Life In Car

Indiana has a certain place in the hearts of most people in the U.S., and it always seems to conjure up an image of a past that people love to visit. The idea of nostalgia is a fascinating one, and one of the most fun ways to see places is to investigate how this nostalgia works exactly. When looking for the ideal midwestern city that has a perfect hotel fort wayne is way up there on the list of most desirable places to visit. There are plenty of attractions and sights to make one feel as though they are getting the total experience, and there are plenty of unexpected things, too, that make it more fascinating.

Most people don’t think of alternative culture in Indiana, but it’s there, and rather strong, too. There are many cultures in Fort Wayne, and there is a lot of live art and local scene to take in. There is also a very rich history here, with a lot of industry that characterizes some of the notions of the old-fashioned U.S., as well as some cutting edge industries that point the way toward the future. There are also plenty of heroes from here, and visitors can visit the house of one particular hero by the name of Richardville .

Jean Bapstise de Richardville is one of the great figures in Fort Wayne history, and his house is open for tourists and locals. He was half-native, Miami on his mother’s side, and French on the father side, and he’s remembered as being one of the great negotiators. He and his mother controlled much of the waterways, and he was also able to negotiate for land, maintaining a Miami presence in Indiana at a particularly dark time in the history of race relations in the U.S. His story is inspiring, and evokes a nostalgia of a very different kind than is usually depicted in literature and films about the Midwest, drawing on complex history and coming through the generations as a force to be reckoned with, even today.

One of the worst auditions I ever had is one of those humiliating moments that makes a good story later on.  Maybe this isn’t later yet, but it’s got to be close.  Stories like these are always better when you get defeated and get the part anyway.  I had been living in New York for 8 months, and already my money was gone.  My savings had long ago dried up, and I had borrowed about a month’s salary from every family member, and was working through my friends, and decided I needed to do some simple math.  It took 60 more days to come to the conclusion that my expenses were close to three times my income, which is something I had suspected, but seeing it in writing was a little more than disquieting.

There is a secret to being able to survive in Manhattan, and it’s called moving to Philadelphia.  I liked it there, and still called myself a Manhattanite when I was in the city.  It was like having two not so secret identities, but it did make me interesting, at least to me.  When I started to get more auditions, it took some juggling, because I didn’t want my agent to know.  Some days I had family emergencies, and other days were great, but it always meant a train ride and a trip to Manhattan.  They have the best hotels, but the apartments are just too small.  This was how I justified everything, because spite has always worked for me.

This was a strange part, it was a comedy skit, and I was supposed to be doing an impression of Christopher Lloyd.  The scene was something about him doing a song and dance number, and then pretending to fall into a trance and screaming about the apocalypse or something.  I researched, and did all my actors work, and had a very impressive Reverend Jim version worked up.  When I showed up, I was very much ready to go.  However, in my life change, I had not gotten out of the habit of rushing through things, and discovered that, if I had taken the time to read more carefully, I would have noticed that it was not Christopher Lloyd, but Christopher Walken.  I didn’t get the part.

This was the film that sort of put Austin into everyone’s mind.  I say sort of because it was already weird, and obviously already on all of some people’s minds, but also because there are many of those who saw the film but don’t remember it as being in Austin.  That’s an occupational hazard to being a slacker, and one that comes to filmmakers who make films for us.  We might be in a delirium, fog, or just need to sleep a little bit more before we can start to care.

It’s very interesting to go back, check into the local cool hotel, and check out the town.  There’s a lot that’s changed since 1991.  It’s hard to say whether it’s for the better or for the worse, because it sort of still feels the same, sort of.  A lot of the places are gone, and the people have certainly changed.  Mostly, they seem to have been replaced by other people who look very similar to them, except that they are exactly the same age as I remember.  Perhaps I am older.  But it’s pretty interesting to take the notion of string theory the way Linklater sort of told it.  Here there are various lives that are terribly connected, and connected to mine, but I don’t see the apparent links, not right away.

I know that if I stop with anyone for awhile, we’ll be able to work out how we do or don’t know each other, and then from there, I am sure there will be things we discover that we need to talk about.  In the way that the film has some connections to a bug-eyed dog that falls over when medicated, there are connections right before us that somehow mean something, and we may never know what it is.  That’s one of the things that the film caught so brilliantly, that this all means something, our generation’s sense of being on the verge, of cosmic conspiracies and coincidences crashing to the ground in our lifetimes.  This is coupled with the uneasy feeling that the big moments came, but we were too far away to have noticed it happening.  Still, there’s a sense growing that something interesting is just about to happen, and it’s likely that the street prophets already know what that is.

I found myself in a difficult situation a few years back. I had my paychecks mailed to me, and due to the hectic holiday season during the ten days surrounding Christmas and New Years, the mail was not being delivered as efficiently as many of those days the Post Office was just simply closed. What made this such a tricky situation was that for one thing, I did not have a savings account to speak of. For another thing I have all of my bills taken directly out of my checking account. Due to the fact that I did not have my check, and therefore could not deposit it, my bills went through and my overdraft fees started piling on top of each other. I am aware now of something I was not aware of then, and that is the short term payday loan . This would have been wonderful, for when all was said and done, my over draft fees cost me just over four hundred dollars. Even though I had no savings or assets and would not have qualified for other kinds of loans, all that one needs to qualify for the payday loan is proof of steady income, which I had at the time. I could have been approved in just a few minutes over the phone and they would have had my money in my account the very next day. I would not have worried about the interest rate, as I would have paid the loan back within a couple of days and it would cost me so much less than those doubled up overdraft fees . I have a savings account now, and my paychecks are deposited directly into my checking account. However, there are always unforeseen situations and emergencies that arise in life, be it the roof of the house being damaged in a storm, or anything…and I am happy to know that should I need to take advantage of the payday loan one day, it will be there.

Nick, Moon, Flow and me arrived in Singapore last night on the Eastern and Oriental Express all the way from Bangkok. Moon’s first impression of Singapore, was that is was like being back home in California. She said the road systems, the kept up verges, all the public parks, the huge shopping malls and just how clean it all seems, reminded him of Santa Monica.

Singapore is most definitely a “fine” city. There were so many opportunities to acquire anything ‘fine’. For the tourist, crossing against a red pedestrian light is definitely the biggest chance of getting a fine. They really look for anyone chewing gum, it’s illegal to chew gum in Singapore! We were all laughing at the weirdness of Singapore and it’s cleanliness laws. But, we all had to admit, it’s really nice being in a clean city.

Nick, Flow and me were all tired from our trip, but Moon wanted to check out some restaurants located at the Boat Quay. He found this great site online that gave him a good list of restaurants, if you’d like, visit this page: http://www.singaporerestaurant.com.

When he got back, almost eight hours later, Moon told us that he went for early evening drinks at Harry’s Bar after he explored for a bit. Boat Quay is located on the Singapore river and the quay side is jammed packed with restaurants and bars, just like the Internet site said; he found the setting to be lovely and relaxing as he sat down at one of the restaurants, sipping his Singapore Sling watching the boats go up and down the river. Then he did a little people watching. Moon told us that he really liked a particular seafood restaurant where he could choose all manner of live fish from the tank, shellfish too. He got the Sri Lankan crab, which was the biggest crab Moon has ever seen. Then Moon tried the bamboo clams and then some scallops.

I had no Idea that our Moon could eat so much.

The list of famous stars that live or have homes in Malibu is mind swooning if you like actors. I am a big fan myself. It would take me a year to learn and write about all the ones who spend time in Malibu. It just make one want to check into one of the Malibu hotels on this site and just pray I see some of my favorites walking their dog on the beach. I don’t care to bother them it is just fun to dream.

I am going to go with Tom Hanks. Wow. Which is all I should really say. Wow. I don’t think I have ever walk out of a Tom Hanks movie disappointed. Even the projects he directs or produces are solid entertainment. It is hard to even choose a film that I like best. If fact, I can’t. One can just bounce all over the place with films such as Apollo 13 and Saving Private Ryan. Some of the most heart felt movies he did was Philadelphia and Forrest Gump were people after almost two decades people are still quoting. Then you have the comedy films that still had substance like A league of Their Own and Splash. I still get the biggest kick out of The Burbs and The Money Pit. Even they are less known they are really funny.

No one can forget the movie Big were he won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor in a musical or comedy. He was also nominated for Best Actor with the Academy Awards. I still hear men talk about Sleepless in Seattle as being one of there few romantic films they will admit to liking. That Thing You Do is also a great movie where he was actor and director. Cast Away. Another need I say more piece of work. The list goes on longer than I can write here. I am sure I have left off a few that you may wont to add. If I ran into Tom Hanks on the beach in Malibu I would just smile.

Last week my friends Bill, John, Steve, Troy and I all watched the Super Bowl together so I guess without question you could say we had a great Super Bowl party. And do you want to know the interesting aspect of it? I was the only female there, and I bet you were thinking I was a guy right? It turns out I’m just one of those females who happens to really love football and having been born in New Orleans, and I lived there until I was sixteen, the Saints are absolutely my favorite team. I’ve loved and supported them through thick and thin, and let’s face it it’s been mostly thin for, oh well, forever. Okay, that’s an exaggeration, but you know what I mean.

Oh, and in addition to being a sports lover I also tend to have my closest friends be men. So, I’m one of those females too. I get along with other women and actually my best friend in the world is a female, though she does not enjoy sports and she is definitely not into football. I’ve known those guys for over six years. When I was at school Troy and Bill and I had the same astronomy class and we ended up being lab partners. We had a lot of fun and the two of them were already friends but we all just sort of became close during the length of that otherwise tedious class. And the others were already friends with the two of them so I met them the first night we actually hung out outside of class.

The other interesting thing about the Super Bowl party is that everyone except Steve was routing for the Saints. No one, other than I, had a personally invested interest in the game though Steve is actually a semi Colts fan. I don’t know how you can be a semi fan of anything, though that’s what he claims. The other guys weren’t exactly, or even semi, Saints fans though they were happy to see them finally win the Super Bowl. It was a good party though part of me still wishes I had reserved a room in one of the New Orleans hotels and flew out for the game. Oh well, I guess you can’t have everything. And in a room full of guys I was not only the only female I was also the only one who was passionately invested in the game. It’s good to be a girl.

There are many great hotels all over Louisiana click here to rest your head and refresh your soul. While you are traveling through the state you will find some very lush green scenery filled with all sorts of wild life and amazing old architecture. There are many old homes that are now like landmarks for the state. Large plantation homes surrounded with endless porches and covered in trees. Exquisite gardens filled with color and life which brings a sense of grounding to ones heart and body.

Find a few of the many plantation homes and see there beauty while you find out the stories that are left by the people who have lived in these homes over many years. The Destrehan Plantation is the home that was used for many scenes from the movie, Interview with the Vampire. The plantation itself is even more impressive in person and it is not far from New Orleans along the banks of the Mississippi River. The movie Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte starring Bette Davis was filmed in the Houmas House in Darrow LA. Tours can be take and are lead by guides in antebellum dress. Television also filmed a miniseries, A Woman Called Moses, which was based off the life of Harriet Tubman, in the Madewood Plantation home.

Weddings are often held at many of these old homes. The Nottoway is a popular and amazing place for weddings. Inside the Louisiana castle there is a museum were visitors can learn about the time and the people who built the home. Hopefully get a ghost sighting or at lease a good story or two. There are 64 rooms in the American castle that was brought to life by John Randolph. So make your list of beautiful plantation homes that are on your path of travel and take the time to soak up the splendor.

The city of Auburn, Alabama was originally settled in 1832, and became incorporated just a few years later in 1839.  This was a very small city at first, covering just over two square miles, and was intended to be the center of education and religion for the entire region.  By this time the schools had been built and the number of these institutions was a huge draw for families that had been living in the outlying regions.  Soon, the population of Auburn grew as those families began to move into the city.

Churches, restaurants and many hotels began to line the streets of the downtown area, and by the end of the 1850s half of the population was made up of students.  Auburn University was opened in 1859, and offered a liberal and a classical education.  As in many small cities, the economy was greatly affected by the Civil War, and by the Great Depression.  Many of the schools that had made this town so prosperous, had closed down and remained closed for close to twenty years.

However when Auburn University reopened, it became the first public, four year educational institution to allow women to enroll.  This in combination with the updated engineering and scientific agriculture programs, brought the university and the city of Auburn, back to its former glory.  Auburn is still, to this day, a college town.  Due to this fact it is a very eclectic mix of populations from all over the world.  This is illustrated in the many different shops and small pubs and bistros located close to the campus.  Sports, especially football, are played year round and many people from the towns surrounding Auburn travel in to either watch or to participate, making this a very vibrant little town in the middle of the Southern United States.

In order to chose Alaska as a vacation spot, a person has to have something of an adventurous spirit.  It’s a colder climate than most, with unusual experiences and sights to be had, such as weirdly long nights in winter, and exceptionally long days in summer, the spectacular sight of the Northern Lights and the amazing beauty of the land, the kind you might find in Denali National Park.  But, in Anchorage, Alaska, much like the rest of the United States, the chance to see off-beat sights still exists (such as the world’s largest frying pan in Long Beach, Washington; or the world’s largest ball of twine in Cawker City, Kansas; or the world’s tallest thermometer in Baker, California).  First, in order to be comfortable, find the best luxury hotels Alaska contains, and then head out, sampling the unusual in this northern city.  Here’s a sampling of what you may discover:

Just outside the limits of Anchorage, you’ll see a park that contains a snow plow train, once used to clear the railroad tracks.  It’s now a part of the park.  Inside a store called Alaska Wildberry Products, you’ll see a chocolate waterfall twenty feet high; the rumor is that this is the world’s largest chocolate waterfall and it uses about three thousand four hundred pounds of liquid chocolate.  The store itself sells everything from smoked salmon to chocolates.  Out on Lake Otis, you’ll see a piece of art shaped to resemble the Northern Lights.  But, perhaps, one of the weirder experiences you might have in Anchorage is that of Gravity Hill.

Gravity Hill is on Upper Huffman Road.  From the Seward Highway, exit at O’Malley and drive almost to the top.  Turn right on Hillside Drive, then travel another mile, turning left.  This will be Upper Huffman Road.  In order to have this experience, drive over the first hill’s top, then down to the bottom of the hill.  Turn your car around, then place the car in neutral and wait.  After a few seconds, your car will be pulled uphill.  At least, it will seem that way.  Gravity or magnetic hills are in abundance across the world, and usually occur when the landscape around you looks as if it’s going uphill when it’s actually going downhill.  It’s attributed to an optical illusion, but you’ll want to try it out yourself to verify the truth!