How many native Austinites does it take to screw in a lightbulb? Answer…

It takes 200,000. One to put in the bulb and 199,999 to complain about how cool Austin USED to be.

Many of my contemporaries are unwilling to accept Austin’s evolution. I understand. They’re annoyed at the young newcomers who spend a lot to look poor and whose parents helped them drive up our cost living.

What the complainers don’t realize is that Austin has always been about convergence.

I’m old enough to remember the Armadillo World Headquarters and what Austin City Limits really is (a live recording session at KUT). But I am sure that when I was young, old Austinites scoffed at us, too.  They kept saying that Bob Wills was still the king. I didn’t care about Bob Wills, and the kids today don’t care about Stevie Ray Vaughn. Sad but true.

While the traffic is hell now, we have to keep evolving. That’s what has always kept Austin ahead of the curve — it just looked different to us when we were younger.

So whether you still have Stevie Ray or Janis Joplin in your CD player, or you’re fresh from LA and standing in line to get into a posh club, you’re still a part of the convergence that will always be Austin.

I do have one thing to say to the newcomers, though. Please don’t carry your chihuahua in your purse. Dogs are not accessories.