Starting the Chronicles

My dream when I first started Who's Austin was to interview the people I met in Austin. I wanted to chronicle the weird and interesting people I came across and take their picture for my blog.

The truth is, despite studying journalism for four years, it's still nerve-wracking for me to ask people to take their picture. Talking to people, interviewing them- not so much a problem. I can ask questions until the end of time. But when I have to whip out my big, ol' Nikon, I get behind-the-camera-shy.

To get out of this funk, I decided to start with baby steps. I asked Robbie if I could start my chronicles with him. He was sweet enough to go along with it and was a good sport about me taking his picture and talking to me about Austin.

Robbie and I moved here earlier this year in January because he got a fantastic sales job. He originally was going to be placed in San Antonio, but when he interned for his company six months before he officially started, he chose to intern in Austin. Little did Robbie know that this internship would eventually cause his company to re-place him in Austin. And can you actually believe it- we were MAD that we were going to live in Austin rather than San Antonio. We had no clue that Austin is way better. :)

Robbie's a true Michigander that was transplanted to San Diego right before high school started. He actually goes by Robert (his friends and family all call him Robert), but I was introduced to him as Robbie as a joke and have been wrongfully calling him Robbie ever since. We met and started dating in college in San Luis Obispo, California- the most beautiful place on earth.

Robbie has a great sense of humor and he has a hot, hockey player bod. There! I said it. I have a smokin' hot boyfriend.

Here's my interview/Saturday afternoon conversation with Robbie:

N: Where's the best place to get a beer in Austin?

R: Uncle Billy's. You can sit outside, there's always sports on and it's really close to our house.

N: What kind of beer do you like from there?

R: The Agave beer.

N: What's the weirdest thing you've seen in Austin?

R: I've seen a lot of dogs paddleboarding. Let me think of something weirder...  Have we seen anything weird here?

N: Yes! Remember that weird bicycle/car we saw driving downtown? It was half bike, half car?

R: That's not weird. Oh! What about the Texas Longhorns guy? The way he moves his knees is scary.

(We recently went to a UT football game and at the game we spotted the band leader who was dressed head to toe as a cowboy. He stood still while the band members marched in and moved his legs so it looked like he was shaking his booty at us. Check it out in this video at about 17 seconds in. You can see the cowboy standing still in white. Hilarious at the time, I swear.)

N: That is a good one. Ok, tell me about your mancave.

R: I have to have a big TV and I have to have HDTV or I'll die. It's my way to escape. Not that I need to escape from anyone...

(Long, awkward pause)

... I also love having your iPad to gamble on. This is my favorite spot. Saturday, sitting on my lumpy couch with holes in it.

N: What's your favorite thing to do here in Austin?

R: I like getting out of the hustle and bustle of the city. Like going to Hamilton Pool and like the thing we went to yesterday.

N: Tell me about "the thing" we went to yesterday.

R: That was just a huge gathering of rednecks. It was a demolition derby. So you get there and there's bleachers set up around a mud pit. There's a bunch of rednecks in cars- they're pretty good mechanics, so they've fixed their cars up pretty good. They get together and they ram into the back of each others' cars.

It was interesting to see who had been there before and who hadn't. Some people came early and were sitting in the bleachers with blankets. Some other people came prepared and brought coolers to stand on so they could see over the bleachers. Everyone was really into it.

It was BYOB and they didn't charge me for my little cooler because it was too small. They felt sorry for me. Now we know how to do it next year- bring a big cooler to stand on!

N: What do you miss about San Diego?

R: I miss the weather. I miss being close to my family. Contrary to popular belief, I don't miss the ocean. I am happy there's water here, though. I used to miss knowing where everything was. It was kind of a shock getting here and not knowing where to get a beer or where the closest Target was. You get over that. It only takes about six months!

Oh- I also miss not having a professional sports team in town. Austin's pretty torn (between Houston and Dallas), especially when it comes to professional sports. No one really cheers for the same team. Everyone roots for different teams because there isn't one here.

N: Have you made good friends here?

R: Mmmhmm. Making friends was easy because I had you and I had Phil. The less you're trying, the easier it is to make friends. You go to places with the one or two other people you do know and you start to make friends fast.

N: Would you recommend someone our age moving to a different state by themselves?

R: Look at that squirrel!

(There's a squirrel outside trying not to get wet because it's raining)

N: Oh! He's cute!

R: I wouldn't recommend it to people who aren't going to put themselves out there. You have to be willing to just go to a bar by yourself. It helps if you have people at work who are the same age as you. You just need to find one person and you're good. So no, (laughs) I really wouldn't recommend it!