aka "Really Good Looking People Against War" (see background of picture at the very end for sign)

1 leaving berkeley late,

as usual, seven o’clock

turns to ten p m.

2 driving to see phish

at gee dub forum in l a:

six kids in a van,

3 backpacks, sleeping bags,

some cds and some snacks,

and a hula-hoop.

5 and the other two,

diana and kendra, come

for roadtripping fun.

4 alyssa, ksenya,

andrew, and heidi-marie

going to the show,              

6 ninety miles on 5

car problems begin: red light.

ding! “check your engine”.

7 nothing seems wrong, but

who wants to get stuck in

the middle of nowhere

8 on hwy 5 ‘tween

vast, hazy expanse of pure

nothingness, where the

13 at last, at four-ish

a glimpse of hope to arrive

when freeway changes

9 road disappears and

some hit eighty-five without

even trying, passed

14 from three to six lanes

as we cross the county line

(paid by disneyland).

10 by highway patrol

going 100, and all

the while we stay at

15 toll road some rich man

built despite kendra’s sleepy

objections takes us

11 below sixty-five.

through coalinga, grapevine,

lost hills (we love luv’s,

16 to rancho s m.

it’s a quarter to get off-

a quarter to six.

12 where no lollipops

are sold, yet there are showers

for dirty truckers).

17 24 hours

sleepless; alyssa bravely

drove the whole way there,

18 but it was worth it

for fluffiest down blankets

and sheets “like k'butter”.

19 four hours later

embark on the journey to

san onofre beach,

20 an attempt cut short

by poor volvo’s demise on

road outside of town.

21 “check your engine” light

we’ve seen you before, no fear

drive on, but one sec

22 later whole dashboard

is on and we stop. surfboards

are lonely on top

23 of car, waiting for

rescue v w van

to take us all home

24 where reminiscence

of childhood play makes us all

laugh as each of us

25 twirls, swirls, whirls, and spins

hula-hoops on our arms, legs, necks

i wish there was more

26 of a graceful move

for hula-ing on the waist. time

for us to go on

27 undeterred by the

failure and andrew’s sadness

over his poor car

29 heidi runs, winter

ocean waves storm around her,

she swims far from shore

28 next stop: laguna

(no migrant labor waits this

friday on roadside).

30 then runs right back out

to peaceful pacific coast

a la baywatch style.

31 whirling and warm we

see japan! no, hawai’i!

no, catalina.

32 take all the candy

you can eat! thanks, grama bev.

each with ziplock bag

33 anxious, restless for

the next episode, compton,

long beach, inglewood!

35 we get to the show

horrified, disappointed,

commercialism

34 "is not somewhere you

wanna just hang out" but it’s

california love

41 but the show starts and

all this ceases to matter

two plus years in the

36 prevails, no parking

lot scene, no love, no grilled cheese

but free tickets float

37 around, remnants of

greed of zealous fans; limit

six: why take it all?

42 waiting, phish again

on stage: i miss the open

air of shoreline, weird.

43 first set: my sweet one,

rollin stone (rollin stone, on

the cover of the

44 rollin stone), chalkdust

torture, fee rolls into taste,

a great bathtub gin,

38 questionably hip,

questionably hippies, they

each consumed a keg

45 radio’d heavy

things, and finish with golgi

apparatus. set two:

39 before showing up,

it seems, more white trash than not,

more annoying than

46 weaker than the first,

possum, new stuff i don’t know

walls of the cave to

47 carini, all’f these

dreams, fun limb by limb, oh kee

pa ceremony,

40 traffic, traffic on

manchester on the way to

the gee dub forum.

48 ac/dc bag

prince caspian, all three rolled

into one. Encore

49 we get a happy

loving cup. funny moment

when some big guy leaps

50 to the stage, runs, jumps,

hugs trey, then pushes him out

of the way, grabbing

51 the mic before stage

security tackle him:

“i love you, tracy (?)!”

52 sleeping in the back

of the van on the way home.

twelve, pat h’s asleep.

53 6 a m wakeup,

beach is waiting, surfers are

ready, runners too.

54 two guards with shotguns

white trucks on each side of the

poison power plant

55 no wonder fish, birds

are dead. sound of rolling rocks

is beautiful as

56 waves reclaim them to

depths of ocean floor; surfers-

little black figures

57 against the dimly

lit sunless sky of s d

waiting to catch waves.

58 more driving, that seems

to be the official theme

of this little trip.

60 a stop by brandi’s

house for mo' cookies then to

montana de oro

59 get us out of this

l a traffic, congestion,

smog, pollution, yuck.

61 flat rocks, jesus freaks,

diagonal grooves in walls

can make mosaics

62 but don’t. san luis

boo boo’s visit liz, andrew

takes over the store.

63 wine, scattegories,

seventy seven s s

chevy qualifies

64 if the best way to

get from here to there is to

“grind”. i’m so tired now

65 but 160 more

long miles to san francisco

as we discuss the

66 n p r talkshow’s

purely “unscientific

survey” ‘bout the war

67 and all mentions of

duct tape duct tape duct tape and

it’s one two three what

68 are we fighting for?

next stop is san francisco

anti-war rally

69 kendra’s first and much

awaited march, joan baez

sings again for peace,

70 thirty-five years passed,

but stupid people still don't

know what it's about.