end of Day 3

wwwwwwwwwowwwwwww.

it is real now. Today i realized why I'm doing this.

Many amazing encounters so far. Steps of the Met, a train to
Beacon. staying on Emilio's kitchen floor. Charlie's ride in
exchange for a drawing of his baby. A Coney Island hot dog in
Scranton PA- the electric City. Talking my way into the Hilton in
Scranton. A drawing in the Northern Light cafe (drinking good
espresso i might add) avoiding the rain and working on the drawing
for the room i stayed at. The GM of the hotel Charlie's ride to a
truck stop in PA. Vanessa's Ride to the next Truck stop.

which leads us to this afternoon-- I was stuck at a Flying J rest
stop on the 80 in Pennsylvania, sitting there pondering how to meet
people, and more importantly, how to find someone going west toward
State College (where Penn state is).

Up roll these 3 bikes. two Harleys, one vespa-- i felt a bit of
comraderie at that. One looks like a pretty tough biker ( turns
out he used to roll with the Pagans). Anyways the man on the vespa,
David, hears of my plight, and exclaims, 'both my kids are artists.
they went to RISD. we'd love to help you out.' next thing i know,
he's bribed another truck to take my bags, and i'm on the back of the
Harley with Mike. We roll out, with Ian and Paul (sound and DP) in
the back of the pick up, traversing some of the prettiest farm country.

I was struck at how unreal this whole thing is. How unbelievably
kind people have been.

succumbing to fate.

Beat

First day of shooting backstory in Santa Monica.

I am tired.
Beat.

The reality of what we're about to undertake just sunk in. This is
going to be more of a challenge than I thought. I'm just not used to
being in front of a camera. The amount of energy it takes to do this
is something i'm not used to. It is a bit akin to teaching and
lecturing i suppose.. I hope I'll get more comfortable as time rolls
on.

It was also strange talking about ones self.. on camera.

Also going without good coffee with be a challenge.... to say the
least. And and for the record I will not be a patronizing a certain
national monopolistic coffee chain. Scoff if you will, but i will try.

Last minute thoughts

As time grows closer to departure, my thoughts drift to what is to
come. my mind tends to swirl toward things that one has no control
over. While I know the most important thing to do now is rest before
such a trip, I'm busy seeing friends and tying loose ends.
I'm trying not to think of the idea of 'winning' or 'losing', as
this seems foolhardy thought. there is so much chance involved in 2
separate trips across the country, our outcomes will be the product
of these encounters, rather than a measure of each artist's
abilities. But that said, it will be more interesting to watch if
there is a plot or a comparison. lucky I don't have to think about
this too much.

I'm pretty much ready.. a bit of prep work and such before
sunday.. looking forward to showing claire and the west coast crew
around LA for a bit before i head to NYC.

I can't believe in one week i will be on the road!

Art Race Blog

one week till i depart for New York. it is very real now.

getting my affairs in order this week. who knows what is coming on
the road.

k