Westward Ho!s again, this time legit westward. Sam has now been in LA for a year and has found the Sunshine State to be quite sunshiny. Tricia wants in on the glowiness, so we're driving west from Chicago so that she can live in my office. Office living should be perfect for T, since she's a business lady.
I'll let Tricia add more about herself later, but, for purposes of digestion, explanation of future crankiness/explosion, and proof of my badassery, I feel like explaining where I'm coming from. I'm really tired and therefore may only be able to communicate in lists right now. Here are some lists.
Well, before the lists, some earnestness. I'm well-fed right now (insane spicy veggie omelette, coffee, avocados, toast + juice via T's mom) and feeling earnest. I'm feeling very lucky that on my three-town trip so far, I've gotten to see so many people I love. I feel lucky that so many people I love exist in the world. I'm also happy because some of these people I haven't seen in a year or two and everyone seems really good - much more sure of what they want, much better at having those things, much less afraid. My heart sings.
Now, lists.
Technology missing this time:
- My entire computer. Forgetting a whole computer can only be subconscious self-sabotage. Or escapism. I'm starting to have anxiety issues, especially because of the conditions of T's computer (same as last trip - unreceptive to internet signals, doesn't hold a charge).
- Camera battery charger. I'm not sure whether my battery is dead or my camera is broken. Not having photos of the beginning of this trip makes me want to punch myself in the face, but I'm trying to deal with this today. If an entire journey goes undocumented because of no computer and no camera, did it even happen? Please ignore the drama of that question and accept that i am sad about the tech issues.
- French press. We've agreed to buy/live off instant coffee. Hopefully this is one of those things that tastes better in the woods.
Brooklyn: The first thing I saw was Katelyn's room, in which she left me to go to work. It was kind of an office with a lofted bed and I decided that everyone should have a room like this, even if it's in addition to some other bedroom. The next thing was a trip down the G Train which was like a Disneyland ride in which I crawled out of holes and found past-life friends waiting for me. First stop was Hoyt-Schermerhorn where Ms. Molly McGrath was waiting in her law school residence hall. Mol and I got Thai food and drinks while she squealed, "CoCo!" a lot. We discussed going for a rollerblade (as a means of loneliness evasion) and how it's so easy to fall in love when there's time for cribbage. Time with Molly always reminds me of the brilliance and rarity of joy. Next stop, Lorimer, Nick Kaplan in his grown-up 1-bedroom apartment. We looked at his potential girlfriends on the internet and ate italian ice while discussing the plot issues I couldn't help finding in his latest screenplay idea and why I'm really okay with letting him pay for stuff.
Ithaca: Sharon, Katelyn, and I arrived to a living room filled with people and also puppies. The puppies were being bottle-fed by the people because their mother had stolen a pot cookie from Lily's room and subsequently jumped through a window screen and disappeared. Alarms were set so that the people could wake up and feed the puppies every two hours. I felt afraid. But soon things got very magical and pleasing. The thing is, my friends, or some people who are my friends and some I just met, are building a house on some land outside Ithaca. They are building it with their hands and bodies. It is going to be a very pretty house and built in a really smart way so that it stays warm and watery without belching gross, dirty things out into the land and air surrounding it. Yay, new housebuilding technologies! I felt lucky about the days I happened to be there. The first workday, I got to see all the exposed heating and plumbing systems, and lay down insulation, and the second day, I got to watch concrete being poured and evened over all this stuff to make the floor. I also got to pour concrete into the walls for support/insulation. There were like fifteen people - people passing buckets of concrete to people on ladders and people on ladders pouring buckets of concrete into the walls. It was like a camp Color Wars but with the end purpose of building a fucking house. Yeah. Also I drove a tractor. Okay, and, in Ithaca there are these crazy fucking waterfalls everywhere with huge freshwater pools at the bottom. It had been forever since I'd swum in freshwater and just being submerged with eyes open and no sting made me ridiculously happy, but then also I climbed to the top of this one waterfall, really high, and sat on the rocks and under the top falls as though I was in the movie Cocktail or somesuch. Other fun things included making morning coffee runs to the place that seems to be Ithaca's social hub, swinging in hammocks, analyzing convenience store snacks, and lots of porch-sitting. I'm excited to return to this place, to talk and eat and watch movies and kiss in this house whose insides + process of becoming I've been a tiny part of.
Chicago: This town has been so restful and restorative and is readying for me for my roadtrip. I judge myself somewhat for the accidental alliteration but I am leaving it because I think it's funny. Dianna picked me up at the airport. I wanted to protest this, to say that it was totally unnecessary for her to take public transport to the airport to get me, but I was exhausted and it wasn't totally unnecessary and I was glad she came. We sat on her pretty alley-facing exposed-brick porch and drank bottles of two-buck Chuck and discussed Midwest pride, the gorgeousness of autonomy, the luckiness of Apex and financial security, and dating/friend/sex drama, and choosing reality. Then we listened to Grace Jones and ate quinoa in her living room and I killed a giant leggy furry creature while we both made screamy noises. The offer of her bed was another offer I wanted to protest but it was so white and clean and my body was like, "shut up manners!" so I had my very own very clean and very warm bed. Oh, Chicago is freezing, btw. In the morning, we had brunch and walked through the Ukranian village neighborhood and then Julia joined us on the porch for iced tea and cigarettes. Well, no cigs for Julia. Julia gave me several things that made me squeal: My 1969 oversized Alice and Wonderland coloring book from which I've been separated 2 years, Lucy's orange cat shirt that I wore the entire summer of 2003 which I haven't seen in six years or thought about until the other night very randomly, some photos, and a new green toiletry bag. Other things she had of mine were worn-out vintage pumps and handbags I no longer want in any way, and my latex platypus which I want desperately (and which I thought was in a trash heap somewhere) but which she insists is the only thing that keeps her from getting in car accidents. I did all my laundry at Julia's and got so clean that J insisted I looked like a different person by the time I left. Julia's boyfriend was really nice and great, and while Julia has a tendency to roll her eyes and say, "Sam, you're so weird," her boyfriend expresses his incredulity in awesomely complimentary ways such as, "You roll your own cigarettes?! Who are you, James Dean??"
Highland Park: Julia drove me to the suburbs (awesomely) and I was greeted to lots of hugs from three generations of Maharaj women. I'd never met T's mom before, which seems completely insane, and I've learned that some of my weird syntax is island-speak that I've picked up via T via her mom. I immediately insisted we stay here another day, which made T's mom really happy. "You need rest," she kept saying, and I kept nodding, vigorously. We went out to a dinner that was so out of control good that all I could talk about was the food I was eating and we drank lots of wine, and they ordered me a birthday dessert and sang the birthday song. It was the first time my birthday was celebrated with cake and candles this year and the first time I've ever loved the birthday song. Then we all went to a trashy bar (minus grandma). Today is more eating (omelet! coffee! melon! avocado! zucchini bread! leftovers from last night!!) and laying around and researching for this trip, for which I finally feel cleansed and readied. K, now this blog will actually begin. Westward Ho!(s)
P.S. If you have photos of any of the above mentioned activities, please send so I can add them to this post!
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