clevermanka (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
clevermanka) wrote2008-11-10 11:15 am
clevermanka) wrote2008-11-10 11:15 am
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Home again--briefly
The Artemis workshop in Illinois was spectacular. She taught about 30% technique and 70% short combos--excellent. I can't stand long choreography workshops where the entire four or five hours is spent learning a five minute choreography. I suck at choreography and I spend so much time focusing on footwork (so as not to get trampled) that I miss out of any technique instruction that may or may not get thrown in. Artemis's format was great. I would've liked a bit more technique, but really. Can't complain.
What I can (and will) complain about are Illinois highways. Jumping Jesus Christ that highway system (and I use the term loosely) is, in a word, fucked. The instructions given to us by friends, Mapquest, Google,![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
roya_spirit's GPS system, and the people (from Topeka) at the Carbondale hotel all failed get us either to or from Carbondale. I mean, we got there and back--obviously--but I think we could have probably done just as well if we hadn't attempted (both times) to map out our route ahead of time.
Basically, Illinois doesn't believe in marking their highway interchanges. Either that, or the interchanges don't actually exist in either my reality orroya_spirit's. We were supposed to take Illinois Highway 64 at one point on the way there, but we never saw Highway 64 either coming or going. We found a Highway 3 (eventually) that took us most of the way to Carbondale, but we never saw it (when we were trying to find it) on our way back. I did see a sign for Highway 3 about the time we reached St. Louis. Which was exciting, as we got to drive through the pastoral landscape of East St. Louis having missed our connection to Highway 3, and thus, our connection to Highway 270.
Our unplanned adventures did allow us to drive through the absolutely terrifying town of Pinckneyville (which does, oddly enough, have a website). This place...I can't describe how utterly creepy it was. Don't believe how benign the website makes it seem. You know the stories about the tiny little town that is really just a big cult (a la The Wicker Man, Hot Fuzz, etc.)? Pinckneyville is one of them. On the east side of town there's something in a small, white, cinder-block building called "The Coon Club," which I can only imagine is a euphemism for something extremely racially unpleasant. "Hick's Gun Shop" is about in the center of the town, and the cemetery is on the west side, tiny and just outside the city limits. There isn't a single gas station or roadside diner. Pinckneyville doesn't want you stopping there.
When we drove through, it was about 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Lots of the other small burgs had people parked outside the churches that were on the side of the highway (Highway 13, if you're interested, which also, come to think of it...hmmmm), but Pinckneyville was absolutely silent. The other towns also boasted their share of political yard signs, but Pinckneyville? Nothing. Just another thing to give the impression that The Outside World was not welcome at all. It was the kind of place where you think "I could get a flat tire here and nobody would ever hear from me again."
roya_spirit and I laughed about it, but we were both very glad to be well away from there.
The drive there and back, even though it wasn't all that long (about seven hours) is the only thing that would keep me from going to another workshop at SIU. I honestly don't know if my luck would hold a second time. Who knows if I could ever make it back to Carbondale, much less home again.
So now, speaking of home, I'm home again until this weekend, when I make an overnight trip up to KC to helpadammaker and royal_spice with some painting in their new place. Then back just in time to catch a local show in Lawrence. Whew. After that, I got nothin' on the calendar for a few weekends in a row, and it's staying that way.
I need some quiet time.
What I can (and will) complain about are Illinois highways. Jumping Jesus Christ that highway system (and I use the term loosely) is, in a word, fucked. The instructions given to us by friends, Mapquest, Google,
roya_spirit's GPS system, and the people (from Topeka) at the Carbondale hotel all failed get us either to or from Carbondale. I mean, we got there and back--obviously--but I think we could have probably done just as well if we hadn't attempted (both times) to map out our route ahead of time.Basically, Illinois doesn't believe in marking their highway interchanges. Either that, or the interchanges don't actually exist in either my reality or
roya_spirit's. We were supposed to take Illinois Highway 64 at one point on the way there, but we never saw Highway 64 either coming or going. We found a Highway 3 (eventually) that took us most of the way to Carbondale, but we never saw it (when we were trying to find it) on our way back. I did see a sign for Highway 3 about the time we reached St. Louis. Which was exciting, as we got to drive through the pastoral landscape of East St. Louis having missed our connection to Highway 3, and thus, our connection to Highway 270. Our unplanned adventures did allow us to drive through the absolutely terrifying town of Pinckneyville (which does, oddly enough, have a website). This place...I can't describe how utterly creepy it was. Don't believe how benign the website makes it seem. You know the stories about the tiny little town that is really just a big cult (a la The Wicker Man, Hot Fuzz, etc.)? Pinckneyville is one of them. On the east side of town there's something in a small, white, cinder-block building called "The Coon Club," which I can only imagine is a euphemism for something extremely racially unpleasant. "Hick's Gun Shop" is about in the center of the town, and the cemetery is on the west side, tiny and just outside the city limits. There isn't a single gas station or roadside diner. Pinckneyville doesn't want you stopping there.
When we drove through, it was about 10:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. Lots of the other small burgs had people parked outside the churches that were on the side of the highway (Highway 13, if you're interested, which also, come to think of it...hmmmm), but Pinckneyville was absolutely silent. The other towns also boasted their share of political yard signs, but Pinckneyville? Nothing. Just another thing to give the impression that The Outside World was not welcome at all. It was the kind of place where you think "I could get a flat tire here and nobody would ever hear from me again."
roya_spirit and I laughed about it, but we were both very glad to be well away from there.The drive there and back, even though it wasn't all that long (about seven hours) is the only thing that would keep me from going to another workshop at SIU. I honestly don't know if my luck would hold a second time. Who knows if I could ever make it back to Carbondale, much less home again.
So now, speaking of home, I'm home again until this weekend, when I make an overnight trip up to KC to help
adammaker and royal_spice with some painting in their new place. Then back just in time to catch a local show in Lawrence. Whew. After that, I got nothin' on the calendar for a few weekends in a row, and it's staying that way. I need some quiet time.