Category Archives: travel
Day One: NJ, Pa-pa-pa-power, OH
I write this at my aunt and uncle’s house in Dayton, Ohio, from the morning of Day 2. It’s beautiful, bright and misty here on this side of autumn, which is really much more advanced and colorful than on the east coast. Maybe it’s the doctor in him, but my uncle has taken it upon himself to get my dogs to eat something. They haven’t eaten since Sunday, what with all the excitement going on around them since.
We left Monday morning at about 9:30 am. After an initial stop at the town dog park, we were off like a prom dress! We are a happy little caravan: me, my mom, and my two lil wolfies Twyla and Jinsol. From Northern New Jersey our lil caravan made our way into Pennsylvania, where my mom and I saw the autumn grow its gorgeous grip over rolling hills and tree covered mountain.
The dogs saw it too, through the lens of their excitement. They’re used to riding in the car with their heads and tongues hanging gleefully out the window (new car interior be damned!). But the events of the last week and the car being (skillyfully) packed to the hilt gave them extra motivation to pant excitedly. It’s all new to them!
My brother had informed me of a wonderful thing. Did you know that Cracker Barrel has a veritable lending library of audio books at every location from here to Seal Beach??? Check it out! The selection is at least recent, though nothing to shout about, unless you’re really itching for your fill of teenage vampire novels and humour-tomes on middle age. So a good choice for our first audio book would, naturally, have been written and read by the inimitable Michael J. Fox, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Future. My mom is a fan and I myself am a huge fan of his work in the classic Back to the Future trilogy. Needless to say, we were both entertained by his life-enriched prose that was set up like a university commencement speech. Maybe we even learned something.
I’m not one to let just anybody drive my Pola Prius. I drove the entire 10 hours the first day. Winding Pennsylvania roads around little mountain islands do not make for a calm mind if I’m not the one navigating my own ship. The upside is, I’m a real ball of laughs when I’m delirious and out of my mind. Give me some good homecooked food and all my crankiness melts away. It was nice hanging with my aunt, uncle and cousin Stephen in the Ohio forestside before I sent myself crashing into sleep.
My mom is driving the 5+ hours to Decatur today. The sky is clear blue with faint gauzy strips of clouds to the left and right as we head due west, baby, due West!!
Next stop, the fabulous and happening town of Decatur, IL. Yeah, ya knowwebreakingit.
On the eve
Finally got the bitchin’ prius packed and ready to go. With some flexing of my awesome Tetris muscles (behold in awe) I was actually able to fit most of my studio gear in the surprisingly roomy trunk space. Will the transformation of my car into a small yet fortified flying fortress. We’re going on a road trip across America!!
It’s been a hefty time lately. I feel like I’ve made a million rapid-fire decisions in the space of one week, paring down my belongings to the mere essentials. Packing and moving out of my old place on the east coast, repacking the entire contents of my life into one car, saying my farewells. You can imagine it’s been an emotional time for me, but the excitement balances it out. I’m happy, exhausted and in gratitude, feeling like most of the hard work is done. The travel is the fun part and change is good for me. You ride out the waves and that’s what they call surfing, my friend.
We set out early with the dawn. Nothing like a good sleep before a trek of 3000 miles of beautiful open road. Listen, man, I’m going to California! Tell ‘em to get ready!!
First stop, Ohio USA.
And now, time to consult with the dream genies of zZzland….
Good nite, everybody!
Tunes from etherworld
In LA for a spell. The gods are playing roulette with the weather. Maybe I’m looking at things through east-coast-lenses, cuz ppl seem so placid and undisturbed while I’m being met by sudden attacks of sneezes and sniffles, oh my. I’ll be spending the next day indoors and channel surfing, taking a break from all the go-around of this trip, which has been wonderful so far thanks to my awesome peeps on the west coast.
Tunes? Did I say tunes?
Four new tracks are online now. Two songs may sound familiar from earlier versions that were but briefly revealed. We added some synth tracks, new vocals, and remixed’em while we recorded and mixed the entirely new songs. So that’s the word.
Good nite,
xo tora
