Meeting Up and Making Out

Abby Dates Austin: Austin was made for late nights and lingering kisses

Why is so hard to take the kissing reigns?

Austin is brimming with attractive, intelligent, charming young folks, many of whom, like myself, are not looking for anything serious in the dating realm. This is not to say that we are heartless cads who seek to devalue the art of romance and conversation. We’re just exploring our options and not looking to be tied down quite yet.

And there’s no need to be: the framework for first-time casual encounters and serendipitous canoodling is so easy in the Capital City. Cheap beer, balmy nights and danceable tunes played by peppy bands make it stupidly simple for even those with little game to move from friend to "beard whisperer" in record time.

Cheap beer, balmy nights and danceable tunes make it stupidly simple for even those with little game to move from friend to "beard whisperer" in record time.

Austin is for casual lovers, and those who have been in the city a while tell me it’s almost a chore to stay coupled up due to the pure volume of pretty young things roaming this city. I concur. But, herein lies the dilemma: How does one go from the first canoodle to the second canoodle with a friend-turned-casual-companion?

If you try to bring up that making out with your new casual pal is cool, it might appear that you’d like to take things to the next level (when all you really want is more make out sessions). But if both parties play it too cool, things can completely fizzle out — fast. And when no one’s beard is whispered into, no one’s braids are pulled, and no one’s glasses get fogged, no one wins.

I currently find myself in this situation, and it’s a real conundrum. What’s a girl to do when she wants to continue locking lips without getting sucked into something serious? I consulted a friend, and she advised that I take matters into my own hands.

“Next time you’re at a party with him, just push the guy up against a wall and tell him, ‘I don’t want a boyfriend. But I do wanna make out with you,’” she said. “He’ll either be cool with it, or he’ll say no, at which point you just walk away. No harm, no foul.”

As ardently as I believe it is good and healthy to just go for it and make a move, I admit — with redness in my cheeks — that I would prefer to be the one pushed up against the wall, and not the other way around. I’m full of spunk, but when it comes down to it, taking the reigns can be a challenge.

It’s quite scary to be so forward, but frankly, I think we should have more gumption when it comes to navigating our casual encounters. If we can take control of our (young) professional lives, why can’t we be so open with those we enjoy casually kissing? I think we can — and we should. After all, this town was made for it.

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Meteor News

How to see the Draconid meteor shower in Austin this week

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Meteor shower

A meteor shower will be visible from most of North America, including Austin, during the week of October 6-10.

The Draconid meteor shower – also called the Giacobinids – was predicted to produce the most meteor activity on the night of October 7 and through the early hours of October 8, but there is still time to catch the tail end.

There will still be sightings on subsequent nights, stargazing experts say.

According to EarthSky, a cool website devoted to all things starry, the Draconids will be visible right after it gets dark, rather than the more common early morning hours most meteor showers are visible.

The best time will be just after sunset, until around midnight. Viewers won't have to stay up until the crack of dawn.

Helping to make the meteor even more visible is a waxing moon, barely a crack, which will cast less light and keep the sky darker overall.

EarthSky says that the meteors are radiating from two stars known as the Dragon’s Eyes, called Eltanin and Rastaban, found in the constellation Draco. Which is located in between the Big Dipper and the Little Dipper.

However, the meteor shower will be visible across the sky.

The shower is dubbed a "sleeper" in that it produces only a handful of meteors — 10 per hour. But they move slower, so the duration of each streak of light sometimes lasts longer — one to two seconds, rather than a rapid flash.

Meteor showers consist of debris left behind by comets and asteroids, which throw off bits of rock and ice as they orbit the sun. The Draconids are the result of Earth passing through this trail from the comet 21P/Giacobini-Zinner. The comet completes an orbit of the sun about every seven years, and according to CNN, the last time it got this close to Earth was in September, 2018.

The best way to see it is to find a place that's far from artificial light, then lie on your back and look up at the sky with a wide view. No special equipment is needed.

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