Austin: the Alamo Drafthouse and Acupuncture

Ok, so it's been a while since I've posted anything. Sorry about that... things have been hectic to say the least. I spent almost three weeks out in Austin last month, and it was very relaxing. My nieces were on spring break for part of that time, and my sister-in-law had taken some time off from work. So I got to spend a lot of quality time with the fam, which was really cool.

We went to some cool Austin-ey places like Austin Java and Zilker Park. Austin Java, a funky coffeehouse with various locations around town, (I'd steer away from the airport one, though - the food doesn't seem as fresh there) serves their breakfast and lunch fare with a healthy and organic twist. A Spicy African Peanut soup caught my eye on the menu, so I tried it as a side with my turkey burger. I'm sure the other food there is tasty too, but this soup was really amazing. It was so good, in fact, when I went there to meet a friend the next day, I ordered a large bowl of only that soup. I would eat that every day if I could only figure out how they make it!

I checked out some South by Southwest stuff, and while I couldn't get into the Harold and Kumar 2 screening or the REM show (ok, I didn't really effort this one), it was really cool to be able to walk around and see everything going on. I was so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of music and video offerings that I am sure I didn't do the best job of checking things out. Now I know how navigate it next year.

I must make a special shout-out to the guys at PureVolume for hooking me up at their venue. They had some great bands, and they're doing some super cool things at their website.



Other noteworthy things from the trip include a whole lotta discussions on health, good nutrition, and alternative medicines. My sister-in-law was in the midst of trying acupuncture and Chinese medicinal therapies when I visited, so I went with her on two occasions. I also took the plunge and decided to try acupuncture for some of my minorly annoying chronic ailments (headaches and skin irritations.)

It seemed pretty weird at first... getting needles poked in various stress points on your body as a method of therapy, but I got used to it quickly. It wasn't so bad. You have to remember that once the needles are in, you can't really make a single move or you're going to be in a lot of aching pain until the doctor takes them out 30 minutes later. I learned that the hard way.

The doctor gave me some herbal powder to mix with hot water and drink after a meal. My sister-in-law got a bag of herbs which she had to boil in water and drink the extract. The running joke at the house was that it was time to drink our "foot juice" after meals, because the stuff smelled like smelly gym socks. Somehow I managed to drink most of the noxious powder before the next visit, where it was more of the same needle treatments. This time, I ended up with three bags of smelly herbs to take home with me.

It took me a lot longer than the doctor indicated it should, but after several weeks, I got through the herbal extracts. The results? Well, the headaches are still rampant, but my skin issues seem to be resolved. It was very interesting to try it, and I think I'd do it again. It just makes me wonder what's going on with regular medicine that they can only control chronic skin problems but they can't seem to cure them?

And last, but not least... in the strip mall where the Academy of Oriental Medicine (AOMA) resides, there are two other noteworthy Austin places worth checking out.

One is the Alamo Drafthouse, which fans of Friday Night Lights (gawd. I love this show! it's not about football, really) will recognize. The Drafthouse has several Austin locations, and it's essentially a movie theater where they serve food and drinks. This place shows a lot of interesting films - not just mainstream ones, and the menu, like many things in Austin, is eclectic with some unusual offerings like falafel, red pepper hummus, and Asian chicken salad. Not your typical bar fare, although those things (chicken fingers, French fries, burgers) are on the menu as well. Unfortunately, we didn't get a chance to see any shows there, but I'm hoping to give a full report on it after my next visit.

And the other place that my sister-in-law and I really liked is the Texpresso coffee shop. With free Internet access and a calm, quiet interior, a lot of people were just hanging around with their laptops, working. They had an amazing mocha coffee drink, which I highly recommend. It was nice to take our drinks and sit outside in the gazebo behind the strip mall, where the AOMA classrooms are situated. I was lucky, other than a whole lot of rain on a couple of days, the weather was really pleasant when I was in town.

So that's the Austin wrap-up... I'll be back soon with more on Jacque's wedding and other Atlanta activities.