HIBLOG!!!!!!!!!!!!! sorry sorry sorry for not keeping you updated. you see, i has been busy. i am currently sitting in the swanky computer room of a rather nice hostel in Chicago, eating these things called 'animal crackers' that i got out of the vending machine. they are little biscuits that taste a bit of orange. i have a camel with one hump in my mouth as i write. i arrived in Chicago O'Hare airport at about quarter to 4, then made my way here by train, which took a while, but which was an incredible ride. the tracks are on suspended platforms above the sidewalk which make you feel as though you are flying through the buildings. like superman. it reminds me a bit, i suppose, of the underground in Paris around Montmartre that hovers over the streets, allowing people and animals to be viewed in birds-eye...oh i can't stop eating these crackers. one bad thing about america is that everything tastes so damn good, and it's all massive. so you either have to buy something, say a sandwich that is the size of a 2-year-old child, and eat it all, thus getting fat, or buy it and eat half of it, wasting the other half and killing the world or, alternatively, get scared and not buy it in the first place, which is what i have been doing, hence my strange snack because i am now starving. i can totally see why there is such an issue with obesity here. so. i'll fill you in on what i have been doing. left san francisco some days ago (no need to be exact [i've lost track of time]. we drove the big sur down to a place before monterey, i forget what it was called, but it was a lighthouse hostel called 'pigeon point'. from my bed next to the window i could see the sea swell and break on the shore. i slept better than i have in a long time, that night. the next day we went to monterey, then santa cruz; san luis obispo with its pink cinema; santa barbara. i hope i have these in the right order. san luis was gorgeous, as was santa b. the beach was endless, and on it was a little inlet that was covered in herons. there were also lots of orange men jogging. - we stayed in a motel called the presidio that had customised sticker-art on the walls. our room was a gothic castle. me and maisie regressed and festooned ourselves with temporary tattoos that i had bought in san fran. i had an owl above my right ankle, maisie had a little fish on her leg. it made me want a proper tattoo. maybe i'll get one - i thought a feather or a bird. but then i might not ever get a job. i must say that big sur is one of the most beautiful sights i have ever seen. watching the coast unwind along the shore. you turn back and can see how far you've come. cheesy i know, but i can see how for some it is a spiritual experience. they have these spots marked 'vista point' all along the road on which you can pull over and, believe it or not, get a vista. but what a sight. endless sea and undulating land. dusty ranch or forest on one side of the road, ocean on the other. the smooth road guiding you gently through, no trucks in sight. at one vista point we got out of the car to stretch our legs and found ourselves a few metres from a huge herd of elephant seals. i felt the same kind of wonder i used to feel as a child watching nature programmes with my dad.

i have five more minutes left of internet time (expensive internet time). a few things:
- i did not like L.A. in my opinion it has no heart, as far as i tried to probe. and if it does, you can only reach it by car (and americans drive fucking MASSIVE cars with huge wheels, even to go and buy a newspaper). and it was ridiculously hot. my owl tattoo melted.
and the girls wear no clothes. my skin disagreed with L.A. also.
- they have a place called the natural cafe in california, the food is incredibly good.
- NO-ONE in America can understand my accent.
- i am so tired i feel like i am on a boat; the liquid in my head is swilling around.
- the flight from L.A. to Vegas was incredible. from my windowseat i had an unobstructed view to the horizon and the rock formations pushing their way out of the plains. blue mountains, mountains, and then flat desert land with not a building or tree on it. roads like scratches across the dust. i felt, looking down on such endlessly varying land, how insignificant we all are but also how nice it is that we are each granted a little time to explore this strange place.

in This strange place my next stop, in the morning, will be Borders, for books, muffins and a bit of a rest. yum.