The Oregon Trail

Our story begins on August 23rd, 2010.

Or… it’s supposed to.

Due to an unexpected flurry of delays, disasters, fuck-ups and frustrations, our story actually begins on August 24th... when RC and I loaded her precious little Toyota Echo (affectionately named Beastie) for bear, and set off on our cross-state adventure.

We left the Valley around 1:00pm, after making one last stop at our favorite local ice-cream shop. We were excited. Especially after the previous days hardships, we were eager to get on the road and find out what the future held in store for us.


Now, for anyone who lives in Southern California, but maybe hasn’t traveled North of the Valley along Route 5, allow me to be the first to tell you what to expect...

Desert.

That’s it. There is nothing else.

Just desert.

Some more desert.

Some orange groves.

A Bond villain’s hideout.

His evil scheme to steal California’s water supply.

This thing.

And more desert.

We spent the day listening to music, laughing, bantering, bickering, and going through all the different phases of Road-Trip-itis:

The Happy

The Pissy

The Bored

The Tired

The Restless

The Sofuckingtenseyouliterallyvibrateatahigherfrequency

And back to the Happy again.

As time wore on, we realized the ride was taking longer than we'd expected, and we began to worry we wouldn't make our planned halfway point. So, we had to cancel our visit to RC's cousin's place in San Francisco, and we drove on.

Eventually we passed through Sacramento,

which had these buildings

and this place.

And still we drove.

Past the slumbering Walgreens giant.

Into the sunset.


Beastie reached 100,000 miles.

And still we drove.

We stopped at a motel in Redding, CA around midnight. It was our designated halfway point, but the amount of time it had taken us to get there made us worried we had miscalculated our entire trip. How much longer would the next day's drive take us? Would we even reach Portland as planned?

We emptied the car, giving Beastie's shocks a much-needed rest, and settled into our little motel room. Within an hour we were passed out.

One day down. One to go… or so we hoped.

Our next day of travel was marked by brighter spirits…

...greener pastures…

...and the promise of…

...Portland.

Only 362 miles away. We were already two thirds of the way there.

The change of scenery from when we left the Valley was amazing.

Suddenly, there were trees! And...

Yeah.

Eventually, the road hit an incline. We began to climb, and before we knew it…

...we were in Oregon.

To our left, we saw this…

And to our right, we saw this.

Heh.

Well, no matter. We were in Oregon now and we felt safer already…

…what do they mean Runaway Truck?

Like, it was angry at its parents so it decided to leave home, or…?

No Parking? Who parks there? Why would somebody park there? Do people park there??

Okay, so there’s a danger of runaway trucks on this road! No problem. Noooo problem at all. They’re considerate enough to put up all those signs and build a ramp for it, so that’s encouraging, right? I wonder what one of these runaway truck ramps looks like anyw--

Holy shit, that’s a pile of rocks. They’re going to stop a runaway truck with a pile of rocks. Honey, let’s get off this mountain now please.

GAHH!!!!

Get back on the mountain! Get back on the mountain!!!!

And on we drove.

Eventually, we got some sage advice from one of our fellow road warriors.

We reached the Portland area by late afternoon, were settled into our hotel room in Beaverton by early evening, and immediately began our search for an apartment.

We got a discounted rate by booking the hotel room for a full week, but we would need to find a place to live by September 1st. We found one that would be ready for us by August 31st. Sometimes things just work out.

A week later, we were settled into our new two-bedroom apartment (which cost 2/3rds what our tiny one-bedroom in Chatsworth had).

We emptied the car, transforming it from a beast of burden…

...into a happy Beastie.

And we looked at what our efforts had wrought.

And it was good.

To be continued… (or so we hope)

Face it, Tigard... You just hit the jackpot!

We have arrived.

More soon.

Gone to Oregon.

Be back soon!

Cheat Week #4

No, I haven't forgotten the blog exists, we've just been so wrapped up in... well... wrapping up our time in California that there's hardly been any time for anything else. I know I promised to update at least three times a month but I figure under the circumstances my loyal readers (all four of you) (hi, Mom) will forgive me a bit of lag.

Okay, enough groveling, I've got something for you!

BLOG!!!

Patrick Rothfuss is the writer of a novel called The Name of the Wind. It is a fantasy novel, which will make some people balk, but those people are poo-eaters, because it is one of the best stories I have ever read. Ever. The dude is a natural storyteller and his book is packed with humanity, humor, mystery, suspense, joy, sadness, and a realism that should easily help anyone overlook the fact that it takes place in a fictional world.

Seriously, go read it.

Also, read his blog.

He updates once weekly and always writes with humor and honesty. He is an unabashed geek, and he loves talking about the art of storytelling and how bizarre it is to be "All Of A Sudden" a well-respected writer (TNOTW was his first book). Dude is as interesting as the stories he tells. Give 'im a looksee.

Cheat Week #3

Another week closer to the move and we're starting to pull our hair out a little, but that's okay. A little stress is all part of the adventure, right?

In the meantime...

AUDIO DRAMA!!!

The Leviathan Chronicles is, simply put, the coolest fuckin' audio drama you're ever gonna hear. Which isn't to say that there aren't many equally worthy audio dramas out there for your listening enjoyment -- if there weren't, my Cheat Week grab bag would be drastically shortened. It's just that, of all the series out there, this one isn't just the most ambitious, it's the most ambitious and successfully executed.

Part audio book, part radio drama, The Leviathan Chronicles is an epic science fiction adventure, at times comparable to the best of Tom Clancy, James Bond, Nelson DeMille, The X-Files and The X-Men. It tells the story of a research scientist who discovers a secret family legacy that places her between two powerful factions of super-powered beings and the government agency sworn to bring them all down. Created and written by first time author Christoff Laputka, listening to this series is like experiencing a serialized big budget action adventure film of Michael Bay proportions (but much more intelligently written), all without needing to open your eyes.

I first discovered the series last year during my sophomore obsession with audio drama podcasts (a person needs SOMETHING to listen to during those boring work days). I was hesitant at first because I don't typically like audio dramas that tell their story through narration. I'd only heard it done right once, in the legendary Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy radio show, and no one since had managed to do it even close to that well. Leviathan surprised me, though. Its "production values" were impressive -- a full cast of professional actors, professionally mixed, and a damn good soundtrack -- and the story and characters were intriguing. I stuck with it, and I'm glad I did. The narration only chimes in when necessary, and adds valuable detail and atmosphere to every scene.

Listen to Episode 1 here!

(though they're also available on iTunes if you'd like to go that route)

The full 25 episode first season just recently wrapped up, and they've got a pretty ambitious interim season planned out while they record the rest. Of course, ambition is pretty much the name of the game with these people, so it's no surprise. I would suggest giving it at least two episodes, as it's obvious they were still finding their feet and figuring out what works and what doesn't in the first episode. After that, I'm sure you'll find yourself as enraptured as I did.

Hope you enjoy!

Cheat Week #2

So, Cheat Weeks are going to be a little more frequent in the coming months as RC and I prepare for our grand exodus from sunny SoCal in August. I had hoped to have more full entries stored up before then, but dem's the breaks of a life in progress; it is rarely, if ever, predictable.

Luckily, I have no shortage of other people's work to sling at you while we throw our lives into upheaval. Speaking of which...

TV SHOW!

Thief was a six-episode mini-series that aired on the FX network back in 2006. It starred Andre Braugher (of Homicide: Life on the Street fame) as a career thief and family man whose double-life is thrown out of balance when struck by a personal tragedy. It featured a talented cast, beautiful cinematography, sharp writing, wonderful music, and it won Braugher his second Emmy award... so, naturally, it vanished from the face of the Earth after its initial airing. Neither hide nor hair was seen of it on store shelves or the web until last year, when it was brought to that beautiful bastion of internet entertainment, Hulu.




I first sought the series out as a fan of Braugher's work on Homicide, but I quickly fell in love with its style and story. This is not like the shiny, gimmicky crime dramas of network television. It's harsh, visceral, honest, and engaging television. One of the best shows to air in the last ten years. And now you can watch it for free! Gotta love Hulu.

Watch it here!

And when you're done, join me in clicking my heels and clapping my hands until the people at FX are finally smart enough to release it on DVD.

(The show was rated TVMA for language, violence, and sexual situations.)

Geeks of Doom Article: A Game of Thrones vs. The Walking Dead

The article I wrote for Geeks of Doom about the upcoming A Game Of Thrones and The Walking Dead, from HBO and AMC respectively, just went up!

Geek shows have gotten more recognition in recent years than they ever did in the past. Once upon a time the height of genre television was the Star Trek franchise, which, while always intelligent and ambitious, was still shunted by society into that niche of fandom reserved for the obsessive and the dateless. Thankfully, with the success of shows like Lost, Battlestar Galactica, and True Blood (and we’ll just ignore the unjust deaths of shows like Firefly, Dollhouse, and The Sarah Connor Chronicles for the moment), genre television seems to have entered into a new golden age, much like comic book movies did ten years ago.

Two of the most recent — and, it could be argued, most anticipated — such shows share a unique mission statement, despite their vastly differing subject matter. Both are adaptations of decidedly adult material, from mediums often given the short shrift in live-action television. Both will attempt to subvert genres that come heavily burdened with the preconceived notions of the common audience. And both feature a surprising pedigree of creators who are dedicated to their success. Those two upcoming shows are AMC’s The Walking Dead and HBO’s A Game Of Thrones.

Read the full article HERE!