Now What?! 05/05/2009

So I’m back in Austin. (Say it with me kids) “Now what?!”  Well I promptly left again, of course!

I had good reason to do so. I met back up with my parter in crime, Victoria Van Wey in sunny Los Angeles and after a couple of days of being more “LA” than we ever were when we lived there (including hikes in Malibu, buying instruments on Sunset, and dining at sidewalk cafes in the Hollywood Hills- pretentious? moi?!) we headed out into the deserts of California. “We had two bags of grass, seventy-five pellets of mescaline, five sheets of high-powered blotter acid, a saltshaker half-full of cocaine, and a whole galaxy of multi-colored uppers, downers, screamers, laughers… Also, a quart of tequila, a quart of rum, a case of beer, a pint of raw ether, and two dozen amyls. Not that we needed all that for the trip, but once you get into locked a serious drug collection, the tendency is to push it as far as you can. The only thing that really worried me was the ether. There is nothing in the world more helpless and irresponsible and depraved than a man in the depths of an ether binge, and I knew we’d get into that rotten stuff pretty soon.”

Then we began work at the Coachella Arts and Music Festival and Stagecoach Music Festival. 2 weeks of sun, art, and music. Can’t beat it. We had a really good response to our works of art this year, including a few being totally obliterated by the bands they were made for. There is no higher compliment for an artist. Really. Check out the pictures of our artwork and their subsequent destructions.

* Black and white photos of my dinosaur pinata being destroyed by No Age courtesy of jaredeberhardt.com

Leaving Portland. 05/05/2009

It sucked to make the decision, but I had to face the fact that there were too many YEOs (young, energetic, over-qualifed) in Portland and I was out of money, with no prospects, even coffee-shop type- service jobs.

The job market really was  horrible and I wish the best to my friends that have stuck it out there. I hope to visit soon. But I started looking for opportunities in good ‘ole Austin, Texas, my hometown, and things seemed more hopefull there, so I loaded up the car and made the drive back across the country from the great Northwest to the hill country of my youth.  Below are some photos from my last days in Portland (in a cemetery) and from the drive back to Austin.

*Funny side note. I will never in my life spell cemetery wrong because of a serious typographic error on the part of the State of Texas. I live near the Texas State Cemetery in East Austin, resting place of many Confederate soldiers, Stephen F. Austin and Barbara Jordan.  The state installed a really nice limestone wall and sign around the cemetery, unfortunately they spelled it “Texas State Cemetary” and no one caught it until about a month after the engraved, stone sign was erected. All I can find is this  article and there is no photo unfortunately. Texans!

Freaking Awesome Gravestone

Gravestone, backside

First Nationer Shop.

Gonna Move Here.