Phetasy News - Texas, Here We Come!
Josh Szeps Wonders About Falling Down A Rabbit Hole, Self-Censorship Sucks, Politically Homeless - I Am Exhausted, The Dumpster Pail Kids, Bridget on The Megyn Kelly Show & NEW MERCH
Greetings from the Phetaverse!
It’s official, we’re leaving Los Angeles. At the end of April, come hell or high water, I am heading to Texas along with Jeren, the child, Cousin Maggie, and our dogs. It’s been a long time coming. I’ve personally wanted to leave since before the pandemic, during the pandemic, and especially since I had a baby.
As excited as I am, it’s also bittersweet. I’m simultaneously mourning the end of an era and looking forward to a new chapter. I’ll be packing and suddenly find myself crying. I’m going to miss my aunt and uncle more than anything. They’ve treated me like a daughter, have been like the parents I never had, and I’m not sure what I’m going to do without them.
I’m going to miss the beach, the weather, farmer’s markets, Sam, my friends, my doctors, the woman who has been doing my eyebrows for almost sixteen years. I hate that I’m taking our daughter away from her grandparents—but rising crime, rampant homelessness and drug addiction, and an insane cost of living has driven us out of Los Angeles.
This isn’t the life I want for her. It’s not the life I want for me. I’ll never get ahead here. I’ve said it before: in order to give her the life I envision for her, I have to make several million dollars and even then it won’t insulate her from seeing the people living in squalor just blocks away. How do you explain that to a child? What does growing up having to accept that as “normal” do to your psyche?
Texas is the logical place for us to go right now. It splits the difference between our families who are scattered all over the country. Selfishly, I’m excited to be that much closer to my siblings on the east coast. We have a lot of friends in Austin already. It’s a creative hub, a place where I can still be in the mix for work. Even more exciting—Joe Rogan opened his comedy club, Comedy Mothership, this week. And I’m dying, dying to get back on stage regularly.
It’s all so strange though. If you had told me I’d be a suburban wife with a child living in a Texas suburb at any point before five years ago, I would have asked you for whatever drugs you were on. Now we are Texas bound. New adventures await. Life is weird, y’all.
Thumbnail artwork by Lara Cullen.
Email laracullenstudio@gmail.com to inquire or contact her.
Well Bridget, I'm glad you finally came to your senses. You'll probably be happy in Austin with the rest of the Californians. There are better places such as San Antonio, Dallas, even the Houston area as long as you're not in certain wards. By the way, Texas has beaches - hundreds of miles of them. Austin is some distance from them but they're not that far away. The Texas Gulf Coast, which I'm near, extends from the mouth of the Sabine River and the Louisiana border to the Rio Grande and the Mexican border. That's right at 400 miles of beaches. Padre Island is famous among beaches. It's almost as famous among college students as Daytona. Galveston, the playground of Austinites, isn't bad. The problem with Galveston's beaches is that the muddy waters of the rivers to the east tend to drift westward along the shoreline so the water is often brown rather than clear and blue. Anyway, welcome to Texas!
Glad you're getting out of there Bridget! Happy for you and your family. Good luck and safe travels!