Was it the weather, the company (Danish), or those damn hippies? No one will ever know, but ACL was one big disappointment. On Friday I was able to see Thievery Corporation, a little bit of Them Crooked Vultures, and of course the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. I was naturally blown away by Karen O, having seen her for the first time live. They released "eye balls" into the crowd, which exploded with confetti. And Karen is such a spectacular frontman. However, I realized I'm just not really into crowds, long lines, walking, portable shitters, body odor, pushing, hippies, or mud. Maybe I was 
never into those things and I tricked myself into thinking I did for the sake of being "cool" and "indie." After the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, we roamed around 6th street looking for J Black's where Danish's cousin was waiting for us, stopped by a stand for a bratwurst with sauerkraut and onions then pizza, and finally arrived at J Black's only to realize it was a "club" with loud "booty" music, folks wearing fancy clothes, and no place to sit. At this point, I was tired and looking/smelling like a gross hippie myself so we politely excused ourselves and left for Brian's apartment. Had a great night sleep.
Saturday it rained. We went to mi Madre's for brunch: coffee and breakfast tacos/burritos. I met up with Molly and her boyfriend Jesse as well as Brian's new girlfriend, Kendra. Had a great time, fun conversation, and the food was so yummy. Danish and I decided to hang out with Brian a while longer before leaving for ACL, so we picked up some Shiner and went to his apartment club house. One crazy thing did happen while we were at the gas station picking up beer - a crazy/homeless woman followed Brian back to the car. She was so aggressive and following so close that when Brian got into the car and tried to close the door, he accidentally closed it on her head leaving her slightly dazed until she finally walked off. It was frightening, comical, and sad at the same time...although we did joke about it afterwards. Brian dropped us off at the shuttle stop. We didn't have an umbrella, raincoats, boots, panchos, or even trash bags and goggles. I was so pissed at Danish. So basically we were there for about 2 hours getting soaked, listened to some ...And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead, danced around a bit, drank a beer I snuck in, then rode the bus back to where Brian picked us up. Gah! We cleaned up and went to eat at The County Line BBQ, which was pretty sweet. Packed our little bellies with brisket and ribs, said our good-byes to Brian, and headed back to Dallas.
Unfortunately, we switched on and off between sleeping and arguing...the whole ride back.I like Austin, especially all the fooooood places. And the trees there are nice. But it felt so good to be home. Hopefully I have a better road trip experience in the near future. OH! Actually I will be...come December! Visiting the in-laws in Louisville, Kentucky. Yippee!
