From: machala@spdc.ti.com (King Mosher)
Subject: 1992 Austin "Angstcon" Trip Report
Organization: TI Semiconductor Process and Design Center
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 22:22:10 GMT

Trip Report: 1992 Austin Angstcon   

(This is what I gotta do after attending conventions so _they_ know I
 just didn't sit in a bar all day so I get my travel expense money back.)

After worrying all day Friday, I finally made up my mind and decided to head
down to Austin Saturday afternoon. "Hell, it's only three hours and there's
net people all over griping that they can't attend because the cost and the
distance. And since meech was coming from Tennessee, Nexus from Kansas and
Rachel and Jeff from tOOson, i can at least make it from Dallas." This was
my rationalization, you see. I must do that with everything. As I drove ever
closer the angst level increased (i know how you feel Rachel). sine's
directions led me right to her apartment. There was an estate sale outside
the puke green garage which her landlord was having. "$1000 bucks for every-
thing", he tells me. "... for this junk?", I thought. He then informed me that
Debbie had just left. "Great", I thought, "Figures. I'll never find them and
I'll have to drive all the way back." Just as i was leaving, I bumped into
meech. What luck! Long hair, tee-shirt, it's gotta be meech. After intros,
Debbie, meech and I proceded to the pizza joint where meech, Rachel and Jeff
had pizza the night before. "They should be here anytime."Debbie said, "and
so should Nexus." little did _I_ know. (eerie music).

While downing a couple beers we noticed a gentleman wander in and then back
out carrying a bag. He seemed to know what he was doing so we figured he
wasn't an angster. Every five minutes sine would ask meech to go call Rachel
since they hadn't been able to find them all day. (We didn't know by this
time that Rachel and Jeff were already back in lovely tOOson)
I was beginning to think sine somewhat obsessive. (more eerie music)

I began to experience mild angst about my car. It was parked in an apartment
complex lot and figured it'd get towed off, so i went and got it. On the way,
I noticed the same bag toting man in the pizza joint around Deb's apartment.
It had to be another angster. Nexus had arrived and had been wandering about
looking for Deb and meech angstfully. Now there were four and all we did was
have to wait for Rachel and Jeff to show. (more eerie music)

We waited from about four or five until eightish for the two. Every
five minutes sine would look about angstfully, ask where are Rachel and Jeff,
then ask meech to go call. He was getting low on quarters. The hotel said
they had not picked up any of the 50 or so messages which sine had left that
day. We figured they had been kidnapped by aliens somewhere in the Texas
countryside. It happens all the time here. I read about every week in the
World News Tabloid. I hear they've even endorsed Bill Clinton for President.
You'd think after constructing space ships that can travel throughout the
galaxy they'd have at least _some_ intelligence. But I ramble.

So, angstcon had gotten off to a good start. We were all worrying about the
plight of Rachel and Jeff, Nexus was worrying about wandering about trying
to locate sine and meech, etc... angst aplenty. At eightish we gave up and
went to a party which some of Deb's friends were throwing. We piled in my
car and off we went to the suburbs of Austin. We were about to encounter even
more angst. WPA. Weird Party Angst. (more eerie music).

W.P.A.

(I'll save this one for a later date since it needs a post all its own, but
in reply to marmoset's)
>I guess I'll say here (because it seems relevant) that whoever it was that
>posted that all of the angst displayed on this board was not legitimate angst
>at all, but really just frustration being vented by people who aren't in a
>social group that throws frequent parties is completely missing the point, as
>far I  understand it.  There are plenty of parties to go to.  But all those
>parties are full of the annoying, depressing, mindless twits that give me so
>much frustration every day when they're sober.  I have no desire to hang out
>in a crowded area with those folks when they're drunk and talkative.  I think
>Austin sounds like bliss...

It was far from bliss. It was very angstful. A bunch of "kids" sitting around
watching Ren and Stimpy, not saying a word but incessantly laughing (it was
funny "I'm the lemon merchant and you are the keeper of the cheese"). Like
a strange beverly hills 90210 episode. I felt very old, very out-of-place and
very unhip (not having at least one earring). Quite angstful.

So, quickly leaving the party, we headed to 6th street, the party spot in
Austin. Went to EMO's and watched a heavy metal band. They actually played
some quite angstful songs such as "life sucks" and things of this nature.
It was then I noticed that I'm really out of it. Everyone was dressed
differently than people in Dallas. it is _so_ white collarish here. I thought
this was normal behavior but Austin is quite different. Like I remember the
70's. long hair, leather, tattoos, jewelry. It was then I realized I had sold
my soul for a paycheck.
More angst.

I did get to witness a bizarre dance ritual that Deb said was "boshing".
Kind of a brownian motion type dance where people form a circle and other
people inside the circle run into each other mindlessly, venting their anger
and frustration. Bouncing off each other like billiard balls only to
get hit yet again.

(This is getting too long and too boring, but I won't get reimbursed for travel
expenses unless I finish. I shall speed it up.)

Closing time. Leave. Check on Rachel and Jeff one more time. Go to their room
at 3:00 am. Still not there. Haven't been there. They've definitely ended up
chopped into little pieces by some crazed chicken renderer driving a van.
It happens in Texas all the time.

To the rodeway. Rest. Up next day, arghh, headache, and we didn't even drink
meech's rebel yell, Nexus's St.Brendan's or my stoli. meech went to get
sine and came back sine-less. She wouldn't budge. Nexus wouldn't budge either.
Breakfast with meech.
We went to a place with a couple large fried eggs on the front of the building.
It was packed. Lots of slacker types dressed the same as they were last night.
Not at all like Dallas. If you go into a breakfast joint in Dallas on a
Sunday morning everyone is dressed up nicely since they have just gotten out
of the first baptist church (fbc). Suit, ties, nice dresses, 2.5 children with
bonnets and cute little suits and ties. Just like mommy and daddy. Daddy
recently started attending fbc because his boss attends the same church and
daddy can do some serious sucking up not just five, but *six* days a week now.
If he could only join the bent tree country club where his boss is a member,
he could suck up all *seven* days of the week. He'll just have to suck up more
until he gets that new raise/bonus and has enough money to join. In Dallas
breakfast joints you also see groups of singles all dressed up; bright, shiny,
happy people. They just got out of fbc also. They attended a two hour Sunday
school class afterwards and are now having breakfast. This is a church single's
group. They are there because for men, it's an easy score. For women, they
think they can actually get a better man this way (hahahahahahaha! yeah, right)
Imagine getting a man who's only reason to attend fbc is so he can join the
single's group and boink all the women in it. He doesn't believe in God, he
believes his new Mercedes (with mandatory car phone) will attract more women
than his old BMW (also with mandatory car phone). This man brings in about $20K
a year from his bank job and spends 90% of it on his new Mercedes (leased)
and the car phone bills. He is routinely seen driving through the streets
talking on the car phone when noone is on the other end. This frequently
occurs when a young woman whose daddy just bought her an RX7 drives up along-
side of him. but enough of alt.comtempt, back to breakfast at angston.

After breakfast, Nexus and sine still haven't shown. And I began to wonder.
It was then I realized I was in a horrible b-horror flick.  meech meets Rachel
and Jeff friday and they disappear. He goes to get sine Sunday morning and she
doesn't return with him. And now nexus is gone. Four people in two days.
Somehow, Oak Ridge has turned meech into some psychotic radioactive killer.
My realization came to late. meech's shirt flew apart as green limbs erupted
from his body, turning meech into a giant radioactive frog...

thank god, the end.


--

     Just because I'm paranoid doesn't mean they're not out to get me.

Chuck Machala-Semiconductor Process and Design Center-Texas Instruments/Dallas
Newsgroups: alt.angst