the calm before

so today was my last full day in cleveland
before my adventure begins

my mom left for a sewing convention
so she hugged me like four times

my dad and i bottled our beer
he seemed concerned about how
it will be drunk before going bad
since i am leaving
there were only 23 22 ounce bottles
i told him it would be ok

for lunch my dad and i picked up
my uncle andy
and we ventured east
to hot sauce williams on east 123 and superior

they have a polish boy there
that two television shows have proclaimed
to be 'the' cleveland food
figured i should have one
it was sloppy and good

but what should have been a forty minute round trip
took about two hours
nothing like getting lost in the ghetto

i had dinner with rochelle
at the fairview tavern

it was the first time i have seen her
outside of a bar when she was working

rochelle is a big reason for this trip
she said i was the biggest whiner in the whole world
i asked the whole world
and she admitted she hadnt met everyone in the world
so it was possible someone was a bigger whiner
but she doubted it

i dont really care what most people think of me
i guess the short list would be
my mom
dree
and i suppose for some strange reason
rochelle

rochelle defies stereotypes
guess that is why i like her
that it would be nice to have an age appropriate friend

but i dont like the person
rochelle sees

and there have been times over the last few months
when i didnt like
what my mom and dree envision me as well

when i said i was leaving
but seemed excited that i would do it
but in quieter moments
dree joked i wouldnt make it past indiana
and my mom said i cant see you camping

i want to be someone else
i cant see that changing if i stay

maybe i find what i am looking for on the road

so my plan other than the start to see my siblings
was to make no plans
i made a tentative plan of approach
but no specific dates to be there

however i got a facebook message
that joe purdy is playing in los angeles
on sept 28 at the hotel cafe

i bought a ticket

so i guess the journey will be how i get there
over the next 19 days

oh and the joe purdy buy reminded me
i forgot to give rochelle
the joe purdy cd i made for her