Footloose and fancy-free, we dined at leisure downtown, where we heard much juicy gossip from loud talkers at neighboring tables and confirmed that one of the waiters used to be at McCormick & Schmick before coming to Louie’s 106, which was very busy, well after the noon hour, and where the sea-creatures and the veal came hot to the table. Some diners were ordering champagne splits in broad daylight. On the way to dine, we chatted with the agent showing the building pictured, on Sixth Street a bit east of the Avenue. This is the Studebaker sign that faces the alley. The next-door building once housed Butch Hancock’s little gallery and shop. Anyhow, the guy showing this very handsome nineteenth-century building told us it’s being offered at $3.2 million. We saw Ben Barnes crossing the street, looking younger than ever, if that’s possible. We learned that the new Joe’s Bar & Grill over on West Avenue is serving very good mini-hamburgers and has a shuffleboard. We changed out our borrowings at the library, which was very busy and where there were additional familiar faces to be seen, and then headed home. The amazing thing about Austin gossip, no matter how improbable, is that it’s usually true. Austin temporaries have already headed out of town, and bewildered-looking tourists have begun to arrive. I love Austin when it shrinks down on the holidays. We could even hear the bells chiming from downtown this morning.