Joe on the road

I'm posting now because my imminent trip is too close to postpone a post any further and all those last minute preparations are pouring in. Most of you're probably not aware (partly because I simply haven't told you) that I am going to be driving on my journey from California to the city of New York. For reasons that sum up to, most of my few posessions are actually still with my old residence in Santa Fe and it's better to fly, I fly to Santa Fe and only have to drive from there to New York, but don't think this eliminates much from a daunting and tiresome (even if your the whole time comfortably reclined) trial of of crossing much of this gigantic continent. I was just watching the movie The Motorcycle Diaries, which bears absolutely no resemblence to my what my trek will be except that a lot of ground will be covered. There isn't the slightest possibility that someone will someday make a movie out of my particular cross-country road trip - partly because mine will be so incredibly boring and partly because driving a large truck full of stuff to a new home so that I can further immerse myself in the rather conservative and generally more backward looking world of academia is not going to help foment revolutionary ideas and lead me toward the spiritual crisis that will help bring about my desire to help the neglected and downtrodden. Though maybe it will convince me of the not quite so inspiring and uplifting (but possibly equally important) lesson that, despite the limits of my possessions I quite possibly may still have too much stuff, which I guess, in some circuitous way could lead me to some pivotal revelation that all men and women should abandon the blind passion for accumulation, throw aside their shallow middle class values and minimize their possessions and thereby minimize the hours of labor devoted to accumating money for the purpose of accumulating possessions, time that could be better employed cultivating the body and the mind and the soul. And I could actualize the spirit of these revolutionary ideas by breaking into middle class houses and burning their faux-leather couches, and cheap knick-knacks, graffitiing their walls and stealing clothes from their overstuffed closets. But even if I somehow go down this incredibly unexpected path in my life (since most likely I'll myself settle into a middle-class house, accumulate stuff and waste my life writing tired, boring articles), I think the most that any movie of my revolutionary proclivities would possibly cover of this journey would be a shot of me stepping into this truck with the suff already packed and waving goodbye to some extras followed by a shot of the truck speeding by on a highway towards the sunset on a generic, middle-america farm plane, because this trip will be the most boring trip there can be.

Actually I think I just spent a whole lot of words saying what was simply stated in the last clause of that last sentence "this trip will be the most boring trip there can be" which would of course lead the reader who is reading this to assume that I should have gone back and deleted all of that rambling (and I would banter, "you could've just skipped over it"). But it's too late. I'm speaking in real time and my words can't be taken back once they've left my mouth. I'll see you all on the other side, barring the chance that I find some free hot spot on the way and can find the free time to say something endearing or am compelled by an unfathomable desire to torture you by describing my trip (probably with the simple words: "I was right. Nothing has happened. Call Jose Rivera. I've decided the screenplay's canceled.")