Yesterday morning I recieved a phone call from one of my best mates Felipe asking me if I remembered that I told him I was going to drive to Albany with him that day.
Obviously he doesn't know me that well if he thought I would remember something like that.
I had to cut jamming short because you can't really afford to miss an offer like that. The deal is that we drive down, he pays for fuel, we stay in a hotel which he pays for and we drive back the next day - which he pays for.
So I bought my pillow and my video camera and we set off to find what destiny awaited us.
We drove the wrong way out of town - which was to be expected - so we actually ended up leaving an hour later than we planned.
On the road, girt by fields of yellow medows under a canopy of blue sky I started feeling an almost forgotten feeling of peace. It's about a five hour drive to Albany down the Albany Highway so you have good time to talk and ponder.
It was almost magical. I was Che Guevara and Felipe was my sidekick the talking donkey.
We both got a lot of things off our chest that day. It's amazing how such small things can cause stress in your life, and how these stresses can become almost a companion.
Worries.
Worries about unemployment.
Worries about lack of money.
Worries about time going by.
We bought magazines, and in one of them there is a competition. The competition was this:
Create a Joke starting with -
3 Romans walk into a tavern,
insert punch line here.It took us one hour, but we came up with one.
3 Romans walk into a tavern, and on the floor they see their great Ceaser wrestling with a lettuce leaf. It takes all three of them to part the Ceaser with the piece of vegetable and to calm his nerves when one of the Romans finally says
"Oh great Ceaser, why is it we come in here to find you quarraling with this lettuce?"
The Ceaser replies
"I'm trying-ta Sieze-A-Salad"
*insert drum roll and crash here*
Yeh, comedy gold. See Sieze-A-Salad sounds like Ceaser Salad. Get it?
Get it?
What? Think you could come up with better?
We ended up staying in a motel that costed only $50 for the both of us for the night, which had no soap of any kind but had two toilet roll dispensers in the toilet. The beds were so uncomfortable that I only got about an hour worth of sleep.
The drive back the next day was extremely peaceful. We decided to take the long scenic route back.
Coming back, as strange as it sounds I honestly feel like I have been gone for over a week. I half expected my letter box and email be full of week old mail. Thats got to mean something.
From the car trip I feel I am one step closer to realising something that will make me a lot happier.
I think everyone does what makes them feel worthwhile. I create music because it makes me feel like I'm important to the world. There are enough money hungry social stature climbers in the world who want to work rediculous hours for whatever reasons they might have. Maybe they like the suit, maybe they like the feeling of being "above" other people, I don't know. I think one more would make it too crowded.
I don't live in a time of depression, I'm extremely fortunate to be able to pursue what I really want to do without the fear of starvation or homelessness. Even more fortunate to have a girlfriend who loves big fat meaty side-burns.
I just hope my girlfriend and my moustache can learn to live in peace. I think they could really hit it off if they just give it a chance.
I'll keep my fingers crossed, but I won't hold my breath.
