At the moment I'm sitting on the Columbia University campus next to a flock of chickadee's begging from a bunch of people who most likely will be very powerful later on in the world and if not, at least they will all be very well dressed. I'm also enjoying that the book I just finished, The Vanity of Dulouz by Jack Kerouac took place for awhile at this University, where he studied and played Football before dropping out. So far, travels have been pretty smooth and pretty much going to plan which in itself kind of blows my mind. The first leg of the train riding up the coast to Seattle was about a day and a half on a train. At this point I was completely stocked with everything I needed. I had bought a thermos beforehand that I made sure was opaque so I could fill it up periodically with wine by not so discreetly locking myself in a train bathroom, flushing the toilet when I popped the cork and returning to my seat seven dollars richer than those that purchased from the in-train snack shack.
Seattle was amazing. A lot of my friends had moved up there prior and I had been there before but Summer weather and friend's with a social web connecting nearly everyone in town made it very easy to go out. Being farther North I was particularly pleased by the sun not setting until somewhere around ten o' clock. I bathed in my first inflatable hot tub and went to Alkai beach with friends with picnic supplies which, so far I can honestly conclude that picnicing is the tie that binds this great country together. I swear to god I've probably had like a wheel and a half of brie on this trip. Traveling East I was Chicago bound but on the way, having lived in mostly cities or relatively urbanized towns for most of my life, I was amazed if not made a little nervous by the amount of open land the middle of our country has available. When I see an open lot somewhere it's like doing one of those "one of these things don't belong" games amidst lot after lot that has been built upon. I'm no real estate mogul but if I were the reasons are beyond me why I wouldn't put some giant sprawl of townhouses in the middle of a wheat field in North Dakota.
As far as towns that I could possibly see myself living in goes, if Chicago was the way it was in the Summer all the time I'd be there in a heartbeat. The people I stayed with were ridiculously friendly and avid bicyclists. I skateboarded with them on a critical mass bike tour through town and afterwards had Italian ice before going to an art gallery where my host's best friend got one of her pieces into the exhibition. Between swinging in parks at all hours of the night with all of my host's friends I've basically been filling in the gaps with skateboarding and reading. The host's friend had a tattoo of aviator glasses with bats reflected in them in homage to her favorite author Hunter S. Thompson and I am now reading The Rum Diary on her recommendation. She also had another tattoo of the car that gets completely destroyed in the film Tommy Boy. A random reference but I didn't even know that movie was of cult tattoo-getting stature. Wicker Park is beautiful and before I left there was a free music festival that happened just a block away.
Going to Niagara was brief and timed almost perfectly. My host from Couchsurfing.com picked me up with her brother and we crossed the Canadian border but not before getting the third degree from border patrol. The falls themselves are beautiful and there are tiny peninsulas that you can walk out on at the top to see up close just how fast the water is moving before it goes over the edge.
Onward to Boston where I have visited a couple times before but always loved it. I stayed with my friend Rachel who was off work for most of the week. Highlights include seeing an excellent performance of Shakespeare's As You Like It for free in Boston Common (insert last brick of brie I've consumed here), going to The Fine Art Museum, Meeting all of her friends and staying up until Rachel had to go work at four in the morning at NPR! A crazy schedule but you make it work I guess.
Now I'm in New York, staying with my friend Ian just off campus and the time it took to write this sitting outside has eased my nerves a bit about this city which I have already gotten a harsh introduction to. Five minutes after getting off the train with my massive luggage I bought a ticket for the subway and slid my back underneath the turnstile. Unfortunately, the handle on my luggage turned the turnstile through leaving me on the other side. Fuck me right? My bag just stole my train ride! With a line forming behind me I tried to jump over to keep things moving and yet again got my big stupid leg caught between the arms of the turnstile causing it to rotate backwards. Straddling the turnstile I hear a whistle blow and a cop pulls me aside to give me a tirade on why I could have cost the city a billion dollars had I broken my own neck. Now he tells me. What good is a neck for anyway? He gives me a ticket for a hundred dollars but he did let me read my book while he was checking my background info which I appreciated because it was far easier to look at my book than at everyone walking by thinking "sucks to be you whatever you did". He showed me the number to call and even admitted to me that the ticket was bullshit and said if I called this number and used good manners I could probably get it dropped to twenty dollars or so. Updates soon to come.
So far so good and I'm almost home. Best of luck to you all and know that somehow, some way I will be skateboarding in a properly designated skating area in the USA because it's the only activity I can think of doing during the day that doesn't directly cost me money. Wishing everyone the best to you and yours. May all your coal turn to diamonds.
later,
E
