Tuesday, March 11, 2003

Symbiosis

Spend a week or so in Austin, walking along the streets, haunting the night, puzzling over the perplexing variety of laws and ordinances prohibiting alcohol drinking and cigarette smoking at precisely the times you most need to do them.

Spend that week, and you'll come away with the overwhelming impression that the city's entire economy is supported by web design firms, nightclubs and bars, and tattoo parlors.

Which is, when you think about it, one of nature's nearly perfect examples of symbiosis.