Today's the day! Hooray! The day I was born, which means it is the day that I get to do whatever I want and go wherever I want and eat whatever I want and have all kinds of fun. And maybe when tomorrow comes I will remember that, actually, I can do t

well, actually, it began two weeks ago and it's called birthday month, because why the hell not? but this week is the actual day, and on the actual day I will go to see the marching band magic of the 22-piece collective Hungry March Band and it wi

It's a lesson I've tried repeatedly to learn, one I've complained about and written about and moaned over. Overscheduling, taking on too much, filling up my days with activity or work until I am grumpy and antisocial and ready to collapse from frustr

I heard the rain start last night, tapping against my living room window, and the weather report promised me it would be there all day. It's been too long since we had rain; just windy days and stupid snow. Not the light, early winter snow either,

It wasn't enough to be chosen once, she realized. To pick and be picked out of all others. No matter how many people were in the room when the selection took place, she didn't want to be done with it, to have the question settled, the decision made

why won't you let me post anything for March 26th I wonder?

I need a new bike.I need a new bike which is not a ridiculously heavy Huffy bought at the local discount department store one late spring day years ago on a whim, by someone who knew nothing about bikes (how they're built or how they're maintained

You are a boy. You love Wet Hot American Summer and The Big Lebowski and midnight movies. You've taken stand up comedy classes (improv of course) and love it when girls say you're funny. You can name three Saddle Creek artists (counting any Conor Obe

In one week I will be thirty. I'm pretty immature, so this may be shocking, but it is true. One year older! One year farther away from the traumas and disappointments that marked our collective adolescence! Hurrah!I'll miss being twentysomething,

on january 31, 2005 I emailed Laurel. i just talked to my boss about all my work issues (more $$, or at least a title change for extra work) and he promised nothing and said there probably wasn't cash, which i knew. but he was receptive and i did i

I tried to see the Thermals at SXSW but we were too late and the line was out the door. Meg and Mike tried to cheer me up - "You'll get to see them on Tuesday in New York," Meg said - but I stayed bummed out for a few minutes. "You don

does it count as low self-esteem if you think you are totally kickass but you can't figure out why anyone else would think you are?either way, it's probably a good idea not to try to talk them out of it.

Today I'm back at work in the chilly northeast (though it's bright today, and near fifty, tomorrow returns to cold and drizzle). I'm back at work and it makes no sense considering it's sunny in Austin and there are bikes to be ridden. Still, it's tr

Meg finally gave me her Best of 2004 mixes and though I mocked her for it initially, I must shamefacedly admit it and agree.That Kelly Clarkson song is actually pretty good.

The Austin Hit List: or It's My New Favorite...Saying "Oh, you're my new best friend! Replacing my old best friend, Meg!" - me to Meg for doing something nice, like loaning me her cool zip-up hoodie or giving me a silver sheriff's starNew

Goodbye Austin! Oh, goodbye Austin, with your bright sun and your friendly people and your green spaces and your Whole Foods headquarters and your delicious ice cream and your swimming pools and your well-constructed cities, built for bikers and pede

We start early. We always do. But this time there's the added incentive of getting it all in, all the things we've been meaning to do and see and get to. This is our last day to do it all, and though we don't quite make it -- the Go! Team and Against

At the Flatstock Poster Art show we passed one artist who had a note on his sign, "Will trade art for Converse." I looked at the immense Converse bus packed at the back of the convention hall. "What's that about?" I asked, and he

Austin is a bike town, the city laid out to accomodate pedestrian and bikers and cars through major roads and bridges and side streets (even the buses have bike racks!), and since we hadn't been able to get a grip on the layout yet, we decided to ren

"I realized a little while ago," I said to Meg as we walked past punks and metalheads and hardcore thugs and pretty boys, "that it's really easy to be enthusiastic about things when you're young. The real test is whether you're still

We were exhausted from the bike riding and the sun and the staying up late and the fun, but we were troopers and there was more fun to be had. So we napped and got changed and got ready for burritos and music. Mike and Lynn were dedicated to the Emo

Today was the Alamo, because why not? We hit the highway toward San Antonio and rode it for 75 miles until we got to the beautifully cheesy tourist trap we expected. We refrained from asking about the basement, but wandered through the educational di

We'd driven by the SXSW madness the night before, but tonight we were driving straight into the heart of it. Meg wanted to see Year Future and the Chinese Stars, Mike and Lynn wanted to hit another show, then join us at Emo's for Some Girls. I wanted

As we waited in line to get our rental car, Sailor Mike called to say hello. I told him the story of the possible rock star I photographed on the plane while trying to take a picture of Meg. "Who was it?" he asked. "I have no idea,&qu

The trip from Boston was nondescript, but when we switched planes in Dallas we knew it was on. South by Southwest was in the airport and in full force. Tight shirts and dye jobs and complicated facial hair. And receding hairlines with overly large