I'm having a little epiphanous (which is probably not a word) weekend.

I am tired of not writing in my ElJay, first off. Too much life has happened without my having clickety-clacked it into memory.

(I say "memory" because mine is shittier than a pile of actual shit and is getting shittier by the day. At best, I feel like a bad listener and friend when I can't remember a story someone has told me; at worst, I feel like a good candidate for Alzheimer's research -- as in, "Start watching me now, because I'm a sure-fire bet for Reagan-babble sooner or later.")

I should be typing. Telling my stories. Writing my brain down. Etcetera. So when I'm seventy I can tell my grandkids, "Hang on, let me just Manage My Tags real quick-like, and then I'll tell you all about that crazy-ass time I shat in the streets of Los Angeles. I know it's here somewhere. You're right, I shouldn't say the word 'ass.'"

What else. A hell of a lot.


( Chick'n Nugget is born. )

( Pictures! )

( I call a mulligan. )

( What I meant to say is... )


Of course there are stories. Stories I should tell, and will, upon the morrow. Right now I am 'leepy.

What a weekend, holy shit. Penguin and I met up in Colorado and skied/boarded Vail and Copper. Being on those mountains was amazing, and I wanted to keep riding for another week. Waking up in the middle of the night and trying to swallow my own throat was, admittedly, the downside. I suppose one eventually gets used to the altitude and lack of moisture, but holy hell... there was more than one ungodly-hour a.m. that literally inspired the thought, "I think I'd prefer to die right now."

I'm now sick like a snot-filled second grader (as opposed to sick like really sweet board shorts) and can't hear out of one ear. Plane rides beat the ever-loving health out of me.

Anyway. There are pictures. I would like to be back there now, please. That is all.




( ...and I can't forget Penguin's race run. )

Holy hell, this month. I've been busy, and when I haven't been "busy" in the traditional sense, I've been "busy" in the catching-up-to-the-bus-that-sped-ahead-while-I-was-busy-in-the-traditional-sense sense.

Ob-la-dee-blah-da.

I'll update with bits and pieces, but I dare not commit to traversing the whole month in prose. That would most certainly make me cower with inadequacy and never visit my eljay again.


( Not traversing the whole month in prose... )

Off to Europe tomorrow.

I've been so busy at work and then at last-minute packing that I have managed to ignore eljay almost altogether for way too long. I probably won't catch up on everything that zoomed by on my friends' list, I'll be honest. Maybe link me to your favoritest/most interesting/most telling entry from the last couple weeks or so? I really do want to catch up, but let's be honest with ourselves and admit that Teh Eljay gets out of hand far too quickly. And it might be a fun exercise anyway.

Or don't play my game, and see if I don't hunt you down regardless and comment all over your shit out of pure "oh yeah? well i'll show you!"-ness.

Lord have mercy. I think there is something in me that enjoys demands manages to artificially and unecessarily create spontanaeity where it shouldn't really exist. Like... I could have packed two weeks ago, but why not start two days before we fly out? I could have printed all my vegan resources with three months to spare, but why not wait until the day before, really? I could have bought maps and started drawing on them with Sharpies prior to the plane ride, but why?

Hehe. I have a brain, I think, that doesn't process real events until they're actually (or very close to) happening. I can theorize and philosophize all day about heady ideas and hypotheses and viewpoints, but can I actually sit down and convince myself that I will actually be walking on my two feet in the streets of Venice, hungry and looking for vegetables, in three months? Hell no. Put me in Venice, though, and damn if I won't ship-shod a brilliant time out of it. I'm probably a better backpacker than travel agent for such reasons... I also spent a near-sleepless night in Paddington train station for such reasons. *feeble smile*

I am hoping to run across some cyber cafes and throw an update onto the intarwebs here and there, but I suppose it isn't a priority. I'm going to focus on keeping my real-life travel journal updated, so perhaps page shots will be in order; we'll see.

I have a very tiny and exciting camera on the way to my house from a very scary and shady online merchant today (Yes, I feel like an gullible idiot, thank you for asking). Pray to your various and sundry gods and non-existants that it is not refurbished-sold-as-new, or imaginary, or made of styrofoam. If all goes well, it will take little videos that are compatible with Poddy, and store lots and lots of pictures, and dress me in the morning, and never ever leave me.

Other than that... I'm not taking much! Rugby gear, clothes, and essentials for twelve days are stashed in my backpack, to be lugged around and through Venice, Vienna, Munich, and St. Gallen. I should probably be taking more sensible shoes.

*sigh*

*panic*

*sigh*

I think the best way not to forget anything is just to keep sitting around and letting my brain wander while drinking margaritas. Hopefully I'll have some time to do that tonight.