i want to continue on route 66, i like it there. we “get” each other. it’s been a lifelong facination that started with the coral courts motel and it being a mile down the road from my father’s office- the trip from beaumont to amarillo is 649 miles i took six pictures – the radio in texas’ so good shazam asked for a break and a glass of water
mike and rachel took me out on the town. it was really foggy. all the night-life happens on crocket street, downtown. there’s a country bar next to another country bar next to the bar we went to that had a lot of dubstep. the club next-door had people line dancing to songs like footloose and nelly’s ei.
beaumont is an hour and a half south east of houston and 20 miles from louisiana. it felt like louisiana and texas at the same time. my friends mike and rachel invited me to stay with them but said i had to help rachel’s dad move a loveseat or “no dice”.
oklahoma got cold. it’s warmer in texas. i’ve never been to texas: this is it – have you ever been to texas? there’s miles and miles of nothing. a lot of nothing. not actual-nothing tho, the no-asphalt or plants-that-matter-to-me nothing.
sometimes when you’re driving through nothing you’ll see a barn near the highway. someone built that barn in that spot. now there’s no roof on the barn and it’s filled with actual-nothing. maybe it was a bad spot to build a barn or maybe the barn didn’t have the structure necessary to support the roof, but why take it down? sure it’s missing a roof but a barn was a good idea, not necessarily that barn but a barn was and this site is my barn. you’re standing in my barn, figuratively. i wish i was next to you right now in figurative-barn; i’d dim the lights and talk at you about myself so hard
in dallas i saw the grassy knoll. there’s an x in the road where jfk got it. people stand in front of the x and get their pictures taken. they smile. i didn’t take any photos in dallas. debbie did it there, dw’s sells the proof on the way to houston-
houston and the menil collection with sue // we would have taken more pictures but they got wise to us
listening to tiedye’s remix of rubies feat. feist’s i feel electric (2008)
i was in oklahoma for a while. spent a lot of time in the studio and exploring gravel roads. gps is alright- when im driving i can concentrate on important things like texting and song selection instead of stupid paper maps. im getting real good at driving. i barely pay attention now.
tulsa-
oklahoma city- 
Resident Advisor didn’t have anything for oklahoma. oklahoma doesn’t rank on RA’s top states of 2011. RA hates oklahoma. i googled “hipster” “indie” “okc” and got one result. one. a drag bar with tribal tattoos. i didn’t stay long cause i’m not good at drunk driving yet.
i wanted to hang out in the sunshine a ways from the highway. it was there i met a guy with a huge dog, the biggest dog i’ve ever seen, with a bark to be felt as heard. the guy, jared, grew up ten miles further along the road i was already 10 miles along on when he pulled up to see if i was broke down. i told him I‘m working on it but the car’s fine. i said i’m from missouri and we talked about branson. “it was really a great place. amazing music, i was certainly comfortable there. not like louisville. louisville’s a beautiful place but a little too big.” he graduated high school three years ago in a class of fifteen people. his parents met at the high school. so did his grandparents. he told me about the drought they’re having and what his family did during the dust bowl. i asked if he watched Carnivàle, he said he was unfamiliar with the show then told me which sports teams he likes. louisville’s the furthest he’s traveled.
$40/n butterface motel
listening to: brian jonestown massacre’s whoever you are (1997)
first days of journey. i’m in missouri driving i-44 and old route 66. got dried cherries at trading post. eating a lot of dried cherries and listening to a lot of The Feelies.
branson-
arkansas-
the police didn’t seem to mind me stopping to take this photo. i probably could have asked them to take one of me touching the car but i didn’t. no one was hurt. this is kind of how the doors movie started…
listening to the feelies’ away (1988)
excerpt from sent email
“…i bought a 1992 honda accord with 35,000 miles on it. i have a new, old car. it’s cool. i’ve been waiting for my auto insurance cards to arrive. they arrived yesterday. i’m leaving in a couple days. mom’s not excited about aimless direction but she’s trying...
“this isn’t a road trip, it’s a role-playing game of in-real-life experience and change. i hope that when it’s over flowers never bend with the rainfall is less present-personal and more embarrassingly nostalgic. xo”
listening to tears for fears’ break it down again (1993)
i’ll shed everything. everything i own – keep only the basics. i’ll buy a car and drive – i’ll set onto this journey to find whatever it is. however long it takes
for the last two years i’ve been in chicago and it doesn’t feel complete – maybe it’s me. maybe it’s not the right time. maybe i failed my shot. sparks of joy on an unpainted carousel playing the replacements over and over and over without speakers. when i close my eyes: i’m on the road. illuminated lines in the night are ahead of me. driving with no end in sight. this is the vision i’ll follow
in real life is the new role-playing game
rock and roll…forever
irl is the new rpg 