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Archived here, you will find a selection of our favorite writings: accounts of our road experiences, interviews of people we meet, highly opinionated editorial-like pieces, and whatever else comes to mind.
07 Jul
Further to Bob’s entry the other day and before the Insiders/Out girls introduce themselves we thought we’d make a quick post chronicling the move from our beloved home onto the bus and our departure from the searing heat of the Miami summer to the temperate bliss of our European tour.
The ..read more
30 Jun
Man it’s been awhile. I started writing this post with the same amount of anxiety and guilt I have when I pick up the phone to call my mom for the first time in a month, except that it’s been almost 8 months! During that time I’ve been ..read more
09 Apr
For Mateo’s fifth Birthday, a friend of ours (Cassidy) brought him an ice cream tub of worms, Eisenia fetida (red wigglers) to be precise.
OK, so it was not the typical Birthday gift. They aren’t a new kite, ball or lovingly crafted accessory, but in truth they killed! The kids went ..read more
22 Mar
Thought it might be time that I contributed… Here we are a little over a month with our bus and still ripping shit out – a bottomless pit for the moment and an endless source for debate. As we inch our way towards the light at the end of a ..read more
09 Mar
Nothing, but in a similar vein to Rrejii from Regent and some other friends from the north we’d like to introduce you to the latest addition, or rather additions of Transit Antenna, the kombucha family, or at least one very far flung branch of it.
Enriching our lives with their slimy ..read more
10 Feb
Here follows an account of the retrieval and transportation of *as yet unnamed bus* indirectly from Springdale, Arkansas to Miami, Florida. Due to the regrettable length of this ultimately successful and rewarding experience and the many expound worthy moments therein I will break down the entire excursion from pre-departure to ..read more
17 Jan
Hello. My name is Tom, and together with my wife Sam, and our kids Mateo (4) and Harper (0) we will be traveling around the country for an indefinite period of time proudly under the guise of TRANSIT ANTENNA.
This being our first post, we don’t want to wax lyrical on ..read more
05 Nov
On the morning after Walter’s death, when we called Good Sam for a tow, we didn’t really know whether Walter would end up in the desert, someone’s backyard, or a junkyard. We preferred the desert over the other choices, for in the desert, the bus wouldn’t be crushed and become ..read more
11 Oct
We made it down the Alcan with few problems which included freezing cold weather, a cracked fuel line, congealing vegetable oil, and Walter’s lungs full of dust. The good news is only once while climbing a 10% grade did we have to jump out of the bus to switch from ..read more
25 Sep
When we came to Alaska, our thoughts ventured into the realm of fish processing or typical handyman work, but never did we think becoming butchers was a part of the plan. Yet here we are. Bob and I have been cutting meat for Indian Valley Meats close to ..read more
25 Sep
ALASKA ROCKS!
And why, you ask? Believe it or not…(drum roll, please…)
WE HAVE JOBS! (Temporarily, of course, so no one should worry that we’re taking up permanent residence here (though it’s tempting).
After arriving in Anchorage about a month ago, we made a new friend in the Alaskan salmon business who ..read more
23 Aug
The night before Seth and I disappear into the Denali Wilderness for three days of adventure, I can’t sleep. My restlessness comes not from fear about living in grizzly country where the rangers warn, “You will be the only people you see. You must be ready to save yourself if ..read more
14 Jun
I wrote this essay for the College of Charleston Magazine about our adventures on the Salton Sea, located in the Imperial Valley of Southern California.
29 May
The notion of living a nomadic lifestyle in mobile collectives and following the seasons is as old as civilization itself. Early tribes of native American Indians wandered across the nation, periodically moving location to maximize the advantages of climate and the environment. While “Hippie” is often a term used to ..read more
19 Apr
How to fix Your Macbook G4 Power Cord with a Tampon
31 Dec
*Update: added some pertinent videos to this post.
In the chaos of preparing for our trip to Rosarito, Transit Antenna forgot to fill in some blanks about our adventure on the high seas of Salton. As you know from our daily blogs, we set out to build a boat made of ..read more
30 Nov
(Our view from four rows back.)
Outside the leaves are changing, and the cold and clouds are rolling in from East to West. It’s sweater weather, when everything, as expected, slows down. The NFL season is past midpoint, and Carolina Panthers’ fans are pushing through the fall doldrums. In fact, our ..read more
20 Nov
Just as we’re leaving Amarillo, Texas, a quiet town I’ve heard of only in a country song, we encounter a pair of enormous disembodied legs, standing on a pedestal in the pasture. Near the barbed wired fence, a mock-historical marker states that the concrete legs are ancient ruins ..read more
31 Oct
I’m back with the bus. Transit Antenna picked me up last week in LA. I’ll be riding with them for the next few months. Stay tuned for blog updates, photos, etc…
Here’s a ghost song for halloween: Great Ghosts!
It’s by Phil Elvrum and Mt. Eerie. I’m going to see them play ..read more
30 Oct
As the nose of our bus fearlessly peaks around the curve of the mountain, barely kissing its rigid, stone wall with his tail end, we find ourselves on the twisty, nauseating, roller coaster ride of the Pacific coast. Moments ago we departed from our spot on ..read more
29 Sep
I know, it’s been a while, we haven’t kept in touch like we promised we would. We are doing well and keeping busy. After departing from Portland the first of September, we headed towards Texas to meet up with Joe and Amy who were ..read more
26 Sep
This is a piece for the upcoming People issue of Charleston Magazine:
Hitchhiker Steve-O: a thirty-something ex-carnie, free spirit of the road. Freshly shaven with a thinning hairline, Steve-O’s rosey face glows hopefully above a crimson shirt that billows over his belly. His thumb sticks gleefully up. He’s free of suspicious ..read more
05 Sep
The boat splashed on the rough waves, heading towards the bottom of the vicious rapids “Rock ‘n Roll”. My mouth filled with ice cold, numbing water from the Clackamas River near Portland, Oregon. I kept paddling when the raft guide yelled “forward!”. Most of my body, I couldn’t feel, including ..read more
03 Aug
Transit Antenna has been busy. Coming soon are writings and videos on this year’s Rainbow Gathering in Wyoming, but first an update from the crew.
(Alberta St. Location of Last Thursday Art Fair. Lots of partying going on.)
The group is split at present: With Joe and Amy in San Antonio planning ..read more
23 Jul
Tierra Amarilla, New Mexico. The words “Tierra o Muerte,” painted over Emiliano Zapata’s face, are visible from afar, despite the high desert dust obscuring the sign’s surface. On the other side of the sign, a shrouded skeleton sows seeds over the green, white, and red of Mexico’s flag.
The Mexican Americans ..read more
24 Jun
This is a proposal for the College of Charleston. It is involved with the upstart green initiative being led by a group of students. The project is called “Suburban Renewal.” We will convert a salvaged Chevy Suburban into a self-sustaining aquaponic garden with fish swimming in the cab ..read more
05 Jun
(This is page 3 of 3 of a UFO sighting report.)
Transit Antenna’s recent visit to Roswell, NM, where in 1947 a flying saucer crashed about seventy miles northwest of the town, stirred up some old memories for me. The crash was followed by an alleged government cover-up, with officials ..read more
31 May
The Transit Antenna Crew has been very busy since our bitter sweet departure from the Emile Community Farm in Houston. The time spent on the farm led to chance encounters with wonderful people from the neighborhood and surrounding community that certainly made a mark. But the time ..read more
28 May
The modern yard developed when people who no longer needed farms to grow their own food decided that instead of moving to the city, they would live in the suburbs and have space between their homes and fill that space with yards, little plots of luxurious Almost Nature.
I’ve never appreciated ..read more
10 May
We’re in Houston Texas, and today we are participating in the Art Car parade, something we could not foresee a few weeks ago when we had one of our many discussions about the direction we should take Transit Antenna: on to Houston, across the country to California, or north to ..read more
20 Apr
The Transit Antenna crew arrived in New Orleans late Monday night April 7, after departing from the LSU campus in Baton Rouge (keep an eye out for videos of our projects at LSU). Seth parked the bus in the Wal-mart parking lot just on the edge of downtown, a ..read more
06 Apr
(Orlando photographer Wheat Wurtzburger takes a picture of Josef’s freckle constellation. The photograph is a response to an assignment from Learning to Love You More.)
From Orlando to Titusville
After leaving the cheerful reptile enthusiasts at the Alligator Farm in Saint Augustine, Transit Antenna continued on to Orlando, this time with Josef, ..read more
29 Mar
Each of us had ideas of what we thought everyday life on the road would be like. For most, the concern of food and cooking was not given a second thought. As for myself the topic was high priority. I imagined pulling over at roadside stands marveling ..read more
27 Mar
The Mysterious 7 made a rare appearance on April 1st and 2nd in the Sculpture garden of LSU. Be on the lookout for the video, coming soon.
19 Mar
Hey everybody, we’re on the road! Joe and Amy, that is. We joined up with the bus a week ago in St. Augustine, Florida and have been adjusting to life in an RV ever since.
The trip down from Ohio took one night and two days. Joe’s father, a self-made ..read more
07 Mar
“…this love of the land.” –Gerald O’Hara, Gone with the Wind
In Margaret Mitchell’s Civil War saga, Gone with the Wind, the indomitable Scarlett O’Hara learns what daddy meant about loving the land–with soiled fingernails and tattered dress, she protects the plantation Tara, the last vestige of her confederate legacy, against ..read more
05 Mar
Today, we went to the Florida Alligator farm! My dad, Seth and Jamie got to feed a big gater! I got to hold a small Albino Alligator. I learned that there are 23 different species in the crocodillian family.
The gaters and crocs just lay around in the sun all ..read more
20 Feb
Josef and I, newly engaged, will be traveling in a 1989 Pace Arrow RV. The RV right now is stationed in Hicksville waiting for liftoff. Like the space shuttle Atlantis that launched two months past schedule, inclement weather and maintenance needs have pushed back our departure.
To prepare our ..read more
19 Feb
Well, we’re officially off, folks. We left the Skinners’ house at 1:50 pm on Friday, February 15, to friends and family waving and snapping pictures. Over the engine revving up I yelled, “If the IRS calls, tell them we said NO!” I don’t really know what I meant, but it ..read more
09 Feb
(Dawn, Taylor, Seth and I look at our very first solar panel, constructed by Taylor for a third-grade project.)
Hey Folks,
You will be excited to know that the smell of fries fills the air as Walter runs on vegetable oil. Yes, folks. The system works! Now we’re back ..read more
10 Jan
Hey Everyone!
We’re producing some spectacular events at Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston, SC, where we are busily getting the bus ready for launch. Here’s what’s going on:
FEATURED EVENT:
TRANSIT ANTENNA BIG TENT REVIVAL ART AUCTION
Friday, January 18 from 6-9:30 pm
Auction begins at 8:00
Redux Contemporary Art Center
We’re having an art ..read more
31 Dec
Happy New Year From Transit Antenna!
Well folks, it’s the end of a New Year, and we from Transit Antenna wish you the best in 2008. We’ve been busy building the walls, bathroom, bedrooms, cabinets, and drawers on our bus, getting ready for the fund raiser, music events, and launch party ..read more
06 Dec
I wanted to be a rice krispy treat for Halloween, but it didn’t work out. It rained, I didn’t have enough time, and I didn’t want to wear a stiff, unmanueverable box for a costume anyway.
I was going to wear a box shape over my body covered in rice cereal, ..read more
25 Nov
Red and orange leaves catch the sun, some still holding to branches, some rolling along the ground. The sky is clear. The swimming pool’s surface is clean. Sparky paws at dried leaves and bounces along the tennis court fence. Then he plops down on the green surface and rolls on ..read more
19 Nov
an old treat
I was cleaning out an old computer and found these quicktime vr files that I forgot I made. These are of a show Seth and I put together in 2005 of work by Caleb Weintraub at Redux Contemporary Art Center before we split for grad school. ..read more
15 Nov
It’s getting chilly in Charleston. Nothing like Boston and New Haven where we’ve been living for the past two years, but imagine being in forty degree weather for eight hours or more, moving slowly down the side of the bus, scraping layers of colored vinyl strips over two decades old ..read more
25 Oct
Just a brief Transit update:
Yesterday at 4:00 a.m. Bob got pulled over in the Seth’s parents’ Trailblazer, no wallet, no license, no cell phone, and looking like he very well could have been up to no good:
They pulled him over because he was “leaving the Redux parking lot at ..read more
20 Oct
It turns out that Google doesn’t care about the environment. At least that’s what Heap Media implies with its website, Blackle, an environmentally conscious search engine with a black (not white) background said to reduce energy consumption.
Blackle reminds me of the kid who buys the same clothes and consciously adopts ..read more
29 Sep
When I’m not reading, writing, or trying to earn money like a good monkey should, I’m decompressing with some Grade-A entertainment: Nip/Tuck. I’m not sure this show restores the mind, since it consists of the most pathetic, troubled, shallow, and desperate of humanity. But regardless, I’m invested in ..read more
13 Sep
Home on the Range
“…where the deer and the cantaloupe play…”
I constructed this in my spare time at work, using supplies from around the office. On Thursday morning, my co-worker brought me an unexpected treat of sliced fresh cantaloupe and so I was inspired to create this for her. The deer ..read more
10 Sep
I attended a Christian summer camp for two weeks of every summer during part of my adolescence. We were situated in the Texas hill country along the Frio River, which gets its name for being fed by cold-water springs. The going slogan was that camp is, “The best two weeks ..read more
08 Sep
Last night I headed down to Redux Contemporary Art Center in Charleston for the opening of Reorientation, an exhibition of Redux studio artists curated by Lori Kornegay, visiting Assistant Professor in Arts Management at the College of Charleston. Featured artists include Townsend Davidson, Kevin Hoth, Erik Johnson, Dorothy Netherland, Colleen ..read more
08 Sep
This is a drawing for a mural that I will be starting next week. Sneakers are made using vulcanized rubber, and colored materials. The vulcanization of rubber was invented by Charles Goodyear in 1839. He recounts this discovery in his autobiographical book Gum-Elastica. He couldn’t have guessed so many of ..read more
31 Aug
Transit Antenna has been swamped! Bob and Seth have been in Ohio working on the bus with Joe’s dad; since the move to Charleston, Dawn has been preparing Taylor’s home-schooling curriculum, getting ready for the school year to begin; Joe’s been working on a mural project in Boston and recently ..read more
13 Jul
I remember one of the first drawings that really came out good. I decided to draw a soup can full of pencils and pens that sat on the windowsill of my room. I started just drawing one or two pencils and just got carried away. Soon I had drawn ..read more
10 Jul
We’ve had quite an educational week. We tried getting temporary tags for the bus and spend two solid days running around to several DMV’s. First we went to the Delaware DMV, because the bus was actually stored in Delaware for the past two months. They informed us that ..read more
09 Jul
Controversy seldom feels controversial, until others point it out. Seth being an artist, we wanted to use one of his drawings for our wedding invitation, and I chose one of my favorite, a woman with extended arms swallowing a sword almost fully submerged in her body.
Since the invitations went out, ..read more
30 Jun
It’s 4 am and I’m hardly tired–I’m officially on Seth’s sleeping schedule. We’ve been on this schedule for about two weeks now. Some time last week when we were watching Apocalypto at seven in the morning, after having watched another movie beforehand (while packing), I realized that anyone outside of ..read more
20 Jun
I just got a call from Jefferson Stewart ( a good friend from graduate school who needs to build a website so I can link to it) warning me about the new fines being levied on alternative fuel users. Apparently folks that are using any type of fuel they ..read more
20 Jun
We want clean power running all our gadgets and heating our frying pans while on our trip, so I’ve been doing a little research on solar power. Here’s what I’ve found out so far.
Going solar is not a cheap enterprise. For around the price of a Lexus you can outfit ..read more
18 Jun
Here I am with Lindsey, Lika, Karen, and JJ. We are at the opening of the 2007 Boston Young Contemporaries. The BYC is an annual exhibition that I started in 2006 with the help fellow students and BU faculty. It is basically a juried exhibition of New ..read more
16 Jun
We’re really good at starting vehicles- finding the keys, then locating the ignition, putting the key in, and turning. We’re good at that. We’re also really good at knowing when the check engine light is on. Our abilities at filling the gas tanks of any number of vehicles ..read more
16 Jun
Bob’s been working non-stop on the website, a frustrating job to say the least, lots of punching in code, getting “fatal error” messages, reviewing code and punching it in again. Sometimes the code looks correct, but the pages still do not work, hidden bugs, kinks, and plug-in-related malfunctions routinely pop ..read more
12 Jun
Maybe someone can shed some light on how this mix-up may have occurred.
I got an email two days ago from Netflix telling me my account had been canceled. I immediately got online to look at my account and called Customer Service, who told me that the credit card ..read more
10 Jun
During a studio critique, Seth told a visiting artist about our trip with Transit Antenna and all the renovations to the bus we would have to do, including the engine conversion, and the visiting artist replied, “Your plan is a bit idealistic. Really, you‘re going to be stuck on the ..read more
05 Jun
In Boston yesterday it was rainy and windy, and when I woke up yesterday morning I could not help but think we were in a tropical storm. I haven’t listened to the news or read the newspaper in a week or so, because I‘ve been madly shopping for a wedding ..read more
23 May
We decided to name the bus “Walter” in memory of Seth’s grandfather, Walter Alexander, who drove a bus for Trail Ways. Walter retired from Trail Ways only after surpassing the three-million mile mark.
We chose Walter not only for dedicating his life to the road, but also for dedicating himself ..read more