Halloween in Austin
Another great thing about Austin is the Spirit of the people here.  We were so surprised to see so many people dressed up in such creative costumes last night!  We started out early, around 8:30pm, after dinner with friends at our place (on the West Side), and worked our way up 6th Street from our place.  Along the way, we viewed many onlookers from restaurants who clapped and cheered, enjoying the parade of costumes.  I was dressed in a funky 60’s psychedelic body suit with a blond afro, and my husband was in a similar shirt, wig with small, blue glasses and fake mustache.  He looked like a John Lennon porn star.

Bat Man to the Rescue
Okay, so last night I was lying on the couch watching a movie while my husband was in the office working away on a project.  We have a great patio that overlooks the pool in our building, as well as a famous condo building in downtown Austin, “The Monarch”, and I left the door open as it was a beautiful evening.  It must have been about 8:45pm or so when the sun finally set and I was enjoying the relaxing evening.  Then it happened.  Something caught my eye, and all of a sudden there was a bat coming straight at me from outside.  It happened so fast I was in shock and it took

Austin is My Red-Neck Berkley...
With affection, Austin, TX is my Red-Neck-Berkley.   As a native Californian, my husband I moved to downtown Austin in late March '09.  Why did we choose Austin?  Well, a few years ago we contemplated the move to Austin to be near family while attending the ACL Music Festival.  What struck me was how open and hippie-artsy-fartsey-friendly everyone was just like people are in Berkley, CA.  In addition, everyone was wearing “Keep Austin Weird” shirts with straw cowboy hats and a smile.  Very Berkleyesk, baring the smile – everyone seems to be very serious in Berkley.  I can rem