roadtrip jennifer I long for the feel of the pavement below my wheels, if even for 40 minutes to Lincoln, or 3 1/2 hours to Cozad. But I long, too, for the feel of the air beneath me, and 3 tons of cold steel propelled through the sky, taking me to places far away from the monotony of Nebraska 000322 ... lotusflower Nebraska....yikes. "the halfway point between l.a. and montreal." 000409 ... melissssssa i am so uninspired 000613 ... Dis We were passing somewhere near Reno when he relayed the story of a conversation between YMCA counsellors. Apparently, they were debating the efficacy of masturbation in keeping guys awake on long road trips. "If you're feeling sleepy, just jerk off," one of them said. "Yeah, but then you're so tired after you're finished," a second joked. A third guy, always the quiet one, blurted in uncharacteristic enthusiasm, "Yeah! I hate that!" The group looked at him in shock, and laughed uproariously. I asked my weary narrator if the story was true, and, if so, did the technique really work. He assured me it did, and he unzipped his pants and worked himself free, never taking his other hand from the wheel. He gripped himself firmly and made a few leisurely strokes, just to thrill me. "Feel free to pitch in," he grinned, eyes darting between me and the highway. I did, with great ardor. 011011 ... Casey Bobby, one day we shall go on a road trip to japan 011011 ... Piso Mojado i make tapes alone in my room for the radios and the friends and the car and the long grey asphalt road and the aching eyes and smile ill have after that roadtrip that wont ever come. all that wasted music... 011107 ... technathene the best way to know someone 041012 ... divine Madness So it was Saturday night, and I took Katie up on her offer of doing something that night. Raymond, a former Northwest student now at Earlham College, had constantly bugged me about partying out there, so that became our plan. At 10:00p we left Indy. Taking 70 East, I drove the Avenger!, Katie’s car, as we sang to the radio, called people up on our cells and acted like fools! It was so funny and great, making plans for new parties though we would be apart for our college years. It was 11:00p when we arrived at Raymond’s dorm, which seemed to be the poster child for Obidiah’s, with tapestries and posters everywhere, there even sat a hookah on the floor, gold and black! Dayum Raymond had no coal, so I have yet to lose my hookah virginity. Katie and I looked around everywhere and found cigars and tobacco, even red wine vinegar for detox! But Raymond went crazy and became possessive and bitchy in everyway possible, but when he put his arms around us, I knew I was ready to leave. So on our way out at 11:20p, I called Edwin, in Indy, and Katie called her friend, Bryan in Illinois. We were both determined to make the best of things. So sans plans, we got on the highway, driving on 70 East, still towards Ohio. We got off for a second and ended up back in Richmond, so we did a 180 and tried to get back on 70, but to got west back to Indy. Turns out we passed the entrance and drove straight into something out of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movie. There weren’t any major curves or turns in the road, which turned out we were driving completely north, parallel to the Indiana-Ohio border. But there was a car crash that stopped us and blocked our way. Katie busted out with a container of sunflower seeds and we sat back and enjoyed the show. After 20 minutes or so, we finally were on our way, only to get scared shitless of roadkill we ran over and mostly of the fact that we were about to hit Empty and no gas station in sight, only farms and secluded homes. We passed hundreds of barns and houses, even saw a red light heart on the side of a barn! Finally we found a sign that read “Bartonia 1”. Turning left, that one mile to Bartonia felt like an eternity. But we arrived to downtown Bartonia, a pizzeria and a blinking stop light. No gas station and no sign of life. There was a four door Ford truck in an empty parking lot with all doors open, but no one in sight. That was all we saw of Bartonia. We got back on that other road and continued in the direction we were going, determined not to go back to the much hated Richmond, Indiana. Ten minutes later with a horizon of lights, we found ourselves in the industrial district of Union City, a city who is half in Indiana and half in Ohio. For an hour, we wandered in a Shell gas station asking the people there for directions back to Indy and looking at maps. We had decided on spending some money on drinks and something to eat, but then we found some caffeine pills and decided to try them. I ultimately took 3 and later on I found out Katie took 6. After some last minute glances at the map we knew by taking 32 West, we would drive through Weatherly, Farmland and other usually forgetful towns, straight to Muncie, Indiana. From there we were going to stop at another gas station and get directions. But with a full night ahead of us, around 2:00a, we arrived in Muncie and never did stop for directions, but we were full of courage after our infamous Texas Chainsaw Massacre scene, because if we could live through that frightful, isolated drive, driving through these small towns on 32 West was a cinch! So we continued on route only to get on 69 West which would take us to Indy but we weren’t in any hurry, with no where to go or stay the rest of the night . I had a headache and we were both pretty tired, so I got off in Anderson, Indiana to stretch and get out off the car. We ended up in a White Castle near our exit. There were two cops and two Mexicans sitting in two separate tables, inside. Katie went to do some business and I ended up calling Edwin back and telling him we wouldn’t end up in Indy for a while, since Indy was still an hour or so away. Of course, the Mexicans heard me speak Spanish to their amazement and we ended up talking and I told them our story, they were surprised we’d go great lengths for a good party, only disappointed that the party they just left already was over. They told me about their night dancing reggaeton and that their names were Alejandro, 21 and Antonio, 20, who worked at some Ford factory and would like to spend weekends at Indy, dancing and clubbing. They gave us directions back to Indy, yet we still were talking about everything. They had said they still had some beer and they could pick it up at a friend’s house and we could all take it back to their house, but there parents were home. One idea lead to another and perhaps, it was the fact that Katie was going crazy off those caffeine pills and I was dead tired, we ended up in a hotel room with Alejandro and Antonio, who promised no funny business. We all watched TV, and wasted two hours while Alejandro was already half asleep on the bed and Antonio had nothing to say. Katie and I were making jokes and getting into pillow fights to entertain ourselves. I ended up lying next to Alejandro at 5:00a, where we both fell dead asleep after conversing for a while. But it was Katie who got freaked out after Antonio tried to lay some moves on her. So she left the room and went to look for the pool, whose smell intoxicated to entire hotel. Forty-five minutes later, Katie called saying she got everything in the room, except her coat and my purse and that she would be waiting for me in her car because she couldn’t go back into the room. I took a quick shower grabbed our stuff and left, without words to my fellow paisanos. It was 6:00a and we were back on the road again. I was a bit worried that Katie was driving, since she had no sleep what-so-ever, but we drove into Noblesville and took pictures with Katie’s newly found in her car camera! And it was 8:00a when we went into IHOP across the street from Castleton mall, waiting for shops to open for us to be able to go Prom dress shopping. Afterwards, Katie and I went to Marsh to get her check cashed and went to the mall where she found her dress. I found one at the Posie Patch. At 3:00p, I finally returned home and snoozed! Talk About One Helluva Night! 060220 ... we cant stop here this is birdmad country foggy, acid-etched memories of taking my beat-up little toyota to vegas whilst in the middle of a deep trip of a whole other sort. i didn't get home until 2 days later. it wasn't an intentional riff on Fear and Loathing so much as the combination of poor impulse control coupled with the urge to gamble and further fueleed by 5 hits of some really hellacious liquid LSD it would be pure folly to attempt an honest recollection in any kind of coherent detail here 060221 what's it to you? who go blather from