Goodwill Ambassadorship, Here I Come!

Update: In order to protect employment, images have been removed from my blog. If you're a friend of mine and want to see the photographic proof of a particularly excellent SXSW, email me.

I've had a particularly festive time, these last 7 days. Celebrating SXSW and St. Patrick's Day alone would've been a rockin' out few days, but I added goodwill ambassadorship to the mix.

My friend who does not dip her feet into the waters of the internet was my partner in crime one evening last week. Let's call her Roxie. She was feeling restless, texting me from home and asking where I was and what I was doing. I was, of course, ordering up a Lone Star draft and a Fabulous Jack (that's black label) shot on the side.

Roxie decided to join me downtown and see what trouble, err, adventure we could find. Little did I know that we'd spend the night fostering good will between nations, forming alliances and toasting pints of beer toward newfound friends. Yes, it was an Italy, Ireland and USA evening.

We ended up barhopping with two Irish lads, one of whom was giddily jetlagged from his flight over that morning, and one Italian man. I can honestly say that I haven't had that much fun in one night in a long time. Nor have I said "I'm sorry, I didn't understand" more often.

Luckily, Alessandro was fluent in Spanish so when I didn't understand his heavily accented English, he'd switch languages. Donal and his brother (sorry, forgotten his name) had lovely Irish brogues. Their accents made it sound so much better when they pronounced my favorite Texas beer "shyte". The pic at the top of the page is the group is trying to determine if Lone Star is, in fact, real beer. I did retain a sense of humor although they were panning my brew.


The night was young, the beer was flowing freely and the meeting of 3 nations was in full swing. Because the music festival was ongoing, we were blasted by live music everywhere. Some good, some not so good. So we entertained ourselves with the Warehouse District version of prom photos. Due to concerns over job security, those images have been removed from this blog.

The week has flown by in a whirlwind of coffeehouse visits, pub meetups and crazy mad trivia at Mother Egan's. I've had a few language lessons which will be ever so helpful if I have a need to say "Tomorrow is another day" or "fuck you!" in Italian. For the record, it's "Il domani è un altro giorno" and "vaffanculo!". We also had an indepth conversation about the use of contractions in American English. I was asked why we didn't use mere seconds to turn the words into proper English. I shrugged, "we're lazy". And smiled.

As we edge closer to the end of the Irish & Italian visit, I know one thing. I love Texas and I adore the U.S., but I really, really need to get a stamp or to or six in my passport. I need to experience more of the world and its many unique cultures. Enjoying the company of foreign visitors made me realize how small I've drawn my borders. The next time I'm sharing a pint with laughing Irishmen, I'd prefer it to be in their mother country. And now each time I taste a good montepulciano d'abruzzo, I'll think of Italy and how much better it would be to savor the deep red richness while sitting in a ristorante in Rome.

SXSW in the ATX

This past five days in Austin have been nothing but music, fun, food, drink and friends. I'm exhausted but had a freakin' blast. SXSW had me flitting from venue to venue all over town in an effort to hear/see/experience all that the music festival had to offer. There was so much squashed into such a short period of time that I can't possibly share all. Here are the highlights in no particular order:

1. Keanu Reeves bumped into me on the street. Literally. It was so crowded that when he was easing through the masses he bumped shoulders with me. Strangely, though he's very cute, he looked ummm, well, more average than I expected. And he was with a chick who appeared to be 12 years old.

2. Thomas Dolby rocked! Yes, Thomas Dolby of "She Blinded Me With Science" fame. He gave a great concert to a disappointingly small crowd. During South By, it's sometimes difficult to pack the house for the earlier shows. Thomas was gracious, funny and handsome. My friend Rockett took a pic with him after the show. I simply stared.

3. Meeting new people! Donald & his brother from Ireland and the charming Alessandro from Italy. And then there was Rob, the triathlete and music industry guy from San Fran. We shared a delightful interlude hiding out from the sheer overwhelming wave of sensory overload that is SXSW.

4. Princess parking. The parking gods blessed me with free and close parking every day. I did not pay $20 to park. This meant I had $20 to spend on pizza and Pearl pomegranate vodka & Seven.

5. New-to-me bands. There were so many that I saw and loved, so many I saw and thought "eh" and so many that I'd love to see again because they were just that different. A few of my top picks include Vaeda and The Panda Band. I also am officially now a fan of Never the Nines whose bass player was kind enough to invite me to their show at Flamingo Cantina.

It was a fabulous festival but I'm relieved it's over. Now I can get some rest. This party girl is tired out. But...last night Austin Homegrown was rockin' the Mean Eyed Cat and Mr. Italian Man hadn't experienced either one so we ended up chillin' out on the patio for a set. I'd never heard Paul's band before and now I'm smitten. Austin Homegrown was slammin' through some serious good music.

I'll sleep tomorrow.

It's All About Me

The inside joke about my blog title is that 90% of the time it isn't All About Me. I'm tireless in my volunteer work as well as my support of friends and family. In fact, I think I tend to overextend often. I've found in the last month or so that at least once I week I'm exhausted and wondering why in the world I found it necessary to schedule so many activities into a small timeframe. But I thrive on being everyone's cheerleader.

My extracurriculars span from my running/walking group, Austin Fit, my cycling team the Cap City Cyclists, various work at race expos and water stops, organizing cheer squads for races and triathlons and more. I just passed my three year anniversary as a Meals on Wheels delivery person. I help promote my favorite bands and burlesque troops, especially The Humiliators, where I'm in charge of Panties To Be Thrown Onstage. I recently joined the planning committee for a 5K walk/run for my Hispanic business womens' networking group, Las Comadres. I'm waiting to hear if a local triathlete group needs help with coordinating volunteers for various events, too.

All of my free time fun stuff is designed to not only bring me pleasure but also to help me become part of a bigger portion of life. I don't want to come home every day and make dinner before sitting on the couch in front of the television for hours. I want to live life, not watch it on cable.

Now the other ten percent of the time, when I want it to be All About Me, is when I have legitimate needs. There are times when I need to feel needed. When I need to feel important to someone and need acknowledgement and support and hell, sometimes just a thank you.

For half my life I came second. I am the younger of twins. My sister emerged into this world a few minutes ahead of me and was large and in charge. Before you think oooh, how hateful commenting on someone's build let me just say that Kim was 5lbs, 15 oz and I was 3lbs, 13oz. So yes, she was large and in charge. For half my life, or even a bit more, Kim was primary and what she said, went. She was born alpha.

Kim spent the rest of our childhood and young adult years being the decision maker. We used to joke that it was Kim's way or the highway. She was older by minutes and so by nature took the lead. Trust me when I say that she still has no problem telling me what I should & should not be doing. It's all out of love, of course.

Growing up the younger twin instilled in me the desire to take care of others first, to be the organizer, the caretaker and the mother. Why? Maybe because I was taken care of for so long. C'mon, I didn't even get my driver's license until I was 18 because Kim drove us everywhere. It also fashioned me into the being the peacemaker. Kim was much more opinionated and strong willed than me. (And I mean that in a nice way, Kim). I was always the one who wanted to soothe ruffled feathers, mediate between hurt parties and above all, bring comfortable and agreeable closure to painful or hurtful events. It's taken me a long time to learn I don't always have to "fix" things.

Oddly enough, Kim became a social worker. I became....well, my career choices have never been a good definition of me. You can find "Kay" in the dictionary and see that the first entry for the noun is one for the "rude, boastful foster brother and steward of King Arthur" and the second entry informs you that it is a female or male given name from a Greek word meaning "rejoice".

Hmmm...I do have an unnatural attraction to Arthurian legend. I found this information about Sir Kay, one of the Three Enchanters of England: "nine nights and nine days his breath lasted under water, nine nights and nine days would he be without sleep. A wound from Cai's sword no physician might heal. When it pleased him, he would be as tall as the tallest tree in the forest. When the rain was heaviest, whatever he held in his hand would be dry for a handbreadth before and behind, because of the greatness of his heat, and, when his companions were coldest, he would be as fuel for them to light a fire".

{Blogger's Note: The part about heat is true. Anyone who has shared a bed with me knows I'm a heatilator. I put out enough BTU's to light up a small town. However, the part about the water is so not me.}

I think a better definition for me would be something like this: loves hard, lives fully, looks ahead to wonderful things yet to come. A woman who fills her life with good friends and family, freely gives of herself to those she cares for, laughs daily and often at herself, is loyal like a good Labrador retriever, and wishes everyone, including herself, every happiness the world has to offer.

Yeah, I don't measure up to my own definition but at least I have goals. And so now you know why it's only sometimes All About Me but it is always All About Those I Love. I give up my weekend mornings with no second thoughts when a friend needs to see a cheering, smiling face at a tough mile marker. I jump in and help out when asked and often volunteer before I'm asked. I give, and in giving I receive. I'm happy and thankful and moving forward in this crazy world of mine.

It's good to be All About Me.

Games & Dames!

My favorite burlesque vixen, Miss Maulie, debuts her Games & Dames show at the perfect time: when the population of ATX will swell as SXSW'ers head into our city. And if you've ever seen Maulie in action, you know it's not just the population that has the potential to swell on Tuesday night.

Maulie is bringing sexy, sassy and sultry back in a way that makes me believe she is the reincarnated love child of Gypsy Rose Lee and Tempest Storm. (Tempest had her "moneymakers" insured by Lloyd's of London in the 50's for the then scandalous sum of one million dollars). If you have never seen Maulie in a giant martini cup you have, short and simple, never lived.

In addition to Maulie, there will be other fabulous fan dancers, blackjack, a Texas Hold 'Em poker tournament and much, much more. We're talking entertainment at it's finest with shakin', shimmying, grinding good times. Comedy, live music, fire spinners and illusionists...what more can you ask for? Oh yes, $1 well drinks and $1 domestic beer. Fantastic!

Doors open at 9pm and the $7 cover gets ya $100 in chips. Show starts at 10pm. This is sure to be a sellout, so plan to be there when I will at ten before the magic hour. I'll be the blogger chica bangin' on the door and pleading with Maulie to let me in early.

Redrum is located behind the Gas Pipe at 401 Sabine Street. That's one block West of IH-35 between 4th & 5th streets near the convention center. Don't miss out on the hottest night of SXSW week!