What are we talking about today?

I'll get back to theme days once I find a groove of posting regularly. In the meantime, most of my posts are about some variation of books, bikes, buses, or Broadway. Plus bits about writing, nonprofits, and grief from time to time.

This blog is mostly lighthearted and pretty silly. It's not about the terrible things happening in the world, but please know that I'm not ignoring those things. I just generally don't write about them here.

20 July 2011

Kick Butt, Route #7!

My title, alas, has nothing to do with Route 7 itself, which is about as normal as bus routes get, but rather about a coffee shop along the way: I thought Kick Butt Coffee must have about a dozen locations in Austin, because I feel like I see them everywhere, but it turns out that they just have two locations, and I go past those places often enough for it to seem like there are a lot more of them. There's probably some deep meaning in that. The original Kick Butt is on the #7 route, though, and so I made a note of it when we went by.

See? Vintage. It says so right on
the shop.
So! Another route, another ulterior motive; there are shops along North Loop Boulevard that I've wanted to peek into for a while now, and this route goes right by them. Brilliant! There were a lot fewer shops, though, once we got there and started looking around, than I had thought there were when I went by on my bicycle. Among them were a bunch of vintage shops, an anarchist bookstore, and a place that declared itself to be "Austin Chronicle's Best Naughty Store 2010". We did not go in to investigate.

After a hop back on the bus (which involved some sprinting in 100+ heat, but the driver was nice enough to wait for us), we zoomed through campus and downtown-- well, as much zooming as one can do on public transportation. South of the river, there are a bunch of houses that are so high up off the street that the sidewalk leading to the front door is actually a staircase. Presumably, this is to ensure their view of the river, although I don't really know. Further down, the houses become apartments, just like everywhere else in the city. And when I read about this bit of the journey in my notes, it reads, "I wonder how close the sa". I have no idea what that means, nor did I know on that day when Chad nudged me awake. Yes, this route put me to sleep. Not a good sign.

I think this was outside the anarchist
bookstore.
Further south, there were some hills and trees to ooh and aah over, and then... The End. This is the first time we've ridden a route straight from one end to another (we usually get them somewhere in the middle), which was kind of nice because at the southern end we were able to get a flyer bus back to downtown and save some time over taking a regular bus.

Something I thought about while riding: A few years ago, the Lubbock buses started a route that went from the mall to the newest Target, which is in the middle of a nice shopping centre. Unfortunately, the route had to run through a neighbourhood that was filled with car-owning, public transport-disliking, letter-writing people, who lobbied the city until the route was discontinued. And I thought of that because there was quite a stretch of this route where we didn't pick up any passengers, and I wondered if this is another neighbourhood where no one who lives there needs the bus, but the route runs through it to get to the transport-needy people on the other side. Whatever it is, in Austin the bus is more of a part of life than a nuisance to be expelled, for which I am very thankful.

Have you ever been to an anarchist bookstore? Would you fall asleep on the bus? Do you prefer to get to a bus stop on time to avoid the sprinting?

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

What's a bus?

erica and christy said...

You already know I can't do any of these things where I live. But, sweetie, we all want you to survive the summer. No more sprinting in 100+ weather.

And I've noticed this about you lately: blogs, bikes, busses, and books. Coincidence? (I wish I had a synonym that started with a B, but I can't come up with one right now)
erica

Su said...

@Delores: Hee!

@erica: I have noticed that, too. Plus I've been singing "Letter B" a lot (the Sesame Street version of the slightly less well-known "Let It Be"). Apparently I'm looking for a job with the Children's Television Workshop? Sponsored by the letter B?

L. Diane Wolfe said...

I've only taken one bus ride and it was awful. It was at night and I wished I had fallen asleep.

Karen M. Peterson said...

I lost 30 pounds sprinting for buses in Montreal a few years ago. :-)

Anarchist bookstore...I didn't even know those existed, but I guess there really is a market for everything.

Su said...

@Diane: Nighttime bus rides are the WORST!

@Karen: Haha, that would do it! And it was kinda like a hipster bookstore with a strong emphasis on anarchist materials. Kind of a fun place to hang out, oddly enough.