Jason Alan Griffin :: The Blog

On our walk this morning, we couldn't venture too far from the room since the door latch had stopped working the night before and I couldn't shut it.  River showed me how to make the most of what grass and plants we could find while keeping sight of that door. And I formulated a plan of attack for Route 66 today: I learned that it passed right by the St. Louis Gateway Arch, so I set my navigation with two addresses. One was the address for the Arch and the other was my final destination at the motel in Springfield. I planned to use the navigation to find the arch and then get on Route 66 from there sans nav. Theoretically, I could do that all the way to Springfield, or, if I get lost or bored, I could quickly turn the nav on and be guided to the motel room. I found the arch and was delighted to discover that there was almost no traffic in downtown St. Louis. It was very peaceful compared to New York and Chicago and the arch itself was a lot bigger than I imagined.  Even as...

I got into the Motel 6 late, after a long day of teaching and exploring in Chicago. As I drove up to the property, I was immediately concerned because the outside was completely unlit and free of signage. The dark glass windows and blank walls sent a message more akin to "Stay away!" than the usual "Welcome" I'm used to feeling from a Motel 6. This picture was taken the next morning. That night it was all dark.  I saw some movement inside, so I parked and we entered. I walked in as a man was embroiled in a passionate conversation on the phone regarding the desk clerks inability to process his reservation due to a downed computer. He then proceeded to berate the motel and inquired if the owner was a 'dot head'. I couldn't help but physically react to his overt racist remarks, and he took that as an invitation to rope me into the fiasco. I told him that I knew what he meant because I've thought myself that the culture that they come from ...

Today started off on a great note when I saw a message on my phone from someone telling me that my posts and my enthusiasm for life makes her smile. So I smiled. And then I packed up the car and River and I went to Naperville for Woodstock Experience at the  Alive! center. Kendra was my host and she found a fun venue. We got to play with the kids' balls and the hula hoops. They really helped us get into the playful spirit of the free dancer. This was the smallest Woodstock class I've taught, but we went to some playful and joyful places I haven't been to yet with this routine. After class, I spotted a cool looking hoodie with the logo for the Alive center on it just as Kendra was handing me my pay. So I went with an impulse and bought it. I wore it the rest of the day. I was feeling pumped. We had a great class and now I was going to begin my long awaited journey along Historic Route 66 from beginning to end. The weather was gorgeous. It was 78 degrees and low hu...

I started this morning on a high note: waking up with the sun on a massage table in a healing and movement arts studio. I had my coffee there in the space and was just driving out as the first teacher of the morning showed up for her class. Before my appointment with Mini, I had enough time to re-stock on River's food at Petco and refill with water, this time at Walmart in the hopes of a better situation than at Kroger. Alas, this Walmart was similar to the Kroger stores in that I had to wait in the cashier line to pay my 37 cents. If I wanted a Pepsi, I would be able to get those outside in a machine. Also if I wanted a DVD or to refill my propane, I could do that outside the building. But for water, I have to go the center of aisle 3 and wait in the shortest line I can find. When I got to Mini I let them know that, as luck would have it, my service light went on that morning. So if they had the time, they could take care of that and save me a trip later down the road. They...

As I sat down to write this, I had to take a moment and enjoy the sheer pleasure of sitting in this chair! I'm at the Mandala Center for Movement Arts and using Trish's desk. I'm more used to cramped conditions and makeshift workstations and/or sitting in my car. Unlike any of those things, this chair seat tilts forward so that my pelvis tilts forward and allows my spine to enjoy all its natural curves. It felt so good I just sat here and felt so good that both of my fists made it up in the air above my head without my even doing it. The pleasure itself rose my arms. Here is the wood screw that has entered into my life. I'm going to call him Chip.  Because of Chip, I decided to stay in Columbus rather than continue onto Chicago. By sheer luck, I happened to have two days free scheduled for Chicago. But I didn't feel comfortable driving there with Chip along, so I am staying here. Today started with a search for water. I was hoping to find a dispenser th...

I woke up early to prepare for a long, possibly dangerous drive. My plans included driving about five hours to teach a playshop and Nia class. US-22, I-70 I prepared for the day in the usual manner except that I also inspected Babe's left rear tire and found it visibly flabby and with a screw in it. Phillips head. It wasn't fully deflated, so I could drive on it, which I did to the nearest gas station. I found one that had an air hose and filled it up. It stayed at the proper air pressure for about an hour and then I got a warning that it was low again. So I stopped again, half way to my destination and over inflated it this time, so I could get more drive time out of it. Something exciting happened just about the time I got the low tire pressure warning. My trip odometer turned over! Sorry, it's blurry. I was watching the road. you can see my low air pressure warnings in orange. the trip odometer is in the lower right corner it reads 9999.9 The total ...

Yesterday I took a day trip to Bryn Mawr, PA (a suburb of Philadelphia) to see a long-time client that I used to have when we both lived in New York. Though Mini Nav and Google both agreed that the trip should be two hours, it took three hours each way. Both times the extra hour was within 6 miles of the apartment. The trip into and out of Manhattan, on paper, takes about five minutes. But the reality is that it takes about an hour. And yesterday, I was coming back in the middle of rush hour so that just the 1/2 mile loop into the entrance of the Lincoln Tunnel took 45 minutes. Today I went back to Pennsylvania, but this time it was the next stop, not just a day trip. I'm moving out of New York and today's the day my trip changes direction. I've circled all the way around the perimeter of the country, hugging the west/south/east coasts from Seattle to NYC. But now I'm headed to the middle of the country. It's westward ho from here! Getting out of New York proved...