la vida sin conocimiento es muerte en disfraz

life without knowledge is death in disguise.
- blackstar

check the gauges:

the upswing in energy could be a number of things. could be the beautiful weather we've been having. a mild kind of cold, barely see your breath - no wind. the lights hit the ice and this place reminds me of a real city. like minneapolis. i like minot at night on these kinds of nights.

i'd like to be in minneapolis, sometimes, too.

it could also be a head-trip. i'm excitable when i've got a day off. this means i haven't been excitable since we went on tour in december. i haven't had one day away from work or school. day without work? school. day without school? work. and hell, we'll have some days with both. fuck it. you need a character-building experience.

well, not tomorrow. ricardo's going to columbia. it's his parent's fiftieth anniversary. he's worried that immigration won't let him back in. theoretically, this means i may never see him again. he's a very good person. i hope that's not the case. and - who - just who - the hell would teach us spanish then?

so, he's gone. no spanish. no school. no work. nothing. i'm going to do back homework, paint, and start planning a tour...maybe with the crooked gospel?

fuckin' a!

but the upswing could also be the diet. who knows? it's not a diet in the sense that i'm trying to lose weight, look good, or be a part of madison avenue's idea of good lookin' - it's diet like what i'm eating. just didn't want to lose you in there. well, it could be the diet. made an awesome collard green burrito thing. just slices of avocado and tomato and some olives...

it was amazing.

jaz called it a "pocket salad." i thought that was real good.

so i walked down to off the vine. no wine for me. just water. i think the waiter used to teach me math. who fuckin' knows? well, gave sara her poster...it says:

"When all the trees have been cut down, when all the animals have been hunted, when all the waters are polluted, when all the air is unsafe to breathe, only then will you discover you cannot eat money."

- Cree prophecy. hope she likes it.

sara ended up getting sick. the wine? we'd drank the kikkoman plum before. i'm not sure. and it's her birthday and she was getting sick behind the building when we came out after settling up. i left a tip. darryl had already bought sara's drink.

saw lisa, ron, and the poet jeff skarski. skarski rides a bike. he was stumbling drunk when i found that out. i asked him if he was driving - real serious like. he said - no - i got a bike. and well, then - it was high-fives! i love drunk bike riding. shawn doesn't. but that's just his teeth talking.

walked up to nola's. mitch was worried 'bout missing last thursday's meeting. called himself a flake. he'll make it, i'm sure. people seem interested at least on the surface. who doesn't like helping people? please, no dumb answers to that. it's mackey's birthday tomorrow. so, shit - i had to buy him a drink too. shit i love that guy.

laura veirs is damn good. that's all i'm saying about that. next post will probably be a linkette to a damn fine song.

so, all in all, i've done the challenge for two days. i'm feeling good about it. i saw and well-wished lots of friends, i've got no complaints as i head to bed tonight.

UPDATE:

Anonymous,

To tell which water is raw and which is not they tend to use litmus strips. Under moonlight. During Summer Solstice. On a hill. While the band plays.