I marched in Berkeley, lost $10 in Vegas, got buzzed at Purdue and UIUC, slept two nights in Iowa, ate all-I-could-eat in Tulsa, chose Las Cruces to the missile testing site, was initiated to chop sticks in Bahston, sushi in Westwood and incorrectly consumed some oriental dish in Iowa City (the approximate ettiquette equivalent to either scooping the stuffing out of a turkey with your hands *or* individually putting dressing on salad chunks with a paintbrush, we're not sure.)

Cooked in San Diego, was cooked for in St. Louis, slept through most of Texas, Utah, Ohio and Colorado, but stayed awake through Illinois and Arizona.

Watched every tax bracket pass me by as the bus went through New York City, down Manhattan Island, from Queens down through Harlem and Manhattan and then into the scariest bus station in the world.

Saw the recession take its toll on Joplin Mo. Saw the recession be ignored in Las Vegas. Demonstrated at Sproul Plaza and People's Park. Wandered Manhattan Beach. Nearly broke my neck on the teeny sidewalks in Cambridge, and found out that in Boston, most Squares are not quadrilaterals.

Three hours after we started bombing Iraq, i was on a plane from Oakland to Burbank. I heard we were at war in a city bus in Berkeley.

Crossed the Cuyahoga, Mississippi, San Francisco Bay, Rio Grande and the Colorado. Watched people ski at Vail. Met a professional surfer.

Shopped in Tuscon, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Lafayette, Fayetteville, Columbus and Bahston.

Got snowed in in St Louis, iced in around Arkansas, Oklahoma and Texas, and flash flooded in Arizona. Fog was in California.

Talked leftist philosophy in the bus station in Chicago, watched a possible botched drug bust in the Joplin bus station, meandered through the Cathedral of St Louis -- which, by the way, is not the patron saint of snow removal -- and watched the homeless on Telegraph Avenue.

Met puppies and kitties and lizards and fish and Roger Carasso.

Dfanced at nj's.

Watched fencing in jenglish's front room.

Forgot my eyeliner at bcj's and my address book in x's trunk.

Fell asleep in the hotel lobby in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Slept in Doug Church's futon, nj's goddess' room, Xibo's couch, fur's floor, Blackmore and Kaine's couch, my Uncle Jim's floor and a foldout bed at -=paul=-'s. Got my own room at Uncle Tom's and Random and Moira's, usurped my cousin Kim's claim to her room, and borrowed Kallen's sister's room.

Got stood up by Dominus, late receptions by that Greg and my Uncle Jim and late deliveries by the nice Greyhound people in Chicago, Joplin, Lafayette, and Milwaukee. Actually made connections with nary a hitch in El Paso, San Diego, Las Vegas, Denver and a few small towns in Iowa. Got dropped off outside a closed newspaper office with no sign of a bus station with no apparent designation in Crawfordsville, Indiana.

Bummed around Dallas, San Diego, Berkeley, Los Angeles, Ottumwa and Davenport, Iowa.

Heard a 4-year-old singing that bilingual rap song from Las Vegas to Denver. Damn nearly the whole time.

Heard another 4-year-old girl chanting "One, two, three, four, we don't want your fucking war," in Berkeley. Of course.

Saw people stranded in the bus stations of Dallas and El Paso, and people living in the ones in Los Angeles and New York.

Logged in from mit, uiuc, purdue, usc, berkeley, arizona, uiowa, princeton and colorado.

And most importantly, did laundry in El Paso, Berkeley, Las Vegas and Iowa.

Now, i'm sure i'll forget someone, but it's only because i'm still pretty zoned -- I got home and about half a city block of Downtown Milwaukee was burnt out, looked like a SCUD attack, and Milwaukee led the nation in murders on New Years' Day. Here goes: And, of course, partied with Random, Moira, autumn, xibo, -=paul=-, jenine, all those berkeley noT.bob/saudi.bob people, jenglish, RDC, flitterby, zed, leo@plotkin/grod, Kallen, Garrett&Tif, Wanderer, Kaine, Blackmore, fur, wendy and the PMS crew, and morissa&nj -- thanks oodles and globs.

I'm home now.