I got an interesting discussion going on a couple of my private social media channels about this church sign in Austin, Texas. So I thought it warrants a public blog post, summarizing various people's opinions. Apologies to those who have seen this discussion before. This is the last time I'm posting about it.


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This happened to me a week ago ( Read more... )

A spare laptop battery I bought from Toshiba doesn't hold charge. So I'll be setting out on a 3-week trip tomorrow with 2 faulty batteries. #

Won't get much writing done on a transatlantic flight, then. Contacted Toshiba; they'll exchange the battery, but that will be in 3 weeks. #

Discussing "Blasphemy" by Douglas Preston at Center For Inquiry ( Read more... )

At Emo's (with its open air stage) I froze my butt off waiting for a mediocre band to finish playing, so that burlesque could start. #sxswi #

Burlesque was worth the wait. Those gals really are performers-they can act, not just strip. Still I left during intermission.Frozen. #sxswi #

Also wondering why some of the cupcakes submitted for judging ( ( Read more... )

There's a woman at El Greco dressed head-to-toe in white and in strange headgear: a cross between a turban, bridal veil and nun's wimple #

I would ask Twitterland what her garb signifies, but I can't sneak up and take a picture of her. #

Tried a Greek beer at El Greco, called Marathon. This is the first time I've seen such a thing as Greek beer. ( Read more... )

• 12:50 In compliance with Keep Austin Weird imperative, Jollyville Fire Department drives a Santa Claus around in a fire truck: is.gd/aJkc #
• 13:17 Of all religions, I respect Judaism the most (or disrespect the least), because of its liberal, science-friendly, almost freethinking spirit #
• 13:40 Orthodox Judaism, though, is a different thing. Case in ( Read more... )

I got some useful critique. But the main points I would need to address to make my story better are nearly impossible to implement due to their paradoxical nature. As I said before, I chopped my story down from almost 8000 words to a little over 5000 words. Naturally, a lot of action and dialogue was cut out. So what was the main advice I got from ( Read more... )

It's tempting to say it's a "keep Austin weird" thing, but I believe in every place there are people with these kinds of beliefs. But perhaps Austin is a more likely place than some others for a waiter to feel free to come to a customer and ask "excuse me, are you an indigo ( Read more... )

...an experience I had the other night. What an curious bit of synchronicity ( Read more... )

I'm sitting here on the couch and suddenly I hear a fire truck horn blaring. As the sound gets closer, there's something unusual about it: the blaring is accompanied by the strands of "Twelve Days Of Christmas". I look out the window and see two trucks slowly driving down our street. Not fire trucks, just more or less regular pickup trucks, except ( Read more... )