the show must go on

I was supposed to do my One Person Show “What A Girl Wants” for MOMfest this year. But there have been some technical difficulties (namely, the lack of a rear projector, a necessity for the show) so in a last-minute panic, a new show was born. And as most last-minute panic ideas usually are, this show looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun. Basically, I’m going to do a Farewell to Austin performance by bringing on my friends and doing what we do best– make you laugh. Austinites, reserve your tickets through Momfest now. It’s going to be fun. It’s next Monday and Tuesday at the Vortex and the Off Center.

And if you’re looking for something to do this Saturday, come down to the Bad Dog Comedy Theater where I’m going to bust out the Karaoke machine and the comics will be taking the mics. It’s at midnight, after the Newtonics. If you remember the Impromptones, it’s the same guys, minus a guy.

This past weekend was so nice it made me want to just buy a house and stay in Austin. Really. Spent a great time with Eric just talking and laughing and seeing our friends. We spent Saturday night watching the Asylum Street Spankers. If you live in Austin and you haven’t seen them, you’re missing out. If you don’t live in Austin, check out their tour dates and go see them. They’re a whole lot of fun.

And I’m not just saying that because they got me very drunk Saturday night and made me feel like a rock star. No, sir. Would have said it anyway.

Yesterday we saw Almost Famous, which was Almost Good, and then had our old lady/old man moment where we played Scrabble until it was almost eleven and then I had to go take my teeth out before I durn near fell asleep in my knitting.

The weather has turned that sorta cold that is the best part of Austin. It’s sunny and breezy and not warm enough to be called warm, but nowhere near cold. It’s just the kind of weather that makes you go outside to study and you end up just listening to the birds and falling asleep in the grass. It makes you want to go out and buy a few long-sleeved shirts and a new pair of jeans. It makes you listen to different music than the same six CDs you’ve been playing over and over all summer. The windows go down, the A/C is off. The house feels cleaner, colder, and you don’t notice the cat fur as much. The cats look like they’re smiling. You don’t even bother with the allergy medicine. The coffee tastes better, even when it’s that same crap-ass coffee you’ve been drinking at work for a year. You’re just in a better mood. You want things to stay just like this. You’re incredibly upset that in two weeks you’re looking for a new place to live. Just three days ago you were excited to start your new life and then it had to go and get all pretty and remind you how wonderful Austin is and now you just want to find a nice place in Travis Heights and settle down and maybe even get a dog because you know that would make Eric very happy. Even Cal is only half-biting your feet at night because he’s happier with the weather. You find ways to get out of work early. You end up not doing the errands you have that get you closer to the goal of moving. You stop thinking about it. You tell yourself you don’t have to think about it today, or even tomorrow, if it’s still nice. You throw yourself into the new show you have in a week and don’t think about the move, even though the entire theme of the show is that you’re going to move.

You want to see your parents. You don’t know when you’re going to have the time. You wish they could just come up and visit, but you know it’s hard for all of you to make the time. You want the time, but you don’t know where it is.

You end up taking breaks and talking to co-workers, knowing that you’ve only got another week and a half here, telling yourself not to think about how you’re going to be unemployed for the first time since you were a teenager in just a couple of weeks. You’re nervous. You’re more nervous than excited. It comes in waves.

So, today, because it’s pretty out, and because you’re meeting an old friend that you haven’t seen in forever, you’re not going to think about the move. Even when people come up to you tonight to ask when you’re leaving (you’ll probably be asked about five times) you won’t think about it. You’ll answer “end of next month,” which has become a bit of a mantra, but you won’t feel the impact. You won’t let yourself. Because today you’re in love with your home, your city, and the life that you have. You’re in love with the way things are right now, and you know that you’re setting yourself up to be very sad soon, and you don’t want to think about it. You can’t even think about the time in the near future when you’re settled in the new city with new friends and a new way of living that you’ll probably love just as much as you love here. You wish people had a nicer opinion of LA, because when you’re in LA and you mention Austin, people get happy and dreamy, but when you’re in Austin and mention LA, they instinctively get a little sneer.

You know you’ll be fine. But right now, for today, and maybe tomorrow, you’re going to pretend that you aren’t going anywhere. Autumn just started in Austin, and it’s one of the two prettiest times of the year. You just got your application for SXSW 2001, and you start making plans to come back to Austin for the other prettiest time– the spring — when your favorite festival is up and running and you get to party and see all of your friends again.

So today, I’m pretending that I’ve never heard of a place called Los Angeles. You don’t mind, do you?