TONIGHT AT 11PM (PST) A SPECIAL NIGHTTIME ‘AT THE TAVERN’ W/AMANDA JONES & SIRIA
Last week, Amanda Jones and Siria Contreras decided to bring you a Part I of a II Parter At the Tavern observing the men of Country Music a.k.a “Saluting the Boys of Country.” Last week, Ms. Amanda Jones brought you her picks (scroll to bottom for play list).
Today, you get a special late Wednesday Night At the Tavern and Part II of this two-part show featuring Siria’s picks.
LISTEN TODAY AT 10:30 PM ON www.intraffikradio.com or click here
Siria’s Play List is as follows (order may vary during live show slightly):
1. Sheb Wooley - “Texas Tango”
2. Ernest Tubb – “Thanks A Lot”
3. Ernest Tubb – “Jealous Loving Heart”
4. Conway Twitty – “Ballad of Forty Dollars”
5. Wayne Hancock – “Your Love and His Blood”
6. Elvis Presley – “I’m Left, You’re Right, She’s Gone”
7. The Statler Brothers – “Flowers on the Wall”
8. Shooter Jennings – “4th of July”
9. Waylon Jennings and Willie Nelson – “I Can Get Off (On You)”
10. Kris Kristofferson – “Help Me Make it Through the Night”
11. Bobby Bare, Jr. – “Sad Smile”
12. Paul Burch – “Saturday Nights”
13. Randy Travis – “Is It Still Over?”
14. Rodney Crowell – “She’s Crazy For Leaving”
15. Bill Kirchen – “Get a Little Gonner”
16. Mark Chesnutt – “Woman”
17. Blake Shelton – “Who Are You When I’m Not Looking”
18. Dierks Bentley – “I Wanna Make You Close Your Eyes”
19. Dwight Yoakam – “Sad, Sad Music”
20. Gary Allan – “Smoke Rings in the Dark”
21. Travis Tritt – “Modern Day Bonnie and Clyde”
22. Clay Walker – “Boogie ‘Til the Cows Come Home”
23. Easton Corbin - “The Way Love Looks”
24. Josh Ritter – “Right Moves”
25. The Sadies – “One Million Songs”
and this week, we’ll be closing out with Flogging Molly’s “Drunken Lullabies”
PART I PLAYLIST (AMANDA JONES’ PICKS)
1.Johnny Cash – “I Still Miss Someone”
2. Keith Urban – “Days Go By”
3. Kenny Rogers – “The Gambler”
4. Ryan Adams -”Please Do Not Let Me Go”
5. Wilco – “Jesus, Etc.”
6. George Strait – “Cowboys Like Us”
7. Johnny Cash – “Luther Played the Boogie”
8. Merle Haggard – “Branded Man”
9. Elvis Costello – “I Hope You’re Happy Now”
10. Elvis Presley – “My Baby Left Me”
11. John Doe – “Darling Underdog”
12. Buck Owens – “Under the Influence of Night”
13. George Jones – “She Thinks I Still Care”
14. Hank Williams – “Howlin’ at the Moon”
15. Hank Williams – “Hey, Good Lookin’ ”
16. Vince Gill – “This New Heartache”
17. Brad Paisley – “You Need a Man Around Here”
18. Garth Brooks – “We Shall Be Free”
19. Hank Williams, III – “Moonshiner’s Life”
20. Restavrant – “Natural History”
(and of course signature closing song: Dropkick Murphys – “Kiss Me I’m Shitfaced”)
WHAT DO YOU HAVE ‘TEUXDEUX’ TODAY?
Friends are constantly on my case about how much I work or how many projects (both professionally and creatively) I take on (cough, Lady Di, cough …ahem).
I’ll admit that this hectic schedule they chastise me for does limit the amount of time they get to spend with me, and sometimes making up for that hang-out time can prove an especially difficult task since many of them are not in the same social circles. Thankfully for me, many of my friends are involved in either my creative or professional endeavors, at least allowing us some additional time together.
Don’t worry though, I still manage to have more fun than should be allowed–but yes, the truth is my schedule is constantly full. I’m not complaining though as I view being busy as a being a good thing, and I’m not sure I know how to be anything other than that. It’s safe to say I’ll never be accused of being “Shiftless When Idle.”
Although, some days it can feel like I’ve been busy accomplishing absolutely nothing (most of the times these days involve technology issues of some sort of another, because as much as technology can simplify my life it can also frustrate me to no end). This Thomas Edison quote comes to mind, “Being busy does not always mean real work. The object of all work is production or accomplishment and to either of these ends there must be forethought, system, planning, intelligence, and honest purpose, as well as perspiration. Seeming to do is not doing.”
Throughout the years, I’ve employed various organizational tools to help me stay on top of everything I need to accomplish each day. I’m going to be completely honest and say that I’ve yet to find one that I use faithfully and consistently aside from standard calendaring (Google and Outlook). I thankfully have a pretty good memory and can recall almost everything I need to do without really having to make a list or set up reminders for work meetings, etc. Although I still do set up reminders for important meetings or other date/time specific/recurring things (hey you never know, I may wake up with amnesia someday). Also, although I tend to have a pretty full social calendar, sites such as Facebook and other various social media keep making it easier and easier to keep track of events that I RSVP through via those sites with the way those events instantly synchronize with my phone and/or calendars.
Making lists of everything I have to do in a day never has really appealed to me. Maybe it’s for fear of bringing on a panic attack by actually seeing every single thing I am about to tackle listed out. I also would never share the list if I actually made one with anyone, as many times it might seem logistically and realistically impossible to accomplish all of the tasks that might be included It’s safe to say there is rarely any one other person aside from myself who knows every single thing I have to do each day (it can be so varied sometimes). However, I still do like to make lists. Even if I don’t end up using them. I know some people who will not start their day or leave the office without making a list. I’ve never really needed to do either as I can prioritize tasks in my head quite easily. However, I say whatever works for you, just do it.
About a year ago or more, I did start using one tool off and on. Some people like bells and whistles. I prefer something simple, efficient, easy to use, clean and uncluttered with aesthetic appeal (a reason why I use Google Search as opposed to Bing or Yahoo). This tool which is known as TeuxDeux has all of this for me.
It really is a simple, simple concept that they’re working with. It’s basically the days of the week as headers with the option to make a list under each day. You can add as many or as few items to that list, re-prioritize them, and also scratch them off the list all on one website/page.
What I like about it is that –as I mentioned, I don’t (and don’t ever foresee myself) use anything (even this) consistently– the items that have not been scratched/crossed off the list carry over to the next day, and continue to do so until you cross them off manually. That was always a thing for me with a list, that I usually would make a list on paper and half the time would lose it, or just couldn’t get in the habit of drafting one each day. With Teux Deux, I could actually create a list for the whole week on Monday since I usually know ahead of time a majority of the stuff I need to accomplish for the next several days. Sure new things pop up constantly, but I can easily add them at any time or remove things that I no longer need to do.
Currently, TeuxDeux (which has been buzzed about by Fast Company and PC World) is available as a free website that you create an account for and also just recently an iPhone app became available. They describe themselves as: “If you like making to-do lists, you will love TeuxDeux. The idea was to build a bare-bones, but visually compelling and highly usable to-do app: Use the free browser-based TeuxDeux at work/home and then take your to-dos on the road with the iPhone app. Yay for checking things off!”
This may not work for everyone, but for me it does exactly what I need it to do and allows me to continue to make small contributions to the “Green” initiative by adding yet another way to go paperless in my life. Also, they get extra points for using the word “Yay!” (which I probably overuse) in their product description.
Here is a video that explains TeuxDeux further:
Image originally published here
BIRTHDAYS, CARBON COPIES, AND GENERALIZATIONS
I recently had a birthday (So did half of my friends it seems. September and October in the 70’s and 80’s must’ve been very boring months).
A group of us that included some that recently had birthdays were recently sitting around having some beers and catching up. Somehow, the topic came around to what well known public figures we shared a birthday with.
One of them reminded me of the time we’d met Sofia Coppola randomly at a party and it turned out our birthdays were the same day (the topic came up because the party we were at took place a week before our birthdays), she had threatened to assume my identity so that she could be the age I’d be turning instead of hers (which is not old by any means).
I also have a friend who says she’s only friends with me because I share a birthday with George Lucas and another one says he is because I share a birthday with his musical hero David Byrne (I’m not sure what they think that might get them?). I’d never really paid attention to all of the people I share a birthday with (aside from people I know in real life, which there are quite a few of), while I might say that George Lucas and David Byrne are not bad company to keep (I’m not that into Star Wars, but definitely do love the Talking Heads and have respect for everything else Mr. Byrne has touched–I mean seriously, look at his body of work and he’s only a few years older than my parents) the other person that I was definitely ok with sharing a birthday that I knew of was B.C. Forbes (the founder of Forbes magazine).
One of our friends found a site via her phone that listed all of those people born on our birthdays and while of course there were too many to mention for each of us, some of the others that were born on my birth date included Ian Astbury (the Cult), Director Robert Zemeckis, Cate Blanchett, Tim Roth, C.C. DeVille (Poison), Raphael Saadiq, and many others I can’t recall (can you tell the person who was reading us the names is into music and film?)
Soon enough, everyone around us wanted to know who they shared birthdays with. We’d opened a can of worms for sure. If you ever want to make friends with a bunch of people in a bar, this is a good way to do so.
Out of all of the people I know in real life who share my birthday, I can’t really say that all of us are all that alike. I find all of them to be talented in one form or another, but I’m not really sure I’d say we’re all cut from the same cloth. Granted I’ve yet to know one who shared the exact same birth date and birth year as I do. Typically, they’ve always been older with the exception of one who is younger.
Speaking of sharing the same qualities and making generalizations. One of those friends that was having a drink with us had included a print-out of this in a birthday card she’d given me. She’d found it on the Cafe Astrology website.
If You Were Born Today, May 14:
“Creative to an extreme, you are also highly intelligent and possess strong business savvy. Many of your ideas are very marketable. Somewhat unconventional in thought, you quickly become bored with routine thinking. However, that is on a mental level. You can have a few stubborn habits yourself, and when your mind is made up, it can be difficult to steer you off course. Famous people born today: George Lucas, David Byrne, Dante, Cate Blanchett.”
I always find these generalizations amusing. Of course, this describes me to a T. Yep, me and the other thousands of people who share my birthday.
She insisted this really did describe me and proceeded to explain to me with not necessarily flattering examples why, which just made me laugh even more. I won’t include her examples, but I’ll do my own line-by-line breakdown of this generalized description.
“Creative to an extreme”
I am creative, yes this is true. I do constantly have to have some creative project going at all times, but I don’t know about the “extreme” part. I don’t ever wake-up and think “today I must do something creative or else” nor do I challenge anyone to any “creative duels.” What would qualify as “creative to an extreme.” Are those artists who do things like live in a glass box over Times Square (or whatever location) for days and call it an art installation “creative to an extreme?”
“You are also highly intelligent and possess strong business savvy.”
I don’t know about the highly intelligent part. I certainly don’t go around with a snifter full of Brandy à la every film made in the early 1900’s –swirling and sniffing all whilst spewing my thoughts on Modern Rationalism and quoting Descartes, nor do I sit around in an old-world style study smoking a pipe rambling about Nietzche’s school of thought whilst in one haughtily uttered statement successfully manage to insult and praise Sartre to anyone who even in passing utters anything that closely resembles the word Existentialism. I should consider doing both of those just for fun one day though. I’d find it highly entertaining. I actually think most people can be intelligent on some level and everyone is more knowledgeable than I in a multitude of subjects. We all have had different life experiences and also have a preference for various subjects, thus contributing to the retention of information that is related to that which we enjoy or that which we’ve encountered.
I do however, hope I possess at least some business savvy as there are a few things that depend on me to do so.
“Many of your ideas are very marketable”
Oh finally! Validation. Since my professional career primarily falls under Marketing and I very often have to contribute ideas, the next time I change positions or apply for a position within a new company I will be sure to include that statement in my resume. If the highly-credible Cafe Astrology says that “Many of my ideas are very marketable” it must be so.
“Somewhat unconventional in thought, you quickly become bored with routine thinking”
I do tend to get bored and my close friends can attest to the fact that every now and then they hear the statement “I need new” come out of my mouth. Funny enough, if you google my name and the word unconventional, somewhere among the top results you should find some info (probably this) on a fashion show that I put on with Gülbin Yavuz (the owner of Indie Collective), which we’d actually titled “Unconventional.”
“You can have a few stubborn habits yourself, and when your mind is made up, it can be difficult to steer you off course.”
Hmmm. Well, I am a Taurus after all. Stubbornness is a given. Actually, I’m not necessarily that stubborn. It’s only when I know exactly how to achieve the end-result that I’m looking for, that I find it pointless to take a different path. Aside from that, if you can show me a better more efficient way to accomplish something then I have no problem taking on your way of doing something.
While I don’t necessarily take these things all that seriously, they are amusing and I just like everyone else get sucked into reading them every now and then when I’m either sent these by friends or when I myself happen to stumble across them on my own. If you want to read the description for those born on your birthday click here. Please note that the descriptions are only up for those birth dates that have already occurred (meaning they are only up through today, June 1st), if your birthday has yet to happen you’ll need to check back once it has passed. I’m curious to hear if you can relate to your description at all.
BEHIND THE WHEEL: LESSONS LEARNED (PART IV OF IV)
In honor of the fact that my driver’s license is finally expiring after what seems like ages and since they didn’t just mail me a new one again like last time, I actually have to brave the DMV and a camera for a new photo (two of my least favorite activities) . Over the remainder of this week I’ll be sharing some of my adventures and lessons learned while behind the wheel. For Part I, which focuses on first car accidents and lessons learned, click here. For Part II, which focuses on the anticipation and impatience associated with the time right before you legally obtain a driver’s license as a teenager, click here. For Part III, in which you will learn that I have no sense of direction when it comes to driving, click here.
To wrap up this “Behind the Wheel” series, that has kept in line with the standard of over-sharing personal information that is the norm for this social-media ruled day in age, I’ll leave you with my lessons learned up until this point in my driving career.
LESSON #1:
Car Talks – The best (and sometimes worst) most honest conversations seem to happen in a car. There’s something about the feeling of privacy that the enclave created within a vehicle leads one to lose their inhibitions and make confessions or declarations that we might not usually be able to so easily impart upon others, were we to be in any other location or setting. Whether the car is in motion or at a standstill doesn’t so much matter; secrets are spilled, frustrations are released, and relationships are terminated (and/or sometimes salvaged)— all before either party exits the vehicle. Some of the best conversations I’ve had with friends have been late night car chats lit only by the blinking hazard lights (flashing to warn the other vehicles that it may be a while before the car will be hitting the road again). In fact, with some of my closer friends we sometimes make a habit of ending the night with a long car tête-à-tête. Some of these conversations can be credited for re-storing sanity or keeping friends off the figurative “ledge,” while others are of a more light-hearted variety that usually result in a re-capping the night’s (or day’s) events.
LESSON #2:
Vehicle to Vehicle Flirting – I rarely pay attention to other people in surrounding cars while I’m driving. Although I’m aware of what’s going on around me, I’m very often either working in my head or lost in thought. If you want to get my attention while I’m driving you’re either going to have to yell my name and/or wave frantically, or do something outlandish and hope that I happen to glance in your direction to see it. Just like every other girl who has ever been behind the wheel, I’ve been hit on by guys young and old at one point or another while in my car. The worst is when you are stuck at a light and all you can do is roll up your window and/or turn up your music, and yet they still persist. I’ve even been serenaded a few times by someone in a neighboring car. Those that know me know I really don’t like being hit on and will usually ignore it. I always wonder if that ever works on any girls? I don’t think any of my friends have ever made a love connection from one car to another at a stoplight/sign or while driving. If you have I’d like to hear about it.
Anyhow, the lesson I learned came in the form of a beautiful sunshine-y day in Long Beach, Ca. I was in college and as usual had a car full of my girl friends with me. We were heading back to campus, when one of them told us that the guy in the car next to us had been staring into the car for a while. We all turned to check him out and he was actually kind of cute. However, being about 19 and 20 year olds we decided it might be fun to mess with him and decided to all give him our sexiest glances. We weren’t ever those girls, but for some reason we all went with it. I think we were more silly than sexy (I really don’t think I even know how to be sexy), however because I was the driver he was concentrating on me, so I kept it up just to mess with him. I figured that after the light changed, I could speed up and be done with that and never see that guy again. The light changed and we entered into the Long Beach traffic circle. Now for those of you familiar with that traffic circle you probably know that it can seem a little intimidating the first few times you are in it, but after a while you get used to it. However, it’s still an area where you have to pay attention to the vehicles around you. Long story short, the poor guy ended up rear-ending the car in front of him because he tried to maintain eye contact with me while driving. I saw the whole thing and felt horrible. We all did. I wanted to go back and apologize, but we all figured that might make it worse and he’d had the choice to look away. I still feel awful and guilty anytime I think of that story. I hope the damage wasn’t major (it didn’t appear to be), I also hope that that incident taught that guy to keep a better eye on the road.
So although it’s not something I’d do anyway I will never ever flirt in a vehicle ever again. It doesn’t lead to anything good based on my own past experiences.
LESSON #3:
Chivalry – While this could refer to opening of car doors, etc. (which is in some cases alive and well), I’ll stick to providing some examples that revolve around car troubles. Be it the fact that I’m a female, or perhaps the fact that you will almost always find me in dresses and heels, or maybe I just look like I really need help in these type of situations? I can’t say that I’ve ever had car troubles without having people around who were willing to help, whether I needed their assistance or not. Yes, they are primarily male, but that’s who seems be better acquainted with the automobile. I’ve pretty much always had roadside assistance plans for all of my vehicles, so although I’m usually covered when it comes to qualified help with car troubles – we all know how long that can take at times to arrive, so the generous act of a willing-to-help-passerby is sometimes immensely appreciated and welcome.
Here are three examples where I encountered an abundance of this willingness to assist.
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Example #1 – Cracked Transmission: While I was still in college, I ended up cracking the transmission in my car while backing out of a driveway late one night. I fell off the curb, and hit the pavement pretty hard. All of us in the car figured I’d done some sort of damage, but none of us were sure what it was. The next day when I went to drive it, it was fine initially– but the longer I drove it, it began to get a little jerky. I had no idea what it was, so of course I called my dad (either he or my brother usually end up being my first phone call when it comes to car issues out of habit, even before boyfriends) to tell him what the car was doing and what had happened. He was in a different city so there wasn’t too much he could do other than tell me to take it to a mechanic and not take it to the dealer so that we wouldn’t get ripped off. So, in the meantime at school word had spread that I was having car issues and some of our guy friends and other guys I didn’t really know made an attempt at trying to diagnose the issue. I don’t know how familiar any of them were with car repair (they were quite the eclectic mix of creative types, surfers, regular college guys, etc.) , but I did appreciate the fact that they were trying to help. A couple of them did accurately say that it was the transmission that seemed to have a leak. I ended up taking it to Pep Boys which was down the street and having them diagnose it and sure enough it was the transmission. I ended up having to learn how to properly put in transmission fluid to keep replenishing the fluid that had been lost until the issue had been resolved. It was highly entertaining to have my guy friends trying to give me crash courses on common car problems and how to solve them during this whole experience, and this was obviously one instance when I really appreciated their efforts even if they really weren’t sure of what they were doing.
Example #2 - First Flat Tire: I think I’ve only had one real flat tire incident in my life (knock on wood) and I recall it vividly. I was driving on the freeway and all of a sudden, the road started feeling a little bumpy. My thought at the time was somewhat insolent and along the lines of, “Geez, they seriously need to re-pave this lane.” Then it got worse and all of a sudden I saw a stream of what looked like smoke trailing my car, and I realized my car was the one with the problem not the road. So, I had to maneuver my way from the fast lane to the shoulder of the road. I proceeded to call my dad and let him know what happened so he instructed me to get out of my car since I was next to the freeway, he didn’t want me to be in the car if anyone hit it and to call my roadside assistance. On that day we happened to be in the same town, so he said he’d head there as well.
I did as he said, getting out and proceeding to step to the other side of my car to a safer area to call roadside assistance. No sooner had I dialed the number when I turned around to see that 2 cars had already pulled over to see if I was ok. One was a car with three guys about my age (the driver thought he knew me and it turned out we did have friends in common as some of them rode motocross bikes together, but I didn’t know them), the second car belonged to a middle-aged gentleman.
They all volunteered to stay with me until roadside assistance arrived, as unfortunately none of them could safely change the tire as the flat was on the driver’s side and that was dangerously close to the freeway. So, wait with me they did.
A police officer pulled up to determine what the issue was, after this a series of events worthy of inclusion in a “Three Stooges” episode ensued. First, as the policeman approached us he ended up falling in a gopher hole and we all tried our hardest to hold back our laughter as he attempted to regain his composure and re-establish his sense of authority. As I was explaining that it was just a flat, and that I was waiting for roadside assistance to arrive a second policeman arrived, thinking maybe his buddy needed back-up.
Thankfully, the roadside assistance arrived finally followed immediately by my dad. Everyone else started to leave, since they weren’t really needed.
I can still remember the concerned expression that my father wore on his face as he approached me and my car. (more…)
BEHIND THE WHEEL: YOU HAVE ARRIVED AT YOUR DESTINATION (PART III OF IV)
In honor of the fact that my driver’s license is finally expiring after what seems like ages and since they didn’t just mail me a new one again like last time, I actually have to brave the DMV and a camera for a new photo (two of my least favorite activities) . Over the remainder of this week I’ll be sharing some of my adventures and lessons learned while behind the wheel. For Part I, which focuses on first car accidents and lessons learned, click here. For Part II, which focuses on the anticipation and impatience associated with the time right before you legally obtain a driver’s license as a teenager, click here.
Are you near a body of water? Do you see any tall buildings? Are planes flying overhead? Can you describe your surroundings? What is the weather like?
About a year ago or more, my ex-roommate and I jokingly and haphazardly came up with the premise for a new action genre film.. Obviously, we can’t give you all of the details and we’re sure that someone else has already thought of it as well or perhaps it has already been covered in a film—but they probably weren’t working with the level of confusion, exhaustion, and delirium that we were. I’m also fairly certain our imaginations could probably give theirs a run for their money. Actually, we’ll probably never develop it. So, if you feel you can do a good job with the basic storyline, it’s all yours. The general plotline involved being kidnapped via your GPS/Navigation system – I’ll allow you to piece together your own summer blockbuster from that.
This all came about due to the fact that my vehicle was at the mechanics– spending time as a temporary roommate with one of the original Dukes of Hazard cars–and I had asked her for a ride to some locations for work-related events that I had to oversee. Her navigation system proceeded to try to get us there via backstreets and what seemed to be alleys at times. If we didn’t find it so entertaining and weren’t too busy coming up with that idea and fleshing everything out by adding to the plotline with every mile we drove, we might’ve been more apprehensive of where we were being led as neither of us had ever been to this part of L.A. county. Eventually we made it to the site and it was one of multiple events that were going on simultaneously that I had to drop in at. Each event was located in yet another part of L.A. that we weren’t familiar with, leaving us continuously unsure if we were headed in the right direction.
How often are we actually headed in the right direction though? Overall in my life, I can’t say I’m necessarily headed in the right direction at all times, but I can definitely say that for the most part I’m headed in the direction I voluntarily want to go. Again, right or wrong may not always be completely obvious from the outset, but at least it’s my choice.
Now when it comes to driving, that’s a whole other story. I will openly admit that I have absolutely no sense of direction when I am behind the wheel, as I mentioned in yesterday’s Part II of this “Behind the Wheel” series that my younger brother got this gene, possessing an amazing sense of direction.
Sure, I can get from Point A to Point B without the help of a GPS/Navigation System; however just as easily I can get completely turned around in the most familiar of areas. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been lost in my life, often time resulting with a short trip quickly doubling or tripling the destination estimated arrival time. If we were in a court of law trying to verify this, I’d have to immediately declare myself as “Guilty,” due to the amount of friends/boyfriends etc. who have been witness to this that would in a heartbeat testify as well as provide incriminating depictions of the various times they’d been an unwilling accomplice to what a couple of my friends refer to as my “whimsical meanderings.” I’m not sure exactly where the whimsical part comes in as we don’t end up in some fantastic alternate universe. However, my saving grace is that I don’t really get bothered by these detours and therefore most of the time the “being lost” part ends up being so much more enjoyable than the “destination experience” that we were originally seeking. Unless, of course, we need to be somewhere by a specific time or are under a time crunch, then the experience takes on more of a hypertension-inducing fervor worthy of an “Amazing Race” episode than a leisurely drive in the countryside (confession, I’ve actually never seen that show and don’t even know if it’s still on – but in show promos they always appeared to be on a mission with a limited amount of time.). If there is no time constraint and I happen to get lost on my own, I sometimes actually enjoy it immensely as my life can sometimes feel so regimented and my days are constantly booked from morning to late evening that a slight disruption such as this can serve as a temporary respite from the go-go-go that I am usually immersed in.
I can’t even begin to tell you all of the stories of the various times that my destination has eluded me. Ranging from my only trip ever on the 91 Freeway, where I completely confidently stated that “in order to go West on the 91 Freeway you must first go East.” I don’t know if I’ve ever uttered words that were wiser, inaccurate yes I know – but still a very prolific statement if you ask me. Friends threatened to make t-shirts that said that, I’m still waiting for them to make good on that threat. There was also the time in college that I led a caravan of cars full of college friends to Valencia (or some other incorrect location) when our destination was Hollywood – don’t judge, I have no idea why everyone was following me to begin with. Then the most elusive location—my local “unicorn” or “loch ness monster” if you will– in Los Angeles of all, for some reason a few years ago I could never quite recall where exactly the Little Radio Warehouse was, despite the fact that we went there fairly regularly. It never failed, if I was driving I would completely blank out on its location. One day our adventure trying to locate it was so bad, that a guy friend that was with us finally became so fed up that he demanded to drive and so I was demoted to riding shotgun in my own vehicle.
Despite the fact that I think they are miracle-workers for the geographically challenged like me, I can’t quite let myself completely grow dependent on GPS/Navigation systems. I also hate reading maps. I like to say that I don’t know how to read maps; this is actually not really true. I can read a map (more…)