ATL Day Two
Hello friends !!
I haven't had as much luck with the Internet or been on the buses as often so please pardon me being a little behind on the postings!
On our second day in Atlanta, Thursday the 7th, I woke to read and found that the weather in Atlanta was inclement and overcast and so it seemed it was only beautiful to impress us for our arrival! Rebecca drove us to the Marta station to say our goodbyes and to stay with our other Atlantean Couch Surfing host. Rebecca is an Atlanta native and her apartment is nearby to her families' house, she was borrowing her mother's Smart Car, which I was never in before and so I was excited! As it turned out... Somehow I had failed to remember that I was to be cramped in the trunk with the luggage, feeling like so many circus clowns (picture below)! We said our goodbyes and I genuinely felt that I was departing with a long time friend which is a peculiar and also wonderful sensation to have among people one has recently met!
After a short ride on the Marta (a wait during which an elderly man offered to sell me a small burgundy leather jacket draped over his arm for $34) we arrived near our second host Maxwell's luxurious and pristine student apartment! Max is a jovial Atlanta native, who, along with his room mates Eric, Mala, and Jane, attends school at Georgia Tech. Milo the foster care bunny was also living there but wasn't in school! (He however was adorable and I played with him and took some pictures, which I've shared... You know the rest)!
Max had to run off to work but he already had a pot of coffee brewing for us and suggested we help ourselves to anything we might need! I took a much needed shower and came out to find Alexa talking with Maxes' suite-neighbor Jason, an excitable Greek fellow who drank coffee with me and listened to Alexa play a song on her piano and bells, after he left for class; we had some helpings of fruit and read and passively watched game shows while we tried to plan what to do with our gloomy day!
Oddly enough, we decided to go explore The Oakland Cemetery which took us a while to find! The cemetery opened in 1850 and is 50 or so acres of plots, hosting the first Mayor of Atlanta, hundreds of Confederate Soldiers; many of the original Jewish and black communities as well as a segment allocated for the affluent and another expansive field specifically reserved for the paupers who, tragically, had not even a grave marker.
The sheer breadth of the place and the history and gorgeousness of the stone and marble work and the eerily large mausoleums in the overcast atmosphere of the day really set an enveloping tone. If you are ever in Atlanta, this is certainly in the top places to visit I have shared a number of photos below! There were phone tours that elaborate on the history of the deceased which I will supply the phone number to: 1(678) 36510232. When it asks you for numbers of the sites just pick anything between one and ten! Something interesting for you to do.
As the obscured sun sunk lower and the wind whipped harder and the rain poured heavier we decided to return to Max's! He was making Ramen noodles in some sort of peanut and soy sauce and it was delicious! We told him we would play for him, and after declaring he would invite everyone he could, he did precisely that!! Jane is half Chinese and so when we saw a Chinese New Year Party in the lobby around the corner, we decided to go! As it turned out, it was just a congregation of disappointed but excellent people hanging around a sadly empty bowl of mediocre luke-warm free dumplings. Shamelessly, I scraped out the meat and noodle contents of the dumpling serving bowl onto my plate and consumed greedily; as all good Americans do!
We returned to the apartment and as the clock ticked towards nine or so, more students piled into the apartment, until, by nine thirty, there were 15-20 that filled the place with diverse and sociable chatter as we me everyone! Max was a really willing host with, unsurprisingly due to his charm and radiant kindness , a vast number of people from all over the country and the woe! Jason the Greek was enamored with the label maker and proceeded to make everyone name tags! Alexa was dubbed Alexa Surfer and I Bruce Pristine! Jason also taught us the phrase " what the hell are you in my house!?" in Greek, which I will butcher a legitimate attempt to type, so I will give you my vague phonetic interpretation here:" teekanis stow speeti moo" which is an interesting phrase to learn on a couch surfing tour!
Alexa and I then sat in the living room and perform some songs to a blessedly attentive and intrigued crowd, that, as a nice turn actually asked questions in between songs! We met so many great people who signed my tour journal and bought CDs and took stickers and had great questions or stories and words of encouragement! This is easily one of the highlights of the tour for me and I hope to come back!
Eventually the crowd dwindled down, and a strange thing occurred as midnight turned to Friday the 8th, which is significant due o my best friend Mike Gaiser's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!) I happened to serendipitously meet a Long Island born friend named Robert who confessed he liked my music due to its intent and integrity, and for those same reasons, his favorite band was Rise Against. Interestingly, this is also the birthday boy, Michael Gaiser's favorite band! The world is peculiar!
Mala and Jane and Eric and Max Bid us good night most of them also said goodbye and sweetly thanked us, as they would have left before we had to get up to at 10 to catch the 12pm Megabus to Mobile Alabama, it felt really special and solemnly brief that we were only there as long as we were with Max and Jane and Eric and Mala they are sincerely great people! Alexa and I slept soundly.
I woke up and showered and read, then enjoyed a cereal breakfast of Honey Bunches Of Oats and Cheerios amid morning conversation with Mala and smiled widely at Maxes' generously sweet note full of support and enthusiasm for us as people and performers! The feeling is certainly mutual!
We headed to the bus and hopped on a long ride to Mobile! A stop which exceeded our expectations greatly due to, fascinatingly and miraculously again, the overwhelming kindness of other human beings in the face of a series of misfortunate circumstances! But alas I am falling asleep as I type this on the bus to NEW ORLEANS!!!! We have a show at The Big Top tonight and I ought to get some rest, I only slept three hours past night! Also, significant; today marks a week since I departed from my tour! The support from my friends and family and knowing there are a few members of both, that comprise The AllOne Family (a sincerely important and real community that is hosted by my heart) that are keeping up with these rambling a of a traveling man!
I love and miss you all, onwards and forwards!
- AllOne
I haven't had as much luck with the Internet or been on the buses as often so please pardon me being a little behind on the postings!
On our second day in Atlanta, Thursday the 7th, I woke to read and found that the weather in Atlanta was inclement and overcast and so it seemed it was only beautiful to impress us for our arrival! Rebecca drove us to the Marta station to say our goodbyes and to stay with our other Atlantean Couch Surfing host. Rebecca is an Atlanta native and her apartment is nearby to her families' house, she was borrowing her mother's Smart Car, which I was never in before and so I was excited! As it turned out... Somehow I had failed to remember that I was to be cramped in the trunk with the luggage, feeling like so many circus clowns (picture below)! We said our goodbyes and I genuinely felt that I was departing with a long time friend which is a peculiar and also wonderful sensation to have among people one has recently met!
After a short ride on the Marta (a wait during which an elderly man offered to sell me a small burgundy leather jacket draped over his arm for $34) we arrived near our second host Maxwell's luxurious and pristine student apartment! Max is a jovial Atlanta native, who, along with his room mates Eric, Mala, and Jane, attends school at Georgia Tech. Milo the foster care bunny was also living there but wasn't in school! (He however was adorable and I played with him and took some pictures, which I've shared... You know the rest)!
Max had to run off to work but he already had a pot of coffee brewing for us and suggested we help ourselves to anything we might need! I took a much needed shower and came out to find Alexa talking with Maxes' suite-neighbor Jason, an excitable Greek fellow who drank coffee with me and listened to Alexa play a song on her piano and bells, after he left for class; we had some helpings of fruit and read and passively watched game shows while we tried to plan what to do with our gloomy day!
Oddly enough, we decided to go explore The Oakland Cemetery which took us a while to find! The cemetery opened in 1850 and is 50 or so acres of plots, hosting the first Mayor of Atlanta, hundreds of Confederate Soldiers; many of the original Jewish and black communities as well as a segment allocated for the affluent and another expansive field specifically reserved for the paupers who, tragically, had not even a grave marker.
The sheer breadth of the place and the history and gorgeousness of the stone and marble work and the eerily large mausoleums in the overcast atmosphere of the day really set an enveloping tone. If you are ever in Atlanta, this is certainly in the top places to visit I have shared a number of photos below! There were phone tours that elaborate on the history of the deceased which I will supply the phone number to: 1(678) 36510232. When it asks you for numbers of the sites just pick anything between one and ten! Something interesting for you to do.
As the obscured sun sunk lower and the wind whipped harder and the rain poured heavier we decided to return to Max's! He was making Ramen noodles in some sort of peanut and soy sauce and it was delicious! We told him we would play for him, and after declaring he would invite everyone he could, he did precisely that!! Jane is half Chinese and so when we saw a Chinese New Year Party in the lobby around the corner, we decided to go! As it turned out, it was just a congregation of disappointed but excellent people hanging around a sadly empty bowl of mediocre luke-warm free dumplings. Shamelessly, I scraped out the meat and noodle contents of the dumpling serving bowl onto my plate and consumed greedily; as all good Americans do!
We returned to the apartment and as the clock ticked towards nine or so, more students piled into the apartment, until, by nine thirty, there were 15-20 that filled the place with diverse and sociable chatter as we me everyone! Max was a really willing host with, unsurprisingly due to his charm and radiant kindness , a vast number of people from all over the country and the woe! Jason the Greek was enamored with the label maker and proceeded to make everyone name tags! Alexa was dubbed Alexa Surfer and I Bruce Pristine! Jason also taught us the phrase " what the hell are you in my house!?" in Greek, which I will butcher a legitimate attempt to type, so I will give you my vague phonetic interpretation here:" teekanis stow speeti moo" which is an interesting phrase to learn on a couch surfing tour!
Alexa and I then sat in the living room and perform some songs to a blessedly attentive and intrigued crowd, that, as a nice turn actually asked questions in between songs! We met so many great people who signed my tour journal and bought CDs and took stickers and had great questions or stories and words of encouragement! This is easily one of the highlights of the tour for me and I hope to come back!
Eventually the crowd dwindled down, and a strange thing occurred as midnight turned to Friday the 8th, which is significant due o my best friend Mike Gaiser's birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!) I happened to serendipitously meet a Long Island born friend named Robert who confessed he liked my music due to its intent and integrity, and for those same reasons, his favorite band was Rise Against. Interestingly, this is also the birthday boy, Michael Gaiser's favorite band! The world is peculiar!
Mala and Jane and Eric and Max Bid us good night most of them also said goodbye and sweetly thanked us, as they would have left before we had to get up to at 10 to catch the 12pm Megabus to Mobile Alabama, it felt really special and solemnly brief that we were only there as long as we were with Max and Jane and Eric and Mala they are sincerely great people! Alexa and I slept soundly.
I woke up and showered and read, then enjoyed a cereal breakfast of Honey Bunches Of Oats and Cheerios amid morning conversation with Mala and smiled widely at Maxes' generously sweet note full of support and enthusiasm for us as people and performers! The feeling is certainly mutual!
We headed to the bus and hopped on a long ride to Mobile! A stop which exceeded our expectations greatly due to, fascinatingly and miraculously again, the overwhelming kindness of other human beings in the face of a series of misfortunate circumstances! But alas I am falling asleep as I type this on the bus to NEW ORLEANS!!!! We have a show at The Big Top tonight and I ought to get some rest, I only slept three hours past night! Also, significant; today marks a week since I departed from my tour! The support from my friends and family and knowing there are a few members of both, that comprise The AllOne Family (a sincerely important and real community that is hosted by my heart) that are keeping up with these rambling a of a traveling man!
I love and miss you all, onwards and forwards!
- AllOne
Aw :) Can't wait till you come back!
ReplyDeleteAlso I can definitely tell you wanted to be an English teacher haha.
I'm back!! :)
Deleteamazing story- i am glad you enjoyed it. wish i had been able to meet you in person. Rich
ReplyDelete