Two Dogs, One Bone

Time really is slipping away now. There are just a mere eleven days left until that fateful morning when I'll be packing up the final articles, shifting into first, and slowly turning out of the driveway and onto the road toward oblivion. It's a magnificent feeling to know that in such a short time I'll be off on my own, ready to explore and survey a part of the country that, up until a month or so ago, I had never thought I would have the chance to see. It amazes me, it surprises me, it scares me. I don't mind being alone; in fact, I often enjoy it compared to the companionship I am surrounded with. It'll be like a vacation inside of a vacation, inside of an experience.

I have almost everything I need now, except perhaps a bike rack to put on the back of the car. I'm not sure how much use I'll get out of a bike, but I'm pretty positive it'll be helpful in some of the busier cities, especially San Francisco, where I hear the driving is absolutely crazy. I love my bike. I hope I have time to finish fixing it up before it's time to leave though; I guess the new paint will have to wait until after I come back. I'm still deciding on whether I want to do a solid color, stripes, or argyle. Argyle would be the best, but also the most difficult and time consuming. Definitely worth it though. Since I have two bikes, maybe I'll paint one solid with an added fade or some other touch of excellence, and do the other one argyle. That'll all have to wait until June though, so there's really no need to fuss over it right now.

I've decided to continue a project that I started for school. I have this hilarious Lego man sitting on a horse that I stenciled onto a large sheet of fabric; it looks great. I'm taking it with me on the trip and using it as an individual project, aside from the actual reasons for taking the trip and photographing the landscapes I want. It should turn out pretty great, as long as I can find a secure way to hang it on any surface and as long as I find some appropriate places to hang it. The photographs will be posted to my flickr as they are taken (http://www.flickr.com/photos/christopherfecio/). I'm really excited to be integrating these two completely different projects into a single experience. I wonder how they'll mesh or clash..

This is an example of the first place that I installed the piece (Charles Street in Toronto, Canada).

Also, along with these two projects, I'll be dabbling a little into mail art. It's something I had to do for a Foundations class and that I studied in a poetry class, and it's something that I find absolutely incredible. I still have to decide if I'll just be sending everything back to my house or if I'll send it back to friends and then just collect it all later. I'm hoping that it'll find a place in my show next semester. It could be a very nice opposition to the other pieces I'll be creating, as it is very small, colorful, and dimensional. Perhaps I'm taking on too much with all of this, but I want to keep busy while I'm gone. Sure, it's a vacation I probably won't be taking again, but it's also an amazing opportunity to get so much accomplished.

In eleven days I should be out of New York by this time. Nothing but an open road ahead of me, and nothing but support left behind.

For once you will see,
see the magic inside me as I
drift towards the unknown
that sits ahead like a stone by the road.