note: my birthday is July 17th. My mailbox is empty. You have until August 1st before I disown every last one of you. So you should all do that voodoo that youdo so well and show the love. I've got some outgoing mail myself.

I've added a contact page in the menu on the right. bits, atoms, waves.

I passed out around 2pm and slept till 9:30. quaint. Well, I'm up now, so here's some updatin', In reverse chronology, associated by day.

This morning I got up at 4:45 to weed the potato patch, which we finished around 10:30. After that we made a big bowl of punch and then went swimming in the upper reservoir. I did most of the weeding in my underwear. It's weird how agreeable weeding (or any labor) can be in good company. Lunch, and then I passed out.

Yesterday was Friday, which means Student Body Meeting. It lasted from 8 to 1, during which we discussed the ethical nature of the masturbation station we have hidden away in a bathroom, decided on lecture topics for some of the visiting professors. We were all over the place, but it was really awesome, because we _totally_ decide everything. Like, none of the community members are allowed to be at the SB meetings, because for all we know we may discuss firing them. All of them. hehe. It's amazing to be witnessing the redefining of the community through our arrival. All the things that were Deep Springs a month ago have been thrown out, and we are establishing the rules from scratch. During the day I did orderly work, cleaning the main building.

My basic weekday schedule is
8 breakfast
9 seminar class
10:30 twenty minute break (grab a drink, go swimming)
12 class over
12:30 lunch
1:30 labor (grounds/orderly)
5 labor done
6 dinner
7 free

But there's been a whole lot of meetings and things at night since I got here. Orientation type stuff. How to survive rattlesnake bites, what black widow's look like (I found one yesterday when cleaning).

Skipping around a bit, Tuesday night we went up to 10,000 ft at 'cow camp'. Werd. It was so awesome up there, sleeping under the stars. I felt as if I was on the outer rim of the earth, it beneath me, the heavens before me. Seeing constellations on the horizon give space a new dimension...you don't really see that in NJ, not even in Sweden really (at my pad there, at least).

Oh, Thursday it rained! Rain! A bunch of us stopped what we were doing and went outside nad had a frisbee catch.

Wednesday the temperature hit 110. It's been around 93 most of time.

Right now I'm really burnt from weeding the potato patch for 5 hours in my boxers.

I'm going to go take a crack at Aristotle, I have a paper due monday. peace.

ps. erik - I wrote that poem a few days ago, before reading your comment. haha.

Westerly Winds.

Cloud drift across the heavenly highway above,
meeting their maker, their good-byes an amber glow.

Light slithers up illuminated valleys to the east
liberated from the highlands by the desert night.

And I sit, the individual,
disappearing into the earthly flats,
absorbed into the natural,
aching for companionship.

Where is she?
That she does not drift in, amidst the clouds,
that I do not forget her
these things only make my pain greater.
For she too is heavenly.

That she should emerge
seven weeks from this day,
a queen, praised high above the clouds,
by long desert nights,
that is my fear.

But where from the fear,
I know not. Passion is abound.

I fear not knowing what could have been
more than I fear what could be rejection.
For then I'll know.
On the horizon of eternity,
Not knowing is worst of all.

[written 7/8, the internet was down]
Holy Shit.

I can't begin to articulate the amazingness that is Deep Springs. Where else can you have 'labor partys', getting up at 4:30 in the morning and pulling weeds out in the potato patch while listening to 100% funk? brick....house....ohh.....yea.

Where else do you do campouts as one big happy family and run out of water on a hike, consequently sending half the student body into panic, only to have a water drinking contest be had upon return, where three persons end up puking water.

Where else do you have three hour seminar courses on Aristotle, with discussions I can't even begin to describe the complexity of? And the late night coffee/tea company in the boarding house, comparing applied marxism to the shortcomings of aristotlian democracy?

Where else does someone bet you that you can't finish the dishes in five minutes, and you take him up? Where else is the loser dunked headfirst in the rinse tub of the dishwashing line? And then jumped by a team of driers, polishing his face.

There's so much love here. It's incredible.

Where else does the entire student body race up to the upper resevoir and all go diving in, in a hollywood like cascade of nakedness?

It's not easy, but these past few days have been the most rewarding days of my life.

Who takes a midnight break from reading to have an improvisational jam followed by a singalong of everything from oasis to sublime?

And I can't even begin th describe the beauty, the sunrise, the sunsets, the stars.

And what student cooks prepare malaysian beef stew with all sorts of crazy culinary details far above me? Everyone does their work seriously, and the community is so awesome because of this.

Deep Springs is all about daring. Lots of love from cow camp.

It's 12:30, and I'm home before 4am for the first time this whole stay...amazing really. That would be why I haven't been composing digital tales as years past...too busy livin'. Well I'm sitting here finally, so here we go.

The trip was wonderfully bother-free. They didn't even X-ray my laptop when I entered the airport (as they did with every other bag) because I forgot it was on my back as I was laying all the bags up. ha. suckers...yet I'm the real sucker. Shit, don't think for a second that the men working the airport are doing any better a job than Helen Keller could be doing.

So I arrived, and landed on both feet standing, flowing straight into the likes of things. I called up the boys, and we had a midnight sauna with the most magnificent sun slice (as in not-rise-not-set) before us. Sipping beers, talking smack, taking it all in. It all felt so right. Around two we retired up to my chateau and the four remaining key playaz played poker for what it was worth...just with chips and whatnot. Playing with no wilds and two discards, I managed to get 4 Aces. Hot shit. I sank into bed around 4, with the sun fully up, at which point my brain's concept of local time could have been proven as the first true random number generator. ha.

The next few days blended together. Playing Grand Theft Auto (while drinking), saunaing (while drinking), or just plain drinking, no real parties where happening.

I got into a hell of an intersting conversation with a Swedish pal o mine. We were bouncing around the topic of sex, and some of my friends were dishing around compliments on their lays at the recent Hultsfred Festival they had all attended together in southern Sweden a week or two ago. Somehow condoms came up, and I got curious what sort of protection they were using during their wild adventures....and, well...none.

Apparently in Sweden it's a girls responsibility if she want's to have you use a condom, she brings it...that is my friends don't carry around condoms. Girls are expected to be on the pill...or to get an abortion without a question if things were to go wrong. (It's not even close to an ethical question here, abortions were presented to me as no deal at all..they're free and easy...ussually just given in the form of drugs.) My one friend's girlfriend got one just the other week. (She was on the pill..) Woops. As for STD's, well they're apparently not a problem. hmphf.

Moving on, there was a party saturday at two islands over, so we gathered ourselves together and headed over. Pretty weak party, (by Swedish measures) so we headed back to a KK and two friends that Fabbe (a friend of mine) has.

explanation: KK = Knull Kompis = Fuck Friend = FF. Someone you can call and frankly proposition for sex, with no relationship attached. Ussually the consequence of some drawn out party acquaintance.

So we headed over there, five of us. This would have been fine, and I would have probobly scored, if three of them hadn't been there the night before as well, and already had their picks. So me and Anders (the other left over) opted out of a 5 on 3 orgy and said good-bye. Well, eh, it could have worked, but Anders was tired, and not all the girls were willing, seeing as they had sort of matched up from the previous night. So close, yet so far.

More drinking, saunaing, soccer playing, (sober) fishing (I caught a 6.6 pound pike), moving watching, etc. It's been incredibly chill...not too much wild partying. Not enought chicas in my opinion. The problem is that my 3 of my 4 closest friends have been getting laid regularly the past two weeks, so they haven't felt the same desire I have. bastards.

Oh well, tomorrow holds a lot of promises. My last night in Sweden. Then it's off the the valley with me. Yee-haw.