Good evening friends, strangers, locals, out-of-towners, and anyone willing to read our newsletter. Hopefully your dust boogers are clearing up and your bank accounts are recovering from the $20 drinks at ACL.

We’re excited to announce that designs for Austin Archives merch are underway. We hope you love what we create and decide to rep the brand around town and support our mission. More importantly though, we’ve reached out for our first collaboration. We got through to the top brass at a local restaurant, however, they weren’t ready to work together as soon as we hoped, so we decided to pivot to a new subject, and we are excited to announce who that is soon. 

Our timeline isn’t 100% locked in, but to give y’all an idea, we are hoping to have our first doc, collaborative merch, and launch party by the end of this year or early next year. We know things aren’t moving too fast, but we’re still thankful for y’all’s patience and continued support.

The other day, I was running on Town Lake when I saw a green parrot, or something of the sort. Confused, I stopped my run and tried to get close enough to take a picture. I thought someone lost their pet bird. As I got closer, I saw another. Two lost birds? Still confused, I continued to creep closer, trying not to scare them away. Then, finally, I saw a few more. That’s when I stopped inching forward, typed green parrot Austin in my phone, and realized my discovery was just a lack of observation during my hundreds of times on Lady Bird.

What I had seen were monk parakeets, also known as Quaker parrots, small bright-green birds that are native to the temperate regions of South America, not Texas. Their presence in Austin, and in other cities like Dallas, Houston, and even Chicago, is the result of a total accident. In the 1970s and 80s, thousands of monk parakeets were imported to the United States as pets. Some escaped, others were released, and a few small flocks adapted surprisingly well to urban life.

In Austin, they’ve made homes around South Lamar, Hyde Park, and the University area, where their nests hang among the power lines. Locals have grown to love their wild presence, a strange and colorful reminder of the city’s unique charm. They’ve been here for decades now, long enough to become part of the city’s soundscape, another group of transplants who found their place in Austin.

I’m not exactly the most qualified person to talk about F1 (or many things, honestly), but with it right around the corner, I have no choice. This weekend, the roar of engines returns to Austin for the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas, demanding ACL-goers to rally yet again. This citywide spectacle is full of practice sessions, qualifying rounds, and live music that brings tens of thousands of fans from around the world.

The United States Grand Prix first came to Austin in 2012, thanks to the vision of local promoter Tavo Hellmund and a group of investors who believed Texas could build a home for F1. They enlisted German circuit designer Hermann Tilke to carve out a track that could handle the sport’s demands, and from that, the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) was born, a purpose-built, world-class venue just outside the city limits. Since then, with the exception of 2020, Austin has hosted F1 every year.

For Austin, F1 has been both an opportunity and an adjustment. Economically, it’s a powerhouse, filling hotels, restaurants, and bars, and pumping millions into local businesses. It’s helped place Austin on the world stage, proving the city can throw a global event that rivals Miami, Vegas, or Monaco. But it’s also brought growing pains: long traffic lines, steep ticket prices, and the general chaos caused by such a large influx of visitors.

Still, many locals would agree the event has found its place here. What started as an experiment is now tradition, a high-octane celebration that reflects Austin’s own personality: bold and full of energy.

Whether you’re watching from the stands at COTA or just bumping more shoulders at the bar than usual, we are wishing you a restful week among the busyness of October.

- Andrew (and Spencer, he’s busy rewatching Texas OU highlights)