And don't get me started on how much furniture, clothes, records, books, and tchotchkes we have -- good thing we'll each have our own floor in our Bklyn digs. Please excuse our silence for the past few days -- it's all a daze of last days at work, going away parties, errand-running, and goodbyes. We'll be back with that thrilling content you all know and love as soon as we have a dependable Internet connection again! Maybe in about a week or so? Hang in there -- be good all that. We'll miss you too.

Leaving Austin is bittersweet -- we're grateful for our time here, but it's time to move on. We're not the first to discover that sometimes the comfort offered by Austin's notorious velvet coffin/playpen isn't as reliable as advertised. But the lovely thing is, Austin will always be here if we ever need to come back. (And of course, there's always the yearly ritual of SXSW...) Sure, there'll be new pricey condos on South Congress and the East Side and the fast-creeping sprawl will continue stretch to all points of the compass -- but there'll always be some great new band to check out or old favorites, now famous, playing solo shows or one-off gigs on random weeknights. And that's what we'll always love about this city.

"If there's anything you want - come on back, 'cause it's all still here." Britt Daniel may have meant to tell his wayward love that there was still a place for her in his heart, but he may as well have been speaking about our adopted hometown as well. Which is why the old timers get nostalgic, and dare we say it, a bit weepy, even -- when Spoon plays this song at Austin gigs.

Spoon -- Anything You Want.

Thanks, Austin. Thanks for helping us discover who we are, and for giving us space to grow into the women we're now meant to be. We'll miss you.

This entry is dedicated to the memory of Sound Exchange, Liberty Lunch, Les Amis, Europa Books, Le Fun, 404, Texture, the Empanada Parlour and all the other places we hung out at in our 12 years here that are long gone now -- and also to the memory of those we lost along the way, especially John Christensen.

[Ed. from Pinkie: I'd like to add David Peacock to the list above.]