Austin Remembered and The Future

Long ago, I posted a little ditty about some good times spent in Austin, TX. This good time was a two day affair, but I only posted a one day synopsis. At this point, I shall give you the belated "quick and dirty":

We arose fairly early in a dank and swampy room; two dogs and three humans, all mouth breathers, in small square footage, makes for a steamy wake up. We arose, aired out, and hit the breakfast scene. Over some waffles and salmon eggs benedict, we decided to scrap a long distance hike in favor of an in town delight--disc golf. It just so happens that Austin has 5 courses within its city limits. So we strapped up the dogs, grabbed a few discs, and we made our way west, I believe.

The sky was a damp gray, but absolutely perfect. The course was necked up against a flowing stream, and hole three gave us the opportunity to play right across it. Marissa made it over, I made it over, and Danny went straight in the drink.

Note: As I right this, the Jack Russell I am dog sitting, Lucio, who is curled up by my feet, is ripping the most teriffic farts; it literally smells as if someone is depositing small particles of sulfur into my nostrils.

But I digress. Marissa, who was wearing her amphibious hiking shoes, hopped in the stream and snagged the disc. We played on, and as we played the rain's presence continued to grow. As we came up to the wide prairie of hole 9, we decided to pack it in--nine holes was enough for today, and we were all feeling a nap brewing-- so we skedaddled back to the car, and made haste for Gorlick's house. No wait, we did not head home, how could I forget...No, we headed to Mam's BBQ and then to some pawn shops. This will serve as a perfect segue to my current news.

OK, so we headed to Mam's, a rustic little dive situated next to a enormous freeway overpass. Mam's had beautiful vintage 70's yellow and red diner booths, and various hot sauces littered the table tops. The walls held everything from wagon wheels to lanterns, and the fake wood paneling almost looked real--it was perfect. We ducked in to find not a soul was in attendance. Initial concerns about this fact, were quickly erased when we saw the spread. I ordered the customary, Three Meat & Two sides combo: Jalpeno and Cheese sausage, brisket, and pork ribs, with a side of green beans and macaroni and cheese. Over the top, the attendant ladled their house sauce. Needless to say we crammed it down and slapped it around.

After the grub down, we headed to some pawn shops to look for some guitars. I was in the market for an electric. We went to a few shops. I found a few American Made Fenders (strats and teles), but they were in the neighborhood of 6 to 700 dollars...it was a little too rich for my blood, and I am not enough of a guitar expert to tell if what I was buying was quality or abused. Everything down from there, was crap. I was hopping to find a nice 300 dollar buy, but it did not present itself. In retrospect, I believe I would have bought the American Made Telecaster with tweed case for $600 or so bucks--but that was then and this is now.

Yesterday, I headed to the Centro with my buddy Mauricio, the gregarious Chilean. We hit the "Music" neighborhood. It was impossible to find used guitars. Everything was new, a lot of it was no name crap, and a lot of it was wicked expensive. I was looking for a Mexican Made Fender. I finally found a few, but the prices were steep. We happened upon a guitar center equivelant, and I found a wall of fenders. Their American made guitars were all well over 1000 dollars. Then I saw it, a 2008 Sunburst Mexican Made Fender Strat Standard. I plugged it in, and gave it a test run--the sound was warm and sweet, the action low, and it seemed to make my fingers move quicker than they ever had before. In haste, I bought it. In retrospect I paid about 100 dollars too much ($500 with a gig bag...should been about $400), but in the long run I think it shall be fine--it is a memory and a token of my time here, and a symbolic commitment to the dream at hand. I had a little bit of buyer's remorse upon returning home, so I began furiously googling info about the guitar--something I should have done prior. It turns out that since 2006 the Mexican Made Fenders are the closest you can get to an American Made Fender. The body and the neck are all machined and manufactured in the U.S.A., utilizing the same wood and materials used in the more expensive American models. They are then shipped to Mexico for finishing. According to a few blogs, the MIM (Made in Mexico) Strat gets an A+, with regards to the bang for your buck--this made me feel a little better about the purchase.

I am treating this purchase as a commitment to getting better at guitar. I refuse to let the excuse, "Oh I am not good enough", stop me from doing what I want to do. My personal mission is to start jamming in a band within the next year. So practice, practice, practice, here I come.

I finished yesterday in the dog park, and spent my evening getting to know my new guitar. Today, I am going to get on some grading and head out to Bosque Chapultepec to sit, read, and grade. I much rather be outside than in my house.

To the good times.