2024 Eclipse Trip!
Thanks to flight chaos I am stuck overnight in the Indianapolis airport waiting for a 5:30 am flight back to California. It has given me time to reflect on this trip. I did a very minimal celebration for my 50th birthday despite it being the big one. I find this trip was the celebration. I have been planning this trip since I traveled to Carbondale for the eclipse in 2017. It was amazing, and I was hooked. I knew I wouldn’t miss a chance to have that experience in my hometown Bloomington Indiana.
In March 2019 while visiting my family in Bloomington I started writing a novel called People’s Park. I had hoped to find a home for it sooner but when Keith Giles at Quoir offered to publish it in the summer of 2023 I told him we had to wait a year. I had a plan to do the book launch in Bloomington Indiana. You see I knew I wanted to have the book launch the day before the eclipse and I had that date circled in my mind since 2024.
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In 2017 when I told my Dad I was coming back to in 2024 to watch it with him, sadly he told me he was pretty sure he wouldn’t be here. I thought about that as I slept in the guest room that had been his office. I really wish he could’ve been here but I had a great time hanging out with my Stepmother Susan who went way overboard to make the trip awesome and was super supportive of the book launch.
The night before the book launch my Dickheads podcast co-host and Editor/Publisher of my next book D.Harlan Wilson arrived. Since most of our hangs are Zoom/phone it was fun to hang out with him. We hung out with Judge Rothenberg who co-hosts my top Reads of the Year podcast with me every year. We gave Professor Wilson a walking tour of Bloomington and the IU campus. We shot promo video stuff in People’s Park.
DHW and I went for dinner with Susan we had a fun evening that included signing the contract for Unfinished PKD coming from the EXEGETICS: PKD STUDIES series that DHW will be editing through his Anti-Oedipus Press label. When I opened the Word document and started this book, my first non-fiction book, DHW was my dream editor. I think this book needs him.
In the morning, we met Issa Clean Fun (who flew from LA) to do the eclipse with me for breakfast at the Owlery. Vegan pancakes. In explaining how Issa from DC and I were friends we had to explore straight-edge hardcore to DHW. That was fun.
The book launch was held at The Monroe County History Center, which is in the old library building. The event space is home to an amazing exhibit on the history of 80s Punk rock in Bloomington. That same room was home to punk rock shows. Some famous bands played on the stage where we held the book talk. TSOL, Toxic Reasons, Samhain, and The Red Chili Peppers to name a few. Since the book is about the history of Bloomington, and the history of the underground culture to have the book event and exhibit at the same was just beyond perfect.
The talk was D. Harlan Wilson interviewing me about People’s Park. (A podcast recording of the event will be up soon). We had 30 chairs set up and the museum had to keep putting out chairs, the crowd was great. Many faces I didn’t know, and plenty of old friends, many I had not seen in decades. I sold out of books and I think people enjoyed the talk.
We said goodbye to Professor Wilson but gained Fn’ Dave one of my very good friends and favorite humans. Dave was staying to eclipse with Issa and me. After the book launch, we watched the Iowa-South Carolina Women’s Basketball Championship with my sister’s family.
Issa and Dave had mutual friends from the Argentina hardcore scene. We got some vegan pizza and decided to go see the Dev Patel Monkey Man in the theater. This was fun for me, these are two of my favorite movie friends. Dave and I have probably seen a hundred movies together over the years, but Issa and always talk about movies never have seen a movie in the theater together. It wasn’t the greatest movie, but Dave and I have a habit of laughing at wildly violent moments in action movies, and it was an oddly comforting feeling for me to hear FN’Dave’s distinctive laugh when Dev Patel bit someone’s nose off in the movie.
The drive back to the house was a fun conversation exactly how I knew it would go. Issa and I were re-writing the movie explaining how we would fix the structure of the movie, Dave explained the political angles that went over our heads.
In the morning. Eclipse day. The sun poking through the window woke me up. I got a better look, clear perfect skies and rain and clouds the day before (and after). I ran a mile on the treadmill, and excitedly woke up Issa who looked at me like I was crazy. FN Dave and I got started on Bagels and Magic Tofu! After a fun conversation with Susan explaining Philip K. Dick, the hardcore scene, and growing up punk in the old school.
IF YOU JUST WANT THE ECLIPSE STORY START HERE:
Noon came and we wanted to get to our spot. We drove downtown and found IU astronomy at Dunn Meadow but there was a bit of a student party atmosphere going on. We decided to spend the eclipse at the Janeway Statue. You see according to the canon of Star Trek Katherine Janeway was born and grew up in Bloomington Indiana. (A few years ago a group of folks called the Janeway collective) got a statue built in her honor next to the Wonderlab children’s science center. Seemed like the place to be. Peter Kaczmarczyk was holding down the fort as one of the founders passing out Janeway collective stickers.
It absolutely was. 10/10 experience. First off there was a crew supporting “Mr. Eclipse of Iran.” He was there for his 16th solar eclipse (including the north and south pole). He live streams in Persian. Talking with him about the eclipse was one of my favorite things. He had an amazing telescope on the sun that was streaming.
I had Macguyered my astronomical binoculars with eclipse shades and was able to see multiple sunspots of the face of the sun. Looking through Mr. Eclipse’s telescope we saw lots of solar flares/ red coronal ejections.
What I was not prepared for was how many Star Trek fans came from all over the country to be in Bloomington at the Janeway Statue. I talked to one guy who drove from Vancouver Washington (stopping in Riverside Iowa at Kirk’s hometown), Minnesota, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Columbus Ohio, and Chicago. That is just who I talked to. I am seeing posts on Star Trek Shitposting of people I didn’t meet.
The best was this family who came from Chicago. I spoke to the father and he said his young daughter insists they watch Voyager and if they put on other Trek she yells Janeway at them. With his permission, I filmed a short interview with her. We are hoping to get to Kate Mulgrew. The interview and her family:
We had a large crowd around. Being surrounded by Trekkies was great, as the moon got closer we noticed the temperature drop at 90% totality, with crescent shadows under the trees, at 95% there was less to notice than my 2017 experience, that time I was on the edge of woods so I noticed more of the wildlife reactions.
I shot a video (not of the sun it wouldn’t come out, but it is of the last three minutes before and during totality. We were joking about Asimov’s Nightfall, get excited. So you can hear me freaking out, swearing a bunch Issa reminding me to not swear in front of children. It was interesting because when it happened it was a powerful, beautiful majestic, and spiritual event just like 2017, but different. When I was explaining the experience I didn’t realize how different it would be from 2017. If you zoom in Fn Dave took this with an Iphone. you can see Venus.
2017 in Carbondale was much darker, you could see many stars that day. In 2024 the sky was not as dark, we could only see Venus and Jupiter. My best guess is that the shadow cast by the sun was thinner. We could see sunlight on the horizon to the east and west. Which was super awesome. We could see red coronal ejections coming off the top and the bottom of the sun. That did not happen in 2017. You could really see them with my Binoculars. It was four minutes of beauty. Mister Eclipse of Iran a vet of 16 of these said the Corona was very big. If you cannot be moved by the wondrous powers of the universe under the shadow of the moon I don't understand. I was screaming my face off out of pure joy - not a thing I do. I shared a cry with Mr. Eclipse of Iran (I got a video of our reactions) and he had me emotional. As I sit overnight in the airport waiting for a delayed flight I wouldn't change a thing. Northern Spain 2026????
When I finish editing my videos I will add them.
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