is the coffee good (in both taste and variety), they have bottomless cups, so you can mix and match your refills. And the atmosphere is outstanding. The cafe is bright yet cozy, and the outside is one big wooden deck on the riverfront, with a huge Tolkien-like tree in the middle of it. The deck has lanternlights that make me want to throw an Ewok celebration, and it's connected to boat docks and a similarly decorated restaurant called Hula Hut.

I have to go back there. As often as possible.

So, after achieving Caffeine Nirvana and dressed as high rollers, we drifted on over to South Congress to park. Listening List: Cowboy Bebop, Ocean's 11, Ocean's 13. Downtown Austin is hopping every night of the week. This was an ordinary Monday night, but it looked more like a special-occasion Saturday night for some other city, packed with all manner of adventurers and revelers. Streets were closed off to traffic in deference to bar-hopping pedestrians. I also noticed more vibrant city lights than I did on previous trips downtown at night. I've been to 6th Street many times, but it's different when you're actually able to enjoy it.

A live band every twenty feet, throngs of people of every dress code, bars, bars, bars, bars, and more bars. If you're into that sort of thing, 6th Street is well worth the hype.

We also went hiking at Brushy Creek, which I've done many times. We did brisket at The Salt Lick, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 at the discount theater (which I had already seen but Starbuck had not), and a few other episodes. No need to bore you with every detail.

We would have spent a great deal of time unwinding each night with video games at my apartment, and I was going to introduce her to Krull, but the bantha poodoo hit the repulsorpad when my power was shut off. I didn't even get a notice. The thing is, I knew I was very late on the payment because the power company surprised me with a $200 deposit charge that I couldn't afford for another few paychecks after the bill was sent. Yeah, so... deposit... for what, exactly? Unless the power company is lending fancy throw rugs to its clients, what the hell am I paying a deposit for?! I've lived in a lot of houses and apartments, and I've never heard of a utilities deposit before. Let alone one that's twice as much as the deposit for the apartment itself! So I knew I'd have to be late paying it. I had just gotten paid, so I was just about to pay it when it was shut off.

At this point I should remind you that in order for me to do much of anything social on my days off, I have to deprive myself of sleep immediately upon the start of my "weekend," to forcibly adjust my sleep schedule back to daylight hours for a couple days before forcibly shifting back. I do that almost every week, and it takes a toll. So the plan was for me to sleep from about 5 AM to 11 AM on Tuesday, but that did not happen. My sister fell asleep on the couch so I watched about the first half of Alien and polished off a few Blue Moons (not my preferred choice of beer, mind you), then headed off to sleep myself. I got up at around 8:00 to take a piss and that was how and when I found out that the power had been shut off. Dismay.

So instead of sleep, I immediately set about rectifying this business. I had to go to the grocery store where they have Austin Energy dropoff capability, to pay the bill and pay for same-day re-activation. In the process of doing that, my fucking car broke down. I called AAA as well as my girlfriend, to come pick us up. She took my sister while I dealt with my car. When AAA arrived, my car decided to start normally and make me look like an ass in front of the mechanic. So I took it to the auto shop anyway, spent $90 just to have it diagnosed. For months now, it had been having electrical problems with gremlins, poltergeists, and epileptic Sumerian demons. I had been meaning to take it in anyway, so I figured the car forced my hand and now was the time. Turns out that yes, the many theories are correct, I do in fact need a new body control module. With labor, that costs about as much as an XBox 360 and a PS3. Fuck. Add that to the bullshit utilities bill, and I'm sitting a cool grand. That's not a good day by any stretch of optimistic spin.

Juliet came to pick me up at the shop with my sister in the backseat and her dog Aija in the front seat. I got in, sat with Aija, and Juliet told me that she had bad news. I braced myself. She then told me that Aija had dug up the body of the roommate's dog that had been buried several weeks ago and it was lying in the yard. I laughed and affectionately rubbed the puppy's cheeks, "You're such a bad dog! You dug up your roommate?!"

So, while waiting for my car to be diagnosed, and only on three hours' sleep, I set about digging a newer, deeper, more thorough grave for the exhumed dog. Texas soil is too rocky for that. It sucked. It was really, really frustrating. I've dug many an animal grave as a teenager in Missouri, and the soil there is much more accommodating. This sucked.

When I finally buried Lucky's body (ironic name, isn't it?), I made sure to cover the mound with several good-sized rocks to prevent further digging. I pointed at the ground and emphatically commanded, "Stay!" Actually, I made several such jokes in poor taste. Morbid, irreverent humor is a daily thing for me, considering where I work at night.

So anyway, that was a trifecta of crap in one day. Oh wait, a fourth thing went badly. I almost forgot to make note of this, but my piano student scheduled for that evening canceled. Permanently canceled. I found this out mere moments after being given the quote for my car repairs. That puts me down to exactly one piano student total. Not a lot of money coming in, then. When it rains, it freaking pours.

Later that night, I discovered that the power was still off. And the next day? Still off. Why the hell did I pay extra for same-day re-activation if they were just going to shaft me? Two business days is not even close to acceptable. Especially when one has a house guest! Balls.

For Starbuck's last night in Texas, the three of us went to the River Walk in San Antonio. Juliet and I had been there once before, though only for about an hour and a half, after visiting Noah Taylor a while back. I knew that I just had to show my sister this awesome place. Listening List: Ocean's 12, Final Fantasy VIII. It was good, but something was amiss. I realized how impossible my ideals for fellowship and camaraderie really are. You simply can't re-create certain mindsets from past adventures... not completely. Only in extremely rare instances do all the chips fall into place, as they did for David's bachelor party in St. Louis. I'm not sure how to explain this feeling, because it's so vague and abstract. It could be an entire blog post of its own, rambling on for scores of paragraphs. But basically, I will never have quite the social dynamic I really want. It will never happen. Again, that makes no sense when I type it out. I don't know quite what I'm saying.

Let me try putting it this way...

Time is fleeting, so seize the opportunities you can, but don't set your expectations too high. Your power could get shut off, your car could die, a zombie dog could be resurrected, or any number of other mishaps could throw a monkey wrench into your plans. Keep your ideals flexible, like I usually do, and you're better off. Hang onto the abstract self-images and caramelized memories of good days gone, but don't hang onto them too tightly, because everything is in constant motion. I will cherish every day the vague dream of having a party of a dozen or so old friends gallivanting around with me when listening to the soundtrack to Ocean's 11 / 12 / 13. I'll bottle it up and let it get better with age. I'll take it down off the shelf once in a while and imbibe the ambrosia of Perfect Camaraderie, but it's mostly a rhetorical world for us. We can almost get there, but never quite there. Most people only get one vacation a year (though far fewer if you're someone like me), and even then it's not guaranteed to go as planned or dreamed. Even if you're with your favorite people in the world, something can feel amiss. Something can be lacking. I still don't know what I'm trying to say.

Okay, let me try that a third time...

Do what you can with what you have where you are. Instead of planning events up to and including the moods of everyone themselves, just let the mindsets dictate themselves. Whether you're at the San Antonio River Walk with a party or at Scooter's Coffeehouse by your lonesome, hold onto whatever whimsical or nostalgic good mood comes along, because you never know when it might come back exactly as it appeared. You can't save it for later. If you suddenly find yourself feeling like a million bucks, let it ride. If you were all set for it, but the feeling doesn't come, don't try to force it. Don't get your expectations up, just work with what you've got when you've got it. The "perfect moments" will present themselves when they are damn good and ready.

I know, that sounds like the most basic common sense, thus painting me in a less than flattering light. I know better, of course. I just meant... I don't know, I guess I'm just going crazy not seeing any of my friends or family, being painfully aware that time is marching inexorably onward without my consent. I want more.

Let me try that one more time. This is what I'm trying to say: Take what you can get, and dress to kill.

So, in summary, we had fun, despite being screwed over by a couple of situations. I tried too hard to make everything perfect, and I learned a few lessons in the process. And it turns out that Austin is actually a pretty cool place, if you have the means and the occasion to really discover it.