Contrary to Popular Belief; No, I Never Flashed Bob Schneider!

It is funny how you forget certain things, even regarding very important times in your life. After talking to my pal Cheryl last night (Cheryl is one of my best buds from Austin, Texas), she brought up a cruel joke that we played on our friend Andy (excuse me, Andrew).

Back in 2002, Cheryl, Andrew, and I attended the First Annual Austin City Limits Festival. A wonderful hot summer weekend under the Texas sun listening to great music with great friends. At one point, Cheryl lost her cell phone. As the three of us split up looking for it, somehow Andrew and Cheryl were convinced that they saw me near the stage, if not on it. Cheryl and I were then alone for a minute, and we decided that we were going to play a little trick on Andrew.

You see, Bob Schneider, a famous Austin musician who not only has a solo career, but fronts several great bands, was on stage. I had only recently become acquainted with Bob and his bands thanks to my roommate Karen. Bob's set at ACL Fest was one of the acts that I did not want to miss.

It was conceivable that Andrew and Cheryl thought that I had worked my way up to the stage. Cheryl's idea was this (and yes Cheryl, it was YOUR idea): Hey, let's tell Andy that you flashed Bob Schneider. So, we did. I have never in my life flashed anyone (except maybe my boyfriend Brian). Up until 2006 when Cheryl broke the news to Andrew, he was convinced that he had corrupted me all those years ago.

The sad thing is that I forgot all about this, and I am not even 30 yet! What am I going to remember about my days in Austin when I am 80? I am just glad that Cheryl reminded me, and that we were able to pull one over on a very smart guy for so long. I will never ever forget how much fun I had in those few short months of hanging out with Cheryl and Andrew. And yes, I still listen to Bob Schneider's solo work from time to time.

Lindsey

"The Incubus Files"

"The Incubus Files" was a improv Halloween performance put on during October 2002 in Austin, Texas. For whatever reason, I thought about it the other night. Quite simply, it was one of the most chilling theatrical experiences of my life. While it was supposed to be lighthearted Halloween fun, the fact that it dealt with real life horrors such as the murders supposedly committed by Lizzy Borden, as well as the impossibly dark visions of Aldolf Hitler, made it something else.

Before I go any further, you have to realize that Cheryl (my best friend while I lived in Austin) and I were always up for strange, unique theatrical or musical performances. While Andy was usually willing to go along, he thought that this just seemed a little too off-beat for him. Indeed, there are some very good reasons why "Keep Austin Weird" is a popular movement there (and the off-beat gives the city a lot of its appeal).

Well, "The Incubus Files" was held in an old warehouse in a relatively seemy part of Austin. Actually, the setting was perfect. The premise of the show was that certain items from horrific crimes in the 19th and 20th centuries hold a certain fascination with the public. The question remains whether the objects held power over the killers or whether the killers imposed their will on the objects. For example, the entire building was set up as a "museum" to showcase items such as Hitler's pillow and Lizzy Borden's ax (there were several others as well, but those were the most famous). In other words, it was a shrine to the macabre.

The warehouse and audience was divided into three or four different "rooms" or "scenes." Each room contained a different macabre item showcased in an elaborate set. Actors would then come and tell various tales surrounding the items and interact with the audience. The actual show depended on the audience, and if one were so inclined, he or she would have had a different experience each time they saw the show. In order to keep audiences and actors moving along, a chilling buzzer would sound. Audiences would then move on to the next horror.

Actually, the fact that the horrors touched upon in "The Incubus Files" were real, along with the creepy buzzer, was what truly terrified me. In fact, the buzzer reminded me of a strange experience I had in a hostel in the Costa del Sol, Spain (after my experiences studying abroad, the movie "Hostel" particularly disturbed me; it simply made me realize just how easily it could happen). In the end, Cheryl and I spent an evening getting downright scared.

True lovers of the macabre, Cheryl and I went on a "ghost tour" of Austin during the fall of 2004 (after I moved to Houston in 2004, I visited her one weekend in Austin, and she then came to visit me in Houston one weekend). It was pretty predictable and not very scary, but there are a few things that stand out from that night. First of all, the tour was tied up with an exhibit on the supernatural at the downtown arts center. The exhibit was actually much better than the "ghost tour." In fact, there was a tribute to those who died on September 11, 2001 that I will never forget. It was titled "September 12, 2001." It started out with a moving panel showing a busy, lively New York street scene with many, many people. Then, it changes and the panel then just shows shadows of the people who were in the original piece. The implication was that New York City had thousands of new ghosts on September 12, 2001. It was moving and chilling all at the same time.

In addition, there were personal testimonies of paranormal. One of the most chilling was an audio recording of someone telling of their experience of seeing a ghost van (as in a van similar to that used in "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre"). Supposedly "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre" was filmed in north Austin (north Austin is actually now a mecca for those wishing to make low-budget films). According to the audio recording, the ghost van was seen on what is now a relatively well-traveled north Austin road. At the time, there wasn't much development there at all (late 70s, early 80s). For whatever reason, the telling of this tale was incredibly terrifying. I happened to know the exact area he was talking about. That fact, along with my all too active imagination, sent chills down my spine.

It is true that you can find horror, terror, and ghosts in any city, but for whatever reason, Austin has more than its share (not to mention Texas itself). The history of Texas and Austin (as well as San Antonio) are passionate and filled with hope, despair, and reinvention. Every group that has claimed Texas as its own has left an indelible mark on its history and culture.

Lindsey

All About Austin

For whatever reason, Austin has been on my mind a lot lately. I look back on my six months in Austin, Texas (from June to December 2002) as one of the best times of my life, but it is important for me to remember (especially right now) that it didn't start out that way.

As strange as it sounds, things didn't start going right for me in Austin until after my car accident on July 24, 2002. The car accident, which occurred on my way to work, wasn't my fault (a large moving truck made a left hand turn in front of me while I had a green light) . I easily could have been severely injured or even could have died; instead, I broke my big toe from slamming on the brakes so hard. I also had bad bruises from the seat belt and a cut behind my ear (the molding of my car somehow struck me there). If I had had a passenger, he or she probably would have been severely injured or dead (all I could think of was my little brother, whom I used to cart around a lot).

After the emergency room visit and the visit from my Mom (she flew out to Texas to help me get a lawyer and a new car), I was banged up, but OK. Then, and only then, did the University of Texas college students who were my roommates inform me that my sublease was only for two months. I had to find another place to live. Quick. It didn't help that I still didn't know many people or that I had a walking cast (doctors were worried about the metatarsal, the larger bone in my foot).

In the end, the weekend before I had to move, I found the perfect roommate. I utilized the internal classifieds at Applied Materials and met Karen. Karen literally graduated from high school the year I was born, 1980. She is a single mom (her son was three at the time) who was feeling lots of financial pressure at the time, despite her good job at Applied Materials. She happened to have an extra room and bathroom. We hit it off right away. She never seemed that much older than me, and it was as if I lived with a fun aunt for four months. Better yet, it was only eight minutes from work.

Around the time I moved, my personal life got much, much better. During my initial training, I befriended a woman who used to work at Motorola. As we got to know each other during that week, she became determined to set me up with a former coworker of hers. The problem was that he had taken an extended vacation in Peru, and after I got to know him, I realized just how busy he was.

Well, it was through Melissa that I met Andy. I still had a walking cast on our "blind date," but I will never forget it. We went to a place call Flipnotics in a trendy part of Austin. On the bottom floor, there was a clothing store (closed at night), and above, there was coffee/traditional bar with a nice patio. I was incredibly embarrassed having to slowly walk up the stairs in my walking cast. I think that Andy felt bad about it. Flipnotics served as a small venue for local musicians, which is exactly why Andy and I were there. Ever the pragmatist, he not only was meeting me for a drink or two, he was checking out a new act for his community radio show - ATX Live. If I only had known the role that that show would play during my time in Austin.

That was the thing about Andy. He was and is an enigma. Professionally, he is an engineer, but his real passion was radio and music. He later became the president of Austin Community Radio - KOOP. It was through the co-op that he met Cheryl. Cheryl was a good friend of his who was incredibly fun. In fact, she became my best friend while we were there. She wanted Andy and I to get together (i.e. really date) badly, but it wasn't meant to be. Andy saw me as a kind of little sister (he is seven years older than me), and the three of us ended up having a lot of fun together.

That fall, Andy had laser eye surgery, and it didn't end up going well - at all. He was functionally blind for a week or longer. When he could finally truly see again, Cheryl and I decided to throw him a "dress to be seen" party (it happened to be close to his birthday too). I have so many outrageous pictures and memories from that party at his house. Cheryl, the eternal match-maker and optimist, made excuse upon excuse for me to head to Andy's house alone to help set up. I was spending the weekend with her in San Marcos, and she purposely didn't show up at Andy's until much later.

Well, it was strange being there alone with Andy getting things set up. It was homey, domestic, and felt all too natural. Not long before the party started, a bunch of his friends from work showed up (one happened to have graduated from Michigan State too). Anyway, everyone seemed to think that I was Andy's new girlfriend. At the time, it broke my heart that I wasn't. As I said earlier, I have many memories from that fall. That night during the party, Andy and I ended up dancing drunkenly around his kitchen. Andy, Cheryl, and I cemented our friendship that night.

Towards the end of the summer, the First Annual Austin City Limits Festival was held. I love to describe it as a techie Woodstock, and in many respects, it was. Not many people realize this, but Austin, Texas has a strong hippie contingent that never really grew up or left. I was treated to people older than my parents acting as though they still lived in the 1960s. You also had many, many young professionals in the technology industry (Samsung, Applied Materials, Motorola, and of course, Dell are all huge employers in Austin) in their 20s and 30s (people like Andy, Cheryl, and I) who loved music. Of course, Andy and Cheryl wanted to go in order to promote ATX Live too.

Well, Cheryl was at it again. She decided that she was only going to go one of the two days. I ended up spending the night in Andy's guest room and spending the last day of the festival with him - alone. It was funny. All it did was reinforce the idea that he looked upon me as a little sister. In fact, he insisted that I get a cowgirl hat so that I didn't get sunburned. As we sat on the grass waiting for the next performance (it might have been Shawn Colvin), we were treated to the lively conversations of young soldiers from Fort Hood. They were angry that they couldn't enjoy a cold beer, but it was very likely that they would serve in Iraq. Remember, this was during the summer of 2002. It was not long before those 18 - 20 year olds (not much younger than me at the time) were sent to Iraq. Every time I hear of someone from Fort Hood becoming a casualty or dying, I always think back to that summer before the war in Iraq.

Andy, Cheryl, and I went on to have a lot of fun that fall. I ended up going to a Halloween Party with Andy. It turns out that it was at the house of a friend of his, Chelle Murray. Like many in Austin, she is/was a musician. I ended up buying her CD. Her Midwestern roots showed through on the CD (she is from Ohio), and it quickly became my favorite. By the time Karen and I planned my going-away slash birthday slash Christmas party, I didn't want to go back to East Lansing. In theory, I had to go to complete my education. Yet, there was a very large part of me that wanted to STAY in Austin permanently.

As I drove away that foggy December morning, I cried listening to Chelle's CD. By the time I arrived home for Christmas, I was a different woman. I wasn't the same college kid who had left six months before. I was older, wiser, had had my heart broken, almost died, and for one of the first times in my life, had found my place. Things happened fast once I was back on campus at Michigan State, and before you know it, I was looking for a full-time job.

Naturally, I was drawn to Dell and Applied Materials. I was devastated when I didn't get those jobs after two rounds of interviews. I even got an opportunity to travel back to Austin on Applied Material's dime. Of course, I saw Andy, Cheryl, and Karen once again. When I found out that I didn't get the job, I felt as though my life was falling apart.

In the end, I started a relationship with Brian and ended up moving to Houston. While there were reasons for me living in Houston, it was a serious mistake. Houston will never be Austin. As much as I love Bay City and Michigan, Austin will always hold a very special place in my heart, as will Andy, Cheryl, and Karen. In my mind, Bay City has the potential to be another Austin (just smaller), but people would have to embrace progress, the arts, technology, and Saginaw Valley State University.

You may wonder why I've been going on and on about my experiences. It is relative to what is going on in my life right now as most of the great things that happened in Austin were born out of personal crises. It wouldn't take much for my life here in Bay City to completely change for the better; I just need to go after exactly what I want. Things have not been easy since Brian and I moved back to Michigan in 2005, but nothing worthwhile is ever easy.

Lindsey

PS - Prior to my relationship with Brian, I finally got up the nerve to tell Andy how I felt about him. He basically reconfirmed what I thought all along - that he looked at me as a little sister of sorts. He essentially told me that the age difference was too much, and that I'd understand someday. Well, he was right. Now that I'm pushing 30, I understand what he meant. It isn't the difference in age so much as it is stage of life. There are big differences between a 21 year old and a 28 year old.

Austin Calling