Vienna, Part 1.
Feb 13th, 2008 by B.
I’m not starting with a write-up of my favorite tourist attractions, although that’ll happen soon. I won’t be rhapsodizing about the smell of horse shit as we rode through the city in our magical first-ever carriage ride. I won’t even talk about how jarring it was to see 8 big-screen plasma tvs sporadically placed throughout one of Vienna’s oldest and, arguably, finest churches.
Nope, I’m starting with a meet-up instead. What’s more impressive- a meet-up that I (little miss antisocial) actually initiated.
If you haven’t seen Pat’s blog yet, check it out. Next to Jeanni’s it may well be my favorite. It’s not the whole rock-star glamour thing, although he HAS written for such wet-dream inspiring publications as Rolling Stone and Spin magazine (to name a few). It’s not even the fellow Austinite connection… primarily it’s just that he’s a really, really good writer.
When I first happened upon his blog I saw this and this post, and instantly liked him. Because as easy as it is to write about parenting, it’s equally difficult at times to make it compelling and interesting for people who don’t have kids. His posts walked that tighrope pretty damn well, I thought. I agreed with what he had to say in his $20 question entry, but it wasn’t until his Morning Commuter post that I thought “Wow, I have got to meet this guy some day.”
Still, as the time grew closer I developed my usual pre-meetup jitters. It’s such an odd thing meeting someone you think you partially know already. Are they like their blog? Do they look like their bio picture? Oh shit, are they the ones who graduated from Stanford, or did they Jack Keroack their was across the U.S. before taking on Europe? So many blogs, so many personal details crammed into this overloaded hard drive of a brain of mine…
Then there was the added ‘actually made it as a writer’ element of meeting Pat. I mean, what if he turned out to be some black-leather-clad hipster with an Andy Warhol haircut & entitled aura? But then he walked up, just another normal guy, pushing a stroller and chatting about normal-guy stuff. Whew. Later we had the opportunity to meet his wife (serene & gracious, with a Juliette Binoche smile) and his two absolutely beautiful daughters. The guy was actually as real and down to earth as his writing suggested, who knew?
So do yourselves a favor and check out his blog. After all, have I ever steered you wrong?
