Janice Williams Loves Austin

I came home tonight, intending to write about the show at Hill’s, but Mark delivered sad news to me. Danny Roy Young, the “Mayor of South Austin,” passed away today from a heart attack. I am so sad. He was such a vibrant wonderful man. If you didn’t know him, I’m sorry you missed that opportunity. He was the owner of the Texicali, the rubboard player of the Cornell Hurd Band, and a great representative of this city.

I met Danny in Dallas at the Sons of Herman Hall one night over 10 years ago. We went to see the Cornell Hurd Band and just loved them. I don’t remember the circumstances, but there was some possibility that Mark might play with them (which he would have loved because of all the Western Swing they play). We introduced ourselves to Danny and he just was as talkative and friendly as if we had known him for years. We admired the gloves he had created for himself to play the rubboard, they had the spoons attached so he didn’t have to grip the spoons. He had created all sorts of “noisemakers” for his rubboard.

Once we moved to Austin I would see him playing with Cornell or see him out enjoying music all around town. He also would bring breakfast tacos to the station on Thursday mornings. For a short — unbearable — time, I did a morning thing at the stations and would see him then. He always knew me and was always so friendly.

I never ate at the Texicali enough, but it was fabulous food. My sister and I ate there one time when she was in town. We had ordered and realized after a while that it had been a LONG time that we had been waiting for our sandwiches. The waiter came by and was very nice, but he explained that they had had a very large phone order come in and that had delayed the kitchen. We had lots of time, so it wasn’t a problem for us. We saw them boxing up sacks and sacks of food and someone come in and take that away. We eventually got our food. About that time, Danny Roy came into the dining room and in full voice said, “People in this restaurant have been waiting too long to eat today!” and he started handing out money. He came around and flamboyantly put maybe two dollars on every table. It was an incredible display of goodwill. I have never forgotten that. He could have easily instructed the wait staff to deduct something off the ticket (or just ignore it all unless someone complained), but he was generous AND a showman.

Danny was just one of those creative spirits in Austin that you wanted to be in their orbit. You wanted them to be your friend. And Danny WAS your friend. I will never forget Danny Roy Young.

I finished two books in the last few days and now need to find another one to get involved in.

Yes, I finished Sarah Bird’s “How Perfect Is That” and loved it. I want to write a post about all of her books and how she is the only author I have ever bought every book they ever written and read them all. I was keeping up with Grisham for a long while, but he got ahead of me Sarah has only written six masterpieces so I have been able to keep up with her more easily. This new one is fun and funny and very quick paced and took turns that I truly did not expect. I had read the excerpt in Texas Monthly, which is from the very beginning of the book, and I was glad that the whole book was not centered around the super-wealthy Republicans of Austin. No, it went back to the Seneca House, the boarding house where the character had lived in college. What I really loved was that the house and the characters were really introduced to us back in Alamo House (her first novel), in a way. They were different people this time with different names, but it was still like meeting up with old friends.

I also finished “Snapshot” by Ryan O’Reilly. He’s another local author and this is his first book. I am very jealous that he wrote it and got it out there. It is a “road” story like “On the Road” and he has wonderful descriptions of the terrain and the beauty around him. The characters were not as well drawn and the situations were sometimes too “shallow” (for lack of a better word), but I was never bored and I read it straight through in about two days, so it was obviously intriguing. I will look forward to his next one that he is working on right now. I know the first one is always the most autobiographical of an author’s work and then the next one can be a more complete novel.

I am heartbroken tonight. Mom and I ate a fabulous dinner at Rounders on 6th. If you’ve never been there, I strongly encourage you to go. Normally I don’t tell people about my favorite places because that just makes them crowded and I have to wait and ruins it for me. But I’ll tell you about Rounders because I worry about them going out of business! It is about the only restaurant in town that I always walk in and have no trouble sitting down immediately. I don’t know why it isn’t packed. It is in an area that you don’t think about food being in— that far west part of 6th near Blanco. You have to turn in off of 6th quickly and find parking in the back, so maybe people just whiz by and then go “Oh shoot! That’s that place I want to eat.”

When you eat there, you must must MUST order the garlic knots. Unless you are on a date with a person you don’t know extremely well. Fabulous knots of pizza dough cooked and sitting drenched in butter and smothered in fresh garlic and parmesan. Oh my. OOOOHHH MYYYY. Salads are large. A half salad is plenty big and there are nice varieties and the half is only $4. And the pizza is great. And how often do you go out for pizza anymore? Not often, right? You go to an Italian place and you end up ordering a pasta and not having pizza and you never go to a “pizza place” anymore, you just order it to be delivered. So go and enjoy Rounders and keep them in business.

Oh, but the heartbroken part. We had our fabulous garlic knots and salads, so when the pizza arrived we only ate half of it. I knew Mark would love to have some Rounders pizza when I got home or, if he didn’t, that could be my lunch tomorrow. So we had them wrap up the three big pieces left over. And we, sniff, walked off and forgot them. Walked off, sigh, and left them sitting.

Okay, I would like to write a post. I’d really like to write a long post about my favorite author, Sarah Bird. It would include how I’ve stalked her (mainly at book signings, so I think that is welcome) for the last 20 years. How she has the nicest smile and I adored the way she said “Bastards!” when I told her I’d been let go. I want to follow in Sarah Bird’s novel-writing footsteps.

That said, that I want to write tonight, I cannot. Because the 6th book by Sarah Bird, “How Perfect Is That,” is in my possession and I’m halfway through and I must go find out whether Blythe is tracked down by the IRS and how things resolve at Seneca House. Once finished, I’m sure I will be living in the grief that follows finishing a really good Sarah Bird book and I’ll have time to write about the stalking.

But, hey, she did ask ME to be her friend on myspace first. Honest! Go see it.  And go buy the book at Bookpeople— support a local author at a local bookstore.

I love Independence Day. So many memories have come up today . . .

My nephews when they were so little in a little neighborhood parade on their trikes and bikes wearing red white and blue and so earnestly playing their part.

Blowing up my uncle on July 4 with a bottle rocket when I was grown up and should have known better. I haven’t touched fireworks since.

That same uncle dying just before the Fourth four years ago, making it our saddest holiday. Especially since today is his wife’s (Aunt Dorothy’s) birthday and is always a big celebration for her.

Going to Connor Park in Canyon with my friends in high school and hearing Rich Girl on the radio and chasing each other with water balloons and then laying on the grass watching the fireworks.

My first July 4 with Mark, just a week after we met and staying home with him when he had a migraine instead of going to my radio station’s event somewhere.

Broadcasting from Zilker Park and thinking that I would melt before the day ended. Then broadcasting the next year and it being so foggy, cool, and raining that it felt like we were in Portland or Seattle, not Austin!

Willie’s picnic in Luckenbach where Mark played with the Gary P Nunn band. Meeting Kinky Friedman. Talking to Willie. Seeing Robert Earl Keen up close.

Willie’s picnic at Spicewood where it was muddy and boggy. We were broadcasting from way backstage so it was a trek to go see the stage and the music. I made the trek during a song or two and then the gate I used to get into the audience was suddenly no longer open to me to go back to my broadcast area. I came back huffing and puffing just in time to do my next break. I interviewed Ray Price and Bill Mack and Waylon Payne and Pat Green and lots more that day. And I saw the Grateful Dead, too.

Visiting with the neighbors in our sweet South Austin neighborhood while the little boys shot off some fireworks. And then the police slowly cruising by and reminding us all that that was illegal.

I hope you are having a safe and happy Independence Day and remembering that we are responsible for preserving that freedom— not just from foreign interests that would take it away, but from others within our borders who would also limit the freedoms guaranteed to us all in the name of patriotism.

Yesterday I wrote about the things that I DON’T do in Austin, but are so much a part of the Austin experience. Christy added her list:

I often shake my head at how many “Austin” things I have yet to experience and I’ve been here since 2003… WOW.. shame on me…

on my list:
Barton Springs
the Bats on Congress
the Greenbelt
InnerSpace Caverns (just looks cool…)

I can say I’ve done the first three on her list (but way too long since I’ve been to the Greenbelt or Barton Springs), but I haven’t been to InnerSpace Caverns. I heard a story on the radio one day about special rooms scientists use to test lab equipment that have a sort of steel cage built into the walls to deflect all the radio waves in the world and keep them out of the room. [there’s a word for that kind of room and I can’t think of it] Anyway, caves and caverns are very similar in that cell phone waves and TV waves and all the waves there are coursing through out bodies ALL THE TIME can’t get to you. Therefore, it is supposed to be very stress relieving to be in a cave (or one of those special rooms). I would like to go see if I feel less anxious in a cave. Then, if I did, I could build one of those cool rooms, right? No waves disturbing you.

Wow, that was way of course . . . Back to Austin . . .

I have never been to the State Cemetery. I know, I know, as much as I “enjoy” cemeteries and like to stroll through them and see the beautiful monuments, you’d think I wo