so it’s official - austin ROCKS! it appears that whilst in austin, there isn’t a closing time for bars and you don’t have to pay for drinks - my idea of heaven. so needless to say, i’ve been making the most of the situation - i am british after all.

it had been a really good night (probably a little too good) and i was probably an hour or so later to bed than i should have been. it will come as no surprise then to hear that i overslept the next day and woke up at 9.50am when i was due at a presentation for 10am. i got showered and changed in super quick time and literally ran out of the hotel.

all was going well, i walked towards the convention centre. as i walk for longer and longer i realise that i don’t actually recognise any of the buildings (i should probably add at this point that i was wearing a skirt and boots). i stopped to try and get my bearings only to have a cop car pull up next to me (like my use of americanism there?). The guy winds down his window and asks me whether i knew that there was someone following me.

to my dismay, as i turn around there’s a really shifty guy right behind me - i didn’t have a clue. he then goes on to explain that i’m in a really dodgy party of austin and shouldn’t walk there alone. this was when the dilemma occured. he told me to get in the car and he would drive me to the convention centre. now what’s a girl to do? should i carry on walking and being followed by some random freak or get in a cop car that could be a fake?

i decided the safest option was to get in the car. the guy then kindly drove me all of the way to the convention centre and walked me in to the centre to make sure that i was safe…. you don’t get that in britain. so there you have it, don’t walk alone in dodgy neighbourhoods, don’t get lost - but worst case scenario - the austin cops rule!

you just sang that in your head didn’t you?

so i still don’t have a cable to update my photos, which I’m gutted about. when i do, i will let you know and they will be tagged sxsw on my flickr account, the details of which can be found on the righthand side of this page.

well, what can i say? Austin has a LOT of bars!!! we’ve taken the opportunity to consume a few afternoon drinks and so far everything’s gone swimmingly. that of course is with the exception of the door incident. i was in the hotel lobby with a friend that i’m sharing a room with. she decided to head back to the room to have a shower and after 5 minutes, i decided to make my way back to the room as at this stage we only had 30 minutes before we were due to go out for dinner.

anyone who knows me would be the first to tell you that 30 minutes is not a lot of time for me! it takes a lot of work to polish this old rock! so i get back to the room and try putting my card in the door only to find that the door isn’t unlocking. so at this stage i politely do a little tap on the door to get in to the room. i could hear the tv on in the background and was conscious that she might be in the shower, so i thought i would give her 5 minutes.

5 minutes later and i’m still stood outside of the room, so i decide to knock more loudly. as more time passes, my knocks are now getting more and more impatient and i’m getting quite miffed that i should be in the shower by now. with that the people staying next door returned to their room and gave me a really odd look - which i just put down to the fact that i must look “english”.

following another 5 minutes of knocking, a door opens behind me. as i turn around, it was my boss - which seemed incredibly strange as i was staying 3 floors lower. it was only at this stage i realised i had been hounding the wrong door. the person in the room probably looked out of the peep hole and thought that i was a mad nutter. with that, i literally ran to the lift and when i got to the right room - surprisingly the key worked!

so - first lesson of visiting Austin - don’t ask a local where you can go line dancing with the locals…. this tends to lead to huge insultment of the locals who take pleasure in telling you that it will cost quite a lot in a taxi as it’s local in Arizona rather than Austin! d’oh!

as i actually managed to forget to bring the cable to upload photos from my camera, i thought that now might be a good time to reflect of my connecting flight from Chicago to Austin. firstly, we stepped onto the plane and wondered where the rest of it was… it was like a dinky little toy plane - but kind of amused by the ghetto travel decided it would be fun.

having taken our seats, one of the flight attendants took a seat in-front of us and talked really loudly about the fact the air hostess at the front of the plane had never done this before. we then had to sit there whilst the hostess tried to remember and demonstrate where the fire escapes were, followed by a struggle with the oxygen mask to try and open it. by now, as you can imagine, we were filled with confidence - which was cemented when the hostess sat in front of us said loudly “everyone check you’re belted up - we’re going to head up now”

within 10 minutes of take off - a 17 year old guy walks along the aisle, only for me to later discover that he was the pilot. honestly, i could go on to list the other hilarious events, but i think i could actually be in denial at the moment and so have blocked them from my memory.

on the upside however, they proved to be really caring when they made an announcment to say “we will be landing in 20 minutes, for this reason we will be turning on the lights. please therefore, if you have been asleep, please prepare for this by covering your eyes to allow them to adjust” - bless them….

well, i’ll keep you up to date with our progress here in Austin, i’ll try and get hold of a cable as they say a picture can say 1000 words - well if that’s the case, i have a hell of a lot to say. i’m going to leave you now to go and find a venue in which you can dance in a line

Firstly, can I say hello Texas!! I’m finally here and so excited that words can’t even begin to explain! Keep checking the site as I’m planning to post loads of piccies - although the level of their “randomness” is bound to vary, depending on the time of day at which they were taken and levels of alcohol consumed - woo hoo!

The first issue of the day was that I probably should have looked up the term “capsule wardrobe” before taking a literal trunk brimming at the edges. As I was sat on the plane, I was still convinced that they had some trailer of some kind at the back especially for my case! To me capsule wardrobe means that the clothes are timeless, well in my opinion I have lots of those - so there were lots to pack. Think I missed the point somewhere?!?

I should probably mention at this stage that as a last minute panic, I decided it would be a good to remove all heavy items and put them in my hand luggage as that was less likely to be weighed. Please someone remind me next time that generally the heavy items are liquids, which of course due to security you aren’t able to take onboard. I have no need to say anything further about it - let’s just say it’s still a bit of a sore point.

My last grumble and I swear it really is - I bought new luggage especially for the occasion - I like to think it has a certain youthful appeal about it, in a Hawaii-esque manner. That was of course until I turn up at Departures and find a 70 year old woman with the same bag. My automatic reaction included a certain amount of “mutton and lamb”. That was when my mid-life crisis hit me! When will I know to stop trying to be trendy? What if I don’t? What if I shouldn’t be already? Who even says that I am? Girl geeks aren’t always renound for their trendiness after all!

Well now that I’ve managed to stir up all of those emotions all over again - I’m off to find myself a tequila and dance in a line - I am in the right place aren’t I?

I promise to keep you up to my escapades as and when they happen although I’m a little concerned as I struggle to get by with everyday life in the country in which I was born. The question is….. are the States ready for me? Only time will tell!