Rockin' and Shoppin' in Austin

In all honesty, I did not feel well on this particular Austin trip (don't worry, Mom). I didn't sleep enough before or during our road trip and slumber is vital during the Hotze treatment. Since I felt wimpy and weak, Johnny and I, Matt and Janeen holed up in a comfy, plush booth upstairs near the Stubb's bar during the two opening bands. We laughed at The Onion, the guys sipped beer, and we all concluded that the second opening act - The Last Goodnight - sounded fantastic. Finally, Rocco DeLuca and the Burden went on at midnight, but I was doubly zonked by then. The band sounded incredible; I love that the lead singer (Rocco) plays a dobro vs. the typical guitar. I managed to stand up for two songs, but soon after Johnny and I escaped back upstairs and watched the remainder of the show on a bar-top TV screen. Am I getting old?

We caught a cab back to our hotel and fell into bed at 2:15 AM. Our cab driver asked, "Who played at Stubb's tonight?" When we told him, he laughed and said, "I'm glad someone else took the burden."

Johnny Pricelined a room at the Hyatt Regency after we sadly discovered that our beloved San José was completely booked a few months ago. The Hyatt is a four-star hotel and Johnny cleverly snatched our room for a much cheaper price, but once you stay at the San José, there is nothing else like it. Nonetheless, our Hyatt room was very nice and we woke to a beautiful Austin-morning sky and an overpriced, delicious room service breakfast:







I wish our 8th-floor room had faced the river, but our view overlooked the Austin-American Statesman building instead:



Other signs that we were in Austin, TX... Performing Songwriter magazine provided on a side table, very fitting to the city billed as the "Live Music Capital of the World." I used to read Performing Songwriter magazine religiously back in the day:



Energy-saving light bulbs in the lamps:



After breakfast and part of The Whole Nine Yards on TV (we love Bruce Willis), it was BookPeople time!



I am head over heels in love with that bookstore. Johnny grabbed a cappuccino; I ordered EcoTeas yerba maté with a stupid grin on my face. Not many coffee shops offer yerba maté! We browsed both floors for an hour or so and I consulted my Moleskine list. Here is my list after I crossed off our selected loot (the only books we could locate):

The Wild Iris by Louise Glück
To See Every Bird on Earth by Dan Koeppel
The Bedside Book of Birds by Graeme Gibson
The Architecture of Happiness by Alain De Botton
Wanderlust by Rebecca Solnit
All of Wm. Anthony Connolly's books
Four Testimones by Kate Daniels
The Body in Pain by Elaine Scarry
What the Thunder Said: A Novella and Stories by Janet Peery
The newest Dune book for Johnny
Birthday cards for Dad and aunt Pat

And here are visuals of that loot plus the inevitable items we acquired which were not on my list:



Oh Eloquent Ink cards, how I have missed thee!





$1.00 incense that actually smells great...





Of course I needed a new bird for our bathroom. Also, while we admired Penguin Books' cover art, Johnny put The Madness of Nero by Tacitus in our basket. I can always find good freebies at BookPeople, too:





The first is obviously another funny bookmark. The second is a postcard featuring a new McSweeney's book: Bowl of Cherries by Millard Kaufman. He is publishing his first novel at age 90. VERY inspiring.

Now for my first giveaway! If you'd like one of the bookmarks and one of the postcards (and 1-2 other small goodies), send me an e-mail and I will mail the goodies to the first responder. My e-mail address is in my Blogger profile. *

I wish we'd had enough time to photograph the Frost Bank Tower - a.k.a. the Batman building - and shop at Tesoros, but I think we did enough shopping, don't you?

* - [My Mom was the bookish lady to e-mail in a flash! She's fast like that. But I do have one more Millard Kaufman postcard plus a few fun extras, so if you want 'em, e-mail me your request.]