Sorry!!

I feel I should apologize to anyone that might be following my blog... I haven't posted anything new in quite some time, but I have excuse(s)!! First of all, turkey day took a lot of my time. Even though no family came to visit, I did have a friend fly up here (thanks Danielle!) to take part in turkey festivities, and help keep me somewhat sane. Not that I've ever really been "sane" per se, just that normally I'm able to maintain some semblance of it!
Another reason for my lack of blogging, is my constant search for gainful employment, which has finally begun to pay off! I just landed a very decent gig as a bartender at a local casino, which promises to be both fun and lucrative. Maybe once I start getting regular paychecks, I can return to my floccinaucinihilipilification of money! Sorry guys, couldn't resist that one...

That's all for now, but I will be much more diligent in my posting now that the holiday is over, and now that I have a job. Much less to worry about, much more to write about.

Actually, I lied. One more thing... I've been thinking about starting a broadcast on youtube. I'll start with a few small ones, and see how it goes. Let me know if you have any ideas for shows, short stories, musical requests, etc...

Go North, Young Man!

Leaving St. Louis was easy enough. I headed west to Kansas City, then north along the border of MO, KS, and NE. I started to get a little discouraged, because the land started flattening out... Then I started to see mysterious hills looming on the horizon. Iowa's loess hills are a very unique geological feature, and are aparently only found in two places on Earth! The other place is China! Iowa has an interesting state motto: Iowa... "The Good Life." Another suggestion might be "Iowa... It's NOT Flat!" Seriously, everyone back in Texas tried to tell me it was flat and full of nothing but beef and corn fields. Yeah, I've seen a few corn fields, but the majority of them are terraced up the hills. So far Iowa has been home to the friendliest people I have ever met! Now if I can just find a decent job, I might stay a while...

More to come- updates and photos!

Traveling north from Mississippi

My drive through northern Mississippi was mostly uneventful, excluding the fact that Mississippi drivers were the worst I had encountered at that point. They were soon to be overshadowed by drivers from Arkansas, who seem to live up to their reputation of inbreeding. Fortunately, most Arkansasians (?) seem to be content to not travel more than a few miles from home. Possibly because the prospect of leaving their beloved family members (and other breeding prospects, i.e. livestock) too far behind, is too much to bear. For you few intelligent folks from Arkansas (I know you exist, you're the ones who actually do travel), I don't mean to insult your beautiful state. But most of us from the deep south have fully accepted the sad fact that the area is innundated with idiots.

But I digress. Memphis is a very pretty town, but home to some of the narrowest, poorly maintained, most confusing roads on the planet. The drivers there weren't much better than the wonderful people from the great state of Mississippi, but fortunately I was just passing through. Quickly.

Once across the Mighty Mississippi River, I traveled north along the river through Arkansas. I already commented on the drivers and people I met while there, so I won't mention it again. The road was bordered on both sides by some of the most featureless, most barren (strange for a delta) land I have encountered short of some great, sandy desert or arctic plain. I didn't experience much change in scenery for several hundred miles. Lets just say that the phrase "Arkansas? I spent a week there one day," applies.

Once I passed into Missouri, however, I was in an entirely different world. Beautiful rolling hills, with the highway cutting through in enormous trenches of walled rock. There were also many trees, resplendent in shades of green, yellow, and red. I don't think I could have picked a better time of year for a cross-country drive.

Another great thing I'd like to mention about Missouri, aside from the state's stunning beauty, is that it is home to some of the most aware, conscientious, polite, drivers that I have ever encountered in all my travels! I only ran into one jerk, whom I realized, once he passed, was sporting a Mississippi tag! I arrived in St. Louis, just in time for rush hour, which, thanks to the wonderful people of Missouri, wasn't all that bad. I found my hotel with no problems, checked in with the amazingly courteous desk clerk, and had my dinner on its way within minutes.

That's it for that day, more to come later on the rest of the trip!

All things happen for a reason

I have been driving on a most circuitous route to Iowa. I have been traveling through my beautiful birth state of Mississippi, visiting with family members and close friends, and generally just enjoying my first chance at vacation in more than 3 years. However, I've gotten stuck here.
It all started with a simple error with a car rental company, and ended with me canceling my bankcard and having a new one rush-ordered. One day waiting turned into two. As I was waiting that second day, hoping that this fed-ex driver was intelligent enough to understand a three digit house number, I received a call from a close friend. As it turns out, there happens to be a good job opening in the area, and, who knows, maybe this has been the reason I keep getting delayed. I still plan on going to Iowa, even if I get this job. Dad's new house is beautiful, and I can't wait to see it in person.

After spending most of the day inching through the woods, I'm exhausted. I've been blazing new trails with John on his property. You drive about 20 feet, stop, and cut countless vines and small trees with the machete for a half hour, drive 20 more feet, stop, and do it all over again. Strangely, that seems a pretty good analogy for life; you bust ass and only get a step or two ahead, and have to keep trudging along. I'm just waiting for that point in life where you hack enough junk that you get through to a fire lane, and its smooth sailing for a good while... Much too tired to go into detail, but I figured I'd add something a little (¡muy poco!) philosophical to my blog before I turn into a pumpkin ^_^

Testing 1, 2...

I have decided to start a blog. Mainly because I can never keep track of whom I have told what... I have finally slipped the surly bonds of Houston, the chemical cesspool. Right now, I'm on my way across country, and taking a breather for a few days in Mississippi. The weather couldn't be better, and the countryside is as beautiful as I had remembered it. It is not too often that our present environment lives up to our memory, so I feel I've been really blessed. In another day or two I will have to head out, but I'll be driving to places I've never been. I'm excited for another adventure and full of anticipation.
Well I guess that's enough for a first entry. Who'll read it? Who knows.