It's South by!

This week and weekend Austin is hosting South by Southwest, also known as SXSW, also known as "South by" to those who are too hip to actually complete the entire title.

I enjoy live music, but I've never been a festival person.  Back when I was in college I couldn't afford (or chose not to afford) a ticket to the events.  And now that I'm older, I realize they don't sound near as fun to me as they once did.  One year we were in the middle of a drought, and all the pictures I saw from that one involved people wearing yard masks to keep the dust out of their respiratory system.  The next year the festival organizers decided to fix the dust issue by putting in brand spanking new grass before the event.  We had more rain that year, and all the feet on the brand new grass quickly turned to mud and there was talk of what was actually in the "dillo dirt" that everyone was covered head to toe in.

Not my cup of tea.

So while Austinites and 200,000 extra people enjoy and enjoyed all that Austin has to offer, I am spending my time up in my little corner of Northwest Austin, shopping at big box stores and eating at chain restaurants.  Normally I love all the unique things Austin has to offer, but for these two weeks, I'll stay far, far away.