I lost it because I didn’t know where it was. I didn’t know where I wanted to be so I left. I went to the mountains to not ride my bike there, same as at home. Drove to San Francisco, ran out of gas on their bridge, then got gas and left without visiting the … Continue reading “Travels With Charley” at home on your lap
So now back to Europe, Switzerland to be exact. It’s Christmas Day and I’ve decided to climb the foothills of a mountain to perch somewhere and reflect on the full year. I packed some bread, wine, and calamari in American sauce, my go to for a growling stomach and bored headspace. The foothills were open … Continue reading Switzerland – The Other Fellow First
Now that I had arrived back home it seems I would now be able to move on with my life, maybe go back to school, get a job - rather than lay around Albuquerque trying to fit in with punk rock artists but falling short by drawing help with rent from a few Marilyn Manson … Continue reading Home Again
I haven’t left the boundaries of Michigan for more than five days in over fifteen years and I have no plans to do so. Writing about my trip to Europe is really reliving my glory days when I was more spontaneous, adventurous, and brave. Rome was the most glorious of all places I’ve been because … Continue reading Rome – Bending the Rules
As a grown-up runaway I found out what “state of mind” means in America. The first person I encountered upon crossing the state line into Michigan was a woman opening a door for me saying rather directly and without question “your dad lives in Michigan…” There were no children around, I wasn’t hearing voices, it … Continue reading Home II – Kindness As A State of Mind
I headed north towards Colorado, stopping in Taos where I got half a haircut for free because I wouldn’t let the butcher finish the job. After several years of free flowing hair I shouldn’t have stopped at a barber shop staffed by old men who probably nip the bottle between shavings. I mean in the … Continue reading Home I – Delaying Fame
Did you know that morning glory grows out from the cracks of sidewalks and buildings in Athens? I only know this because a Brit strolled up to me asking me a slew of questions about where I’ve been, then determined I am from Michigan, and showed me how to seek and process and consume the … Continue reading Athens – Introducing Hypnagogic’s
The train clattered down the coast of Greece towards the South Peloponnese with seemingly loose rails as we managed tight curves upon cliff tops. I wondered how in the hell would we make it to the beach without rolling down the high, steep hills at a fierce angle following the train engine, whipping the caboose … Continue reading Greece – Embracing Conflict
Albuquerque was an enigmatic artistic place. So much in fact that the city dwellers cared more for the homeless individuals style than the homeless individual cared for their own boundaries and how to fashion their presence from public spaces. We were in awe at the library within a maze of books when a character not … Continue reading Albuquerque II – Calling It By Name
I am here to tell the truth so that when I look back on my life I don’t regret that for over half of it I was numb to the fact that I can write well. I am writing what I know. Whether I am describing a structure that surrounds me or the construct of … Continue reading Albuquerque I – Exploring Change
Buzzing around Chicago on public transportation with the blues again, finding ways to get by on stockkeeper wages, was not how those students at the University of Chicago existed. I used to play this game at Central Michigan, my alma mater, where I would know what the teacher was saying as they said it, as … Continue reading Chicago II – Connected By Entertainment
Chicago is the city where I was just a seed in a wheat field being swayed by wind, swirling within golden waves of a million clusters which would one day be milled into bread. Why not? Bread and wine filled me up quite a bit on my travels. After my backpacking trip to Europe, which … Continue reading Chicago I – The Color of Boredom
It’s fitting that twenty five years ago around this date on Thanksgiving I was in Ireland away from my family. If someone told me twenty five years ago I would one day have a family of my own I wouldn’t have been surprised. If that same person told me I was going to be battling … Continue reading Ireland II – Self Discovery and the Courage to Know
So with happiness in my heart I hopped onto a Ferry headed to Cork, a coincidental name. It seemed appropriate enough, since I didn’t drink wine too heavily in Paris, beer would be okay for me and cheaper, grainier, more filling. The boat was definitely going towards my destination because the shore had become an … Continue reading Ireland
So I had peered over the edge into the belly of conflict between my imagination and fear of brutality. It was time to move on to another city, a place where one has to pay to pee but where you easily make up for that when purchasing day old bread. It’s strange that I did … Continue reading Paris
So as the jokers would want, I began to listen and watch at a tertiary level the bazaar that was before me. I was not an active participant nor was I applauding. I was enjoying the whole experience as an outside observer because that is where I was coming from, out of my normal self. … Continue reading Amsterdam II
There came a point when I had to stop doling out wine and bread for sustenance, as hat-money was not covering our feverish pace. Okay, bread was not the issue, but that I had found comfort in Micky. For me to be protected from harm and stupidity I would have to pay him back with … Continue reading Amsterdam I
As a young man I broke away from my sheltered upbringing by leaving the lakes and beaches of home, heading to the ruins of Dresden with a notebook and a backpack sized for a mule. I met a premature mentor carrying a guitar and possessing a shaky voice. With the promise of hat money, and … Continue reading Dresden, Germany
Francis Erich McElroy 