The Souls of Austin
TEOA asked Robert Jensen, “How does a rapidly changing city avoid losing its soul?” Here is his response: The question presumes that Austin has a soul. I’m skeptical, for several … Continue reading
Spent A Year There One Knite
Anyone who’s met me has heard me say it; I was born 40 years too late. Film, music, literature, you name it; it seems whatever I am interested in hit … Continue reading
Welcome to Mediocre, Texas
Only the mediocre are always at their best, someone said, which could be why Austin is so damn proud of itself. Welcome to Mediocre, Texas, the home of the Texas Longhorns, … Continue reading
Neverland
When I first moved to Austin almost seven years ago, the city welcomed me with open arms. Granted, I grew up on the east coast, so it’s possible my bar … Continue reading
An End Both Slow and Urgent: Blackness in Austin
Like many grad students, I always expected a fairly definitive end to Austin, a time when I was called upon to fulfill my life’s work after years of honing my … Continue reading
Memorial Wall
“It started out as something smaller, a Day of the Dead thing,” Henry Gonzalez explains, standing before the Memorial Wall at the South Austin Popular Culture Center on Lamar, “but … Continue reading
Interview with Richard Parker, New York Times
Austin-based writer Richard Parker touched a nerve with his New York Times article about how Lance Armstrong’s rise and fall might reflect what could happen to the city where he … Continue reading
The Ends of Austins
For some Austin ended when the Armadillo became Threadgill’s South. For others, when S X S W started (or when wristbands began to cost three digits). Or when the warehouse … Continue reading
The End of Austin
What is the End of Austin? It is the beginning of a much-needed conversation about the identity of Austin. Bringing together writers, scholars, and artists from Texas and beyond, TEOA is … Continue reading
The End of Oz-Town
Just before the Austin housing bubble went POP! and Code Compliance hassled the Cathedral of Junk into becoming a permitted structure, the Cathedral’s creator, Vince Hannemann, brought me by his … Continue reading
Morning Assembly
Morning assembly at my daughter’s elementary school was once a ditty of tattooed legs and necklines, skateboards, scooters, tousled hair, everyone holding hands as bodies converged on the cafeteria from a … Continue reading
Moonlight Towers
In 1895, the City of Austin acquired a novel street-lighting system from Detroit consisting of thirty-one 165-foot tower lights. Their cool glow and looming height earned them the popular moniker … Continue reading
Whiny Austin: A Nonfiction Cartoon
“Austin ain’t what it used to be” is the moldiest cliche under the violet crown, yet Austinites can’t stop talking about how the golden age of “real Austin” disappeared five … Continue reading
I Grew Up in a South Texas Town
I grew up in a South Texas town, a caliche pit of farm equipment yards and suburbs searching for urbs… no core, no history. South Texas stretches across some of the … Continue reading
This Motherfucker Ain’t Got No Teeth
As a gay man re-locating to Austin, TX, Dominique experiences hope and destruction through his efforts to utilize geo-social media applications to make new friends, find lovers, and start dating … Continue reading
The End of Austin 