Church Van and Tear-Drop Trailer

I have already mentioned that I do a fair amount of traveling and will do more in January, heading to Florida for 2 months or so, the first experiment of Fish Face outside the Midwest. So how about I give some account of what these experiences are like.

So the first thing I suppose is our van. It is one of those four rows of seating vans mostly seen used by churches and park districts. All but the front seats are removed to make room for the shirts and booth equipment, a bunch of bins, 8 foot grid panels, booth. For most shows, and the pending Florida trip, a small trailer is pulled. Now when I say small I mean it is the smallest thing made containing a bed, sink, fridge, stove, cabinets, heater, and we even have a window air conditioning unit. It must only weigh a thousand pounds or so because it can be rolled across flat ground by one person. It’s a pretty cool looking little contraption; it attracts a fair amount of curiosity. When traveling I can stop just about anywhere to eat or sleep, perfect for my business travels. Actually a lot of the crafters travel with living accommodations. 40 to 60 foot RVs are the norm. Crafters are sent to the same parking lot to leave their RVs, so I end up in my little trailer surrounded by these behemoths with their satellite TV and generators constantly running. Some of the younger crafters get a real kick out of my trailer because they too have lived in not so elaborate conditions. It’s actually kinda funny, the van I drive is longer and maybe even taller than the trailer I sleep in.

There have been shows that I have stayed in my tent, which I lived in for about 5 months recently so that’s alright, I enjoy tent life. I haven’t been without snow in the winter my entire life, and I assume there isn’t any in Florida, but I don’t know how cold of temperatures I should expect. I am for sure bringing my tent and going to sleep on the beach any time I can, I can’t imagine it gets much below 40 degrees even at night during winter in Florida, still bearable with all the warm stuff I have to wrap up in in my tent.

If all goes well this year, I will be going back to Florida for this trip every year. I’ve read great things about canoeing in the Everglades and other mangrove areas, so this year I hope to find somewhere near my route where I can spend a couple days canoeing and camping next year.

The 36th Chamber: Enter Fish Face

One of those new places you go that takes you back to where you’ve been.

“Hey man, I haven’t seen you in, well years.”

“Yeah I know, you haven’t been around in a while. I was off working some other places back right now, got a job.”

You have now entered into the wild, strange world of Fish Face Goods, specifically the sole employee of a small screen-printing operation, owned and run single-handedly for the last 10 years by artist Troy Thomas. Specializing in fishing, hunting, and other outdoor fun t-shirts, the designs are created by Troy and printed by me. That is the bare bones of what I do, trust me, there is more. The shirts are sold both over the internet at Fish Face and at arts & crafts shows around the Midwest. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, we set up a white tent along a street or in a park among bunch of other crafters for a weekend. A small tent town pops up where homemade goods are sold by the people who make them. In here you‘ll find people who travel around the country making jewelry, pottery, paintings, random household knickknacks; living from their vans, buses, homes, bread trucks, RVs; making their goods on the road or at home. That is a long list of variables, but there are a lot of different people out there!

“Oh yeah, I see a lot of people around. Hey you remember…”

“Sure, yeah that was a time.”

This conversation could go on for a long time, reminiscing, up-dating, proclaiming, sharing, teaching – all the things that are great to talk about between people. But usually the time to share doesn’t seem to be there. That sucks. Here’s me making time to have the conversation with anyone who cares to listen and share. I haven’t had a real chance to check out something I’ve heard a fair amount about in recent years, a blog. The impression I have is that this is an online community of conversations, seems like a great place to share with other people out there.

"I’m working right in town, not living too far from here actually. How about you, what are you up to?"

"Having a drink, working, hanging with whatever folks I find, my commute a.k.a. prime reading time…"

And it continues, weighing on how successfully we entertain each other impressing, awakening, embracing, depressing, numbing, fulfilling accounts of our days past. But these thoughts take time to share and a coming to a central ground to have that talk. That is what I have thought the blogoshpere is, and that is what I want to contribute to.

I don’t find it terribly relevant to delve too deeply into my past, anything having to do with whatever comes up in my writings will be shared as honestly as possible. A few things though, maybe to help begin an understanding of who I am. Born and raised in the Midwest of the United States, reading has been a passion for a long while, I’ve traveled in the general directions of this country. Yeah pretty broad and unspecific, but more will be shared as applies.

My life right now is somewhat centered around my job. This is by no means a bad thing, I am learning the intricate details of one of the oldest and most useful art forms, I get to travel a good amount, around the Midwest and soon farther around the country. I make enough to live in Chicago with some of the best people I know and pay my current costs of living. I ride my bike and the train to and from work every day, good way to wake up.

I stay pretty well informed about what is going on in the world today, and yesterday, and the days before that, have some thoughts on where it will be tomorrow. I’m an avid reader; listen to music whenever I get the chance, whether it is to fall asleep to or while riding my bike through the streets of Chicago. I’m going to try to put in as many thoughts that come up into this blog and I want to leave this an open floor for anyone to share and join in the conversation.

Cheers.