Saturday, January 27, 2007

see the world

I think I'm now an international movie star, with less of an emphasis on movie and star. See thewaronthem.com episode 4 to witness San Antonio's contribution to Eric and Bobby's two year trek around the world.

See couchsurfing.com learn a bit more. See the ghost tracks on the south side to reenact our Tuesday night adventure. See the deserted bridge on the east side to see a good view of downtown. there's still a whole lot out there, but i broke off a good sized chunk.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007

lesser known basements of san antonio

I spent a portion of yesterday underneath the city. Down winding stone stairwells devoid of functioning light fixtures, the manager of an old Mexican restaurant was directing me to the expansive but mostly empty basement of his circa 1870s building. It looked as if no one had been there in a couple of years, and I'm sure I was in a privileged minority of those who'd ever been down there. You could see some streaks of light coming from street level and hear muffled traffic and frozen wind above, but for the most part it felt very foreign. He guided me around for a minute showing the building extents, vent locations, and other architecturally necessary facts, but I was ready for that arc of the covenant to be revealed behind a pile of rubble. The fact that there were random holes dug in the sub foundation didn't so much spook me as the puddle of red liquid that caught his flashlight. Red soda leaking from the restaurant above was his explination, so we'll leave it at that.

The historic civic center of Texas is the reason for all of this. I've somehow landed some amount of responsibility lately in forming its latest incarnation. Working on something historical in this city feels good, but knowing that your every new move is making the newspaper and thus angering your barber is challenging. The chance to make history is shared with the chance to screw history so let's tread lightly here and try not to sever ties between San Antonio and the Catholic church.

On the other side of the plaza, a nun was winding me through underground stacks of vacation bible school binders. According to her, there used to be a tunnel between the bookstore and cathedral that had been sealed off within the past few decades. Seeing that the church is the oldest cathedral in the county, I can pretty much say I was just feet away from the bones of Mary Magdalene. They've already got Davey Crockett down there anyway. The sister and I actually spent a majority of the time down there discussing the future of the plaza. I'd like to help her out, but she seemed to think otherwise. I went back upstairs defeated agreeing that I'd keep her updated. On my way back outside to the sleet covered plaza I was questioned again, this time by a little east European nun. I explained what I could to her, still feeling like the bad guy, after which which she mumbled an east European reply and handed me a card depicting a woman saint. I think she said something along the lines of "she always seems to help people out." I thanked her, stuffed the card in my jacket pocket, walked a couple of blocks, slipped on the icy sidewalk, and lost the card somewhere along the way.

Monday, January 01, 2007

how the west side stole new years

Geographically, San Antonio sits on the south west corner what sociologists and college sociology students call "The Texas Triangle." This mega-region, as I can now call it after having learned the term last week, is one of amongst 10 or so similar areas around the world growing at a rapid pace. Everyone in Texas is for the most part found between DFW, Houston, and SA. Knowing that, and seeing that this state is the cartographic measure of how land large other countries are, there's a lot of empty space. It's in that feathery space between the high rises and dirt that one finds the south and west sides of San Antonio. In a city that never makes the national news, these neighborhoods hardly make the local news.

Friday night brought in the latest late night high life bike ride here in town, along with thousands of Alamobowlers and a huge storm system all convening in front of the Alamo around 9pm. With rough approximations of rain gear, we set off in hopes of escaping the weather and crowds. As the next few hours played out, we were half right and spent a good deal of time biking through the dark streets and drive-in theaters of the south side mostly soaking wet. The eventual stop at Jack the algebra teacher's old house brought in space heaters, Mexican hot chocolate, and a piano that no one really knew how to play to formulate one of the best things one can do in Texas on a Friday night. I have no idea where in town we exactly were at that point, and the return into the storm afterwards did little for the breadcrumbs I left, but I'm sure I'll be back at his place at some point in my life.

Last night's New Year's celebration put me on top of a rotting mansion roof, sipping champagne, and nursing my newly strengthened bronchitis. Before the Tower of the Americas even had a chance, the entire west side of San Antonio had lit up their back yards with the greatest fireworks show I swear anybody had ever seen.