Did you practice today, motherfucker?

the cat's ass

Thu, 08 Oct 2009 02:58:33 GMT

Ain’t it cat’s ass, man?

Vince the Beatnik stole your wife
Good for nothing, dirty little lowlife
Turtleneck sweater, black beret
Sittin and playin the bongos all day

Vince the Hippie plays guitar
Puts bumper stickers on his car
Tye dye tee-shirt, smokin’ pot
Listenin’ to psychedelic rock

Ain’t it cat’s ass, man?
You gotta do what you can, man
Baby you gotta go with the flow
It’s gonna get better daddio

Vince the Beatnik stole your wife
Good for nothing, dirty little lowlife
Wears dark glasses, short goatee
Can’t get enough bad poetry

Ain’t it cat’s ass, man?
You gotta do what you can, man
Baby you gotta go with the flow
It’s gonna get better daddio

hail the conquering hero?

Wed, 19 Aug 2009 02:24:38 GMT

For those who just can't get enough of me (I know, I know... there are plenty of you out there), I've been conned into doing lj again, at least for a while. Who still does it? Like Tamagachis and Furbys, has it gone out of style? Or like Pokemon, will it never go out of style?

I've had an eventful summer. Tom and I started brewing beer. The batches so far have turned out really good, though Tom's a lot more fond of third batch (a porter) than I am.

I started motorcycling. Not as often as I'd like to admit, party because of the rain in July and the heat this month, though before autumn rolls around I'll get back out there surely.

I'm moving into an apartment with Tom and Dan on Thursday. In Danbury. Come visit. It's going to be a lot of fun. Basic cable and no video games!

I reread the Harry Potter series (and enjoyed it more this time, I think). The movie was good too.

I went on some quality hikes and some good ol' fashioned adventures with Stacey, including canoeing to and camping on our own island in the Adirondacks, hiking Mount Monadnock and Mount Washington.

I started playing scrabble with increased regularity. I like to think that I've gotten pretty good at it. My best word so far has been Equinoxes for 147 points. Nice.

I started looking at and practicing for grad schools. I can play the first movement of the Sibelius violin concerto okay and the second isn't too bad (albeit I can't play it well yet) but the third movement, holy jeans, it's freaking ridiculous. I can't do that on yet, at least not more than the first page minus the flying staccato over an ascending double stop scale in thirds which happens twice after an arpeggio that ends in the stratosphere. Grr.

I'm going to learn to play golf (I think), with Stacey... her dad is going to teach us. I'm also going to learn to ski (I hope), also with Stacey (who already knows how).

String camp was loads of fun. Good times hanging out, coaching, playing cards and teaching little uns. I came back with a reborn love of my violin and wanted to practice all day (and did, for about a week).

I started working out! I put together a plan and everything. I ran three days a week, did pushups and situps and stuff 3 days a week and rested one day a week.

Not everything this summer has been glamorous though...

I stopped working out. After string camp. It's not that I didn't have the time or the motivation, I just kinda forgot to. Hopefully I'll fix that.

I missed out on Colorado this year because unfortunately I was stuck here in CT teaching a class at Bethel Music Center which I couldn't really cop out on.

I helped a family friend move some floorboards closer to her house. She warned me to wear long pants, because there was poison ivy. Thankfully, I didn't get it on my legs. I only got it all over my arms.

The Mets are an embarrassment to baseball this season, in their on field play, front office management, injury management, off the field fiascos and the disaster that was CitiField. I won't bore you with any more except to say that it was enough for me to spend some of the summer seriously contemplating changing colors. I haven't done it yet. We're just fighting and I'm cheating on them with other teams.

The weather went from really wet to really hot... and I'll bet few or none of you would oppose me if I were to cheer on autumn to show up soon.

I have to go to an "EFFECTIVE TEACHER WORKSHOP!!!!!!!!1" next week. Will it help me teach 9 and 10 year olds how to play the violin? SURVEY SAYS NO!

That's it, really... I can't complain, I mean I have a good job and a wonderful girlfriend. I'd be a ass to complain.

I leave you with a list of current life goals I have set for myself to do before I die. Many of them were conceived this summer.

Perform the Sibelius violin concerto
Hike the Triple Crown of long distance hiking, that is the Appalachian Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail and the Continental Divide Trail
Dave-Face a stadium
Hike one of the Seven Summits
Trek the 9 Great Walks of New Zealand
Discover why NASCAR is interesting to some people

Thoughts from my road trip

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 05:23:26 GMT

You may or may not (probably not) be interested, but I found some of the lyrics that I was writing for the epic rock opera that Dan and I were combining to make. Unfortunately it never happened because most of what we wrote was garbage. This is the best of my garbage. If you only read one, read Friends Forever.

Let it be Said

And the moon glows bright in the sky tonight
While the stars sprinkle overhead
Even in this late hour, I feel empowered
I am ready to let it be said

The moon glows bright in the sky tonight
I drag myself from my bed
My eyelids are heavy, but still, I am ready
I am ready to let it be said

The moon gets dimmer as the stars still shimmer
I lie back and close my eyes
The ties are all severed, for it's now or never
Every turn will be a new surprise

The sun's now rising and on the horizon
Only pavement knows what lies ahead
Though the road goes on, I'll keep moving on
I am ready to let it be said

Friends Forever

Hey there, Mr. Foreman
It's time to make some dinner
We're all very hungry, don't you know

Hey there, Mr. Foreman
Come out from in your hiding
We need your cooking prowess, don't you know

Grilled cheese and turkey slices
The only way to dine
We all know you're the super champ,
and I'm so glad you're mine

Hey there, Mr. Foreman
You're big and you are awkward
You're always in the way, don't you know

Hey there, Mr. Foreman
You're clunky and you're greasy
But we will always love you, don't you know

Never Empty

If I could believe
That this sour taste might go away
If I could believe
That maybe I wouldn't always lead myself astray
If I could, then maybe I would
But I find my faith is fleeting
It's too often that I see myself
Accepting and retreating

If I could believe
Maybe it wouldn't seem like just a petty game
If I could believe
Maybe it wouldn't always feel just the same
If I could, and maybe I should
But I think my faith is fading
Is it so uncouth to never know truth
Is it something that's worth trading

Though the question remains
Is it something one can live without
Is it worth leaving everything behind
And accepting silence to silence doubt?

I won't show any weakness
I won't be haunted by memories or the past
I will stand firm
And I won't be daunted by a realistic philosophy
And I will never be empty

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 02:17:55 GMT

Everyone seems so sad.

Stop it.

wasabi coated peas

Sun, 20 Jan 2008 05:45:08 GMT

i got road trip pictures... i think i'm going to start putting them up on facebook... very very slowly... coz there is over 1000

Thu, 29 Nov 2007 06:31:05 GMT

dave: 'i'm sorry, i'm keeping you up.'
mark: 'you son of a bitch. actually, brahms is keeping me up.'
...
mark: 'wait, do you mean up as in awake or up as in erect?'

Wed, 17 Oct 2007 02:52:00 GMT

life goes on. i'm more stressed than usual. got more stuff i gotta do than usual.

bring it on.

Sun, 30 Sep 2007 20:23:46 GMT

Fuck.

fall 07

Mon, 17 Sep 2007 03:11:22 GMT

so far so good

few things to report, number one is i'm happy to be back at school. i'm happy the summer's over and i get to get back to work.

i'm glad to be around my friends again. my roommates are awesome, our room is awesome, we're gonna have a great year

i rarely go online anymore coz i'm so busy doing other things which is great, because i'm finally getting away from a screen and i'm out physically enjoying my life.

i can have a beer now because my neurologist said it was cool if i had one drink

So things are good. No complaints.

Here comes the workload.

a summer to remember

Fri, 24 Aug 2007 16:15:26 GMT

No, I haven't stopped putting up the entries from the trip. Yes, I'm going to keep doing it for those of you who enjoy reading it. I just wanted to wait for a while to see if I'd ever get the pictures from Katie and put the pictures with the entry... and that's taking a lot longer than expected. Could be November at this rate.

No harm done.

Okay, ready for a cliche line? Here it comes...

This has been the best summer of my life.

There it was. Cliche, yes... true, also yes. I knew this was goin to be a good summer as school was about to end, but I didn't know how good of a summer it would be.

I traveled cross country for about 40 days, as you all know. I learned a lot about myself - about the person I used to be and the person I am becoming. I learned a lot about the country, and about fun places that aren't Connecticut. I learned about the adventurer's spirit I never knew I had, and I really felt alive. I didn't know what we were going to do as each day came and went. I didn't know what to expect every day. Hell, I didn't know where I was going to sleep every night, or how we were going to eat.

I saw old friends and met new ones, and I climbed mountains and swam in the Pacific ocean. I saw trees taller than most buildings in New York City and I spent two days crossing the desert. I saw the wrath of a hurricane and the anatomy of a human body. I saw my favorite baseball team play 5,000 miles away from anywhere else I'd seen them play. I was farther away from home than I'd ever been ... admittedly I was a little scared. But I did it, I'm alive and a better person because of it.

The fun didn't end once I got back home, though. At string camp, I spent a lot of time with some good friends and met some people I might want to student teach with. I made some money and had fun at the same time.

I got back to teaching at Bethel Music, and that job certainly paid off. The other string teacher left, and in one week my hours and students there tripled. It'll keep going up, too, because back to school time is starting and students will be pouring in... not only there, but at Eddie Kane's music too, where I might start teaching in a few weeks.

The summer has been busy. I've spent a lot of time hanging out with my girlfriend Stacey (who I'm falling for pretty fast) and I'm starting to get a lot closer to her. I took some violin lessons and started plowing away at two concertos, a Paganini caprice, some short pieces and always Bach. I've gone to see three Met games in two weeks and three concerts in 5 days. The Black Crowes were awesome, the Counting Crowes were unbelievable and Dream Theater blew me away.

I wrote a year or two ago about how I hated the summer because there was never anything to do. Well, this summer I did a lot of things, and it's been a hell of a time. Despite all this, I'm not sad to see the summer end. I want school to get started, I want to get back to work and I want to get my degree.

So there it is, my summer in so many short paragraphs. I'm sure the school year will be just as much fun.

california rest in peace

Thu, 09 Aug 2007 16:49:54 GMT

6/11

12:15 PM - SoCal has been pretty anticlimactic thus far. We hung out at the beach yesterday - the water was cold. Very cold. So we didn't swim, and we were a little disappointed. Katie made some color wheels out of brightly colored rocks, and Dan and I played some frisbee and explored a cave on the shore.

We got our campsite after that. It's really nice, it's about 30 feet over the beach overlooking the ocean. Watching the waves crash against the shore is good times, even if it's cloudy, cold and semi-unpleasant.

I invested in a 2 dollar chess set yesterday (or the day before, I guess) and have played Dan a few times. It's this tiny magnetic set that is a piece of junk and falling apart already. A worthwhile $2 spent.

Last night we did "baked" potatoes, sour cream, cheese, corn, green beans for dinner. It was a lovely change from the usual, but if you're going to try and cook something don't ever use a Duralog. They don't get hot.

It's cold, cloudy and windy right now, and we are going to a Mets game tonight. I am pumped.

californication

Wed, 08 Aug 2007 16:32:38 GMT

6/9

8:48 PM - Yesterday turned out to be a longer drive than we had originally anticipated, mostly because of traffic. It was bad. No more details.

We made our way into SoCal and started hunting for a place to sleep for a few nights. Our original place that Mio brought us to was filled with sketchy rednecks who lived at the campground. Since it was getting late and everywhere was full, we ended up getting a motel room. We saw Pirates 3 after we made dinner with Foreman - good movie, very good. My favorite of the three. Anyway, we had some time to kill at the theater, so we sat on the floor by the Transformers pop up and played shithead. We were interrupted by an employee who gave us some movie cards that are useless in CT in exchange for our names and zip codes.

She called us ghetto.

I would like to talk about our today, now... it wasn't a bad day, but we really didn't get much fun in. We had to get the car fixed, to start out - there was a leak in one of the tires. That took about two hours, but we were in a sizeable plaza, so we explored. Let me tell you, E-Z Burger is a delicious burger joint. Good helpings, reasonable prices, and made fresh. If you ever see one - good stuff. We also went CD hunting at a Target, but found nothing worth buying.

Once we got the car back, we started looking for a place to stay tonight - more specifically at a beach campground right on the shore. They were all completely packed, so we went looking elsewhere. Long story short, we took this long-ass empty highway into this beaten mountain range where we found a dinky sketchy campground in the middle of nowhere.

We had dinner, and that was about all we had time for tonight. We're just hanging out now.

ZOMG THATS A CANYON

Wed, 01 Aug 2007 21:30:13 GMT

6/7

8:18 PM - We're going to play some catch up today. We woke up at about 8:00 yesterday morning and moseyed on over to the Grand Canyon. I don't know exactly what to say about it.

I will say that the drive from the Kaibab National Forest to the actual canyon was very interesting. The only way to describe it is "forest forest forest CAAANNYYOOOOOOONN!!!!" Other than that, I can't really find any words to describe it or express my feelings about it. You really have to see it for yourself.

6/8

11:15 AM (continued from yesterday) - It really was magnificent, though. That's the only thing that I feel like I can say. The pictures don't do it any justice.

We started our day at the Grand Canyon by taking a short walk to what was called Blue Angel's Point. It was basically a spot on a paved path where anyone, young, old , handicapped or senile, could take and just look at the canyon for a while. It is one massive canyon.

After that, we grabbed some breakfast (reasonably priced for a national park) and took off for North Kaibab Trail. It was the only trail at the North Rim that actually went into the canyon. And it was very very steep. Stunning views from the overlook and where we stopped, which was Supai Tunnel - but very steep.

A few things of note about this particular hike - when starting the trail there were many warning signs about how no one should try to hike the trail to the Colorado River and back in one day - that's 28 miles round trip. Another fun sign said "Most people who are rescued from the canyon look like HIM!!!" and had a picture of a young, athletic guy probably in his mid-20's. I guess the park doesn't want hikers to bite off more than they can chew.

It really was a spectacular hike, even though we went all of two miles in. Great views of the canyon from inside and close up. Dan and I have decided that we are going to come back one day and hike the whole thing - that is to say, the Kaibab Trail from rim to rim, which is the Grand Canyon from top to bottom to top on the other side. I hope we get a chance to do that.

We explored a little more, once we got out of the canyon and off the trail (and that took quite a while, climbing back up is a bitch), but because of winds almost half of the park was closed off. So we left at 3ish, made some dinner back at our campsite, and relaxed for a while. At 6 or so, we went back to Blue Angel Point and watched the sunset over the canyon. (Don't worry, I'll have pictures up soon)

The next day, we awoke bright and early at 8:00 or so so we could get a good start because we didn't know how far Zion was. Turns out it took us about an hour. So we set up camp and started to explore Zion.

Zion is basically an oasis in between 3 deserts - the Mojave, Bryce and Colorado Plateau. The Virgin River carved the Zion Canyon like the Colorado River carved the Grand Canyon. I can see why they named it Zion.

We had to take a shuttle to get around the park, because they didn't allow private vehicles into the canyon. It wasn't so bad, there was some interesting history that the recording on the bus talked about in relation to Zion.

We took three short hikes there - I guess if we weren't so beat from Kaibab trail we might've attempted something a little more ambitious, but we still saw some awesome stuff. Our first hike was the Lower Emerald Pool hike. There were three pools that run down this one face of the canyon - the Upper, Middle and Lower Emerald Pools. We meant to take only the Lower trail - it was the easiest and we had a lot to do that day - but we accidentally went up to the Middle ones too. The lower ones were much more fun, though. There was a waterfall pouring over the enclave inside of a rock which the trail led through. The water landed in the Lower Emerald Pools below. Walking through the enclave, I got splashed a little which was nice.

Our next hike was more of a short walk to Weeping Rock, which was a porous sandstone rock that water constantly pours out of. According to the bus tour recording, some of that water is over 1,000 years old. We sat on a rock bench inside another enclave and watched the water pour out over the Zion landscape for a while before we went on our last hike.

This last one was called the Riverside Walk, and you basically walk along the Virgin River for a mile or so. This is where the canyon became too narrow for a road, and eventually if you went all the way to the Zion Narrows, you're hiking into the river and into the opening (or closing, as it would be) of the canyon. What struck me more than anything else on this last walk was the contrasting colors against each other. I'm no art expert, but I know when something looks cool. The sandstone of the humongous rock cliffs were a strong, deep red which hung over the bright green of the plant life which is continuously fed by the river, which in most places was a deep blue.

Wiped out after a long day, we headed back to the campsite and built a fire. We cooked our usual dinner... again brought to life by Blair's Mega Death Sauce... and finished our evening with a round of S'mores (Thank you, Jenn).

As we were getting ready to go to sleep, Dan poked his head out of the tent and looked up. I followed him only to discover that the night sky had lit up brighter than I had ever seen it, except for maybe one time in Nebraska when I went stargazing at my grandparents' farm with my dad and uncle Jim. The usual stars were all out there but much, much brighter, and accompanied by countless dimmer stars which I probably have never seen before.

In short, yesterday was a good day.

Some of you may remember an entry of mine a few months ago during which I was complaining about the US of A, about the media - the people, the attention span of your average person, the government, religion etc. After seeing America in all of it's glory first hand, I'm starting to change my mind. The media is the same in most free countries, the people are really friendly once you get out of the Northeast... the attention span of the world has been decreased exponentially ever since the rise of the Internet so that won't change anywhere else... and in a little over a year the government is going to go through a complete overhaul. Not to mention, this is a gorgeous country as far as landscape goes.

As far as religion goes, and my unsuredness, that much hasn't changed yet. I don't know what's going on there, but I'm still searchin'. Maybe I'll have a revelation by the end of the trip. I'll keep you informed.

Another thing is that I have stopped missing home about 99.999%. I still want to stay away for a few personal reasons long enough to figure them out and collect myself.

We are driving through the desert right now - and I do mean desert... there is nothing anywhere but sand, rocky hills and some shrubs. Have you ever played Final Fantasy X? Remember when you are stuck on the Al'Behd desert? It's like that, but with a highway. We're about 200, maybe less, miles out of LA. We haven't showered since we were in Santa Fe and we're all out of clean clothes. We're running low on food in the food box, and my lips are really chapped from the dryness and elevation of the past few places we've been in. All in all though, I'm quite happy.

I think that this part of the trip may have been a turning point. We were out of the deep south and the blazing sun that was Florida... we had escaped the comforts and familiar faces of Houston... and finally reached the southwest and everything it had to offer. I say it's a turning point because I was finally adjusting to life on the road and what we were doing and it really started to sink in. Now though, I miss it a little.

the graaaaahmmm canyooooon

Mon, 30 Jul 2007 16:49:53 GMT

6/5

5:30 PM - So we're about 15 miles out from the Grand Canyon. It's kind of taunting us, because we aren't going in today. The campground is full (big surprise) so we are camping in a national forest about 5 miles from the park entrance, which costs us $25 to get into. So we're laying low this evening and doing our sightseeing tomorrow. Maybe we'll get a campsite, too.

The drive here consisted mostly of a trip on an Indian reservation - the Navajos, to be precise. I noticed something about their land - it sucked. Miles and miles and miles of useless desert. I have to wonder how that happened - how they got shafted into taking such a huge chunk of worthless nothing; who talked them into it, who was the US president at the time, etc.

I realized yesterday that I really haven't had any time to myself, just to reflect on what's happened so far and what still lies ahead. One may say "Hey Dave, you've been keeping a journal! And a mighty fine one at that!!" but it's not quite the same. I'm keeping a summary of my experiences not really thinking about them. And there's four weeks left. It's like none of this has really sunk in since I left CT. I mean, we're in Arizona. We drove 4500 miles, but what's it mean? I'm going to think on that.

colorado and mesa verde

Sun, 29 Jul 2007 04:05:10 GMT

6/4

9:01 PM - Christ, I love Colorado. I love the weather, the scenery, the hiking, the things to do - the crisp, clean, thinner air.. it's just awesome.

So we spent the morning driving to Mesa Verde National Park. It took longer than we anticipated, but it was still "reasonably" short. Four hours or so. Dan did the driving today; he was pissed this morning but nobody knows why. Including Dan.

Any words to describe the mountains, canyons, cliff walls and cliff dwellings I saw today would be an injustice to this place. Just know that there is too much to take in.

I'm just glancing around now, let me sort of paint you a picture of our camp. I'm sitting at a picnic table at our site, writing by the light of our battery powered lantern. Dan is sitting on the table strumming his guitar. To my right is "Lone Cone", I guess it's a peak here. In front of me is another giant hill/mountain, covered in pine trees and bathing in twilight.

The only sounds, other than Dan playing his guitar, are a few bugs whom will probably keep making noise all night. Our little tent looks kind of funny with a mountain as a dropback picture.

Tonight, Dan and I added a new and exciting ingredient to our rice beans and corn. I mentioned it in my last entry I think - the hot sauce. Let me tell you, that stuff does not joke around. But it is damn tasty. I have to be careful though, because my stomach knew there was something up with dinner tonight. Deliciousness, but very hot. It was quite awesome and I look forward to eating it again.

Tomorrow, we head for the Grand Canyon. Is it spectacular, or just a huge hole in the ground? I'll find out soon enough.

Tomorrow also marks the day I travel farther southwest than Ive ever gone. Whether or not that is significant remains to be seen.

let's open up a restaurant in santa fe

Wed, 25 Jul 2007 12:33:37 GMT

6/3

10:15 PM - We spent today in Santa Fe. It was a short drive from Villanueva, which I still have a little bit to speak about.

Dan and I - once we got up there last night - went for a small hike on El Cuerro trail. It led up and around a plateau to a gorgeous view of the Pecos River below, along with some farms and some red cliffs. It was pretty awesome. The elevation was surprisingly high. It wasn't strenuous, but we both got winded quickly. Still, it was a nice little hike.

On to Santa Fe. It was as I remembered it from a few years ago. Clay houses, streets filled with Native Americans selling beads and things, and the large plaza in the middle of the city (town, really). Lots of touristy stuff, but it was a lot of fun.

We watched the Democratic National Debate tis evening after checking out the Santa Fe scene and going to an art museum. That was fun, and thought-provoking.

We bought some hot sauce. Like, "BLAIR'S MEGA-DEATH SAUCE 500 TIMES HOTTER THAN A JALAPENO PEPPER ZOMGWTFBBQ!!!!!!!1111!!11one" I'll tell you how that is later.

Tomorrow is a short drive to Mesa Verde National Park. T'will be a good time... but tonight we sleep in luxury in a Days Inn, because Motel 6 wouldn't give us a room because we're not 21.

villanueva

Mon, 23 Jul 2007 15:42:14 GMT

8:18 PM (MT) - I am tired. We haven't had the means to cook dinner tonight after an ass-long drive so I think we're just going to do sandwiches... which for some reason we didn't do for lunch... as a matter of fact we didn't really do lunch at all today.

Dan and Katie are playing guitar/singing/writing. I was doing the same with them an decided to hide in the tent and write for a bit, when Dan wanted to work on a song I don't like.

Do I sound grumpy? Maybe I was for a while on the drive, when I had a minor stomachache and didn't want to be on the road today. Then I saw the rolling plateaus and mountains of New Mexico. That's when I was pumped again

I wanted to write more, but sadly I am running dangerously low on daylight.

Sad face.

At Villanueva we basically camped on a mountain of sorts... the road up there sucked but the place itself was nice. Very rustic and great views. Dan and I took a hike that night that I talk about the next day.

houston, texas

Sun, 22 Jul 2007 19:30:48 GMT

6/1

10:51 AM - It'll be a dry couple of days. Last few days were relaxing, we're going to catch up a bit even though we're ahead of schedule. We took that extra day in Houston, and I'm glad that we did.

Here's what we did. Firstly, I would like to say that I have rediscovered my love of swimming. It took a while, but we've been doing so much of it - virtually every day. It's a good ting. Tat being said, after everyone awoke yesterday - slowly - there was some swimming that happened. After that, Andrea had a class, so we did our own thing for a while. There was some Super Mario Bros., Katie spent her afternoon getting sunburned again (by now mine has started peeling), and Dan and I went for a walk through Houston exploring the city. Our plan was to go straight to Rice and check out the music building (Shepherd). So naturally, we walked around for about an hour and a half, getting lost a lot. But we found it eventually. It took us 20 minutes to get back.

Shepherd had no facilities White Hall doesn't have. It's a little nicer looking, but really despite the full symphony orchestra, it seems like Rice and WCSU are about on par with each other.

Shepherd seemed colder, too. The walls were all completely white and there were very few friendly flyers or welcomey-feeling... well, anything really.

While in the building, there was a competition going on. I got to listen to a badass horn player, and a violinist playing the Brahms on a TV in a large room. She was pretty awesome (well of course she was, she was Asian and all Asians are, as a general rule, automatically awesome).

So today we make tracks for Oklahoma City. Not much to do there other than camp and push for Santa Fe tomorrow. We're ahead of schedule, so we're going to take a day there. I'll talk about that when it happens, but the next two days will be long driving days.

the lone star state

Sat, 21 Jul 2007 20:24:55 GMT

5/31

12:30 PM - I am making a genuine effort not to look back at what I wrote over the previous days, because I want it all to come back as I'm typing it up... I thought that might be worth mentioning.

I'm in Houston right now, sitting in an apartment complex by a pool with Dan, Katie and Katie's friend Andrea, who reminds me a lot of Kristen Essex. It's weird, they look and sound and act similar, except one is blond and the other a brunette.

There was a party last night. Along with the four of us, some more of Andrea's friends from around the country who go to Rice University also hung out with us - Prozak (sp?), Anthony, Jeremy and Sue, her roomie. Good times, your average college party.

Rice is a really nice campus, and makes WCSU look like trash. It makes me want to look around for a nice grad school (which I should start to do sometime soon).

I don't know what we're all going to do today. It'll be a good time though, I'm sure.

n'orleans

Fri, 20 Jul 2007 15:20:40 GMT

5/30

2:30 PM - A few things like to talk about today. I'll start with New Orleans and Bourbon Street. I suppose one way to start pouring money back into the economy after a natural disaster is to throw a party every night that ranges across every bar on a street over a mile long, offering people live music without a cover, and the option to put your drink in a plastic cup and finish it outside or in another bar. The attractions lined the street, bey the bars, souvenir shops or the delightful promise of nuditay. As we walked down into the depths of the area, where souls are lost and cities built, you could hear a different band playing a different cover (or the same cover) about every 15 steps. The neon lights flashed brightly at each of these places, outside many of which a person would be walking around with a sign that said "No Cover" or "Huge Ass Beers to Go," trying to attract customers. The street was closed to traffic, and there were some scattered police officers, I guess if things got out of hand. Beads - possibly from Mardi Gras - could sometimes be found hanging from power lines or gutters. The goal of this place was to get you drunk and take your money. THey had girls wearing almost nothing dancing in front of their places and sketchy people to try and convince you that you wanted some of that - so their methods were tireless.

It was a bright, lively place, filled with happy people drinking and dancing on the street. But that's got to be a tough way to live every day - especially when you take into account how the rest of the city looked. Places were still boarded up, things haven't been entirely cleaned up and rebuilt yet. Too much to do, I guess. Too little money and too few workers, maybe.

The surrounding area wasn't looking too good, either. This is most noticeable along the highway, where you could blatantly see trees ripped from the ground still dying about thirty feet from the road. This isn't to say they made no effort - along some stretches there were newly planted forests which won't be full and rich for a number of years yet.

It's a process. They're getting there. The streets of New Orleans aren't all glittering with lights yet, but Bourbon street is, and the night life is certainly alive and well.

There have been moments already where I've started to miss CT. I think these were brought upon mostly by sunburn and the heat. I'd think to myself, I'm out here roasting in the middle of nowhere and I won't be able to watch a Mets game or relax in a cool room for over a month. I was thinking about this yesterday while we were on our way to New Orleans, and had what seemed at the time like a revelation.

I turn 21 in 2 months and a few weeks. After that, I have a year of classes left, and then I'm student teaching. You all probably knew this already, but it just started to sink in yesterday, as I was missing home a little. After I thought about it for a while, I stopped missing home. It's almost like this is my last hurrah before I really have to accept adulthood. Maybe that sounds silly or premature, but it's how I feel and I stand by it. To elaborate, I'm probably not going to have the chance to do something like this again anytime soon. If I do, when it happens I will probably haver finished my work as an undergrad and have earned a degree in music education. Maybe I'll have a job, maybe I'll be getting ready for or already in grad school. I'll be an adult, all things considered, if I'm not already. I feel like I want to prove to myself that I can conquer something on this scale before I accept my future. Call it coming of age if you want, or something else like that. That's what makes the most sense to me, at least.

We're driving through Texas right now, Katie at the wheel and many a splattered bug on the windshield. We're about 50 miles out of Houston. Dan's either reading or napping in the back. I don't care enough to turn around and check.

I will say this. Dan and I have had a couple of minor scuffles today. I attribute them partially to Dan being half-sick and for whatever reason, very tired. I also attribute them to my carelessness. In any case, they were both pretty trivial and I think they've worked themselves out.

Drama so far has basically been nonexistent. It's a lot of carefree stuff and just hangin out. One last thing I want to say - on the subject of drama - is that since I left CT, all of the little things that were bothering me before I left have melted away 100% and feel pretty trivial and silly right now. That much is a huge relief.

new orleans... away!!!

Thu, 19 Jul 2007 15:06:24 GMT

5/29

4:00 PM (CT) - We made tracks this morning. We started hoofing it out of Florida at about 8:30 (ET). So we are tired but we knew it'd be a long day today when we set out.

You guys can't tell this, coz you're reading this online... but yesterday my journal had a terrible accident involving some rain. It's pretty crumply, and I'm hoping there won't be an issue with weaker pages falling out.

We're exactly one week in, and I think this is when we're all going to start to grow for this experience. The three of us have bonded as a group, that much is sure - but I don't think we've grown much yet as individuals. I think we will soon, now that we are a week in, and slowly getting farther away from home. We have our wits, supplies and each other to rely on, and that's about it - that and the places we stay, of course.

Tonight, our destination is New Orleans. The Big Easy. I'll get to see firsthand how the rebuilding of a city is commencing. We're going to stay at a motel (which is good, because the clouds look ominous), and hopefully get to a jazz club.

More on that later.

We did hit some rain on this drive, I remember that pretty clearly... but the motel was definitely a good decision.

There was one looooong bridge, like.. miles long... that was pretty ridiculous. We have some of that in the video which we're making.

more beachin'

Wed, 18 Jul 2007 22:26:53 GMT

5/28

4:30 PM - I guess I got burned a little worse than i thought. I was in kind of a sour mood at the beach today because I didn't want the sunburn to get any worse than it already was, so I left my shirt on and didn't go swimming. Dan and Katie built a sand lizard. It was kinda cool.

We're back at the campground now, just trying to rest up I suppose. Dan is sleeping. Katie is MIA. Here are a few things i've learned about Florida since I got here.

Number one - it's hot. Really hot. Not that you didn't know, but I just wanted to remind you.

Secondly, the ants down here are all little bastards. they like to bite you when you are trying to get your hippie on and walk around barefoot. It's a pain.... not really in the ass, but on your toes.

One thing we have to do soon is find a laundry dealy. That needs to get done.

I'm hungry. And I want to know where all of these goddamn ants are coming from.

I was grumpy when I was sunburned, but I knew I was grumpy and I did my best not to spoil Dan and Katie's good times. I think i succeeded in that.

good morning, happy campers!

Tue, 10 Jul 2007 02:13:39 GMT

hey guys - i'm at camp, my journal's not. so updates will have to wait for a week or so, but they'll resume..

in case you were interested

which you almost certainly were

daytona

Fri, 06 Jul 2007 19:31:21 GMT

5/27

5:15 PM - Warm'um out today. Warm yesterday. Even warmer today.

We went to the beach - Daytona Beach to be precise. And a lovely beach it was. We were there all morning and early afternoon. Despite the sunblock I slathered on myself seemingly constantly, I still got hit pretty hard on my shoulders and tops of my feet. I wasn't expecting my feet to get burned, they never have before. *shrugs* Nicks and pains, I suppose.

I'd better get used to these sorts of things, because they're not about to go away. I'll man up and tough it out.

The beach was really nice. I'ver forgotten how nice it feels to have the sun beating down on you strongly while you're just sitting there, or the feeling of the riptide sucking you every which way whilst you are struggling to maintain your balance in the ocean.

We're going back tomorrow.

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not a fan of the beach. Maybe it's because of the experience at Daytona when I got burned pretty damn badly - actually it's probably because of that. I don't dislike the beach when the water is warm, the sun doesn't burn me... picky, I suppose. Though I did hold my breath every time Katie hinted that she wanted to go to the beach, stay at the beach and not leave the beach ever. Hah, well, I toughed it out.

myrtle beach

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 15:40:20 GMT

5/26

12:00 PM - Our last night in Virginia, we met up with Jason and Allison and had some good times. These guys all had some of a $10 3 liter bottle of wine whilst I enjoyed myself a bottle of sparkling white grape juice.

After a round of mini-golf and some arcade games, we played kings and Allison got smashed. It was amusing but mildly agitating at the same time. She is a loud, happy drunk. But loud.

This was our first successful night at really cooking dinner, too. Dan built a campfire, we threw the pot on top of it, added rice and beans and salt and pepper, added that to a few tortillas filled with cheese. Not entirely tasteless, and very filling. We were all excited about that. Washing the pot though... that wasn't so fun.

The next morning we left for Myrtle Beach. And that was a long, empty highway. Some things of note were the dozens of giant billboards advertising for discount Disney tickets and reservations.

Once we got into the area, traffic was a lot more plentiful. What else we discovered was that it was Budweiser National Motorcycle Week. There were hundreds of bikes, driven mostly by black guys. There was another two things that I noticed that I couldn't help but find hysterically funny. The first was the trend of huge wheels and very shiny hubcaps on very old cars. That was pimp </sarcasm>. The second was a bright pink bus... with hydrolics. It was bouncing around happily while I was trying to drive around it. Sadly, we didn't get a picture. We stayed at Myrtle Beach State Park, and that is definitely the way to go when at Myrtle Beach. It was a little crowded, yes, but family-pleasant - not obnoxious crowded. It was nice. The water at the beach was very warm, and swimming around with the sand under my feet and the salty air in my lungs and the disgusting saltwater in my nose and mouth was very refreshing. Getting knocked around by waves was a lot of fun, too. It's been a long time since I've really been to a genuine beach, and I forgot how humbling it is to see the unfathomable volume of water crashing against the shore rowdily.

I didn't sleep all too well last night. I think it was a one-time thing, or maybe it was because we went to bed so early. Cooking and cleaning in the dark is a tiring experience, but it's doable.

We've learned we can survive this way - driving from place to place and eating the little we have whenever we get the chance. Next is the endurance trial, which I guess will probably be the hard part.

Next stop is Daytona Beach. Onward.