And so it is over. The first I-5 DIY Queer Lit Conference concludes with a Filet-O-Fish at the Castaic McDonald’s. Wow. I had thought to end the conference in Gorman, where I started. Kind of cyclical, right? But as I passed Gorman, I didn’t feel right about it. Too soon. So I drive until it […]
5:45 pm Buttonwillow Up until now, I have been faithfully stopping and writing at every stop I have made. I have tried to convey what I felt, to bring people into the conference. All along, I am aware I am the only one in this I-5 DIY Queer Literary Conference on the road, but the […]
And, yes. Because I had to come back here. Lost Hills. I had not intended to come here. We had so many good times. I didn’t want them to end. Coming here was an acknowledgement it was over. And it’s over. It’s over. Shit. I had intended to come here, triumphantly, with the road behind […]
If you ever want to run into Asians on the road, go to a table in the shade and look for the coolers and packages from Costco. There’s like a completely different vibe between the folks who bring their own food and the ones who stop at the Del Taco. Here, you get more families, […]
Yes yes yes I know I am going to leave, but soup is mostly liquid and caffeine is a diuretic…. Time to leave Santa Nella. I hate the voice inside my head rushing me out. I hear the voices on the road, as well. I have seen women rushing into the bathroom, sometimes, girls in […]
This is what I have been waiting for all trip. Andersen’s Home of Split Pea Soup, because nothing goes with late June on the I-5 better than steaming bowl of split pea soup. Sure, go ahead and roll your eyes. But for me and a whole bunch of “Pea Soupers” in the Sunday queue, a […]
So here is the Love’s I wrote about yesterday. The one I said was in Lost Hills. It is in Santa Nella. There is a Love’s in Lost Hills, too, but this one has the Del Taco. And it sells cowboy hats with shiny jeweled bands. And I realize how important this Love’s is because […]
I teach online. And today, before I head out to do more queer work, I am reading a stack of essays from my students. Not really a stack. A virtual stack. I am thinking though, of how this conference, is also trying to define itself in a different type of virtual way. What makes a […]
I’m Nobody! Who are you? Are you in Santa Nella, too? There there’s a pair of us-oh well! We publicized, you know. How weary to be a Queer Writer! In traffic, like a Frog Then think about one’s coming out And put it in a Blog!
Oh Lathrop, California! How I counted on you! There, just a dozen miles or so from Stockon, how I wanted you to be this magical place at the end of my trip north–past the 580 into a part of the 5 I drive upon so rarely it seems like intergalactic space. I did my best; […]