Friday, August 31, 2012
Around Town
Roadside cowboy on South Congress (1). Downtown Austin at night (2-3). Peacock and chick (4). Greenbelt River (5-8). South Philly food truck where I tried my first veggie cheesesteak (9-10). Cherrywood neighborhood (11). LBJ Presidential Library (12). UT Turtle Pond (13-15). UT Main Building (16). UT stadium (17).
Thursday, August 23, 2012
Gary Johnson in Austin
With under 75 days to go until the 2012 presidential election I still have a chance to meet more candidates for the office. On Friday, I met my sixth of this election cycle: Gary Johnson, representing the top of the Libertarian Party ticket.
Austin, I learned, while waiting for Johnson, formerly a two term Republican governor of New Mexico, has a slim but strong Libertarian undercurrent. Members of the Free State Project (an effort by libertarians to move to one state so they can gain enough political power to enact their policies) selected New Hampshire. Dissident libertarians, however, who disliked the Granite State's harsh winters, are attempting a southern version of the project in Austin.
The people out to support Johnson were a diverse group. Take a gander at some of the pictures to confirm this. Johnson is about as ordinary of a person running for president as I've ever met. Of course, that may be because he has no chance of winning.
He arrived at Hills Cafe on South Congress in a light blue polo and jeans, chatting with the crowd and happily posing for pictures. The casualness of the event is exemplified by the guy chugging a Heineken behind me in my photo with the candidate.
Austin, I learned, while waiting for Johnson, formerly a two term Republican governor of New Mexico, has a slim but strong Libertarian undercurrent. Members of the Free State Project (an effort by libertarians to move to one state so they can gain enough political power to enact their policies) selected New Hampshire. Dissident libertarians, however, who disliked the Granite State's harsh winters, are attempting a southern version of the project in Austin.
The people out to support Johnson were a diverse group. Take a gander at some of the pictures to confirm this. Johnson is about as ordinary of a person running for president as I've ever met. Of course, that may be because he has no chance of winning.
He arrived at Hills Cafe on South Congress in a light blue polo and jeans, chatting with the crowd and happily posing for pictures. The casualness of the event is exemplified by the guy chugging a Heineken behind me in my photo with the candidate.
Austin City Hall
Last week Monday, my program took a field trip to Austin's state of the art city hall situated downtown at the corner of 2nd and La Vaca along Lady Bird Johnson Lake. Likened architecturally to an armadillo, the angular, eco-friendly structure embodies the highest values of the city it serves.
Two of the driving themes of the building are transparency and public engagement. Specific features include glass conference rooms, a protest window along one side of the city council chamber, and public art prominently on display (some of which is rather odd). The public votes for its favorite pieces and the city purchases the most popular each year.
Two of the driving themes of the building are transparency and public engagement. Specific features include glass conference rooms, a protest window along one side of the city council chamber, and public art prominently on display (some of which is rather odd). The public votes for its favorite pieces and the city purchases the most popular each year.
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Hamilton Pool
Located about 45 minutes outside Austin in Dripping Springs is Hamilton Pool, a natural swimming hole half encased by a cove-like rock overhang. I visited there with some friends this past Friday afternoon.
To prevent the fragile ecosystem from being overrun, the nature preserve only allows a certain number of people in at a time. They do this by enforcing a one-car-in-one-car-out policy when the pool is at capacity. We had to wait in line about twenty minutes but eventually made it inside the preserve.
The pool is a rocky half-mile hike from the parking lot but it is worth the wait and effort. After snaking through desert then forest foliage, the trail suddenly descends into rocky terrain with a high cliff on one side. Eventually you come to a clearing where the epic pool awaits.
Looking like some kind of lost oasis, we joked that Hamilton Pool would be the perfect place to hide during a zombie apocalypse. Thin waterfalls trickle from high above into the cool, refreshing water below. We swam for an hour, waited out a short thunderstorm beneath the overhang, then got back in the water and swam for another hour before heading back to Austin.
To prevent the fragile ecosystem from being overrun, the nature preserve only allows a certain number of people in at a time. They do this by enforcing a one-car-in-one-car-out policy when the pool is at capacity. We had to wait in line about twenty minutes but eventually made it inside the preserve.
The pool is a rocky half-mile hike from the parking lot but it is worth the wait and effort. After snaking through desert then forest foliage, the trail suddenly descends into rocky terrain with a high cliff on one side. Eventually you come to a clearing where the epic pool awaits.
Looking like some kind of lost oasis, we joked that Hamilton Pool would be the perfect place to hide during a zombie apocalypse. Thin waterfalls trickle from high above into the cool, refreshing water below. We swam for an hour, waited out a short thunderstorm beneath the overhang, then got back in the water and swam for another hour before heading back to Austin.
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