Austin, Texas

A few years ago, I wanted to leave my hometown. The only thing holding me here was nothing, so I thought, why not. I'll move. Everyone thought I should be afraid to do something like that, but my job wasn't all that lucrative (though it handled my needs at the time) and I figured I could have at least the same quality of living (lateral move) in a different place (which would be like getting a promotion).

I considered going back to Boston, but the quality of living would drop (Boston being more expensive than my poor little medium sized town) although going back has always been a dream. I thought about going down to Miami and hanging out with my college roommate. I'm pretty sure that Miami would have been the same as Boston as far as expense goes, but it would have been a bit better because I would have had someone that could help me out a bit. I thought about moving to Seattle. One word: Coffee. I mean, how could I not want to go to the home of Pearl Jam, Nirvana and coffee? Fuck the rain. I would get braid or 'locks if I had to.

Another place I looked at was Austin, Texas. At the time, I read that if you wanted to be around artists, Austin was the place to go. It looked like a good fit. Cost of living was similar and artists being starving and whatnot seemed to make this place very open to having someone like me in their midst.

In the end, I went to Los Angeles. There are many things I liked about Los Angeles. The church I was going to at the time, the weather (oh GOD, how I loved the weather), the beaches and the mountains right there, the people I became friends with. There were many things I disliked about Los Angeles: how fake it was, how much of your soul the city took from you, how hard it was to find a job, everything except what was named above. I admit that I was not ready to be there and in so many ways, I would not be ready to go back now.

This week, I am in Austin, Texas, the place I once considered going to. In so many ways, it is like my hometown - except it's a city and it wants to be. The fact that you can walk to so many of its places just makes it better.

I really like Austin. It is one of the places I would love to live. Jeremy, the Java Jive guy moved to Austin from Houston and belittled me for moving to Los Angeles instead. I understand. This is the first place where I don't feel weird. I was such a dogmatic Christian when I was in Los Angeles that I know I stood out for that. My weirdness was on my sleeve and no one else could match it. But here in Austin, my weirdness is on my sleeves and my shoes and my clothes and everybody loves it. It makes me feel that much more comfortable. I hope I have the chance to live here. I think that, in itself, will be interesting.