driving south.

i like the south. i feel more relaxed as i drive south in the states.

i have also been thinking a lot about the songs that go through my head as i travel. road signs trigger a slew of songs i haven't though about in years. for philadelphia, the song about his home town by atom and his package; for new york the song new york city by vancouver band of my youth, cub; washington dc by the magnetic fields, in indiana by brenda kahn; california by joni mitchell; and wichita has two songs - that one by the white stripes and true dreams of wichita by soul coughing. but the most upsetting by far is a nick cave song (maybe his version of an old country standard) that aitor introduced me to on this trip - knoxville girl. i'm never that cool with murder ballads, but mr. cave does do a good job of expressing the straight horror of the lyrics. at the very least he's not trying to pretty the song up. i find it chilling. regardless of any higher thought, though, i was a little dismayed to have this grisly song chirping through my head as we passed through tennessee today.

thankfully we arrived in asheville, north carolina, by evening and i don't know any songs about this place. they also take great care around these parts to be hospitable...



now all we have to contend with is a motel full of nascar-lovin' boomhauers who are currently running around this fair establishment drinking cruddy beer and yelling things i couldn't possibly decipher. how does all this still feel like we are coming home?