Chapter by Chapter features me reading one chapter of the selected book at the time and reviewing it as if I were reviewing an episode of a TV show or an issue of a comic. There will be spoilers if you haven’t read to the point I have, and if you’ve read further I ask that you don’t spoil anything further into the book. Think of it as read-along book club.
Last chapter we saw Pocket Vinyl start their goal of 50 states in 45 days (unofficially breaking the 50 day record) with the local states. Now it’s time to truly venture from home. 3 states down, 47 to go.
I’ve never been interested in beating a world record. Some records sound really cool and other seem to exist just to exist, but I’ve never wanted to be the best at anything. I’m not against becoming the very best like noone ever was, but if I ever achieved that it would be a bonus, not a goal. I just want to be better now than I was then and better later than I am not. I do find trying to achieve a record interesting and I’m rooting for them…even though it actually already happened and what the result was they’re still active and together. If someone else has that goal, more power too them and I wish them luck provided no innocents are hurt in the process and no damage is done to the attempters. It’s just not for me.
In this case I would think some of the nuance of the travel would be lost just trying to perform every state, sometimes twice a day. If I was going to go cross-country (and me being me that would require an RV with a decent bed, toilet, shower, and kitchenette) and visit every state, I’d like time to really enjoy the place. In Kino’s Journey, the title heroine only stays in a town three days, enough to understand the place but not enough time to settle down and miss out on the rest of the journey. I might go a week, then depending on the state just go to a different part of the state (Texas and California are huge) or just move on to the next one. It might be fun, but I know I’d miss being home. I never even had a sleepover more than a day because I just wanted to go home that bad, probably obnoxiously so (little brat that I was). I’ve stayed in a hotel for conventions over the weekend but nothing was better than sleeping in your own bed. And not getting up early for a press junket.
Enough about me, though. The homepage is filled enough. Let’s get back to our performers.
First day totally on the road. They get up, have breakfast, do some final packing, leave their cats with the housesitter (and I’m supposed to believe cats were that emotional or sensing how much Elizabeth was going to miss them), and head to their first gig: Teetotaler Tea House in New Hampshire. This doesn’t go as well for them. Two of their friends make the drive out but that’s the audience. The hostess mentions that happens sometimes, but the duo have a good attitude about it.
In the chapter’s lone fourth wall break, they talk about how you give your best performance no matter who shows up or how many, which is the right attitude. Don’t half-ass it just because not many people show it. It is frustrating, especially after the numbers they got at yesterday’s three shows, but you do it for the love of the craft as much as the money. This site used to have more readers before my sick leave. When I returned, few if anybody came back and my numbers are still lower than they used to be. But I do enjoy making this stuff, so I carry on for those of you who remain (hi!) and try to make the best articles and comics (and hopefully videos again someday) I can. They’re also invited to return with the hopes of a bigger crowd next time.
They’re going to be spending time with Eric’s cousin and family (it doesn’t really point out which is his cousin), where they have to get used to a new problem: dogs. They have cats so it might be new for them. I don’t know. It’s certainly new for the dogs, and the family got the dates wrong for when they were coming. They’ll stay there for a few days, including when they drive up to their stop in Maine. I hope they had a good GPS available. That concert goes much better for them, though the cousin’s son coming home early and not knowing to leave a door open for them was a minor issue. Also, the dogs waking them up again. This is why I don’t own a dog. I like sleep, but when we had to stay with my grandparents and they had a dog, none of them woke me up. So maybe those dogs just think they’re the wake up service?
Next is a house show in Vermont…as in an actual house. This goes better for them. He has cats, and a lot of people show up. I don’t know who did the narration in this section because it’s in caption boxes, but they note that the bad shows make for more interesting stories to tell later (like in a biographical graphic novel) but the shows that go well are the better experience. I like a good story, but for the sake of their sanity I hope they have more of the latter. They still have to survive this trip.
It’s their attitude at the start I like. They don’t have a big crowd? Do the best job anyway. Roll with the punches, locked doors, and curious canines and just keep pushing on. Will they (or did they) still feel the same way by the end? We’ll start to see next time.
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