Austin rocks.

October has been quite an eventful month. Any month that's kicked off with a three-day music festival is a month for me. I jetted down to Austin the first Thursday of October, donning a fedora, mini cowboy boots, and the biggest smile ever. (I was obviously ready for a good time.) Co-Worker A picked me up from the airport (I think this was the first time anyone has ever met me at arrivals, and it was totally magical. Thanks, Co-Worker A, for making me feel as special as the entire cast of Love Actually characters), and we headed into the city to explore and hydrate. After visiting the Texas Capitol Building (and violating the "no drinks in the Senate Chamber" rule - oops), we ended up at a biker bar (at least that's what my Austin Friend and the Harleys parked out front told me), which was totally fine because it had more varieties of cider than any Irish pub I've encountered in NYC.

Later that night Small Asian Friend ("SAF") and her Boston Bud arrived, and we prepared for our long weekend of ACL amazingness. One of the best things about ACL is learning about bands I've never heard before. SAF and I discovered a total gem as we camped out at one of the stages two and a half hours before my most eagerly anticipated act, Norah Jones, was scheduled to go on. If you haven't heard Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros, I highly recommend it. The entire clan of Zeros looks like they stepped into a time machine at Woodstock (the original Woodstock), and walked out 40 years later. The front man has bigger hair and a better beard than Brother ever will, no matter how much Brother looks like Wolverine when he stops cutting his hair (sorry to burst the bubble, Brother), and the harmonizing vocalist Jade Castrinos (whom I read somewhere is leading man Alex Ebert's girlfriend, but I can't verify that) sounds like every successful 60's-70's female vocalist combined. They rocked. Really rocked.

You know who else rocked? Norah Jones. She was fabulous. And she's styling a new short haircut with bangs. And she did a Johnny Cash cover. And SAF and I were in the very front. Ah, so wonderful. Other highlight shows include Amos Lee, Donovan Frankenreiter, and Matt & Kim. And the award for biggest disappointment goes to M.I.A. I wasn't a huge fan by any means to begin with, but she could have been one of the worst acts I've ever seen live. The stages have these giant screens next to them, so those who can't see the stage itself can still feel like they're right up front, watching the performer's every move. M.I.A. apparently didn't want anyone to see her (I'm skeptical she was even there) because she brought along a totally random video of people jumping rope and other things that made SAF and I feel like we were on acid. (Not that we know what it's like to be on acid. Or anything, really. We are law-abiding citizens, after all.) She was just terrible. I'm going to get on my soapbox here for a minute and say that artists who are not good live should not perform live. They should stick to recording music and selling albums. Ok, that's all I'll say about that.

Anyway, the rest of the weekend was just fantastic, and I discovered that Austin's airport has the best (read: fastest) airport security in the world. I got to the airport an hour and 15 minutes before my flight was scheduled for take-off. I arrived at the gate an hour and 7 minutes before my flight was scheduled for take-off. Glorious. Sadly, I had to go back to work when I returned to New York. But I guess work is what pays the bills and makes jetting down to Austin possible. Blah blah blah. Can't wait until next year!