Keep Austin Weird

“Keep Austin Weird” is the slogan originally intended to promote small local businesses in Austin. People have taken this farther than that though, and it is now a lifestyle and subculture all its own. I was reminded how weird Austin can be this morning as I was driving back from dropping Oscar off at doggie daycare. I saw this woman in her minivan brushing her teeth with a battery operated toothbrush. Seriously? You’re that busy that you can’t brush your teeth at home? What do you do with the toothpaste? Swallow it? Spit it out the window like a tobacco chewer? Gross!

Some of my favorite reasons why Austin is keepin’ it weird (along with fun and interesting):

• Leslie Cochran – Leslie is our resident cross-dressing homeless man with a strong dislike of the Austin Police Department (as evidenced by one outfit in which he had a t-shirt with “APD Kiss This” written on the back and an arrow pointing to his butt). He’s somewhat of an urban legend, as everyone has their theory on who he is. Some say he has a home but chooses to appear homeless, others say he was once a college professor gone mad. Who knows? I just know that there’s nothing I love more than spotting him downtown in his leopard thong, or his gold minidress. My favorite, however, was one day on the way to my hair appointment in the middle of the afternoon. I parked my car, and there was Leslie. Walking down the street in a top hat, a vest without a shirt, women’s bikini bottoms, sweat socks and black clogs. And he was carrying a handle of Jose Cuervo. Classic. :)
• Keep Austin Weird Festival – oh yes, a whole festival devoted to circus freaks. Great live music and a 5k run in which people actually wear costumes. I’m not sure how they don’t die of heatstroke, considering the race is in the summer, but that’s their problem I guess.
• Random Political Protests – I’m sure this is mostly attributed to the fact that we’re the state capital and a college town, but on pretty much any given day, there’s a protest. Not necessarily well organized protests, however. An example is when Jeff’s parents were in town; we drove downtown on a Saturday afternoon, and happened upon a police escorted protest march. It was literally no more than 15 people. And everyone had a different sign. There was a “Students for Palestine” sign, a “Vote No” on something or other sign, and a multitude of others. Not sure how this band of misfits managed to assemble themselves, but more power to them.
• Eeyore’s Birthday Party – awww, sounds cute, right? Something you’d take your kids to perhaps? Umm……think again. It’s really just a place for strung out hippies to smoke some pot and bang on some drums (though it supposedly benefits some non-profit organization). Not exactly Pooh Corner.
• Finally, not to be outdone, Round Rock (a suburb of Austin and where Dell is headquartered) has their own slogan: “Keep Round Rock Mildly Unusual”. That one makes me laugh every time I see it.