Freaks & Geeks, Undeclared, Knocked Up, Superbad, Pineapple Express ... this man has reduced me to a smitten little kitten. You can take your Brad Pitt, your George Cloneys, your whoever’s .... I'll take the big guy who'll l make me laugh and give the best hugs. I mean c'mon ... look at him ....

You want a trip? I'll give you a trip!

Dearest Internet Spooks and Shadowy Figures,

It's that time of year again when Andrea says good bye to all the lovely people she's met, throws her most beloved possessions into some boxes that will be sent home to join last year's pile of beloved boxes stacked away in her parents’ garage, and hop on a plane destined for some strange far away land. And although the plane ride won't be as long as the last, the finish line is a bit farther away, about 3,821 miles away. "Why?" you may ask, and to that I must put a better question, “Why not?” I have done the responsible adult thing for about a year and I think I've sold enough of my soul for the time being to merit a little get away. George Bernard Shaw said that "Youth is wasted on the young" and I hate it when old white men are right, so with spite in my heart and a quarter century birthday looming over my head I'm hitting the road.

And so ...... next week yours truly will board a plane in Buffalo with her sights and red shoes set to take on Charleston, South Carolina. If the Great Beings in the sky and weather permit I'll make it down to Savannah in time for my birthday, an epic day that will be drenched in as many mint juleps and Jack Daniels as a girl from Bruce County can hold ... then once the hang over subsides I'll drag myself onto an overnight bus to Miami and maybe even out to the Keys. Eventually Florida's shinny veneer of sunshine, messy crab shacks, and debaucherous nights will fade a way and when I wake to find that I've had my fill of crusty tanned geriatrics I'll fly away to see what Gustav has left behind of my beloved New Orleans. A couple bowls of gumbo, 1$ street beers, and a cemetery or two later it's over to Texas to see some old friends and maybe some new (ideally red cowboy boots or tall dark cowboys please), and then I'll keep on going until Obama wins the election, I've seen the showgirls in Vegas, and finally until I can dip my toes in the waters of the Western coast - kids, Red's going to Hollywood.

Am I crazy?

I'll see you on the road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XypVcv77WBU&feature=related