I've relocated

New blog. New site. Etc...

You can now find me at The Kevin Talbot Experience. Check it out when you get a chance.

Adventures in Football-Land

The legendary Texas fascination with football has never made sense to me. I'm not the biggest sports fan, but I can understand passion. Texans, however, take a step above and beyond. If this wasn't clear to me when seeing Austin blanketed in UT orange, it was certain by the time I saw a high school pep rally, a bonfire where the students burned the rival mascot in effigy. Being from the heathen northeast, this was undiscovered country for me.

Amidst the football, there was Austin, Texas, this oasis of lefty culture surrounded by the rest of Texas. It reminded me of Brooklyn, or Northampton, MA. Independent businesses seem to be holding on pretty strong despite the recession. The atmosphere clicked with me.

Culinary highlights included Hut's Burgers. Not necessarily up the snuff of New York burger joints, but they offer a dizzying array of fixings. It was a great first stop after getting off the train. Brunch at Trudy's gave me a taste of their legendary migas. While I'm not usually that big of a jalapeno guy, these were just fantastic. I could stand to have these more often.

Of course, as a film fan, no trip to Austin would have been complete without a pilgrimage to the legendary Alamo Drafthouse, one of the nation's most famous independent cinemas. Servers bring dinner and beers right to your seats. The food is pretty good too.

Austin has piqued my curiosity. Not sure if I could ever live there, but I'd definitely love to return in the future.

Sometimes Hangovers Last For Days

Neon signs beckoned with promises of booze. Awful strip clubs called to us with promises of 'famous love acts' that were somehow even more disappointing than when I first visited New Orleans three years ago. But it was at the suggestion of some locals that we found a little bar several blocks off of Bourbon called Flannagan's. As we settled in there and saw the lack of beads and tourists, we made ourselves at home and our night began in earnest.

A week ago tonight I was stumbling through the French Quarter, on my first night out of New York, enjoying the company of good friends until entirely too goddamn late. We were on our way back to the hotel, but somehow my good friend TR convinced me to make one last stop with him. It's always the detour that winds up kicking your ass in these adventures.

That was the first of several such days. Sunday morning, after a whole lot of drinking with both old and new friends, I saw the wrong side of dawn for the first time in quite a bit. It was kind of fantastic but more than a little exhausting. I got about three hours of sleep and crammed everything back into my luggage. It was time to leave the Big Easy.

One long-ass roadtrip later and I've been drying out at a friend's place in Little Rock for the last few days. I've never had a hangover last for days before, but this was a good, quiet spot to recover.

And now, in a few hours, I depart. The first leg of my Amtrak Rail Pass takes me from Arkansas into Texas. I'll be visiting an old friend in Dallas.

The adventure begins.

The Story Up Until Now...

This upcoming weekend marks five years since I first moved to New York. In that time I have completely fallen in love with the city and my neighborhood, worked amazing jobs, less than amazing jobs, been unemployed, been in love, gone through hell, etc... And now I find myself at a crossroads.

I am untethered by a relationship and, after the 20th of September, untethered by a job. By all common wisdom I should be scrambling to find a new roommate, a new job, and freaking out about how to pay for life in New York City. Instead I'm looking at this situation as an opportunity. As an adventure.

I'm going to travel the country by rail. Looking for work opportunities as I go (while still job hunting remotely for positions in the city). I'm going to visit friends along the way, explore new cities and live the hell out of life. Since I'll have a lot of time to kill while on trains, I'm going to document some of that experience here.