The Austin Convention Center had something for everyone this weekend. I’ve already written about QuiltCon in my previous entry. My QuiltCon ticket plus $4 admitted me to the Austin RV Expo down the hall as well. What a deal!
QuiltCon is happening over at the Austin Convention Center this weekend. The conference includes workshops, lectures, and discussion panels all related to quilting, but the public can just browse the exhibition floor for $10 a day. Continue reading
A new federal courthouse recently opened in Austin, taking up an entire city block between Fourth and Fifth Streets. The narrow windows and stone facade on this eight-story building look dramatic from the outside and I’ve read that the inside is filled with lots of natural light. The latest security features appear to be built in, including a sheltered entrance, traffic barriers, and high concrete walls.
The 2008 Austin City Limits Music Festival T-shirt was a classic. That shirt featured the downtown skyline…plus about a dozen construction cranes. Back then, I would have never guessed that five years later Bill and I would be living in a highrise built by those cranes.
The Old Bakery and Emporium sits on Congress Avenue, just a block south of the Texas State Capitol Grounds. The structure was built in 1876 by Charles Lundberg and used as a bakery until 1936. Some remnants of Lundberg’s business still remain: an original spade (long paddle) hangs on the wall upstairs and a cast-iron oven can be seen at the back of the building.
After three months of drought, the water jugs have finally returned to Auditorium Shores.
Dear USPS:
It’s been four long months since you first notified me that the downtown post office was leaving its convenient-to-me-is-all-that-matters location. A few weeks ago you moved to the first floor of an office building on Congress Avenue. The view from the street looks a little strange, but perhaps the empty, glassed-in front room will eventually be removed. I’m guessing you are not using this room because you didn’t like the lingering smell from the cigar shop that used to be there.
The Long Center is hosting the EXXOPOLIS Luminarium on their front lawn through January 27. A UK company called Architects of Air has created 20 of these luminariums over the past 20 years. Their first structure was named “EGGOPOLIS,” and so they replaced the “GG” with “XX” (for 20) to come up with this year’s name.
Fur was flying on Saturday morning for start of the 2013 Austin Gorilla Run. This is the third year for this popular race, which benefits the Mountain Gorilla Conservation Fund and specifically the Ruth Keesling Wildlife Health and Research Center in Kampala, Uganda.
Tibetan Buddhist monks are creating a sand mandala at The Blanton this week. This intricate work-of-art is being created in conjunction with the art museum’s current exhibit, Into the Sacred City: Tibetan Buddhist Dieties from the Theos Banard Collection. The five-foot mandala was begun after a consecration ceremony on Wednesday evening.