As we left off last chapter, I was struggling through trying to find people from every state. I mean Alaska and Hawaii, its going to be tough to find someone from there right? Well that is 50% right (glass half full people). Out of nowhere, after I had put my sign down for a few minutes, a big guy came up to me and said, "hey you probably don't have someone from Alaska, right?" No, no I don't. He even pulled out his ID for verification, but I couldn't read it because it was in Eskimoian. Haha no I'm just kidding. I can read Eskimoian. He was legitimate. Here in my presence, a man from the land of Palin (DEATH PANELS). Of course my man wanted to look like an Eskimo, so he put on his hoodie and acted cold (stereotypes!).
After this, I went to meet my friend Kyle who happened to be walking through Times Square. We chatted for a few minutes before he headed to his meeting, so I took the time to wander a little bit. On my wander, I got ambushed by someone looking for something (damn! a trick out of my own book). This guy was selling tickets to a comedy club around town. Now I am no sucker, and usually wouldn't have gone for this, but we made a deal. You see, this fine fellow was from Australia. I know what your thinking. An Australian? In New York? No, folks, it wasn't the great Crocodile Dundee. If only....anyway we made a deal that I would buy his tickets if he gave me his best kangaroo. My roommate Max would be proud of me because he is currently reading Trump's book Art of the Deal. How 'bout that deal Max? He was a really nice guy and I think we both got what we needed.
The rest of the day was amazing, just talking and meeting with people. Everyone had their own little story, so I will try and give you a quick recap of some of my favorites. There was the lady from Manitoba, Canada who said she froze to death each winter up there (move south!). There was the older gentleman from Sweden who lived on a lake and loved to fish. He had great form. There were two different sets of three friends. The first were from the Dominican Republic who symbolized their country by yelling at each other. You know, because "everyone gets pissed at each other there". Nice. The other group were from Minnesota, Illinois, and Massachusetts who symbolized their home by being cold, flat, and the geographical hook of the state, respectively. There were the two friends from the UK, one from London and the other Wales, who showed their hometown pride by showing off the time (greenwich time) and their vocal chords. And there was a lady from Ghana who symbolized her home by being on the phone.....??? Can someone verify that at all? Does that have something to do with Ghana?
And finally, two of my favorite photo stories. The first was a couple where the gentleman was from New Jersey and the lady was from Russia. Where did you two meet? Online...? Anyway, New Jersey was easy to symbolize because of the smell (it stinks), but Russia was a little harder. How do you represent vodka? Or Stalin? Finally, she settled on a dancer, because they have great dancers right? Oh goodness, you two are going to produce awesome children.
Then, just before I was about to wrap it up for a day, a gentleman came up to me and asked what this whole thing was for. I explained what it was, then our conversation went something like this:
me: what state are you from?
guy: I'm in the Guinness Book of World Records.
me: you know that's not a state right?
guy: (pause) it's a state of mind.
Well played sir. This guy was DJ Green Arrow (he was given this name by Chuck D of Public Enemy), who holds the record for longest freestyle rap. He did freestyle for 10 HOURS. Schwaa? Believe it. And next year he is going to try for 48 straight hours. What is he going to do when he has to make bathroom? Anyway, I took a photo of him in this thug glory, we talked a little bit more, then he left hurriedly. I hope our paths cross again Green.
As it started getting to the late afternoon, I realized that I was not going to be able to get all 50 states. No not even close. But maybe what I got was a lot better. I got a great chance to meet a lot of people from all different walks of life who had a chance to express what their home means to them. Everyone I talked to smiled and enjoyed the photos, and everyone gave me a little glimpse into their lives, and to me, that alone was well worth it all. It is amazing how we are all different people from different places, yet we are all so the same. If only we could all remember that more often maybe the world would be a better place (insert cheesy television commercial here). When it was all said and done, I met someone from: Wisconsin, New York, Kentucky, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Missouri, Maryland, California, Nebraska, Washington, Oregon, North Carolina, Texas, South Carolina (the horse), North Dakota, Alaska, Connecticut, Minnesota, Massachusetts, New Jersey, Colorado, Maine, Indiana, Honduras, Canada, Sweden, Dominican Republic, Australia, Ireland, Turkey, Ghana, and Russia. Not bad eh?
Remember, tell you friends about the blog. Get them to come up with suggestions and send them in. Tomorrow morning's story will be full of dreams, juice, needles, and um-ber-ellas. Stay tuned friends. Take care.
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