On the road again: Austin, day 2

Yesterday, J.G. Ballard died, and he and his death have been much on my mind today. I never wanted to write like Ballard, but over the years I always found his work provocative, interesting, and clearly different from everything else. He was, at least from my perspective, a giant in the field of fantastic literature, albeit one who spent his time stomping around outlying hills and valleys where few others bothered to explore.

SF has been losing its elder giants at a fast and scary rate, and I regret their passing.

On the more mundane front, my one real break in a very long day of work was to enjoy dinner at The County Line by the Lake, about which I've written before. Simply getting out of my car there makes me happy. I'd love to be able to come to Austin for a few days just to eat at the great BBQ joints and do the fun stuff, but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I can't complain much, though; my belly is full of BBQ, and I have a nice room bed awaiting me.