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It’s true.

I rode it to Conjectured for a coworking session. What’s that you say? Coworking?

People from all walks of trade work together, at least in the same space. Ideas generate through conversation, people show videos of their latest project, others hole up and build the latest new business deck or talk about their new social media strategy for local gardeners.

It’s open and lovely, like some sort hippy-ness revisited. Open source for the non-programming (and programming) sect.

Well, we are in Austin – so it’s never a stretch on hippy-ness. But this idea is everywhere and even if you work in a standard setting, it’s nice to change things up.

The call for FREE co-working got me out on my bike, so dig that. I need to ride more, and this is precisely the type of thing to get me moving.

I hauled butt this morning on the Austin streets, like the guy on the cover below. It’s great to see bike commuting become part of the normal outlay for advertising.

I love how various information enters my life. Most of it I request through RSS feeds or the magazines and news I subscribe to. But it’s just so random.

• SOX win! Ahhhh the opener – it made me sad to miss the glorious win (ahem – let’s go Cacciabondo, games?). At least I had Farmio and Stoney on the audio.

• Business networking that doesn’t suck. Stacey forwarded this and it piqued my interest (though I don’t recall subscribing to her RSS feed).

• Canadian geeks make great art. SXSW gave me a copy of Popular Science in my tote and it turns out I like it.

• Is it ghey to want pimpy red ano bottle cages for my new True Fab?

• Write a caption. Win any bike. I enter every day…

• Muppets rock.

• Viral exposure has gone way too far. What does Craig think about all this? Via The Copyranter.

• Seats seven. I’m one. Need six more. Who’s in?

• If I raced the spring classics, I’d only want to win Paris-Roubaix. I hope you clicked that link – it’s a cool trailer. Via Chris Strout. Sunday, baby, Sunday.

• When I went Xanadu Arcade in Oak Lawn as a kid, I played SpyHunter and Tron. This reminded me of it. From my boy, Kurt.

Tax time brings out Uncle Sam in Austin. I bet he got a DQ after his shift. Carol was playing with my camera and this cool effect was left on.

Dove nesting outside Sidera’s apartment. She moved to Chicago, like everyone else.

I think I love little baby pre-teen Jesus the best. Is the whole fam praying for gumballs? Because if they are…

We had pro photos taken of the kids. More to come, but here’s a teaser.

Still a week over and I’m catching up on work, chores and hopefully getting a ride and run in here and there. My work partner, Kurt, was in town for ten days. He even proposed to his girlfriend atop Mt Bonnell. It was great to be part of the celebration.

Today the kids are posing for professional photos at the house. I’m excited for that.

Saturday I ran the Daisy 5K, which is the start of the Sprint Race Series. For some reason I was slower on this flat course than my previous experience on a hilly one. Weird. But I paced with a guy for 1.5 miles and out-kicked him with 25m to go.

Results:

Next up is the Statesman Cap 10K. It’s a huge race, well supported. I’m looking forward to it. I hope to come in under :55.

The great thing about SXSW is the new music that I got to enjoy. Off the top of my head I’d say my new favs are:
• Black Joe Louis (local band) - loves me some horns
• Sons and daughters
• Catfish Haven
• Born Ruffians
• Ra ra riot - I’m a sucka for strings.

But there are so many acts I missed, and so many that would have been better in other venues. Like Project Jenny, Project Jan. Two guys: One emcee. One DJ. They payed out at the Spider House in late afternoon. This show woulda been great at night.

Mohawk is quickly becoming my favorite music club in town – I like the variety of places to relax and see music. But Emos and Stubbs are cool, too. Going to see Wilco at the latter on May 11th.

Last, I leave you with this – by far the coolest illustration I’ve found in assembling all those kids toys.

PJ and Katie race their Red Rockets all over the living room.

Home in between sessions and night-time fun. Get to see the family, eat a nice, big salad, rest and take in some exercise - Kurt and I played hoops.

Today I went to:
Care and feeding of your startup – it was a good session. Stalelife isn’t a startup, per se, but a lot of the ideas are the same things most normal businesses get into. I think its time to re-eval.

The marketing of no marketing – I regularly read Jeremiah’s blog, and he was a panelist. It was an interesting discussion, but I think Social Media is just one program a company should run. My favorite quote: Marketing is the price you pay for a shitty product.

We ate lunch at one of my favorite dives, Casino El Camino, before venturing back into the online world. In case you were wondering, this is what a session looks like. I caught this woman adding images to her blog entry. Most people (including me) “listen” to a session while working or blogging (or both). Especially when the panel under-delivers.

Close quarters at SXSW.

Our last panel, Managing a creative environment, was decent, but many of the ideas are commonplace and they never discussed what happens when someone you place in control (the theory is that everyone gets a chance) and they don’t know what they are doing.

Overall, I really enjoyed today. Feeling better than the first two.

And tonight we see Tokyo Police Club – they the ever evasive band last year (we just missed them about three times). FREE at Mohawk if you got the creds.