godfather in a gazebo

me in the shadows of a gazebo. this picture makes me think of two things - pizza hut (the arches and wood paneling) and the godfather (my pose). looks like i'm preparing to give you an offer you can't refuse... for some god damn pizza!

me on a random bench series

in downtown el dorado, ks. notice the free & easy travel sign in back of me. definitely some irony there.

a haunted house in el dorado

nope. just the courthouse. looks spooky though. and it might be haunted? i ain't goin in to find out.

the theme of the evening

apparently, it's war. or the military. or both. first - the war playground in emporia. then - a war flick in el dorado. now i come across a marine insignia and statue outside the courthouse. still in el dorado.

jarhead in el dorado

ended up in the small town of el dorado, ks. passed a massive correctional facility on my way here. bright lights. lots of buildings. thought it was the actual town of el dorado at first. passed a couple warnings signs cautioning drivers not to pick up hitchhikers in the area. guess there's a lot of jailbreaks. that's comforting. drove around town. found a movie theatre. decided to catch a flick - jarhead. didn't know anything about it other than it's by sam mendes (director of american beauty) and jake gyllenhaal is in it. was pretty good. about this marine's (that's jake) personal experiences in the gulf war. kind of like a cross between full metal jacket and three kings. but different. so not.

nobody home

grandma wasn't home so i hit the road. traveling thru kansas by night - the best way to travel thru kansas.

escaping the robots from the moon

i somehow managed to escape my captors. darting over this bridge and thru the woods to grandma's house... still had time take a snapshot too.

don't i get a blindfold at least

preparing for my execution for war crimes against the robots from the moon.

war games (cont.)

man down! man down!

war games

then i came across some cool toys to play with. a helicopter... a tank... good stuff for us kids. played a riveting game of imaginary war with my new toys. that's me readying to hop in my tank. gonna kill me some nazis, or commies, or robots from the moon. whichever cross my sights first...

on the doorstep to a wreck

found this wreck of a church on my way out of emporia, ks. all boarded up and falling apart. was actually quite pretty in it's decay. wanted to take more pictures but it was at the corner of a busy intersection (busy for emporia, ks at least) and a lot of people (a lot of people for emporia, ks at least) were staring at me.

slitting my wrists

and i found an internet cafe - java cat-5. thought i was in luck - free internet. could do some updates, check my email... unfortunately, all their computers ran on an old operating system and the browser wasn't compatible with much of anything on the internet these days. i would've had to update my blog strictly in HTML. not prepared for that kind of endeavour at this time; nor will i likely ever be.

three young kids were cursing up a storm at the computer next to me. a girl, maybe 16 yrs old, with a mohawk and lots of black make-up. and two other boys. all talking about sex and school and dumb things. miss mohawk kept calling herself emo. "but i'm emo. that's why i dress this way... i'm emo this... i'm emo that." she wouldn't shut up. i was gonna smack her or slit my wrists over my cup of coffee, but her two pals told her to "shut the fuck up" enough times that she finally conceded. then some other children started preparing to play some music. great! a teenage rock band! can't wait to hear!

decided i was not prepared for that kind of endeavour at this time either. i split.

a train stop in emporia

like this mexican party caboose / restaurant (sorry, bad picture). i debated going in but my stomach was upset all day and mexican food probably wasn't going to help. plus there weren't any customers inside. i would have been all alone with my beans... and rice... and 8 enchiladas, 4 beef soft tacos, and 3 chicken burritos. and don't forget the 3 stiff margaritas to wash it all down.

the den of lyons

drive thru topeka on i-70w. nothing exciting. decide it might be best to get off i-70 altogether. explore kansas via state rds and u.s. hwys. might be a little less mundane. maybe? i stop off in emporia, ks. happens to be in lyon county (listening scott. it's yr county!!). decent little town. found a couple things of interest...

10th and connecticut

woke up on 10th and connecticut st. rough nite sleeping. lunch at milton's then leaving town.

leaving - lawrence
starting mileage - 202977
destination - ??

witnessing a crime

i was gonna sleep at the walmart again, but i witnessed something and felt it would be best to sleep elsewhere for the nite...

around midnite, i pull into the walmart lot. park far out where the rvs and other travelers usually do. the walmart here is under construction so there are trailers, dumpsters, and construction equipment out here as well. as i pull into a space to park, i notice another person sitting in a beat-up chevy caprice 2 spaces to my right. engine and lights turned off. i think nothing of it. figure it's another traveler like me getting ready to go to bed. i turn off my car. take out my road map and munch on some raisin bran. try to figure out where to head to tomorrow. about 20 minutes go by. look up at some point to re-adjust my neck. see a white male run and dart between the trailers right in front of me. about the equivalent of 2 parking aisles away. a red mustang is also visible between two of the trailers. i see the white male's pant legs as he is standing at the front end of one of the trailers. looks like he is trying to find a place to leave, or pick up, something. i slide down far into my seat as to not be noticed. then a black male races from the right towards the mustang. jumps into the driver's seat. the white male jumps into the passenger's seat. they immediately speed out from behind the trailers. then off and out of the walmart lot onto the main road.

at this point, i'm thinking some illegal pick up/drop off just occurred. i look to see if the guy in the caprice parked 2 spots to my right also witnessed the event. there is no one in the car now. guessing the black male who hopped in the mustang was the same guy sitting in the caprice earlier.

i'm a little spooked. debate calling the cops or going into the walmart to get a security guard. about 5 minutes goes by. nothing happens. no one comes back to pick anything up. the trailer doesn't explode. nothing. nervously decide to check it out for myself. hide my camera under my coat. then quietly open my car door and walk over to the trailers.

there's a tarp loosely tied to the hitch on the front of the trailer. lift it up but don't see anything. nervous that someone might come back, i quickly walk back to my car. two vehicles pull into the parking lot and start heading my way. one of them a pick-up truck. the other a parking lot sweeper vehicle. get into my car and drive out of the parking lot. loop back around to the front of the walmart. pass the pick-up truck. nothing unusual. park in the middle of a pack of cars. the sweeper vehicle is now out by the trailers. whether sweeping, or doing something else, i do not know.

suspicious about it all, i run inside to get a security guard or cop. none on duty. so, i get a manager to follow me back outside to the trailers. explain everything to him. my voice shaking from nerves and the cold temperature. i notice the sweeper vehicle has since moved and is now a few spots away from my car. keep an eye on it suspiciously. the manager and i check out the trailers. he's wearing shorts and a t-shirt. i can tell he's cold as hell. so, we don't stay out there snopping around for very long. we head back. says he'll call the cops and have them keep an eye on it for the nite.

go in the walmart for a little bit. try to settle myself. then walk back out to my car. the sweeper vehicle has moved once again but is spooking me out quite a bit. get in my car. turn it on and drive out of the walmart lot heading back downtown for the nite.

bathroom portraits

in the bathroom of java break in downtown lawrence.

street names

interesting note about lawrence - most of the streets here are named after other states. ohio st, connecticut st, vermont, indiana, louisiana, etc... i think it's to make visitors, and residents alike, forget they are actually in... kansas.

new town same walmart

spent last nite in lawrence, ks and not columbia, mo for a change. the first time in over a month. i did stay at a walmart parking lot once again though. been updating from the lawrence public library before figuring out my next move. managed to finish franny and zooey by jd salinger today too. finally. been stuck on it for a month. probably leave tomorrow since it's already 5pm here and getting dark soon. lawrence is the last point i'm familiar with. leaving here will be like jumping out into a large ocean of the unknown.

starting mileage - 202966
in - lawrence, ks

the moses climax

finally found a statue to hump. and guess what? it's moses!remember trying to find him in sioux falls, sd over a month ago? turns out he's been hiding at the university of kansas in lawrence the whole time. a little leg hump / lap dance for moses. look for my chapter in the upcoming new new testament.

for those unfamiliar with this little mission - check these past posts - the birthplace of america, jamie 3:16, and missing moses.

transylvania?

nope. still at church in lawrence, ks.

deathcab goes to church series

the first southern baptist church in lawrence, ks.

bathroom portrait series

back in the bathroom of tea drops in kansas city, mo.

and yes... i miss my beard too.

vehicular profiling

that reminds me. a week before i left boone, nc i was pulled over too. the officer said he was tailing me and ran my tags. didn't give me a reason why, though i assume it's because of the appearance/condition of my car. some vehicular profiling, or some such thing, going on. probably thought there was a good chance a drunk or junkie homeless guy was driving the car. close? said when he ran my tags, my car came up registered as a 1992 TOYOTA COROLLA DLX. said he noticed my trunk specifically says DX. and that's why he pulled me. yes... what the fuck, indeed? they both mean deluxe. though i would hardly call my car deluxe in any way at this point. but talk about pulling someone over for absolutely no reason whatsoever.

fuck the police

pulled over by the po-po in between columbia and kansas city for a busted tail light. saw 20 different colored sirens flashing in my rearview mirror. thought it was an ambulance at first so i kept changing lanes to get out of its way. was a state trooper of course. of course... probably thought he hit the jackpot by the looks of my car and the swerving in and out of traffic and all. he gave me the normal interrogation. let me go with a warning after asking me this final question - "you smoke pot? meth? cocaine? anything like that?..."

does anyone ever answer yes to this?

a strange coincidence

just recalled - when i left boone, nc, i departed with a huge hickie on my neck (the guilty party shall remain nameless. we were at a bar and both of us were drunk. neither of us remember it. but there were a couple witnesses who informed me of the spectacle. also said we were making out grotesquely for a few minutes. i asked her about it the next day, but the last thing she remembered was screwing her boyfriend on the rooftop. i was not her boyfriend. so, let's forget i brought this up).

anyway, now leaving columbia, mo i once again have a huge hickie on my neck (the guilty party shall again remain nameless. but some of you columbians can guess the likely culprit).

leaving columbia

oct. 16th - nov. 17th. 32 days in columbia, mo. i feel fortunate to have met a handful of people i consider my friends.

it is hard to leave you all so soon. but i look forward to our future encounters...

"don't be dismayed at goodbyes. a farewell is necessary before you can meet again. and meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends." - richard bach illusions

and to a certain person -

"a lonely drifting heart may find another of it's kind to moor. that's what i was hoping for, at least. a delicate rope to keep me from floating adrift." - joe meno how the hula girl sings

starting mileage - 202759
destination - kansas