pew pew, pew pew!

I've been in Texas less than a month and I'm already shootin' guns. Also, I'm pretty sure I'm going to drop the "g" in shooting any time I'm using that verb to talk about me and guns in Texas.

We went to Red's Indoor Range, where ladies get free gun rentals on Mondays, and shooting is half price. Sometimes it pays to be a lady. A gun-totin' lady. I went with two other noobs who didn't know how to handle guns really, either, so there was no one to make fun of the girl from California who doesn't know how to work the safety. None of us knew how to work the safety. Which maybe should have been cause for a little more concern on everyone's part. The man with the awesome moustache who hands out the guns asked us to fill out a little yes/no questionnaire, and seeing that two of us had never shot a gun before, he gave us a minute long tutorial on how to load and shoot the guns, then sent us off to get headphones, armed and confused.

I decided to go with something small and unintimidating since I've never even held a gun before, and the .22 I rented seemed to be just the thing. It was like shooting a cap gun, only dangerous. Oh, and see that crazy looking gun that's as long as I am tall sitting there next to me? That's the AK the boys rented. It was the loudest thing anyone was shooting that night. I'm pretty sure a gun like that could overthrow a government all by itself.

Verdict: Shootin' is awesome. I'm going back on Monday, and I think I'm gonna shoot something bigger and louder.

of recent note.

It's been a busy couple of weeks, and I'm excited to announce that verbadverb is moving to Austin! Swimming holes. Bats. Things that are bigger than their non-Texas counterparts. The stars at night are big and bright, etcetera, etcetera. I'm eastbound after one last holiday season as a California resident. So if you want to say goodbye, do it before department stores replace the Santa displays with hearts and cupids.

We have a lot to talk about. For instance: All of the Free (or Relatively Inexpensive) Diversions I've been enjoying. And: The 21 Ways to Say Goodbye to Los Angeles, which is pretty much what it sounds like.

More on those later, I have some important information for you--guess, dear reader you will never guess because it is so astonishingly wonderful your chin may wobble and your eyes may tear up, but just try and guess what rice can do (besides feed hungry people)! Rice, my friends, can save a phone that's been dropped in water. Drop the drowned phone in some rice and let it recuperate. The rice will pull the moisture out and leave you with a fully-functional phone. But don't eat the rice afterward because it will probably give you cancer.

You're welcome.