At the Kansas City library. Why wasn't I coming here again, every day of my stay here? Sometimes I seem to overlook the obvious a little too easily.

Sometimes you just need to give in and write. This holds true for most situations where you find yourself lost and in need of some direction in life. But I do not merely refer to writing as a therapeutic failsafe, although right now much of what I'm writing (and how I'm writing it) amounts to that, more or less.

The predominant feeling I have right now after having travelled so far away from my home is that of disenchantment mixed with an appreciation for a way of life I thought I knew. Disenchantment because I no longer know where I'm going, and when you are struggling to figure out something, travel takes a backseat. Appreciation, because these things do need to be appreciated. There is a warmth and general politeness here in people that we would do well to inculcate in ourselves back home. But then again, there are very few people relatively, more room to think in, and more opportunities as a result, in general.

I'm currently reading way too many things in way too haphazard a fashion to think properly about. Bought 'To A God Unknown' from the gift shop near The National Steinbeck Center, specifically because I was interested in how Steinbeck would tackle a theme he would go on to tangentially refer to several times over in his more politically conscious novels: that of man's relationship to Nature. But this book is pretty early Steinbeck: the characterization is very hazy and wavers from time to time. It has the feel of allegory, and yet gives you the sense of someone trying to attempt a full fledged novel. It is still a worthwhile read, especially if you're a fan of Steinbeck's writing in general, for you can see how he was forming some of the themes he would flesh out more fully later on.

Came back from a 4 day trip to San Francisco and California, Monterey Bay. I realize now that I much prefer the sea and the forest over the city, although, to be fair, I haven't given city travel much of a fighting chance. Nevertheless, it was a fun, memorable trip. I took plenty of photographs of 'wildlife' and rediscovered the joys of composition. What else: I don't like seafood very much.

Day 2

Everything is gigantic. Parking lots, trees, houses, roads. Even people to some extent. I feel like Gulliver.

Clark Ashton Smith in a foreign land. Quite appropriate; only a baroque vocabulary can accommodate America.

Oh, and more leftover barbecue. 

Day 1

I woke up in the middle of the night craving barbecue.