Back to the Apple

Headed back to New York tomorrow.

Oh jeez.

Maybe I’ll go to [Wallse](http://omnivorousfish.com/node/17)!

Do I sound excited?

Music City

Well, here I am, in Nashville, TN.

I’ve had a decent meal and two decidedly mediocre ones, though lunch today seems promising. As always, keep the suggestions coming. There are 2 starbucks, but not nearly enough. It’s funny how much I hated them when they first appeared in New York, and now they’re the only consistent symbol of civilization I can name in the country.

So far, I can tell you that if you’re stranded in downtown Nashville, Merchant’s is a safe bet. And, somehow, there are NO cute boys hanging around the American Apparel, which makes me wonder: if there is an American Apparel, and there are no hot guys in it, is it still there?

Happy Halloween, by the way! I used to give great spooky-themed dinner parties on halloween. We’d make pumpkin soup and carve Jack O Lanterns and I’d make some weird cookie, like the typically moribund *ossi dei morti*, the bones of the dead. It’s a crunchy meringue cookie that’s bound with almond flour and partly dipped in chocolate. It looks like a dried bone. Sicilian people are crazy, but the cookies are great.

Hope you’re having a good Holiday.

America the Beautiful

San Rafael Swell

In 1893, an English teacher named [Katharine Lee Bates](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Katharine_Lee_Bates) went to Colorado by train and was so overwhelmed by what she saw, she came down from the mountains and wrote the poem that would go on to become America the Beautiful. All I can say is it’s a good thing she didn’t make it to Utah, because her head would have exploded.

It’s over. 3 days, 2800 miles and- I’m happy to say- only 4 advil. Here’s a little chart of what got eaten by mileage. This was supplemented by Crunchy Peanut Butter Clif Bars and the old trucker standby, sunflower seeds. Sunflower seeds? Yup, they’re sort of neutral, interesting to chew, and when you’re body is digesting, you’re more alert. So, when you’re getting a little hazy on the road, munch on something with a lot of fiber in it. It’s better for you than coffee from a truck stop.

I know you’re all going to die when you see what I ate, but I challenge you to drive from New York to LA in three days and find something decent to eat that you haven’t brought with you. I don’t know what the final odometer reading was, but I’ll post it when I go out to the car.

Thanks for all the phone calls and text messages along the way. They really helped. Special thanks, also, to Jim Dale, for reading the 2nd and 3rd Harry Potter books to me. Have a good Middle Management Barbecue Day!

South Orange, NJ 0 Oatmeal Cookies
Lamar, PA 194 Hot dog with kraut and hot peppers
Broadview Hights, OH 432 Panera Chicken Sandwich
Elkhart, IN Starbucks Latte and brownie
Geneseo, IL 895
Walnut, IA 1174 McDonalds hamburger
Lexington, NE 1437 Arby’s roast beef
Wiggins, CO 1690 Banana
Aspen, CO 1912
Salina, UT
Washington, UT 2378 Wendy’s chicken sandwich
Yermoca, NV 2638

California, Here I Come

rte66

As I mentioned before, I’m moving to Long Beach. Well, guess who’s going to need a car in LA. Tomorrow morning, before most of you are awake, I’m getting in the old truck and heading out to the wild blue yonder, solo. In a perfect world, this trip would take weeks, and meander around every ham hock, watermelon slice, hot dog and pie in the lower 48, but I’m taking the express route: NY, NJ, PA, OH, IN, IL, IA, NE, CO, UT, NV, CA (I’m proud of myself, I only had to look up Iowa). Four days, three if I get nuts, with a fifth day built in to the schedule just in case.

This time next week, KCRW and KPCC will be begging for my money, and WNYC will be a distant memory, however fond.

You haven’t heard much from me due to psychotic renovation so I could sell the place in New York. For those of you who’ve seen the Before, here’s the after:

foyer1foyer2livmission control