On The Road With Al and Ivy: Blog

  "Like all men in this land, he had been a wanderer, an exile on the immortal earth. Like all of us, he had no home. Wherever great wheels carried him was home." - Thomas Wolfe (Of Time And The River) ...the new kid in town... ...a new face, possibly Middle Eastern, which is rare around here...I recognized myself in him him because he was acting like I did a few months ago, he had found a spot, a haven, possibly after some aimless wandering about to avoid being seen by those he knew. The first stage of homelessness is the worst...everything looks big, every problem crushing you and what was your life is now gone...it's a rebirth but it doesn't feel that way because it feels more like death. In the tarot, the death card is actually a symbol of rebirth...which I knew due to being a tarot card reader on the early internet when it called the usenet and mainly consisted of discussion groups and ftp sites. I went by the name of Magus Fool, and...

  "And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully! Smoothed by long fingers, Asleep...tired...or it malingers" "I am no prophet-and here's no great matter; I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker, And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker, And in short, I was afraid." -T.S. Eliot (The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock) ...freeloaders and other terms... One of the biggest arguments against the homeless is that they're a bunch of freeloaders. Secondary argument that's sometimes applied to them is that they "don't pay taxes," and live off society. The argument that they don't pay taxes is generally based on whether they pay state or federal income tax. The fact is around 50% of the population doesn't pay federal income tax or live off of some sort of government assistance...not to mention that virtually all tax cheats are from the non-homeless population. The hom...

"I'm gonna tell you so you'll know That old Blue's gone where the good dogs go Singing ya-ho Blue, you good dog you" - Traditional "When I get to Heaven first thing I'll do is grab my horn and call for Blue Bye bye, Blue You good dog, you" - Roger McGuinn (Old Blue) "Me and old Bugler, we'd run wild  Blue tick hound and redneck child We thought we were birds of a feather Bugler's voice like Gabriel's horn Up in the cypress all down through the corn Golden sounds, yes to treasure Bugler, Bugler bless your hide Jesus gonna take you for a chariot ride Say goodbye, say goodbye..." - Larry Murray (Bugler) Ivy passed away suddenly on March 17, 2017. This is my obituary on my best friend who was with me for so long and through so many tough times. I adopted Ivy in late October of 2008. The big recession was starting to hit the solar industry, where I worked as a drafter. ...

  "...Presently Jason understood the Pythoness to say that the voyage he must undertake would be renowned in song for unnumbered ages, if he took the precaution of sacrificing to Apollo, God Of Embarkations, on the day he launched his ship and on the night of his return. Then she lapsed into nonsense. The only recurrent phrase he could catch was that he should 'take the true Jason' with him..." - Robert Graves (Hercules My Shipmate, aka The Golden Fleece. Quote abridged from book) The month of April was quite eventful. It's well documented in my gofundme updates, so I'll just summarize: I was offered two places to live while getting a fresh start in the Midwest. One in Wisconsin and the other in Illinois. The idea was to shuttle between both for a couple of months, with one becoming permanent if all went well. It included a one way airline ticket, so one major cost was covered. The offer was one of a few ideas I looked at on how to proce...

  "Day after day, day after day, We stuck, nor breath nor motion; As idle as a painted ship Upon a painted ocean." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge (The Rime Of The Ancient Mariner) Note: I'm trying to tighten up the rate of entries. I'll do another post in about a week with the parts I didn't get done in time for this one. One of the concepts that came up in conversations with other homeless was that we were always the same person, and when circumstances get better, it's just a matter of getting back into the swing of things. That's not entirely true, it depends on how long you're out there and what life is like during that time. You'll generally have to find yourself again. If I had spent 14 months out there carrying everything I owned in the world in a backpack and sleeping in a makeshift shelter, I'd have have come out a different person than someone who spent that same amount of time in an old Cadillac. Our basic n...