On the Road 1.0

I feel the same way about On the Road that most people feel about Tarot cards.  The experience isn't going to be real unless the stack of paper is given to you.  Everywhere I've lived in the past few years, there's been a copy of Kerouac's book on the back of a toilet, in a kitchen cabinet, sitting on a speaker, or on some other surface that required me to move it frequently.  (I had started to read it once, but just couldn't make it to the last page.)  There's something about books that are supposed to speak to you that requires dog-ears, a missing front cover, or a big coffee stain.  That's why when purchasing books this semester, I didn't buy it.  Two months pass, and I can't even find it in a used bookstore, much less a friend's backseat.  I had resigned myself to buying it new the next day when, low and behold, I see it sitting on top of my boyfriend's bookcase that I had already thoroughly searched.  I'm so very happy to have a well-worn copy that I can add some character to myself.

So far, it's much easier to get through than the Odyssey, but it seems so much more surface level.  Hedonistic party times.  Riveting.  If you can't already tell, I'm a woman who isn't so much obsessed (hopefully) with her biological clock, but I see can the second hand moving from a distance.  I'm enthralled with all things marriage and babies and children.  I think I've at least got an adventure or seven in me before I really start getting nutty, but I'm probably going to talk about it a lot in my journal.  Anyway, the part of the book that I did like was where Sal suddenly found himself playing Dad and did what he had to do.  It was sweet, and kind of goes along with my Web Resource that talks about Neal Cassidy's wife.  She said that even though he was known for his wildness, there was a part of him that enjoyed being the responsible head of a family.

So there are a few lines here and there that I like in the book, but most of it lacks symbolism and meaning to me.  So I've decided that for my journals during these weeks, I'll spend my time chronicling my own travels for posterity.  Or just so I can look back in future years and see how youthful I have the potential be.