San Francisco to Minneapolis to Atlanta (5/1 – 5/10)
It’s been a flurry of travel these past couple weeks. The 1st of May I flew from SF to Minneapolis for Midwest Lindy Fest. I flew overnight on Sun Country – an airline that only flies in and out of Minneapolis and arrived at 5am Central Time (it was 3am Pacific Time for me). I trucked my luggage across a parking lot to the light rail which shuttled me across the city to the Warehouse District. Andrew picked me up and I proceeded to sleep for half the day.
I got up, grabbed some coffee, found out Jo wasn’t going to get in until after rehearsal for the show. We hadn’t practiced or even run our routine since Lindy Focus and we had hoped for an afternoon to drill it back into our heads. Instead we got about an hour in between changing, eating and rushing to the venue.
Thankfully Davis and I had time to practice our Do No Evil routine which went off quite well. Despite being short the lighting and costuming (thanks for the shirt Peter) fit perfectly and it’s our goal to finish it and perform it again.
I haven’t been part of a full scale show that has felt this professional in a while. Competition performance is an entirely different affair than putting on a show. In a show it’s not just about which tricks you perform or how complex your routine or how bad-ass you look (although that helps) it’s about taking the audience with you on your story.
And it’s all pieced together by the M.C. – this one did an exceptional job. I forget his name… A something.
It’s a rare experience to get to work on a show with such exceptional characters like Stefan & Bethany, Falty & Casey, Adam, and many more. Some of them have a lot of show experience and some have very little (me) but the encouragement and professionalism more experienced performers exhibit draws the rest of the performers in.
Anyways, Midwest Lindy Fest was a blast. One of the best small events I’ve been to in a while and I haven’t danced that hard for months. The bands were killer (particularly the Southside Aces) and we even got a late night jam going Saturday night where Robert Bell joined us for a bit.
I got to spend Monday mostly on my own as Andrew worked late. I spent about 8 hours in Espresso Royale, a cafe about a block down from the apartment. It entertains me when I see two shifts of staff come in and out of an establishment. If you are ever in Minneapolis I recommend trying the breve latte. Deliciously sweet and seductive.
I went out in the evening to Famous Dave’s BBQ for dinner (at around 10pm) and to see the band there with a couple dancers. The band was playing Rockabilly – poorly – and I think they should have stuck to the bluegrass country sound they played well. As for Famous Dave’s… I recommend the happy hour appetizers (2$ for nearly any appetizer) and their ribs were pretty good, I’ve yet to find a place that truly tops Dinosaur BBQ in Rochester, NY though.
Tuesday I flew out to Atlanta in the afternoon. I had the opportunity to be driven by Clay Collins, one of my favorite internet people. He used to run a successful lifestyle design blog but abandoned it when he didn’t feel it fit him anymore. Instead he created Finance Your Freedom and Project Mojave just launched today. It’s a project with an excellent array of faculty to help you create an online business to free you from the burdens of a typical job.
Enough proselytizing. Clay was kind enough to meet up and drive me to the airport and I’m bummed we didn’t have the chance to sit down for a proper drink and chat. We talked the entire way to the airport, asking questions, talking about business, and the life paths we had chosen (why we lived where we did – or in my case out of a suitcase). It’s always great to meet someone who has that curiousity. I look forward to our next meeting.
Best compliment he gave me (to gloat a moment): “you’re the real deal.”
Minneapolis, MN – Lost and Found (5/4)
Yesterday somebody asked me how I defined home. What did I think of in terms of home.
There are the simple silly answers. Home is where the heart is. Home is where my suitcase is. Home is with my friends.
None of these truly capture the essence of a home. Really I haven’t had a home since the fateful night I was kicked out of Canada. It’s hard to think of those times because they are so far away now. I am separated by a gulf of whiskey, women, shoes, miles and miles.
Each day I wake up somewhere.
Each day I go to sleep somewhere.
I have woken up feeling at home, feeling welcomed and loved among friends. But it is not my home.
I don’t when or if I’m going to settle down. When I think about what I want or when this is going to end all I can imagine is having someone to share this with. It’s not a road that ends.
I have no home. The concept is gone from me until I make a new one.
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Tonight I go to sleep in Minneapolis, MN after dancing all weekend at Midwest Lindyfest. The event has been amazing. There are many people I’ve known for a few years here. They are warm and welcoming, friends and acquaintances.
I came from San Francisco, CA. I spent almost three weeks there. I miss the quiet of Rye & Carla’s condo and the presence of Moo and Sabbi. They are warm and generous, honest and reliable. They tempt me with California sun and cuddly cats. Yet it was time to continue.
[quote from Song of the Open Road about leaving when it just gets comfortable]
Tuesday I fly to Atlanta. I don’t know what to expect when I get there. As temporary as things are, as fluid and shifting, things have changed there and I wonder how the dynamic will go when I arrive. I’ll be staying at Jo’s, across from Gina’s. Jo will be gone till Thursday – chasing marbles.
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One of my favorite moments this weekend was the few moments I got to talk to Falty. He hit the road once when he came back from Sweden. Skipping city to city in the U.S. till he ended up in Seattle. He talked about the loneliness and the feeling of being lost.
It feels like the moment you find yourself you are lost all over again. You look down at the water flowing around you and realize that it isn’t the same water that was there when you last looked.
I have found a lot of peace on this road. I have found myself in a way that I never would have found with someone in the quiet bustle of domestic life. Yet each moment I am born anew into the moment and when I grasp at the moment to find myself I have only found something which has just slipped away.
Get lost. Get found. Rinse. Repeat.
You find yourself only to discover it is a mirror among millions.
Today I’m lost. Tomorrow I’m found.
