GTT

So. This has happened.

I’m not sure I can blame my lack of posts and twitterings entirely on the move, but I’m going to anyway. The fact that I didn’t do a Road to Austin: Phase III post, or discuss the realization that the only way I could afford to move was to sell my ancient car, or at least acknowledge New Year’s Eve and develop some appropriate resolutions offends my sense of plot, but I suppose real life never does have a coherent story.

Although I am camped out on a friend’s couch, car-less and unemployed, I have to say I love Austin. Early impressions: (1) Creepy birds, mainly the doves, which sound like a crying baby, and a species of grackle which makes a variety of charming car-alarm noises when excited, which is all the time. (2) Street con artists. I’ve seen my fair share of begging, both here and abroad, but Austin seems to have more than its fair share of able-bodied, sober, perfectly sane, well-dressed and suspiciously articulate beggars, all with a story to tell. This is excellent. My goal in life is to live in a post-apocalyptic movie, but with plumbing, and I think I am getting closer to that point. (3) College students. There are a lot of them, and at some point in the past decade, they apparently began admitting a bunch of twelve-year-olds as freshmen. Bah humbug, get off my lawn, et cetera, et cetera.

Anyway, the important thing is this: About two months ago, I got all wrapped up in selling the car, packing, saying goodbye, repacking, filling out job applications, and packing, and I quit writing, and social media-izing, and as I look at this long, rambling, inarticulate post, I’m thinking maybe I should have stayed quit, but be that as it may, I’m back.

And I’m in Texas. And here I will stay, at least longer than I’ve stayed anywhere else. I am too old to be constantly picking up and moving. Let’s see, I lived in Georgia four years, which was longest, so that means I have to stay in Austin for five, which means 2018. In 2018, there will be a new president, and I will be—gah, old. But whatever happens, I’ll be here.