Hello, Rebellious Revelers! It's KJ here. Some of you know that I've had a tremendously challenging few days which included emergency bypass surgeries, ER visits, business license procedures and publication requirements to fulfill. I questioned on whether I'd be able to write Musings at all this week. But because the captains of Team Other have stepped up and gone above and beyond to support Musings and the independent little business I'm starting, I am able to post today. @Bouffant, my dear friend and regular guest-writer has anticipated my needing some help this week, and as a result, we're presenting to you a unique layout in today's edition: A K&B Collaboration. Big Ups and undying gratitude to B for her willingness to be my pinch hitter in this time of unrest and the eloquent results. Please take a moment and bow down to my Queen, @Buff_82 who not only designs and maintains Musings, but she possesses incredible patience for me and is in the midst of designing an insanely beautiful website for The Little Practice. Last, but of course, not least, I want to hug and kiss my soul sistah @CynicallyConvivial of KStew Is Better Than U, a proud Musings Affiliate, who not only inspires and keeps me laughing, but shows me how to move through challenges and junctions with grace and enthusiasm. New journeys are opening up for both of us, and it's incredibly thrilling. Plus she pre-reads my ramblings at 2AM if I ask her to with minimal complaining. After this essay, I'll make some notes about the music of Musings. Today's essay is for Gram Other, Chew, Puss and Monkey, my family.
We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time
A condition of complete simplicity
...And all shall be well
~ T.S. Eliot
Road Trip Ruminations: Bouffant
A road trip is a quintessential coming-of-age American experience. The automobile. Why, we even build shrines to dead cars here...
The car may have been invented in Europe, but it was made for America. Rock & roll music, birthed in the USA, is made to be listened to while driving down the highway, or getting down in the back seat (Hmmm... remember bench seats...). When your family lives in New Jersey and Grandma lives in Kansas, you're not getting a plane ticket forChristmas, you're getting about 10 inches of space in the back seat and a comic book to read on the way... or, in my case, you and your brother will trade off bunking on the back seat and on the floor, while your dad stretches out in the front seat, on your way from Chicago to Denver for a wedding (Dad broke down and bought camping gear for the trip back). Just about everyone I know has done multiple multi-state road trips, with families or with friends.
The romance of the open road was used thematically in Kerouac's On The Road, written between 1949 and 1951. Reigning Other Queen Kristen Stewart has been on the road herself for the past couple of months, busy with the role of Mary Lou in the film adaption. She started with Beatnik Boot Camp (the coolest summer camp I've ever heard of) in Montreal, swung down to shoot in South America, and is now filming with the production in New Orleans. Presumably to prep for her role, fans heard that Kristen took a road trip of her own with some girlfriends a few months back, across the country from Los Angeles to Ohio, winding up at a Rob Zombie concert (now that's random).
News about the production has been less than forthcoming... frankly, I've given up on trying to figure out their plans. The obfuscation could be due to the indie nature of the production, without a budget for PR efforts during filming... or it could be Walter Salles' way of protecting the set and Kristen from over-zealous fans, allowing cast and crew to focus on their project without distractions. And who could blame them? That's what they're bring paid for, and they're taking their work seriously. And the benefit will ultimately be ours, when we see the finished product.
Please, ladies... the arm hairs need to stay
with the rest of that fine body.
*Kj waves* HI TOM!!
While Kristen/Mary Lou quietly works in the Big Easy, her Royal Consort Rob Pattinson is making a bit of a splash with his own road trip. In between jobs at present (we know of nothing until Breaking Dawn pre-production begins next month), Rob had been mostly undercover in LA recently, until news broke on Sunday of a Rob sighting in New Mexico, of all places, at a restaurant, ordering wine with friends. The restaurant employee confided that Rob was with friends on a road trip, and was on his way to New Orleans...
courtesy of @bragirl2 &; Twitpic
Then news broke retroactively that he'd been spotted in Mesa, Arizona on Saturday, and Monday evening was photographed at a Lubbock bar, hanging out with friends Sam Bradley and Tom Sturridge, drinking what looked to be whisky and beer and perusing a karaoke songlist.
Tweet from Santa Fe, NM:
OH MMMM GGGG (HAHA) ROBERT PATTISON IS IN SANTA FE AND EATING AT THE RESTAURANT I WORK AT
And fans all over the world pulled up Google maps and feverishly discussed whether Rob was REALLY going to NOLA, and if so, what route would he take and where he might stop next. The romance of a world-famous Brit taking off on a road trip through the Southwest with his buds captured the imagination of fans. Nevah understimate the power of Twitter and Facebook...and camera phones…
Tweet from Lubbock, TX:
Apparently Robert Pattinson just bought out the entire bar at Crickets. Yes, that Crickets. The Lubbock one. What a mindf**k.
May we take your order, Rob?
It's about 500 miles from London to the northern tip of Scotland. The islands of the United Kingdom would fit neatly into the state of Oregon. The British didn't grow up in a driving culture like we did. What they did grow up with were westerns, and rock & roll songs that make you feel like you have the pedal to the metal, cresting a hill with nothing but clear blue sky and open land as far as the eye can see.
Now, the Brit adored by Americans is roaming our magnificent Southwest with his BFFs... sightseeing, boozing, sampling local delicacies, showing us his love for America and endearing himself to us forevermore.
Earning new fans one town at a time.
There is so much goodness in this picture. No words.
Not only that, he and his compatriots (one of whom is actually IN On The Road), are very publicly making their way to Rob's very own Valley Girl, his American sweetheart and our Other Queen, Kristen Stewart. It's a parade from Los Angeles to New Orleans, with thousands of fans cheering him on to go get his girl.
*wistful Kj thoughts*
I'd drive across the continent for this girl too
There has been much drama surrounding these two Royal Rebels in the last couple of years. They have consistently deflected and avoided questions about their personal relationship. They clearly want a measure of privacy, and they deserve that. They owe us good performances in their films, a little promo now and then, and nothing more. The curiosity surrounding them is understandable, given the explosive chemistry evident between them onscreen and off. Not everyone has wanted to respect those boundaries they have asked for. Their attempts to ensure privacy have allowed for misunderstandings, eagerly pounced on and spun into wild fictions by some. Just recently, Rob and Kristen have appeared to be more comfortable allowing themselves to be seen as a happy couple, although the verbal embargo stands.
Methinks Rob Pattinson is a sucker for a poetic gesture... a true romantic. Do you see that he has found a way to publicly declare his love, without saying a word or even acknowledging his audience? He is making his way across half the country to claim his girl. The paparazzi who make money off his mug are hundreds of miles away. Instead, fan photos and tweets act as pushpins in a map to chart his progress. Rob and Kristen know we are watching. I hope they know our delight - both at following an abbreviated version of the Britpack on a real, old-fashioned American road trip, and in the anticipation of a Royal Rebel Reunion. This may be as public a statement as we will ever get from them about their relationship. It's beautiful, and more than enough.
~Bouffant
End of PART 1 Because Blogger is Being RIDONK Difficult. KJ's Misfit Musings on the Wanderlust, plus more on the Featured Rebel Royals will post Tomorrow. Perhaps Blogger can handle it then. But here's a look at our Lovely Rebel Queens, anyway. Because above all, it's really about Other Royalty is it not?
CAREY IS SO VERY
KRISTEN IS QUEEN
See you tomorrow, my Extraordinary friends...
xo, KJ