2003-11-25

IMPORTANT NOTES FROM JUSTIN:

Geez. Is there no end to this journey? There definitely seems to be no end in sight. There are so many people to meet and enjoy, so many places to fall in love with, and so much to share and learn. So I continue to move with the winds; I continue to entice the winds to follow me.

So, one of the things about this experiment in love and motion and travel is that I have—against my will—assumed the challenging variable I like to call 'being broke'. So, that means I am doing this crazy trip while living, ahem, very frugally. For example, my slutty pants that used to be tight aren't tight anymore—that kind of frugal, you know?

So, what does this mean? Well, hotels are out of the question. I am looking for nice, fun people who can put me up for a few nights and really host me. This would involve me staying at your house for a few days, showing me a good time (since I like good times), feeding my stupid mouth (in an attempt to make my pants fit me again), and whatever general mischief we can get into. And, the best part is that I get to learn about your life and write about our times together! If you think it might be fun to host me for a day or two or three, email me at justingrace AT mac DOT com.

Please make sure to include your address and phone number in your email to me so I can be in touch!

I am especially looking for places to stay in the southeast USA and everywhere on the East Coast. I will be traveling all over the USA, though, so email me no matter where you are because I will probably come visit! Here are the places I will be in the next few weeks that I am still looking for a place to stay at:

� Louisiana (near New Orleans)
� Southern Mississippi near I-10
� Alabama
��Florida
� Tennessee
� North/South Carolina
��Georgia

Please contact me ASAP if you want to hang out!

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US Tour Day 70: Asleep Next To Andie

It has been twenty days since I wrote this entry, and I was still in San Francisco for Thanksgiving at the time. I am only now posting it, as life has gotten in the way of writing and updating as often as I'd like. Now that I am back in New Orleans hopefully this will change back to normal—whatever normal is.

I fell asleep next to Andie last night, back in San Francisco finally.

I want to say that I had forgotten how much I loved her. I want to say that I had forgotten how beautiful she was. I want to say that I was surprised by the familiarity and feeling of home that came when her skin was against mine.

But, it's just not true. I didn't forget.

And her kiss. Her mouth, her lips, her tongue. Her breath mingled with mine like two dancing ghosts; her lips so delicate, so soft and round—echoing the waves of her body and the ocean of her skin. Our lips pressed together like the petals of wax flowers, at first symbols of symmetry like the fleur de lis, but soon melting together into liquid—until all our flesh echoed and followed and released into total liquefaction.

Earlier at a pub in Palo Alto she had asked me what I wanted to do that evening. I let the ends of my mouth turn up with my thoughts. Not that could've stopped my mouth from this. I've never had much luck with training the corners of mouth or concealing the truths that my face hints to. The corners reconciled in the middle like two hands in the dark reaching out to touch one another, forming the subtlest springtime signs that soon a smile might might blossom there.

What I wanted to do? I was looking straight ahead; she was sitting to my left. I turned to face her and held her stare—her blue eyes and mine brown, "I want to go to bed tonight with the woman that I'm in love with."

She knew who I meant. They were intimately familiar—she had known this woman I spoke of for nearly three years, just like I had. We got in her car and left.

And the evening was full of embrace, full of the warmth of her skin and the sweet smell of her neck. We swam in one another, we swam together. Lovers collided. Her hand over my heart, her tears on my tongue, the safety of her arms as we slept, the sweetest sleeping silhouette I stole the sight of through one open eye.

Andie and I may never be together in the way we once were—orbiting one another. It appears we're busy up in our own skies, two supernovas exploding—emanating light, making new universes, providing fodder for thought to astronomers of all sorts.

But this doesn't stop me from appreciating the celestial moments we can share now. So much appreciation, eyes wide open like a child's, I sit and watch the heavens with my smile in full bloom.


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