Setting out West

Well, my time in Texas has come to a close--for now. Today, I will head out across the no man's land of West Texas. My dad got in yesterday--we went to some BBQ, which was OK, and then caught Inception at The Alamo Drafthouse. A really interesting movie theater: all the commercials were made by them, and had some element of hilarity, e.g. "Make sure to put your cell phone away, or we will hunt you down and finish you," (this is coupled with a short clip of an usher stabbing a man who had his cellphone out during a movie. There were also commercials for local events at the various Drafthouses around town--outdoor movie night, old classics night, beer brewing discussion night, and so on. Also, in the theater, a waiter is assigned to your area, and you order food by writing down what you want on a sheet of paper, and putting it on the table in front of you--my dad had ice cream with caramel, and I had some peanut butter cups and a Brooklyn Brown Ale--it all totaled $15--somehow I feel like, if that was in LA, it would have been $20-30. Inception was good, but my third time--I think I fully understand it now, if you have questions, I am pretty sure I can answer them; it is still a fantastic film.

Today we are going to leave about midday--I still need to pack and organize. I should take the dogs for a walk sooner than later, I guess. Yesterday, while walking the greenbelt, Chops ran up to another dog. Then he spotted a cat lurking in the foliage to the right, and he bolted after it--the lady with the dog screams, "That's my cat!"--oh shit! As the lady rummages the bushes calling out, "here Corn Dog...heeeeere Corn Dog," a take the time to clarify, "You were walking your cat as well?" She told me that the cat likes to follow the dog and her on walks. I apologized immensely and put Chops on leash. I need to work with him on this, but his prey drive is extremely high. He catalogs in his mind, where he has seen small animals, and whenever we return to those places, he checks them excitedly. In any event, I am going to try some training with my mom's cat, when I get home.

Today we head out, and it is the next phase of my never ending summer: it started with Mexico post school, then the solo drive north for 1000mi, then Austin for two weeks, now a road trip west, then LA for a month, then north and Burning Man, then back to LA, then north again (with dogs and Espanoles) to SC and Berkeley, then back to LA, down to SD for Joe's SEALS graduation, and then back to Austin for ACL and the homestead...so it goes and here I come!