"Austin City Limits" or "I got a fucking cold and barely went to the festival"

Ummmmm yea. The Austin trip was fun except for the fact that I got a cold which means I couldn't stand the heat which means I missed a bunch of bands which sucks for me.

Thursday we flew direct to Austin from New York because flights in Houston were cancelled or some junk because of hurricane Rita. The plane was full of hip 20 somethings going down to the festival. It was a really exciting flight actually. The ice bucket on the serving cart fell out and ice flew down the aisle. The hot guy sitting in the row in front of me picked up a piece of ice and tried to give it to me. When I rejected it, he threw it down and refused to talk to me the rest of the flight. Until he decided that the guy in the row in front of him looked like Ben Gibbard and he asked to see my Spin magazine and then tried to tell me that Ben Gibbard was on the plane. Little did he know that I was listening to his conversation. Then he hated me again.

My brother and his hair picked us up and took us to his dorm. His room is really nice. It's an old building and the rooms have that "we've been lived in since the '50s" look and feel to them. We left him and went to Natalie's who was putting us up for the weekend. And her casita was nice too. Two-story. Real big. We then went "cruisin'" on the drag and ate at Kerby Lane which is open 24 hours and is where are all the UT kids go.

Friday morning, Juan (my brother) called me, said "hey I'm hungry. Come pick me up. We'll go to Juan In A Million. I have class at 1:00." Now, if we were in San Antonio, I would have said something like "no get your own food" but this was an entirely different situation: i had the car and didn't know where to go to eat. So yes. Juan In A Million. Little Mexican restaurant on Cesar Chavez. It's owned by a guy named Juan (not my brother, duh) and he stands at the door and shakes the hand of every person that comes in. Little hole in the wall Mexican places...gotta love 'em.

There weren't really any bands I wanted to see on Friday except for Lyle Lovett. I kind of wanted to see Spoon. Maggie wanted to see Mates of State. But we were really tired/lazy to go. But we went to Lyle Lovett. We made it pretty close to the front side of the stage. He was good and I was having fun up until about a 1/2 hour had gone by when I felt like I was going to pass out. Realizing that I hadn't had anything to eat since the morning I went to get food. I came back and he was still talking from when I left. So we left. He was good and all but 1) he was doing more talking than playing & 2) i was feeling sick.

Saturday I woke up miserable. I had a head cold. I got all emotional for reasons I can't explain. It could have been the fact that my parents were coming to see me. They came. They took Juan's car to get fixed and then they took me, Maggie, and Natalie out to breakfast at Magnolia Cafe. I felt like a little kid who wanted her mommy. And I did. When I'm sick, I like her to take care of me. And she did. For the few hours she was there. They got me my drugs and we rested at Natalie's. After about an hour, I felt ok to go to the festival. I wanted to see Death Cab for Cutie and maybe check out some other bands. We got there for Built to Spill, made it up to the front, and the heat took over my body and I felt like I was going to pass out again. So I went and sat in the shade while they played. Before Death Cab, Maggie and I went to get fruit which I thought revitalized me. Death Cab came on and I lasted maybe 2 or 3 songs before I had to sit down again. Pathetic. I left early with Natalie and basically rested and watched Sex in the City and then fell asleep.

Sunday was the big day. Everyone was playing Sunday. I wanted to see Tristan Prettyman, Rilo Kiley, Jason Mraz, and Coldplay. I missed Tristan. I missed Rilo. Then I somehow had this moment of "I can't miss Jason. We're going now." We got there about 15 minutes into Jason's set. I rushed across the park to see him at his stage, got there, felt like I was going to pass out, went to get water and sat in front of the giant fan at the cooling station and just listened for about 3 songs. Went back to the water place, bought a bottle and they sprayed me with water which actually cooled me down long enough for me to push my way near the front to watch the rest of Jason's set. I love him. He was signing afterwards and I felt ok to wait in line. But after waiting for awhile, they came and told us that he cancelled the signing because he was suffering from the heat. I felt his pain. And I felt sorry for him. And it made me feel like we had a connection. We are really white geeks who are bothered by extreme heat. We're perfect for each other.

But aside from everything it wasn't so bad. It gave me a break from school and made me get real behind at the same time. And I got to see Natalie who I think I'm a little bit in love with and meet her roommates who I think I fell a little bit in love with. And I got to see my mommy and papi who I love like always. It was just a big ole love fest.