mandalay

turn turn turn

so the last few weeks, i've not had the best luck. lots of people have flaked on me, i've been broke and still trying to get the apartment in order, but this last weekend seems to have reversed the trend. sunday, after finding the $14 i spoke about in my last entry, ashley called and we were both hungry and she and i and logan decided to go for sushi and then catch hero afterwards at the drafthouse. on the way up to the ticket counter, i found a $20 bill in the parking lot. which brought the amount of found money in one day up to $34. hallelujah. hero was absolutely awesome. i never saw crouching tiger, hidden dragon. not because i didn't want to, but sometimes when there's too much hype around a movie, i lose the desire to see it. in fact, i've never seen this type of movie, or a jet li movie for that matter. it was beautiful. the fighting was elegant and the sword blades sounded like windchimes. sometimes i forgot to listen to what they were saying because i was so enthralled with the colors and textures. there is so much beauty and art in asian culture that it amazes me how harsh the language can sound on its own.

monday i spent being productive, made a target run, finished up things at the apartment, and then adrienne came into town and we went out for drinks and appetizers at baby a's. the everclear margaritas kicked my ass. we met some people at trudy's and then headed to headhunters for the assacre show. seriously, it was awesome. more on that later.

tuesday i photographed minus the bear and loved it. i was worried that the heavy sampling might keep the show from being that great live, but i was wrong. there was less sampling that i thought and they were really awesome. they played my favorite song (absinthe party in the fly honey warehouse) and i discovered the joy of being a concert photographer: 1) i get in for free. 2) i have to stand at the front to get good pictures. and no one yells at me yet for cutting in front of them, so in addition to taking pictures of my favorite bands, i get the best perspective in the house and no one questions me because of my big bad-ass camera. next on the docket is wilco and calexico. yay!

yesterday i found an ad looking for visual artists and photographers to teach after-school programs for kids through the dougherty arts center. this is exactly the kind of experience i would love to have and have been hoping for -- i'd be teaching kids black and white and color photography and framing and lighting and everything i miss and would love to do again. my friend jen even said she would help me write a class proposal since she did a lot of teaching in grad school.

my evening was quiet as i've been reaching a peace with my surroundings. i was very pleased to discover last night that i have an awesome bath for taking baths. it slopes just right so i can actually lean back in it and it doesn't make that annoying draining sound that happens when a drain doesn't close completely. i happily watched the gilmore girls on dvd, had leftover thai food and discovered the next bit of information: the city of austin has 47 public pools that it runs. i've been wanting to work out again but my neighborhood doesn't have enough streetlights to make me feel comfortable walking at 6 am before the sun is up. i hate to exercise in the heat and i'd prefer to swim anyway, so yesterday i did some research. i found out that the gregory gym pool is closed for renovation for the next year. i didn't want to spend money on a membership anyway, but i did want to swim. so last night, while perusing the web, i found that there is one neighborhood lap pool open to the public when everything else is closed for the summer.

i drove there this morning and counted the lanes, watched people swim for a little while and noted the presence of an actual lifeguard. i thought about how nice it would be to feel that exhaustion again, that hunger and adrenaline after a good swim. i felt like i was in a different austin. there were kids walking to school with their parents and i was by a sandbox and park and watching parents walk out of their houses and affix backpacks to their kids and a crossing guard smiled and waved at everyone that drove by. it seemed a good sign. i realize that this is a long entry and only somewhat relates to karma, but what it does have to do with is this: i think i'm happy in austin. and at the moment, austin seems to be happy with me.

posted by amanda @ 10:47 AM