the adrenaline of getting caught or getting away (is the same)

ah, the thrill of sneaking and snooping i enjoy it so much. seriously, there is nothing better than the heart pumping fear as you round the next corner or dart into the shadows as a painting crew passes by. today i made it to kansas city. the drive in was deceptive, the sign said kansas city 11 miles, and then about 8 miles later the sign said kansas city 11 miles. the kansas/missouri negotiating crew failed on this aspect. at least in sioux city (dont mention the name) the other states had the decency to name their cities south and north sioux city respectively. here just a kansas city on either side of the river.

12th street and "vine"

so, i made it into the city, and my first order of business was to find 12th street and vine. i had been listening to wanda jackson for the past three days straight and setting it to "i'm going to kansas city" more often than the other songs. well, except the song "hot dog" because that is probably the best song i have ever heard. as awkward as it may be, the next time i find myself behind the karaoke mic i will sing that song. anyway, 12th street and vine, where the hell are you? i got onto 12th downtown, as soon as i could, and drove and drove, eventually making it pretty far into what appeared to be the ghetto and deciding that it wasnt further out. i re-examined my map and saw vine just at the edge of the downtown map, however it didnt intersect with vine.

at some point in history vine was renamed to "the paseo" where it crosses 12th and there is some sort of elevated park there, but nothing else that would lead me to beleive it was a key line in a well covered country and blues song. needless to say i was severely disappointed. it was my entry point to a city i had no idea about, that i barely knew existed. so, my entry shot i took a moment to recollect myself. i decided that my second exercise would be to get myself to the top of the tallest building i could.

that plan wasnt ever really executed. i drove around downtown for awhile until i felt i was at the very core, and i parked. there was a nice fountain just across from me and i decided to have a light lunch and read my book for a minute. take in the sweet city smell of this decidedly midwestern city. after my lunch of hummous and crackers, i deposited some of my things back in the truck and set off to climb. but instead of the tallest building i found myself in the marriot hotel. there was a skywalk and i thought that i might connect me to other buildings, also it was hot outside and i wanted some refuge.

i went in and took the escalator to the top, there was some sort of womens clothing show being set up and i walked around there for a couple of minutes, and then to the skywalk and into the other part of the hotel. there wasnt anything happening so i went back. on my second pass i noticed that there was a pizza buffet for the people in the show and no one was around it, so i dipped in and had myself a couple slices of pizza. it wasnt good pizza, but it is hard to turn down free food. especially when i am actually stealing it and i get to feel that adrenaline rush while i wait to be caught or get away. i think those moments might just be the best part of life.

and today was full of them. i left the building after that and walked around downtown more. by now i had forgotten the idea of getting to the top of the tallest building and contented myself with exploring. the next structure i found was the convention center, and there was another skywalk. recalling the convention center in sioux city and the doors it opened for me, i entered and went straight to the adjoining building it was some sort of auditorium and theatre. i was walking around, many of the halls were lightless and it was pretty eerie getting around in there, there was no one else around and all the doors inside were open. i found my way into a little reception hall where all of the tables were set, and then i followed into the staging area for the dishes and bus tables and that is where i found the stairs.

up i went to the next floor, the smell in that stairwell was that of human feces, rotting, so i was quick to get out of there. having not showered for almost a week i smelled bad enough already, no need to add to my disaster. i exited onto stage right, not quite literally but near enough. i was in a little backstage staging area with lights and other effects. i walked from there onto the empty stage.

cables

ah, the stage. if i had a redo of my life i would have been a thespian. i love trying to act, using all of my energy to convince someone or myself that reality isnt real. it is hard and fun. i tried to take some pictures, but they didnt come out. the magic of the stage is something that cannot be caught on film, only recorded in the human memory and stored away as a happy memory. i examined the multitude of cables that would have been used to drop and raise various backgrounds, unfortunately there werent any to drop at the time, elsewise i wouldve tried. i was amazed at how much access i had to this place without there being anyone around.

there were signs of people, however. the floors had paint cloths and supplies laid out, it appeared that the crew painting the doors and trims was out to lunch or something. i left the stage and went to a different stairwell, the next level awaited me. there i started finding the dressing rooms. how awesome! if anyone ever wanted to give me the best thing in the world, they would find a way to get me backstage for a stage production and just be able to see the amount of work people put into the characters they play. i think i would be in heaven, i would smile and unbreakable smile and be able to die happy (i will die happy anyway. i dont even want to say this anymore. strike it! strictly off the record.)

ahem. i was just walking in and out of every single dressing room, trying every door entering and exiting, careful not to step on any wet paint. i got through this floor and went to the next. this would be the fourth floor now. there were less affects from the painting crew here and more, larger dressing rooms. these were the "star" dressing rooms, and they all had their own showers. i think i mentioned earlier how i wanted to take a shower, and here was my opportunity! all i needed was a towel. i started rifling through all of the rooms, looking for a towel. i went back down to the third floor and looked there again, and all for nothing. there wasnt a towel in the building.

i deliberated for a short while and then disrobed.

see, i wrote earlier today about how this whole trip where i am the epitome of free isnt exactly easy and sometimes i long for a "normal" life. well, one of the things that is hard to comprehend is that i just dont have regular access to showers. when i did, i didnt shower everyday and took my access for granted, but now, most days, i want nothing more than to have water coursing down my body and walk away smelling a bit fresher. so, in this life, you take what you can get and this is what i got.

there was a paper towel dispenser outside of the shower and a hand soap dispenser inside the shower, freshly nude, i stepped into the shower. i turned on the water, and the flow wasnt great but it was a flow. i lathered up, pumping that hand soap machine, demanding more than it was giving me and i was content. i wasnt in there for long, but i was pretty fucking happy while i was in there. then i had to get out and towel dry....paper towel dry. to any one that envies me on this trip or thinks that this is the life, try paper toweling yourself dry sometime. not only is it not easy, but it is kind of humiliating. how low has life gotten when you have to paper towel yourself dry, had someone walked in on my i would have felt enormous shame, i am sure.

me, clean

but, i was now clean. and mostly dry. i reclothed and with a huge smile on my face, secret safe, walked back out into the dressing room halls. i felt so proud of myself to have just done it, i felt so sneaky and now had this secret that other people could guess at but no one else would know. again, the best feeling in life. i explored the rest of this floor and then moved up the the fifth. and there i found a curious thing. there has a hand cart with some av cables and two laptop bags strapped to it, the halls were pitch black and there was no one around. luckily, part of my bat belt is a high power flashlight. that came out of its holster and illuminated my way through the dark halls. it was a bit scary, i tried all the doors, they were all locked, then i went back to the bags.

i decided to open them. i dont fancy myself a thief, but if the opportunity is there, i guess that i would take it. as i started unzipping the top back a door slammed. the echoes in the old building made it sound like it was right behind me, but it could have been the first floor stairs door. adrenaline pumping, i ran into the dark hallways and crouched, fancying myself hidden (even though i wasnt behind anything.) i waited to hear the fall of footsteps coming near me, my mind was racing trying to fall upon a suitable story should i be discovered. the list is actually pretty small for being caught crouching in a dark hallway on the fifth floor of a building that you probably shouldnt be in.

then i blanked, there was no sound around me. no one was coming near me. i got up and gingerly stepped back toward the laptop cases. i didnt want to take them off of the rack, and they were proving difficult to peruse as they were. shortly i talked myself out of looking further and contented myself with the knowledge that there were a few more stairs that i could explore. and what did the next set say? ROOF.

holy shit, i love roofs. and, also, how cool is it to descend upon an unknown city and a couple hours later find yourself exploring its rooftops. i took the stairs and tried the door. it opened onto a beautiful day, my hair was still dripping wet and i shook it into the light gust of wind that came into the stairway. i propped the door open and went out. this roof was one of those multi leveled ones, with a number of vertical stairways that are bolted to the building. undeterred, i ascended the one in front of me and on the next roof i had three choices, i chose the tallest of the three (incidentally straight ahead of me) and just kept going deeper and further up. it was amazing.

the rooftops of kansas city

the last time i had explored a roof like this was in portland, perhaps 2004. at some point earlier that year a load of pirate radio equipment had fallen into my hands and i hand to do something with it. at the time i held the knowledge of how to set up the antennae and the computer that would connect to wireless internet and rebroadcast an internet radio station over the fm band. i forget the band, but i sure do remember the trial it was to set that damn thing up. i employed a few friends and shortly before i had to leave for my travels that year i set it up and set it to broadcast. unfortunately i was never able to make sure that it actually worked and when i returned for traveling, i had to take it down and reposition it.

anyway, i was up and just enjoying with as much joy that i held the experience of being where i was. i was just existing so much in the moment and so overwhelmingly pleased with myself that i kind of lost track of time and distance to the door. and when i remembered i started freaking out a bit. i had propped the door wide open, and all it would take is some random person walking by to shut the door and then i would be stranded on the roof. it would be humiliating if i had to phone some authority figure to get me down. so i started booking it back to the door and was relieved to find it as i had left it.

the magic had sort of died after that, and as i descended i heard that the painting crew was back, so i employed some stealth in evading them, even though it probably wasnt necessary. high on my experience i wanted nothing more than to get back to truck, grab my computer and write about my conquest. i didnt want to forget about any of the details, and i really didnt have anything better to do...also, i was getting kind of tired of walking around. i spend most of my day walking aimlessly.

so, i made it back to the truck and of course, there is the mandatory parking ticket. i have given up paying the meters and the tickets, i figure once i get one where ever i am i can use it the rest of the time i am there as a dissuasion from getting more. this morning, in lawrence i got a ticket while i was conjuring my story of the spencer. the fine in lawrence was ridiculously low, so i decided to pay it. it was only $2.00, less than it would be to pay the meter for the day, i am surprised folks dont just take tickets and get free all day parking. however, instead of being a traditionalist, i decided to clean my coin jar of its pennies. i only had about a dollar in pennies and filled the rest with nickels, but the little yellow pouch had quite the bulge by the time it was full. then i went to pay it. there are little yellow boxes attached to some meters that you are supposed to drop your payment in. the slit, however, wasnt quite wide enough for my scheme...i wrestled with it for about ten minutes, but eventually my coins made it into the box. i was proud of myself. the ticket in kc is $28.50...i will not be paying that.

so, i gathered my laptop and went back to the marriott. i stopped back at the pizza buffet and then took the skywalk to the other side of the hotel. i found a nice place to sit and got my computer on. however, if i wanted to connect to the internet i would have to pay. yeah right, i packed up and moved on. in sioux city, i sat in the convention center for wireless, i decided that i would give that a shot here. the convention center was the building i had entered and then quickly exited to the theatre. i walked around in here, again large and empty with plenty of access. i found a large ballroom that was set up for some event and took a seat at the back. i got the computer out and open, but again the wireless was for a fee. i wasnt happy about this, but i had gotten a second wave.

this room i was in was huge and there were a bunch of screens set up and a black drapery to shield whatever is behind those screens. with no one about to restrict me, i went right up and behind there. and it was full of av equipment, and alot of the stuff was loose. i had a mental debate about taking something and selling it, but decided against it. i am not desperate for money and the last thing i need is to get caught doing something that doesnt really benefit me. so i walked on through and then continued to explore the rest of the first floor. all of the escalators to the second floor were poorly blocked, so i just moved the blockage aside and walked up.

up there, was an extra huge hall and exhibit. there was something big happening here, and right now was the set up for it. i put on my "i-belong-here" face and walked on through the half-built exhibits and around all of the stuff. it is amazing how little care people show you when you act like you belong. there was a large sign that said cyber cafe and i started walking toward that. i had adventure to write. eventually i came upon something that appeared to be a science display, but with alcohol. rows and rows of tables that were filled with alcohol and contraptions that the alcohol would travel through...presumably into someones mouth. and thats when i got caught.

an important looking man said to me "may i see your badge?" "i just got here, i havent had a chance to register yet. i was just excited and wanted to have a look around." "this is for women only, you must leave." only after i started walking away did i start to recognize the irony that another man was shooing me away from an all woman event becasue i was a man. but from my vantage i could see the skybridge back to the theatre and i made a course towards it thinking that i might find wireless in there. i had to go down a level, and i found that this wasnt the skybridge i had taken at all, this was some other area of the theatre that i hadnt seen at all on my first pass through.

in this area was a large arena with a stage being built up front and seats all around, it looked like it is normally a college or prep basketball court. i scurried up to the second level and sat in the rows. again, i popped open the laptop to get some internet. NO SUCH LUCK! i was becoming dismayed, and my back was starting to where on my shoulder. i sat and watched these guys work for awhile, and then went on to explore this new part of the theatre. i went out onto the concourse and there were side rooms that i could go into and just amazing little corridors that i could get lost in. it was really fun just winding my way through. kind of like spinning yourself around and around and then trying to get out the door as quick as possible. (although, i dont really know how it is like that...)

eventually i found my way to the concessions area. the metal roll top doors were down, but i gave the people door a turn and i found myself in a dark store room. again, the access i had was amazing. i rifled through there for awhile, employing my flashlight again. i was hoping to find copious amounts of beer or liquor, but i settled for little plastic containers of juice. i loaded up some of them and then decided to get out and deposit them in my truck. i wasnt finding wireless here, time to try a different direction.

i got to the truck quick and on my way i saw another hotel. i deposited my loot and then set off for the next hotel. there, again, i had to pay for wireless. but this track i was on was promising, just another block up i could see yet another hotel. this one was my jackpot! i got inside and found a nice seat and was overjoyed to find the internet staring up at me. immediately i started jotting before my memory betrayed me. i think it took me about one third of the time to type it all up as it did for me to experience it. oh well.