I’m on a bus headed to the Hamptons. and last week, I moved to New York City. it’s all gone a little bit silly. the other night I had to stop and walk into a tattoo parlor and get a new one. it was one of those moments when I wanted to remember. walking with friends, through Brooklyn. I had just moved to New York City. for a good job – and I hate writing that for many reasons. how long I had wanted no part of it. one of my bosses reads this sometimes, so admitting that I walked into the most amazing opportunity means negotiating for more money won’t ever happen. but that’s okay, ’cause I’m being given a very good salary and every day I cross that wonderful bridge and see Manhattan. now maybe that doesn’t mean anything to you or maybe it does – but there’s a magic that happens every morning when I see that skyline. I write like no one has ever said this about New York City before.

I’m late for meeting friends cause I’m too busy taking photos. that’s what this was about, an apology for bein’ away and then I’d point you to my daily little shots from around this town. I’m done posting the diaries – if you want to watch ‘em, they can be found here. they’ll help the book make sense. I wrote a book as well. I wrote a book and then I moved to New York City. today my nephew turns 1 year old and I can’t wait to tell him about his first birthday I’ll be celebrating up in a gorgeous house. you won’t believe this house, brother. I didn’t believe I was moving here. last year I got a little tipsy when he was born. my nephew, that is. he turns me to mush. this town makes me say the f-word a lot. and a few times I found myself sayin’ ‘hey, I’m pretty fucking [see] happy about right now’.

there’s a really pretty girl who’s far away and I wish she could see all of this stuff, but then again, I might want to fix up the basement before she comes. oh yes, I’m moving into a basement tomorrow when I’m back from the Hamptons.I moved to New York City and now I’m headed to the Hamptons and then I’ll come back and move into a basement of a cool house and then I’ll wake up on Monday and go to work, a work I like and then that night, I’m going to have a launch party for the book I just wrote.

ain’t that a kick in the pants.

Ethan Trembley: ‘You can ride with me; I’m going to Hollywood!’

Peter Highman: ‘Los Angeles. No one calls it ‘Hollywood’. You’re going to Los Angeles’

[Due Date]

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I suck at keeping secrets. I might have mentioned that before. in fact, how in the world I managed to keep the video that Josie’s friends and I made her quiet for so long was agonizing. I’ve also, in my past few years of constant fluctuation, not been one to say ‘hey! _______ is happening!’, because, along with a first initial ‘A’ and a last name ‘Queen’, the heavens also get their laughs out of my plannings. so no, I don’t usually mention something until it’s all done. I rarely say things like… oh, I don’t know – ‘I’m moving to New York City!’ because it’d suck if for some reason, I wasn’t able to move to New York City.

but I’m moving to New York City.

[exclamation point]

for the past few months, I’ve been in negotiations/talks/interviews with a funky company there and we finally got to that point where they said ‘would you like to come here?’ and I said ‘sure’ and they said ‘we’ll pay you this much’ and I said ‘sure’.

that was all last night. lots of things to sort out, of course, but I’m going to go ahead and take the chance on mentioning it now.

I’m moving to New York City.

this might not be a big thing to you, if you grew up in a big city, but I didn’t. I grew up in Oklahoma. sure, I’ve spent enough time there to have a favorite bar and a strong group of friends, but I’ve never lived there. I’ve never taken the subway to work. where I had to be on time. which means I need to understand the subway.

‘oh god, the J train is running late again!’ I’ve seen friends write on Twitter. I’ve always wondered what that’s like.

another friend just today wrote a moving piece about the people on the train. don’t read it at work though, you’ll cry.

but yeah.

I’m kind of excited.

a job I like. surrounded by people I adore. in a city that’s rumored to be kind of fun.

so, you know… away we go.

and it has.

I couldn’t pick a better brand to be associated with.

a few months back, they published the newest batch.

and funnily enough, they’ve been the easiest to work with.

‘send in ideas of what you’d like to write’

so I sent ‘em in.

‘ok, do these.’

I did those.

then they paid me.

and then they posted them.

nice people over there, Converse.

so, here’s a snippet of this last series. [and here are all of the old ones]

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‘Words of Wisdom’ - Writer and globe-trotter Aric S. Queen states his case for why a Gap Year isn’t just a great option, it’s a must.

‘America’s best kept secret…’ - Writer and globe-trotter Aric S. Queen waxes lyrical about the virtues of Bend, Oregon, perhaps the greatest little city in America.

[this one, funnily enough, led to both an inner-city argument [see postings] and a relator in Bend mistaking the introduction and taking me for a real [Harlem] Globe Trotter. classic.]

‘Never, never, never, never, change the name of your boat...’ - Writer and globe-trotter Aric S. Queen buys a boat in coastal England, and shenanigans ensue.

… there was one more about the lack of music in China [when looking at it per capita], but am guessing with them recently bringing a few bands from there to SXSW, it didn’t make sense. fair play.

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good stuff.

… a few more photos are up here – more to come.

I also wrote a piece on ‘Bend – America’s Best Kept Secret’ for Converse All-Star and obviously struck a nerve of some sort.

happy monday[s].

it doesn’t get a lot bigger than writing for Converse.

many friends have asked me why I was so excited until they realized, ‘oh, it’s that Converse’.

yes, it is - 22 million fans on Facebook alone. that Facebook.

3 years ago, at the height of taking myself seriously, I’d have shrugged it off in all attempts to be the last word in cool. thankfully, through the love and kindness and honesty of many of you, I came to realize I was not.

so, yes. fuck yes. Converse is just now releasing the second series of stories I did for them. exclamation point.

we’ll get to the new ones later, as they’re just now being published,  but I also wanted to post the old one’s…

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Confessions of A Traveler Series – by Aric S. Queen

Why?

Aric S. Queen is not like the rest of us. And that’s a good thing. A decade of global criss-crossing has introduced Aric to far-flung corners of the world, and along the way he has met some wild people and gathered some very unique stories. In a series for Converse.com, Aric lets us in on some secrets. In part one, Aric explains why he travels in the first place… [story]

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Tyson Meade

Aric S. Queen is not like the rest of us. And that’s a good thing. A decade of global criss-crossing has introduced Aric to far-flung corners of the world, and along the way he has met some wild people and gathered some very unique stories. None more unique then running into Tyson Meade, the one-of-a-kind music legend, and saw just how much he has changed…. [story]

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Cain’s Ballroom

As with many other Chuck Taylor-wearers, Aric is a bit of a music fan, and he traces this passion back to his experiences at a venue in Tulsa, Oklahoma… [story]

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Bauhaus

On his travels, Aric’s inspiration has been drawn from numerous sources; even though he hates talking about art, let him contradict himself, and explain why Bauhaus just might be the most important art movement for this generation… [story]

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Flashpacking

Blending old-school travel techniques with spanking new technology, Aric explains why his backpacking is of a different breed… [story]

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… that Converse, you see.

new ones in a week or so.

I had a rather exciting year.

and, as of last Sunday, have spent this past 12 months literally around-the-world.

if this is your first time here, I feel the need to preface this with sure, from the surface, I might come across as an adventurer, which is great – no one hates being called an adventurer… and I do love a good adventure, but if you’ll take the time to read the stories and not just look at the pictures, you’ll see how surrounded I am with very generous, very kind and very tall people who let me stand on their shoulders to see The Big Show…even if that means that they’ll miss it.

and therein lies my gold.

but yeah, 2010…

sheesh.

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• a year ago today, I was doing a little work with the [re]think:hawaii crew out in Honolulu.
• I used the money from that to head off again, stopping home in Tulsa, OK to revisit what I missed so much about it.
• from there to Philadelphia, spending Thanksgiving with some of my favorite [and funniest!] people at The Clovis Household. it was also my first time to the Eastern State Penitentiary, a now-new favorite.
• took the gorgeous train ride up to Boston where I got to spend a few short days in the presence of my favorite writer, Adam Cohn.
• and then finishing off in NYC, with too much fun. as usually happens in NYC with good people.
• another trans-Atlantic flight back to the UK for a few days and then to Berlin for Christmas. and I cannot tell you how much at least one Christmas be spent in Berlin.
• having never been to Turkey, I went to Turkey.
• tried twice to get into Syria. and highly, highly suggest it.
• ran out of money… again. and asked for help… again. and wouldn’t you know, I made enough to get me to where I wanted to go.
• which took me to Beirut – any texture-loving photographer’s dream.
• a quick stop in Israel to see an old friend. and an old friend.
• finally got to see and experience Petra. and could have stayed a week. jaw-dropping.
• and then had a second idea of how to do what I want to do.
• made it to Egypt. didn’t really like Egypt. except for one neighborhood cafe – which made up for everything else. I would wait for a week in talks with National Geographic about my idea. but in the end, it fell through. which sucked. and so…
• I packed up for Africa. but I wasn’t ready for Africa, and had to, at the age of 33, phone Mom and beg for money to fly out, as the Embassy in Ethiopia suggested I do.
• somehow, I ended up back in England. in a gorgeous three-story house on the coast. all by myself. got drunk on St. Patty’s and used the money I had earned – money that was supposed to get me back to America – to buy a boat. spent the summer trying to convince myself I could sail, and usually failing miserably. if it hadn’t been for Nick, I’d have given up.
• got myself a nephew, and he changed my life.
• lost an old friend.
• made a new one.
• met a redheaded Canuck and fell in love.
• and then lost another friend.
• got flown to Venice to photograph a wedding.
• then spent a week in Paris with a few besties – and had the experience everyone hopes for.
• was barely allowed back into England.
• and then convinced the pretty to move with me to Vietnam. things worked out fine there, jobs were had and stability was something reoccurring, but she needed a beach and I the mountains – both of us missing friends. so she left for Australia. and I for my extended-family in Oregon. give me a few drinks and I’ll say it was nice to halt a relationship on such good terms, but then give me a few more and I’ll tell you how much it blows.
• so now I sit in the middle of Oregon – between a theatre room and a chicken coop. there’s a light snow outside and some strong coffee in. I’m a few months away from being able to print a novel – one that’ll hopefully take me back to England next spring for The Big Trip on the little red boat.

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14 countries.

32, 168 miles.

and many more highlights that I’m sure are being forgotten.

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it was a good year, as was the last. and the one before that.

but, as stated, if you look closely, you’ll see that I had very, very little to do with it.

I occasionally get asked to take part in some strange things.

for example, during a 6-month period in 2009, I was a consultant for a Swiss Bank. honest-engine. didn’t talk about it because of obvious reasons. I was also asked to produce an adult film back-in-the-day [behind the lens, thankfully - as porn 'shorts' have yet to take off], which I did, but then was asked to destroy the tape a few weeks later. this is also 100% true. and recently, I was asked to write a few hundred words for an upcoming exhibition in Las Vegas on ‘marketing for the social media generation’. me. writing something about ‘marketing’. the guy who bought his degree from a site called ‘phony diploma’.

anyway.

I thought long-and-hard for 2 minutes – a reoccurring time with me [see above] and came up with nothing at all. sorry about that, guys. if there’s a q-and-a for clever adult film titles ['late for rent'], then I’m your man. but ‘marketing’? no.

I went upstairs and showered.

and then it hit me.

Jon Garrou.

now – having already written of a slightly illegal/sinful employment past, the admittance to thinking about an old high school chum while lathered in a body wash called ‘strawberry milkshake’ should tell you I have no business writing any sort of guidelines for any sort of people who pay to get into a conference, but stay with me here.

Jon Garrou knew, at the age of 16, how to market something properly. he was kind of a visionary anyway, being the first to introduce us to The Lemonheads [again - best album to come out of the 90's] and phrases that borderlined the absurd, but somehow worked [they escape me now - but trust they were ground-breaking].

one day, after a basketball game, he forever planted himself in my daily life.

think about that – I knew the guy for 4 years, haven’t seen him since. and yet, I think about him every time I shower.

see, we had a friend named Gregg, he had big feet. they were often [debatable] dirty. someone commented to Gregg he should ‘wash his dirty feet’ and Jon pointed out that, in fact, said suggestion was asinine, as ‘feet pretty much washed themselves’.

I didn’t think much about that until I got into the shower that evening.

‘feet wash themselves’.

soap ends up on the shower floor. feet move around. feet do wash themselves.

brilliant.

and now you see why he comes to mind every time I’m naked and wet.

see, Jon Garrou knew something about marketing – find an everyday happening, and quickly come up with truncated catchy statement – one that will forever resonate.

this post will make slight sense to you, I know. until the next time you get into the shower. you’ll wash everything, make your way to the feets and will, undoubtedly, think of a man you’ve most likely never met.

and with that, Jon Garrou joins another in the shower.

well done.

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disclaimer – I realize the dangerous edge of blasphemy I walk, putting a photo up of Christ in a post that includes porn, illegal banking acts and naked men, but after searching ‘dirty feet’, I came upon a fetish I had no idea existed. and decided to put the Almighty up instead of some hooker with no shoes. I hope you understand.

I love a good adventure.

granted, 2008 was more of one,

but 2009 had a lot happening as well.

it started on a bus in Austin on Jan. 01 – I think someone broke the iPod player.

and then we slowly made our way down to The Keys - Tim a bit more slowly than the rest of us.

I took a month off and did Berlin with Alonso and Switzerland for Carnival.

then over to Austin for SXSW.

and back on the bus.

met Otis Redding’s son and daughter in Georgia.

then back to Oklahoma to watch my brother marry the girl he loved and still loves.

back on the bus and down through the southwest.

finally arriving in one of the best places in the U.S. – Bend, OR. [no photos or stories as I'm supposed to be keeping that town a secret]

got flown to Hawaii by the state’s tourism agency

and then back to Bend.

I loved it, sure, but there was no work to be had,

so I made the easy decision to move to Norway to work on a farm. [no photos and stories because I didn't actually make it there]

stopped in NYC and met a girl.

who then traveled with me in the U.K.

we tried to sail to France, but I got us lost.

and then moved back with her to Los Angeles.

back to Hawaii for another gig.

then back to L.A.

that ended up not working out, so I headed back home,

then to the East Coast.

then the U.K.

then Berlin.

and now find myself drinking black tea with no milk in an Istanbul hotel room.

…so, yeah. thanks, 2009 - 2010, I do have a few thoughts though.

so, it’s official.

I signed a 5-story deal with Converse today.

that Converse.

they found me because ‘someone pointed them in my direction’.

so thank you, someone.

this is the biggest brand I’ve ever written for.

and a brand I like

I grew up with

so here’s to pointings and directions.

and here’s to shoulders and giants.

I haven’t gotten out much here in Hawaii.

but it’s because I’m working.

and I’m just fine with that.

because my work involves pushing a button.

and in-between, having fun.

and when your work involves pushing buttons,

and in-between, having fun,

in Hawaii

well, there’s not much room for moaning.

so I won’t.

what I was doing was advising with Christine Lu on the Fatburger campaign. it was fun. they’re fun, actually – and I rarely get to say that about producing corporate content. but it’s a family-run biz with loads of celebrity franchise owners. and that makes it even more fun. so we had fun.

…no booze, no betting and I like my corporate project.

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