Don't listen to them, Houston. You're pretty on the inside.
noumenalist: you're lucky because you can go to chinatown to get hangover food.
noumenalist: you're DOUBLE lucky! you can go to chipotle!
noumenalist: and MONTROSE
noumenalist: i used to have that life, you know
Let's say hypothetically, I spend part of my life living in a state that is not Texas. For the purpose of this scenario, we'll say it's somewhere in the North and I have tolerated the cold effortlessly (this doesn't have to be realistic, just follow along). So, I'm living in an apartment and I take the subway to work everyday. Before going into the office, I swing by the Starbucks located on the ground floor of my building and pick up a venti specialty drink for my boss because she's an ungrateful bitch and has threatened to fire me if I'm late again. As you can see, work is unsatisfying. My lease is up in a couple of months and my boyfriend of 4 years still hasn't proposed. So, I decide to call in a favor from a Rice connection who has inherited enough corporate power to get me a job anywhere - as long as it's in Texas. Which city would I choose?
San Antonio has the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is perfect if it's your senior prom or you're celebrating five years of holy matrimony. But take a look at my last boyfriend - I apparently go for the type that doesn't bother to remember your anniversary, much less make plans to celebrate it. And that's fine with me because each anniversary is just a reminder that another year has gone by and he still hasn't overcome his fear of commitment.
So then there's Austin. I'm sure 6th street is great. At least that's what the grown-ups tell me. But it's just so much pressure to be cool enough to live in Austin. I'd have to jog regularly and keep track of a hyperactive concert calendar and work at NI. Besides, by this time I'm too old to have fun on 6th street because I'm competing with girls who are cool enough to have fake ID's.
I don't know anything about Dallas. I get the feeling products of Dallas are more Texan than those of other cities. I hear there's good shopping and an impressive skyline. Say Hi To Your Mom only performed shows in Austin and Dallas. So I guess Dallas has that.
Then there are cities like Corpus Christi, Lubbock, El Paso, and College Station. I was born in Corpus Christi. That's completely irrelevant, but if I'm ever famous it might be a trivia question and you'll be glad I mentioned it. I don't know anything about those cities either. And Say Hi To Your Mom did NOT perform shows in any of them.
That brings us to Houston. By that time there might be a subway or maybe I'll work downtown and live along the Metro. It's not that bad considering none of the Texas cities have stellar public transportation and the subway was making me late to work anyway. Houston has museums and an amazing college radio station and even though Say Hi To Your Mom didn't come, Metric and The Wrens and Ted Leo all did. Thanks to Montrose, the Heights, and the Ding Ho Plaza Supermarket, I have all the great shopping I need. Afterward, I can even stop by May's for some shaved ice with sweet red beans and tapioca. Yum. I don't even have to be that cool to live in Houston and I certainly don't have to jog everyday because let's face it, when you're plastered all over the news as "Fat City," the physical standards are going to be pretty reachable.
So, hypothetically, I'd be TRIPLE lucky.
noumenalist: you're DOUBLE lucky! you can go to chipotle!
noumenalist: and MONTROSE
noumenalist: i used to have that life, you know
Let's say hypothetically, I spend part of my life living in a state that is not Texas. For the purpose of this scenario, we'll say it's somewhere in the North and I have tolerated the cold effortlessly (this doesn't have to be realistic, just follow along). So, I'm living in an apartment and I take the subway to work everyday. Before going into the office, I swing by the Starbucks located on the ground floor of my building and pick up a venti specialty drink for my boss because she's an ungrateful bitch and has threatened to fire me if I'm late again. As you can see, work is unsatisfying. My lease is up in a couple of months and my boyfriend of 4 years still hasn't proposed. So, I decide to call in a favor from a Rice connection who has inherited enough corporate power to get me a job anywhere - as long as it's in Texas. Which city would I choose?
San Antonio has the Riverwalk. The Riverwalk is perfect if it's your senior prom or you're celebrating five years of holy matrimony. But take a look at my last boyfriend - I apparently go for the type that doesn't bother to remember your anniversary, much less make plans to celebrate it. And that's fine with me because each anniversary is just a reminder that another year has gone by and he still hasn't overcome his fear of commitment.
So then there's Austin. I'm sure 6th street is great. At least that's what the grown-ups tell me. But it's just so much pressure to be cool enough to live in Austin. I'd have to jog regularly and keep track of a hyperactive concert calendar and work at NI. Besides, by this time I'm too old to have fun on 6th street because I'm competing with girls who are cool enough to have fake ID's.
I don't know anything about Dallas. I get the feeling products of Dallas are more Texan than those of other cities. I hear there's good shopping and an impressive skyline. Say Hi To Your Mom only performed shows in Austin and Dallas. So I guess Dallas has that.
Then there are cities like Corpus Christi, Lubbock, El Paso, and College Station. I was born in Corpus Christi. That's completely irrelevant, but if I'm ever famous it might be a trivia question and you'll be glad I mentioned it. I don't know anything about those cities either. And Say Hi To Your Mom did NOT perform shows in any of them.
That brings us to Houston. By that time there might be a subway or maybe I'll work downtown and live along the Metro. It's not that bad considering none of the Texas cities have stellar public transportation and the subway was making me late to work anyway. Houston has museums and an amazing college radio station and even though Say Hi To Your Mom didn't come, Metric and The Wrens and Ted Leo all did. Thanks to Montrose, the Heights, and the Ding Ho Plaza Supermarket, I have all the great shopping I need. Afterward, I can even stop by May's for some shaved ice with sweet red beans and tapioca. Yum. I don't even have to be that cool to live in Houston and I certainly don't have to jog everyday because let's face it, when you're plastered all over the news as "Fat City," the physical standards are going to be pretty reachable.
So, hypothetically, I'd be TRIPLE lucky.