it pays to procrastinate

this is a very, very bad lesson for me to be learning.

so as part of my latest gig, i'm supposed to book myself on a grand canyon rafting trip. these trips are so notoriously popular and on the level of 'adventure of a lifetime' that they are often booked a year in advance. and i'm expected to finagle my way onto one of those rafts even though this prospect is damn near impossible just weeks before the trip launches? eh?

this challenge comes after packing up my (surprisingly numerous and voluminous) possessions and storing them backstage at the j-town loft; stuffing the trunk of the silver cloud for both a five-week trip through and around the grand canyon, and also for a couple months of subletting in boulder; having said car's engine get dangerously hot enough for me to have to pull over twice between oakland and SB; arriving at home and explaining the car woes to dad, who said he happened to have a friend trying to sell his 2002 volvo station wagon; blowing some cash money on that car after having it vetted for problems; and catching X's gig in hollywood before heading to vegas for my first day of research, only a week or so late.

i'm now writing from an internet cafe in williams, AZ, gateway to the grand canyon, with my laptop in safe, air-con comfort at the hotel i stayed at last night because tonight i will be sleeping in a tent. i have spent the morning getting strange looks from locals as i tread up and down the same few streets of this town waiting for two hotels to open so i could suss them out. i then spent the afternoon getting eyeballed in much the same manner driving into and out of campgrounds after scoping them out and asking what RV rates were, when i was obviously traveling without an RV.

but i don't care, because all of the persistent calls i made, starting at 8:45 this morning, have probably paid off in working my way onto one of those coveted rafting trips. six days, hiking out on the bright angel trail at the end, because one person canceled last week. i would not have had this opportunity had i tried making these calls two or even three weeks ago. this is only reinforcing my loathsome, habitual procrastination. i am actively reminding myself that this was a total fluke, that my senseless attitude of 'it will all work out somehow' may not always do so even if certain things do work out now and then. like this car. and this trip. and a sublet in boulder. it is all bringing out the superstitious voudoun in me.

but i have to say HELL YES AND HALLELUJAH this takes a load of stress off my shoulders. so cheesy as it is to say so, i am getting my damn kicks here on route 66.