Raw Beast

Well, I had an unexpected holiday hiatus with family. It’s taken me a couple days to regroup, but with only a week left I’m running pretty fast.
After three weeks of driving on small highways I finally stumbled onto some hitchhikers. I picked up the three of ‘em and head to England. I camped with them for the night. They were pretty much alcoholics so we stopped at a store to pick up enough beer for the night, the morning and the dreaded dry-Arkansas-Sunday. We found a field with enough brush to keep us out of sight and we drank and talked and ate and slept under the stars.
The group consisted of a 21-year-old couple and a fellow of unknown age whom they had met in Jackson. All had traveled for over a year and the 21-year-old guy had been going since 16. They told me stories of train hopping and rehab and jail and cool spots throughout the country.
I woke up the next morning feeling content that my trip had regained some steam. The splitting headache from the Beast Light could be ignored for the moment. I played with the dog, shot some video – the Arkansas sky was almost colorless: a wash of sand colored grass and clouds.
After dropping the folks off I hightailed it to a Subway for a sandwich. I’d avoided fast food up until then, but the hitchhikers talked so much about the big money made panhandling, the strict diet of fast food and their personal highlights of cuisine. Coupled with the fact that the Beast had left me feeling raw, the talk brought me to a heaping footlong. I washed it down with about 36 oz of root beer.
I hightailed it to Texas.
Stopped in Texarkana – a happily seedy town mentioned by the aforementioned states. Grabbed a dirty hotel room to edit in but I got snared by technology. Apparently my version of Final Cut is not up to snuff on HDV 24p. Damn shame ‘cause the shit looks good and I’ve got several new interviews.
I’ve sprinted to Dallas now. I don’t mean to stay long, but I wanted to see it. The whole merging sprawl of Fort Worth and Dallas has fascinated me since I saw it on a map. I’m enjoying the fact that I’m in Texas. So as to “dance with the devil” – well, at least that’s how it’s stirred up in my mind.
I’ll head south again shortly. Right now I’m in the Cosmic Café – a new agey, apparently Hindu influenced place. It’s really done up with décor – a certain unabashed commitment to color and iconography that you don’t see much in the Northeast.
I’m so impressed with the fact of a warm city in late November that I can’t complain about a thing. Maybe the eight-hour drive to get south of Houston is a bit of a bear to think of. But I’m listening to the Sound and the Fury and awfully engrossed. SoHo here I come.