After a Fashion

AMERICANA: HIPSTERFIED

Everyone knows that Peter Pan Mini-Golf is eternal. I remember it from my earliest days in Austin in 1975 – cast parties for shows I worked on. We snuck in flasks to escalate our underaged fun. But I haven't been back in many, many years. News of Peter Pan's renovation is exactly the kind of hipster reimagining happening all over old Austin, some for good, some for worse. The fact of the matter is that some things need change to survive. While Peter Pan is a slice of an America gone by, there's no reason it can't do exactly what it's doing and reinvent itself while restoring itself. Hipster is as hipster does.

TESTES, TESTES, ONE, TWO

OK, they're gone. I have been under heavy medication for five days to cope with the unfathomable pain of being castrated. I walk occasionally (gingerly and always with a cane). I don't know how I feel about it all yet. I've been unable to think about it, but I know soon that the emotional repercussions will hit me hard. Thank God for my vintage Craftmatic Adjustable Bed. It allows me to contort my hips and legs into a sprawled-out position that, while undignified, is definitely the most comfortable. I'm unstable on my feet and have to use cumbersome walking aids for now; ideally that will ease up, and I'll be back on my feet again. (That was supposed to be lighthearted, dammit. I'm trying to be cheerful.) Though I won't be accepting every holiday invitation this year, I do intend to be out and about (albeit for brief periods) and reassuring my friends that I am recovering well and having a ball .... Er, something like that.

LET IT SOCO, LET IT SOCO, LET IT SOCO

Bring the whole family – and deck the halls with boughs of holly, and all that jazz – at the Miracle on South Congress First Thursday charity event, Thursday, Dec. 1, along South Congress. Shops will be open late. Get a photo with Santa at Doc's Motorworks, 5-8pm. Blue Santa will accept toy donations (www.bluesanta.org). Try your luck in a blow-up snow globe from the Train Quest (another great photo opp). Watch the tree lighting at dusk, enjoy carolers from Travis High School, and see elves create fun and merriment by sliding up and down the SoCo Strip. This sounds great to me. Thank goodness someone's doing something for the holidays. It's a subject I've harped on for many years, even suggesting that SoCo become the center of Austin's holiday decor. There was a moment when there was real hope for Downtown lights, but, alas, the replacements were as lame as the garish original ones. We have high hopes for South Congress.

DANCING THEIR HEARTS OUT

With the holidays come all sorts of glittering goings-on. The annual Dancing With the Stars Austin is at the Austin Hilton, Sunday, Dec. 4 (6:30pm reception, 7pm dinner). A special performance by Susan Lubin accompanied by Andrew Heller will be among the highlights. Dancers include Travis County Judge Samuel T. Briscoe, Vaughn Brock, George T. Elliman, Patsy Woods Martin, Jackie Mooney, Ryan Nail, Kumara Wilcoxon, and Lynn Yeldell. I'll be at this one even if I have to attend in a wheelchair. See www.centerforchildprotection.org for full details.

LUSH-ER

Looking for inexpensive and clever gifts? How about natural bath and body delights? Lush (1012 W. Sixth) has a multitude of fine selections for less than $25. Its Cinders Bath Bomb ($4.95) provides a fizzy frolic in the tub; the almost edible, marzipan-scented Melting Snowman Bath Melt ($5.95) makes you the delicious dessert; and the ultrarelaxing Christmas Eve Bubble Bars ($6.95) will have you dreaming of sugar plum fairies. See how easy it is to put together a gift set that suits your budget?