Tonight I asked the twitter community where they would travel if money was not an object. The picture below is the response I received.

Now personally, if money were not an issue, I’d be in Melbourne, Australia right now.

If you didn’t get to answer on twitter, comment with your answer!

Jack
I also Listen

The following was written on June 23rd, 2008 and posted on July 06, 2008

So here we are. In an unfamiliar town, in an unfamiliar apartment. Dial-up internet only. The library offers internet, but with no proof of residency, we are only allowed 15 minutes a day. This is a little crippling, as you can imagine. But we’re working on getting that proof of residency, and should have better access next week.

I would like to take a short moment, before I really get started on this to thank all of the great people that have let us stay with them here in California.

When we first arrived we stayed with @daisyavenue and @markdavidson. Michelle was a most gracious host. We stayed there for almost 2 weeks. Thanks for having us and treating us well, Michelle.

Next, we stayed with @MONEKE for right at 2 weeks. Moneke was a generous host, and we enjoyed being there very much. We met Moneke for the first time at TweetUp LA, and after a little talk it was easy to see that we were kindred spirits. Thanks for everything, Moneke.

Then we took the train back into L.A., where we stayed with @ophelia for about 4 days. Ophelia treated us like we were her own children, and still does. Ophelia even helped us find the apartment we are in now.

And the apartment we are in now, subletting from Shannon Kelley. I can’t thank Shannon enough for this. He barely knew us, and still was willing to take us in. Now we just need work so we can repay Shannon for his kindness by getting that rent check to him.

Since moving in here on Sunset Blvd, we’ve met nothing but great people. We are less than a block away from a bar called “The Short Stop,” whose bartender, Joe, is ever so gracious. The regulars there are awesome, and they don’t mind if we come in for the company, since we can’t really afford to drink at the moment.

And so, to Michelle, Moneke, Ophelia, Shannon, and Joe, this is for you:

Of those we’ve mentioned,
And those we’ve forgot,
You are surely
of the first lot.

***

This city is so very strange. It’s so easy to lose all hope and sink into a spiraling depression, but you soon find yourself spiraling back to the top with an “I want it all, and will get it, whatever it take” attitude.

-Jack
I Listen.

Los Feliz, CA - The Happy Place

So here we are.  After a medium length train ride, and a short subway ride away from Lake Elsinore, Ophelia picked us up at the Western Station and brought us to her home here in Los Feliz.  So, we can stay here til Sunday or Monday, but here’s where the fun starts.

We are totally out of funds.  Taking the Metro today took the last of what we had.

Secondly, it looks like we are going to be in L.A. for a little longer while we try to work out some sponsorship options, so we no longer have to run solely on donations.  This means that we need a place to stay and day jobs fast!  

I will be talking with someone in the next day or two about subletting an apartment, but this is not set in stone yet.  So, we may have to find a place to stay on Monday.

As you can see, we are in a bit of a bind.  We need to find jobs, an apartment, and funds to stay alive until that first paycheck comes.  Please comment, or email me directly if you are in the Los Angeles area and can help with any of these.

As always, if you can’t help in the ways stated above, pass this link around and help us gain awareness.

Thanks,
-Jack
I Listen.

Hunee had a lot of positive feedback on the last blog I did for her, so here is the sequel:  The Many uses of Twitter: Part 2.  I hope you like it, sis.  It has been my pleasure, as always.

-Jack.
I Listen.

“Welcome to Dirt.”

The first thing we heard about this place when we came down one night a few days back.

“Welcome to Dirt.”

So, nearly a week later, we sit, still unsure exactly what to write about this interesting place. The lay of the land is amazing and the views are stunning. From the ground view, you really can’t see much in the way of shape and size, but from the Look Out, a little building clutching the side of the mountain, your mind is almost instantly blown with the sheer size and space of this part of Southern California. It’s like something out of a water color painting.

I have a little problem with anxiety and the ride up and down the mountain was a bit tense for me, but well worth the stress just to see the view. It blew me away. The sun settled down behind the summits and all that could be seen was a golden splash of light on the distant ‘hills’. These mountains are something that Jack and I haven’t seen or experienced before. In the East where we live, the mountains are mostly plateaus and cliffs with massive valleys and hollows. Here, it’s as if the land was shaped and painted and put down as an art piece. It’s a magical view that belongs in a museum.

We’ve tried to capture the area as best we could, but without better equipment we fall short of the intended goal to show you what we see. The lake itself is a massive thing, ‘cleaned’ once every five years. In the last eight years, Moneke has heard of six bodies being found in its depths. That’s not even two people a year so it must be a nice lake to still swim in.

If these mountains could talk, they would speak of the sunrise, the mountains covered by the low hanging clouds. They would tell of the sunset, letting the light dance on the hills and valleys. They would tell of new moons and sudden rains. If these mountains could talk, they would speak of memories and fun times, of horrible histories and unsure futures. If these mountains could talk, I’m sure they’d laugh at me.

You have to be here to get the real feel of the place and its people. Walking down the dusty streets in the harsh sun, riding in a car with tinted windows half down, the heat climbing by the hour. And when the sun set, sitting on the back porch, eyes to the sky, watching the glittering stars in the heavens.

Lake Elsinore is a good stop if you’re traveling through. Take some time to ride up the winding road through the mountain and sit outside the Look Out. Take in the view, stare far into the distance and try to see what we saw. Focus on the why of this area, the hard reality that while the houses below you all look nice and taken care of, it probably is another story once inside. That there are still the homeless and abused, the drug addicted and the lost. When the sun sets, remember the far off mountains, dark and looming in the far spaces of vision and comprehension.

We left no evidence of our passing as we finish up our last days in Lake Elsinore. All that remain are the memories as our paths crossed with the paths of the people who live here. Our journies intertwining as we moved deeper into the heart of this small place on Earth.

Everyone we’ve met here has been amazing, and has shown us nothing but kindness. If only for that brief time, we were part of a group that hadn’t known of our existence before hand. Behold the power of Twitter and the push of a Will not broken under the strain of internet connections. These are no longer just internet friends, these are people that we have eaten with, spoken to at length about everything from religion to sex to politics and life in general. We feel like one of them now. And sadly, we must continue on. No matter the people we meet, the connections we make, there’s more people out there, more fun to be had, more chances to connect those we meet, and in the end, more memories to add to the nostalgia that we’ll feel, looking back on these adventures in the years to come.

Goodbye Lake Elsinore. Thank you for the memories.
~Scarab & Jack

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