T minus 5

“A journey is like marriage. The certain way to be wrong is to think you control it.” - John Steinbeck

I often imagine myself in the small group of people who are all thinking about all the other people imagining that small group. Now I'm part of a secret club that I can join or leave as I choose. I'll elect myself treasurer, because no one else is voicing opposition to my posting. Any donations? The Treasurer does none of the work, but gets all the glory.

Hmm... money. I'll make that on the street! With untried optimism and sweet, wide-eyed innocence, I'll throw myself into street performance and will find myself either flat on my face, or floating through the smiling sunshine of success. I really want to see if I can live simply from doing improvisational music and theater in the way I love best. I don't think it's fair to myself anymore to go through the misery of endless retail or hacking away at data to make cash. I do music, I do theater, I more than enjoyed playing clown in Arcata - so why not do what I love instead of living a half-life working at a job I hate? Right? Here's hoping for dreams sustained.

I'm buying a tiny guitar from Ian that looks like I could chop tiny people's heads off. Or maybe only the head off a chipmunk. Or I could break this chocolate chip cookie in two pieces: half for you and half for me. I was going to get a guitar over in Argentina, but now it looks like I'm too afraid of not finding an inexpensive guitar once I'm over there. So tiny-axe guitar it is! Ooooh! (pitch of voice raises two octaves) Maybe I can paint it! There's acrylic paint in the garage...

I'm in L.A. now - got a surprise ride back from Ian, who is going up to Seattle. Thanks inexhaustible universe of handiness.

Five days until Argentina! I think I'm finally starting to feel it's closeness. Weeks of agonizing about how much I can avoid packing aside, I probably won't really believe I'm there until I can't understand people speaking Spanish.

OK, I'm going to have to make this blog more like a thingy that people will read as opposed to whatever nonsense it is now, written to please myself. No viewers yet! Still safe from prying eyes.

Ok: events of the last few days. Disneyland yesterday with Abby, Chris, Ian and Jack, (listed alphabetically) to great success. Today, celebrated Margo's birthday part two with Dan, Emma (and Margo, of course), again, to great success. Heard Juliette Lewis, Cat Power, and the Pretenders, who, incidentally, I thought were going to be the band "The Proclaimers." I'm glad I didn't lean over to someone and demand to know why the singer wasn't a man with a Scottish accent.

The fires were clearly visible one night - shooting up on the ridge of the hills like the mane of a hyena who has been spray painted orange.