Home again--briefly

[clevermanka]

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, 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.

Comments

[harmfulguy.livejournal.com]

I've driven from Carbondale to St. Louis a few times, by different routes. Going through Marion, IL (about 15 miles east of Carbondale) looks a little bit out of the way, but it's all interstate from Marion, so it might not be that much longer, and definitely easier to follow.

Never been to Pinckneyville, but I've passed through some creepy-ass towns in southern Illinois.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I'll definitely keep the Marion route in mind next time, thanks. Of course, that's keeping in mind the fact that I might not be able to find Marion once I'm there...

[solan-t.livejournal.com]

You have some familiarity with the area around Hutch, right? How did Pinckneyville compare with, say, Yoder? Assuming you leave out the restaurant and furniture store.

(Yoder has a website, too. I was surprised)

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yoder is a blissful haven (pardon the pun--you Hutch-area folks will get it) of tolerance and friendliness compared to Pinckneyville.

I mean, if the people in Yoder don't like you, they just kinda say so and leave you alone. In Pinckneyville, I think they'd drug your drink and use you for a human sacrifice.

[solan-t.livejournal.com]

I started out just thinking about the lack of cars in the church parking lots, but then realized I was actually insulting Yoder (which, I agree, isn't a bad place.)

[harmfulguy.livejournal.com]

Don't worry -- it's a good, clear four-lane highway from Carbondale to I-57 at Marion.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

roya_spirit, you got that?

[stuology.livejournal.com]

You see people in Yoder--especially in a church parking lot on a Sunday.

It sounds more like Scott City, KS. A friend and I used to drive through there. At this cafe we stopped at--I swear the entire town was in it--they all stopped talking and turned around and stared at us. Not talking. I felt like we interrupted an evil plot.

[stuology.livejournal.com]

Yoder is a blissful haven

Ha!

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

I felt like we interrupted an evil plot.

Maybe you did.

C-r-e-e-p-y.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Thank you, thank you. I'm here all week! Tip your bartender!

[solan-t.livejournal.com]

Oh, lord, that would be spooky.

I realized too late I was maligning Yoder. I was just thinking that you don't see all that many cars in the church parking lots. Occasional horse-drawn buggies, but not too many cars. I assume many people just walk (Yoder isn't all that big, after all).

[redheadfae.livejournal.com]

I got it. I think our problem is that none of them knew how to cope with our having to detour I-64, which is closed.
The other thing that is weird is that the instructions I got to take exit 251A *that we never saw* came right from MoDOT. heh.

I'll just look it up on a good old-fashioned fold-out map next time. At least then I'll have the full visual in my head, which works better for me that way.

Oh yeah, I did a search on Pinckneyville too. No surprise that there's a Correctional Facility there, that explains the odd two-to-one male/female ratio of the population. The news stories are even creepier, I'll blog them later.
Remember American Gods and the bit about the children in the submerged auto? Well, two kids were drowned when the pickup they were in went into the lake. Not that it wasn't an accident... but.. hmmm.

[theoneinblue.livejournal.com]

LMAO! Um, yes, welcome back to this corner of the country. Did you also notice Pinckneyville's motto? I believe it's "The Friendly Little City." I laugh every time I drive through there, and then I accelerate to get the heck out...Next time you come, we'll take you down south of town and show you "Cracker Neck Road," "Deer Processing Drive," and "Witch Coven Hollow"...

See, that's why, when I saw the shop "Cartridge World" open up in Carbondale, I was convinced it was ammunition they were selling and not ink refills for printers. :)

But it was really great to see you and roya_spirit, even if only for a little bit. Do come back! I promise the Marion route that has been suggested is much more direct!

[harmfulguy.livejournal.com]

I-64 through St. Louis is just a frickin' nightmare (and screws up traffic throughout the area) until 2010. Just take I-70 through St. Louis, or maybe the I-270/I-255 loop around if you're anywhere near rush hour. I-64 on the east side of the Mississippi is (mostly) OK.

[clevermanka.livejournal.com]

Yay! Here's hoping next year's workshop guest is equally awesome!