23 March, Cafe Ruta Maya, Austin, Texas, USA – 11:45am

So a couple of days after the end of the SXSW music festival and convention, and I'm still in Austin, mostly due to Texan hospitality. Austin is a city that changes once SXSW is over and the streets return to normal with cars instead of throngs of drunken music fans. The past couple of days have been the first time on my trip that I've actually taken some time to do nothing. It's been great to be able to just wander about a city, eat, drink coffee without having to go or be somewhere. On Tuesday evening I spent several hours drinking some beer and eating some barbecue with a bunch of Austin people including a rather crazy gay cop who wanted me to send him over some gay red-headed Irish men. I'm staying with Lindsey, a really cool Texan who's letting me stay in her place for a few days, do laundry, feed me Tex-mex breakfasts and even bring me to drive-thru liquor stores. MY next traveling doesn't start for another few days, when I fly up to Seattle on Saturday to hang out with my favourite dogs in the world.