Disjointed

This entry is going to be a little all over the place. I feel like I'm coming down with something so my thinking is definitely not linear today.

Mexico
I found a link to a cartoonist's entries. He's in Oaxaca for a year with his family and has written a few thoughts on the conflict going on there.

Austin vs. Dallas
Got back from Austin on Sunday night and I was tiiiired. Not sure I'm recovered even now (perhaps that's why I feel like I'm coming down with something?). The book festival was good, a little heavy on politics, which is to be expected during an election year but not necessarily my cup of tea.

As we left, I felt quite ambivalent about Austin. To be honest, Nate and I have harbored fantasies of moving back to A-town, a city we both enjoyed and where we happened to fall in love and get married. Dallas is very spread out and thus is a car-centric town. In Austin, I was surprised by all the people walking around and on bikes, all the family friendly activities that brought people outside, and I loved that people are just out and about.

The bad side is that it now seems so incredibly crowded. A drive that used to take us 15-20 minutes took almost an hour; after ordering breakfast tacos at Taco Xpress, we waited for more than 20 minutes for our food; getting seated for dinner on Friday night took quite awhile, too. There are just a ton of people there now.

But then there are the odd, Austin moments. Looking over to the table next to us at dinner and seeing John Kerry drinking a frozen margarita; eating our breakfast tacos and seeing some old-school Austinites (aka, hippies) handing out roses to all the people in Taco Xpress. So I'm not sure. I really don't know if I want to live there again or not. There are condos sprouting freakin' everywhere, but our friends, they're always good.

We stayed with great hosts, Bill and Kimberly, and participated in their inaugural dinner for a supper club they've started. We got to catch up with some old friends at Gueros. And we were there for our neice's two year birthday party, which was a lot of fun (unwrapping the presents seemed to be more exciting than the presents themselves). We got back to Dallas and I felt, it's not as bad as some people would have you believe. It's really not that bad at all. We'll see if it grows on me over time (like a fungus, perhaps?).

In more recent, Dallas news, we had a few trick or treaters last night, maybe 10-15, about 30% in costumes. We almost gave away all our candy. I should have given more away at the beginning, I now know. I was trying to be conservative in case we had a lot of kids (three or four pieces per treater) but Nate was giving them bunches and gobs. I should have been more like him.

Lately, I've been doing quite a bit of reading. Since I'm done with the novel for now (unless an agent or editor asks for revisions--if I'm lucky), I've been relaxing and recharging. Hanging out with Nate, watching TV, and reading. I'm gearing up for my next project so I'm reading some other work for inspiration and ideas. I'm waiting for the story to gel and start coming together. I feel that happening. I should be ready to start soon; December, I'm guessing.