Getting Into Austin

A few weeks have gone by as me and Rach have settled into living out by Lake Travis in Austin. Moving down here has been our plan for some time, but once we arrived, it felt as though it was the craziest whim ever. We felt dependent on others to get rides (to get anywhere), and owing the people around us that hosted us. Since this week, however, things are looking up, and it all started with us saying "damn this apathy! we will not sit and whine about being stuck in the woods! we will make the best of it!"

So Rachael got inspired to start making soap again, and went googling for providers of lie and essential oils in the area. She found one that had exactly what she needed, and more (herbs and dietary supplements of all kinds), just down the street from us! She emailed them, asking if they needed help, and they replied that they indeed had posted a job ad the same day, and were thrilled get Rach's note (since it was sent out of pure interest in natural products, not in the job itself). The next day, she had the job.

Two weekends ago, we were at the Oxblood Masquerade in Lytton Springs outside of Austin. Being a music & art festival, you could find painters with easels in the pastures, and there was a tent, brightly lit, where anyone could come up and make stop-motion animation using play-doh, chalk, and other materials. This turned out to be the highlight of the festival for us. Put on by filmmaker Anlo Sepulveda, the workshop featured four easy-to use stations with digital still cameras on tripods. There was clay in different colors (and with different smells!), and string, rubber bands, and other accessories. Me and Rach put together this funny story, and the clip with everyone's creations of the night can be seen here.

We started talking to Anlo, and a project he's working on came up: Otis under sky. It turns out they need a programmer/physical computing guy, and I'm just the sort. Last night we met up at his house, everyone was excited, and I now have a creative project to get started on in Austin!

Then, today, I got an email from a local game development company where I have applied for work. They said they'd like to interview me over the phone, and two hours later I was conversing with a very nice senior front end developer. I would love to work for them, but of course I will have to see how it pans out.