Chicago to Omaha

Loved Chicago. A well-edited art museum and the rickety El stole my heart to pieces, as well as light-filled hardwood apartments for $725 a month (I'm used to NY prices, hear).

Left Chicago this morning, crossed Illinois, it looked a lot like Indiana which looked a lot like Ohio, visited Grandma in Iowa City, cried from Iowa City to Des Moines out of rage for the decline of age, pulled it together for the last two hours and listened to the Da Vinci code and its ridiculous narration until I reached "Nebraska: The Good Life." That's what the sign said, anyway. Iowa was "fields of opportunities." Arrived sans problems at Libby's parents' house but they weren't home, made phone calls from the car and examined my road atlas for an hour or so, finally got the parents on the phone and realized exactly how good my time was between states.

Ate a fine dinner. Am so, so tired. Driving across NB to central CO tomorrow will be sooooooooooo fun.

Love this land.

Road Trip 05: Seize The Day

"Seize the Day," from that seminal third-grade Disney musical, "Newsies," has become the theme song to my cross-country drive. It's energetic and mercifully short--just the pick-me-up I need when passing my 8000000th grain silo in Ohio (though I rather liked the grain silos. They're pretty. And the hay bales look like modern art, like Ellsworth Kelly, or Rothko, if he did sculpture).

I've been unable to truly engross myself in books on CD, which is too bad. "The Nanny Diaries" alone is 9 discs, and could probably get me across Nebraska, but the narration always sounds so silly. Particularly true for "The Da Vinci Code," read by Colin Stinton, with a wide range of accents---French, evil, French woman, evil French, unlikable but not evil French---I keep thinking of the proposed film version, to star Tom Hanks and Audrey Tautou. Fine by me, as long as they don't kiss.

T. and I tried thinking of our ideal actor for the Robert Langdon part and settled on Denzel Washington.

But alas, Robert Langdon is white. And uncool. Denzel might play white parts just fine (ex. Much Ado About Nothing), but dorky----I don't know.

Must fly! Having breakfast in Chicago!

Thank You, Dr. Zizmor!

Oh, Boy!

I embark on the LA Odyssey in under two weeks! I am very excited and not at all nervous. Why would I be nervous? More to the point, *how* could I be nervous? I haven't thought it through enough to realize what a crapper I'm getting myself into. No more unlimited supply of Starbucks Service Recovery Coupons, entitling me to free beverages, either tall, grande, or venti. No more living without rent! No more tutoring my little brothers' friends, whose parents already worshipped me and pay me whatever I wish! No more free auto insurance, access to my sister's closet, and happy-go-lucky grocery shopping at Whole Foods. My comfortable life, I will bid you adieu.

But no use freaking out yet.

Current cross-country agenda includes Chicago, Iowa City, possibly St. Louis, Denver, Boulder, Vail, Phoenix, Grand Canyonville, and then final stop LA. Though it's tempting to swing through Tijuana. Maybe some other time.

By the time I get there, LA will possibly have fallen into the ocean. I'll write a screenplay about it.