What’s for Dinner?

/ tori / Leave a comment

http://ww1.hdnux.com/photos/24/26/26/5334460/3/1024×1024.jpg

Last spring I was giving a campus tour to a group of third graders visiting from a small town in east Texas. We were stopped outside of Gregory Gym, an area of campus oversaturated with our “famous” squirrels, when one little boy came up to me and tugged my hand. “Miss,” he said with a sincere look in his eyes, “Do you shoot the squirrels and cook them for dinner?” I smiled at let him know we did not, but the kid had a point, and I was low in Dine in Dollars.

Wallet Cleansed

/ tori / Leave a comment

[ picture from Juiceland website ]

Last weekend I was sitting outside at Jucieland in Hyde Park, catching up with one of my good friends. It was a typical 20-something conversation discussing dating, work, and of course, the struggle of budgeting. We were brainstorming a few money saving ideas when she suggested, “Maybe we should cut out our weekly dollar margarita happy hour at El Arroyo. That would help, right?” I nodded in agreement, only to then realize, “Hey Sara, we just spent $9 on smoothies.”

No Surgery Knee-ded

https://consequenceofsound.files.wordpress.com/2013/10/acl-2013.jpg?w=607&h=382

It was my first semester on campus, and talk of ACL permeated daily conversation in dining halls and classes. I knew Austin was a fit city and had a strong running community–that was one of the main reasons I loved it so much. However, one day I finally had to ask my roommate, “Have you heard people talking about ACLs a lot?” “Yes,” she squealed, “I can’t believe it’s almost here! We’re so lucky to live in a city with its own music festival.” My cheeks flushed. I thought everyone had bad knees.

No Surgery Knee-ded

/ tori / Leave a comment

A Week of Pride

/ shorna / Leave a comment

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http://www.freeimages.com/photo/baloons-1175673

During Gay Pride week in Austin, I was strolling down 4th Street after having just partied at Rain when I saw an old man screaming at same-sex couples couples while they were walking into various gay bars and restaurants about how they were an embarrassment to the city. A gay couple walked up to the man, laughing, and told him, “When are you going to be going back to College Station?” The couple then high-fived each other and walked away from the man, leaving him silent.

Welcome

Featured / snf334 / Leave a comment

The posts on this site reflect the experiences and perspectives of UT students enrolled in RHE 310, a course in expository writing offered by the Department of Rhetoric and Writing.

The vignettes are stories from Austinites about Austin, recognizing and celebrating the characteristics that make and keep Austin weird.  They are modeled on the vignettes about New York City from New Yorkers that have appeared for years in a weekly column, “The Metropolitan Diary,” in the New York Times.

The commentary posts are brief opinion pieces about daily events, news items, and issues.

All posts have been authored, revised, and edited by the students.  The site moderator/administrator is Professor Davida Charney.