Thursday, November 14, 2002

i just wrote like an hour worth of stuff down, and then it got erased some how, i am sorry but i cannot do that again. U will just have to wait to hear about vienna and my decaying mental state. thats really all the post said too. Vienna is a city and i am a mental case.

Saturday, November 09, 2002

HMMM ok so heres some more stories, I hope i can tell them ok, i will screw them up most likely but only the people I'm meeting will know so ha. Also i been thinking a lot about what i put on here lately so once again if u are in these stories, and want to clarify or ask questions or comment or anything feel free (like Sarah, Ros, Dom, Scott, Gavin cool peoples) Also the reason i wrote that thing about australians is cuz one night i was just chillin writin in my journal at like 3-4 am and these 2 guys walked in and they had about 3 simple questions. "you pissed?(drunk)" my reply, "no" them "oh u should be" "you get root tonight?(sex)" my reply no, "oh you should man. well good night." I immediately started and laughing.

So These past few weeks i have basically had a crew, a group of different, but cool cats. Some how we just joined together and it all worked out.

(now I'm not gonna pretend i can tell ya everything here but i will share some things that stood out)

The lead man is Dom, he can fly solo, but leads a group pretty damn well too. One night when i was sending off the SOS signal (thats help, cuz i really didn't know what i was doing in a bar) he bought me a fruit cocktail said follow "my lead" and soon i was back to safety. At the time he had another wing man, Dave who was from Seattle(in fact he went to the same high school as Hendrix)
Dave had a fro, and could drink and talk shit with the best of em. He put on some Eric Clapton every night and took down a beer twice his size in a matter of mins. Dave had to go do secret missions in some other land, so he wont be mentioned much anymore. (but he was a good guy, and will be missed)
HMMM also a tall English bloke came along. At first he was a smooth straight arrow fighter. But the enemy knew this and went to great lengths to disrupt his path. Bullets of tram fees, bank mishaps,delayed cash, and towel theft left him struggling in foreign lands. However he didn't much mind being grounded, especially when he could just get a quick shag and sleep at the Radisson (free towels) Later A Canadian swept him off his feet and for a week all we heard was "chemistry this, and love that." Which personally made me feel pretty damn good, (just knowing people are finding love each and every day) but the others were a bit worried with out their tail gunner. For a moment when we changed bases, they thought he was flying in formation but all of a sudden he was shot down, behind enemy lines. For 3 days we searched, high and low. The screams lead us behind dorm room doors, where nudity and torture must surely have been taking place. When he finally returned he was pale, and exhausted, most definitely dehydrated, and we could all tell he had lost weight. She just smiled.
The final pilot to make up the group was a young kiwi, who usually flew out of Scotland. His time table was set, but after a few weeks, and more beer then a man should be able to drink, he was 3 countries behind and had earned the name the pin-ball king. Lets just say Gavin (the guy) had amazed us by wearing women's ski pants and suspenders, shocked us with his shake out suit, (what backpacker has a Suit? Gavin) and horrified, disturbed and made us proud, when he stuck his name tag through his lower region. (is that censored enough?) OK for those of you who don't get that. Gavin had a name tag thing, like a fancy one with a metal pin back, like a button. So one night he stuck the pin through his scrote, and walked out of the bathroom in his suit displaying it like it was no big deal. The bar crowd was amazed. The story has spread all over town. Within a few days all 15 thousand residents will know of Gavin the pin-ball king. man i gotta stop these stories, but i haven't really shared much about Dom yet, Dom is pretty interesting guy. I mean u can sit and listen, watch, learn from him for hours. Just don't spray coke in his face, or eat his ham and cheese. Cuz he may, depending on his mood, destroy your bar. Even if it means he winds up in a Czech jail for the day, even if he has to go through several blood tests to check his alcohol rate and be escorted through the hostel he has been staying at, by 2 armed Czech police officers, while in handcuffs, to pay for another night. Yes Dom is an interesting guy.

See i cant really explain the people i have met and i like that, cuz well then you are open to more, and there for learn more and can respect people more. But stories are good, so there is some stories.

Also I dont think i am a very good writer, but if u want to know more ask when im lookin ya in the eye and can smile and remember and share some of the energy with ya. I think understanding comes easier when face to face.

Pretty soon i may not see any of these cats again. They were good mates. They allowed and respected me for being myself. Its good to know people like that. They may not have been the normal people i would have hung out with at home, but uh well i dunno, Dom would probably go with his Hungarian friends and say "its not all bad" me personally i believe its all good. I got more people to thank and tell ya about but that will come later. Peace and love From me to all yall Hasta luego Taff (none of his was edited to have clarity)

Thursday, November 07, 2002

ok so I'm still in cesky kromluv even though i was supposed to leave like 3 days ago. Its just so chill, so relaxed, u dont even have to check out till 11 which is like un heard of in european hostels. So I know i havent written alot, and there are a few reasons. I will now tell them to you so as not to keep them secret.
One it costs money, not like aot of money, but a lot of money for czech. Its weird cuz a meal here will cost ya about 5 bucks, and we are talking a huge meal. But "i cant be bothered" (thats an english phrase) to pay that much for a full meal cuz this is czech republika and shit is cheap here, so if my coke costs more than 50 cents at a restaurant, i sit and wonder if maybe im paying too much. Uh other reasons, somehow the day goes really slow, but i cant find the time to use the internet, write in my journal or draw, which pisses me off, but some how makes sense at the end of the day. um also im not sure if i really have anything to say, and i cant formulate things too well so i just dont write, i tell everything i need to say to my parents and then figure its already been said and seems boring even though no one else has heard it. God i must not ake sense to yall.

So i guess it it story time. So heres some stories.

yesterday i got news that in this town of 15 thousand somehow some backpacker had gotten drunk or drugged, and mugged and left naked in the town square where the police station is, this guy was then taken to the hospital and the hospital called a couple hostels to figure out and piece together his story. The guy was ok but kinda messed up and had no proof of id or anything. So yesterday i get told it might be someone i know, (like a person i had met) and i as supposed to go help him, but when i talked to the lady who had gotten the phone call, none of the names sounded familiar and i had no clue who it was. In the end the hostel he was staying at apparently will take care of him

hmm what else, what have i shared about cesky kromluv? (this time is gonna cost me 3 bucks at least by the way, thats like a meal or 2)

uh the place is very fairy tale-ish or something. Very beautiful, very old. There is like a law against building new buildings within the main town, which pisses off the residents. In the summer it is a total tourist fest but righ now its like chill time, and pretty damn cold.

There was a flood here a few months ago, the water got to be about 2.5 meters above the normal river level, and u can walk around and see high water marks. It really messed up the town but brought them together as well, and even now u can see repairs being made everyday. (of course they are only allowed to use certain materials to keep it old looking)

Every night the backpackers go from bar to bar drinking and yappng and causing a scene. My friend scott, an english guy who swore he was in love for the first time last week in prague(where i met him) has been on a 3 days shag fest (with a different girl) at one of the hostels here. They were causing so much disturbance that the management asked some other backpackers to change rooms because they wanted them out of the dormitory room, because it was causing too much embarrassment.

hmm what else. I really dont know what to tell ya, what would seem interesting. So much goes on but a lot of it is boring.

There is this group of kids, 6 of em, and they were al traveling individually but for the past month of s they have all been together, and now they are supposed to be going their separate ways but every night they just buy several bottles of wine and have a party so they dont feel like leaving in the morning and miss their trains/busses out. Anyway though that means u got like 25 back packers partying, plus the hostel staffs, plus the cool locals, and it just becomes mass hysteria each night. guitar sing alongs at 5 am, drunk as shit and screaming at the top of your lungs. (not me of course)

Uh what can i say, australian men tend to give bad impressions of australia, they make it seem like there is only 6 things to do there; drink, play pool, surf, foot ball, rugby and well "rooting" as they say.



A good deal of these travelers seems to follow buddhist, or taoist fundamentals, which makes sense, its hard to live day to day without believing in the natural flow of life, the natural courses f things. without faith in the "everything is gonna be all right" deal u feel like shit most days. and to tell the truth the longer u are on the path the more it makes sense. The more people i meet the more i believe god (life love the world) is looking out for me. People got your back, theres a reason ur meeting em, maybe they challenge u, maybe they help or support u, maybe they will help u reevaluate, maybe they will bring u down, or up to a point where u can see things a bit clearer. Its all good.

But it is hard traveling alone, and those who do, seem to either be real real defensive or real real open, and i hope i can maintain some openness.

Its amazing the people u meet, so much variety under a roof, under a sky. Thinking gets u real fucked up but it gets u real good either way. some people go insane, some find themselves, some find others, some find life, some find love, some find god. Some sit around all day and drink all night and some go to museums and galleries, and somehow at the end of the day most of us come together to realize the same things. i dont know what the future holds, its scary, its ok.

I will share much with yall later, and u wont find it interesting but we are all kind of ego maniacs and like to share our stories so just u wait.

If u want a postcard, (it will be cheap, ugly, and wont have anything decent written on the back) but if u want one make sure to send me your addresses via e mail.( oh and it will get to you like 3 weeks, after i write it)

Um i catch ya later k?
enjoy yourselves and someone else. And please keep writing me, and sending me shit feel free to do that anytime, i enjoy it mucho. (i probably forgot to tell half the stories i was gonna ut its ok tis all good no?) peace and love miss yall taff

ps i woke up this morning singing "lean on me" so yeah thats why i am thinking this way, im gonna hook up with my brother sometime in the future, that will be good. I miss them. I keep telling people about my friends and family. I get huge smiles on my face. Sometimes it hurts to remember things, sometimes that pain feels real good. I will be back soon enough looking forward to seein yall.

Friday, November 01, 2002

hello from prague, yes still, i am leaving tomorrow though so its ok. have made and lost some friends and then made some more and soon will lose them, but its ok. I will be heading south to a place called cesky krumlov which is an old town protescted by some law to keep it historical or something. It look s pretty cool, i probably only be there a day or 2 then off to vienna then to italy. Or at least thats the plan. Sorry I havent written a whole lot i think im getting a bit sick, and my mind cant think out stories that would be interesting so i just dont write. Plus internet is expensive in prague so i been keeping my online time to a minimal. I will write more later. Um i dont know how long the comment have been down but i cant fix em right now, so if u have written anything since like 3 days ago you muight want to e mail it to me if it was important. arrgghhh i wanna write i just dont want to bore the pants off of ya and i dont have the energy to be creative currently. hmm hope yall are takin care of yourselves. I got plans and stuff for when i get back and they include some of yall cats so u best be alive and well. I talk to ya later peace and love Mike