Yearly Archives: 2014

Take The Last Train

After my amazing trip to Providence, and the flurry of bans and blocks and deleted "friends" that brought on, I spent most of the next month afraid to explore again, abandoning my idea of a new place every week and canceling what would have been my grand finale meet, realizing that despite my best efforts no one would show up. I was surprised enough to even have a chance to explore again that of course I took it when an explorer I hadn't seen in over a year invited me for a very sudden trip to Gary, Indiana, which I'd…

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February Made Me Shiver

I chose Albany because it just seemed so appropriate after how bad Providence was. It was always where I'd escape to when things got out of control, back when I was with Laura, maybe even before that; a place where I knew I was still wanted, or at least understood, even if what happened there rarely went to plan. At the end of the last four Februaries I found myself in the capital district, and here I was again, and by odd coincidence, so was my best friend I'd gone to see all these times (which was something I wouldn't…

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The Reason I Owe You $11

After the church, I decided, kind of against Christian's advice, that maybe I should go to the mysterious party after all. (kind of related complaint: it is incredibly hard to buy beer in PA. You have to go to a beer distributor, and even then they won't let you buy less than 24 at a time. Whatever, I thought, I'd just have some to share. And get absolutely hammered besides.) So Christian drops me off there, at the Budd Building, somewhere in a bleak, industrial part of the city. I can't help but think I'm in the absolute wrong place.…

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St. Melba’s Church

After the asylum, my hosts introduced me to the legendary oasis of Wawa, then we continued on to South Philly to see a church, which I know almost nothing about, except that it's in Philadelphia. That being said, it's certainly better than any of the abandoned churches in Buffalo! At least no one has ever done this to me... apparently I still have farther to fall into ignominy. Every time I see an abandoned piano I want to play it... then I wonder if someone would hear the music and decide we were better off caught. This is the kind…

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Hippo Campus

If the last few trips had unusual beginnings, this one was absolutely weird... starting on the bus ride home from Cincinnati, I began to get unsolicited calls from apparent explorers (caller ID blocked, of course) telling me to go to Philly next weekend for some mysterious UER party. Of course, this being the Fuck It Tour, I obliged; the goal, after all, has been to explore a new area every weekend, and meet new people, who might be part of my comeback, and whoever these strange characters were, it seemed as it might be in my best interest to meet…

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Ohio Defiance

As angry as I was about Cincinnati and the missed meet, I knew I had to make something of it and give the reeking armpit of the United States a second chance. This time, with my friend actually in the area, and still having a list of places from the meet just a month ago, I thought maybe we'd be able to follow in their footsteps and at least get to see the same places, even if not actually at the meet. The reality was something entirely different though - one place after another that seemed to be promising was…

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