Something about dreary weather makes us all a bit melancholy. On one such dreary day I was lamenting out loud to my sister-in-law. Even though my online network made me look quite social, offline I was feeling isolated and lost. Something was missing from my (un)wired world. She thought for a moment and then said, [...]
Tag Archives | interview
A Treasure Chest of Vice, Adventure and Love
Location: Portland, Oregon Mileage: 7,386 Music: “Portland, Oregon” by Loretta Lynn and Jack White. Meal: Holladay Plaza Split Pea soup and Buffet Salad The drive from Kennewick to Portland started out as desolate. One must first pass the Umatilla Army depot in Eastern Oregon where a large plot of land has been used to store [...]
A Changed Place
Location: Kennewick, Washington Mileage: 7,200 Music: “Landslide” by Fleetwood Mac Meal: Alderplank smoked salmon with garden vegetables I left eastern Montana for the west, heading into the most beautiful part of the state I was born in. My car chugged up the switchbacks at the foothills of the Beartooth mountains. I looked fondly at the [...]
Montana: Boom and Bust
Location: Billings, Montana Mileage: 6,500 Music: “Dakota” by Stereophonics Meal: Soup and Sandwiches (on Montana Wheat) The highway between Minneapolis and Billings was a 13 hour stretch of hilly lands, badlands, and no man’s land. Immersed in miles of flat were sudden mounds of earth, positioning themselves around grassy valleys, and deep cut rivers. It [...]
My Mother’s Minneapolis
Location: Minneapolis/ St. Paul Mileage: 5,160 Food: Beer at Palmer’s Bar Music: “It’s a Beautiful Day” by White Bird With my last formal interview behind me I drove onward with a new destiny, to drive back across the north to recapture my family’ past. I started in Minneapolis/ St Paul, a place where my mother [...]
From a Barrel Racer to a Sculptor
Location: Chicago Mileage: 5,160 Meal: Spicy kielbasa and rice (I made a worthwhile exception to meatless fare) Music: “Sweet Home Chicago” by the Blues Brothers Driving across Ohio and Illinois requires patience. The incessant roadwork prohibits speeding, multiple tollbooths deplete wallets, and there is wind so fierce it threatens to steer you off the road. [...]
An interview with Singer/Songwriter Clare Burson
No travel details to display; An interview from a concert past, memories of melody in NYC When a friend in New York suggested I go to Joe’s Pub to see his friend perform, I agreed. Clare Burson was releasing a new CD, titled Silver and Ash, as a tribute to her grandmother’s escape from Holocaust [...]
Interview with a Mexican-American, Re-Inventing
Location: New York City Mileage: 4,338 Meal: Rosé Prosecco, courtesy of Carolina Music: “A Kiss to Build a Dream on” by Louis Armstrong Perhaps it was the humidity, or the heat seeping up people’s bodies from the hot sparkly cement, but the hardness of New York City melted away. People’s eyes softened and their hearts [...]
From a horror flick to a love poem
Location: New York City Mileage: 4,338 (yes, I am still in Manhattan….) Meal: Vegetable Omelet Music: “All You Need is Love” by the Beatles When Melissa first called me telling me that she would love to participate in my project, her voice radiated such a genuine enthusiasm and hospitality that I couldn’t believe that I [...]
Interview with a Salsa Dancer
Location: New York City Mileage: 4,338 Meal: Ultra Vegan Salad Music: “Everybody Salsa” by Chocolate Before I discovered Salsa dancing at age 19, I was convinced I was a dance pariah, born with two left feet and rhythm comparable to an eplileptic attack. Dances in high school mortified me; my awkward body felt much more [...]
An Uncaged Bird
Location: New York City Mileage: 4,338 Music: “Born on a Train” by the Magnetic Fields Meal: Mozzarella salad and prosecco When I met with an agent about my women writing project she told me that although the stories were pleasing vignettes, they were also very separate sketches that stood alone on a wall. If I [...]
Life is a Piece of Cake
Location: New York City Mileage: 4,338 Meal: Yummy Nut Cupcake Music: “Simple Things” by Belle and Sebastian There is no reason to cook in New York City. In addition to kitchens being the size of a cigarette carton (and often smelling similar), delicious ready made food is abundant. From restaurants to deli’s to street vendors, [...]
Dating and Renting in NYC: a Tale of Moxy
Location: New York City Mileage: 4,338 (plus multiple miles traversing the city on foot, cab, subway, and carriage) Music: Gramercy Tavern special (calamari and carrot salad, trout with fava) Music: “Good Fortune” by PJ Harvey The urban frenzy and harshness of New York is for the thick skinned and steel clad. Until I arrived here, [...]
Gratitude for Life
Location: Bethesda, Maryland Mileage: 4,010 Meal: Fresh brewed coffee Music: “Float on” by Modest Mouse Solo travelers that keep their masks on and walls up won’t get very far. Especially if the intent is to have complete strangers open up to you. In order to succeed on my journey, I had to take a complete [...]
An End of Ramadan Feast
Location: Arlington, Virginia, across from DC Mileage: 3,980 Meal: Samosa, kebab, and curried corn Music: “Stand Up for What you Believe in” by the Mumford Sons I had successfully kept any skeletons at bay now for over a week, likely due to the shining light of the religious and good-hearted homes I had been visiting. [...]
Interview with a ‘Hippy Chick’ Racecar Driver
Location: Charlotte, North Carolina Mileage: 3,478 Meal: Veggie tapas and cheap whisky Music: “Open Road Song” by Eve6 Charlotte is a beautiful historic city that is the birthplace of two American icons: Billy Graham and NASCAR. Surrounding the green hills and colonial church steeples is the unmistakable adrenaline exhaust of the racetrack. There are over [...]
(Speak) Easy Opportunities
Location: Atlanta Mileage: 3,156 Meal: Bernheim whisky Music: “Finally Woken” by Jem “If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.” Milton Berle Unlike Joanne’s father mine had taught me all the things a girl needed to know in life, like how to shoot whisky and play poker. At an early age I learned the art of [...]
“Hotlanta” Grace
Location: Atlanta, Georgia Mileage: 3,103 Meal: Salad (finally!)….with deep fried Ahi (sigh…still in the south) Music: “Don’t Use my Broken Heart” by Leona Nass Atlanta is described as the ‘melting pot of the south’, a blend of culture and class that no other southern city can rival. Atlanta is also called ‘Hotlanta’ by the younger [...]
A Chance Encounter in Birmingham
Location: Birmingham, Alabama Mileage: 2,830 Music: “Hit the Road Jack” by Ray Charles Meal: A plate of (scurvy reducing) vegetables—my first since I hit the south. *interview names and minor details changed* I left New Orleans as it was approaching the peak of its flamboyant frenzy. In Nola Labor Day weekend was also Gay Pride [...]
Interview with a Katrina Disaster Worker
Location: St. Bernard’s Parish, Louisiana Mileage: 2,600 Meal: Muffaletta sandwich Music: “This Tornado Loves You” by Neko Case After switching hotels (my other one was surely haunted), I drove out of the crowded French Quarter into an expanse of pastel painted homes, dog barking yards, and neighborhood po-boy sandwich shops. St Barnard’s parish wasn’t exactly [...]