I seldom write posts on my phone, but it seems appropriate today. My city is currently in transit, transforming itself into something wholly artificial in anticipation of a festival grown too large for a real city to contain.
New marquees are going up over dozens of storefronts. They'll be gone in two weeks although nothing about them suggests impermanence. The sign above the newly dubbed "Mashable Room" looks more like a permanent fixture than the signs over most of the local businesses.
Even the most temporary of street signs, the paper fliers, have an air of unreality to them. Every likely location for affixing one has been wrapped in clear cellophane to facilitate the removal of the flimsy, xeroxed placards. The weekly newspaper is now daily. Time, like everything else, has become an unreliable.
In two weeks, everything will return to normal, leaning only overly full trash cans and a sense of morning after regret. I used to be an eager participant in the fantasy world of SxSW. Now I'm one of the jaded locals who will avoid downtown at all costs during the festival.
Only... I've just learned that the New Pornographers are playing a day show on the 15th, and there's no way I'm missing that.
-RK
P.S. The band in the header image is Glasvegas. They were one of the better "next big thing" bands I've seen. I hope they're doing OK.
