(blank)LAB Fall 2009 Tour
Below is a recap of the 73 days I've been on tour with (blank)LAB. About half of those days were not spent driving, but rather dealing with our truck issues. But none-the-less, those two and a half months have been an amazing life experience.
On 12/12/09, I finally made it to Half Moon Bay, CA (by plane, not by truck) where I will be doing freelance design work for C2 along with getting ideas & projects rolling for Project MLab: West, which Joseph Shipp and I are going to start in January.
What a crazy way to end a crazy year.
Links to all things (blank)LAB:
11/30/09
Joseph and I made our way to Greensboro, AL for two very important reasons.
1. We made it in time to attend the grand opening of PieLab which was this Saturday (11/28). It was such a great turn out. A ton of Pie, live music from Big Kitty from Chattanooga, TN, and a lot of conversations with a lot of interesting people; it was awesome!
2. We also needed to come down to pick up Hot Jerome!. The latest as of 10:25am this morning is the truck needs to have its computer chip worked on at a Ford dealership. It's on its way to Birmingham right now to be looked at tomorrow and we hope to pick it up later in the day. Cross your fingers.
11/17/09
The crew of (blank)LAB and I made it out of Rolla, MO and are patently waiting for Hot Jerome! to be repaired. I am writing this update in Chattanooga, TN. Why Chattanooga, TN? It is where my fellow M Lab partner, Joseph Shipp, currently lives & works.
It looks like I'll be here until the weekend after Tofurky Day, then off to Greensboro, AL for PieLab's official grand opening on the 28th. After that, back on the road to Half Moon Bay, CA where I will start the second M Lab along with Joseph. Check out the first M Lab here.
11/9/09
I am writing this update in a Panera Bread in Rolla, MO. Yes, Missouri. My adventure with (blank)LAB continues. We set out on the open road on Thursday the 5th of November headed to St. Louis. Project M bought a Ford F450 that we affectionately call "Jerome Tank", to haul (blank)LAB around the country. Things, as always, didn't go as planned. My copilot, Brian, and I got pulled over by Alabama State Trooper Smith on the 4th with a grocery list full of federal violations pertaining to the truck and trailer. After a mad 24 hour dash to get the proper paperwork and even DOT issued physicals (we both had to pee in a cup for this), we finally made it out of Greensboro, AL.
We shot straight up to Nashville to pick up our 3rd driver Joseph, and finally arrived in STL at about 4 am Friday morning. We continued the ENGAGE/TRANSFORM project while at the closing reception of the Economies: Art+Architecture conference which was such a great turn out.
Saturday was our day to drive to Oklahoma City, OK as we make our way across the country with our final destination being Half Moon Bay, CA, but in the spirit of Project M, plans changed. We had truck issues that day and only made it about 130 miles west of STL. We broke down right outside of Waynesville, MO and had to get a tow truck to take our rig to a grocery store parking lot. After a night of drinking at a local bar to get our mind off things, we crashed inside of (blank)LAB for much needed rest.
Long story short, we are now in Rolla, MO getting our tank serviced. We have no idea when we'll get back on the road, but we're not letting the stress get to us. We've met some interesting people and seen some amazing things along the way. And to think, this road trip just started.
10/19/09
My fellow truck driver, Christapher, and I have been back in Greensboro for a week. We've been busy helping with finishing up the new PieLab space. This week, we hope to turn our focus back into (blank)LAB and its future, ie. projects, logistics, website, and other (blank)LAB delights. Be sure to follow us on Twitter.
10/14/09
Road trip photos from (blank)LAB's epic journey from AL to RI to TN back to AL on (blank)LAB's Flickr pool here.
10/11/09
(blank)LAB holds the "Engage/Transform" project in Memphis, TN at the AIGA Make/Think conference. Check out more photos here.
10/6/09
Our first stop with (blank)LAB was a success! The journey from AL to RI for the A Better World by Design was itself epic, 5 days / 1,700 miles / 42 hours of driving, but we made it. Check out some of the photos here.
9/27/09
Project M is ready to put (blank)LAB on the road! A fellow M'er and myself will be hauling this "mobile design studio" around the country for 5 weeks while participating in a number of design conferences. Schedule of events:
10/2-4, Providence, RI - A Better World by Design
10/8-11, Memphis, TN - AIGA Make/Think
11/4-7, St. Louis, MO - Economies: Art+Architecture