Whistle Stop Travel Blog: Cleveland/Chicago

Halloween in Cleveland, hosted by the folks at Ohio SMART, who are an amazing tribe of humans. Beforehand a rather large pack of perverts enjoyed falafel and hummos together, stories shared of women in veils and princes of Saudi Arabia in the places we sat in. The turnout for the class itself on taboo fantasies and desires was incredibly well-attended for a Wednesday night.Green and black striped matching dresses, Alice in Wonderland, a dog foaming at the mouth. Franken-domme, demons galore. Street clothes and goth attire. Words of necrophilia, Nazi uniforms, goat play. It’s amazing how many folks will casually shrug at piss or scat, but who will recoil in horror at the notion of ear wax or boogers.Books and hugs and love. The lights go out for a nap. I stay up and text, white screen flickering in the blackness.Just as the storm had cancelled our appearances in DC and had us fleeing the storm by car (since no busses, trains or planes were leaving the eastern seaboard), the travel issues were still continuing. Amtrak was still not running on the DC to Chicago line, so instead we hopped a Greyhound bus to Chicago.The plans change. This is part of flexibility. I had planned on hopping public transit, but I was dead on my feet. A taxi gets hailed for Mo, and I hail one for myself. She heads off to the Waldorf Hotel (no, seriously), while I head off to visit the amazing Ava Amnesia.Ava has sent me a series of text messages complete with pictures. I feel like I am playing one of the puzzle videogames Aiden loves so much. Turn right at the corner, and go to the back. Go past a gate, turn right, search for a hidden velvet bag tied to a specific area. Go insider, use the right combination of keys, climb stairs, enter. I laugh out loud as I reach the top and the cat greets me, ushers me inside.Nap time becomes conversation time, but sometimes such things are worth it. Showers speed into heading off for food, and finding out that twenty years after declaring that I hate corned beef, that what I now mean is that the idea of my father’s corned beef holds no allure for me. Well-made Jewish deli corned beef gets a big thumbs up.University of Chicago. Yeah. Dear iPhone- your directions suck. Seriously.iPhone thinks that the quad on campus is a drivable series of roads with a roundabout in the center. Tech fail.But the classes go swimmingly. Gifts of cupcakes, a scarf, and (I shit you not), underwear thrown at us “on stage.” No, for serious. I love teaching for university and college students. Absorbent minds who are willing to take risks and ask the hard (or perceived easy) questions. Hearts unfolding. Shy nerds and outgoing rebels, mixed in with a handful of jaded smiling perverts in the front row.It’s hard to brush through towns and not have time with friends. I wanted more time with Ava. I wanted to hang out with the jaded perverts in question. I want to spend hour spooning and laughing and figuring out if these underwear fit (and how easy they will come off). Instead, the road, the road. I tally sales, run the numbers, and we catch a train to St. Louis.Finally, a train on our supposed train trip!Onward to the Lou :)