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Nov. 13th, 2006 08:18 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dolariSaturday, November 4
I got about four hours sleep before running off to the comics and zine fest...this didn't bode well for what was going to be a four hour trip to Houston then a four hour trip to San Antonio, but I could deal with it. I've slept on the road many times, I could do it again if need be. And I had enough cash for sodas...and this was a big thing, since my last trip to Houston, the sodas ended up costing me $50.
The trip from San Marcos to Houston is a lot different than Austin Houston. I had made plans to stop by La Grange on my way to Houston to pick up some Weikel;s cinammon rolls, but the new path down there goes no where near La Grange. Instead I just made my way down Highway 80....
I forgot how rural Texas can be, especially when heading east. Flying through "towns" like Martindale and Fentress. It's "rural decay." Old houses abadoned shells on the side of the road, one or two mom and pop stores. There's just miles of farm land, and small little dying towns.
The trip on I-10 wasn't much. I don't normally drive down I-10 to the east, or East Texas at all. There are a few places I like to stop at, but that was before I transitioned. I felt okay visiting some of these places male...but female, no. Which gave me a lot of trouble when my bladder, which always seems to know when I'm least willing to use facilities, decided it was gonna burst, despite me not drinking a darned thing all morning (or the evening before. I mean, I thought I was gunna die </rosanne-rosanadana>.
The problem is...just living outside of Austin is hard on trans folks. The farther east you go (or heck, the farther away from Austin at all you go), the less safe it is. I'm even wary of Houston, where I know a lot of trans folks live, but it's still East Texas. So here I was, what was I gonna do?
Well...I knew that all Whataburgers and McDonald's have the same layout. Bathroom hidden WAY in the back, with a door next to them. Let's try that! SO I found the one Whataburger in Schulenburg and sure enough, zip in, zip out. No pun intended.
I know this is a long story about my bladder, but it's an issue I have to live with - when I'm doing long distance travel, if I'm not totally androgynous, bathroom issues become a dangerous thing.
I've often said that I love Texas and Texans. Their politics annoy me, yes, but the people, in general, are nice. The problem is that when confronted with an issue they don't understand, they'll do one of two things: LEave you alone and stare (90%) or "Take issue with you." (10%). This involves scolding, sometimes yelling, and occasionally, police action. It's a hurdle I don't think most people will be able to jump anytime soon. Hopefully in my lifetime, but not anytime soon.
Anyway, since I'd use the restroom, I used the drive through to grab some taquitos and a soda, and continued driving through.
Things I noticed: Grumpy's in Flatonia is gone! Grumpy's used to be a GREAT GREAT GREAT greasy spoon inbetween Houston and San Antonio. Whenever my dad would truck between the two, we'd always stop at Grumpy's. Now it's gone, replaced with Grumpy's Motor Inn. At least it's still Grumpy's.
East Central Texas is very very very Czech influenced much like how the Austin-San Antonio-Fredericksburg triangle is very German. Weikel's in La Grange has the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had, because they use sweet Czech dough. Driving down I-10, I saw a motel called...and I kid you not...Czech-Inn.
Houston Ubanization starts at Waller County. A full hour before you get into Houston Proper. Damn, that town is huge.
I pulled in a good hour before Google Maps said I would. I found out we'd be in the Helios restaurant parking lot. Sadly, someone had left "little presents" all over the parking lot. The place smelled like a pigsty. I found a spot that didn't have anything to worry about stepping in, and brought out The Goods.
I really really really wish I'd have had the preview book with me. A lot of people through my stuff was excellent, but without any reference for who the heck Carrie, Allison, Andrea and Hanna are, they looked, complimented, and moved on. I NEED to have my graphic novel out by Staple, or at least a printer. I also need business cards so people who ARE interested in the comics know where to find them. When I did this cons prints, I added the URLs to the umages next to the copyright notices...but when they were cut down - both the notices and the URL were chopped off. :(
The day went leisurely by, mostly with me sitting at my table (with THE Drawing Chair!) or flying off down the parkinglot to pick up prints that had flown away. The place was packed and a LOT of people stopped by. A few picked up my pieces on "artistic merit" and the fact that I Was selling Dirt Cheap. and stopped by and stayed all day with me, just chatting and keeping me company. Much sketching went around - since I'm at work, I'll scan these in later. They offered to take me to their place later for movie night. If I wasn't exhausted and had the folks waiting for me in San Antonio, I woulda taken them up on the offer.
We found Big Peach. I bought 9 cans. I cleaned them out of Big Peach. I want more.
Shortly after those two left, and showed up and stuck around till the end. She picked up the last of the posters (finally, a sell-out NINE MONTHS LATER!). It was during a long conversation with the two, where I was a victim of an assault with a deadly weapon.
I was sitting there, talking with two of my friends, when a radioactive football, filled with radioactive spiders, fell upon my head. The football bounced away harmlessly, but one fang from the radioactive spider pierced the football, where a thread pierced my skull. I became endowed with the ability to throw a perfect pass, and recite football scores at all times.
I AM HAIL MARY.
In real life, however, two kids passing a football back and forth missjudged a pass and slammed my head with a errant pass. I think that's an interception. Kids ran REAL quick.
Some other cool folks that were there was the woman I call HulaGirl, who had hula hooped all day only occasionally dropping the hoop. It was totally hypnotic. There were two people, obviously high on something, dancing around to the DJ with switchblades. And they wonder why the police showed up shortly afterwards.
The fest went on till 8, but for us, it pretty much wrapped up at 7. I went ahead and packed up, said my goodbyes, offered Shane half my table at AKon, and started the drive home.
The drive home was to San Antonio, not San Marcos...most of the way there was spent desperately trying to stay awake. When the music ran out (two batteries + no power outlet at my table = dead laptop), there wasn't much else keeping me awake other than 44 ounces of Coke...I decided it was time to pull over and take a name. I pulled off the road, found a secluded spot on a county road, locked my doors and set my alarm, and slept for 30 minutes.
I shoulda held out - not but five miles away was an UberRestStation. In all my travels around the US, no one has rest stations like Texas. Especially Mississippi, which are literally just pavement in a clearing. Texas's tend to be very clean but small affairs. Two semi-open-air rooms, a map in a waterproof kiosk, two vending machines and two picnic tables. This one was a virtual mall without all those pesky stores. Huge two story structure, super clean bathrooms, two LCD TVs displaying the history of Texas, two lounges on the second floor showing Texas News Network (and a screen showing you exactly what the camera in the room was watching - you). Either way - beats a county roadside.
I got home at 12. On four hours of sleep, I drove three hundred and eighty miles and stayed awake for 18. Well, 17.5.
Once I got home, I collapsed, and didn't wake up for a long long loooong time.
I got about four hours sleep before running off to the comics and zine fest...this didn't bode well for what was going to be a four hour trip to Houston then a four hour trip to San Antonio, but I could deal with it. I've slept on the road many times, I could do it again if need be. And I had enough cash for sodas...and this was a big thing, since my last trip to Houston, the sodas ended up costing me $50.
The trip from San Marcos to Houston is a lot different than Austin Houston. I had made plans to stop by La Grange on my way to Houston to pick up some Weikel;s cinammon rolls, but the new path down there goes no where near La Grange. Instead I just made my way down Highway 80....
I forgot how rural Texas can be, especially when heading east. Flying through "towns" like Martindale and Fentress. It's "rural decay." Old houses abadoned shells on the side of the road, one or two mom and pop stores. There's just miles of farm land, and small little dying towns.
The trip on I-10 wasn't much. I don't normally drive down I-10 to the east, or East Texas at all. There are a few places I like to stop at, but that was before I transitioned. I felt okay visiting some of these places male...but female, no. Which gave me a lot of trouble when my bladder, which always seems to know when I'm least willing to use facilities, decided it was gonna burst, despite me not drinking a darned thing all morning (or the evening before. I mean, I thought I was gunna die </rosanne-rosanadana>.
The problem is...just living outside of Austin is hard on trans folks. The farther east you go (or heck, the farther away from Austin at all you go), the less safe it is. I'm even wary of Houston, where I know a lot of trans folks live, but it's still East Texas. So here I was, what was I gonna do?
Well...I knew that all Whataburgers and McDonald's have the same layout. Bathroom hidden WAY in the back, with a door next to them. Let's try that! SO I found the one Whataburger in Schulenburg and sure enough, zip in, zip out. No pun intended.
I know this is a long story about my bladder, but it's an issue I have to live with - when I'm doing long distance travel, if I'm not totally androgynous, bathroom issues become a dangerous thing.
I've often said that I love Texas and Texans. Their politics annoy me, yes, but the people, in general, are nice. The problem is that when confronted with an issue they don't understand, they'll do one of two things: LEave you alone and stare (90%) or "Take issue with you." (10%). This involves scolding, sometimes yelling, and occasionally, police action. It's a hurdle I don't think most people will be able to jump anytime soon. Hopefully in my lifetime, but not anytime soon.
Anyway, since I'd use the restroom, I used the drive through to grab some taquitos and a soda, and continued driving through.
Things I noticed: Grumpy's in Flatonia is gone! Grumpy's used to be a GREAT GREAT GREAT greasy spoon inbetween Houston and San Antonio. Whenever my dad would truck between the two, we'd always stop at Grumpy's. Now it's gone, replaced with Grumpy's Motor Inn. At least it's still Grumpy's.
East Central Texas is very very very Czech influenced much like how the Austin-San Antonio-Fredericksburg triangle is very German. Weikel's in La Grange has the best cinnamon rolls I've ever had, because they use sweet Czech dough. Driving down I-10, I saw a motel called...and I kid you not...Czech-Inn.
Houston Ubanization starts at Waller County. A full hour before you get into Houston Proper. Damn, that town is huge.
I pulled in a good hour before Google Maps said I would. I found out we'd be in the Helios restaurant parking lot. Sadly, someone had left "little presents" all over the parking lot. The place smelled like a pigsty. I found a spot that didn't have anything to worry about stepping in, and brought out The Goods.
I really really really wish I'd have had the preview book with me. A lot of people through my stuff was excellent, but without any reference for who the heck Carrie, Allison, Andrea and Hanna are, they looked, complimented, and moved on. I NEED to have my graphic novel out by Staple, or at least a printer. I also need business cards so people who ARE interested in the comics know where to find them. When I did this cons prints, I added the URLs to the umages next to the copyright notices...but when they were cut down - both the notices and the URL were chopped off. :(
The day went leisurely by, mostly with me sitting at my table (with THE Drawing Chair!) or flying off down the parkinglot to pick up prints that had flown away. The place was packed and a LOT of people stopped by. A few picked up my pieces on "artistic merit" and the fact that I Was selling Dirt Cheap. and stopped by and stayed all day with me, just chatting and keeping me company. Much sketching went around - since I'm at work, I'll scan these in later. They offered to take me to their place later for movie night. If I wasn't exhausted and had the folks waiting for me in San Antonio, I woulda taken them up on the offer.
We found Big Peach. I bought 9 cans. I cleaned them out of Big Peach. I want more.
Shortly after those two left, and showed up and stuck around till the end. She picked up the last of the posters (finally, a sell-out NINE MONTHS LATER!). It was during a long conversation with the two, where I was a victim of an assault with a deadly weapon.
I was sitting there, talking with two of my friends, when a radioactive football, filled with radioactive spiders, fell upon my head. The football bounced away harmlessly, but one fang from the radioactive spider pierced the football, where a thread pierced my skull. I became endowed with the ability to throw a perfect pass, and recite football scores at all times.
I AM HAIL MARY.
In real life, however, two kids passing a football back and forth missjudged a pass and slammed my head with a errant pass. I think that's an interception. Kids ran REAL quick.
Some other cool folks that were there was the woman I call HulaGirl, who had hula hooped all day only occasionally dropping the hoop. It was totally hypnotic. There were two people, obviously high on something, dancing around to the DJ with switchblades. And they wonder why the police showed up shortly afterwards.
The fest went on till 8, but for us, it pretty much wrapped up at 7. I went ahead and packed up, said my goodbyes, offered Shane half my table at AKon, and started the drive home.
The drive home was to San Antonio, not San Marcos...most of the way there was spent desperately trying to stay awake. When the music ran out (two batteries + no power outlet at my table = dead laptop), there wasn't much else keeping me awake other than 44 ounces of Coke...I decided it was time to pull over and take a name. I pulled off the road, found a secluded spot on a county road, locked my doors and set my alarm, and slept for 30 minutes.
I shoulda held out - not but five miles away was an UberRestStation. In all my travels around the US, no one has rest stations like Texas. Especially Mississippi, which are literally just pavement in a clearing. Texas's tend to be very clean but small affairs. Two semi-open-air rooms, a map in a waterproof kiosk, two vending machines and two picnic tables. This one was a virtual mall without all those pesky stores. Huge two story structure, super clean bathrooms, two LCD TVs displaying the history of Texas, two lounges on the second floor showing Texas News Network (and a screen showing you exactly what the camera in the room was watching - you). Either way - beats a county roadside.
I got home at 12. On four hours of sleep, I drove three hundred and eighty miles and stayed awake for 18. Well, 17.5.
Once I got home, I collapsed, and didn't wake up for a long long loooong time.
