Josh & Josh Road Trip: The Augusten Burroughs Interview
Not long ago Josh and I rented a car and headed out of the city to interview author Augusten Burroughs at his home in Amherst, Massachusetts.
When we hit the open road I plugged in my iPod. Josh and I worked through most of my cardio playlist, singing the gayest songs imaginable at the top of our lungs. (Shhh, don't judge!) You know Joel Derfner would have been so proud.
I played navigator. (Scary thought, no?) This was our first East Coast road trip together, and since we'd never even heard of most of the roads and highways, it was all a bit of a leap of faith.
What's a road trip without a McDonald's stop? Josh K. did the chicken nugget routine; I went with cheeseburgers. And yes, we did sing with our mouths full.
We made it out of New York, drove north through all of Connecticut, and finally made it to Massachusetts.
When we pulled up to Augusten's house his partner, Dennis, was out in the driveway washing the car. Dennis greeted us affably and Augusten came outside moments later, ushering us into the house. As we set up the camera and fitted Augusten with a mic we teased him about the domestic suburban bliss he had created for himself in Amherst. (And we teased, of course, because we were completely envious.)
The house was immaculate and well-decorated (his own handiwork, he reported). I wanted to dig into the rows and rows of books on his shelves, but instead we got down to business with the interview. (Check out the interview here.)
After the camera was off Josh and I stood around in the kitchen with Augusten and Dennis as their dogs, Bentley and Cow, snorted and huffed around our feet. It was kind of surreal to be standing in Augusten Burroughs's kitchen, chatting casually with him and his partner and playing with his dogs.
Josh K., Augusten, and Josh H., smiling for posterity.
How do you follow up all of that surreal fun and craziness? Why, you go to Target Amherst, of course, and load up on tons and tons of goodies. (Josh and I have a serious love thing going on with Target. Target totally had us at hello)
Like the classy boys we are, we followed up our shopping with pizzas at Target's food court. It's all glamor all the time, people.
As we set out on the three-and-a-half-hour drive I switched the iPod soundtrack from cardio to acoustic as the sun began to set and Josh and I zipped down the highway and back home to New York.
