In which the world reminds me how small it is

In the morning, on the way to work, I listen to news podcasts. Generally, I'll listen to NBC or ABC and if I can fit it in, the KUT podcast. KUT is Austin news.

Imagine, then, how happy/gobsmacked/amused I was this morning to hear the voice of my dear friend Oliver being interviewed on KUT as I listened to this morning's podcast. Oliver is the husband of my (also) very dear friend Lindsay.

It's just so strange to be on a train in a completely different part of the Earth and be taken straight back home by a voice which is so familiar to you.

This has happened before, of course. Maybe not quite as personally, but many times I've seen things that are based in Austin, or are from Austin, in totally different parts of the world.

Like the time Rich and I were in Budapest and an old movie filmed in Austin came onto the TV in this tiny little traditional wine bar we were sitting in. So strange to see that familiar landmark, the Texas Capitol building, there on the TV when you are in a completely foreign place.

The time I was in Turkey, hanging out in a youth hostel in a town near the ruins at Ephesus and met a guy from Austin with whom I have mutual friends.

When someone I know is mentioned in the media or a band from Austin plays in Norway and everyone acts like it's the second coming of Christ. (Texas music is WAY popular here.)

When you see someone you know, and you are both in different cities, way far away from home, and you're both like, "Whafuck? What are YOU doing HERE?"

And, of course, the vice versa when something from Norway comes into my consciousness when I am in Texas. Like when that bar named Oslo opened in Austin (it has since closed) and everyone I ever knew in Austin was all like "Have you been to Oslo yet? Is it like Oslo?" (Answers are Yes and No.)

Anyhow, in case you have forgotten or have just not thought about it lately, the world is a very small intimate place. And oddly enough, the more you travel, the smaller it gets.