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9.21.2008
8.12.2008
At the family residence - long due post
Houston, TX
So I'm at home for two weeks after a long summer of work. It's amazing how good it feels to be in a place that you don't have to do anything. Nothing to really have to worry about, I can just chill and recollect my thoughts. It's really quite nice here in The Woodlands and I must say it has changed a lot since we last lived here. For those just tuning in, my parents moved from Atlanta to Houston last Christmas. We lived in Houston when I was ages 6 - 12 and I could not have asked for a better place to have spent those years. Coming back here the first time was almost surreal. Things that I recognized were right next to things I had never seen before. Talk about a time machine!
I got to go to the John Mayer concert here at Cynthia Woods. It was a great concert. John absolutely wailed. Best concert I've been too in a long while if not ever. The place was packed - all 17,000 people that night witnessed what was, IMO, one of the best shows that Cynthia Woods had ever seen. It was simply amazing.
My dad and I took a quick motorcycle road trip that was supposed to lead us up into the Texas Hill Country. Unfortunately we didn't exactly get there - more on that later. The first day of riding went without incident and we found ourselves north of Austin, TX that night. The bikes were running really well, although it was a bit hot - especially with boots, jeans, helmet, gloves, and jacket on - needless to say, every time we stopped, a cold 32oz. gatorade was involved due to the fact that we looked like we had just finished swimming. We ate a very nice meal at Chuy's (the first of many mexican food meals I ate that week).
The next morning, we rode to look at a local S2000 (which I am in the market for). It was an alright car, but that's not the point - the point is that as we were leaving the parking lot, I noticed Dad's rear tire looked a bit low. We rode about the first 15 miles of the Texas Twister when we pulled over to fill up with gas in Lago Vista. I asked my dad if his bike had been handling weird and he told me no and asked why. I told him his tire looked low, so we checked it - 15psi!!! Good thing I said something. We dilly dallied around in Lago Vista stopping at the Ace Hardware for some temporary help. We pumped the tire up with a bike pump and rode back through Cedar Park (where the car was located) trying to find a way to patch or otherwise repair it. We ended up buying a pump just in case and rode into Austin, TX for the night.
Austin, TX - what a city. I often think of Austin as the San Francisco of Texas. Trendy, hip, slightly awkward - I'd always thought of it, but rarely been to the city - and at that, never really experienced it as an urban metropolis. As we were riding in, I realized that just outside the city limits were great roads that we'd not get to venture on this trip out - we had to leave the next day after Dad's tire was fixed. Anyways, we hopped a cab from the Hotel to the famous 6th street (Bars and Live music) and walked the streets. This was the first time I had my new Ricoh GR Digital II in an Urban setting and I wanted to try it out. Supposedly this is where the GRD series from Ricoh really accelerates. We ate at Manuel's that a girl (whose name I can't remember) that worked at a music novelty shop on 6th street pointed us to. There I can honestly say I ate the best taco of my life. I wish I would have taken pictures of it so that I could always look at it - It was that good. The chicken was shredded, the cheese was grated, and the lettuce was cut into neat little strands. The lettuce really made the Taco - it was fresh cut and very organic tasting. If good ingredients equals good food, then the ingredients in this taco must have been equivalent to filet mignon . I took a card (their graphic design and atmosphere was my kind of place) and needless to say, I'll be back the next time im in Austin.
After dinner, we walked to the Texas State Capital Building. My, what a sight. It is pretty large. I had been there once as a child, but didn't fully appreciate it. I got some good pictures and we went on to explore 6th street. The lighting was great and I found many interesting scenes.
We hung out at the Driskell for a bit after walking around 6th and waited for the sun to go down. I shot this from the balcony of the Driskell overlooking 6th:
It being a Monday, not much was going on downtown. I was hoping to catch a live band at a bar, but had no luck. It's alright, I can always come back for SXSW or Austin City Limits. We called it a night early and returned to the hotel. Tropical Storm Edouard was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and was heading for land.
The next morning, I woke up late just as dad was returning from the BMW dealership getting a new tire. The TV was on and the Weather Channel had a reporter stationed down in Galveston who was getting absolutely pounded with wind and rain. "We get to ride in that - Awesome!!!," is the thought that ran through my head. And I'm not exaggerating. There's just something about being 1 with the environment around you that I love about being on a motorcycle and it is never more prevalent then during a large storm. We loaded up the saddle bags and headed into the imminent storm.
We made it half way home before it started raining. But when it started, it didn't stop. The rain was relentless. It stung through my jacket it was so hard - though it didn't hurt too bad...and I loved every minute of it. What a great trip, though short.
The next day, Jessica in out for the week. We went to Galveston one day and out to the lake another day. I got a few shades tanner and Jess got a few shades pinker. I got a few neat shots from Galveston:
I really like this one. It's from an antique store that had a collection of old postcards. These were the dividers separating the different states.
We also got to see Pineapple Express, which while though a great and hilarious movie, was a bit annoying with the idiotic stoner characters. I liked the move a lot, but wanted to strangle the characters at times. Will I buy it? Probably not. Should you see it? Yes.
I've been working on some graphic arts and photo stuff for a few local high schools here in Houston. Here's a sneak peak:
Well, thats all from me for now. I've got a few days left here in Houston, then I head back to the A-town to move into my new apartment and start classes. Oh, what fun!
Cheers,
Austin
So I'm at home for two weeks after a long summer of work. It's amazing how good it feels to be in a place that you don't have to do anything. Nothing to really have to worry about, I can just chill and recollect my thoughts. It's really quite nice here in The Woodlands and I must say it has changed a lot since we last lived here. For those just tuning in, my parents moved from Atlanta to Houston last Christmas. We lived in Houston when I was ages 6 - 12 and I could not have asked for a better place to have spent those years. Coming back here the first time was almost surreal. Things that I recognized were right next to things I had never seen before. Talk about a time machine!
I got to go to the John Mayer concert here at Cynthia Woods. It was a great concert. John absolutely wailed. Best concert I've been too in a long while if not ever. The place was packed - all 17,000 people that night witnessed what was, IMO, one of the best shows that Cynthia Woods had ever seen. It was simply amazing.
My dad and I took a quick motorcycle road trip that was supposed to lead us up into the Texas Hill Country. Unfortunately we didn't exactly get there - more on that later. The first day of riding went without incident and we found ourselves north of Austin, TX that night. The bikes were running really well, although it was a bit hot - especially with boots, jeans, helmet, gloves, and jacket on - needless to say, every time we stopped, a cold 32oz. gatorade was involved due to the fact that we looked like we had just finished swimming. We ate a very nice meal at Chuy's (the first of many mexican food meals I ate that week).
The next morning, we rode to look at a local S2000 (which I am in the market for). It was an alright car, but that's not the point - the point is that as we were leaving the parking lot, I noticed Dad's rear tire looked a bit low. We rode about the first 15 miles of the Texas Twister when we pulled over to fill up with gas in Lago Vista. I asked my dad if his bike had been handling weird and he told me no and asked why. I told him his tire looked low, so we checked it - 15psi!!! Good thing I said something. We dilly dallied around in Lago Vista stopping at the Ace Hardware for some temporary help. We pumped the tire up with a bike pump and rode back through Cedar Park (where the car was located) trying to find a way to patch or otherwise repair it. We ended up buying a pump just in case and rode into Austin, TX for the night.
Austin, TX - what a city. I often think of Austin as the San Francisco of Texas. Trendy, hip, slightly awkward - I'd always thought of it, but rarely been to the city - and at that, never really experienced it as an urban metropolis. As we were riding in, I realized that just outside the city limits were great roads that we'd not get to venture on this trip out - we had to leave the next day after Dad's tire was fixed. Anyways, we hopped a cab from the Hotel to the famous 6th street (Bars and Live music) and walked the streets. This was the first time I had my new Ricoh GR Digital II in an Urban setting and I wanted to try it out. Supposedly this is where the GRD series from Ricoh really accelerates. We ate at Manuel's that a girl (whose name I can't remember) that worked at a music novelty shop on 6th street pointed us to. There I can honestly say I ate the best taco of my life. I wish I would have taken pictures of it so that I could always look at it - It was that good. The chicken was shredded, the cheese was grated, and the lettuce was cut into neat little strands. The lettuce really made the Taco - it was fresh cut and very organic tasting. If good ingredients equals good food, then the ingredients in this taco must have been equivalent to filet mignon . I took a card (their graphic design and atmosphere was my kind of place) and needless to say, I'll be back the next time im in Austin.
After dinner, we walked to the Texas State Capital Building. My, what a sight. It is pretty large. I had been there once as a child, but didn't fully appreciate it. I got some good pictures and we went on to explore 6th street. The lighting was great and I found many interesting scenes.
We hung out at the Driskell for a bit after walking around 6th and waited for the sun to go down. I shot this from the balcony of the Driskell overlooking 6th:
It being a Monday, not much was going on downtown. I was hoping to catch a live band at a bar, but had no luck. It's alright, I can always come back for SXSW or Austin City Limits. We called it a night early and returned to the hotel. Tropical Storm Edouard was brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and was heading for land.The next morning, I woke up late just as dad was returning from the BMW dealership getting a new tire. The TV was on and the Weather Channel had a reporter stationed down in Galveston who was getting absolutely pounded with wind and rain. "We get to ride in that - Awesome!!!," is the thought that ran through my head. And I'm not exaggerating. There's just something about being 1 with the environment around you that I love about being on a motorcycle and it is never more prevalent then during a large storm. We loaded up the saddle bags and headed into the imminent storm.
We made it half way home before it started raining. But when it started, it didn't stop. The rain was relentless. It stung through my jacket it was so hard - though it didn't hurt too bad...and I loved every minute of it. What a great trip, though short.
The next day, Jessica in out for the week. We went to Galveston one day and out to the lake another day. I got a few shades tanner and Jess got a few shades pinker. I got a few neat shots from Galveston:
I really like this one. It's from an antique store that had a collection of old postcards. These were the dividers separating the different states.
We also got to see Pineapple Express, which while though a great and hilarious movie, was a bit annoying with the idiotic stoner characters. I liked the move a lot, but wanted to strangle the characters at times. Will I buy it? Probably not. Should you see it? Yes.
I've been working on some graphic arts and photo stuff for a few local high schools here in Houston. Here's a sneak peak:
Well, thats all from me for now. I've got a few days left here in Houston, then I head back to the A-town to move into my new apartment and start classes. Oh, what fun!
Cheers,
Austin
8.05.2008
3.20.2008
3.18.2008
I've been busy...I apologize
So I've been super busy lately. School, different prospects for summer, as well as my parents finally moving.
Next week is spring break, so look for updates to austincabot.com then.
In the meantime, here's a picture from my recent trip to San Francisco:
Next week is spring break, so look for updates to austincabot.com then.
In the meantime, here's a picture from my recent trip to San Francisco:
2.16.2008
One for the Road
This is my favorite print I've made all year (5 weeks of photo class). Just something to keep your eyes busy.
2.06.2008
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