Where Am I?

I have absolutely no sense of direction. Its not just some random name for a blog. Its the absolute truth. You could walk me one city block, turn me around two times and I would have no idea how to get back to where I was. More than once, I've gotten off the elevator of a hotel, walked into my hotel room just to quickly drop something off, turned around to get back to the elevator and have gotten lost.

I was traveling with my friend, Lisa, and telling her about my trip. A moment later, I told her I have absolutely no sense of direction and she said "You might want to work on that." It would be a good idea for me to work on that being that the whole long road trip thing with maps and cities and needing to find your car and needing to find the hotel where you are sleeping for the night -- a sense of direction really helps with those things. My poor father. As if he isn't worried enough about me driving around by myself, now he knows that I'm going around as if I have a paper bag on my head and hoping that by luck I find my destination.

Speaking of my father (and of my mother), they celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary last Sunday. I actually dropped into Pittsburgh for two days to attend their anniversary party and to celebrate my birthday (the 25th.) I'd describe the anniversary party but the conversation turned out to be more scandalous then I can write about here. Thats just how my parents and their friends roll. At one point my mom said "You aren't going to put this in your blog, are you?" And the truth is, I'm not refraining from writing about here for the sake of my parents' reputation but more because I'm trying to forget what all I heard. But here is a picture of the hipsters forty years ago:

I am in Chicago now. My mom has come with me to see the sights for the next three days. We drove here, leaving Pittsburgh at 6 this morning. It happened to be the most agonizing 8 hours of my road tripping thus far. My mom is actually a fantastic driver; I just need to work on my ability to be a passenger. The plan was that she would drive, giving me a break from being behind the wheel and I would catch up on some much needed sleep across the state of Ohio. But I had forgotten that I can't sleep in cars or planes or anywhere that isn't a mattress with sheets and a pillow. So I was tired but unable to sleep and therefore cranky. And the Ohio landscape leaves a lot to be desired. I call Ohio the "Initiation State." If you are leaving Pittsburgh for a long road trip, you first need to survive the four hours through Ohio. If you make it through that without turning around, then you'll be able to make the rest of your trip.

OK, so I'm going to go out in the big city and wander aimlessly. My mom told me if I get lost, to call her and tell her what streets I'm on and she'll find me. She'll find me on the sidewalk, rocking back and forth, crying. Its going to be a fantastic trip.

Random pic of me and my fam: