Philip W Holland

Another delay in the blog, but might not be the worst thing. I don’t think I could keep up with a daily blog post so maybe once or twice a week will be something I can manage sustainably. Seeking to not fight against the cycles of my natural inclinations, I’ve been through enough of that throughout my life. You can wish the tide won’t come in but your ass’ll get wet and your fire will go out.

On that note, I made it out of the New England states. JB Weld fully cured, I took my time through Rhode Island, on account of all the free shellfish, and always have wanted to go there because we joke in Texas that you look down to change the stereo and you drive right through it. Everyone was exceptionally nice and welcoming and I can see myself returning there and to Maine in the future.

Stopped off at Narragansett brewery in Providence, bought a patch, and while sewing it on my guitar soft case and suddenly there was an inundation of people (something I have been avoiding in general). Turns out it was for a fireworks display on the 3rd, so I stayed put and slept by the coast. Hit another display in Narragansett proper, quite a sight with boats silhouetted in the pyrotechnic reflections.

Kind of drove through Connecticut but it was lovely, although sometimes circuitous on account of all the convoluted coastlines. I wanted to take the ferry from RI to Block Island (at the time barely visible through fog, it would have been dope) then back up to New London, CT, but couldn’t justify the cost at the time. I’ve only been on a ferry as a pedestrian. My ferry time will come one day.

Followed signs for New London by land instead, then skirted around NYC to avoid the traffic. I did it once, that was enough for now. Maybe it’s the ’tism, but I really prefer solitude and then interacting with one or two people at a time. I get the “gotta-get-outta-here”s after not too long even with people I am very fond of.

Maybe why I had such a hellish time entering New Jersey. A great state once you escape the sprawling Newark metropolis, which is inhospitable and sent a clear message it didn’t want me there. Once I got to the greener places I found some nice park with outlets on a covered pavilion and was able to finally sit down and get some stained glass work done. Barely saw anyone all day, I guess since it was a town of landed gentry, they didn’t need to visit a park unless there was a sports game at the fields there.

Back in Wawa territory, armed with gift cards, headed back towards Philly to do some more handyman work for my brother’s friend, only to find they won’t be back for a week. They told me when they’d be gone but I lolligagged too long cooking mussels and suffering from chronic time blindness.

Figured I’d take that time to finally get the web store set up and get some art made. Spent the night in a neglected and tactfully undisclosed office park that I had previously talked myself out of going into, but tornado warnings made my mind up for me. Too muggy to sleep in the car and I’m not gonna go this far from Texas just to get sucked up by tornadoes.

Morning brought clear weather so I get to work. Went through some technical difficulties with the payment on my first order, which could arguably be attributed to myself, but no matter. Through much exasperation, tech support correspondence, learning to do their jobs for them anyway, and redundant due diligence in the payment process, I finally got everything set up. We

Check out http://philipwholland.com/shop, everything is now available for purchase, and more stuff being added!

Found another even nicer park in Towamencin, northwest of Philly with bathrooms, electrified pavilions to plug my phone and soldering iron into. I’ve been floating around for a few days back and forth between hospitable night parking, convenience stores with free ice, and the park, working on stained glass bat ornaments, cooking skillet breakfasts, and fishing. Mostly families and dog people all day, pretty confident the theft risk is nearly zero at the park, but not confident to park overnight and blow my cover sleeping rough.

Got offered food on two separate nights by picnicking families that were curious enough about my activities to talk to me, which I am very grateful for since I am waiting for money transfers to go through to my bank before I spend the money I have left and have to cook if I want to eat. The Bangladeshis have been especially hospitable, and the curried chicken was top notch.

Been working the equivalent of full days on the site and art production. Gonna keep working on art and posting art to the store that’s already in the car until Thursday when I will be able to exchange my labor for wages (not my favorite activity but oh well) see my brother again briefly and then head down to book more states. Whether I am willing to suffer the southern heat and go all the way down to Florida is yet to be determined.

Orders already placed will start going out Tuesday (tomorrow at this point).

live carelessly pwh 7/14/25