July 15 - September 5, 2007

Finishing in Albuquerque, New Mexico, my literary tour of the lower 48, in 52 days all on, as some of the drivers put it, the Big Dog--Greyhound.



All photos and interviews have been posted (finally) and.... I've even flipped it so it reads chronologically! You can meander through the states in the order that I did or go to "Readers By State" on the sidebar. You can also do a search for your favorite book and see who else likes it, too.

Thank you to everyone I met along the way--it would have been impossible to successfully complete my journey, and have a good time without wonderful, wonderful people who took care of me, gave me advice and, this was up there with Niagara Falls, The Grand Canyon, and the roller coaster in Atlantic City--let me give them advice.
Thanks again!
Sonya

p.s. I've begun photographing San Franciscans again and am posting at

www.peoplereading.blogspot.com

San Francisco, CA -- My Living Room -- Preparing to go -- June 29, 2007

The results of my Sticky-Note-the-US Dinner Party:

As with any project, input is key. I invited an intimate crowd--just enough to fill my little living room--of smart, creative friends over for chili and cornbread to brainstorm, if given eight weeks to explore the country and photograph people reading books, where they would go.

The stickies yielded everything from a wacky Key West home roamed by the descendants of Hemingway's six-toed cats to a practical visit to the Greyhound headquarters.

But it wasn't just stickies that the party yielded, there were also questions. The big one--why?

I'm not quite sure what the impetus was, if it was the tug of armchair traveler envy I felt while reading Melinda Henneberger's If They Only Listened to Us: What Women Voters Want Poiticians to Hear, in which the author traveled around the United States interviewing voters, or if it was my friend Sasha Cagen's return from Boulder's World Affairs Counsel and declaring, "we live in a bubble," if it was my two-year anniversary of working at a bank or if it was simply unquelled wanderlust, but the need surfaced: I needed to leave the comfortable surroundings of San Francisco, a town I've loved and lived in over the past five years.

When I was twenty-three and I got this feeling, I felt it necessary to test myself physically and traverse the Pyrenees, lose myself in the woods, break down crying on tree stumps and carry a pack much too heavy for my hundred-pound frame. Now, at thirty, I feel a need to do this.

I've never been to the Grand Canyon. Never been to Graceland. I'm not well-read, and I crave to be well-read. I'm a slow reader, and sometimes it feels like I'll never catch up. I need to acknowledge that pain and agony and solitariness of writing is worthwhile. I like to talk to strangers. I like adventures. And this is the right adventure for now.

When I return, I wonder:

Will the hipsters on Valencia Street feel more or less familiar?
Will my friends seem more or less familiar?
How will I want to change my life?
What I will have gotten out of it?
What books will I need to read?
and
What will I want to write about?

Thank you for reading.

San Francisco, CA -- Preparing to go

Packing

On my way home from a goodbye brunch, up and over Bernal Hill to the Mission District, after borrowing the perfect sized backpack from my friend, Sasha, I solicited packing advice. Who wouldn't after seeing such a well packed cart. The secret--separate compartments. Sasha's bag (the blue one on the ground) has these.

But, the cart isn't meant just for admiring. He collects the bottles and other recyclables to earn $400, which is necessary to apply for citizenship so he can get work legally. A year and a half ago he and his wife, who works caring for the elderly, moved here from the Philippines. When his cart is full--every couple days or so--it brings in about $25. His favorite book? Nothing in particular, just what he used to study English with at City college when he had the time and money to take classes.

Packing thanks also goes to Rai Sue who helped me weed down my gear. The functionality of a compartment is no good if you can't get the zippers closed.

My Favorite Books (at least for the next couple months)

While I had originally intended to do this trip entirely on friend recommendations (see yellow stickies below) and stranger recommendations, near the end I panicked and did a reality check. Books are always a good thing.

My friend, Jenny, gave me this 1,000 Places to See Before you Die guide by Patricia Schultz. I bought the Lonely Planet guide partly out of loyalty (I worked for them briefly a couple of years ago), but mostly because it was thinner than everything else on the shelf of the bookstore....and it gives bus station information. The "Romantic Seine" journal is a souveneir from Korea and a gift from my friend, Anhoni, who is, coincidentally, working on a novel about L.A.--stop #1 on my adventure. I have an assignment to photograph the bus station so she can add detail to a scene!

Not photographed is After Dark by Haruki Murakami, which was a gift from my sister.

A milestone!

In the midst of packing I completed 500 postings of PeopleReading, which is mostly in San Francisco and mostly people, though some sculptures, murals, and advertisements snuck in. Still, its a milestone. First San Francisco, now the country. What's next--the world??? I'll start enrolling in language classes.

That said,
I am emotional and I will miss you, San Francisco.... and my friends, as well.

Also, goodbye Ritual, goodbye peaceful Sugarlump may there be free wireless throughout the U.S..

San Francisco, CA -- Greyhound Terminal --July 14, 2007

The day before my departure

At the Greyhound terminal, downtown San Francisco

Purchased my sixty-day Discovery Pass and visited the gift store where you can buy postcards, medication, shot glasses and, of course, books. What else would people need when embarking upon a bus trip?

As it's San Francisco, it is fitting to find a title regarding gender and sexuality--Unspeakable, the Rise of the Gay and Lesbian Press in America, by Roger Streitmatter.

At the counter I met Mike, who told me about how Howard Hughes made his money--prompted by my $645 Discovery Pass expenditure--and named his favorite book, the Bible, specifically Romans and the Psalms.

With him was his coworker, reading Kindred, by Octavia Butler.

Her daughter was reading it for an English course at City College and gave it to her when she was finished. Their family moved to San Francisco from Burma six years ago.

When she reads, she reads in tandem with her Burmese dictionary so she can make notes on the parts of speech and meanings of the words.

Her favorite book--she doesn't have one, she just likes to read to study English.

San Francisco, CA --Greyhound Terminal -- July 15, 2007

Reading Escape, Stories of Getting Away, edited by Lena Lencek and Gideon Basker. It's the "fun stuff" she's readng in between a book about the social history of family violence. She bought the book for its title--it's what she needed.

She works in theater arts and that is why she is studying the social history of family violence. She takes an interdisciplinary approach. I'd wanted to hear more about this, but she let me know that she needed to return to her escape.

San Francisco, CA to Los Angeles, CA -- Greyhound Station -- July 15/16, 2007

My Seat Partner

In Oakland I was joined by...my super fabulous seat partner. I hope I always get this lucky. In the eight hour ride to Los Angeles, I slept for nearly have of it. He sang himself--and consequently, me too--to sleep with songs by the Brazilian band Djivan (I think that's what he said. When I google it it comes up as an Armenian musician but I'd thought he'd said Brazilian.)

His favorite author of all time--Paulo Coelho. Coelho, he said, with the knowledge of someone whose first language is Portuguese, means Rabbit. He also said that, though Coelho is a best selling author, he read an article somewhere that says that a lot of people don't finish his books. They just sit on the shelf.

Another favorite Brazilian author--Jorge Amado, who he described as writing soap opera-like stories about the history of Brazil.

He is also reading The Power of Now, which he's discussed with his nine-year-old daughter, who has no problem with living in the now. Children, he said, don't have to worry about paying the bills.

Heading into L.A.

Early in the morning, heading into Los Angeles, sharing the road with mostly just the truckers.

Los Angeles, CA -- July 16, 2007

Arrive Los Angeles, CA 7:50am Monday, July 16
Depart Los Angeles, CA 11:10am, Tuesday July 17



The night before I left town, my friend Francis called to say he was in my hometown, Helena, Montana...a few weeks earlier than my anticipated July 27th Helena arrival date, for my mom's birthday. He didn't, however, arrive by Greyhound bus like I will. He came on foot through unpaved, likely treacherous terrain.

In the beginning of April he began walking the Continental Divide trail from New Mexico up to Canada and intends to “yo-yo” the trail, returning back to New Mexico in the fall. I’m doing the antithesis of what you’re doing! I explained on the phone, imagining my body atrophying at the back of the bus, becoming a hunk of margarine as I head into the south, butter as I cruise into the Midwest and regressing into into a puddle of melted lard as I head into the sweltering south. But, after walking all over L.A. today--sometimes double crossing and circling--I'm convinced that, while my goal is not as lofty as Francis's, we are, in a literal sense, on a parallel adventure. We're both yo-yoing the U.S.. You can find his book, Hike Your Own Hike on this Continental Divide website.

My abundance of walking was due to my unplanned itinerary. I was too busy saying goodbye to San Francisco to think about L.A., until I got there. And, as with anything, it takes a while to get the kinks out. I was hoping to have photos that showed the character of Los Angeles--the Hollywood sign in the background, a lovely beach or even a movie star, but failed completely. This is not a big deal. What matters most, anywhere, is the people and its the people that will be continue to be the focus of this project.