Hello, Texas

Yes, I am already making good on my promise to see more than Nashua, N.H., and Boston, Mass., this year. I'm going to Austin in March! (Top-secret, totally hush-hush research for a feature I'm writing for the summer magazine. Okay, not really top-secret at all, but I like to make myself feel important, so work with me, okay?)

I love Texas. Well, I mean, I've never been there, so mostly I suspect that I love Texas, based on the presence of three things: barbeque, tequila, and Tex-Mex. I'm pretty sure there isn't a state in the union that could fuck up that combination for me. I intend to take an ass-load of pictures, though none of them will be even half as good as Rob's, so just go look at his. Except you'll want to see pictures of me making an ass out of myself -- will they include cowboy boots? Funny hats? Cattle? Only one thing's for sure, and that is the role of tequila in all the aforementioned ass-making.

I'll try not to drive y'all crazy with trip planning (oh, I love to make plans), but I will leave you with this: The countdown widget is the greatest invention ever. Why, you ask? Because it enables me to see at the push of a button that it is exactly one month, 18 days, one hour, seven minutes, and 42 seconds until the first Sox game of the season. And it is 22 days, one hour, 25 minutes, and 24 seconds until I land in Texas. (23 seconds. 22. 21. 20. ...)