MORGANTOWN, WEST VIRGINIA, SUNDAY 4AM

We pulled into the EconoLodge in Morgantown a few minutes ago, after a long, and extraordinarily productive and moving, day. As I opened the door to Room 132, the invisible wave of inhaled (and exhaled) Marlboro’s, Lucky’s, Camels, Tareyton’s from years of consumption here in 132 shot up through my entire being. A nasal salute. Looking down and seeing the burns on the “motelmoldgreen” carpet, from stamped out butts, told me all that I needed to know. I went back to speak to Violet at the front desk, (ageless at somewhere in the 62, 72, 82 year old range, with the most mind-blowing high-hair wig I have ever seen, made Sarah Palin seem like she had shaved her head) about getting a “nonsmoking” room…I learned that we had taken the last 2 rooms available…the welcoming beckoning of a bed, after our third post-2AM wrap in a row, reinforced how grateful I was to just be here, at rest…even with it being 27 degrees outside, the AC would have to keep me company during the night for some semblance of air purifying.

There are so many stories and people to talk about, I can’t even keep up with them in my head…someone asked me the other day how I know the people I am traveling with, my fellow teammates on this road trip – they are part Willbury’s, already part family, certainly part colleagues, absolutely all wonderful. It would be impossible to truly get a feel for what we are doing, whom we are touching, and what the experience is like together, without having some sense for who they, and thus we, are…the dynamics of the people and the mechanics of the environment certainly flow from there.

Menna and Yanni. Soon after EUE agreed to partner up with me on My First Vote, we needed to bring in someone to work with us to produce and edit the film productions, but coordinate the overall logistics of our initiative. I knew that I had the right people in Menna Olvera, and her husband Yanni Feder, a wonderful artist/filmmaker/editor…I knew who they ARE, the quality of them as people on top of the committed nature of their work ethic…Yanni, with his Zen-like spirit and Menna with her equanimity, openness and beingness as a “Passionate Yogini”…kind of like the female Peaceful Warrior… I laughed on the bus as I recalled how I had originally met Menna. Like so many elemental relationships, it all grew out of the “random serendipity” this one because of my interest in women’s lingerie. A few years ago, I had been given a ticket to the Lingerie trade show (what a trip that was) in my search for potential partners for the online women’s channel I have been developing. I started a conversation with Stacey Blume, the founder of Blumegirl (http://www.blumegirl.com/), at her booth, just because she seemed open, smart and wise…I could see it in her eyes. After Stacey heard what I was doing, she thought that I should meet Menna because of similarities in our spiritual outlook… and, once I met her and Yanni, I knew they were “lifers”…MFV could not have unfolded and materialized as it has without their unwavering commitment, both professionally and personally. They just jumped-in - head/spirit/body first…for all the right reasons.

Ollie. Ollie is our cameraman and young buck…24…funny, wise and a great combination of Midwest (Cincinatti) homespun with New York acerbia…the kids we interview surely connect in with him, and he’s already turned me on to one of the best sandwiches I have ever made at a chain called Jimmy Johns that is, apparently, only in cities/towns with large state Universities…like a drummer with a wonderful back beat….

Mike and Debbie. When EUE committed to backing the Bus Tour, we decided to start it off in Wilmington, North Carolina, where they own the largest movie studios east of the Mississippi…ironically, it’s where we produced ALAN AND NAOMI the Summer that Maia was born…anyway, I looked up in our meeting and said, “who the hell is going to drive this Purple Bus?” Bill Vassar, who runs those Wilmington studios, recommended to Chris Cooney, a local guy, Mike Hewitt, the top location scout down there and an all around production ace and problem solver. We had some production/logistic conference calls with Mike before we headed down, seemed like a good guy…when Menna, Yanni, Ollie and I arrived in Wilmington, we were met with a message that Mike had been rear-ended on his way to get us, and his wife would be picking is up instead…as it turned out, Mike’s short-term pain and tzuris would become our enormous bonus. Debbie just walked into our lives, and this opportunity, and became such elemental pieces on the team. Mike only suffered some minor back strain, and while Debbie was only supposed to be with us for the one day we were in Wilmington, I turned to Menna that first night and suggested that she come with us…Mike and Debbie are so great, and individually and together they have such a way with people, his resourcefulness in getting us into great and better situations, his unbelievable captainship of the driving, to working out logistical details, Debbie having this uncanny ability to be in “intuitive service…both of them, actually…they are the closest I’ve ever felt to the experience of being in total synch like with the waitstaff the one time I went to the restaurant, Chanterelle…the moment that you think you want or need something they have already intercepted your thought and are there with whatever you dreamed up…completely wild…Debbie is like a human Swiss Army Knife, there's nothing she can't seem to handle, and Mike does things like gets us a perfect spot (even when everyone said it couldn't happen) right by the Homecoming Parade at Penn State... so, I knew that Debbie’s presence would make Mike happy, and an extra pair of hands (to shoot video, drive, photograph, shop, support, produce magic) would be so welcome…and, it has in spades…all of us, barreling down the highway in the middle of the night, in a flow of conversation, camaraderie, mutual support and bonding over creating great work with wonderful people, have become an efficient and congruent team…professionally and personally…the deep conversations, the common wavelengths, the profound connection among a group that ranges from one in his early 20’s, 3 in their 30’s, one in their 40’s, and me, the elder of the group, of this journey…we represent a cross section of not only age, but ethnicities, religious backgrounds, hometowns, musical loves and beyond…as I know only too well, the building of a team on any project can be such a fragile linking…having had more implosions of intended collaborations than I want to remember, more experiences working with unyielding narcissists pretending to be givers than I can even recall, it is such a gift being with truly wonderful people who are there to elevate the dream…

It can be challenging to spend this much time with ANYONE, let alone 4 or 5 other people…none of whom do you know that well (or, at least that long)…all day and, seemingly, most of all night…so much of it in relatively little space, the inside of this RV measuring not more than 7 feet wide and 20 feet long in the main compartment…one couch behind the driver, could seat 3…one swivel chair behind the “stadium” passenger seat…a breakfast-type nook-table, with two benches that come down to form a bed…an oven/stove and refrigerator, I would have loved to cook on the longer trips, yet, the stove is the base now for our printer…the bedroom in the back, with a platform double bed, we took the mattress off, it now supports a portable Mac editing set-up where Yanni works importing the videos, then cutting together pieces for our Channel and iploading off of wireless cel phone cards (the only way to get email access)…at every turn, Mike calls out the direction of the turn, so Yanni knows to prepare the hold on the table and equipment (all secured down, yet you never know)…kind of like the instructions from a guide on a white-water raft…we all taking turns by simply flowing from one seat to another (except for driving, I did take a spin in a parking lot this morning) as feels right, a pretty fluid dance that we have seemed to have executed wordlessly…so, yes, tonight at dinner, the 5 of us (Menna left on Saturday morning to NYC for her yoga teaching intensive weekend, she will meet back with us Monday afternoon in Pittsburgh) commenting on the amount of bound-at-the-hip time that we are spending together, and enjoying the experience massively…being with these young voters – wherever we can find them - is unbelievably inspiring…

I am fading here, so much more to say, stories to tell, kids to talk about, the feelings of joy and connectivity…admiration for their willingness and openness to talk, and share of themselves generously…having their legacies, their voices, hearts and souls recorded, and broadcast on our Channel seems to really do what we wanted to – reinforce for all of them that their opinions count, that there is a platform to communicate their feelings, hopes, and dreams (while also giving them an opportunity to become even more informed), and that this is their first real opportunity to get involved in a passage that, to them, has previously only been done by “adults.” No more. They are now able to exercise a very essential liberty and privilege of American citizenship, and almost everyone, in every state we have traveled, seems to be taking this “voting thing” VERY seriously…seemingly more than ever.

You can’t believe what it feels like to hear several kids at Penn State, looking right at the camera, and saying, “I am a registered Republican, and I am voting for Barack Obama.”…

I really get that I am doing the work that I am supposed to be doing…when I walked away from being a lawyer, one of the voices in my head said (sometimes in a whisper, sometimes screaming), “do something important”…I always felt that yearning, when I was lawyering, for “more”…not for money, but for those moments that make one’s spirit sing, that hold time in a transcendent almost standstill, that give one those sometimes too rare opportunity to feel the integration of all aspects of one’s life…I am blessed….

Been eating at Denny’s more than ever in my life…I feel like I’ve gained 20 pounds….maybe I have...