I really, REALLY hate magazine issues that are devoted to ‘THE BEST OF’ just about anything and everything.  What that really means is, you won’t be receiving a copy of that magazine next week.  People does it with the sexiest this and that, US News does it with the best them and those…YAWN!

Okay, so last week came out with it Best Places to Retire list, and even though Austin was not in the top ten this year (some folks might be glad of that) we did get an honorable mention!  And I quote “A balmy day in Austin might be spent listening to a live music performance at one of nearly 200 venues, auditing a class at the University of Texas-Austin, attending the ballet, taking a dip in Barton Springs Pool, or watching the sunset exodus of more than 1.5 million bats from beneath Congress Avenue Bridge”.

I am not sure that brief little description (especially the bat part) will make more folks want to head this way, but I am sure they know what they are doing.

I could have probably thought of a few more things that make Austin so attractive to retirees, but then that would mean I have actually given this some thought, and I am nearing that age.   Watching the sun set at Lake Travis has always been a favorite of mine, and where better than from one of the many decks at The Oasis.  I have only been once since the big fire, but I hear it is begger and better (and more fireproof) than ever!

And what about Hippy Hollow?  I took my mother there once in the late 80’s, and her most emphatic comment was that she needed to have the prescription of her glasses checked!  ‘Nuff said!

When I first moved here in the mid 80’s, my first several weeks were spent on-or-near I-35 (okay IH-35) and what is now 183 (that was not there yet).  I had heard glowing reports of the city, but all I knew of it was the Interstate.  Finally one weekend, I got out on 2222 (when it was REALLY curvy and dangerous) and finally determined I had done the right thing!  I even remember the specific spot at which that revelation was made to me.  2222 going west, just when you make the curve close to the Design Center where you see the first bit of rock face.  I was in love, and havn’t not had any second thought since then.

I am not nearly as adventurous as I used to be, but I know that all the things I love about Austin are still there, and most likely better, and I can go visit them any time I choose!

Remember to visit the Choose Austin First Fest this Sunday!  Go to http://www.chooseaustinfirst.com for more information.

Do Your Business Here!!!  Choose Austin First (http://chooseaustinfirst.com) is an organization of locally owned businesses dedicated to fostering and promoting the unique lifestyles we all enjoy in Austin.  The members are all Austin-owned, Austin-based businesses in a wide range of industries serving both local and national customers.

We have been members of Choose Austin First for several years…not charter members, but we joined just as soon as we first heard about it.  The members are truly a dynamic group of business-persons that are specifically interested in promoting the local businesses in our fine and PROUD city.    It is understood that you may need to visit a ‘big box’ store for some things, but if you have a chance to spend some of your dollars in a locally grown establishment, that would be a good thing.

Dolly Levi in Hello Dolly (c 1970, who knows for sure?)…“Money is like manure…you have to spread it around to help little things grow”.  Streisand and costume musicals…is there anything better?

 But I digress…

 

KEEP AUSTIN PROUD joined the group recently, and we want all of you to know about the Fourth Annual Choose Austin First Fest which will be held this coming Sunday, October 14th from 1:00 PM until 6:00 PM at the Triangle (at the intersection of Guadalupe and Lamar).  The fest is a showcase for local businesses, and with your paid admission ($10 per person for adults/children under 12 are free with an adult) you will receive free food and drink samples from some of Austin’s best local restaurants, let your children play on the moonwalk and superslide, AND you will get to listen to great live local music.

 Expected musical guests include:  THE BALLS, TWO HOOTS AND A HOLLER, JOHN POINTER and JOE KING CARRASCO!

This year, the festival will be raising funds for THE FISHER HOUSE, helping injured soldiers and their families.

 AND…you can get some really cool KEEP AUSTIN PROUD gear!  Be the first on your block with your very own KEEP AUSTIN PROUD STUFF!

See you all on Sunday!

In many ways, I have inherited many traits of my ancestors…okay, that is really just a nice way of saying I am afraid sometimes that I am becoming my mother.

On my way to a 9 o’clock appointment this morning, I was physically unable to keep myself from honkin my puny-little-hybrid-horn at the goombah that totally cut me off in traffic.  I was not late, I was not in a hurry, it would not have made a difference to me one way or the other if I had just been a little bit more considerate of the totally inconsiderate neanderthal like person that I, acting as judge and jury, had charged and convicted of poor motorist manners.  REALLY!

In my meeting, one of the participants was quoting from a book titled (perhaps) You’re Not Teaching Until They’re Learning and that made me think…perhaps I have not even been espousing my own religion of PROUDNESS long enough to fully grasp it myself!  Perhaps my work is just in its’ infancy as it were, and not yet even close to its’ toddler-hood.

So, with that thought fresh in my mind, I forgave myself for my temporary lapse in niceness.  Oh, and having done that, I am bestowing on all of you one free pass to use at a time in the future for your own personal lapse in judgement.  It should be noted that the free pass can only be used in a lapse of courtesy judgement, not for a lapse in judgement that involves having participated in a bank robbery or some other illegal activity of the felonious ilk.

And what have we all learned from this you might ask?  Well, as difficult as you may find it to be true, your fearless leaders here at KEEP AUSTIN PROUD are mere mortals, and at the very worst, we are banana-peel mortals on top of that!  That means we slip up every now and then.

So, let’s all get back on track, take another look at the pledge, and go back into the fray with a new attitude.  How do you know that you don’t like pea soup if you havn’t tried it?  Try it, maybe you’ll like it.  It is the same with staying proud…you might really like it if you try it once or twice.

So…keep an open mind.

Yeah well, fooled you!  This post has absolutely nothing to do with BRITNEY SPEARS, but my all knowing internet voo-doo GOD said if I put celebrety words like that in my posts, more people would find it and read it.

We shall see.

PARIS HILTON.

I have suddenly been bombarded with information about cutting back on energy consumption, which is a good thing.  I have personally changed out just about as many light bulbs as I can.  I read yesterday that the average American home is equipped with about 45 incandescent light bulbs, and that if we reduced that number by one, it would be the same as removing 1,000,000 cars from our roads.  I think that means that if every household changed one light bulb, that would be the result, but the way I read it was if I changed just one bulb…

Hmmmm…

Okay, here is an interesting thing, see if this sounds pretty stupid to you.  It did to me.

This morning I had an early morning appointment for a routine medical exam, and as I was leaving, the technician told me to take this paper to the front desk, and they had a present for me.  The last present I got from these folks was a customer survey card, so I was not that excited.

As I got to the front desk, they asked me to fill out a three line form, and said they were having a drawing later of all the people who register for a $50 cash drawing. 

 Okay…

And then she said it was customer appreciation day, and they had a gift for all the customers today.  Work with me here…

Them:  “Would you prefer a koozie or a pocket knife?”

Me:  “I beg your pardon.”

“Would you like a koozie or a pocket knife?”

“Are you arming the population with pocket knifes?”

“Perhaps.  It is from our marketing department.”

“Are you betting that everyone here is having a good experience today?”

“Yes, it is our marketing departments idea.”

“Does this sound as crazy to you as it does to me?  Are you making this up?”

“Yes and no.  It is our marketing department.”

“I’ll take the pocket knife.”

So, consider yourself warned.  There are ill people walking around south Austin today with free pocket knives.

LINDSAY LOHAN.

Ina a letter to the editor last weekend, it was reported that the city stinks.  Or words to that effect.  Two local PROUD Austinites were walking down one of the streets at the Old Pecan Street Festival (http://www.oldpecanstreetfestival.com/) and the stink emanating from a nearby alley was overpowering.  Too much information!

On Monday and Tuesday, the PROUD local newscasts were reporting racial and ethnic graffitti on the Pfluger pedestrian bridge over Lady Bird Lake.  Great…

So, hopefully we all just need to try a little bit harder.  We all need to set an example for everyone around us, and especially all the little ones in our lives.  If we set the example to everyone we meet, that we will not settle for dirty streets and unfriendly neighbors, we can really make a difference.

When you go through the “hard yellow” traffic light (after having to accellerate through the intersection), what message is it you are sending to your passengers, no matter what their ages?  You are saying it is okay and even expected to do that.  It is the same message you send when you drive aggressively or shout opinions to other drivers.  I prefer to do these things only when I am driving alone because, basically if I act that way with friends or family in the car, I embarass myself with my behavior.

Don’t you want others to be PROUD of you?  I do.  It is definitely a learning experience, and sometimes I still find myself shouting my opinions to other folks.  I really am trying to walk-the-walk.

So, next time you are out in public, try to do something nice for someone you have never met.  You never know, it might just make you feel better about yourself!

I read in the newspaper yesterday that the citizens of our fair and PROUD city rank 48th out of 50 in charitable giving for cities our size.  Good Grief!!!

There are all kinjds of giving, and many of them do not involve the transfer of funds from one entity to another.

 When I first began my most recent career, I decided that I really needed a good excuse to get out of my office at least for a little while every week.  I began delivering Meals-On-Wheels, and here I am almost eleven years later, still delivering those meals.  It takes about an hour per week, and I have changed my delivery routes once in my tenure, based on a physical move I made.  Meals-On-Wheels and More (http://www.mealsonwheelsandmore.org/meals.html) provides an invaluable service within our community, and it makes you feel good too!  Okay, it costs you an hour or so of your time, and the gasoline expense for driving 10 of 15 miles, but I will tell you, the rewards far outweigh the costs.

Okay, having said that, if you just want to throw money at the problem, take a look at this web-site:  http://www.ilivehereigivehere.org/ and you will find all kinds of ideas for making a real difference right here, right where you live.

Be the first on your block to get your KEEP AUSTIN PROUD bumper sticker!  Our first shipment is expected early next week, and we are giving them away free.  FREE!

 Send a self-addressed, stamped envelope (legal size, #10) to KEEP AUSTIN PROUD, P O Box 41868, Austin, Texas 78704-1868.  Include your e-mail address and we will add you to our e-mail updates list.  We will never sell or make your e-mail information available to anyone else.  We’re proud but we’re selfish!

And I guess that makes my car just about the happiest car in town!  The theory is, if your car is dirty you are not wasting water and washing your car in the driveway (and washing the driveway at the same time).  Whatever you think, the theory makes perfectly good sense to me!

In my professional life, I am a real estate broker (yep, one of them!), and we are supposed to always have clean cars, really clean, really big cars!  Depending on where you are from, when you hear the words ‘real estate broker’ a few things come to mind almost instantly; Big Hair, Big Cars, Big Money.  Well, depending on where you are from…

But I am getting off task here.  This entry is about conserving water, and every little bit we can do will help.  So, my little bit is concerning keeping my car a little bit dirtier than I would normally, while at the same time not having it look totally repulsive to an ordinary prospective client.

Whenever I meet a client for the first time, I almost always get the car washed and cleaned inside and out.  It’s a deduction!  It is all about first impressions, and after that is done, the condition of the car does not get any better.  We can almost always see out the windows from any position inside the car, but the inside does tend to get a little bit dusty as the relationship between broker and client progresses.  No one has ever lost anything in my car that could not be located with just the most modest of efforts.

So, the moral to this story is, try your best to buy a dirt colored car, and do your part for the environment.  Every little bit helps!

Okay, according to the crack-meteorologists, yesterday was the first day of Autumn (the Autumnal Equinox).  Other than a bit lower humidity, I could really not tell the difference.  The high temperature was in the low-to-mid 90’s, and that is really not that fall-like to me.  Fall-like temperatures are highs in the 70’s AND low humidity.

 I performed a non-scientific survey, and discovered the following:  Horses sweat, Men perspire, and Ladies glisten!  There was a lot of glistening going on around town, and the evidence was indisputable at the sno-cone-shaved-ice stands all over. 

Glacial melts are one thing, a twenty-minute wait for a grape-cherry sno-cone is the only true barometer of global warming we need!

 NEWS FLASH!

Last week I told you about the groovy new park that recently opened between Riverside Drive and Barton Springs Road, just east of the Dougherty Arts Center.  Well now I understand there is a plan to name the park, and you are invited to join the frenzy!  Go to http://austinist.com/2007/09/10/help_rename_tow.php and let your voice be heard.  There are several possibilities so far, but my favorite name for the new facility is “Bill”.

 Go figure!

Recently, the City of Austin opened the newest piece of the ever changing Town Lake Park (http://www.ci.austin.tx.us/downtown/0799/tnlake0799.htm) and I am here to tell you it is a real jewel!  We can all be truly proud of this urban-oasis, and it is just another reminder of the proud and sophisticated city we are evolving into.  It has been a long time in the planning and construction, as you can see if you click on the link above, but it was well worth the time and effort.

 You can access the park in several ways; there is parking available from Riverside Drive between South Lamar and South First Street, and there is also parking behind the Dougherty Arts Center on Barton Springs Road as well as public parking at the (relatively) new Community Events Center.  Don’t forget, it is also okay to leave the car at home, and arrive by foot-power, or on your bike or as a happy diversion from your usual jogging route.

The park is people and pet friendly with water fountains with ground level (for the pooch) access, mid level (for the kids) access and grown up level (for the grown ups) access.  Never saw those before, but they were well used every time I have visited.

 Strolling through the park makes people smile and say hello!  It is a happy place, and people feel the connection.  The big highlights of the park right now are the ‘dancing water fountains’ which is a real kiddo paradise, and the ‘observatory point’ which is arrived at in a circuitous route round and round up a slight and easy incline.  The views, both of the happy little squirts (human and liquid) and the ever changing Austin skyline are wondrous and awe-inspiring.  After you visit during the daylight hours, you will want to make a trip at dusk, when the colored lights play along with the water jets.  Just BEAUTIFUL!  Don’t be surprised if you see me playing in the water, fully clothed, with a great big goofy smile on my face.  It is one of my achievable goals!

 Have fun!