heathervescent

Escaping from Hollywood, I mean, Berkeley, part 3

It was the open road and desert vistas as we followed the green and yellow roadster through Death Valley into Pahrump. There was some final scavenging on the outskirts while the petrol cars filled up. (What irony would it have been to run out of gas following the non-petro cars?) Then, in an instant, we were in civilization and stuck in bumper to bumper traffic on the Vegas Strip.

I looked up at the Casinos and construction cranes as we arrived at the neon finish line. Later in the evening three cars were lined up outside. Everyone was cleaned up and ready for the awards ceremony. Celebrations and libations aside, road weary, the night ended.

Only to wake up the next morning with destination Hollywood via Baker, Barstow and San Bernadino. My eyes watching the dirt desert roads, remembering other times on this road. Silence. Music. Conversation. Return. Refreshed. Creativity rejuvenated. Inspired.

This trip reminded me how important it is to think BIG. To follow your passions, your dreams. The experience of the unknown, when the challenge is put forth.

(Read part 1 and 2.)

Escaping from Hollywood, I mean, Berkeley, part 2

The mountains were snow-topped and the air was crisp. My boots crunched in the dirt and my eyes alighted on a car that looked out of time. It was the Lotus Prisoner, a two-seater open air roadster that looked like it was from the last century with the exception of running off of cooking oil.

I walked over to oogle and learn more about the car. The owner, Jack, was from Oregon and we chatted at length about his car. Jack had a great sense of humor, but it was unfortunately lost upon me. The race was the prisoner's first trip, as his previous Lotus was totaled a few months earlier. Later in Vegas, he took me on a spin in it and told me the time he drove under a semi-tractor trailer. (Yes, the car is small enough to do that.)

Back at the Lone Pine, the green team, rolled up and I finally laid eyes on the wood burning truck I've been reading about. Wayne and his team came from Alabama stopping and showing off the truck along the way to Berkeley. I was most impressed that there was a _second_ word burning truck on a trailer. This team was dedicated and friendly.

There were rumors as to where a third contender was. The Homeschool Heros were in either Lee Vining or north of Bishop. It was unclear. Apparently some really dirty fryer oil had clogged the fuel intake in the diesel Mercedes. It was unknown whether they would make it to Vegas. We watched the two contenders take off, one headed south straight for Vegas, while the other headed north back into Lone Pine to scavenge some oil.

When I originally heard about this race, the scavenging for fuel requirement really caught my eye. It was what I thought might make the challenge impossible. It was also what I found most fascinating and at the same time realistic. I had the opportunity to follow the Prisoners on the third day and watch them scavenge for cooking oil on numerous occasions.

I won't give away their secrets, but I was fascinated by how simple it was. A bargaining. A way to interact with people from each town they went through. People loved learning about the car, and the race and when they learned they needed fuel, everyone jumped at the chance to be part of it.

Fuel procured, we were on the road and traveled through some of the most beautiful land in the world (by my opinion) - Death Valley.

Escaping from Hollywood, I mean, Berkeley, part 1

When I read about Jim Mason's "Escape from Berkeley" race from one of his email newsletters, I didn't think it would actually work. It was audacious and novel. It appealed to my love of cars and racing, the desert and mountains, and preparing for the apocalypse.

I secretly followed the updates, watching with anticipation, the growing interest and development. In the back of my mind, I had no doubt that I would see this incredible event first-hand. But I did nothing to further that vision. Content to follow from afar. Memories and extrapolations sated my wanderlust.

Then the world shifted, and a door appeared, where there had been none. I opened it and sat down in the front seat of Brian's station wagon. Brian, a judge for the event, was in the middle of one of his crazy travel schedules. (I'm constantly impressed where I hear he's been or going or is.) So here I was, saying yes, to come along as his sidekick.

We rolled out of Hollywood Sunday afternoon and headed North to Lone Pine. The desert scenery was a fresh breath of air and sitting shotgun as we talked, I realized some things about myself. I've been focusing my intensity on fewer things = those things getting more heather intensity than they can stand. I need creative outlets for this intensity, these passions, to express the craziness that lives in this fragile body. The flexibility and freedom to take adventures, which feed my soul.

We arrived in Lone Pine just after the Annual Film Festival Parade and the town was full of people dressed old time cowboy clothes - complete with noisy spurs, vests and cowboy hats. We killed time walking around the town - we killed 7 hours - mostly in the local bar, watching folks play pool and listening to their pics on the jukebox.

Apparently day 2 had not been good to the racers. Tioga Pass was closed and one team took the north route to Bishop and the others had taken the south route through Bakersfield. Most of us were passed out before the teams rolled into the checkpoint for the evening.

Day 3 started with hot coffee and soft gooey cinnamon rolls from the Alabama Hills Cafe. I love local diners and this one was really top. I talked to the owner who filled me in on the weekend film festivities and filled me in on the local terrain. Then we headed over to the starting point to check out the cars. I missed the start of the race in Berkeley, (I escaped from Berkeley 4 years ago) so this was my first introduction to the cars. There were two of them.

Happy Birthday Bruce

A morning text message reminded me that it's Bruce Chatwin's Birthday. I'm deep in his Australian desert  adventure - which reminds me of my own dream to motorcycle across Australia (although at this point I am willing to trade it in for a Land Cruiser).

That reminds me of something I said several years ago - something about having a kid and then heading into the bush after 3 years in LA. I'm in the middle of that 3 years. I've had my metaphorical kid and it's growing up just fine. And now Australia calls again. Will this be the year for 40 days in the desert? Oh, I hope so.

By the way - Happy Birthday Bruce. You continue to inspire me.

1300 mile highlights

Eight hundred miles in the past three days. (A total of 1300 in the past week.) Three states. Many states of mind. Much stimulation of the brain. Meeting new people. Getting to know acquaintances better. There are not enough words in my exhausted brain to even begin describing all that transpired the past seven days. I returned to Los Angeles a few hours ago - a car full of packages and a bit more worn for the wear. Both my fog lights were blown out Friday night after hitting a raccoon just outside of Sedona and a rabbit about 30 minutes south of the Hoover Dam.

I will try to pull out some snippets from my memory.

Most recently I returned from Death Valley this afternoon after a sleepless night filled with stars and conversations. A friend brought up two concepts I realized during our conversing I don't really know or use: Mercy and Happiness. I am not motivated to live my life with Happiness in mind. I have other emotions that motivate me. And about Mercy, well, it never even occurred to me. I don't think I even know what Mercy is. I generally wield the ax of justice and it definitely severs relationships. So this concept of pondering mercy and how to be more merciful, is intriguing and something I will meditate on - and perhaps practice.

Hiking at dusk in Sedona. I wanted to go to a magical place and instead the trail I chose went along an Indian resort. I was irritated and frustrated. It was getting dark, and it was not my idea at all to drive 5 hours to Sedona only to be surrounded by the sounds of cars and air conditioning and civilization when I was supposed to be in a magical place. I guess the Indians need to make a living too.

When I stopped to catch my breath on the trail at the twisted juniper right where the sign was posted "You are on camera, so don't jump the fence you stinky hikers" complete with industrial lights destroying the natural darkness. I spied a ledge - right in the middle of the light. I had a flash of inspiration and went straight to the spot - straight in the middle of the spotlight under the surveillance cameras and proceeded to meditate upon being in the spotlight. And so, instead of fighting my self about NOT being in the spotlight because that's not where I thought I wanted to be, I understood why I need to be in the spotlight because that is really where I must be. Inner conflict resolved.

I can't even begin to express how much the conference I attended in Tucson effected me. Over the next few days I'll try to write up some notes. I attended the conference to learn more about what science is doing around the study of understanding and explaining consciousness and the human brain. I left with the beginnings of a new language and awe for ourselves and awe for science. I plan to explore my interest in this subject more and more in the coming years.

I love driving in the desert at night. I put the top down and looked at the stars, felt the wind in my face as I drove back from the official conference dinner Thursday night at the Desert Museum. I put on Orbital Blue Album and took in the wind, driving fast and taking the curves. I am happiest at the wheel of my car, alone on a dark two lane twisty highway. My car is an extension of my body - I feel the vibrations of my tires on the road through my stick and wheel. I listen to the motor as I increase RPMs and slow down, shifting accordingly for speed or coast.

I wondered, why does this make me so happy? To be alone, a bullet speeding along. But then I stop thinking and enjoy the ride. This is truly something I love.

I felt the same way when I came upon the Hoover dam past midnight. I had spent hours driving through Arizona. Napoleon Hill was speaking to me in those midnight hours (and when the rabbit met her death under my wheel). I passed through the check point and then was upon the dam. A huge bright lit construction was being built above me. I was in awe at modern engineering. I slowed and looked at the new bridge. It was beautiful and massive.

A moment later I crested a hill and a city of twinkling lights unfolded below me. It was beautiful. And for once in my life I saw the beauty of Las Vegas. I found my way to the Strip and a posh hotel filled with friends. A strong difference of my last days in the desert.

There are many more stories to write. Many more things I want to share with you - my anonymous readers. But tonight I sleep. For tomorrow another adventure begins and I must tend to my dreams.

Checkmark Carkill: Another dream come true

• 20 hours in the car +
• A private ranch outside of Reno +
• Practicing my stunt car moves on a dry lake bed +
• Enough guns and ammo for a Hollywood blockbuster +
• 5 cars with death written all over them +
• The usual assortment of fire accelerators =
• A dream come true.

Recap 2007: A Year of Pimping and Promoting

I knew 2006 was going to be a hard year to follow. I didn't even try to come up with a goal as big as "to kick ass" for 2007, because I thought there was no way I could even come close. Instead 2007 was the year of 007- double triangle - the Jesus Year.

My goals were to 1) find my reason for existence; 2) pimp and promote; 3) simplify; and 4) create. At the bottom of list in my 2007 guidebook I found this in my own handwriting: "Rally myself into an unstoppable brand." I find that humorous. My only specific goal was to spend 40 days in the desert, because hey - it's the Jesus year, right? I didn't hit that one. I just couldn't take myself away from my projects for 40 days. So how did I do? Pretty awesome actually. Specifics after the jump.

Inspiration

Brian Johnson who started Zaadz a couple years ago is again working on his own site: ThinkArete. It's got some good stuff and big ideas.

Heather is currently offline

I'll be back online September 4th. Until then, have some fun!

Stunt School Videos

Here's my practice run: (See more videos here)

Stunt Driver Weekend!

Well, this week has been extremely busy, exciting, filled with lots of yumminess... so much so, that I have forgotten to mention (well this week at least) that tomorrow I AM GOING TO STUNT CAR SCHOOL!!!!!!!!

Can you tell how excited I am? I have been planning, dreaming of this weekend for 5 years. Five years! FIVE YEARS!!!

Will the weekend live up to my anticipation? I sure hope so. Maybe this is the beginning of a career in moovies. Or as a member of a secret subversive society. I'll be sure to share my feelings over the weekend. Squeeling tires and spinning wheels - here I come!

San Francisco, Carving a Groove

I'm north again. I came to have some meetings and attend wordcamp. I'm honestly not sure why I'm attending wordcamp. I think it was just an excuse to get me up here again, although it's been great seeing peeps and getting the wordcampy lowdown. The weather is gorgeous. It is windy and cool. I'm not used to this cool undertone. I've missed the wind.

The city seems so empty. Where are all the people. It seems so relaxed and laid back. Almost like a small town. Why do I see it like this? Was it like this before? Am I remembering differently? Or has it changed? Or have I changed? Am I uptight again? One-track focused speeding at the speed of light? (Oh yes, most definitely I am moving at the speed of light.)

I just returned from a midnight ride to the east bay (and back). The freeways are the way I remembered. Those grooves I carved so long ago, still there. I was able to slip back into them. And at the same time, the grooves were not the same.

I spent many hours on the bay bridge. Mostly when the toll was a mere buck (it's $4 now! yikes!). I realized as I was speeding back to SF tonight, that I'm carving a new groove. That that's the reason I'm back in SF. To carve this new groove. It's going to take some time - I will be back. But there's always a bushwhacker that paves the way for the trail, that eventually becomes a dirt road, a paved freeway, an information superhighway to infinity (and beyond).

San Francisco, I am soaking up your sweet wind, your little puffy clouds of fog, your live oak and hills of green. I am a sponge. The desert, we need these reminders, we need your shower of information rain.

Unicorns and Religion

How did I miss the Invisible Pink Unicorns? (All this time I have been talking about invisible pink elephants...) Unicorns on wikipedia. And more invisible pink unicorns?

The Invisible Pink Unicorn logo represents atheism.
It is a fusion between the mathematical void symbol and the stylized representation of an unicorn.
The void symbol (empty set Ø) is an allusion to nothingness and in this case meaning "no faith" or "no god". The unicorn is a reference to a kind of story that atheists often tell to make their point.

Very delightful - but I am far far far from being an atheist. In fact, I had a delightful conversation with two Christian missionarys when I was in Sedona. The part that freaked me out the most (but really didn't freak me out that much) was that I could completely understand and agree with most of what they were saying. In fact, I live my life pretty much exactly the way they live their life. The big exception, I don't think Jesus is the only bridge. The other exception, I have no interest in going to heaven (or hell for that matter) I have my eye set on something .... else. The other exception, I don't quote from the bible (although I was quite interested in what they were quoted and totally understood the point of the quotes).

I do believe that I speak a different "religion", "spiritual" language. The problem is, I can speak many languages... but people don't all speak my language. That's ok, because I have a direct link/line to "G-d" which I call something different.

My favorite part of the conversation was when we were talking about good and evil and they were telling me how deceptive Satan was and I said, exactly, the whole concept of good and evil is a deception (because well it is). It is a method to distract us and get us to play on sides against each other - when really we're all one big thing. The deception is that there is no good and evil (and yet, there is most definitely good and evil).

Anyway, talking with them crystallized my possible explanation of this paradox (at least in my mind). Back to the circle with a dot in the center. Or, when you peel all the layers of the onion- where is the onion? (ps, it's the layers)

Traveling Men

I recently came across another group of guys on a travel adventure. It's the ScootStars. Two guys travel across the US on 49cc scooters!

Add them to this growing list of travelers with a cause...

• Tuxedo Travels
• Project Pedal
• ScootStars

Rock on guys! Sounds like you're channeling Bruce Chatwin or Che! I'm excited to see how things turn out!

600 miles, 122 degrees

The temperature fluxuated from 59 to 122. I hit 122 just south of Tecopa in Death Valley. There was no one on the road. Just me and the heat. My air conditioning was set at 82 and that felt like an ice blast. I hit the 59 on Oak Creek Canyon on my way out of Sedona. Top was down and I put on my driving gloves and heated seat. I snapped a final shot of the red rocks. The waning moon was watching over my twisted mountain driving.

I took a circuitous route. Flagstaff (to which I internally chuckled, since Bjork was singing "Raise your flag, higher, higher") as I navigated the pavement and concrete byways north to west. Route 66 took me through Peachtree and Valentine, former an Indian town and the latter a gorgeous rocky area with a boarded up school. I dreamt of buying the town and turning the school into a club. The rocks reminded me of my gorgeous Joshua Tree Mojave land. Then off to Kingman, where I gassed up, bought some cool water and stopped at a little rockhound stores. Picked up some purple stones and headed to Nevada.

I have had Amargosa on my to visit list for a while and here I was a mere hundred miles or so from it. I also wanted to check out Pahrump (lots of motorcycle race events are held here) and possibly Tecopa (standing water in Death Valley!). However after 5+ hours and 300 or so miles I had to bail on Amargosa. I took the turn off to Tecopa and was rewarded with a blank slate of pavement and the raw heat on blistering rocks. For a moment fear rose in my throat. It's been over 115 for the past 4 hours, I've been driving my car to the bone with not a complaint (except for that rock chipping my windshield south of Prescott, AZ). Last time I was in Death Valley the truck died and my colleague in adventure and I hitch/hiked to the nearest phone to call in for help. I did not want to repeat that adventure.

When the temperature hit 120, I rolled down my windows. In 10 seconds the heat circled through the car. Scrolling through the radio gave a Billy Corgan Smashing Pumpkins rock block! Empty roads, whiny white boy rock and heat gave my eyes their favorite delight - prehistoric landscapes. Land not touched by man. My eyes flicked from dune to mudflat to rock pile to mountain of rock. Creosote bushes gave the only color until Tecopa palms flooded the grey with green!

For a moment I considered I stopping at the hot springs (and taking a refreshing splash?!) but I headed south to the Mad Greek's swarma and carrot/orange juice. Then it was a few short hours until I hit the cool double digit Los Angeles area. I rolled into Hollywood just as the sunset painted colors across the sky.

It was a fabulous Independence Day Drive.

Declare Independence

For the past two days I have had Bjork in my head. C put it there and it won't get out. But that's ok, because it's the theme song for today: Declare Independence.

And in a few moments I will pack up MsVescent, put the top down and we will drive away from this land of red rocks. It's my Independence Day Drive through the desert!

I'm excited because I'm taking a northern route and swinging through Nevada. I may hit up Death Valley and most definitely the Mojave National Preserve. It's too bad I'm not in an offroad vehicle, because the backcountry roads I know and love best are gonna be right off the pavement. Another time.

Desert Driving, Sedona Cicada

a few choice memories from yesterday
- top down on the 10 driving heat speed
- goosebumps on my flesh when 95 on my tempeture gague and speedometer met. Was it the adreneline? the wind?
- hot desert drive, up to 116
- lunch stop in blythe
- off the beaten trail
- twisted scenic roads (but my Puima Canyon training seems to have paid off). My wheels didn't scream around the curves
- Prescott, Jermone - a city on the side of the mountain
- and then the descent into the land of red rock
- this morning, the cicadas serenade me as I drink my coffee and plan adventures for the day.

City sayonara

I'm headed to Sedona as soon as I pack this cool LA morning into my suitcase. Goodbye noisy city. Hello deserts that I love.

Double Booked! Anger

Argh!!! I never never never been able to go to Scott's uber fun Laughing Squid party - even though I have been a charter customer. For almost 10 years. This year, the problem is that I forgot to mark the event on my calendar and then I promptly scheduled myself stunt car driving school.

STUNT CAR DRIVING SCHOOL vs SQUID LIST PARTY

Arghghghghghghghgh! What would you do?

Heather is Busy

First off - Hello to anyone stopping by because we met at Twiistup last night. I had a great time and have to write my shout out post. If you're looking to download ooVoo - go here to download the client. If you want info on the geek dinners and barcampLA - go here. And be sure to join the mailing list.

I have been really busy and it doesn't look like it's going to stop. I was at Twiistup last night - which was awesome.

Tomorrow I head north to attend an intense weekend called Fusion with a bunch of futurists in beautiful Mendocino. I'm very excited to participate.

Then, since I will be in the Bay Area, I'm going to attend the Internet Identity Workshop on Monday, Tues & Wed.

Oh - did I mention I'm back on Theory Radio and my show is tonight. In fact, I have an awesome show lined up. Matt is joining me and we are spinning music to trip out too. This music is absolutely insanely amazingly awesomely strange and unique and it blew my mind when I heard it. The show starts at 7, but Matt will be joining me at 8.

Oh yeah, and I still have to pack. So much for sleep these days.

Sargasso Stories: Friday March 9th

I slept dreaming of other lives. Waking up at my friend's house in Austin to childish giggles and laughs. I rolled out of bed and showered for the first in several days, purple running down my back and into the white basin. Coffee, fretting over my packing, calling the cab. Waiting, waiting, late, waiting. The plan was to stop by the airport, drop off my luggage for my 5pm flight and head downtown to catch a couple movies before heading back to LA.

Cab arrived. I piled my luggage in the back. It was heavy. Made fast friends with the cab driver who was from Nigeria. He tried to hit on me (as usual) and I started talking about the boyfriend. He wasn't really my type. My friend Suz had more in common. I prefer the quiet geek type with secret superpowers. During the drive to the airport, I told him I would need another cab back to the airport later in the day. He offered to pick me up. This could be sketchy, right? But he was a sincerely nice guy. MBA, considering Law degree. Used to work at a semi-conductor company in Austin until it relocated to Korea. Maybe this was a sign from the universe. So far, I had not had one second of trouble finding a cab when I needed one, despite the explosion of SXSWers. I took this as yet another boon from the universe - the tricky part was finding a cab on time who would be able to rush me from the movie to the airport in time to catch my flight - and here I was - sitting in his cab. He dropped me off, and we made arrangements for him to pick me up later.

Then I went to check in my luggage. This was much more difficult than I had planned. I should have known, with my liter of Tito's Vodka and the bullet belt in my carry on. Then there was the 4 hour pre-flight check in limit. And no lockers. I had to think on my feet and be creative. I rebooked on a flight that would leave in less than an hour. Twenty minutes later, my luggage was on it's way to TSA's security check. I had my boarding pass in hand. 30 minutes. Could I get downtown in 30 minutes? I had nothing to lose. I decided to give it a try.

Changing Lights

Earlier tonight I came across a sidewalk with embedded color changing squares. I had to stop and shoot some video. Here's my first clip. The lighted pathway was at the entrance to the KC Art Institute - where I studied for a short time. (Yes, I thought I wanted to be an artist.)

desert on both sides of the week

It's been June Gloom here in LA for the past 3 weeks and frankly I am tired of it. What up SoCal? Where's the blue sky? Is this some kind of hint? Well, if it is - I'm taking it. I'm outta here! Back to the desert.

Last weekend was packed with about 10 different adventures. (Ok, 10 is hyperbole, but I did have 5 distinct ones planned in 4 different cities.) But as plans go awry, my plans changed. I ended up having a great time spending time with a good friend.

I miss the desert, but I'll be back out there soon enough and hopefully for a lot longer than a few days.

Heather in a field of rocks

This is a photograph of me in a field of quartz crystals. I was hiking up a wash and I kept finding these huge chunks of shimmering white rocks. Sam was scouting ahead of me and called me to come up over a pile of rocks. What I saw, delighted me. A field of these sparkling delights.

For some reason, I always seem to lose or forget my standard sunglasses when I go out to the desert. But lucky for me, I have my burning man big oggle-eye ones stashed in the glove box. I feel kind of weird being all clubbed out in the middle of nowhere.

sometimes it's a lot like camping

My recent trip to the desert was as soft and cushioned as a feather bed. We rolled in just as the sun had set and the desert was as quiet as I have ever not heard. Not a sound. Not one bird, not one bee buzzing. The only sound I heard, was one that I made myself.

I decided to check out the ancient petroglyph cave. The ground was covered with droppings again. The last time I was in the cave, I washed the floor with a bottle of Verve Cliquot champagne and a scrub brush. I stood in the cave, looking at the facing rock. The two holes that swallows usually fly in and out of. Completely silent. No sound. No movement.

Gradually I heard a buzzing. The sound reverberated in my ears and grew louder, taking on a heavy quality. It resonated in the cave. I couldn't tell where the sound was coming from and I could physically feel the vibration. As the sound got louder and reverberated more I re-cognized it as the sound of an airplane. But it had already done it's damage on my perception.

I collected dead cholla and other firewood. A pot of boiling water for hot tea. The ephedra bush that I once drank tea from. A straight stick for roasting marshmallows. Dinner consisted of tea and roasted marshmallows. I even shared the sticky white sweetness with the desert mice. We've got a great video of one carting off a marshmallow. I'll upload it shortly.

The sky gradually got darker and needles of light appeared. The cloud cover softened and the wind blew it away to show the galaxy of stars. I sat on rocks as the fire burned into embers and watched the Milky Way, catching a shooting star or two. I slept like a baby into the bright hours of morning, head buried in my sleeping bag.

Lazy morning awake. A walk about to the other side of the canyon and we found a great treasure sparkling in the bright sun. The blue sky was Hollywood unreal. Fluffy clouds for as far as the eye could see, sitting on the flat edge of atmosphere. It was surreal with the inclined desert plain.

Although it had been almost a year and a half since I returned to this location, it was in some ways, just a moment. An instant. Nothing had changed much. Although I have changed. Gained more power. I am more seasoned. The silence and quietude of the desert was much welcome to me. So quiet my ears didn't know what to do. So quiet that immediately my standard frame of reference was broken and I was acting from a totally different world view.

The Baja 2

Sam did a great write up of our recent trip to Baja, which we call, The Baja 2.  Check out the story, pictures and video.

You can check out my video of traveling on the bumpy baja roads.

We had a great time, the truck is in the shop getting cleaned up and we're ready to head back down!

back to life

The last goal of 2005 was squeaked in last week - a Baja offroading adventure in Mexico.

Trip write up with pictures coming soon, highlights now:

• Mike's Sky Rancho - arriving at 5:30 pm on Christmas eve.
• Making Hanukkah candles out of tecate bottle caps, matches and Jesus candle wax
• Driving the Baja 1000 and 500 roads
• A meeting with 3 federales in the chaparral on Xmas day
• Baja breakfast: beer and baklava
• San Felipe  all night Xmas karaoke
• The Parque National Constution 1851 - pine trees surround a lake at 5000+ elevation
• Coca-cola light
• Licking the truck wounds back to LA

We returned to LA unscathed; my Spanish brushed up a bit, the truck more worn for the wear with a notebook of dreams and plans for adventures in 2006.

Good, clean, whitetrash fun

I spent the weekend out in Joshua Tree having some good clean white trash fun. I never realized how much fun it is to be an adult. You can really have a great time (and be responsible too!) The love and I headed out to a friend's property near Joshua Tree for the weekend. We partook of off roading, shooting guns, creating fires and blowing stuff up.

Spending much of my formative years stuck in the barren midwest, I really distanced myself from my "redneck" neighbors. I never drank, you'd never find me in a beefed up pick-up and I certainly was not much of a heckler. I was a lover, not a fighter. I'd be listening to Morrissey not AC/DC. But really what I was, was mixing up the homogeneity. I'm a big believer a wide range of possibilities and expressions. Therefore when the possibilities start to narrow, I take it upon myself to take on the characteristics necessary to open the possibilities. Thus it was necessary for me to get in tune with my white-trashiness this weekend. And it was damn fun too.

I didn't realize how much fun it was to drive the FT (what we call our monster truck) off road. Sam and I caravaned with some friends and found a playground. We drove up and down trails, rocks and attempted to drive up a mountain sand track. The tires dug into the slipping sand and we got 3/4 up the way up before reversing it. We really didn't want to get stuck on the other side and we didn't feel like airing down the tires. Instead we went back to playing in the sandy trails, egging our friends up and down small mountains of rock. (All on trails mind you, we're responsible off roaders!)

Back at the ranch, we broke out the guns for some target practice. It had been years since I picked up a gun and I was surprised to find that my first shot hit the target (a metal plate.) Over the weekend we set up various targets (water bottles, metal plates and other more flammable materials.) I was decked out in my urban camo and really had a great time watching all us lined up shooting at the poor water bottles.

Evenings were filled with fire making. I have a love affair with fire that doesn't usually get to be expressed. When I would go camping with my friends in high school, I'd make sure I was the first one up in the morning to stoke up the evening fire. I had many fond evenings around the Van-B-Que at Burning Man this year, keeping the fire up. And a few special treats found their way into the fire by my hand.

Saturday night wind threatened to keep us inside the small desert house. It was blustery, cold and blowing down the tents. Screaming through the washes and between the cracks. I wondered if we were going to be able to get a fire started and contained. As luck would have it (and credit to planning) the host had thought to bring some old washing machine drums. S and I drug one over to the fire pit and promptly started piling wood in it. A few moments later a fire was crackling and spitting. We pulled the camp chairs close. Folks started venturing out of the house and soon the fire was surrounded. We had two more wash basins and proceeded to make cozy fires in various parts of the yard. Soon, three dryer fires were keeping us all warm. As Orion flew across the sky I flitted from one fire to the other adding wood and stoking the warmth.

 

On the way back to LA, I wanted to show Sam Joshua Tree National Park, while my secret agenda was to take this 4x4 only accessible road from inside the park to Dillon Road near Indio. We were both game turned off the pavement. The road wound down into a valley filled with grass and swallows before ascending a mountain range filled with Joshua Trees and Teddy Bear Cholla Cactus. We easily reached the peak and then twisted our way down the road which was really a wash. We drove through sculptured canyons, the FT descending dry rock waterfalls and navigating around boulders. I kept thinking, "this must be what early explorers experienced on horseback." I was amazed that our modern world has created vehicles that can go really anywhere.

We threaded our way through the traffic on the 10 and rolled our big baby into the West Hollywood driveway. I washed the smoky three day desert dirt from my body and fell asleep to Anime.

I'll miss the sound of artillery shelling from the nearby military base in the morning. Pictures of the whole trip here.

 

another fabulous morning

Another fabulous fresh morning with the sweet air, coffee and iTunes. A quick check on the email and a blog post before a jump in the shower, throw a couple more things in the backpack. Pack it in the trunk, put the top down, riding gloves on, SPF, 6 new CDs in the changer and then it's time to shift it into 5th gear for a long haul up the grapevine and into the San Joaquin valley tires kissing pavement, eyes envying the sparkling blue river of LA water on it's trip south. I love road trips.

ride to work, work to ride

It's annual ride to work day. I guess that means I'll get Lady Knight out and ride around the block. :)

Land Cruiser Adventure the First

Land Cruiser timing was perfect. I picked it up on Thursday and Friday evening Patrick and I packed it up with camping gear and headed north to Pismo for offroad beach camping. I was really excited because not only do I have my new truck, but we would HAVE to put it in 4w to drive on the beach. I've never done any beach sand driving, so it was going to be a new adventure.

The drive on pavement was uneventful. The truck drove well. Good music on the stereo and then we arrived. It was about midnight when we got to the beach and I just put it in 4 and drove it on the hard pack. We drove down the beach looking for our people with no luck. At the end of the beach, before it turned into dunes we started to get stuck. There were a lot of trucks and trailers stuck in this area. I just kept it in 4 and reversed it. That's when I looked at my gas gage. It was on E! And here we were out on the beach in gas-guzzling 4 wheel drive and no peeps in sight. We headed back into town to find an open gas station at 12:30 in the morning. Returning to the beach with a full tank, we decided to let some air out of the tires. This greatly improved our ability to maneuver. But we were back to driving around aimlessly almost getting stuck over and over looking for our camp. The engine started to give off an interesting smell and it was more and more difficult to get unstuck. We finally pulled over and made camp. About 30 minutes after we made dark, three sets of lights started circling. Over and over, the lights circled. Then two sets of lights were focused directly on the truck (where we were attempting to sleep) and we could hear yells and tires spinning, engines revving.

So I'm laying in the back of my truck, attempting to sleep with a spotlight pointed directly at me, while ATVs go bouncing by, with the background noise of coordination yells, engines attempting to engage and spinning tires. I could only laugh and make up stories about our new neighbors, and that's when I heard the bombs. As if it couldn't get crazier, someone was lighting off fireworks on the beach at 3am. The silver lining to the evening. We had a perfect view of the many colored bursts. Eventually our new neighbors made camp only to blast 50cent! So much for getting any sleep. Somewhere in the hours before dusk the fog rolled in and I fell into sleep.

At this point, allow me to give you a mental picture of the situation. Oceano at Pismo Beach allows camping directly on the beach. This means you drive your huge-ass truck pulling an RV or trailer full of ATVs and drive it along the beach looking for place to plop down. It's not just you, it's 500! other people. And there are more vehicles than people. Imagine seeing huge RVs parked 50 feet from the ocean.  I was amazed that these people were able to get these things out there. Huge beefed up trucks with tow hitches. I was camped smack in the middle of the ATV subculture! This was something I had never dreamed of.

Morning awakened me with a 50cent rap wake up call. I couldn't believe it, our late night neighbors were up at the crack of dawn. My truck was completely stuck in the sand. We attempted to extract it, digging it out, letting more air out of the tires, putting towels under the back wheels, only succeeding in digging us in. The spare tire was resting on the sand. Now, what to do? Luckily we were camped next to a huge Ford F250! I went over and asked our friendly neighbors (not the late night noise-makers) for help. They pulled out the tow strap, tied it on and pulled me out. My truck that looked so big on the street looked like a tiny sedan.

At this point (before Noon) the thought of getting stuck again and eventual unsticking process was not appealing along with the ATV camping mad-max subculture, so we hit the pavement and headed north to SLO and spent the afternoon tasting wine and kicking around the town.

road trip anyone?!

This is my new ride. More photos here. High resolution available for a slight fee. ;)

to truck or not in LA

I hate to admit it, but it's time to get a phat 4x4 truck. But which one? I want a standard truck's truck - not a bubble-butt chrome and plastic mega-monster. That takes out the new Toyota Tacoma (the older ones work). And what about something with character (harvester, bronco convertible, jeep) oh yeah, that RELIABLE.

So readers, please help me out. I need a truck. I want to haul art and building materials and tools. I want to drive it off road on BLM lands. What should I get?

hands to heaven

A lush oasis in the desert. Gardens filled with roses, orchards, flowers. Lush carpets of wine. Salads. The full moon. A top bunk.

Another wonderful weekend in the desert with colleagues I had lost touch with.

The silence of the desert. My leather moccasins sinking into the plush sea of grass.

get in line lil doggies!

If you like the skirt, you should buy some stuff from Da Lata Designs.

Got my skin back

It's taken longer and cost more and I sat through much traffic and broke all my driving habits, but she's back. Today Erika and I rocked out to Basement Jaxx and ZZ Top at high speeds on the LA freeways. Left leg and right hand were back in syncronicity action with shifting. The sweet butter clutch. It took me about 5 minutes to get used to her low seat, center key and window controls again. It was interesting to listen to the CDs I left in the changer and haven't heard for 6 weeks. It's good to break habits. I can't wait for the sun to come out and take her top down. Wind blowing back in my hair, sun in my eyes, happiness on my face again.

Everything is turning around. It's also spring. Always the darkness just before the dawn, ne?

mudslides and risk

It's been a raining off and on for several weeks. The rain varies between a light drizzle or sprinkle to torrential downpour. I commute through the Malibu Canyons and that means - MUDSLIDES!

I've noticed the mud on the sides of PCH the past few weeks. Sometimes some small rocks, occasionally large boulders the size of my torso are also seen. I dodge them and run through the film in my mind of the rock tumbling down the cliff. How did it land? Who saw it first? What would the experience be like if it were to tumble down the exact instant I was driving by?

I look at the mud puddles by the side of the road. I expected great big sloshes into multiple lanes not these smallish swirls of wet red dust. It occurred to me that the slides don't necessarily come down in an avalanche of mud, but rather grain by grain, the rain sweeping the sides of the canyons clean towing in it's flow grains that detach themselves from roots and rocks.

Malibu Canyon was closed today. The rock slides I have seen on a regular basis the past week must have been too much. That's OK. It was a good excuse to continue up PCH and take Kanan Dume. I saw more slides as I zipped up the "super two" lane canyon road. I remembered the first time I took the road and blew my clutch. A day so unlike today. Still I was in awe as the first time. Today it looked like the Hana highway on Maui. Flush green, waterfalls by the side of the roads, wet rocks, fog. It was gorgeous and I was so happy to be able to experience this on the drive to work.

I  realized more succinctly that risk is an important part of my life. My morning drive with the risk of mudslides, falling rocks, curvy canyon roads emblazons me to live fully. Being fully alive and aware of your death at any moment. Of course I don't want to die. But anyone, even you, can die in an instant - in the next instant or a future far beyond.

So I make the choice. I drive my stick-shift around the canyons, I take the blue highways, I look with awe on the mud slides and I drive with delight through the freeway puddles splashing the wet dust onto my waxed black finish. I'll die - that's for sure - and I hope it won't be in my sleep. Until then, I'll live by the seat of my pants. I'm glad the snob has headed seats.