Greetings From Austin -- February 24, 2023

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From Today

I believe I have visited every state in the union, all 57 of them and the District of Columbia and have lived in or spent significant time in no less than fourteen of those states: North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Illinois, Montana, Oregon, California, Texas, Alabama, South Carolina, New Jersey, Massachusetts, and Alaska. 

In addition I've lived in and/or spent significant time overseas: Germany, England, Scotland, Morocco, the Gambia, Turkey, Japan, Italy, Switzerland, Spain, Luxembourg, Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium.

Not counting North Dakota where I grew up, or perhaps Montana, where our parents had a vacation home, I've felt most at home in north Texas. I thought south Texas was great -- San Antonio. But after thirteen years in San Antonio, and now ten years in the DFW area, I can say that I prefer this area the most. It's quite incredible. 

So, it was quite a treat to see the above article in The New Yorker this week.

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From Yesterday

I've mentioned many times my love / hate relationship with The New Yorker. A year or so ago, I started a new subscription after a lapse of several years. The "introductory" rate was about zero dollars for six months. It was ridiculous not to take out a new subscription. 

Then, some months ago, I was offered to renew the subscription at pretty much the going rate, which is very, very expensive by my standards, but not as expensive as organic eggs. The subscription is $169, if I recall correctly, for one year, an issue every two weeks.

I consider myself lucky if there is more than one article / one essay in any given issue that I might read, much less enjoy. Last week there were none. But when there is an article that I enjoy, it pays for the subscription.

This week, there was such an article. The articles in The New Yorker are incredibly long, generally ten to twelve pages. This article, on Austin, Texas, was sixteen pages. I have six more pages to read. 

It's an incredible article written by a writer who has written and lived around the world, and currently writes for Texas Monthly. 

Three takeaways.

I did not know Austin, Texas is now the eleventh largest city in America (needs to be fact-checked).

I had forgotten that Apple, Inc., has a campus in Austin.

There's a reason Palantir, headquartered in Austin, turned a profit for the first time in its history this past quarter.