Going Full-Out Monk or Playing Like a Rock Monkey

There comes a time in a man's life when the decision needs to be made on going full-out monk with the poverty, the incense, and the nubile virgins or hanging out as a stoner rock monkey with no respect for any damn thing in the world.

(Ed:  what's even worthy of respect?)

The Louvre

(Ed:  anything else?)

The first one is free and after that you need to sniff them out on your own, Sherlock.


There's been extensive discussion in the background as the topic isn't online (cough) debate material largely because I don't believe in online debates.  Comparing information is fine but driving agendas just makes the teeth itch and often attracts earwigs.

(Ed:  what do earwigs do?)

No idea.


The first question about The Way from Cadillac Man is when do you want to do it.  There is no solid answer because no jingle jack to do it unless I turn monk.

Cat is clear with don't you fuckin' do it and she did not say that but she would never respect any musician who sells off his kit.

The discussion about the entire topic is much bigger than this as I find such exquisite brilliance in "The Way" during which, in effect, the father became the son rather than the other way around.  Here's a one more quick twist on that.  The book already existed but the screenplay for the father becoming the son was written by Emilio Estevez, Martin Sheen's RL son.


There's an additional consideration since I recorded twice yesterday and I did upload them but only sent them to Facebook because I did not consider them of sufficient quality for YouTube (they weren't).  Once was prior to surgery for some 'kiss mah grits. I ain't a-feared of you.'  The second time was after before whatever they gave me wore off.  That was blazing stupid due to possible consequences but there was a bigger drive to show some attitude or you're just a walking victim.

This did not help the 'sell the kit' (cough) paradigm (larfs).


Partway solutions go with something like how about selling off the lasers and any other kit except the guitar.  That one does not work because it assumes I will return to Texas or I will carry the Galaxy Guitar with me.  Carrying it is flat impossible.  Carrying a heavy axe in a flight case on a hike isn't some kind of brave romance, it's fucking stupid.  Conversely, if I leave the Galaxy Guitar then it's crazy to sell the other instruments.

An additional huge consideration is landing in Scotland needing a rescue I did not anticipate is entirely different from walking into something in which the need for a rescue is inevitable.  Dat's blackmail.


In company with keeping the guitar is finding the money some other way.  The rough cut is it will take a nest egg of about three grand to pull it off, Point A at DFW to Point B at Santiago de Compostela.  Social Security will have caught up a bit by then so the gods should not immediately be recalling my corpus at that time.

Making a request on GoFundMe is righteous if I have something to offer and the only thing from The Way is to be the Roving Reporter ... but I'm not the Roving Reporter and that is not why I want to do it.  Reporting back to the regulars here is a pleasure to me but doing it as a job changes it to a requirement and that changes the whole vibe of the walk.  It wouldn't be a pilgrimage at that point, only a job.  More than likely such a job would obfuscate any meaning in the walk.

Note:  there is no implied question in any of this as the only outstanding question is to me with now what.

We know for sure if there's any way to do it then there really are Three Musketeers willing to roll if (insert logistical problems) possible.  All three are so hungry for adventure you can practically see those rascals quiver.


See, you get yer two classes of people in the world and some like to make plans while others make to chaos.  The Three Musketeers are of the chaos variety.  We don't care where will eat breakfast next Wednesday in Belgium because, wow, man, aren't you diggin' the way the light breaks through those trees and I think there's a deer back there.

Planners really need that plan and chaos makers can't stand plans.  We want to sit here and wait for that deer all day if we feel like it ... because sometimes it's worth it.

(Ed:  sure!  When you want to eat it!)

Take it easy, Brutus.

(Ed:  that doesn't sound too chaotic!)

It isn't.  For us, jumbling around in a tour bus for six days and six countries is more chaos than we could possibly stand.  Too many inputs, too many inputs.


Some of you get it already that, like Francis Tapon said, you 'hike your own hike,' or you tour your own tour; you never let anyone else tell you how to do it because they can all be pilgrimages if you like.

(Ed:  too heavy with the monk stuff)

It's not monk stuff as there's discovery in everything or we might just as well get a spray-on John Boehner suntan and swap postcards.  Travelers get this implicitly and would never even consider such a means.  Only an Inquisitor could get a Traveler into a tanning bed.


Let's leave this with a teaser as Cadillac Man is highly-enthusiastic about a book called "Walking the World" ... written by fellow who really did it.