The Vlog Man - Jim Kirks

What a coincidence! I had just written about checking with a friend of mine about how to do video blogs (vlogs) and who do I run into at WalMart yesterday but my vlog friend and computer whiz, Jim Kirks! He's co-owner/producer of The Clip Show (Reviewing the World of Podcasting, New Every Tuesday--it's pretty hilarious, you should check it out!).

I filled him in on my Road Trip adventure and he gave me some tips on adding videos to a blog. I'm not sure if I can add them to Blogger yet, but if not, hopefully Matt will be able to add them to the Web site he builds for this trip. Unfortunately, if Jarrod keeps him too busy, I might have to find someone else to do the Web site, someone who can maintain it on a regular basis, and if they charge me for the work, then hopefully it'll be at a good discount. Any VOLUNTEERS? This is one of the reasons why I want to do fundraising: to help pay the people who will be helping but need to cover their own expenses if they can't donate their time to this worthy "cause." LOL

Anyway, back to Jim. He and I worked together at Front Range Commercial, where he's the IT guru and Web master (hmm, maybe he can do the Web site for me if Matt can't?). I worked there for 2-1/2 years before I resigned to write and paint full time. Jim was always very helpful whenever I had computer problems. He'd razz me sometimes, but he always fixed whatever was broken. I frequently picked his brain about anything electronic--what cell phone should I buy, what cell phone company should I go with, what laptop to get (he warned me not to get Vista...I didn't listen! Next time, be sure to listen to your computer-savvy friends when they warn you about bugs!)--and he always gave good advice (even if I didn't follow it!).

Anyway, I'll probably consult with him again before I buy a new camera so that I'll get a good one that can shoot high-quality videos. It's not like I'm filming a documentary, but I want to be able to shoot panoramics of the Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Albuquerque Botanic Gardens, etc. in pretty good resolution that people can see where we are and what we're doing. Does anyone have a favorite camera they'd like to recommend that I can research?

So, yeah, I definitely need to start a fundraising campaign! This trip is going to cost a lot of money, even if Mom does pay my airfare! But at least I can write off the camera and Web site expenses on my taxes!

Okay, I'm headed to Nemo's Coffee Shop to make some revisions to my book proposal. Then come home in time to pass out candy and Radiant Church invitations to all the trick-or-treaters!

Oh...the Possibilities!

Brainstorming with my son Matthew and all my writer and Facebook friends over the last several days...we've come up with some fantastic ideas! The challenge now is prioritizing my road trip planning time with all the other things that I have going on in my life!

Here are my current projects/To Do List:

Make revisions to my book proposal and mail to agent
Upload photos to my StephanieJohnsonMurals blog
Airbrush "NOTW" icon on Richard's drum skin
Update my book's blogs before I mail my proposal
Post YourHub stories
Organize my bill basket/filing cabinet
Attend WWCS, PPW-WB, PPW-OC, OCCWG, SW, and other writers meetings
Clean out the garage
Sell the Nissan/search for a new/used car

Anyway, with all the planning going on for the Road Trip, I am excited to get this blog up and running in order to build an "audience," get a conversation going, get people all over the country involved, and hopefully get suggestions on places to visit, beg friends to host us so we can save some money, and brainstorm fund raising ideas, I've come up with the following possibilities:

Matthew has agreed to design the Web site to track the adventure through his employer, GetWebEdge in exchange for free sponsorship/advertising. I will be able to post photos, have a link to this blog, and upload videos of our trip.

I am going to market the blog as a magazine article, and start querying magazines about publication. Matthew insists that exposure from the Web site will attract a producer who wants to make it a "reality TV show" and a movie (eat your hearts out, Thelma & Louise!). Hmm, that's wishful thinking, but it's possible!

I am also considering writing a book about it. There are so many unique things going on in this situation: 3 generations: daughter, mom, and grandma, travelling 4000 miles from one coast to the other, to be home in time for the granddaughter's graduation. The daughter (me) hopes to talk about some elephants in the trunk with her mother over this 2 1/2 week trip with a captive audience, strengthening the bond between them. Grandma will be our referree.

I will be using the GPS Navigator application in my Venus cell phone to get us from Point A to Point B. I am considering contacting Verizon to see if they'd be interested in being a "sponsor" of our trip and "advertising" on the Web site.

We'll be utilizing Mom's AAA membership for help with planning. Also an opportunity for sponsorship/advertising.

I will be driving Mom's new Hyundai Sonata (read: sponsorship/advertising).

I will be using Google/Mapquest for directions. (more S/A)

I will be using Blogger.com (duh!) for blogging trip planning, the actual trip, and how things between me and Mom turn out (if we make it home, you'll know we didn't kill each other LOL).

I will be contacting RMPBS about possibly doing a documentary.

I will be researching magazines to send query letters to about making this into a travel article or "women's topic." Hmm...maybe "O" Magazine and Martha Stewart? Redbook? Style?

I will be contacting my uncle and a friend of mine in radio about getting the word out, directing people to my blog.

I will be finding out about setting up a "Road Trip Fund" so that people can help us with costs and sponsor the trip.

I will be contacting my friend about how to do videos/vlogs.

I think that's it so far. We're DREAMING BIG!

Cities: Burbank, CA; Las Vegas, NV; Phoenix, AZ; Albuquerque, NM; Tulsa, OK; League City, TX; Panama City Beach, FL; Jacksonville, FL; Myrtle Beach, SC; Nanjemoy, MD.

Places to visit so far: Las Vegas, Hoover Dam, Grand Canyon, Albuquerque BioPark (botanical garden, aquarium, zoo, beach), and I'm still researching the rest.

Now I am asking for your input! Please let me know what places you'd recommend along our routes, restaurants, hotels, where to avoid, events, etc.

Writers, I'm hoping those of you who write magazine articles can recommend some magazines I can query?

Does anyone have any advice on how to go about querying a TV station about seeing if they're interested in doing a documentary?

Well, speaking of PPW, I have a critique group in less than 30 minutes, so I'd better get rolling!

Stay tuned, and please post your suggestions!

Road Trip Update

I have gotten a LOT of great feedback and offers to host so far on this road trip with Mom and Grandma in May 2009. Lots of friends and family are stepping forward to help, and I am SO excited to see how this idea is gaining ground! This is going to be the trip of a lifetime!

I'm still waiting to hear Shaina's exact graduation date, but looking at a May 2009 calendar, it will probably be some time around May 28-30 (Thursday - Saturday). If that's the case, then this will be perfect timing for what we have so far.

Keep in mind these plans are tentative, but this is the schedule so far:

Thursday, May 7: I fly out to Burbank. We will spend time with NICHOLE and DAVID SELVADURAI and their kids, do some sightseeing, and visit with DARRYL DILLARD while we're out there (he can take us to the set of Private Practice!). It looks like DAVID ROMERSTEIN is 5 1/2 hours to the north--maybe I can meet you halfway for a half-day visit?

Monday, May 11: Leave for Las Vegas, NV (281 miles, 4 hrs. 17 min.) to see Mom's brother, JERRY, and his wife, PATTY BRAWNER (IF they're still there at that time! If not, we might need to stay in a hotel or see if we can use their home). We will plan to see the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon while we're here.

Thursday, May 14: Leave for Peoria (Phoenix), AZ (366 miles, 5 hrs. 48 min.) to see STACY GIELDA and his family in time to do some sightseeing, stay in their RV in their driveway, and stay for their big annual bash on Sat. May 16 (I hope Grandma can handle it!).

Sunday, May 17: Leave for Albuquerque, NM (468 miles, 6 hrs. 40 min.) to see the ART GALLERIES! I've heard a lot about this city and have always wanted to visit, so this will be a total road trip stop. (too bad it's not in October so we can see the Balloon Fiesta!) Does anyone have any recommendations of places to see/stay (such as Alb. Biological Park, which includes the botanic garden, aquarium, zoo and Tingley Beach)? Trying to keep costs down, so even if anyone has any relatives there who can have us as guests, that would be even better. (Hey, Michelle, didn't you, Mom, Nik and Margaret visit family in Alb.? If so, that would be cool if we can make arrangements to stay with them.)

Tuesday, May 19: Leave for Tulsa, OK (648 miles, 9 hrs. 33 min.) to see BRIDGET LAVISH BYRD and hang out with her family of seven (five kids, just like us!). She has graciously offered to be our tour guide.

Thursday, May 21: Leave for Panama City Beach, FL (905 miles, 14 hrs., 40 min.) to see my former next-door neighbors DICK and LIBBY PIERCE from Southeast Mobile Estates (where LYNN SMITH HANES was a neighbor!), to hang out at the beach and do a little sightseeing.

HOWEVER, if I can talk ROBBI HARPER MATNEY into hosting us at her home in League City, TX for a day or two, we'd certainly welcome the detour! That way we can break up the travel distance into two legs: Tulsa to Texas (519 miles, 8 hrs., 36 min.), then Texas to PC Beach (648 miles, 10 hrs., 7 min.). So we'd leave Tulsa for Texas on May 21, stay a day or two, then leave for PCB on May 23 or so. Again, all dependent upon the hospitality of others!

Sunday, May 24: Leave for Jacksonville, FL (293 miles, 4 hrs. 43 min.) to see MATTHEW MERCHANT, TIFFANY MURPHY, and JARROD and LISA EDGE. And maybe I can invite BUSTER and JULIE MORGENSTERN to join us while we're there since they're somewhere in Orange Park too! We'll be staying with Matt and Tiff for a couple days to see the sights, hit the beach, go fishing, play video games, etc.

Tuesday, May 26: Leave for Myrtle Beach, SC (357 miles, 5 hrs., 44 min.) to see LESLIE NITZ and KEVIN NITZ. Since Leslie can "jog" from her house to Ocean Lakes Campground where Mom's trailer is in storage, we might be able to stay at Ocean Lakes and of course, hit the beach and hang out.

Thursday, May 28: Leave for Nanjemoy, MD (429 miles, 7 hrs. 39 min.) to Mom and Grandma's HOME SWEET HOME! We can have a pool party and eat crabs at my sister and brother-in-law's MICHELLE and JOHN BROWN's house! Yahoo!

That's a total of 4,009 miles, not including detours! Whew!

Hey MARYBETH KLICK, and all the other Surrattsville people still in the MD area, let's have a mini reunion while I'm there!

Now, if Shaina's graduation is the 28th or sooner, then we'd have to cut some days off our trip and adjust accordingly, but I'm hoping her graduation is on the 30th or something. I definitely want to hit Las Vegas so we can see the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon, so I'm hoping Patty and Jerry are still there or will let us crash at their place (we won't throw any wild parties, I promise!). Mom said she would check with them about accommodations, so I hope I can cross that off the list.

It's turning out to be about a two-and-a-half week trip, but we can always cut a day or two here and there if we need to. I'm also trying to allow for plenty of stops along the way to take pictures, hit some shops, and take things easy, especially since Grandma is pushing 90? Geez, I'm embarrassed that I can't remember her age! (Michelle would know!)

So, that's it so far, all dates, places, times are subject to change, of course. But if anyone can recommend places to see along the way, please let us know so I can squeeze it into our agenda!Thanks a bunch to everyone!

Help Needed

Here is the "note" I posted on my Facebook page to solicit friends for help and a free place to stay to keep costs down while we trek across the United States next spring:

This road trip idea got started when my mom visited my little sister and her family in their new home in Burbank, CA in June 2008. Mom went out to help Nichole and David for five weeks after their daughter Violet was born. Mom totally fell in love with Nichole's neighborhood, and got it in her mind to sell her house in Nanjemoy, MD, pack up, and head west (like I did in 1996, but I stopped in Colorado Springs). She already picked out a house she wanted to buy!

After the death of my dad in July 2007 (they would've celebrated 46 years of marriage last October), mom's mental health issues, which run on her side of the family, have become even more pronounced. I discounted the idea as mom being in a "valley," saying she'd "snap out of it" once she reached a summit and saw the light. While IMing my older sister Michelle the other night, I discovered she was driving Mom and Grandma to CA over the week of Thanksgiving!

Obviously, I underestimated Mom's determination, even after threats from Michelle to have her declared "incompetent" by the family doctor. Michelle and Mom had reached a compromise: instead of selling everything and moving, she would allow Mom to live in CA for 6 months beginning in November, but Mom had to return to MD in the spring. Michelle was looking for a volunteer to drive Mom and Grandma home in May/June, so being "unemployed," I jumped at the chance. However, based on my present financial situation, I asked if she thought Mom could cover my airfare from CO to CA, then from MD to CO once I got her safely home. Michelle said she'd ask Mom, but said, "Whatever it takes."

While talking to Mom on the phone last night, I asked her if she'd like to extend the trip by a few days and take in some sights, making it an "Official Road Trip," especially since I love to drive and see the countryside. Besides, if we're going to drive from one coast to the other, it would be foolish not to take advantage of this opportunity by seeing some famous landmarks along the way.

I told Mom how I had seen a show on PBS about a woman who had taken her mother on a similar trip along Route 66. It was a great vacation for them, they got to do a lot of fun stuff, and the time spent together strengthened the mother-daughter bond. Yup, my bond with my mother could use some strengthening, and my grandmother being with us would be even better! I think the "captive audience" scenario could do us some good. Or make us hate each other so much that we'd never speak to each other again! LOL!

Mom liked the idea, so I told her I'd get online and research some places to visit and things to do along the way that weren't too expensive, especially since the Burbank rental home was going to drain her savings. As long as we were back in MD by my daughter's graduation in late May, then things should be fine. (This also means a free trip to MD for me to see my daughter walk across the stage! It's a win-win situation for all of us!)

I just Mapquested (2,682 miles, 40 hours, 40 minutes) and Googled (2,710 miles, 40 hours) the route and discovered our main highway will be Interstate 40 for the majority of the trip, taking us through Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Virginia. I've also found several great Web sites on road trip planning.

Being a writer and photographer (guess I'd better get a new camera now to replace my semi-broken CyberShot!), I can see how this can develop into a magazine travel article, or for women's magazines. I do believe I'll start a blog, too! I can see that the new camera will need video capability to enhance the blog experience! Hmm...maybe I should start sending out query letters now and find some sponsors? It's a thought! I can even write it off as business expenses if it goes to print (if I pay for it, of course)!

We'll be loaded down with directions and a road atlas, using my husband's CB radio, plus I have a GPS Navigator in my cell phone (hmm, perhaps I could contact Verizon about some sponsorship/advertising?) so we won't get lost (extremely important for those of us who are directionally challenged!). Maybe I can start up a "Road Trip Fund?" I can have someone (my son?) build a Web site (another perfect sponsorship/advertising opportunity)! I'll be getting a AAA membership for safety and to take advanage of their road-trip-planning services (more ads/sponsor?).

Bear with me, I'm brainstorming, here.

So...all my friends out there in Facebook Land...is there anyone along the way who could "put us up" for a night or two so that we can see the sights (you can be our tour guide, of course). This will help with our expenses, and with the way gas prices are going (hopefully they'll remain low!), we need all the help we can get. We'd be willing to take detours if it's not too far off the beaten path and well worth the trip. And if some of my old classmates can take us in, that'll be even better--we'll get a chance to reminisce about good times in high school! Not to mention you'll be on my blog and/or article! Hey! Maybe PBS will want to do another show! LOL!

So please, let me know any and all sights to see/avoid, other Web sites to use, cheap restaurants to try, fun things to do, events to attend, gift/antique stores to shop, and if you can welcome us into your home for an overnight stay (or recommend affordable, nice hotels), that would be HUGELY appreciated! I'll be sure to mention your name on my blog/in my article if we use your advice!

Thanks a bunch to all, and stay tuned for further information!

Meet Mee Maw

Meet Donna Merchant, aka Mee Maw to her grandkids. She's my mom and lives in Nanjemoy, MD. She and my dad, Bob Merchant, were married 45 years when he passed away on 7/26/2007 from recurrent melanoma (don't put off having those moles checked!), nineteen days after I got married for the first time.

Mom suffers from bipolar disorder, (I'm not a doctor, and this blog is about our upcoming road trip, so if you want to learn about bipolar disorder, click here) which surfaced after she broke her ankle on her job of cafeteria manager at Francis T. Evans Elementary School in Clinton, MD, and was off work for six weeks. The day she went back to work, she broke her other ankle, and was off for another six weeks. Long story short, she decided to retire before she broke anything else.

Mom's highs and lows are extreme, and she's what is called a "rapid cycler" because of how quickly they come and go, but being stubborn, she won't take her medication on a consistent basis. When she's "low," she isolates herself and won't engage in "life." When she's "high," we affectionately call her "Chatty Cathy" and she tends to go on shopping sprees. Yikes, I won't go there!

Anyway, the lows got worse after Dad passed away, so when her newest grandchild, Violet Eve Selvadurai, was born on June 20, 2008, Mom planned a trip to see my sister Nichole and her husband, David, in Burbank, CA. They have another son, Kyle, who turned two on 8/8/08.

Burbank, CA is considered the Media Capital of the World. Good thing too, since David is a very successful storyboard artist, hence the Burbank locale. During Mee Maw's 5-week stay helping with the baby, doing the grandmother thing, hanging out in the 'hood, meeting the locals, spending money in all the gift shops, etc., she totally fell in love with the city and decided to move there!

Ha! I told myself, as soon as she hits a "low" she'll come back to her senses, see the light, and forget about her plan to move. Besides, there's no way she could afford a house in this affluent area. She lives in a GORGEOUS 7,000 sf house on 115 acres where she is now--why would anyone in their right mind want to leave that? My dad and his brother Stanley built the house over three and a half years--how could she SELL dad's crowning achievement, his masterpiece, his "Mr. Merchant's Opus," especially now that he was gone?

That's sacrilegious! That's blasphemy! That's tyrrany!

Well, whatever it is, it just isn't right. But then again, Mom's not in her "right mind." Just ask my big sister Michelle, who lives next door! And my nephew Brandon who lives in Mom's basement. And Mom's mom Rita, aka Grandmaw, who lives in the mother-in-law apartment above Mom's three-car garage. Did I mention it's a big house?

So, let's get this straight: Mom is willing to sell her dream retirement house that she shared with her beloved husband for ten years, the same house in which she got to custom-design her very own kitchen, the same house where Dad poured his heart and soul into, and the same house that Stanley broke his foot after falling off the roof. She'll need to get rid of 45 years of accumulated junk (I lost track of how many sheds they have on the property); say goodbye to the peace and quiet of this secluded, wooded, retreat; force Brandon to either buy the house himself (which he'd never qualify for), or move out; make Grandmaw move with her away from friends and family; she'll have to leave her kids and grandkids behind; and move all the way across the country, 2,700+ miles away; just to live in this "nice" neighborhood???

What is that woman thinking???

At least when I moved from Temple Hills, MD to Colorado Springs, CO in 1996, I did it to end an adulterous affair and start a new, better life for me and my kids! I was YOUNG (28, not 65)! And desperately needed to escape. True, I didn't have a job, didn't know a soul, and was moving into a place I had never seen before, a place "found" for me by an apartment finder's service, but that was nothing like what my mom was considering.

On the plus side, Mom's house and land in Nanjemoy (plus a yard sale to sell most of her stuff) could net her enough money to buy a COTTAGE in Burbank, so she'd be even-steven, but I just can't imagine someone her age and health doing something like that! Not to mention she'll be uprooting her mother along with her! She explained that the house held too many sad memories of Dad, which I can empathize with, but c'mon! Can't she just go see a therapist and work through the sad stuff? And take her medication???

Maybe I'm being cynical, insensitive, and unreasonable, but I sure couldn't see the logic in this. I kept my questions and doubts to myself--I sure never appreciated when Mom tried to tell me how to live my life, and I sure wan't going to tell her how to live hers now.

Mom laughed uncomfortably when she told me Michelle was going to have the family doctor declare Mom "incompetent" so she couldn't "do anything stupid." Hmm, I'd support that. Mom's instability necessitated Michelle having power of attorney, paying Mom's bills, and being added as a signer on her checking account. Gotta' take care of the peeps, nahmean?

Anyway, while IMing with Michelle the other night, she mentioned she was driving Mom and Grandmaw to Burbank over Thanksgiving week! WHAT? I thought for sure Mom would come to her senses! I guess I underestimated Mom's stubbornness (like mother, like daughter, although I like to call mine "independent"). They reached a compromise: Mom would have to keep the house in Nanjemoy, but Michelle would let Mom rent a house in Burbank for 6 months from November to May as a sort of trial run. And did I know of anyone who could drive them back in the spring?

Hmm, I can see good and bad in this "compromise." One, it'll "make" Mom stay grounded in Nanjemoy where she will keep her house and not regret selling it during a "high." Two, it'll give Mom a chance to see if she can really survive in Burbank, maybe get a job, throw down some roots, that sort of thing. If things don't work out, she can always go back, but at least she will have given it an honest try and had a good time doing it. On the other hand, a $20,000 rental will put a huge dent in Mom's savings! Maybe that's Michelle's ulterior motive so that Mom can't afford a down-payment? Who knows?

Mom is determined, and if this is the only way she can do it, she's gonna' do it, by golly! Power to the Mother!

I, being "unemployed" by most people standards, volunteered to drive Mom and Grandmaw home, but with a couple of requirements: since money was tight, I asked if Mom could pay for my airfare from CO to CA, then from MD back to CO once I got her home. Michelle said she'd check with Mom but was hopeful, "Whatever it takes!"

In discussing the trip home with Mom over the phone a couple of days later, I told her about a show I saw on Rocky Mountain PBS about a daughter who took her mother on a road trip along Route 66 (I tried doing a search and couldn't find it, so maybe it wasn't rmpbs). Not only did they see a lot of exciting landmarks, get in some great shopping, find some fantastic eats, but they also had a great bonding experience.

Yeah, Mom and I could benefit from some bonding. And Grandmaw bonding too!

We excitedly talked about some options: seeing Uncle Jerry and Aunt Patty in Las Vegas (or at least letting us use their condo if they're not there), visiting the Hoover Dam and Grand Canyon, driving through Texas, seeing the countryside, taking LOTS of pictures. It would be a shame to travel across the entire country and not stop and smell the roses. Mom thought it was a great idea, so I told her I'd do some research and see what I could find. I only had to be back to Maryland in time for my middle daughter Shaina to graduate from my old high school, Surrattsville, in Clinton, MD (Go, Hornets!), in late May. It was a very feasible plan!

So, hop aboard, and join us on the trip of a lifetime!