Sasquatch Dave keeps Austin weird

Any student that attends The University of Texas at Austin is familiar with the city’s eclectic reputation. Shirts line the stores on the main road bordering campus, known as “The Drag,” that say, “Keep Austin Weird.”

Hippies and homeless people sprinkle themselves along the peripheries of campus, but perhaps the most well-known of them all is a middle-aged man that goes by the name of Sasquatch Dave.

Dave usually stands on the busy corner of 24th Street and Guadalupe Street. As students hustle to make it to their next class on time, most can’t help but giggle when they see Dave’s daily attire that consists of a tie-dye shirt, a fisherman’s hat, denim shorts and either a red clown nose or, more recently, a pig’s nose.

As if Dave’s ensemble wasn’t enough, he holds a cardboard sign each day that asks an embarrassing question, states a random fact, or tells a joke. Dave is a prime example of the overused saying that “it’s the little things in life that matter.”

Rumors circulate that Dave isn’t homeless after all, but simply a man in search of seeing more smiles around West Campus, or maybe just nothing better to do. Either way, he has learned to promote himself significantly more in the last year.

Dave has a self-titled album at Waterloo Records a Twitter page, and a Myspace page. As more articles are written about him and his efforts to bring happiness to locals, he strives to get more attention in the public spotlight. Dave doesn't directly ask for money from passersby, but with this growing use of public strategies tactics, I'm convinced that more people will be inclined to support his quest to bring smiles to the faces of stressed students. One of Dave's personal favorites... "God made your butt."