On the airplane it's Spring Break, and the Boys (Engineering) from Kentucky chat up the Girls from Cincinnati (she's actually from Chicago) ordering beers from the bemused flight attendent...behind me to the left, an obnoxious drunken older man will not shup up and I think that Marine woman who looks like Reba McIntire is about to kick his ass...and by now we all wish she would. He's really asking for it.

The local kids, all piercings and tattoos and vintage store polyester, all with guitars and songs and songs...there must be more guitars per capita in Austin than anywhere else in the world. And that goes double for the airport. There's so many aspiring rock stars in Austin they have their own 24 hour a day cable channel (Austin Music Network) which features Austin bands exclusively.

Yeah, the whole week or so mostly made me feel old. I was cool once. Now, I know cool when I see it, I have a pretty good idea about how I too could be cool, but somehow would just feel stupid if I were to try to be cool.

This was not always the case.

SXSW itself was just okay. I mean, the panels were pretty interesting, the trade show offered some okay schwag (not enough though), blah blah blah. The best part was meeting some of the weblog folks who I kinda felt like I knew, but had never actually met. Getting to put a face to, well, you know. Actually, this was sort of the worst part of the trip too.

At one time in my life, I probably would've really looked forward to getting to meet and greet and hang out and such with my fellow webloggers, but these days...I don't know. It's getting harder and harder for me to "get up" for Big Social Situations. And as much as I enjoyed hanging out and stuff (and I really did), it was always sort of a relief when we all went our own separate ways. All in all though, I'm really glad I made the trip.

Brig was the first weblogger I saw. She was, a little surprisingly, sort of quiet and self-composed (self-possessed?) if slightly mischevious. Sometimes though, I could tell that she was probably as uncomfortable as I was, which made me feel a little more comfortable. I think I would have like to have hung out a bit more with Brig. I get the feeling that you have to hang out a bit if you want to get to know her.

Matt was, a little surprisingly, the one most likely to be smiling or laughing. I was pretty convinced from the pic he has up on his site that he would be this serious, deliberate, professional designer type. But I found him to be engaging, warm and gregarious.

Rebecca was definitely the mother hen (albeit in a long, black leather dominatrix get up. even if that's not exactly what she was wearing, that's the way I'm gonna remember it) looking out for all her little weblogger chicks. Enthusiastic, friendly and genuinely interested in whatever nonsense you are talking about, for me, Rebecca kinda held the whole thing together. My pick as clove cigarette smoking goth girl weblogger of the week. She has a positive sort of energy I envy greatly.

Jesse was sharp, funny and accommodating. He always seemed like he was having a good time, and that made you feel like you could relax and have a good time too. Of course, since he and Rebecca were inseparable, I guess he was having a pretty good time. In person, Jesse comes across as even funnier and smarter than his writing.

Jason was cool. Funny, smart and as iconoclastic as you'd expect. I think. Anyway, he was pretty approachable despite his micro-celebrity status. Not many people know this, but his dad is the singer-songwriter Leo Kottke, who has retired from music and now persues theoretical physics at a large Midwestern university.

Brad was entertaining and funny. Irony, sarcasm, deadpan, pratfall, self-deprecating, he does it all. You can count on Brad to keep things moving.

Jack always had this look on his face like he was looking to get into some trouble. Slightly detatched but engaging nonetheless. I'd like to get into some trouble with Jack someday.

Robert was witty, friendly and eager to engage you in conversation. I found him to be much more literary than geeky. Robert seems to know how to have a good time and I often sought him out whenever we all got together.

Dinah was like well, like this Dinah-mo. Curious, animated and friendly, her eyes were always sort of darting around as if addressing all the different possibilites of the given moment, while making you feel like you had her undivided attention. I think she was the only weblogger to have her own uniform, but I could be wrong about that.

Paul was funny too. I know I keep saying how everyone was funny and engaging but well, it's true. I think I was the only one who was not funny or engaging or cool. All this time I had been thinking that I was the cool one and that everyone else would be kinda dorky, but it turns out that I'm the dork in this bunch. Go figure...

Cam was not at all what I had expected. Unassuming and energetic, he looks like he smiles a lot. Cam is the weblogger most likely to be recognized and stopped by a fan on the trade show floor. I admire the confidence with which he carries himself. (I don't know what's wrong with me. I don't really talk like this. Do I?)

Judith, although I didn't get to spend a lot of time with her, was, ahem, smart, funny and more cheerful that I had expected. In fact. most of the webloggers were more cheerful than I had expected. I wonder if I was more cheerful than they had expected. Judith seemed to know lots of people.

Meg is a Big City Girl and has the boots to prove it. You could almost say that she was sprightly, despite the boots. Back in my day, we woulda said that Meg had moxie. I'll bet that her dance card was full the whole time she was there. I saw her on 6th Street later that week, but for whatever reason, didn't feel like it would have done either of us any good to stop her and make awkward conversation. Someday though...

Peter is an impeccable dresser. But you already knew that didn't you. I only barely got to talk to him, but he seemed a likeable sort. Naturally, Peter was a very popular panelist. I wrote an epinion once. Honest!

I didn't really get to meet Lance Arthur, but he gives good panel too. Funny and smart, but you already knew that. Lance has a sensibility that I respod to. Whatever that means.

I seem to have left Derek out of this piece the first time I posted it. And he moderated the weblog panel. Sheesh. I didn't really get a chance to talk with him at any length, so I don't know how useful any kind of blurb here would be. Have I already used "smart and funny" line to describe anyone?...I will mention that his personal site was one of the first weblog/journal type things I ever encountered.

Wes lives in Austin, and although he didn't actually attend SXSW, he showed up one afternoon just to say hello to everyone and hung out for a bit. I'm glad he did.

Boy do I regret not getting a chance to meet Ariana.

Nikolai won an award for his site at the Interactive Awards thing I missed Saturday night. I bet he's sharp as a whip. I was a teenager once. I swear. I found myself wanting to impress on him that I was cool but then I realized I'm not cool anymore and probably haven't been cool in some time. He withstood the media onslaught with a grace and serenity beyond his years.

Mark had eyes as big as saucers (ooh! how original! how descriptive! I AM a writer!), soaking up everything, people, ideas, conversation, mannerisms, environment, Experience. Seemingly boundless energy and curiousity, eager to delve into whatever he finds in front of him. I bet he's ambitious. Definitely a most likely to succeed type.

I also got to meet Jami, who was working on a Big Assignment. If there is one person on whom I wish I'd made a better impression...I don't know what I just said. It was like that everytime I tried to talk to her. I'll be better prepared and more confident next time. Just like that Julie Andrews song. I think.

The Interactive portion ended Tuesday. That night, a group of webloggers went to Bruce Sterling's party, but for whatever reason, I didn't go. I just didn't feel up to it. Not that I didn't like hanging out with with everyone, just that, I dunno, I don't seem to be as good in those situations as I used to be. These days I kinda feel like I'm off my rhythm. Not all that comfortable in my skin. Everything seems slightly forced. I kinda wish I psyched myself up and gone, especially since I woulda got a chance to hang out with Jessamyn a little more. Jessamyn's a sweetie. In the few minutes I did get to talk to her, I found her to be a completely delightful. Yeah, the more I think about it, the more I kind if regret not making the party.

I bet I'm leaving some people out. Oh yeah. Ben Brown. I thought it was funny that during the weblog panel, the people doing the most talking, the people with the most to say about all things webloggy, were the folks who don't have weblogs or don't like weblogs. (Is this 3000 words yet?) I actually got to chat with Ben one day when we happenned to be walking from the parking garage up to the convention center. I didn't mention that a long long time ago i wrote this piece (which is unreadable. believe me. i was going for the concept thing and it kind of got away from me...) about/to him, but i did tell him that i had a weblog. He seemed nice enough. And he can be earnest too.

I just re-read some of the little blurbs and I guess we webloggers sure are "funny and smart." Sheesh. I suck at writing. Not everyone I met was funny and smart...

(Day 2: I just went back and fixed the broken/misspelled urls. sloppy, sorry. also, I knew it would be better for me to finally write my thing before reading everyone else's sxsw posts. I never would have posted it had i read what other people had written. this little aside is probably only interesting for me.)

Here are some other people I met and things I did while in Austin: (In no particular order)

Circled Bergstrom International Airport Sunday afternoon, using up as much rental car gasoline as possible, planning my Fear And Loathing/Stuck Inside of Austin with the Rosewood Blues Again story as I drive past the county correctional. I do all my best thinking while driving. Also, it's the only place I really feel comfortable picking my nose. Which, by the way, I never do. Tooling around in my Impossibly Red Ford Focus with the HUGE blind spot problem (the car is called "Focus" but i swear to got you can't see anything sitting in the drivers seat of that deathtrap of a car), I realize how I must look in my Obviously a Rental to the locals in their pick-up trucks and Jeeps and souped-up GTO's...Circling the airport, I'm trying to come up with a good excuse for why I blew off my 6am flight and now deserve to catch a stand by. (Every flight out of Ausgin overbooked for three days, so I stayed on for abit and got into some trouble.)

I would finally get out of town late Tuesday afternoon. I soaked up airport culture for a couple of days. But meanwhile...

Breakfast at Mary's off 183 on Sunday morning. Steak (uhh, yeah. anyway, it was meat. i think.) and eggs with potatoes, refried beans and flour tortillas, reading a Stone Temple Pilots article from an old issue of Ray Gun.

Getting juiced with Prince Charming, Billy, DC and his old lady, in the alley behind Sally's on 7th Street. A mini skid row surrounded by parking lots and rock clubs, don't wanna be helped huddled under cheap grey wool blankets, resigned and out for whatever is to be had. Catch as catch can.

Hooking up the Big Girl and Momma Shorty and the lookout flunkies on banana seat bicycles who hang out near the projects on 12th Street, near the west side. When Momma told me not to come back, I know what just what she meant. Big Girl, in an unlikely argyle sweater, says she'll walk back, even if it's raining.

Ricky and the young hustlers who sling at the bottom of 6th Street, hanging on the pay phones, their mouths filled with gold, every now and then they duck into the cut across from the Gas Light or in the alley behind the Mobil to serve some mark.

Heath and his girlfriend Juliet who I stop outside the DQ by the airport on my first attempt to get out of town. I tell em that I'm about to get on a plane and I have these fireworks* I can't take with me so if they want..."Hell yeah!" as simple as you like. Juliet is like a slim brunette Patricia Arquette, glamourous plastic sunglasses shade her eyes from the Texas sun and from the strange, funny-looking Asian fella who must look like he's been up for a few days. Like a cross between Juliet Lewis and Patricia Arquette, only not annoying.

Rob takes me out to Rosewood, Mission Impossible style...the questions never end and I know I'm being played but I half don't care. At first I'm a little worried when we pick up Brandi, who lives just a few exits from the Econo Lodge where I'm staying, but she turns out to be a good sport, mostly. Rob took me for a 20 spot but it was the best twenty I spent all week and I was glad to be rid of him.

Brandi goes on and on about how both the Sun and the Moon are both out at the same time, and we're about to hit morning rush hour, look at the Moon! As big as life! And here comes the Sun! She keeps telling me about her Man, but still, here she is, with me, driving around at 5:30 in the morning, going on and on about the Sun and the Moon...I wonder how old she is but I never ask...must be 21 or 22...since she can buy beer (I convince myself.) She shows me the scar right by her mouth where her teeth came through during the accident. Just a little scar, but you definitely notice. One of her front teeth is chipped pretty good too, but she's cute just the same...my zaftig Econo Lodge princess, she was actually wearing overalls when we met, she keeps telling me how she must look a mess and I tell her she looks alright to me and she smiles and asks me to light her a Newport...we laugh at the morning commuters, busily on their way to the rest of their lives, she thinks they look like stuck-up snobs and I laugh and agree and tell her I'm a stuck up snob too, and she laughs and puts her hand on my leg, and I pretend to be cool for just a little longer. Later, we both laugh when I tell her that when I checked into the motel, I found these two strawberry flavored condoms taped to the door. She never bothered to put her socks back on, and I left em on the floor of my room when I checked out.

There's more to tell...maybe if I get to know you a little bit better. Anyway, I had a pretty good time. Maybe there's hope for me yet.

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