An Excess Of Civic Pride

I grew up in a town called Derwood, which is smooshed in between towns of slighly higher note, Rockville and Gaithersburg, Maryland. I say this, because right now, in Derwood, it is 31 degrees outside, and there is probably snow on the ground. Here in Austin, it is 67 degrees, the sun is shining, and a rather large gecko just crawled across my keyboard. The town we live in, this town here in the middle of The Rest Of Texas, is like a tropical island paradise, except that it is filled with rock and roll drunks and cheap, readily available marijuana.

Jennifer Carlson, contributor to our mothership site, Gothamist, tells me it is snowing in New York right now. The last time I was in New York, which was three months ago, it was also snowing. This is something the rest of the world calls, "winter," but which we down here in Austin have no word for.

My point is, I'm laughing at everyone who lives in Derwood right now. I'm laughing at New Yorkers. I'm laughing, and I'm getting a tan.

Hello. My name is Ben Brown, and I will be your editor this evening.

But there are many other reasons that Austin is great, besides than making other cities jealous. We have excellent bars, and Mexican food, and BBQ sauce comes out of a tap in between the hot and cold water in every house. And then, there is the yearly blossoming of 20 thousand UT co-eds into skirts and tank tops, so that they may frolic unencumbered in our many vegan coffee shops. It is beyond the shadow of a doubt the most amazing city in which to live in the whole wide world.

Warning: The editor suffers from what might be called an excess of civic pride.

It is this time of year, however, when we Austinites must be on our best behavior. In three days, the media spectacle known as SXSW begins, and thousands of visitors will grace our fair streets, and witness all that we have to offer. We must do our city well, my countrymen! Extend a warm welcome to our out of town guests so that they will go home and tell their friends that Austin is the greatest town to live in, because then they will cry all the harder, and we will be that much cooler.

Stay tuned over the next few weeks, as we launch the site, give in depth coverage of all things SXSW, and have a few guest editors from our sister sites stop in to gaze in awe at our majesty.