Road Trip Recap

"A good traveler has no fixed plan, and is not intent on arriving."- Lao Tzu

Why does a road trip of of 10 or so days have to be different from any other 10 or so days? What you choose to make with each day that is given to you is completely up to you. Maybe you can't control what is thrown at you, but how you handle it will determine... you.

I am starting to count the days.. less by the time, the dates.. and more by the lessons I learn, by the interactions that define my adventure.

That being said...

The road trip from which I am still recovering included trips to
Philadelphia, Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania
Harrisonburg, Richmond in Virginia
Columbia, Myrtle Beach in South Carolina
And finally Charlotte (Matthews) in North Carolina.

I will say that a change in scenery, which includes changes in people, attitudes, atmosphere, conditions, situations, etc.. does facilitate some unpredictable dynamics and helps point out how stupid your life is, if by chance you have become stagnant. Then again, lessons are only learned by one who is open.

But also, at the end, you come back. Instead of wishing I were still on the road though, I came back with more rigor and determination to transform things back at home. I subscribe to the idea that your problems stay with you no matter where you go until you solve them...
I am not a fan of quick fix vacations.

Due to our limited budget, we were a fan of this place... Cheap gas and fast food

So now I am back home, got to spend some quality time with the girl, will have to see if this job works with me (assuming I passed the drug test), cleaning the fast food out of my system, getting back in shape, refocusing on what I really want and so on...

"People say you have to travel to see the world. Sometimes I think that if you just stay in one place and keep you eyes open, you're going to see just about all you can handle." - Paul Auster

My feet...? Yeah!

"The man who is truly good and wise will bear with dignity whatever fortune sends, and will always make the best of his circumstance." - Aristotle

"The use of traveling is to regulate imagination by reality, and instead of thinking how things may be, to see them as they really are." - Samuel Johnson

"Listen: we are here on earth to fart around. Don't let anybody tell you an different!" - Kurt Vonnegut

The party I traveled with was such a positive force on me and everything and everyone else we encountered. Yeah we got "lost", but we were never really lost. The decisions you make and your attitude and approach towards a situation will get you much farther than you think, and is much better than trying to force a situation or "manufacturing" fun.

We found ourselves giving hugs to people we met only a day ago, grills reopening just to make us a couple of sandwiches, services with a smile from fellow brothers and sisters, and freebees which came out of nowhere, extreme luck with the law/police and et cetera.
"Be yourself"... that's really it... but those two words are saying a lot.

Our "camp" we set up as we prepared to sleep on the beach under one of the clearest skies in recent memory

Horses!

We did make some stupid moves.. like sleeping under huge power lines.. intoxicated..
But it was a great road trip overall, capped with a meeting with nuclear physicists and author Thomas Campbell. I hope to see him again, under more casual conditions.

That's it, that's my blog entry... just more adventures, these just happen to be more external than others of late.

I know I don't describe them in detail, but I like sharing stories in person if anything at all.

Andrew as Chauncey Clearwater

Jess checking out local news and events

Joey getting "ICED" as we celebrated his birthday on the road...


The unreal never is: the Real never is not. This truth indeed has been seen by those who can see the true. - The Bhagavad Gita

Scope eludes my grasp, there is no finality of vision,
... tomorrow a new walk is a new walk. - A.R. Ammons

"People say that what we are all seeking is a meaning for life. I don't think this is what we're really seeking. I think what we're seeking is an experience of being alive." - Joseph Campbell

Road Trip Kavacasts

We did two kavacast while on the road trip. One in Philadelphia with Phillip Tribe and Kramer and the other one in Pittsburgh with Jess Kowal.

Unfortunately we decided only to publish the latter for the first one was a little bit of a mess... it will be chronicled later as a lost kavacast episode.

Here's Kavacast 6 with Jess Kowal at the Sphinx hookah lounge on the south side of Pitt:
Kavacast 6

And here's an audio only Kavacast 7 done on the fly with special guest Adam.
Kavacast 7
Disclaimer: It's brotastic.

More pictures, video, media in general to come soon.

A duck that came up to us in Pitt.
Spoiled thing...

Charlotte

We got into Charlotte (Matthews), NC yesterday afternoon and now were waking up for the Thomas Campbell Q & A taking place in about 30-40 min. It's been a great road trip so far. The people I'm meeting here are a little different from what I expected My Big TOE readers to be but that's perfectly okay with me. We'll see how today goes and what we can learn from it.

That said it feels great to be in a hotel after sleeping in the car for 2 nights. I hope to post an entry that retells the whole trip and what I personally learned from it.

Here's a picture of Myrtle Beach where we were just a day or two ago. The rest will be in the next (few) posts.

Maybe we can make a Kavacast out of the question and answer session with Tom, who knows?

Road Trip Update

We left on Friday and it is now Wednesday. We have hit up Philly and Pitt, Pennsylvania, and right now I'm typing from Harrisonburg in Virginia.

Philly

Philly was awesome. Maybe it was the nice weather but I got such a warm and welcoming vibe from that city. Everyone was friendly and helpful and on the same team. This was central Philly mostly but I could definitely have spent much more time there.

Andrew and I mostly wandered and had the best of luck doing whatever we wanted to do. Joey took some camera shots and got a great idea of what and how the businesses work around there.

Well were off to Richmond so I can't finish the post but more later

Dispel

To be under a spell is to be enamored by an illusion.
You are transfixed and you let the trick trick.

To dispel the illusion is too see past it.
You still see it, but for what it truly is

Your perception changes back
And you find your center once again

To lose your illusion
is to know the magician's secret

_____

Without further ado: Reality

Kavacast 4 aka Drunkast

The five of us were really silly with alcohol.  Andrew chimes in through the chat... 

So technically all six of us were there and it was a mess haha. 

The Ustream is cut a little short so if you want to hear the Hookah Jam at the end then listen to the audio version.

Enjoy.  Here it is: Kavacast 4

Claw Machine Victory

There is a certain someone out there who I needed to prove that I can go back to the claw machine anytime and pwn. Even though I've been retired for a couple years, it's like riding a bicycle.

Enjoy... Sorry for the bad camera angle, I wasn't really focusing on keeping the camera up.

KaLIEdoscope Eyes for the Kaleidoscope Eyes

"I see the world through ideas."

"Well I see the world through patterns."

"... I see the world through relationships... and interactions."

"Everything is just a metaphor, that's how I see it."

"I see everything as an expression."

"I see the world through music and sound."

"Why not see it through colors?"

"I see it as dance, as movement."

"It's obviously all a drama, a play, a stage... a game."

"I see it through harmony and discord."

"Death and rebirth... blooming and wilting are how the universe operates."

"I see it through sex... eroticism."

I SEE THE WORLD AS IT IS... THAT IS TO SAY - I SEE.

IF YOU WOULD PUT DOWN YOUR GLASSES, YOUR MICROSCOPES, TELESCOPES, BINOCULARS, FILTERS AND FILM... YOU MIGHT ALL SEE THAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT THE SAME THING.

BUT NOW THAT YOU KNOW THAT KALEIDOSCOPES AND COLORED GLASSES ARE FOR FUN,

YOU MAY PUT THEM BACK ON AND GET THE FUN DONE.

PLAY, TRADE AND TRY NEW AND UNKNOWN PERSPECTIVES,

THE FUN IS PRETENDING YOU ARE A DETECTIVE.

JUST REMEMBER WHEN YOU GET PISSED OFF

THAT JUST AS EASILY, THE GLASSES COME OFF

"I see life as all second chances."

"I see the world as great potential."

"I see the world with LOVE."

Kavacast 3

Another kavacast with me, Joey and Carlos... I know it seems we are pumping these out... because we are.

This is a really great one though I feel, slow to begin and accelerates towards the end.

Enjoy, here's the link: Kavacast 3

We did it last night and were unaware of the earthquake in Japan at the time. Not that it makes a difference but we would have liked to have talked about it. We're pulling for you Japan.

Working on it & Kavacast 2

The unknown.
Uncertainty.

Fighting them makes them negative.
Riding them makes them a wonderful surprise.

Fearing them acknowledges them.
Embracing them dissolves them back to nothing.

Can I let go?
Can I just go with it?

God I hope so.
God I know so.

----------------

Here's the link to the latest kavacast with Joey, Andrew and myself at Mediterranean Cafe in New Haven.

Kavacast 2

Kavacast I

Some of my friends and I have started a podcasts. We also got twitters. My new twitter account/name/tag/whatever is @baboonbafoon. You can see a widget for it to the right.

Here is the podcast.

Kavacast I.

From the website you should be able to go our blogs and our twitter accounts.
We are still working on it, people are still setting up accounts, we are all still getting linked and connected to each other, so it is a work in progress.

If any of you have feedback/suggestions, please let one of us know by a comment, email, or tweet. Thanks.