I don't think this has anything to do with the US in particular but everything to do with the sort of place Austin is. After years of walkin' around with my hand on my bag, gettin' mugged at the Tube station for what they thought was my wallet, gettin' my mobile ripped out of my hand on the train, havin' the fabulous ciagrette case I bought in Edinburgh slipped out of my pocket on the train and havin' my flat broken into; I have landed up somewhere totally different. Wow Dorothy we may be in Oz after all.
When I go to my local coffee place Flipnotics to get on line, remember this is free if you have a wireless connection, I walk onto the porch, pick a table and leave my laptop on it while I go inside for my one cup of coffee, bottle of water whatever. Yes folks you can leave your laptop lying around and no one will touch it. You can buy just one drink and then spend the entire day sittin' there on line and no one will ask if you want more to drink or tell you they need the table. They provide handy plug in points so you don't even have to run down your battery. Okay, maybe I'm rapsodising overmuch about this but its just so damn different to London. No boys n' girls, I didn't say better, I said different.
Its also a real pleasure to be able to stroll around the neighbourhood at night, whilst I'm suckin' back those necessary fags, without worrying about being jumped. I've sat outside the flat till 4:30am writing on my laptop without any fear of being mugged or maimed, well at least by nothing human... the insect world, that's somethin' totally different.
As perhaps further evidence that Austin is open and friendly, The Austin Chronicle printed my letter. I would speculate that due to the content of the letter, there well may be many papers in the US who would either not print it, or print it with a note from the Editor saying if you don't like it, then leave.
Yeah, I'm in a mellow mood today, go figure. I'm gonna slip inside n' make some blueberry pancakes.
Check out my Gigs link for an on line 'zine, Humdinger, which has just published some of my poems.
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