sweets kerry it’s been a dessert tour. federal donuts on a rainy saturday, ritter’s with marzipan after dinner on. sunday. monday was water ice at dad’s, which has been open ninety years (tip: get it with a swirl of soft serve) and a walk to marconi plaza to visit my favorite tree in the city last night after stopping at the co-op to buy fruit we sauntered over to the ice cream shop. i felt like a kid with a giant scoop of mocha chip dunked in rainbow sprinkles, and she was adventurous and got pandan in a coconut cone. he had coconut with chocolate drizzle and declared his the best, and we sauntered down the street into the neon sunset, silent silently devouring. 220511 ... tender_square the three of us went to gati for coconut ice cream after truck tacos in arbor food park. my sister-in-law ordered a split scoop of two flavors, and my husband ordered a medium of one flavor and i got an affogato with vanilla. the small café was a hip place with white walls and wood tables, a menu of minimalist letters and high prices. gluten-free deserts were encased under bell jars with hand-painted cards. as coffee purveyors, they brewed mushroom drips and beet cocoa lattes and golden milk. it's places like that always strike me as trying too hard. deerhunter was playing through the speakers and the guy working behind the counter wore a band tee for a group i hadn’t heard of. his long hair was tied in space buns and he wore his sunglasses inside. he didn’t smile once; his only muttered word was “here” when he passed us our treats. my sister-in-law and husband were already outside eating while i paid for mine. i gave the guy a 20% tip even though i didn’t think his service warranted that. “wow, that guy really loves working here, huh?” i said as i sat on the patio. my husband joked, “i bet he moved here to start a music career and was disappointed.” and his sister recounted that the major labels who visit for sxsw recently petitioned the city to make it so that outdoor buskers during the festival had to get permits in order to perform. and austin, surprisingly, granted it. we bitched about acl. “the sound was terrible when we saw alabama shakes there!” “supporters pretty much have to wait for other people to die in order to get better tickets. that’s why mom and dad still hold onto theirs.” “what is with that building? all those outdoor glass staircases to climb to your seats—it’s terrifying.” the city is named the live music capital of the world but all we could hear were the clangs and constant distortion of construction in the rapidly gentrifying neighbourhood. 220511 what's it to you? who go blather from