This afternoon, I left school to embark on several hours of house-hunting.  Little did I know I would also be getting the Perez Hilton tour of Austin, TX.  

I went to meet a realtor who has helped several of my friends find places to live.  He is quite fantastic.  (Shameless plug:  If anyone in the area is looking for a house or apartment, let me know and I will get you his info.)  He has lived in Austin most of his life, so he would share random tidbits and pieces of trivia with us of the things we drove past on our way to each house we saw.  For instance, one of Michael Dell's several area properties was formerly owned by an Austin real estate tycoon who fashioned the house with cream suede walls!  He also informed me that, not only do I drive everyday past the ambiguous "somewhere in Travis County" mentioned at the beginning of each Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie, but also that the movie saga wasn't based on a true story.  A small part of my world shattered to learn that Leatherface is a fictional character, but that small part was quickly replaced by a sense of comfort and relief.  The one that really surprised me, though?  Dazed and Confused was filmed here!  I'd seen that movie a dozen times (albeit probably all before I relocated to this town) and driven past several of the filming locations over and over without ever putting the two together. 

Here's the moon tower at Zilker Park where the big party takes place at the end of the movie: 

We also drove past the baseball fields where Ben Affleck tortures the incoming freshmen, but thirty minutes of googling left me without a single picture. 

As for the house-hunting, we found a really cute ranch style house with a great location and fabulous price.  We already submitted our rental applications and all sorts of fees and deposits, but the owner is supposedly interested in selling and has a potential buyer.  I'm praying that he changes his mind.  

16 days til summer...