I am in Austin for South By Southwest Interactive right now. I officially become a conference attendee tomorrow.
The chronology:
1) Get to Oakland airport at 9:00 a.m. for 11 a.m. flight. This is the earliest I've been for a flight that my mother didn't accompany me on.
2) Eat breakfast at airport Mexican restaurant. Lots of people drinking lots of booze. I don't think they were from time zones that justified this. It was before 10 a.m.!
3) Restaurant gave me a metal fork but a plastic knife. I am pretty sure a fork is more dangerous than a butter knife. I'll stab you with both and let you be the judge if you don't believe me.
4) Stop over in Las Vegas airport. Even the airport in Vegas is weird. Resist urge to play slots and go to the oxygen bar.
5) Finally get to Austin at dinner time. Cab driver is named "Rain" and plays "guess what Marcia's ethnic background is." Cab drivers the nation over love this game. They always guess: Italian, Jewish, Greek ... in that order. They are wrong.
6) See scads of SXSW attendees wearing badges. I can spot the ones from San Francisco easily. Do I look like I'm from San Francisco? I am wearing a hip-ish novelty tee (Atari ... how quaint) and sneakers along with a nice corduroy jacket, so probably.
7) Get to hotel. Find that the door to my room has a special trick to opening it. Desk clerk tries to teach me the trick and I'm just not getting it. Since it is the last available room in the hotel (and the last available one in the area under $400 a night), she suggests I call the front desk every time I want to re-enter my room if I can't open the door, clearly wondering why I can't just learn this trick that she thinks is really easy. The pressure of this strange woman watching me be unable to open a door makes me visibly annoyed. She assures me that all the doors are like this and that it makes the rooms safer. "But I have a key and I can't get in," I whine, carrying 40 pounds of luggage on my back and shoulders. "Don't be frustrated," she says. Why not? This is frustrating! "I just got in from a flight. I'm sure I can deal with this later," I say. "Why don't you go in and take a nap?" she suggests. NO! I HATE NAPS! Instead I go online and whine to Facebook about it. What now, La Quinta Inn? What now?
8) I walk downtown and go to restaurant after consulting with Justin Maps (TM) via phone. Group of singing college kids in fake mustaches hands me a fake mustache. Margarita makes me feel better. I order jambalaya. Nice stranger men who tell me right away they are married SXSW attendees befriend me and drink tequila with me. They have heard of my company so I don't have to explain what I do while tired. Austin people are also friendly.
9) Opt for going to the hotel to be with the internet around 10 p.m. Won't be making that decision the rest of the week, so I decided to be prudent today and today alone. Look out!
Conclusion: I have two beds and plan to jump on one of them. Whimsy!
The chronology:
1) Get to Oakland airport at 9:00 a.m. for 11 a.m. flight. This is the earliest I've been for a flight that my mother didn't accompany me on.
2) Eat breakfast at airport Mexican restaurant. Lots of people drinking lots of booze. I don't think they were from time zones that justified this. It was before 10 a.m.!
3) Restaurant gave me a metal fork but a plastic knife. I am pretty sure a fork is more dangerous than a butter knife. I'll stab you with both and let you be the judge if you don't believe me.
4) Stop over in Las Vegas airport. Even the airport in Vegas is weird. Resist urge to play slots and go to the oxygen bar.
5) Finally get to Austin at dinner time. Cab driver is named "Rain" and plays "guess what Marcia's ethnic background is." Cab drivers the nation over love this game. They always guess: Italian, Jewish, Greek ... in that order. They are wrong.
6) See scads of SXSW attendees wearing badges. I can spot the ones from San Francisco easily. Do I look like I'm from San Francisco? I am wearing a hip-ish novelty tee (Atari ... how quaint) and sneakers along with a nice corduroy jacket, so probably.
7) Get to hotel. Find that the door to my room has a special trick to opening it. Desk clerk tries to teach me the trick and I'm just not getting it. Since it is the last available room in the hotel (and the last available one in the area under $400 a night), she suggests I call the front desk every time I want to re-enter my room if I can't open the door, clearly wondering why I can't just learn this trick that she thinks is really easy. The pressure of this strange woman watching me be unable to open a door makes me visibly annoyed. She assures me that all the doors are like this and that it makes the rooms safer. "But I have a key and I can't get in," I whine, carrying 40 pounds of luggage on my back and shoulders. "Don't be frustrated," she says. Why not? This is frustrating! "I just got in from a flight. I'm sure I can deal with this later," I say. "Why don't you go in and take a nap?" she suggests. NO! I HATE NAPS! Instead I go online and whine to Facebook about it. What now, La Quinta Inn? What now?
8) I walk downtown and go to restaurant after consulting with Justin Maps (TM) via phone. Group of singing college kids in fake mustaches hands me a fake mustache. Margarita makes me feel better. I order jambalaya. Nice stranger men who tell me right away they are married SXSW attendees befriend me and drink tequila with me. They have heard of my company so I don't have to explain what I do while tired. Austin people are also friendly.
9) Opt for going to the hotel to be with the internet around 10 p.m. Won't be making that decision the rest of the week, so I decided to be prudent today and today alone. Look out!
Conclusion: I have two beds and plan to jump on one of them. Whimsy!
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I like this entry! I demand you write something like this all through this conference. It is educational! Public service, etc.
You hate naps? Is that one of the things we have in common? Oh wait, it is. It's water that I dislike and you like. Naps are dumb!
I used to love travel! It's like street theater, on a global scale. Lately I wince when someone says I have to drive. If I can't get there by train or walking, you might as well call it off.
Your word verification says, "frphunyf." I don't know what that means, but I find it amusing.
I agree with Joy - please continue with this blog! You can say that you received hundreds of emails from fans asking for updates.
OK, now you sort of have to keep up with this blog. According to Wired magazine, it's become infamous:
http://blog.wired.com/underwire/sxsw/index.html
Details!