FOLLOW THE YELLOW LIGHTS, AND VEER TO YOUR RIGHT!

Posted on | August 30, 2008 | No Comments

For those of you who don’t know, I went to boarding school in … M-I-crooked letter crooked letter-I-crooked letter crooked letter-I-hump back hump back-I, back in 1993 when it was called Piney Woods Country Life School and had approximately 300 hormonal teenage boys and girls. To go back and forth for summers and winter breaks, I had three black Eddie Bauer duffle bags. Never a light packer, I learned to squeeze a lifetime in those durable canvas bags.

It’s 15 years (almost to the day), and I’m off on a new adventure – a national tour with Climbing PoeTree, HURRICANE SEASON: Hidden Messages in Water. It’s been a long time coming. Three and a half months on the road, five women, an extraordinary mission. And I was to pack everything I needed such that it’d fit in 17 x 24 x 15 dimensions… Yeah – RIGHT!

Background…

After leaving Landmark and receiving the best training money can’t buy, I took one year and became a partner in DOPE SWAN, co-founder of The Re:Construction Period, and restarted my children’s clothing company – Phefeni Childrenswear. In this year, after saying yes to going on tour I have finally been able to articulate what I believe I am on the planet to do, and I began taking actions consistent with that.

Fast forward…

In the days leading up to leaving Brooklyn for Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Ann Arbor, Chicago… ahhh you get the picture – I was all over the place! I wanted to see everyone I knew I would miss. I did everything BUT pack and clean my apartment. The thing needing my attention most? Laundry. I’d gone almost 5 months without washing clothes… YES! I have THAT many clothes… plus it’s the summer time, less is more! (oh quit your mental yapping!) The night before I am to leave I still haven’t washed clothes or packed, I … cleaned and organized so that whomever would be subletting would WANT to stay in my apartment. My girl Ashley and my homie Lyshaan stopped by to bid me adieu, to discover I had 8 loads of laundry sitting in the middle of my floor. So they graciously pack me and my 8 garbage bags full of clothes into Lyshaan’s Range. Oh… what a sight to see! Ash begins immediately taking pictures for the Minority Report NYC blog of the pile. Hilarious! Thank god for me it was 3AM and could put all eight loads in at the same time. So I got it all done in the span of one load… pretty dope. Two hours of sleep and I’m back up. Cleaning. Again. Next thing I know my homie Ayinde is over; bringing me a book turned into a three hour “help Sallome” period. In which time, my cabinet above my stove straight threw itself off of the wall in an apparent attempt to somehow prevent me from having anyone over to look at the apartment to sublet it!!! I couldn’t be bothered. I had a bus to catch!

In the time between leaving my apartment for the last time until December 14th (with my 17 x 24 x 15 dimension-ed packing) and meeting the ladies to head to Philly I: A) had my myspace deleted – ON ACCIDENT (with ALL my photos of friends and family I saved in albums no one has seen but me, all gone), B) left my best friend with hella clothes to take to Goodwill, C) realized that I’d only had about 6 hours of sleep in 3 (going on 4) days, D) got stuck in an elevator at W14th for about 8 minutes trying to come above ground from off the train, E) realized I hadn’t eaten a thing in over 48 hours, and F) dawned on me that it was my ex-love’s wedding day.

I nearly cried when I saw Kyla (our resident documentarian for HS) and our beautifully painted tour bus (it’s what used to be a mini school bus, painted white, with gorgeous stenciled birds and spray painted water on the back and sides – oh I’ll get you a picture!). There were Lindsay (our grease mechanic who also aided in converting our former diesel run bus into a vegetable-oil run one), Li, and SummerLee looking all greasy (lol) putting hella vegetable oil in the bus.

Oh but the fun doesn’t end there…! On our way out of New York (over 12 hours late) we discovered we had a steering wheel, tire, and weight issue – swerving to and fro along the interstate. Close to our destination, Lindsay had to pound the break and nearly kill us because a deer gingerly strode across the highway! Somehow we started singing The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air’s theme song, and then Li (known for her outstanding one-liners), in describing how to reach her mom’s home says, “FOLLOW THE YELLOW LIGHTS, AND VEER TO YOUR RIGHT.” Classic. Story of my life.

I intend during the course of this trip to let all my friends and family know how the tour is going, what I’m learning, and what difference I believe I am making for others through this blog. I hope you enjoy the trip as much as I.

Thanks for all the well wishes! oh! and if you have any pics of me/us, please send em… I’m fresh out!

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