I’ve been wanting to get back into the essay game, or into the artsier creative game, ever since the Sunday Essays ended. We’ve tried a few things since, including an essay project very much like this one, but none of them stuck. Here’s the latest attempt. I feel I owe you some context.
When I moved to Austin five years ago this month, I quickly became captivated by the seasons. Everywhere has its seasons, but Austin was the first place I lived or regularly visited that had seasons unlike those where I’d grown up. For example: Austin has two summers. I spent a lot of time telling people back home about this when I figured it out.
Over the five years since, it’s been more than the seasons that’s captivated me about this place. By virtue of spending so much time—especially in those early years—driving Lyft and Uber Eats, I got to know the city better than any other place I’ve ever lived. I haven’t seen every square inch, but I’ve come close, and it’s hard to not love something when you get to know it very, very well. So, as the goal was last year, we’re trying out a little essay series, you and I: 52 essays, one a week, from now until next New Year’s. Each one will tell a story from my time so far in Austin, and each will talk about a specific place within this city. I’m framing them, loosely, as a guide to my five–years–younger self.
The title:
The phrase “Guide to Austin” came to mind early when conceptualizing this, but “The Blogger’s Guide to Austin” sounded too Instagram and “The Writer’s Guide to Austin” sounded obnoxious. Besides, I’ve made very little money writing, and the point of this website is in large part to reject the idea that we are not our careers. What is my career? How have I spent my time? What have others paid me to do? I did laundry for an Airbnb for a couple weeks. I’ve tutored. I’ve made a little bit off the blog and the ornament business, though never enough to cover either’s expenses or my own. The things I’ve done that have presented the most value to people, commonplace though they may be, are driving them around and bringing them their food. More profitably the latter than the former, thanks to the favorable winds of a pandemic.
Every now and then, using these rideshare and delivery apps, you’ll come across the word “courier.” It’s a word for someone who delivers something or someone to somewhere. In a literal sense, it defines the bulk of my economic value these last five years. I think it might signify other things as well, as we get into the figurative. Either way, it’s time to publish the first of these, so here’s the running list. Welcome to Austin. It’s sometime between late 2018 and the end of 2024.
January
