A day for honoring

Apologies for the lack of updates, post below re my walkabout/hitchhiking will be finished shortly (read: after picking out a computer and finishing a carrot movie!) but for now, here's a bit on the NRA press release on its opinion of the school shooting in Connecticut, namely that we should have armed guards in every school moving forward, not any more sort of gun regulations.

I wish I this were an Onion piece, ugh. In the most tragic form of irony, at the same time the NRA press release was being held, a man in PA went off the deep end and killed four people, including himself, with a firearm. Why do we even need to talk about this?

The Road in Review

MONSTER POST!

Below is a brief recounting of the second leg of my thumbing adventures from Cleveland to Washington, DC (with a tiny detour to South Carolina). Partially for ya'll, partially for me, but mostly to tell the stories of every wonderful person I met while journeying. I hope you can envision a little bit of the adventure I had on the road!

The route

10/10 - Really I should have left yesterday. Ok, well Monday. But the weather on Monday sucked and Tuesday was the only warm/sunny break I had to get out. Come to think of it, most of the Cleveland weather sucked. Lots of rain, which was wonderfully conducive to childerens science museums, imax showings and adventures in learning to blow glass pumpkins (bucket list, check!) with Tom, but not much else. But I digress. Hitch hiking in metro/urban areas is not a thing. Not only are you almost guaranteed not to get a ride, you are more than likely to end up in a part of town you definitely do not want to be (see: Richmond). SO, after an hour bus-ride to the outskirts of Cleveland and a good 30 minutes creeping around behind some medical buildings for cardboard (top 5 dumpsters you do not want to be diving into? Medical might take the cake!) it was time to hit the road!

480/77 to Doylestown- Healthcare - Unfortunately, notes from this ride are a little sparse. He was large, worked in healthcare, and was moderately unhappy at his job. Oh, and drove a large truck.

Doylestown to Massillon- Bacon or Bust - Come the a-PORK-olypse, this man will be ready! Speaking maybe 20 words to me the entire 15 miles, this portly man spent the rest of the time on the phone with his best friend, planning the meaty details on how they were going to buy and store a maximum amount of pig in their deep freezers for the coming global pork shortage (announced in an official press release from Britain's National Pork Association, later downgraded to large price spikes in Europe and ~10% increase in the USA!). This spike is due to the drought/awful grain crop and subsequent skyrocketing prices of pig feed, and is apparently a VERY. BIG. DEAL. Come 2013, I guess we'll all see if it's a bunch of hogwash or there's really some truth to the rumors!

Massillon (ALMOST NAVVARE?!) to Dover - The Missionary -  Bacon man was wonderful in most regards, but unfortunately could only drop me on the near side of town (always be on the side of town people are leaving from!) Like many times before, I busted the 'ol walking persona religious lady, mission trips (urugay and germany, rich mom, left money specifically for mission trips. Stopped in place with curbs, was walking through all of Massillon and Navarree (suuuucked balls). Very nice. Took me a few extra miles, was only going to Strasburg. 3 kids, now are grown and she does mission trips!

McDonalds, get out of the woods, you are drunk!

Dover to Cambridge - Frickity Frack - Guy Delivering water to fracking fields. natural gas fields all around cambridge. Has exploded lately. Most people previously making 18-20k driving trucks, now paid 80k to work 6mo. Fracking gigs are moving cities. Water trucked in. Full time chef. Platform is half a football field ish. He worked for 'Neighbors' drilling company out of Bermuda. Supposed to last 10 years, enough for him to retire on early if he stretches it out! (should not have picked me up, could have gotten fired? Woah! Super nice/smart!)

The beautiful view from camp.

Cambridge - Oh Cambridge. How I almost miss thee. After a bit of wandering (I'd learned my lesson and was making camp before dark this time!) I noticed an old sign at the top of the hill. WHO EVEN DOES THAT? Naturally curious (who doesn't want to take a little adventure hike a little after having walked all day? I blame my father for this tendency.) I hiked up an unfortunately steep and briar-filled cliff to find a beautiful clearing (with a nice gentle path down to the road on the other side... but who likes to take the easy way?!) Being prudent/not wanting to have to sleep with one eye open for visitors up the path, I decided to make a stealth camp in the woods nearby. Having great foresight and intuition (also, cold ears) I had bought a fatty $2 hat at a thrift shop earlier that day and it definitely saved my poor cabeza from freezing off that night. Yes, freezing. As in, it hit 32 degrees and while I wasn't cold per say, warm would not be in the first 100 adjectives I would use to describe the night. Although safely off the beaten path of human visitors, the snuffling sounds of large animals as well as the unfortunate placement of a large root underneath my tent (pro-tip, put your groundcloth down and lay on it before you set up your tent, ouch.) were not conducive to a great nights sleep.

STEALTH CAMPING! (completely invisible!)

10/11 - Good morning Cambridge! After a late [9? Eff that, it was cold!]  start and an expensive meal, [$8 for a basic breakfast at a family restaurant? SHENANIGANS! Never trust a place with a shiny flashing billboard outside!] It was back to the road again, looking to be a promising day with a full belly and great ramp to start out. Sign up and thumb out, first goal was Marietta, OH, about 14 miles down the road. The sweet eau de sharpe was still lingering in the air as a man pulled up across the intersection with 77 and yelled something about packing quickly and south. I said, "Marietta?" He said, "Yep." and so I hopped into the Trailblazer and a beautiful friendship was born.  A titch nervous as he started driving north on the highway, but he explained his house was just 5 minutes away and the more we chatted, the better I felt about being in the car with him. Getting to his house and (keeping the pepper spray in my pocket the whole time) helping out, he managed to turn a 20 minute pack into 2 1/2 hours, involving:

- A tv, couch, chairs, dresser, recliner,and enough other furniture to entirely furnish a mobile home (see: Tina)
- Two mentally challenged Pekingese dogs (that would only sit in the front seat... on me)
- Changing several tires (me finding low air in four tires and one dry rotted through.... surprise!)
- Lug nut rusted shut TIME FOR THE CIRCULAR SAW! (...ohgod)
- Switched out license plates (!?! still not quite sure on that one)
- Multiple ham and cheese sandwiches
-And a Cockatiel named Chumley

Trusty Trailblazer, OH to SC!

Cambridge, OH to Conway, SC - Billy
The man. The myth. The legend.

-------------------------------END ----------------------------------

(publishing now to remind myself to finish tomorrow or look like a fool with my pants on the ground)

(notes to myself are below if you are reaaaaaaallly interested, elaborations coming)

Billy.

 10 hours. Started driving 6 hours in (he drank beers/slept! (I hid them with my hand during tolls, hah) ..hadn't the night before.) Beeeauuuuuutiful! River valleys, zomg!
New River Gorge, WV (Bridge Day) 80,000 people, Oct. 19th, 2013, 800 BASE jumps, ziplining, rappelling etc. He is machinist, mostly making money from leasing land to natural gas fracking. Makes $5k an acre + 20% royalties ( 8k + ). 2 Ex-wives. CHERRY CIGARILLOS. Lordy.

Billy and kind-of-not-really-girlfriend Tina

10/12 - Conway, SC to Four Oaks, NC
Ehrmegerd so much warmer(up at 9, stayed in tina's mobile home)
His mom's banana bread for brekkie. She had rhumetoid arthritis and fibermyalgia, we moved stuff. On disability? Kind of gf? Would be if in same place? Went to beach, played in waves! They sunned, he bought me 3 heinekens down way, met Kevin at bar. Crazy old man, Jamaica stories from 70s. Red buds weed on plane, smoked/took pics with bob marley

Conway to Myrtle Beach - Billy and Tina.

Myrtle Beach to Wilmington - Emotional Problems Singer - broke up with gf of 1 year, 10 years younger (he is 37), R Kelly flew him places to do shows (singer in back or something?), Stopped at seals first... weird. Sang with stevie wonder. Stick shift with left  hand, on phone. Asked my advice, hah. Kind of temper/crazy.
Wilmington to Four Oaks - Marine (now mechanic, has a kid, straight out of marines to job, floated around but reputation got him jobs everywhere, even working in bad places) Taught Barbecue in south w/vinegar, boiled peanuts w/cajun delicious. Cowtipping??

10/13 - Four Oaks, NC to Rocky Mount, NC
(kids play place, gotta get a move on, before the sun!)

Four Oaks to Selma  - ceramics mogul, early, McDs (decaf, jerks!) 2 guys my age. Ghetto honda civic, tinted windows, bumping bass, baby seat and golf club. Asked if I was packing. Talked about getting to US.

Selma to Wilson - Crazy 17 year old, zero directional sense. Been in jail. Spoiled.
Wilson to Rocky Mount (kind of) - Sir Oldy McQuiet (70 and mom age female 40ish?)
Walked to Rocky Mount. (Distillery/moonshine? Crazy spider. The gays.

10/14 - Rocky Mount, NC to Richmond, VA (Picked up chris somewhere

Rocky Mount - 
*CHRIS*
Petersberg? Electrician outside Richmond. GMaynne.

10/15 - Richomond, VA to Washington, DC

Richmond - Unk.
Richmond to Outer Richmond - Hippie Boss (to mall on 295/64) (rain all day after this) ATE CHICKEN. NOMNOMNOMNOMNOMNOM.
Outer Richmond to further East Outer Richmond - Quiet Business Pro - Raining like a mofo. Dropped under underpass near main highway 95 north to DC. SHAZAM, Tudor within 5. Made walk on highway one. Gave warning. Got Chris his ID number. While walking (3 miles?) Utz guy, wawa,
*TUDOR!*
FEOR to DC - Tracy, Anne, Graham. 28 and 27s.

Gooood morning SC! 

The long road south!

HELLLLLLLO Myrtle Beach!

 

MOAR MYRTLE!

Mmmm Myrtle!

Signs and route scheming.

Boiled Peanuts!?

Drying the 'ol tent and bag out.

Crazy. Dead crazy.

Cotton fields. Not just in your history text books.

Chris. The man, the myth, the legend.

SUCCESS!

Raining and cold? WE DON'T EVEN CARE!

Until the next adventure,

Hitchhiker Matt

 


P.s. "Leg one of the Journey: A treatise on why Illinois sucks" and "Hitchhiking: a how-to" coming sometime, eventually, kinda soon!

Three-peat!

Badgers just WHOOMPED Nebraska 70-31 in the Big 10 Championship game in Indianapolis and will be on their way, for the 3rd straight year, to Pasadena, California for the Rose Bowl on January first!

3rd time is a charm, eh?

En route to Rose Bowl last year, Phil trying to
 take nice pictures at the Grand Canyon. 

Last year we road-tripped out. Good times!

Happy Birthday Dad!

Home and sickly. What better time to finish the 'ol hitchhiking posts, eh?


P.s. SIX MORE PAGE VIEWS to 1,000. Don't YOU want to be the 1,000 visitor? (FREE IPAD GIVEAWAY!... or something)




Common Cold

Go hang yourself, you old M.D.! 
You shall not sneer at me. 
Pick up your hat and stethoscope, 
Go wash your mouth with laundry soap; 
I contemplate a joy exquisite 
I'm not paying you for your visit. 
I did not call you to be told 
My malady is a common cold. 

By pounding brow and swollen lip; 
By fever's hot and scaly grip; 
By those two red redundant eyes 
That weep like woeful April skies; 
By racking snuffle, snort, and sniff; 
By handkerchief after handkerchief; 
This cold you wave away as naught 
Is the damnedest cold man ever caught! 

Give ear, you scientific fossil! 
Here is the genuine Cold Colossal; 
The Cold of which researchers dream, 
The Perfect Cold, the Cold Supreme. 
This honored system humbly holds 
The Super-cold to end all colds; 
The Cold Crusading for Democracy; 
The Führer of the Streptococcracy. 

Bacilli swarm within my portals 
Such as were ne'er conceived by mortals, 
But bred by scientists wise and hoary 
In some Olympic laboratory; 
Bacteria as large as mice, 
With feet of fire and heads of ice 
Who never interrupt for slumber 
Their stamping elephantine rumba. 

A common cold, gadzooks, forsooth! 
Ah, yes. And Lincoln was jostled by Booth; 
Don Juan was a budding gallant, 
And Shakespeare's plays show signs of talent; 
The Arctic winter is fairly coolish, 
And your diagnosis is fairly foolish. 
Oh what a derision history holds 
For the man who belittled the Cold of Colds! 

                                 -Ogden Nash

Turkey Day left overs. Omnomnom.

Good friends, good meat, good god, let's eat!




The Joy of Little Things

It's good the great green earth to roam,
Where sights of awe the soul inspire;
But oh, it's best, the coming home,
The crackle of one's own hearth-fire!
You've hob-nobbed with the solemn Past;
You've seen the pageantry of kings;
Yet oh, how sweet to gain at last
The peace and rest of Little Things!

Perhaps you're counted with the Great;
You strain and strive with mighty men;
Your hand is on the helm of State;
Colossus-like you stride . . . and then
There comes a pause, a shining hour,
A dog that leaps, a hand that clings:
O Titan, turn from pomp and power;
Give all your heart to Little Things.

Go couch you childwise in the grass,
Believing it's some jungle strange,
Where mighty monsters peer and pass,
Where beetles roam and spiders range.
'Mid gloom and gleam of leaf and blade,
What dragons rasp their painted wings!
O magic world of shine and shade!
O beauty land of Little Things!

I sometimes wonder, after all,
Amid this tangled web of fate,
If what is great may not be small,
And what is small may not be great.
So wondering I go my way,
Yet in my heart contentment sings . . .
O may I ever see, I pray,
God's grace and love in Little Things.

So give to me, I only beg,
A little roof to call my own,
A little cider in the keg,
A little meat upon the bone;
A little garden by the sea,
A little boat that dips and swings . . .
Take wealth, take fame, but leave to me,
O Lord of Life, just Little Things.

                               -Robert Service 

Oh hello!

Hey Mom and Dad,

Guess what? I chopped wood for you today! But I bet you already knew that. Here's a graphic of something that should never be a thing until that nebulous future date that I actually write a summary of my adventures.

-M@

Wa-wa-wa-waaaaaltzing

Waltzing with bears! 

Right, it's bed time. Had loads of fun (hah!) moving wood today, and tomorrow will be double the adventure! But before I do, FUN TRIVIA TIME! Did you know that this song is actually an adaptation from a Dr. Suess song ( "Uncle Terwilliger Waltzes with Bears" ) in Cat in the Hat? Now you do!

He goes wa-wa-wa-wa, wa-waltzing with bears,
Raggy bears, shaggy bears, baggy bears too.
There's nothing on earth Uncle Walter won't do,
So he can go waltzing, wa-wa-wa-waltzing,
So he can go waltzing, waltzing with bears!

...and now he's dancing with pandas,
and can't understand us,
and the bears all demand
at least one dance a day!


It's good to be home.

Phoenix

Another day well lived. I am happy to curl up in these 4xl sweat pants (damn straight) and go to sleep under this mountain of blankets, ahhh the good life. [highlights of today: good weather, a wonderful tea date, and the opportunity to say goodbye to a beautiful soul. Dance well, grandma Jo!]
In lieu of our regular programming, I'd just like to share two recently discovered happy gems of the internet with you:

For all you NPR fans: A love song for Terry Gross

Cat Yodeling :

Full Circle

After "4 hours" turned "delay, reroute, standby and 10 hour" adventure later (Delta, you can suck it). I finally made it to the wonderful wedding of the wonderful Michelle Tutkowski and Greg Eul, congratulations to both of them on the start to a beautiful marriage!

After one last 1am car ride back to Madison, my trip has finally come full circle and it feels great!

New Short Term Plan

Ok, two short terms.
For now, a wedding.

FOUR MORE YEARS!

...and it's National Diabetes Awareness Month to top it all off! (Click here for a list of 20 awesome Diabetes-related blogs and sites on the internet! And tell yo' friends!)

DC CELEBRATES!

(Turns out they usually vote ~90% Democratic. Wowsa!)

FOUR MORE YEARS!

Don't worry mom, I only climbed it for a little bit

In the spirit of squeezing every last drop of adventure juice out of this journey known as life, things have not stopped moving and shaking here in DC! Exciting politics aside (GO TAMMY BALDWIN, YOUDABEST! HEALTH CARE REFORM HERE WE COME? CITIZENS UNITED CHALLENGED! FOURMOREYEARS! ) plenty of tree climbing, birthday celebrating, friend making, job networking has gone on!




I'm pretty sure I started this post with something specific in mind, but as it's about 3 hours past my bedtime (and I'm in bed already mostly asleep), I'll get back to you on that one. In the meanwhile, HERE IS THE NEWEST AND GROOVIEST STUDY ON STEM CELL THERAPY MAKING LEAPS AND BOUNDS AS A TREATMENT. YAY CHINA! (warning, it's a link to the actual study. Cite 'dem sources!)






















In closing (we're classing up our poems for a bit):

Slacking Again

UPDATE IS COMING TOMORROW. After I vote today. And apply for this kick-ass internship with the American Geophysical Union. And leave you with a summation of possibly the best weekend of 2012.

Sketch and Skeeze.

Know puppets, know peace! DC is pretty much the coolest.

Capitol? Capitol. CAPITOL!

StUFT TV!

Not pictured: Hurricanes, DC United soccer games, copious amounts of apple fritters, delicious potlucks, every free activity ever.

P.s. Will and I made Washington Post, TMZ, and Jezabel (for those of you that read it) among others... MOMMA, I MADE IT TO THE BIG LEAGUES!

The Road goes ever on and on
Down from the door where it began.
Now far ahead the Road has gone,
And I must follow, if I can,
Pursuing it with eager feet,
Until it joins some larger way
Where many paths and errands meet.
And whither then? I cannot say.
                      -Bilbo Baggins

Life beats on

Today I made (literally) $100 from a craigslist ad, helping a girl and her mom move furniture for about 30 minutes. Someday I'll have enough money to throw around cash like that.. maybe.. probably not. Woohf! For now, Jumbo pizza slices to celebrate!

The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I -
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

                            -Robert Frost



P.s. The hitchhiking post IS coming!

Life and Health

If you know me (or your name is Unk) you'll know that my body is all sorts of stoopid sometimes. Yesterday was one of those times. Having two seizures in one day brings along a boatload of emotions and feelings, most prominently that of having been leveled by a speeding semi-truck. Nothing like waking up with a bruises all over your body, a large bump on your head, a bleeding tongue from involuntarily biting it and no memory of the event whatsover to start your day off right.

Things I struggle with include the fine line between living and health. What is the point of having your health if you can't live to enjoy life? On the flipside, living to the maximum enjoyment of life has at this point been deemed thoroughly unsafe to my continued well being (the doctors have prescribed "no stressful activities"/the polar opposite of the adventures I like to have).

Balance. But where? I really rather have determined these boundries months ago, but I suppose now is the time to cement them. To life, to life, l'chaim.






P.s. Shout out to Will Stowe for saving me a few times over. You're the man.

Free Time

Computer acquired! (Shout out to Elise!) Prepare yourselves for one giant MONSTER POST about the last leg of my trip (and an update to the first one) In the meantime, please check out the list of SWEET winter storm names that have been chosen as options for this year.

Yes, that's right, we're naming our winter storms now. BATTEN DOWN THE HATCHES, SNOWSTORM ZEUS IS APPROACHING! The weather people are going to have a field day with this.



They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones that never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes "Awww!"

                                                          -J. Kerouac, On the Road

Success!

ALIVE! And in DC. Also, not having a computer makes this whole updating thing difficult. In brief: 1800 miles (detour to Myrtle Beach, SC mmm, warm), 9 states, ~30 drivers, and about 5 new adopted moms.

I know I say this all of the time, but as soon as I find a (free, yay having limited funds!) place to connect to the internet/use a computer, I will translate all of the late night scribbles on the back of random pieces of paper into a review of this crazy adventure!

Adventuring: A review

Ooof, leaving again tomorrow and still no updates, sorry folks! Below is the abridged version of my adventures thus far, full length novel coming out sometime.. this decade. Due to my tremendous abilities to immediately forget anyone's name after meeting them, the players will be as follows.


The Drivers
- The Room-mate
- The Old Fishers
- Telephone McGee
- Gas Station Saviour
- Officer Republican
- Doc. Appointment 1
- Groceries and Cigs
- Mr. Ex-wives
- Monsanto and Isaac
- The Guard
- THE Driver
- Obese, Dew and Sugar
- Luke the Student
- The Dysons
- Mr. Pharmawesome
- Senor Healthcare
- Tom

The Stops
- Madison, WI
- Beloit, WI
- El Paso, IL
- Gridley, IL
- Chenoa, IL
- Fairbury, IL (sleep!)
- Gilman, IL
- Watseka, IL
- Kentland, IL (kind of)
- Remington, IN
- Monticello, IN
- Logansport, IN
- Peru, IN (sleep!)
- (Scary-ass Walmart)
- Ft. Wayne/ Highway 24
- Ft. Wayne/ Highway 33
- 80/90 @ Exit 91
- Tom's in Cleveland

The Road
- I39 to 24 to 80/90 to Cleveland
- 601 miles, 17 rides, 4 states, 3 days

The Adventure/

1) Madison -> Beloit, WI
  - I cheated. The first ride out of Madison, and I took an early morning exit with Paul (?), one of Kelly's roommates down to Beloit where I started the first leg of my adventure in earnest.

2) Beloit -> Beloit to El Paso

The original! Thank you Best Western.

- THE AWKWARD PHASE. Aka, where I realize I have no cardboard and sulk around like a creep until I (definitely not) discretely acquire a sign-sized cardboard from the Best Western dumpster down the street. After walking back and forth (ala 3 or 4 miles) I decide it is probably time to stick out the 'ol thumb. After 30 minute and a vague recollection of my Washington Island mentor (thank you Daniel!) talking about writing town names, I had my 'Rockford' sign rocking out and ready to go. Sure enough, <20 minutes later my first ride arrived. WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Two older retirees, returning from a Fishing trip up north and en route to Missouri to visit a friend not only picked me up, but provided coffee, conversation and a great first experience.


3) El Paso -> Gridley, IL

Illinois - enough said.
(That day consisted of trying to get as FAR away
 from this town as I could)

....aaaand not going to make it out of Cleveland today if I keep writing so suffice to say.. (don't worry dad, I've written all of the adventures down on a super-sturdy piece of extra high-grade printer paper to cherish forever and ever) Anyway, suffice to say that Illinois can suck it. ESPECIALLY the po-dunk town of Gridley. Gary, Indiana > Gridley, Illinois, if that tells you anything. Ok ok, Illinois sucked, Indiana and Ohio were awesome. People have met and surpassed my expectations for kindness and goodness of character, and it continues to blow me away. Each and every ride is a new life story, piece of history from the area, and adventure in and of itself.  More fun details regarding my adventures with Obese, Sugar and Dew, but that's deserving of its own post. Until D.C. do we meet!

M@

3 days

601 miles. 18 rides. a train ditch and a picnic table. A couple of close calls. One wild adventure. Ooofda. updates tomorrow, really REALLY this time!

Cleveland Is the Reason

HIKEhitching would more accurately describe it.
Oh lordy, my feet.

 Safe and sound in Cleveland, Ohio! A shower (or 5) and some laundry are in order, and then updates will be had!


Edit: That's a lie, I'll update ya'll later tonight. Daytime is for exploring Cleveland! Light Rail here I come!

HSO to Tom Mitchell for letting me stay at his place while I'm here! Thanks Tom, youdabest!

I'M ON THE ROAD

Or at least right next to it, if this post gets published. Photos are being taken, but lack of a computer/internet means you'll all be getting a super sweet shortened/condensed slideshow at the end.

Predictions for my last 24 hours? 300 miles of road, lots of sun, several truckers, a cornfield or 5, and at least 2 religious conversions. Let's see how I do.



P.s. Happy October! What are YOU going to do with this month? (no, really, leave a comment! I want to hear goals!)

Tomorrow

Due to slightly warmer temperatures/a certain fondness for sleeping in, leaving Madison has been pushed back until Monday morning. Mz. Kelly Pertzborn has graciously allowed me to stay at her house this weekend (thanks Kelly!) and tried to fatten me up as much as possible (And dayum, does she make a good lasagna!)


So, after a haircut, seeing some great friends, and a delicious quantity of food, tomorrow I will be off. With an early enough start, my goal is reach somewhere around Fort Wayne, Indiana but we shall see. I may end the day sill waiting on the on-ramp of 12/14 in Madison or a cornfield in Indiana, and man, am I excited. Today Wisconsin, tomorrow the world. 


I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference. 
                              -Robert Frost

Worms

Just maybe, someday, I will actually be packed for a trip ahead of time. Today is not that day.

“Early bird
Oh, if you’re a bird, be an early bird
And catch the worm for your breakfast plate.
If you’re a bird, be an early bird—
But if you’re a worm, sleep late.” 
― Shel Silverstein, Where the Sidewalk Ends

My family

is pretty awesome. Yesterday my mom helped organize a showing of 'Weight of the Nation' in Marshfield, complete with cranberry salsa (omnomnom!), a magicians show, and some super cool dancing vegetables. We had a blast.

Me and mamma Anderson!

The 'ol cucumber/carrot dance routine.

Breaking it down.

I feel that this poem complements yesterday quite well:

                                 Laughter

I Laugh at Life: its antics make for me a giddy games,
Where only foolish fellows take themselves with solemn aim.
I laugh at pomp and vanity, at riches, rank and pride;
At social inanity, at swager, swank and side.
At poets, pastry-cooks and kings, at folk sublime and small,
Who fuss about a thousand things that matter not at all;
At those who dream of name and fame, at those who scheme for pelf. . . .
But best of all the laughing game - is laughing at myself.

Some poet chap had labelled man the noblest work of God:
I see myself a charlatan, a humbug and a fraud.
Yea, 'spite of show and shallow wit, an sentimental drool,
I know myself a hypocrite, a coward and a fool.
And though I kick myself with glee profoundly on the pants,
I'm little worse, it seems to me, than other human ants.
For if you probe your private mind, impervious to shame,
Oh, Gentle Reader, you may find you're much about the same.

Then let us mock with ancient mirth this comic, cosmic plan;
The stars are laughing at the earth; God's greatest joke is man.
For laughter is a buckler bright, and scorn a shining spear;
So let us laugh with all our might at folly, fraud and fear.
Yet on our sorry selves be spent our most sardonic glee.
Oh don't pay life a compliment to take is seriously.
For he who can himself despise, be surgeon to the bone,
May win to worth in others' eyes, to wisdom in his own.

                                                    -Robert Service

Hmm

"What would you attempt to do if you knew that you would not fail?"

-Robert Schuller

Think about it. What WOULD you do?

Death's Door

That's three thousand words right there, and I think it pretty much sums it up. Shout out to Death's Door for the juniper picking/fish boil/pig roast extravaganza this weekend! Ooooooh my poor belly.

Each Day a Life

I count each day a little life,

With birth and death complete;

I cloister it from care and strife

And keep it sane and sweet.

With eager eyes I greet the morn,

Exultant as a boy,

Knowing that I am newly born

To wonder and to joy.

And when the sunset splendours wane

And ripe for rest am I,

Knowing that I will live again,

Exultantly I die.

O that all Life were but a Day

Sunny and sweet and sane!

And that at Even I might say:

"I sleep to wake again." 

                                    -Robert Service

Sam McGee

It's unfortunate that poetry has left the realms of modern education. The power to evoke emotion and communicate coherent thoughts and concepts on multiple levels is an art, and something unmatched by many modern movies and other media.

A good tea selection is one of the better hidden secrets of B&W.
Good tea and poetry, hard to go wrong.

I can still distinctly remember my last encounter with institutionalized poetry, involving fourth grade limerick writing about seagulls flying over buildings (memorialized in a book lost to time in one of the boxes under the stairs). While I'm still quite proud of said masterpiece, I'm afraid I might have some work to do to catch up with the masters of the art.

Finding an edition of the Complete Works of Robert Service on the floor of my room this morning brought back some wonderful memories of my father reading The Cremation Of Sam McGee and other assorted poems as a child (thanks dad!).

Being fairly unacquainted to the world of poetry, I hope you'll all bear with me as I delve into the depths (ok ok, I'll probably stick to more of the classics) and post some of the ones that resonate with me.

Reveille

Wake: the silver dusk returning

Up the beach of darkness brims,

And the ship of sunrise burning

Strands upon the eastern rims.

Wake: the vaulted shadow shatters,

Trampled to the floor it spanned,

And the tent of night in tatters

Straws the sky-pavilioned land.

Up, lad, up, ’tis late for lying:

Hear the drums of morning play;

Hark, the empty highways crying

‘Who’ll beyond the hills away?’

Towns and countries woo together,

Forelands beacon, belfries call;

Never lad that trod on leather

Lived to feast his heart with all.

Up, lad: thews that lie and cumber

Sunlit pallets never thrive;

Morns abed and daylight slumber

Were not meant for man alive.

Clay lies still, but blood’s a rover;

Breath’s a ware that will not keep.

Up, lad: when the journey’s over

There’ll be time enough to sleep.

                                       -A. E. Housman