Okay, so… I’m here and the chaos has been contained somewhat. At least to the point that I can find things I need and have a few moments to sit my tired ass down and think about the last few days. What a whirlwind. Exhausting and exhilarating all at the same time. Which is really what life is supposed to be like, if we’re doing it right, I figure. So far, so good, then.

Let’s see… the drive here passed without incident and we got the entire truck unloaded by 5pm. Which worked just fine, because a thunderstorm rolled in and gave us our first light show, while we unpacked the kitchen. On Saturday, we got up early and started moving furniture around, setting up electronic components, then unpacked a few more boxes before jumping in the shower and heading up to Truth or Consequences to see Shelly and Juli. Met a couple of her artist friends, who we hung out with for a few hours, before hitting the hot springs, then heading home in a storm that would have made Noah sit up and take notice.

Had a great time in T or C, despite the harrowing drive back, but drank WAY too much wine and seriously paid for it on Sunday. Had a hangover all day long, which sucked. Didn’t stop me from unpacking more boxes, though, after Donny left. We had to get up early in the morning and drive to El Paso, to pick up a rental car for him, but it was a beautiful drive and not feeling rushed helped a lot. It was hard watching him drive away, later in the afternoon, knowing that I won’t be seeing him for a while. Trying not to think too much about that. It rained again last night, but I was just too exhausted to enjoy it and was in bed by 9pm.

Today, however, is another day. I’m off to set up utilities, then I’ll drop by and “visit” the folks at the Dona Ana Arts Council, to see if I can wheedle some work out of them. Got to start job-hunting, soon. Still so much to do here, but I promised Donny I wouldn’t let the house get in the way of my job search. It could happen. My cousin Penny and her husband Tom stopped by yesterday, after Donny left, to welcome me to the neighborhood. She said she knows the woman who is head of the Communications Department at the University and would put in a good word for me. Every little bit helps.

It’s the first real day of my new life here in Las Cruces. Time to get out there and see what the old town has to offer. Then I’d better start addressing the many e-mails and phone messages that amassed over the weekend. Seems everyone wants to know how it went. So. Okay, then. Breathe deep the clean, crisp air. Time to start cracking…





We’re heeeeeeeeeeere!

Wow. Exactly one week from today--right now, in fact--I’ll be in my new home. It almost seems surreal at this point. I’m looking around my apartment, which is only half packed, and wondering how things are going to fall out over the next few days. There are things I know for sure. I know I’ll be picking up the truck on Thursday morning. I know that there are four stops to make throughout the day, to pick up various pieces of furniture and shit that’s in storage. I know that I have to complete that and get the apartment cleaned, so I can turn my keys in by 5pm. Knowing all this, I know I have to be completely packed no later than Wednesday night.

Then there are the variables. This is my last weekend in Phoenix. There are those who believe I should make the most of it, but exactly what that entails is still a little fuzzy. I’m assuming it means hitting favorite haunts and spending time with people I won’t be seeing for a while, if ever again. Whether that happens or not remains to be seen. I’m not in a very social mood and would really like to slip out of town without causing too much of a fuss. There are, however, a few people I’d like to spend time with before I do go. Haven’t seen Scotty in a couple weeks. Or James. Donny says Seth wants to hang out before I go and Shanna has expressed interest, too.

I’ve already said my goodbyes to my son, who won’t be back from China until the 17th. I promised Deb and Jesse one last naked romp before our visits become fewer and further between. And, let’s not forget the boyfriend, who I won’t be seeing for a couple months. Those are the hardest situations to deal with. Even so, I can’t wait to have this whole move done and over with. That’s what keeps me moving forward. That’s what urges me to wrap shit up and put it in boxes. I’ll know it’s real when the paintings come down off the wall. Until that happens, though, it still seems like a dream, slowly unfolding. One dream among many. Or, as Poe said, “a dream within a dream.”

Oh, and how cool is it that today is 080808? Love that. Moving on…

There are times when nothing says it better than a song. I hadn’t really heard this one in a while. Years actually. It seems wholly appropriate, now. Funny how things like that come back around. The clip is exceptionally good for concert footage, too. If, that is, you ignore the Darth Maul wannabe in the audience, or the dumbass crowd surfers/moshers. Gads, I’m glad that craze is finally going the way of the dodo…

So, yeah… only nine more days, then I’ll be…

Moving, just keep moving
‘til I don’t know what I’m saying
I’ve been moving so long
The days all feel the same

Moving, just keep moving
Well I don’t know why to stay
No ties to bind me
No reasons to remain

Got a low, low feeling around me
And a stone cold feeling inside
And I just can’t stop messing my mind up
Or wasting my time

There’s a mow low feeling around me
And a stone cold feeling inside
I’ve got to find somebody to help me
I’ll keep you in mind

So I’ll keep moving just keep moving
Well I don’t know who I am
No need to follow
There’s no way back again

Moving, keep on moving
Where I feel I’m home again
And when it’s over
I’ll see you again

Got a low, low feeling around me
And a stone cold feeling inside
And I just can’t stop messing my mind up
Or wasting my time

There’s a mow low feeling around me
And a stone cold feeling inside
I’ve got to find somebody to help me
I’ll keep you in mind

Well, the packing has officially begun. Deb and Jesse came by, yesterday, and we dove into it. Filled 8 medium-sized boxes and three plastic totes. Still more, but not really that much more. I didn’t think there would be. It wasn’t that long ago that I moved into the Last Exit and most of my stuff is still in boxes at D&J’s house. Deb and I were supposed to get together and do some more packing, today, but I’m out of boxes until Donny can get me some more. That’s okay. I hate packing. Besides, I still have time. It’ll get done.

Time. It’s all relative, anyway. I mean, what are we if not time travellers, caught up in our own unfolding time streams. Travelling from point A to point B, by virtue of visualization and concentrated effort to arrive on a certain date at an approximate time. I know that I’ll be in Las Cruces by noon on the 15th. What I do, between now and then, to make that happen is incidental to the outcome. Unless I really fuck it up, but that’s not about to happen. The ball is rolling, the clock is ticking, the stream is… streaming. That’s what time travel is all about, baby.

The trick is to make good use of the increments as they tick by. Either Rip Van Winkle it, by doing nothing except wait, or Dr. Who it, by tinkering with the stream as it unfolds. I like tinkering. It’s in my nature. But I can also see the virtue of hunkering down and waiting it out. Less chance of close encounters with the cosmic monkey wrench. Or confrontations with the flying monkeys flinging those wrenches, themselves, like pivitol poo on a trajectory of timetable upset. What? Uh huh. Too much coffee, man. Seriously. So, where was I? Oh yeah… the passage of time…

Donny woke me this morning by whispering in my ear, “11 more days.” Sadly. Prosaically. Yeah. Less than two weeks, then I won’t see him again until mid-October. I’m trying not to think about that. He asked me, a couple days ago, if there was ANYthing that I’d miss about Phoenix. I couldn’t think of a thing. There are people I’ll miss, but this being a very transient city, I don’t consider the few friends I have left here as “part of” Phoenix. They all hate it, too, and it probably won’t be long before they’re beating a hasty retreat, themselves. Beyond that, no, there isn’t anything I’ll miss. Nothing I’ll want to come back for. I don’t know if that’s sad, or not.

I guess only time will tell…




Time passages…