Nar Bought My Car

So....I've had better weekends. The Orland Park Art fair was ok. The best part was that a bunch of my collectors came to visit me. It was so nice to see them again and they just made me feel so good about my art work. Just super nice people. Thank you so much for coming!

Now for the worst part. Technically, it started when my cousin Amie's tent (we carpooled to save money, HA!) was destroyed by the wind on Saturday morning, but we still managed to "celebrate" that evening with too much red wine, which probably amplified our BAD Sunday. Fast forward to the ride home...you guessed it, my car died. We were going 75mph in the fast lane and all of the sudden I felt some vibrating and the cugugh! (sound effects are hard to spell). We assumed a tire blew, but oh no it was much worse. This is when the search for a tow truck ensued. (My roadside assistance didn't completely assist me.) We mostly got scared when it got dark, the battery died from the flashers and we imagined sleeping in the van for the night. Luckily, two and a half hours later we got a tow. He took us to a Chrysler Dealer miraculously near by and then took us to Super 8 in Dwight, IL to stay for the night.

The next day we had to check out of the Super 8 and spent the day at Pete's Diner where we stayed long enough for breakfast and lunch. This is where I finally got the news that my $4000 minivan needed a $3131.50 transmission and we would have to wait a day or two for the transmission to get there. I made him repeat the price three times because I was trying so hard to make the price be 31 dollars, 31 cents and 5o somethings. After a few tears in the bathroom, I pulled it together and we made a plan. Ben borrowed my dad's truck and drove four hours to get us and our van full of stuff. We finally left Pete's Diner with no place to go after lunch. The nice ladies at the Super 8 let us hang out in their lobby for the last few hours of our wait after we gave up on sitting in the parking lot against the building.

Nearly 24 hours later, the story ends with Ben and I striking a pathetic deal with Nar (the mechanic). We got a whopping $300 for our van. It served us well but certainly left us with a bad taste. We mangaed to fit all of our stuff in my dad's truck and just barely fit our selves. Goodbye Dwight, IL and crappy white minivan.....I wont miss you.

I told my friend Tracy the story and she said you were Stuck in Indianapolis! A great song by The Bottle Rockets. I couldn't resist substituting in my own words. "Can't go west, can't go east, I'm stuck in Dwight, IL with a transmission that's deceased." You can hear the rest of the song HERE.

Please forgive my way too long blog entry, but I just couldn't resist reporting our big adventure. On a more art related note, thanks to my dear friend Mary Beth, I will be participating in the Open Studios event at the Contemporary Art Museum St. Louis this Sunday from 10-4. Mary Beth was kind enough to take care of surveying the alternative space on Monday while I was stranded in D-Wight, IL and she is sharing her truck to help me take my things down to the alternative space. Please come down and see some great art work and artists!