Finally! After 3 sober, singless weeks, I find karaoke in Kansas. After I finish writing a post on being sick, I pack up my things and start to head out, when I decide to sit at a single open spot at the bar. The men are friendly and I easily contribute to their conversations on the Simpsons. It also gives me a great way to introduce myself as being from Portland, home to Matt Groening. One thing leads to another and I ask about karaoke. Turns out that there’s a bar offering it 7 nights a week and these guys actually enjoy checking it out.

Maggie’s Scotch and Soda is slightly larger than the Sugar Pine, but the locals are similar. The selection reminds me that I’m now in the heartland/cowland … lots and lots of country I’ve never heard. And so I’m surprised by a few gems that I make note of - it’ll be fun to bring these back in Portland. “Some girls doin’t like boys like me, but some girls do.” “Save a horse, ride a cowboy.” My favorite: “well, I ain’t first class, but I ain’t white trash.”

Jack and Joe mention Kamakazie Karaoke, when you don’t know what song you’ll be doing. As the name suggests, it can be dangerous. Jack’s last experience had him singing “Girls just want to have fun”.

So far, Wichita has my thumbs up!

Is the secret to happiness and working to have many jobs? (Unless you’re one of the lucky 1% who don’t have to have any job.)

Grants, NM: Restaurant Owner, Property Owner, Wrestling Coach, Assistant Football Coach

Larry owns El Cafecito, which I find in my “road trip america” book, off of historical Route 66 in Grants, NM. While enjoying my solo Valentine’s dinner and winding down with a game of “Ka-Glom!” on my Blackberry, Larry asks me how I can type so fast. “Oh, I’m not that cool … I’m not texting …” And we launch into a conversation on family, work ethics and our generation gap. On top of owning and managing this restaurant, which just doubled in size this year, he plans to double it into the next lot next year and owns 20+ properties, coaches high school wrestling and is the assistant football coach. (We swap some wrestling stories, since I grew up in a town with Olympian Brad Vering and was a wrestling cheerleader. Shhh…) The school wants him to be the head football coach, but he runs through his daily schedule and there just isn’t the time. Did I mention that he’s been married for 30+ years and has 3 gorgeous kids and 1 grandchild?

He worked in the mines for 19 years before they closed down and he decided to open up shop. Since then, he’s enjoyed the variety of multiple jobs and only wants to give his kids something he didn’t have - a good head start. (We then explore our generation gap, the waning work ethic and concerns we have for my generation, which I plan to dissect later.)

Santa Fe, NM: Musician, Guitar Instructor, Flight Instructor, Personal Trainer

Bob plays his guitar at the Santa Fe Baking Company and Cafe every Saturday. For the short while I’m enjoying a Southwestern sandwich special, I hear the Beatles, Dylan, Clapton and other classics. His voice is soothing and he keeps the mood light with mock growls and accents. As he wraps up, he announces that also teaches lessons. That would be fun, I think, to take lessons as I travel. I accidentally almost unplug his shelves of amps and equipment and he throws a joke my way that opens a new conversation. “Any chance I can get a lesson from you today? I’m only in town for a day.” He must not hear me all the way, as he says “Sure, I’ll get you a card before I leave and you can give me a call.”

Oddly enough, he’s also a flight instructor and a personal trainer. “You’re my new hero” I blurt out. Seriously, I’ve wanted to fly forever and dream of being fit someday. “That’s the way I like it. If you have many jobs, you never have to work a day in your life.” When he focused on being a musician for a living, he didn’t have as much fun. He started playing venues he didn’t like, just for the money and finally decided to go back to having it as a hobby instead of a career. And now that he has diversity again, he doesn’t have to “work” and has fun for a living.

Me: On a Break …

Larry and Bob spark admiration and reflection, which conjures hint of a spice nearly forgotten: variety. Remember 9-10 years ago? Bartending, waitressing, web design and the online daily paper jobs along with photography, drawing and other studio classes … I had fun and community and a little paycheck. A new question pops up: can one have variety and pay the bills?

You: ???

How do you keep variety in your life? When are you (or were you) most satisfied in how you “make a living?”

If you can believe it, I spent my first night at a hostel in Flagstaff - and it was a BLAST. After spending my next night at another hostel in Albuquerque, turns out I hit gold on my first strike. Second strike - not so much.

The fun started when I walked through the door and chatted up two Austrians, who were predominantly proud of “Ahnold” and had never seen “The Sound of Music”.  We then bumped into two funny, and cute, Hollanders (or Dutch or Netherlanders … take your pick) that the Austrians met in a San Diego hostel. I’d walked into, and helped create, instant community, and for the remainder of the night sparked esoteric conversations peppered with Q&A on culture and America’s dominance of TV and entertainment around the globe.

Through the course of the evening, which included testing a local brewery (not so great) and passing around a new backpacking guitar I purchased earlier that day (as my old guitar was broken in Tucson),  I’d met a stylish architecture student from Perth (whose knit mohawk hat I coveted), a couple from Austria and Australia, a woman traveling the US in search of an architecture job (from New Zealand), a younger girl from Japan touring the US on her own (who spoke better English than she gave herself credit for) and a handful of colorful locals.

Some interesting tidbits: the international youth prefer facebook over myspace (3-0), no Austrian wants to watch Sound of Music even though we consider it a classic,  women enjoy traveling solo.

Prior to the hostel I’d already had a great run of luck in town. First, while looking for a warmer and snugger fit pair of jeans, I befriended Monica (with seductive brown eyes and a flair for fashion) who referred me to Mountain Oasis. At the restaurant (where I had my best meal in days), I swapped info with the waitress who’s looking into traveling up the west coast and through Portland this summer.

In short, I absolutely loved Flagstaff - which is a good thing since I have to come back to pick up my guitar that’s getting fixed (hence the new, small guitar). By April the snow should be gone, making it a perfect time to catch a glimpse of the Grand Canyon too.

Albuquerque, on the other hand … well, I just haven’t stumbled on the people that make a place stand out and great. So I’m checking out and going to try my third hostel in Santa Fe and give New Mexico one more chance to show off.

Spurred by the Sedona Sun to end my silence, I strike up a conversation with a woman who’s clearly pregnant.

She tells me this is her fourth and her first after having her tubes tied. She doesn’t tell many people, but her first time she was pregnant with twins and she had a dream that her (soon to be) daughter told her that her brother would come later. She lost one of the twins and five years later had a boy. Her third pregnancy she was also to have twins before one died and then had her tubes tied. And now she has her fourth on the way. Her family jokes that she’s made to have twins - just not at the same time.

So what does this have to do with “ask and wait”?

As she asks me what I’m doing and I mumble something about a book or something (it’s not quite clear) she jumps up in excitement. “Oh really? I’m writing a book!” The most amazing part? She woke up one night, from an lucid dream, and began writing. She writes in a legal pad and her mom types it into the computer and they edit it together. She’s already had one publisher interested though she’s not going to accept their offer. Opera’s HR department has yet to respond, but several other agents have gotten in touch with her. She shares the story with me and I can understand why they’re hot to get her.

“One thing I’ve learned is that you ask and wait … and that’s what a lot of people get wrong. They’ll think and speak and take action when it’s not the right time, or they’ll ask and then nothing will happen and they’ll try something else.”

I’m a little confused, and trying to remember what she’s saying. “They don’t know what to ask for?”

“You can know what you want and ask for it but then you have to wait. It’ll come - like my book. I guess I always had the vision of myself writing novels, on the beach with my kids running around me - so I’ve asked for this my whole life and now it’s happening. I don’t know what I’m going to write next. I don’t know how long it’ll be. All these publishers want to have a deadline and I can’t give them a date. I can’t even tell you what’s going to happen next.” And she continues to give examples of her own process of formulating the story in process. I recommend Orbiting the Giant Hairball and she’s interested to check it out.

On top of her being raised Wiccan yet attending a Catholic school, she speaks with a Valley Girl accent yet carries on this conversation with a firm connection to the ground. Since she doesn’t use computers, I ask her to shoot me a copy of the book (signed) when she’s done as I’d love to read it. I offer to do the same, once I wait to see what’s coming.

It’s been an adventurous week in Tucson. After a few days of cold, rainy and snowy weather, the sun finally got my memo and came outside. I even burned a little while attending a beautiful outdoor wedding yesterday and could feel the Vitamin D production. (In hind sight, this was critical to surviving my last night in town.)

I have so many stories and posts to share - and will - and for now am leaving you with a short note to say that all the strangers I’ve met in Tucson have been completely awesome, friendly, helpful and sincere. In fact, as I was riding in the back of a Tucson police car a few thoughts kept circling through my head, including: if I’d only kept talking to strangers, this never would have happened.

No need to worry. The ride was a friendly offer in lieu of a taxi and, despite it being uncomfortable, it was free. (I hesitate to include this, for fear my phone will be ringing off the cradle, so a note to all my friends and family - I’m in no trouble with the law, have found a new rock strength in the desert and am still healthy with no injuries: so fine in all senses of the word.)

On the recommendation of said sweet people, I’ve got some new places to check out and a potential rock-climbing partner. A peek at my upcoming weekend*:

Saguaro National Park and Desert Museum - I’ll make it before closing this time
Kartchner Caverns
Cochise - recommended for climbing
Tombstone

* When you don’t have a job, weeks and weekends blur.