New York State Of Mind
I awoke to the realization that this was the last day of my cross country trip, and that was kind of sad. What wasn't kind of sad was the concurrent realization that I would not have to pack and unpack all my crap into the trunk of a Honda Civic every morning and night.
I made right for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at 10am, and let myself get lost in it. I really love music, and the place is just chock full of great stuff. Unfortunately, they only let you take pictures in the lobby. The lobby is a beautiful giant glass pyramid that holds a few exhibits itself, including the Trabant cars from U2's ZooTV tour, scads of guitars, and the giant LED signs with "Gwen" and "Moby" on them from one of the most entertaining music videos ever, Moby's "Southside". Inside, my favorite exhibit was actually a movie. Inside a theater with three screens, a movie progresses chronologically from 1987 until today by highlighting the inductees from each year. Each inductee is represented by a pastiche of video images on all three screens accompanied by one representative song from the artist. It is a lot more interesting and exciting than it sounds, especially when your favorites come up. It's also cool to see which song is chosen for each artist. Some other exhibits I really enjoyed were stage costumes and props from U2 and the Rolling Stones (including Bono's Fly outfit and Mick Jagger's half British/half American flag cape), A collection of Otis Redding memorabilia including a piece of the plane from his fatal crash, and various handwritten lyrics to some famous songs.
I left the Rock hall MUCH later than anticipated, at around 2pm. I had planned to arrive in New York by 9pm, but that seemed rather difficult at this point. I hopped back onto I-80 and moved into Pennsylvania and then New Jersey. When I got to these two states, it really struck home how far I had driven. I grew up in New Jersey, and all my relatives live either there or in Pennsylvania, so I had traveled within an hour's drive of home. I'm so used to flying back and forth from home to Los Angeles that this is when I realized the magnitude of my journey.
Because of my late start, I didn't enter New York State until 9:30, and finally arrived at Evelyn's house at 10pm. That is two hours later than my projected arrival before my trip started, so I'd say I made pretty damn good time! I delivered the car in excellent condition and was very relieved that I had driven cross country in a 13 year old car without breaking down. I spent the night at Evelyn's house and then took the train down to Philadelphia the next morning to spend July 4th visiting with my family. I flew back to Los Angeles on the 5th to an empty apartment...I had been alone in the place before, but it was different this time. Over the next few days I moved into the one bedroom apartment next door, and I'm now happily living alone. I had always wanted to, but while I was in Canada I lived alone and got a taste for it that would not go away.
And so here I am :) I'm glad I got this all written down, and I hope no one either nodded off or began to hate me while reading.
Fin.
I made right for the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame at 10am, and let myself get lost in it. I really love music, and the place is just chock full of great stuff. Unfortunately, they only let you take pictures in the lobby. The lobby is a beautiful giant glass pyramid that holds a few exhibits itself, including the Trabant cars from U2's ZooTV tour, scads of guitars, and the giant LED signs with "Gwen" and "Moby" on them from one of the most entertaining music videos ever, Moby's "Southside". Inside, my favorite exhibit was actually a movie. Inside a theater with three screens, a movie progresses chronologically from 1987 until today by highlighting the inductees from each year. Each inductee is represented by a pastiche of video images on all three screens accompanied by one representative song from the artist. It is a lot more interesting and exciting than it sounds, especially when your favorites come up. It's also cool to see which song is chosen for each artist. Some other exhibits I really enjoyed were stage costumes and props from U2 and the Rolling Stones (including Bono's Fly outfit and Mick Jagger's half British/half American flag cape), A collection of Otis Redding memorabilia including a piece of the plane from his fatal crash, and various handwritten lyrics to some famous songs.
I left the Rock hall MUCH later than anticipated, at around 2pm. I had planned to arrive in New York by 9pm, but that seemed rather difficult at this point. I hopped back onto I-80 and moved into Pennsylvania and then New Jersey. When I got to these two states, it really struck home how far I had driven. I grew up in New Jersey, and all my relatives live either there or in Pennsylvania, so I had traveled within an hour's drive of home. I'm so used to flying back and forth from home to Los Angeles that this is when I realized the magnitude of my journey.
Because of my late start, I didn't enter New York State until 9:30, and finally arrived at Evelyn's house at 10pm. That is two hours later than my projected arrival before my trip started, so I'd say I made pretty damn good time! I delivered the car in excellent condition and was very relieved that I had driven cross country in a 13 year old car without breaking down. I spent the night at Evelyn's house and then took the train down to Philadelphia the next morning to spend July 4th visiting with my family. I flew back to Los Angeles on the 5th to an empty apartment...I had been alone in the place before, but it was different this time. Over the next few days I moved into the one bedroom apartment next door, and I'm now happily living alone. I had always wanted to, but while I was in Canada I lived alone and got a taste for it that would not go away.
And so here I am :) I'm glad I got this all written down, and I hope no one either nodded off or began to hate me while reading.
Fin.