Austin is the live music capital of the world, or so we claim despite a city sound ordinance that goes into effect at 10:00PM. Our unofficial motto is “Keep Austin Weird”. We have a semi-famous homeless person, Leslie, who has his own Facebook page. Celebrities who call, or have called, Austin home include Sandra Bullock, Lance Armstrong, Andy Roddick, Richard Linklater and Matthew McConaughey, among others. Through little to no effort on our part (and actually because of the lack of effort) we were known as a laid back place where celebrities could live or hang out and not be accosted by overly-enthused, snap-happy fans.

But just like in the Notebook, Ryan Gosling changes everything. This link takes you to a website, the sole purpose of which is to post pictures of Ryan Gosling at Fun Fun Fun Fest, as evidenced by the website name, Ryan Gosling at Fun Fun Fun Fest. This is indeed sad, but I can’t say it’s unexpected. Gawker.com points out that smart phones have promoted everyone to the ranks of paparazzi. And sooner or later all good things must end. Everything has a season and it looks like Austin may be in late summer, with Fall fast approaching. So what do we do?

This photo labeled, “Ryan Gosling’s butt” is a sample of what you’ll see if you go there — although most of them clearly show his face.

I have a suggestion; we do nothing. In fact doing nothing is exactly what we need to do. The next time you see Angelina Jolie at Whole Foods, just walk on by and mind your own business. Sandra Bullock is at Zilker Park with her baby boy — so what? Is that Jake Gyllenhaal at Shady Grove? It doesn’t matter; pretend like you don’t see him. Robert Rodriguez is spoted buying a gallon of milk at HEB; leave the man alone. Jack Black is sitting at a table next to you at Guerro’s…  Okay if I am sitting that close to Jack Black I am totally making a fool of myself.

But for the love of Willie Nelson, Austin, can we please just relax a little and live up to the reputation we put so little effort into?