January 9, 2003
Austin, Texas, USA

3:07pm. Justin's pooch Cowboy vigilantly watches neighbors pass by the apartment screen door. I'm hot in shorts and t-shirt. This is winter!

Yesterday I swam in Barton Springs, then air-dried in the sunset juggling, practicing acrobatic flips and playing frisbee with Paul and Derrek, who I met while living here a three years ago.

Austin is a hip oasis in a redneck desert. Its a vortex for conscious, community minded people. The vibe is friendly and creative. Folks love getting together and being active outdoors.

Since arriving on New Year's Eve, I've been rock climbing three times and enjoyed a wicked night ride on trails following the creek through the city, as well as other little excursions to quiet beautiful locations. We're always being invited to go meet someone or party somewhere.

New Years day, The Dragon fly's clutch finally died on the highway following Common Child back to her pad. After coasting down an off ramp into the burbs, I used the phone at a random house, belonging to Shad and Gentry. Common Child's husband came to get us at Shad's, but by then we'd become fast friends and were on our way out to Karaoke at the Rainbow Cattle Company with Shad's bud Justin.

Shad and Justin, both graphic artists, were stoked on plans Shawna and I have to make art with the kids in Mexico while climbing the Mountain of Death, so Shad gave us a brand new case of pencil crayons, markers and pastels, and Justin donated a large box of paints. We have since made arrangements to send back some of the art work created by the kids to be featured in URBANSCAPE, a local arts magazine for which Justin serves Art Director.

The Dragonfly is now flying again, at a cost of $770, so I am working on shows to pay it off and have enough to fuel the next several months of travel to Mexico and down the coast by kayak. I also just got the bill for hosting solomax.com, which is $69... on top of the last hosting bill that I have yet to pay. To help support this project... click here.