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<\/p>\nAustin is a gem of a city. There’s never a dull moment here, and while it’s my biggest distraction from school, it’s the best distraction I could ever ask for. This semester alone, I’ve had the opportunity to hike through the Greenbelt multiple times, see a ton of live music, and see some amazing pieces of artwork in person.<\/p>\n
Austin is a well known hub for art and music, and I try to get out and see new exhibits on a regular basis. During my position as curator, I was lucky enough to find out about Austin Museum Day on September 18th. I visited the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum, a museum very close to campus that I never had an excuse to visit until then. Although the museum was cool, it can’t top the Andy Warhol exhibition now on display at the Blanton. Warhol is one of my favorite artists, and it’s absolutely insane to have his work on campus!<\/p>\n
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Last semester I was also able to go to Austin City Limits. This is my favorite weekend of fall semester by far. It’s the weekend that I completely forget I’m enrolled in school and see a ton of my favorite bands and artists with my friends. This year some of my friends came in from A&M and Texas Tech, so we had a group of 16 people. Somehow nobody went missing and we were even able to see Flume from the front row.<\/p>\n
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One of my favorite adventures from this semester is getting to explore the Greenbelt. It’s always been wild to me that we have crystal clear swimming holes right outside of the city, and I definitely take advantage of it. I would say I visited different sites of the Greenbelt around 15 times this semester. My favorite access points have to be\u00a0Twin Falls and Spyglass, and in my time as the curator I posted a link to an access point guide that includes directions to both of these and more under one of my photos.<\/p>\n
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In the process of this semester and these adventures, I’ve gained a bit of a different perception of digital culture. As we’ve talked about authorship throughout the semester, I’ve begin to see social media as more of a journal entry, and iPhones more as a tool. I see people fake laughing at ACL to get the perfect selfie, but I also see people Face-Timing\u00a0their friend so they can see Two Door Cinema Club together. I see people not even look at the art at Blanton because they haven’t looked up from their phones the whole time, but I also see people scanning QR codes under a piece so they can learn more about the artist. It’s a weird concept, but our phones are a big part of our life now. We use them for everything. I wouldn’t have known about Austin Museum Day if I hadn’t seen an Instagram post about it, and I couldn’t have been able to see my favorite shows at ACL without the schedule on the app. Although I used my phone to Snapchat at each of my excursions, I never let it get in the way of what I was doing. Our phones can sometimes make us lose focus on real life, but we’re lucky to have these little computers to get us from point A to point B.<\/p>\n\n