down by the river: beer, tattoos, country music, pick up trucks

most humid day. you had to slug your weight a few blocks before having to retire on hot steel benches as you gathered enough stamina to make it to the next block. came to a large roman building made of marble with a rolling, grassy lawn that had 2 ten foot shuttlecocks planted in the grass. also scattered throughout the lawn were perfectly pruned shrubbery, red walkways, and fountains. it reminded me of alice in wonderland. it was the kansas city art museum. checked it out.
when i left it started to rain. the rain was hot and not refreshing, as i am used to. went to a restaurant called Oklahoma Joes Famous BBQ. It has been winning the best bbq in the world since 1992. The best part about it was that it was in a gas station.
got back and made mixed tapes for our car ride to the Huzzah river. Huzzah is an expression. HUZZAH!

filled up the tank with gas and bought .49 cent fountain drinks. we passed the worlds largest rocking chair, vast sprawling forests, armadillos, turtles, badgers, deers, and other exotic animals dead on the side of the road, and the meramec caves. we passed towns called vienna, vichy, cuba, and versailles. apparently here versailles is pronounced (ver-sails). after a while down a dusty road and passing a town with a population of 200 we made it to the river. there was a group of folks lounging about all sprawling like in the sun. a bunch of guys came in pick up trucks and parked right by the water blaring the top ten of country music. actually there was only two or three radio stations, a country radio station, a baseball game being aired and the news which was about australian minimum wage. their entire family was present, aunts, uncles, granddad, and even the wee ones. A fire was started while children jumped off the bridge into the water. there were horse flies out to get you when you emerged from the water. caitlin found a crucifix on the bottom of the river. the water felt great and we swam, lounged and had beers until sunset.
we were able to stay at caitlins brothers place, even though he is lancaster california working with nasa, his girlfriend lives at his house in a town called Rolla. we ate a a mexican restaurant and had cheese burritos, cheese enchiladas and cheese with a side of cheese.
there was a dog that had to be at least 15 years old named "baby girl" at caitlins brothers house. it was no larger than a shoe. watched some good old american programming and went to bed.
woke up to rain and thunder that rattled the entire house. i thought windows were going to break it was so loud. the house is next to a baptist church which is next to an alcoholics recovery centre. had breakfast at a walmart and started our journey home.
ive been reading and am now about to go for a nightly bike ride. caitlin has to work at 6am. im going to sleep in and figure out what to do before she gets back and we start another drive, this time to St. Louis.
oh i saw a hard core mormon in the grocery store.

pretty bitch and contemporary art

there is an insane cat in this house who chases flies, runs up to your lap, throws up daily. he is white and has bright pink skin and a pink collar with diamonds; his name is fag toast.
i went to a large flea market and found booths full of old, stereotypical racist black paraphernalia. went to a costume shop and watched don try on a superman costume. went to a target and bought something. Returned it before getting back into the car. Caitlin and I went to see woody allens new movie staring larry david. i like their outlook. walked around empty parking lots looking at fire flies.
i walked into one of those fly tape traps and had to rip out a bunch of hair and the strands that stayed secured to my head are drenched in some form of glue.

rode caitlins bike around after cutting up my jeans and shirt, making it bearable to exist outside. i sweat too much. my body isnt accustomed to such a humidity; it still thinks that sweating will cool me down when it evaporates off my skin. well here it just lingers and makes its way down to your fingers.
checked out the contemporary art gallery here. huge section on joel myerwitz.
there was an elementry school field trip at the gallery on guided tours. let me tell you after the bike ride to the gallery accross town, ripping my shirt, pants, hair covered in glue and really, really sweaty i must have looked like a piece of contemporary art, because i was getting all the looks from these kids, not the shit hanging on the walls. actually i have been getting alot of looks from the locals, i must look to foreign or something to them. an old woman with short hair and a walker called me a pretty bitch as i peddled by her at her bus stop.
ate a place that apparently is one of the top 300 places to eat before you die. its called edens alley.
picked up more film. i have taken about 20 rolls of film so far. the majority of those are 220.
made some stuffing for dinner.
i was bit by a giant spider while sitting on the couch. it got my twice, on the arm and stomach. it really hurt and swelled up to about the size of loonies within minutes. i got nervous as there are some poisionous ones here and immediately took allergy pills and doused the bites in whatever lotions i had. my arm then started to go numb and pink. i sat outside and watched the bite.
however, nothing happened.
i went for a long walk, theres rabbits, birds, bugs, strange swooping trees. there is this bug in almost every tree that sounds like dial-up internet connection.

im going to get the flag shaved into my hair

after relaxing in chicago and seeing explosions in the sky play to a near sold out crowd in some ancient hall, i made my way to the heart of america. good bye ellen and joe! the best couchsurfers yet.
i took a double decker bus through the midwest, stopping at really interesting gas stations; it was kinda like coney island : bearded woman, men without teeth, knarled hands; entertaining and educational! Went through saint louis at 5am, not able to see anything and slept the rest of the way to kansas city. I stepped out of the bus into a suburban rainforest, where the humid moisture soaked everything instantly and felt like i had bronchitis and was breathing with a humidifier.
I was sitting in the lobby of a museum that boasts to have americas oldest and largest water wheels, off steamships that went around the lakes. I sat here and waited for caitlin to pick me up after work.
if my high school all grew up and lived in one city this may be it.
i have two dollars in my wallet.
I have already been approached by the police for reading on the sidewalk.
There was a farmers market i checked out. lots of artifical psychedelic pharaphenelia, amish cheese, and red necked workers selling barbequed legs of various animals.
After caitlin picked me up, along with her roomate we snuck into a swimming pool at a near by apartment complex and swam hearing tnt blowing off in the background a few hours early.
after dinner we went to quality hill to watch the fireworks. I can't believe how much shit gets blown off here, even babies are grasping onto sparklers. I cant imagine how much sulphur gets drained into the american skies on the fourth of july. god bless.
there are fire flies everywhere at night, or they could just be roman candles that went haywire.
woke up today and walked down main street to the liberty memorial. maybe i am not patriotic enough to fully enjoy it. i enjoyed observing the types of people who did enjoy it rather.
locals seem nice, i went back to the market where i got off the bus the first day and apparently i made quite the scene because several people recognized me from the day before, asking what i was doing there again.
whenever i tell people i am from canada they instantly talk about health care.
i bought the largest apricots i have ever seen, they are nearly the size of grapefruits.
walked down to the misouri river and saw vasts lots of empty chairs and tents set up from the previous night. there are left over fireworks everywhere.
one of caitlins roomate bought sticky fly tape to trap flies and other bugs, after one night the two foot strip was vibrating with black shapes and had to be changed.