Keep Louisville Weird - An Understatement

Wow! This journal has really been neglected lately. Not sure where to begin with what has been going on...

This is going to sound really wacky, but tonight I answered a Craigslist ad to clean the house of a nudist. First, traveling with no money is not easy. Second, since we are traveling with no money, odd jobs are a must.

Anyway, the nudist turned out to be a hell of a nice guy, and I got some of my "no home to clean" withdrawals out of my system. I am so used to keeping a house, it has been difficult to forsake that on the road, I know it sounds crazy.

Cleaning the home of a guy who is hanging out in the buff watching TV was no big deal & really turned out be a lot of fun. Pleasant conversation, lots of brand new cleansing products, a snazzy Swifer mop - Oh Yeah!

So I guess chalk another one up for Craigslist because now we have the gas money to get to our next stop!

For the last two nights we have been staying at the home of a friend who works as an escort. Apparently in Louisville it is totally legal and licensed, but at the same time Louisville escorts do not offer "Happy Endings", only strip shows and/or massages. We were treated to many wondrous tales of oddity and perversion. When they say "Keep Louisville Weird" they ain't kidding - Take it from me!

Tonight is a Kinkos night, Shane is editing all night and we will take turns napping in the truck (Did I mention it's 35 degrees outside?). We are behind with video and audio stacking up. It's not the best situation, but we are doing the best we can to make this work.

Sweet Dreams!
Amy

Pics from the week.


Tim's FANTASTIC deer chili!


Here's those cupcakes CLOSE UP!!!


Painting of an Indian Woman in Fredericktown MO on left, on the right our good friend Heart Warrior Chosa - I think we have a match!

Since it is THAT time of the year, we headed to DuQuion, Illinois to visit Shane's 80 year old grandmother, his uncle, and the youngest cousin in the family who is three and a half years old. The few days we spent with them were filled with great stories of family history and cookies baked into the night.

It is great to spend one on one time with Shane's Grandmother Lois, whom I have only ever met at large family gatherings and rushed circumstances. This is the first time we ever really got to have a conversation, and the first time since he was a kid that Shane visits the area. We both leave with a new understanding of family history and a new admiration for Grandma.


We then headed to Marion, Illinois to visit Shane's younger cousin Amy and her husband Tim. They are a young, hardworking couple that gives new hope for the future. Tim treats us to his famous deer chili and Amy and I bake cupcakes from a King Arthur's Flour mix, and make the homemade frosting recipe on the box:

1 pint Heavy Whipping Cream
2/3 cup Semi-sweet chocolate chips
Bring cream to a boil, pour over chips in bowl, let sit for 5 minutes and stir. Leaving it as is makes a great glaze, but we chose to let ours cool and then whip it for about 10 minutes for fluffy and light whipped cream frosting. It was delicious!

Needless to say, we were stuffed with chili, cupcakes and sweet tea before drifting off in the spare bedroom. This was a wonderful few days truly full of Christmas Spirit -- in the TRUEST sense of the word - Warmth from family, good food, and fond memories. Yeash! I am beginning to believe my paranoia that Uncle Donald REALLY WAS injecting us with Christmas Spirit while we were sleeping!

Now we are en route to Little Rock, where we will attend a the West Memphis 3 march.

Wanted to post a quick update including links to write-ups and interviews, some pics and our future plans... keep on scrolling down the page for the links to press and some Missouri pics.

As we hang in the St. Louis area our plan is to head to Louisville, Ky.
We're gonna make a lil detour and hear to Little Rock Ar. for the West Memphis Three Rally @ the Arkansas State Capitol on 12/19/07

If you're able, please come down and show your support!

Time of the event: 12:00 Noon

Governor's Office Address:
State Capitol Building (on the front steps)
Little Rock, Arkansas 72201

A cool write up from a fella we visited here:
http://www.terryblackvacations.com/A_Year_At_The_Wheel.html

Download an audio interview we did before we hit the road here:
http://www.zackdaggy.com/?p=44

A great article written about us and our trip here:
http://www.pollystaffle.com/specialfeatures/ayearatthewheel.shtml

Ever put you car up on blocks in your back yard, well, it's fun and part of a culture folks want to wipe away - I think it shows personality not to mention, if you own your home and pay taxes on that house you should be left alone.


Benton, Il boasts the noose from the last hanging in Illinois - it's also the home of one of the greatest actors of our time - the great John Malkovich


Hooray for Sara and the gals behind St. Louis' Rock N Roll craft show!

We were en route to Louisville two days ago when the ice storm hit St. Louis, so rather than risk driving off the road to our doom, or at least the end of the road for us, we broke down and got a room at Motel 6. It was a hard decision, since we are really tight on cash, but we felt we had to be safe rather than sorry.

Pretty, but deadly - Ice Storm 2007

I have driven through some extreme weather, but a sheet of ice is hard to combat - snow, rain, wind - no problem, ice skating on the other hand has never been my thing.

I woke up this morning to warmer temps outside, just the rain and fog that all of the St. Louis area has been engulfed in since we got here. I realized as I walked Cheyenne through the parking lot that this is the first time Shane and I have slept in an actual bed since June when we left our apartment in California!

Today we head East to visit some relaitves of Shane's and then heading South East to milder weather.

The trip is finally starting to feel less disjointed, more cohesive. We are low on cash - really low, but we are optimistic. Me and Myrtle The Turtle in a bucket are hanging inside Kinkos, Shane and Cheyenne the pooch are outside sleeping in the truck, it is about 36 degrees outside.

Last night we went to see THE WORLD POLICE at The Way Out Club. It was a great show as the masked men and their masked dancer performed originals and covers that included Twisted Sister and the theme from Team America. The lead singer Sensei is an old friend and a hell of a guy. He invited us to stay at THE WORLD POLICE studio in Belleville, IL, oddly enough, it was one of the best night's sleep I have had in more than a month. I slept on a little couch, in my clothes, but I have to say I felt great in the morning!

Sensei is one of those great, smart creative people that seem to have no understanding how great, smart, creative and important they are. As a front-man he is phenomenal, as a person he is one of a kind! I once saw a video of him jump off the roof of a house and land in a barbed wire lined ring - landing ON the barbed wire where unfazed he began wrestling with another fella.

Ironically, aside from occasional emails I have only really met Sensei one time in person -- three years ago, yet I consider him a dear friend, and it did not feel like three years had gone by.

Our journey has been weird like that, even since the beginning. We stayed with Shane's brother Trevor for about a week while in Chicago, and it did not seem at all like it had been more than two years since we'd seen him.

We visited the great artist Tim Smith and his wife Kerry, both of whom we'd only met one time, but that too was like visiting a dear old friend rather than an acquaintance. I wonder why that is, does it have something to do with sharing a roof? Or is it the nature of our trip. I am not sure, but I like it.

Today we met Terry Black from Super Smokers -- The best BBQ shack in the known world, and after a few hours of filming and talking it felt like we'd made a new friend, and it was almost sad to part ways. I find it very strange how strangers can become friends and acquaintances like family in such a short time.

All during my adult life, and especially during our marriage, we have opened our home to dozens of people for short and long stays, and I must admit, I recall most of them quite fondly and with a strong sense of kinship. Two that stick out in my mind forever are The Know Nothing Circus, in which we accommodated 12 people and 4 dogs for over a week, and whose ringmaster Eric Cash will always be high on my list of friends and Shan Siva who flew from London to Chicago every weekend one Summer because he said "We had air conditioning". I will never forget our endless quests for root beer even though it has been over 5 years since I saw him last.

I suppose I am just over-tired and feeling sentimental, but it is true and it warms my heart to think of all the people who have opened their homes to us over the last six months.

As we head out of Fredricktown, Mo. I thought I'd post a quick update...

1. News came in that an interview we did about a month before our Nov 4th kick-off is up and ready to download and listen to...
Our episode of The Shameless Plugcast is up at www.mothpodproductions.com! The direct link is HERE!

Below please find a couple of quick pics taken in Fredricktown - all photos will be available for high resolution download next week thru spitfire - all print quality and ready to frame - stay tuned for details if interested.


SIN DESTROYS hangs in Unique Ink - and was taken by world renowned artist Tim Smith - Unique Ink is run by Tim and his family and is one of the jewles of the midwest art scene!


Local historian Carol Magnus took us on a tour of Fredricktown, Mo - a for sure stop if you're passing thru Missouri.