2003-10-24

Hello nurse! I am traveling around the US and writing about it, and there seems to be no end in sight.

I am looking for nice, fun people who can put me up for a few nights and feed me and pay my way (since I am broke) and show me a good time (since I like good times). If you think it might be fun to host me for a day or two or three, email me at justingrace AT mac DOT com. Please make sure to include your address and phone number. I am especially looking for places to stay in the southeast USA and the East Coast.

I will be traveling all over the USA, though, so email me no matter what! Here are the places I will be in the next few weeks that I am still looking for a place to stay at:

� Louisiana
� Mississippi
� Alabama
� Florida
� Tennessee
� North/South Carolina
� Georgia

I am in New Orleans right now and will be here for a few more days now. Please contact me ASAP if you are in or around New Orleans and want to hang out!

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US Tour Day 38: Acupuncture, Fashion Show

It's a shame I had so much fun on Day 38, because if I hadn't I might have had time to write up all the great things that happened. But, since my mind is totally fried I'm just going to post some pictures and some short captions.

I spent the afternoon with Pam—aka DJ Gfire. Her and I are both broke, so we like to find ways to have fun while spending as little money as possible. We went to the opening of a new acupuncture and massage studio where they were giving out free acupuncture, free massage, and—best of all—free food. We gorged ourselves on Vietnamese spring rolls, Filipino lumpia, sushi, and the sorts of things you only get to eat all in one place in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Austin.

After eating like fools we got to have some needles jammed in our ears. Ah, acupuncture! I underwent acupuncture therapy for many months and never experienced any noticeable benefits or changes in my life except for the titillation of having needles jammed into me. I'm not going to lie—I love to get pierced. And, what is acupuncture more than therapeutic piercing?

After the eating/piercing fiesta we went to meet up with a friend of Pam's who was putting on a fashion show. We wanted to get in for free, so we both volunteered to help carry things and dress and undress models. So, I spent most of the evening putting rubber and PVC corsets onto or taking them off of a bunch of beautiful women.

Me and two of the models at the designer's studio in Austin.

Sure, it's fun. But, dressing and undressing models at a show is stressful and it requires a great deal of professionalism and ability to work fast and remain focused under extreme stress. The models were crammed into the backstage like water molecules in a storm cloud, all of them just waiting for that moment when the would rain out onto the stage and into the eyes of the crowd. I felt at home backstage—working, working, working. Some of them needed water, some were scared. Some of them had lost ribbons from their corsets already or couldn't find their shoes. I loved helping them out—talking with them, asking them about their days to distract them from their stage fright, fetching them this or that.

Backstage at the venue.

I don't like to be on the other side of the stage, the consumer side. I like to be on the side of the stage that is producing and sharing beauty with the world. I feel unfulfilled as a spectator, and I've found time and time again that there is boundless joy in participation—helping, working, and endless endeavoring to bring some beauty, art, or other creative work to the world. I didn't even end up watching more than one or two minutes of the show, yet I left the venue feeling so satisfied. I didn't actually want to go home at the end of the night. I wanted to stay and work more—maybe carry something or sweep a floor or something. I guess I just feel best when I am helping out—when I am contributing.


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