America
(15-24 August 2001)

24 August 2001
[from Washington, DC]
-Happy Birthday, Dad!  Maybe this year, you won't be carded anymore.
-Monique has been much discussed.  As has a tormented love square involving a lightpost at George Mason University.  We're bonkers.

23 August 2001
[from Washington, DC]
-Final Cracker Barrel total:  29.
-I should know not to go anywhere without my Mariners jacket - the rain was lousy, especially given that we ended up in this fancy Italian restaurant in Dupont Circle.  They should've seated us in a closet to hide our soaked T-shirts & shorts, but instead they only had a front-&-center balcony table open.
-Parts of this trip have been really tiresome.  Sigh.
-Seeing Kate is always a good time.  Balconies, both there & at Fish's, have been a big part of DC.

22 August 2001
[from Interstate 40 eastbound]
-Long day.  But a solid one.  We did theme-music on the CD player, with the "Graceland" album as we were bouncing into Graceland, & "Nashville Skyline" during our stint in Nashville.  Nashville's actually a really nice city & we ate at this Wolfy's place with a live band that did 2 Dylan covers & the place actually had pretty good food.  JP & Gris also enjoyed 2-for-1 night.
-We didn't stay to tour Graceland, but we did get a picture of me at the corner of Lonely Street & Elvis Presley Blvd.  I just hope Dave got the Lonely St. sign in the picture.
-I can't get used to Gris & John calling bathrooms "Fifeburg"s on this trip.  It's bizarre.  John's not reading my novel & Gris only flipped through it, though he says he'll start it when he's done with his century of solitude.  Regardless of which, it's even become a verb.  What's funny is that residents of Fifeburg, PA (in the novel) might actually follow the lead of my traveling companions.
-Speaking of the above, a discussion of PPD has been had, ranging from my 1.2 to Gris's 3.  If you don't know, don't try to figure it out.
-I've been thinking about my 2nd novel all day.  I guess 1,350 miles in 2 days (driving the whole thing myself) will do that to you.  Give you time to put stuff together.
-Now we're at a Knights Inn in Kingston, Tennessee.  John's actually in the same hotel!  But only because he slept so much in the car.  We got in at 2, so he didn't have much to say.  Had to settle for a smoking room, but I s'pose we'll live.  As I said, a solid day on the road.
-Alos, we've been counting Cracker Barrels on the roadside.  Current tally through 2 days is 17.  Which is an insane number of CBs for anywhere, let alone 1,350 miles of I-40.

21 August 2001
[from Interstate 40 eastbound]
-So it's actually happening:  John is staying not only in a different room, but actually a different HOTEL than Gris & I.  We're in Shawnee, Oklahoma at a Motel 6, while JP resides at a remarkably similar (but more expensive) Ramada.  Dinner was together, at a funkified Mexican place in downtown OKC.
-How John criticizes MY driving I'll never know.
-Well that was a frustrating call home.  It's too bad not everyone shares my faith in the USPS.  Or maybe too bad that Random House DOES.  Or perhaps both.
-Also, my parents wanted me to record that last night's Mexican place was known as "La Luna".  So now it's out there for posterity.
-I'm anticipating that John will be surprised we survived a night at Motel 6.  If only he'd seen our room first & seen that it's just like his room!  Only the front desk didn't assume Gris & I were bringing wives in.  That only comes at the Ramada.

20 August 2001
[from Albuquerque]
-So as far as I know, this page (as well as the Archive, & the 4 most recently archived set of Intro' entries) is down to the world.  If it's not, please let me know.  Regardless, it's made me feel strangely closed off from the world.  I guess I've come to rely on this little forum more than I thought.
-Gonna miss ABQ quite a bit.  Saying goodbye to DK reminded me of how great this summer really was.  But times are indeed changing.
-Updates will be sporadic over the next week (esp. if the site's down anyway), but will come in from a variety of locales as JP, Gris, & I travel cross-country.  Should be fun!

19 August 2001
[from Albuquerque]
-Lisha's recent entries are making me worry about living in an off-campus apartment.  But maybe she's just more prone to complain... or maybe she just lives in a worse place, even if it's huge.  I'll have to see for myself on both counts, both the condition of her place & of mine.
-It's so surreal thinking that I leave in about 30 hours.  Feels like it could be days.  I'm ready to get back, but not really to leave.  Like the ambivalence that Ariela was talking about just before SHE left.  I could go, but I could stay.  But I'll go & be happy about it.  It's all the beans I worry about.  Like usual, I'll have debate & friends & work to offset them.
-Listening to "The Mightier Ploughshare" (the second & final tape of the summer) may not be a good idea right now...
-Backing up word-files on 1.44 disks is not the most fun in the world.
-New set of Archives, which was overdue, especially with the looming trip.  Was thinking about changing up the Pond, too, but that'll wait till the flipside.  Mostly I want to talk about upcoming fun at the Blue Pyramid, including a new e-mail address (storey@bluepyramid.org).  Not that I want friends to start using that address now or something, but hey.  Anyway, this will have to suffice until I at least pack!
-Why does UNet do this to me?  Why am I getting a "Forbidden" when I try to view this page?

18 August 2001
[from Albuquerque]
-Gonna miss the folks 'round here.
-The trip will probably be more fun than I was thinking previously.
-A lot remains to be done.  & I'm sounding bland, because I'm kinda feeling bland.

17 August 2001
[from Albuquerque]
-Happy Birthday Freez!  Now Gris & Fish don't have to be so shocked anymore.
-I should've listened to Shannon about "The Fourth Hand".  Not very good at all.  I want to write a mocking Epilogue in which the marriage falls apart as BOTH sides become fiercly disloyal.  But hey, it's there anyway.  I could call it "The Ninth Hand" or something.
-Jaque's blitzing of "Loosely Based" can't be compared to his slow-boat to Enutrof.  I'm stunned by how quickly he (& most people) finished the book!
-Sigh.  Then again, maybe I'll be wrong & it'll be better.  Life is so unpredictable.
-There's too little time to think too much.

16 August 2001
[from Albuquerque]
-Well Marps & I just got along better than we have in years.  In fact, possibly the best since AA graduation.  I actually found myself sad that he's going back to State tomorrow.  Maybe this wouldn't last, but it was a nice change.  I think he's matured a lot over his summer in Michigan.
-Also, Marps' new car has this Onstar thing that speaks through his speakers & is connected via a satellite that tracks his car 24/7.  Basically, this is really freaky.  He called it to show off the service (& have John give the lady on the other end a hard time), & none of us (DK, Ariela, John, or I) realized what was going on till she said "Is this the car eastbound on Zuni, near Louisiana?"  THAT was freaky.
-I'm gonna miss having Ariela around.  We both were surprised that we didn't get sick of each other.  Which is cool.
-Lots of people to call!  Are we really leaving MONday?!

15 August 2001
[from Albuquerque]
-Go see "The Others"!  NOW!  Best movie of the year so far?  Probably.  Almost without question.
-Seems like Ariela just got here & she's leaving Thursday morning.
-Oh, it's definitely APDA politics season again.  Lord have mercy.
-Take a couple days off from typical journal-reading (Bob) & look what happens... Mesco writes twice & Lisha finally sees God's gift to film!

Introspection, My Worst Friend* (Current)
Ye Olde Archive (Past)

Tell me this is not the end...*


*-lyrics from an as-yet unreleased song, "The Same Old Frontiers", by SWClayton.