12th and Lamar in Austin is a strange nexus point in the universe, much the way that the Red Rocks of Sedona, AZ is a portal to a different time and place. The cosmic strings weave deeply there.
And just a week ago, those intangible forces showed their glowing heads for a visit once again.
Nexus Occurance #1:
I had come to tell my friend Carissa at Flora & Fauna that I would accept her offer of the office space in the back (I know it’s huge news, and it deserves it’s own post), and when I showed up Adrianne Clay from An Affair To Remember Catering. Adrianne is a well respected person in the wedding industry here in Austin, and I have been told many times that I should make contact with her. As it turns out, Carissa is very good friends with her. I gave her one of my marketing booklets and was persuaded by her charm to give her 4 more (I’m running out now – haha). We hit it off, and she liked my work. Yay!!!
Nexus Occurance #2:
As Carissa, Adrianne and I sat out on the patio on a very unusually warm winter day, two guys with video equipment entertained Carissa’s son next door at House Park BBQ, which is not unusual, he makes friends with everyone. As interest wore off the two guys came over and started talking to us, told us that they were visiting 50 states and filming a documentary on the recession. And thus we were introduced to Austin and Brian Chu from The Recess Ends, and we found ourselves in the middle of a impromptu interview on the recession, how Austin’s local business-centric model has padded the economy here, and how-if-at-all the recession will hit when it does here.
Here are a couple strong points that came out of that interview:
- Austin’s local economy has not been hit as bad as around the nation because of movements like Keep Austin Weird, which encourages shopping at locally run businesses instead of chain superstores.
- Because of that movement, more money stays within the community.
- Nothing exists in a vacuum however and Austin will at some point become susceptible to the recession
- The slow down that we have experienced, is more than likely due to people buying into the national media coverage on the state of the economy.
The Chu brothers have a long road ahead of them until they finish their trip sometime around May, and then there will be an extensive, many months long, editing process to make a movie. I wish them all the best, and hopefully Carissa, Adrianne and I will be in a feature documentary sometime next year!
Only on 12th & Lamar…
Safe travels guys!
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