Down time in Des Moines

A year ago, I was preparing for my trip to Bisbee, which turned out to be one of the most productive weeks of my writing life. This year, I'm killing time in random cities, random hotels, and not preparing enough for my move to Chicago.

I did find out this week that I got the apartment (studio) in Buena Park, so I've been spending a lot of time on Ikea's website, googling "small room organizing," and reading decorating magazines. I think I'm going to buy this loft, which is big enough for a double bed, and make a little writing nook under it. I don't know what I'm going to do about a couch yet...maybe nothing. I know I am trying to move as little furniture as possible so I don't have to rent a truck and try to drive it through Chicago. Who knows, maybe I'll have enough cash left to buy one of Ikea's cute little loungers, too, and then I'll have somewhere for guests to crash. If everyone who says they're going to come visit really does, I'll have someone crashing every weekend until Christmas!

The BBQ thing is getting old. There's been a lot of drama and a lot of...I don't know what else to call it but bad karma. One of our crew broke his hand in two places, there were two awful storms last week and our whole tent blew over during one of them, we got a flat tire on our way to Iowa yesterday. It's just one thing after another. It's hard working outside: it's either too hot, too windy, or too rainy. We've had one or two perfect days, but usually I'm sweating my butt off or wearing a sweatshirt and chasing napkins around. And then there's the customers. I forgot how much I hate working with the public. A lot of people tell me that I'm a "people person," but I think I'm just good at pretending. The truth is, 90% of the people I've encountered this summer I wouldn't want to again. Is it so hard, really, to make up your mind while you're standing in line for 30 minutes so you don't have to stand at the counter going, "umm, well, do I want ribs or chicken?" And seriously, don't ever talk on your phone and make me wait until you're done. There are 40 hungry, cranky people behind you, and one tired, cranky person in front of you, and if you keep talking, we're all going to hurt you. One more thing and then I'm done ranting. If it's windy and you put your money/napkins/any other paper product on the counter, it's going to blow away. Duh. At this point, I think it's safe to say I will have no desire to ever attend another outdoor festival. At least not one where food is the main attraction.

The rest of the summer should go by pretty quickly, though. Maybe too quickly. I have 2 more weeks of work, then a week off in which I will pack and drive to Chicago to pick up my keys and drop off some stuff. Then I have to work 4 days, and then I'm off until Labor Day...but during that time, I'll be moving the rest of my stuff, driving home for my going away party, driving (or taking the train) back for orientation...you get the drift. The next six weeks are going to be rough. I guess I'll probably survive, though.

In the mean time, I haven't written any poems this summer, haven't made any submissions, and haven't started writing the article that I was asked to write back in May. So, hopefully I will be able to steal a few hours for writing before school starts. Hopefully. Speaking of...maybe blogging isn't the best use of my time. Huh.

Cook-Off Candids

Dear Readers, here are some snapshots from life on the road.

First, the day I got electrocuted. Someone should have reminded me that metal + water + power lines is not a good combination. Winston-Salem, NC:
Next, Valeria, our Russian front counter girl. She's 19, very smart and not lacking in attitude either. We share a hotel room on the road, where every morning she forces me to listen to Avril Levigne. Ugh. She taught me how to say bitch in Russian. It's suka. That's phonetic spelling, by the way.

Last time I did the BBQ thing, I met Al Gore. This time, JoDee Messina. I was actually pretty psyched. She said her necklace smelled like pennies. Then she kicked ass on stage. I know country music isn't really cool these days, but this chick can sing.
My hotel room in Kansas City was on the 26th floor. This is the view from my room.

Also in Kansas City: Tami dances circles around Brisket Bob during the Los Lonely Boys concert. Tami is my favorite.
And the legendary Brisket Bob. He's been flipping ribs (and formerly Brisket, obviously) for 20-some years.

Do you miss me, Blogland?

I'm in Kansas City today, killing time before the cook-off opens. It's unusal that I have a day where I don't have to be at work by 9:30, so I'm enjoying the downtime. In a minute, I'm going to go sit by the pool and work on my ms. Right now, I'm on the public computer at the hotel bc I got tired of lugging my laptop around and only having five minutes to check email a day. Nobody told me that the cook-off opens at 4 here. I would have brought it if I'd know.

The pics over at Mary's (too lazy for links, you all know Mary) of the BOR Poetry Editors' meeting are making me want to cry. I'm so sick of missing all the good stuff.

So...I'm probably going to hell for this, but I may be the only person in the world who is happy about the flooding in Cedar Rapids. Don't get me wrong--my heart goes out to those who are impacted by this disaster--but it means I get a very badly needed week off. During that week off, I'll be hanging out with the family, working on poetry, and posting some pics of my crazy summer. Hopefully I'll remember to snap some of the flooding Missori river on the way home. Pretty crazy.

A Post with Substance

Here's the situation, folks. I'm sitting in a hotel room in Jamestown, NY, with two guys who are watching the game/Southpark and giggling like a couple of 12 year olds, and I'm trying to listen to Eva Cassidy on my headphones, but Southpark is louder, and if I turn up the headphones anymore, my eardrums will explode. It's not a bad situation, really, but I'd rather be home. (Oh, and I'm the only girl on this trip except the manager, so I'm rooming with a boy. Oy.)

Today, we hit 71 at 7am, pulled in around 11, and were finished setting up by 2. That means I got my regular daily pay for about 3 hours of work. That's a good thing. The bad thing is I get paid the same regardless of how much I work, and a lot of days, it's 9am to 12am. Sometimes only 10 to 10. I knew what I was getting into, don't get me wrong, but 27 is a lot older than 18 and I sure don't have the energy I did back then.

So this is set up: we put up a tent which is about 10x15, then add 20' worth of overhead signs and 2 six foot wings. We unload the box truck--4 gallon boxes of BBQ sauce, boxes of baked beans that weigh about 20 pounds each, etc. Last week, we had to load the freezer trailer first, which involved taking 80 cases of ribs out of one freezer and putting them into another. What I'm trying to get at here is that this is not the desk jobs I'm used to. I'm whipped. And my legs are covered in bruises. Today I walked into the trailer hitch and have a knot about the size of a softball just above my knee. Tomorrow, it's supposed to be almost 90, and if the humidity today was any indication, I'll probably be melting around 3 p.m. Yay.

So, sometimes a girl just needs to whine, right? I guess I do a lot of that. I'm a little frustrated because everything is happening so quickly and I don't have time to process or deal with most of it. There are little bits of sanity, too, though. Like making dinner last night on the grill and sitting on the porch after. Like finding time while I'm on the road to work on my chapbook and take some notes for reordering the full length ms. Reading a Stephen King novel when I don't want to think. And the people I work with, although not anything like the people in the other parts of my life, are good people. Kind, hardworking people who like to have a good time. I'm trying hard to appreciate what I'm going through--as my mother likes to tell me, it's all about attitude--but I do miss the kind of summer I've gotten used to since starting grad school: three or four hours of reading every morning, afternoons writing, evenings going to class or hanging out with friends. I suppose, in a sense, I'm paying for that now, since the loan money is gone. (Which reminds me, I need to do my FAFSA for the fall!) At any rate, I'm in this thing until labor day weekend, so I guess I better buck up and get used to it.

Where I'll Be

Karen, this is for you:

Jamestown Rib Fest

Back on the road tomorrow at 6 am. Better finish packing.

On the Road Update

Oh, how I miss my normal life! I'm in Erie, PA this week and I gotta say, this is a strange little city. Sorry to anyone who lives here, but people are odd!

Anyhow, there's really not much to tell, and although I've had my camera with me, I haven't taken any pictures yet. Mostly, I just stand behind the counter and sell food, or sit behind the trailer and smoke. Booorrrring.

On the upside, I've been reading John Ashbery's A Worldly Country on my breaks. It's the first poetry I've had time to read in a while, so my brain is going a little crazy with it. I haven't read a lot of Ashbery before, just the anthologized stuff, and I didn't realize how difficult it would be. I'm enjoying the thinking, though. Thinking is good.

Looking forward to being home for a little bit this coming week. I'm 6 days into 9 days straight of working 10-10 (except Tuesday, I only had to work 12-5) and ready for a break.

BTW, friends, you should give me a call when you're bored. I have lots of time to talk!

BBQ Queen

Well, it looks like I'm going on the road for the summer. If you like ribs and you live in the midwest, chances are I'll be selling them in a city near you. I'll post the schedule when I have it, but I'll definitely be in Naperville, Il., Cedar Rapids, IA., Indianapolis, and all over Ohio at some point this summer.

I'm super-psyched, especially since I've been neurotically checking my account balance and wondering how I was going to pay my rent for the summer, but I'm also a little bummed that I won't be spending my last summer as an Ohioan in Akron.

In other news, the last of the papers are graded so I have a brief hiatus until Wedneday when I collect portfolios. Tomorrow is all about poetry--revise, revise, revise. I'm super excited.

Whatever

Feeling blah today. Maybe because of the weather: rain, wind, ice. And it's just going to get worse. I'm so ready for spring--and spring break. I need some time to gather my thoughts.

All the programs I applied to claim that they will announce their decisions this week. I hope that's true. I'm very tired of waiting, although my gut tells me that my one yes is my only yes. But then, I am a true pessimist, and things often go better than I expect. I forget who said it, but this is totally me: "The nice thing about pessimism is that you're constantly being proved right or are pleasantly surprised."

*

I can't decide what I should do for work this summer. Here are the options:

1) Call the temp agency, spend my summer like this.

2) Look for a serving or bartending job (which didn't go very well last year)

3) Call the bbq company I worked for the summer after high school and see if they'll take me back.

Traveling for rib cook-offs is both the most and least appealing of the options. On the upside, it's great money, there's tons of interesting people on the rib circuit (like the guy to the left--Butch, not Bobby Flay (not to mention meeting celebrities like Little John and Al Gore)), plenty of down-time for writing and reading (esp. while driving to and from shows), and I'd get to see the midwest from the back seat of a diesel pick-up again. On the down side, I'd smell like a fire pit for 3 months, would have to stand on asphalt for 8-12 hours a day regardless of the weather (95 and humid? fun! 55 and pouring? even better!) and would be pretty much held hostage during the events because everyone has to be there from open to close even when it's not busy. Now, all of this could be pointless if they don't need any more help, but if they do...am I too old for this stuff? I was exhausted all the time when I was 18 and doing it, and now I'm older, in worse shape, and a smoker. Pathetic (not that I'm pathetic, but it's pathetic that I'm making work decisions based on the fact that I'm a lazy ass couch potato). So, what's a girl to do?

It would make for interesting blog posts, though, that's for sure.