Tools of the Trade Production to Resume in Mid/Late August

I am in the little town of Dixon, about an hour east of San Francisco, California. Last night I caught the Green Tortoise bus to Eugene, OR for the Oregon Country Fair. Thirty minutes after boarding the bus I received confirmation on a ride to Chicago (courtesy of Ride share on Craigslist). The driver, Wade, may also be going all the way to Rhode Island. I only need to give him $100 for Chicago and maybe $150 for Rhode Island. This is a good catch, too good to pass up, so when the Green Tortoise made its first pit stop just an hour from the city in the small town of Dixon, I hoped off. The driver and the people on the bus were awesome. I interviewed the most non-technological 15 year old I have ever met during this one hour ride. Her name is Alma and she likes swords and wishes the world could be like it was in the Middle Ages. I guess the fair draws people from every walk of life. It was an interesting hour to say the least.

After leaving the bus (and the driver, clad in a straw hat, was nice enough to give me all of my money back, of course, I made him keep a few bucks for a coffee or something) I found a nice field (part field, part abandoned lot) in the town to camp in last night. I woke this morning to a million small white flowers covering the ground. The sun was bright, but not stifling. Wade will be picking me up here in Dixon, since it's on the route, later today. I should be in Chicago by Monday and NYC by the middle of next week.

I am planning on going to New Hampshire for four or five days after a few nights in NY to visit with my mother and grandmother. I will then return to NY more permanently and begin planning another film tour through the southern portion of the US and/or making another attempt at filming in Europe. Everything depends on how much money I can raise (and make) toward my documentary and how my family's situation looks. Hopefully Ben and Gina, owners of The Bodega Wine Bar, will let me fill in some shifts in the meantime (that is if Kevin and Marvin will give me a few of their shifts).

This month has definitely been an interesting experiment in hobo filmmaking. I feel good about the material, interviews and conversations, I have been able to gather thus far, and I will continue to load, transcribe, and make initial edits while in NY and NH. Thanks to everyone for reading this (I will continue to blog about Tools of the Trade production), everyone who let me interview them, everyone who gave me a ride during my California/Arizona hitchhiking ventures, and special thanks to Erica Russo for being my backer on Kickstarter. Hopefully a few more people will come around.

To everyone in NY (if you're reading this that is) I will see you soon.


p.s. I am currently uploading a video segment, one resembling a documentary film trailer, to my Kickstarter project. Check it out, it includes some of the material I've gathered while being on the road. Update: It might take all day to load on Kickstarter...

I always thought NASA was over funded, but it's crazy that today marked the last space shuttle trip ever...no more little boys and girls can grow up saying they want to be an astronaut...