i was staying in a basement room at home in this meantime between moving out of
the apartment and the beginning of the road trip. the room was small, nearly empty with exposed dry wall and a floor of broken shattered black and white tiles which i covered with some rugs. the next morning was sharp and quick to the touch. i awoke in a stuper with the day bidding its list of obligations. though i tried to feign from them, to fend them off. they pressed upon me further, minute by minute as i laid in bed. the overwhelming weight of guilt eventually set in so i siezed of my plight and saw that the only path to victory would be paved with bravery. so i rushed into the magnificent city which the night before had only rendered a sour taste. it was a crystal clear bright day. i had nearly forgotten what had happened less than half a day previously as i stepped in line with the traffic marching down the kennedy express. as i passed under the congress overpass i caught the scent of maxwell polish mustard and grilled onions. there's no time for a great chicago past time i had to pick up ralph, my soon to be other half for the next few months. i had somewhat "hired" him to do a job which at first only had a few facets, to sell CD's and drive a few hours here and there as needed. that much was agreed upon months before the present time. slowly but surely we convinced each other that ralph was to be required to do a little bit more. next was the drawing up of flyers. which in the end churned out some great and unforgettable work. next as the timing sought fit, ralph ushered himself into a managerial role. it's too bad he rarely took this role and applied it to himself. it could have done him some real good and saved me a lot of stressed time. next on the list are many duties that he eventually appointed himself as he saw fit.
as i rolled through washington park and passed stagg field i remembered the days and evenings we spent mowing down pints and double cheeseburgers at Jimmy's. the many lust filled nights we stalked the allies of hyde park searching for that in-dubious college co-ed. the mornings we spent tracking down and defaming the milk stealing culprit of our roomate, Blake Whitsman. a worn down, sped up, weary fellow who seemed to only spend his frivolous time here on earth figuring out ways to be gravely outlandish towards others, but especially towards me. there are too many stories to recall one right now instead i will wait until the time is right. as i parked and went inside, the first morning's interview was taking place and i was the next to be questioned. over time i grew so tired to be in front of that trasparent ghostly upside down mirror. Ralph saw that it pained me, to be humor for the seething public eye, to always act as if i was being watched, and so he pushed this to its edge and so i eventually grew tired of him as well. i tried to cast these disparaging emotions away, but anguish built on anguish until the inevitable day. anyways, so on with show. i made a complete ass of myself trying to re-count the errors of the previous evening. i tried to be enthusiastic about how "well that's how a road trip should start." but deep down i had given myself black eyes and blue cheeks. it really sucked, i don't know what
else to say about it. i fucked up pretty bad, right from the start. I gave him the equivalent of iran with an atom-bomb. who by the way does not want one. they just want the uranium to put in dirty bombs to destroy jerusalem piece by piece. we'll get back to history and politics later. i have plenty of breathes about all that rotten business. so we packed the car and hit the road but first a quick stop to say goodbye to my mom. it was on the way and it had been one of the few days in my life that i can say i woke up before she did, therefore i didn't get to say goodbye to her. though it was a chivalrous adventure, it proved useless. being as i remember we only caught her on the way out to errands. it was more akin to a drive-by.
so there we were leaving nothing but very few items behind to a world of worn out paths and closed opportunities. we were finally at the home of the endless road. we had talked about it and how it beckoned and taunted us for months. oh how it begged us "come hither", and so we did. into the land of badgers and cheese. the state capital of our midwestern compatriots to the north. we were set to convene at a local venue and late night spot called "The Frequency". I don't remember much of the road on up to there except for the fact that we saw some really fancy cars each with their own paint jobs and specialty chromatics. it was inspiring to see this parade of good ole american hard work on display.
we were met that evening by one very talented band with this female fiddle player, Laurel Premo. i clapped for her after some amazing leads but i fear it was only taken in jest, with a tinge of impoliteness. my timing seems to always be off for that kind of thing. we also met two very nice couples. i can't remember their names but i do remember they were there particularly to see Laurel. i think they had bought some CDs and buttons from us, out of pity mostly. they gave us an especially great and friendly time. afterwards another face to face with the camera. then we got some free drinks, and went out for a night on the town. i played drunker than i was. we were in madison, i had to blend in. at least that i think that might have been the case. after a romp of creative havoc in the pedestrian thorough-fares we got some pizza and headed back to the car for the first bout of night driving. we had to be in minneapolis first thing in the morning to catch this amazing cello player, David McGee whom i was introduced to by way of current TV. he rode his bike and took two busses just to go play free live music at the minneapolis farmer's market. i had to meet this guy and or play a song with him.
