Le Fun

Austin, TX

It is a sad day because Le Fun is closed. What a horrible thing to have occurred behind my back. Le Fun is where Aaron and I had our first “dates.” Late, into the wee hours of the morning, he and I would play video games. That’s when he would impress me by using only one quarter to beat a game. And that’s where once we walked by the Scientology building and inside we saw a big fat guy sitting on a couch, eating Chinese take-out and watching TV. (?) And once, after leaving Le Fun, we were walking back to the car and we heard a gunshot in the alley. And we were like, in Austin?, hmm..

I will miss Le Fun. It was a better arcade than Einstein’s. And, now living in the Bay Area I recognize it as a valuable non-eating, late-night recreation that is so rare and in the oh-so great Berkeley/Oakland area, non-existent.

It's a great place if you rely on Internet research!

I hope this doesn't suck.

Superhero crash-lands in El Paso

Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times
Sunday, December 18, 2005

Metropolis has Superman. Gotham City has Batman. And next year, El Paso will have Blue Beetle.

El Paso is getting a superhero (Great Scott!) with the publication of "Blue Beetle" by DC Comics, according to reports on comic book Web sites.

Blue Beetle, who wears a blue-and-black, bug-themed costume, will be a new version of a hero of the same name killed earlier this year.

The Blue Beetle comic book, scheduled to hit shops March 29, is thought to be the first major superhero series set in El Paso. DC Comics is home to superstars such as Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.

"Most (comics) take place in (fictional) cities like Metropolis and Gotham City. ... It makes me feel good that El Paso is in comics," said Mark D. Hajunga, owner of Comics, Cards & Collectibles store in Northeast El Paso.

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The new Blue Beetle's superpowers, secret identity and other details are still secret. A DC Comics publicist declined to talk about the series until closer to its launch date.

Hajunga said anticipation among local fans has grown since the mystical scarab that gave the original Blue Beetle his powers crashed into El Paso at the end of the recent "Day of Vengeance" mini-series.

"There are a few little things in there that I hope people in El Paso will notice, though I won't say what," Cully Hammer, the artist for Blue Beetle, told Newsarama.com, a comic news Web site. "On the other hand, I've never been to Texas, so I'm relying on Internet research. Hopefully, I won't make any glaring mistakes."

El Paso receives good national exposure in comics, said Michael Almanca, owner of Rebel's Comic Vault on the East Side.

The city was the setting for a couple of comic story lines in recent years. El Paso was in the crime noir DC Comics series "100 Bullets" and in "Coyote Crossing," a Marvel Comics story in which hero Wolverine avenged immigrants who died locked in a tractor-trailer. "Coyote Crossing" included area landmarks such as Paisano Drive.

Back to Austin

Tomorrow, I will be on tierra firma again. Back in Austin. But I fear for the last time.
Some of my best memories happened in Austin:

Night swimming at apartment complex pools.
Ice cold Negra Modelos after a long night at work.
Smoking "sherm" for the first/last time--but now I know.
Meeting Aaron.
Mid-afternoon margaritas on the patio.
Making my first doc.
And many, many faces/laughter/clubs/bars/great conversations.

Not many memorable moments happen anymore. Time to change my perspective? Or my diet? Things are swinging in a new direction.
This is a time to say good-bye.

Austin.

The Elk Are Alright.

Study: Snowmobiles May Not Impact Wildlife

Wed Dec 14, 6:57 PM ET

BILLINGS, Mont. - Most elk, bison and trumpeter swans are unfazed by the presence of snowmobiles in Yellowstone National Park, a new study suggests.

What a relief.

Red Heels

This was a wasted day indeed. Lost in my foggy mind--I chose to wander public transportation. First jumping on the first bus to pass, #51. Riding until I couldn't take the homeless man's smell any longer. Got off in downtown Oakland. Gritty Oakland. What to do? Got on the BART to SF. By railway I go. Wandered the streets of SF without direction. Looking for a coffeeshop, but to no avail.
Aye,
Got home and laid in bed until the sunset.
What a wasted day.
But I am wearing my red heels so the future is bound to be better. Red heels protect me.

Beautiful, but not home.

The dawn in Berkeley is so different from the dawn in West Texas. It is blue. What I imagine crulean blue to be. It casts a blue dust on all the buildings. A feeling of glum and apprehenision comes from it. Or is that me? The tall Redwoods pieces the sky, they are spikes of black that surround you. The homeless shuffle awake. Few cars. Only lights are from the coffeeshops that dot the neighborhoods. I could hear faint shouts from a crowd. Ghosts of the Sixties?
Beautiful, but not home.