Not dead, just lazy

I haven't had much to talk about lately (at least here). But I was working on an extensive picture filled entry about my Mexican vacation a few years ago (with good links and all) but it is taking far longer than I thought. Probably b/c I haven't worked on it for a few weeks.

OK - I lied. I do have stuff to talk about. I took and finished my real estate class, took and passed the class test with a wide margin, took and failed the state test by a VERY FUCKING SMALL margin, and took and PASSED the state test with a margin they wont tell me about. So - YAY - I am a realtor. Well not actually a realtor because I am not a member of the national association of realtors yet, but I am a licensed real estate salesperson and that is all that matters now. I am working part time at the old job and part time as self employed. I got my first lead today about a $400,000 condo. Wow. Wish me luck. I called and left a dorky message on his machine and after this post (which I thought was going to be really short but once I get going, its hard to put the stopper in), I am going to drop him an email. It would be great if this went through, but I am aware, very much so in fact, that most don't. Got my business cards, and am trying to finagle a company computer and really cool cell phone - you know - the kind that does other non phonesy stuff.
I haven't written here much for a few reasons.
-I got an I-pac for Xmas that enables me to surf on the couch using my neighbors wireless internet thing. The man works in IT and his system is open. I cant believe it, but it like it. My cool little I-pac is great for browsing but it wont let me enter blogger or google which really sucks.
-I have been avoiding my place of employment like the plague and that is where I would usually post from
-I guess its mostly the ipac. I have a computer that lets me read everything (my true passion) but wont let me enter blogger so I only come here when I am at a real computer that I never go to anymore b/c I have one I can hold in my hand now.

ok - this was going to be the original entry:

The key is: bold = states where I've been; red = states where I've lived; italics = the state where I live.

Alabama / Alaska / Arizona / Arkansas / California / Colorado / Connecticut / Delaware / Florida / Georgia / Hawaii / Idaho / Illinois / Indiana / Iowa(I think - reeaally long road trip) / Kansas / Kentucky / Louisiana / Maine(drove there just to smoke a joint one night - we started that road trip in key west so have a shot of the southernmost point and "Welcome to Maine" on the same roll) / Maryland / Massachusetts / Michigan / Minnesota / Mississippi / Missouri / Montana / Nebraska / Nevada / New Hampshire / New Jersey / New Mexico / New York / North Carolina / North Dakota / Ohio (don't really remember but seeing as where it is situated and where I have been I don't know how I could have missed it) / Oklahoma / Oregon / Pennsylvania / Rhode Island / South Carolina / South Dakota / Tennessee / Texas (if 2 months counts) / Utah / Vermont / Virginia / Washington / West Virginia / Wisconsin / Wyoming / Washington D.C.

Wow - that's a lot more states than I thought. I love that I slacked a lot in my college days and followed phish and took a road trip at every chance I got. I got to get a look at our country that I otherwise never would have. I drove though each of these states but have also flown to some. Some I drove though w/o stopping but I still saw them so it counts. Others I drove though w/o stopping at night, so I am not so sure if that counts. I saw many national parks. I saw all of them while on a 2-3 month road trip with the following itinerary:

Start - Richmond, VA to New Orleans, LA to Corpus Christi, TX to San Antonio, TX, to Austin, TX. This is where I lost my posse of chicks. We stalled in Texas for way too long and ran out of many so we went to Austin because college was starting and we were all restaurant people so it was easy to find a job. Thing is Ellen found a job as kitchen mgr of the Magnolia Cafe which she loved so she wanted to stay in Austin. Shannon got a job working with clay that she loved also. They ditched me but no hard feelings cuz I guess I left them first. The original purpose of the road trip was to get Ellen to grad school in Chicago. Big derailment. UT Austin is a pretty good school so she decided to stay there for that reason also and Austin is like a cooler but bigger Richmond.
It was strange. The bar in Richmond where everybody knew our name was hole in the wall and the first bar we stopped at in Austin was also called hole in the wall. We could see the Austin counterparts to all the Richmond characters there. Strange. We ended up renting a room from a cook at hole in the wall. Stranger. We also became friends with the whole staff that night. A waitress even took us out back and got us high.

So I left Texas by myself. While I was doing this road trip thing my boyfriend was simultaneously riding his BICYCLE across the country. Once I was on my own we decided that we would meet in Seattle and ride (in my car) back to Richmond together. It is a miracle we are both still alive. We didn't really get along. Ever been w/ only one person in a car and tent and not speak for 2 whole entire days? I have. Not fun. The silence was broken in New Mexico when a dog just like our Misha was in the highway. I have this thing that if I see a dog on the road with a collar on it that I have to do all that I can to return it to its people. We eventually found her vet and brought her there. It was so cute. I knew it was the right place because she didn't want to enter. Wow. Distant memories.
After I left Texas I headed straight north to The Badlands. Don't know why, but I really had to go there. Don't regret it at all. Would love to return. I met some cute Quaker guys from Vermont there and some guy that had been there for a week and was expecting a ride to come get him in another week. This was a very primitive campground with the most amazingly cleaned and not bad smelling pit toilet. But that was it. No shower. And that dude was there for weeks. I actually envied him it was so beautiful. But dusty. I lost my voice so my parents made me stay in a Hilton in Rapid City, SD for 3 night while they fed-ex'd me a cell phone so my mom could sleep at night. I think this was 1997 so I was 23. Not that young but hey, over protective parents.
From Rapid City I saw the Black Mountains which contain Mt. Rushmore which you pretty much have to go see because that is all you see for the week you are driving to Rapid City - little Mount Rushmores. Everywhere. That actually sucked. Because you know - I've seen it before and I prefer trees. Wow - I cant believe I found this place on line b/c I totally forgot what it was called but I went to Cosmos (hee-hee like my cat) Mystery Area which is actually quite cheesy. It is one of those places where balls roll uphill and water runs uphill and other strange things that seem to defy the laws of gravity but it all seems to happen because the house is built on a purposely extremely uneven foundation. The walls and shelves and floors and everything is not right so it tricks your sense of perception. There is no mystery area. Also caught a glimpse of Crazy Horse Memorial under construction. That was better than Rushmore b/c I hadn't already been flooded w/ images of it. On a side note, I find it interesting that the Rapid City web page didn't say anything about Crazy Horse but it did have a link to the Cosmos "Mystery" Area. I wonder if they have an agreement w/ Rushmore not to link it? Doesn't make sense b/c if I remember correctly they are REALLY close to each other.

Wow. I'm pissed here. I think I wrote for an hour w/o saving and I lost it. No no good lead into the following. Perhaps I will rewrite other details of the trip that stick in my head but for now this is it.



The Blue Ridge Mountains are my favorite (I was quite young when I saw the Rockies so I cant really consider them). I loved White Sands National Monument also and the Painted Desert. I love the memory of trying to buy Newport Light cigarettes in Kansas and having the person say "whets a Newport?"
"a cigarette"
"never heard of it"
I didn't get to smoke or see a Newport untill I hit California. I saw gas prices at over $2 in the northwest coast and kissed the pump when it was 85 cents in Texas three weeks later. We saw a large Buick in a tree while leaving New Orleans. Camped at Mustang Island State Park for two weeks in Corpus Christi (Wallmart capital of the world), Texas (where you can drive and camp on any beach!) I remember being in a tent by myself in the middle of the county somewhere in a wooded campground reading a Patricia Cornwell book about bodies being found in the woods and being freaked out by all these weird noises that turned out to be cows. I held Babe's giant blue balls.

I hope I will add to this entry in the future but I have to crap out now b/c I am just too pissed b/c of all the work I just lost. I wouldn't even post but I haven't posted in ages so I feel kinda bad. I hate abandoning projects. Something I do quite often unfortunately. Well, in all honesty to my self, I have gotten much, much better at that.

I just realized that I started this post saying how I wanted it to become more of a vacation blog and w/o even knowing it, I already started it. I think I want to keep this one as is and publish another strictly vacation blog for my friends and family to see. The blog where I wont talk about waitresses getting me high. Not that its a secret to anyone who knows me. Only this is.