Lincoln head plastic Mold-A-Rama

Lincoln head plastic Mold-A-Rama machine, Henry Ford Museum, Detroit
Originally uploaded by gruntzooki

Dear IL Lincoln Highway Association, I'll be traveling the Lincoln Highway today in search of one of these. Please do not disappoint me. Love, Debora

Superdawg, Chicago, IL

Superdawg neon, Chicago, IL
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower

Today, James and I grabbed a bite at Superdawg. It was GOOD! He had the Superdawg, I had a Supercheesie. Then it went from quiet to crazy crowded. I'm going back for night neon. And so Maurie and Flaurie can wink at me some more.

Thanksgiving, day 2

This is Debora's Thanksgiving. (thanks to Sex, Drugs and June Cleaver) Why didn't I bring more. Liquor, Prozac and Ativan???

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving Hand Turkey
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower

Made by my own hand - it is my hand! Love, Debora

Collection of stars

Looking up at the glow in the dark stars I have in my bedroom - I realized that I have many starry things in my life. My Grandma gave me the book, "Goodnight Moon" it's by my bed. I didn't realize the illustrations showed the room slowly getting darker. I just knew the book would make me sleepy and I could fall asleep. I love that the stars in the book keep getting brighter as the room gets darker.

Heartthrob cafe, St Paul, MN

Heartthrob cafe, St Paul, MN
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower

After spending two weeks of being in the sun, seeing new signs and new towns, it's hard to come home. I wrote about leaving and coming back. I forget how much I love to shoot up the neon - into my camera, my computer, my head. I am an addict. And I only want more. I love you neon and I have no idea why.

Crystal Cafe, Raton, NM

Crystal Cafe, Raton, NM
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower

Tonight, James and I are here, Raton, NM. I wanted to see how all the neon in town was doing. In 2007, I arrived around 9 pm so I didn't see the restaurant neon signs lit. James and I drove up and down the business route shooting stuff (me shooting, him driving) We're looking at restaurants trying to decide where to eat dinner. Restaurant one, the neon is beautiful but the decor looked bland. The next restaurant - no neon, so no way. The third place, the Crystal Cafe, has great neon and looks like it has character. First off, there's old photos all around - cool. And we can get a beer. The waitress explains that her boss' mom owned the Golden Rule in town. There's old ads and photos and she tells us that it's all still intact. She was so fun to talk to. I believe if you see the words homemade pie on the menu - by law you must have it for dessert. It was peach cobbler and very very good.

New Mexico Route 66

New Mexico poster
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower

Today, James and I are in Tucumcari, NM. We came in last night - and planned to stay one whole day. While I was shooting up a motel (ha ha), we bump into a guy who was forced to stay in Tucumcari because his car broke down and they can't get the parts for it.

We get up today and the sky is grey. Thick grey clouds. My one day of shooting is ruined. I love the blue New Mexico sky. James tells me to be patient - he'd keep saying, "I'm working on it." I'd look outside, grey but with some blue. By the time we get our shit together - the sky has is blue - not one cloud. It worked - he did it! We get in the car and the battery is dead. We get a jump from the lady at the hotel. But I worry what will happen when we stop the car. And what if the clouds come back. We drive up and down Route 66 to charge the battery. We stop at a gas station, turn off the car and the battery is dead again. Shit! No one has any jumper cables. I call the rental car company and ask them what to do. They ask can I drive to my end destination - that would be Denver when we fly out on Friday. And there's no Dollar Rental company in town. Then they give us the o.k. for us to buy a battery.

One really nice guy offers to drive us to the Car Quest for the battery. James has written down the car make and battery model number and the nice guy drives us back to our dead car. We thank him profusely. The battery, technically correct, did not fit. At all. Somehow, James manages to connect the battery at a hideous angle. We drive back to the Car Quest with the hood barely shut. It takes him three tries to find the right car battery that would fit. Luckily, I could get some shots in while James was being Mr Fixit. Finally two hours later, the battery fits, and works and the car starts. And life is good.

We resumed our tooling up and down Route 66 (and also on the main street in town.) We see the guy from last night, and I tell him all our car adventures. I hope he didn't put a curse on us. Actually, if we had this happen out in any of the past spots we've been it - it would've been a hellish nightmare. We made new friends, got to see all the signs and now the car is ready for the next part of our trip

Dennis' Place for games - Belmont & Sheffield - Chicago

Dennis' Place for GAMES - Belmont & Sheffield - Chicago
Originally uploaded by Mark 2400

I had dinner with my cousins in Albuquerque and this sign came up. Kudos to whomever found this - and uploaded it. I didn't throw up laughing - but I could've. Only your family can make you laugh that hard.

Travel

1950 travel style
Originally uploaded by myvintagevogue

I really don't like getting ready for a trip. It's the fear of what will I forget. And then I start on with the what will I miss. My bed, my pillows, making my own coffee in the morning. I am a mess when I have to get ready for a trip. There's scattered piles of clothes and whatnot in every room. Then I feel I have to totally clean the whole house and do every project I've been putting off - raking or polishing the floor. Stupid stuff

Miss Lady has a nice worried expression. She's about to abandon her luggage and try to make it through her flight in that tiny waisted dress. I'll be more comfortably attired but as equally worried about my luggage and what oceans are between Minnesota and Phoenix. Shut up - I'm bad at geography.

Then I'm on the trip and I'm used to the new routine and all is well.
Then comes the end. I have to pack up all my dirty clothes and I don't want to go home. I'm used to hotel or gas station coffee and getting food by hunting and gathering (or going to weird places). I come home and it's not where I want to be even though I didn't want to leave in the first place.

But I'll get the itch again, I'll start dreaming of my next road trip and I won't remember any of the angst. Until the day before, among the piles.

Technicolor Yawn

I woke up at 5 am and and I am so tired. My world looks like a Sid and Marty Krofft show. The overbright colors and weird creatures. And nothing making sense. I've tried watching H.R. Pufnstuf as an adult and I just don't get it. It was easier to watch it in the 1970s. Was it because I was young or because it was the 1970s? I am not understanding any thing today. Not a thing.

If you received a coherent email from me today, it was an anomaly.

Gifts

Gift Box Confirmation Cake
Originally uploaded by fabcakelady

I love giving gifts. I really do. The best is when you get someone something that really want or need. I would love to buy a friend a birthday cake like this I don't know if they'd freak. Maybe it will just be a small but great cupcake.

One of my favorite gifts was to Caroline. We were out road tripping and I had an alarm clock with a white noise generator. I'd wake up and be so freakin' scared that Caroline was dead. She was out. OUT. I was holding up mirrors to see if she was breathing - that kind of shit. She'd wake up so happy that she slept so soundly. I found a similar clock and sent it to her - unbeknownst to me, her neighbor had begun well drilling or jack hammering and it was making Caroline crazy. The white noise clock arrives the jack hammer - gone. How did I know? I knew she totally dug it a month before while we toured rural Texas. And she still uses it.That's the best, if it's something you totally wanted, or needed. And not a waste of space.

Mickey's Diner, St Paul, MN

Mickey's Diner, St Paul, MN
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower

Carrie, we need to go to Mickey's NOW. Get your quarters, and I'll bring mine because we need to get burgers, coffee and play Patsy Cline's "Crazy" until we break the juke box. I'll see you there.

Incense And Peppermints

I dig this, man. So simple! And a good song.

Map with notes

Map with notes
Originally uploaded by Debora Drower

You know those old movie slates. As a director, you yell, “Action” and clap the slate. It shows what scene is being filmed and was used to sync up the sound and picture. I like to pretend I’m a big time movie director when out shooting. I do yell, “Please clear the shot” but no one ever does. I have dreams of moving annoying power lines or lampposts but my crew never seems to pull the right permits.

The picture is my old way of note taking when I’d go out shooting . At first, I didn’t write any notes – I knew I’d just remember. Ha! Then, I used this old map to record notes of signs shot, not shot, the time. Now with a digital camera, the date and time (no GPS for me) are embedded in the shot. Since I can just empty the camera disk, I have endless shots. So I started shooting the name of the town before I’d grab the sign. And after. I have fun trying to find the name of the town on a great sign. I have a whole laptop filled with images that are in one great big iPhoto event that just says “trip to Albuquerque” And no town names. I’m going back and separating them into each town. Luckily with Google maps, you can make sure that both you and cool motel sign know where it is.

Girl in a white fur coat

Girl in a white fur coat
Originally uploaded by Eduard Titov

It's been a crappy day. I drove 1000 (seriously) miles this weekend. I am TIRED. It's sunny out again, and I'd really like to be out shooting the shit but I'm stuck in my windowless cubicle. I have a case of the mean reds (take that how you want) To make matters worse, a meeting was called at work. The meeting leader was constantly burping and talking about stupid stuff. My dear teacher, Echo, would sometimes tell us to wear a big protective white coat to ward off the bad vibes. Or evil spirits. I sat in this meeting, not only imagining a white coat, but there was white turtleneck, white fisherman's sweater, white gloves, plus the white fur (if you're a tree hugger - then yours can be fake) It kinda helped. A matching white Russian would really help.

Ball of Confusion

Ball of Confusion
Originally uploaded by Thomas Hawk

That's me. Ball of confusion.

I have this great piece I'm writing in my head but I just can't make it work on paper. My house is an utter mess. Things are falling off of shelves, onto my feet and yet it gets messier. I decided to organize my movie collection, I put all the movies on the floor and then got bored and walked away. It's too hard to think. I'm not sure why I'm so foggy. I should find a good reason, a good person to blame this on.

All want to do is watch old SNL episodes or respond to Facebook chat Both are fun and silly but it's not getting the dishes done, or paying the bills or making lunch. It's nothing of any substance.

I'll probably flit away to check on my Facebook status, or email, or find a goofy picture of my Jesus ashtray. All at once.

What I need is a good grounding - either to my room with no toys or something to keep me from floating away.

I gotta little black...

"I gotta little black dress in my closet (closet)
Got a bag, got a toothbrush and a comb…"

It's dark and rainy and I'm singing Pink Floyd. I’m a bit down because James has gone camping and I do have a very cute little black dress in my closet. And in the photo. In a month, there’s an ice cream convention I must attend. In Phoenix. So there’s no big sweaters, no sweatpants I can hide under. Not in Phoenix.

Trying to find some diet and exercise inspiration, I was rereading Lyle McDonald’s Bodyopus pages where he was following a low carb diet and trying to get really cut. He became ketogenic guru of sorts (he hates being called that) and even wrote a book on it. His diaries were funny and well written. The Ketogenic book, while it’s a ton of knowledge, it’s not a ton of fun. It has none of his personality. It’s rather dry--it reads like a research journal.

I thought I’d go hard core low carb in the hopes of dropping a few lbs. I’m looking at those diaries again and I find out Lyle's written more books. I’m looking through the sample chapter of this one book the Rapid Fat Loss Diet. And it’s written like the Body Opus journals and I’m liking his style, dude. It’s an interesting diet using low fat protein and essential fatty acids. He also has some tips on some supplements. I am going to give it a try. I’m a bit apprehensive – long ago I followed a low fat diet (Snackwell's, anyone?) and it killed me. But I ate tons of sugary things (yes, like Snackwells – they were fat free you could eat the whole box – right??) But this looks interesting and I mostly eat low carb anyway. It’s just a minor adjustment.

I am so hoping that in a month, that little black dress will fit again. And I have a glowing letter to send to Lyle Mcdonald.

Red Owl in MN

I sell a photo of an old Red Owl spice tin I have. Many people have asked me if there are any Red Owl stores still around. I found online that they were bought out by SuperValu. And I assumed that all of the Red Owl stores are gone.

I'm driving around southern MN and I get the urge to head to Le Roy MN. It looks like it might be out of the way, but I go. I pull into town and I see the Red Owl store. The sign looks good - almost new. Could it be real?



Apprehensively, I go in to the grocery store and see that the aisle signs are marked Brownlow's Red Owl.



I ask a clerk, (who is actually Kay the manager) is this a real Red Owl store? I expect the answer to be no but it is a real Red Owl. Kay shows me around the store and introduces me to her dad, Bob Brownlow, the owner. Her daughter is there. She shows me all the Red Owl products, signs, logos that she's collected over the years.



I ask her how it worked since SuperValu owned Red Owl. She told me that they had actually taken down the sign worried that SuperValu would disapprove of them using it. They worked out a deal with SuperValu that lets them be a real Red Owl. In fact, if you call SuperValu asking where to find old Red Owl memorabilia - they'll direct you to Kay. In fact, if you've got any Red Owl branded items, send them to Brownlow's so they can add them their collection. Watch for the movie coming out, "A Serious Man," by the Cohen Brothers. One of the characters works in a Red Owl and many of Kay's items are in the film



You could spend hours there looking at how the logo changed, that Red Owl's Jello was just called Jel and the big watchful eyes of the owl back in the meat department.





I got a Brownlow's Red Owl t-shirt and I was proudly wearing it around. I was asked again if there are still Red Owl stores and instead of shrugging my shoulders, I told them to head south on Hwy 63 to Le Roy, MN and see one of the only two actual Red Owl stores still around. When you're there you can get your own t-shirt plus many other items with the Red Owl logo. You could even do your grocery shopping (they are a real grocery store) or just get a few things for a picnic.

They are up to date and have both a web site and they are on Facebook.

Mister Mayo

Mister Mayo Jar 1970's
Originally uploaded by gregg_koenig

Yup, I am hanging out with Mr Mayo. His really name is Dr Locke who just gave a speech in Chicago about G.I. issues.

Waiting rooms are boring no matter how pretty they are.