ChuckDoherty.com

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/nascar_cancels_remainder_of_season

 

You can see episode 1 of a web-based series I have a small part in at:

http://www.endlessspectrumstudios.com/films/cleanlivin.html

In this episode, you can barely see me. But in episodes 2 & 3, I play much more of a part.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/09/25/childporn.alamo/index.html

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/chuck.doherty/Virginia#

More later…

Today I rode the length of Skyline Drive through the Shenandoah National Forest, and the first 120 miles of The Blue Ridge Parkway along some of the most beautiful roads I have ever been on. The route was nearly deserted in terms of traffic, but there was no shortage of wildlife. Squirrels of course (each trying harder than the last to run under my front wheel), many deer, one woodchuck, and an honest-to-goodness bear. I came around a corner and saw what I thought to be a large and unusually-shaped dog in the road ahead, but then I realized I was looking at a black bear. Unfortunately, by the time I fumbled the camera out of my pocket he had ambled his was across and disappeared into the woods, but I really did see him.

Right now I am in a low-rent motel room in Roanoke VA, with a plan to shower up, take a taxi downtown for dinner, and ride to VA beach in the morning.

I neglected to pack the cable I need for uploading photos, so those will have to wait until I get home.

530 miles. A new personal record for motorcycle mileage, and my knees and ass are not letting me forget it.

I am in a cheap ($66) motel room in Winchester, VA, hoping that no emergency takes place in the middle of the night because the room does not have a functional phone.

Tomorrow morning I will take on Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. More from there.

The worst of the jetlag is over but I am still crashing early in the evening and arising well before my usual time, leaving me out of synch with the rest of the western world. Considering that, and the inescapable fact that I don’t exactly have a mountain of work stacked up to do this week, I decided to pack my bindle, toss it and myself onto the RT and hit the road for a few days with no particular destination.

I may try to reach a few of the locations that Tom, Mike and I had planned to visit during the abbreviated trip back in May, or I may end up heading in a totally different direction.  My options to the east are obviously limited by geography, but other than that I can head almost anywhere.  We shall see.

I will report back from the road unless I get picked up for speeding in some little podunk town and end up in a holding cell with banjo music playing in the background.  Having such a purdee mouth is bound to auger poorly for my situation. Sooooo-wee!

 

Here it is, 2:15 AM and I am again wide awake.  In many cities I could wander along rainswept streets to find an all-night diner filled with colorful characters and hard boiled detectives on a stakeout, but not in this town.  Around here, my deep night options are limited to watching infomercials.  Still, I am moved to pull on a jean and a boot and strike off until sleep taps me on the shoulder and says; “it’s time.” 

Off I go.

David Foster Wallace, one of the greatest writers of our generation, was found dead at his California home on Friday. His death was the result of an apparent suicide. He was 46.

If you have ever read DFW’s work, you know that his was a talent like no other, and his ability to delve into minutiae and soar back seamlessly to the meta was nothing short of astonishing.

David Foster Wallace was in every sense of the word a genius, and the news of his death saddened me greatly.

I encountered this contraption in the Korean Air lounge at the airport in Seoul.  The labels on the control panel are indecipherable, except for the three which have been added in English to the most critical buttons.

I imagine there have been a number of incidents involving Westerners fiddling with the controls and inadvertently activating the Tsunami of Personal Cleanliness feature when they actually wanted the Happy Dry Time With Mountain Breeze option.

At least the familiar-looking chrome lever on the side did work as expected, sending all that was within to the Land of Wind and Ghosts.

Check ignition, and may God’s love be with you…