PERFECT DAY

Ok – Austin finally delivered (after four years) a day that lived up to the hype. It was our anniversary this week, but work and other responsibilities prevented us from celebrating on the day. Usually, we go to the fancy sushi restaurant, dressed in nice clothes, and pretend that we’re adults. That wasn’t going to happen this year.

Yesterday things came together though and I took a personal day from work. It was all pretty unassuming, by Austin’s rootin’-tootin’, Yosemite-Sam-firing-his-pistols standards. We went to get breakfast tacos at Taco Deli, which was not insanely busy. We avoided major traffic by taking shortcuts through the city that inexplicably worked out. We went swimming at high noon, as temperatures were over 100 degrees, at a pool that wasn’t completely overcrowded. We were having a great time and being more relaxed than comes naturally to either of us. The smell of chlorine and sunscreen reminded my of the summer I spent being a lifeguard with some of my best friends – and that even on the most stressful day of that job, I was less stressed than I’ve felt any time in the past five years. My hair dried into a brillo-stiff mat that reminded me of being on swim team in high school (which was hard work but really rewarding – we were League Champions! Not that anyone in our football/basketball-obsessed school cared).

Continuing on a nostalgic roll we went to see Super 8 at the Alamo Drafthouse – and the Spielberg-y retro-stylings of the film reminded me of my older brothers taking me to see E.T. when I was a little kid (I was terrified yet transfixed – at E.T. But Super 8 was good old-fashioned fun). We found out that next weekend nearly the entire cast and the creators of Party Down are coming to Austin for a marathon-screening of the series - how boss is that? Passing some time before the movie started, I walked over the vintage guitar store – being a left-handed guitarist, perusing the stock at music stores has never held the thrill for me that it does for my peers, because I can’t play any of the guitars except the one shitty lefty Strat that all stores keep on hand to appear inclusive. But today – on Awesome Day – there was a perfectly-beat-to-shit, left-handed Gibson Les Paul Special hanging on the wall (I’m a little sad to admit that I demurely plugged into a Vox AC30 and jangled out some chords for ten minutes, rather than rolling all the knobs to 11 and unleashing the Kraken of my awesome talent). Nonetheless, the guitar played beautifully and in some ways made my long-term relationship with Fender Telecasters seem childish, shallow, and unadventurous. I very rarely nerd out about musical equipment, because its pointless and lame, but obviously I’ve already written as much about this guitar as the rest of our anniversary day, so I indulged myself. From my perspective as visual designer, I think that the Les Paul Special is one of the most beautifully simple and elegant guitars ever made. Anyone with $1,500 to spare, or who would like to buy everything else I own so that I can get this guitar, feel free to get in touch.

After the movie we went to my favorite restaurant in Austin – Frank – which is, as the name implies, a hot dog restaurant. Now, there are absolutely better and tastier restaurants in Austin and I only ever get a plain hotdog with waffle fries, but I’m very fond of Frank. Probably mostly because it is where I take friends when they come to visit; its my little concession to Austin’s love of trumpeting “Hey, Check It Out – Austin’s Wild and Crazy.” Yes, I’m happy to say "yes, indeed, check it out: we’ve got a restaurant that just serves hot dogs; isn’t Austin a wild and weird place?" Also, its cheap enough that visitors don’t feel stressed by (a) picking up the check (b) letting us pick up the check (c) eating out again after having spent two-months-salary at the super-swish sushi restaurant the night before. We first went here during the World Cup a while back and we ate hotdogs and drank beer and watched a sport that Americans love freedom too much to appreciate (though I must admit that while Texans are crazy about football, they are also refreshingly crazy about fútbol). The staff at Frank is really friendly and kind and the bathrooms are nicer than most restaurants in its price range (which is important since my stomach problems have dictated the longevity and comfort of all our outings the passed few weeks).

After our late lunch we went to water the plants and pick up the mail at our friend Liz’s house. One of the major factors in how much we enjoyed this day lies in the fact that Liz is letting us borrow her car while she’s in El Salvador (where she does good deeds). Driving through a 100-degree day in the climate-controlled cockpit of her late model Toyota makes Texas so much more bearable than driving around in my un-air-conditioned 1995 Chevy Cavalier. We sprawled on her couch (we also can’t fit a couch in our new apartment and had to give ours to Goodwill – A couch! Liz, do the luxuries of your life never cease?) and watched a few episodes of our favorite guilty-pleasure television series (which a friend, aware of our embarrassing quirks, informed me was finally on Netflix) while eating homemade oatmeal and peanut butter chip cookies. We also did some laundry (thanks, Liz). We went home, ate leftovers for dinner, and went to sleep.

This might be pretty bland stuff, but it was my favorite day that we’ve ever spent in Austin TX.