Where ever you go… There you are.

So nestle down my lovelies i am bout to tell you a story about my last weekend in the UK..

Okay time would have enabled me to tell this one long before, but she is such a lovely one I;d thought I’d hold on to her for a while…and I guess the PTD got me down for ahwhile but I am back RAHHHH! (to the folks) we’ll I have been meaning to let you in on all this but never got round to it 🙂

My last hurrahs in Europe started offically with Nowhere, the Euroburn in spain… not much to say about that because it is difficult to explain to one who hasn’t been, I like the description I got fromn tribe, it refers to Burningman but to Nowhere as well… It is kinda like extreme campimg with music, art and fire, the rest you will have to see for yourself.

Nowhere was well different for me this year than last, maybe you remember? last year I rocked up knowing no one and was adopted by the london Collective. This year I knew practically everyone, worked on gladys the fire spitting fireengine the entire spring, and attened meetings and pre Nowhere parties because I was in London, I also was alble to recruit a crew of people I knew from travelling in Morocco last year before I met any of the London crew to coming out Nowhere this year, they were my icing in the cake (sophie, kathy, stephano, I am so glad you came and you are part of my life) Oh so blessed was I to meet the people I did the year before too, as they opened up a whole community of friends and aquainteses I couldn’t have known otherwise… but I digress.

After Nowhere I flew up to London and met Ninja Adam the same day to see Mogwai in the city center… ( we have a habitual problem with this band, not one time goes past that we didn’t see them together)… as a matter of fact I have seen them over 8 times and it gets better and freaking better ever time 🙂

That itself would have been a fine send off, but no!

Not enough for the squirrel… I demanded nothing less than a free party in brighton with all my friends there.. I had grown quite close to Brighton the last few months since my return from india.. The free parties in the fields of southern england were such a highlight for me that I wanted to recreate one for my last send off,

soooo, we looked for a place to hold the party and came across a group of sound people already setting up in a cove of a public forest near to the city… Perfect we thought! we’ll just set up with you, combine parties and have a rip-roaring good time…

Or so we thought…

So off to get supplies,
CIder- Check
fish and chips in the belly -check
freinds arriving from all over london and converging at my friends house- check
speaker stacks-check
more cider-check

Oh goodness its all falling into place, we all get into my friends van and head to the site..

OH NO! the police are there and they have reports of a “rave” happening tonight in the woods, they ask to search the car and proceed to search the people as well.

I am feeling a sly bit cocky, when I am talking to nice officer woman, she asks me if I have any drugs on me… Nope I say beaming! search me my dear, and as she does she discovers a little a-korn filled with K- oops, a “present from someone I had met earlier that day on the level ( a park in brighton proper) Oh shit poop…. Oh shit..

“we are going to have to take you in for this”

“what?! ” it was a gift I have no Idea what it even is inside, please officer lady it is my LAST WEEKEND IN BRIGHTON..

NOOOOOO!!!

I am cool, calm and collected, glad that none of the others in the van have anything that would get them into trouble.. Taking one for the team, I surrender and head down to the station with Brightons finest.

Once inside the station I realize this is not America,the cops inside are jovail and nice, I tell them the story about the “gift” I was caught with and they believe me whole heartily, I tell them what’s inside and they take my word for it, No testing which would have kept me in there all night…

I go through all the booking process and pretty much reslove my self to being in there through the morning, but instead of locking me in a cell awaiting a call from the uppers, they chat me up in the main room, about the weather in california, how this guy went to America once with his girlfriend and had the most amazing time, and then they started…. “Please Say the Rights in American”

“OkAy”, I say a bit annoyed but well willing to play along,

In a deepended voice..

“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will and can be used against you in a court of law.”

I click my back heals together and salute, laughter roars thoughtout the precinct.

“Again, “Again!”

“Okay, ” I say reluctantly, but loving it cause these guys are having a good time.

“You have the right to remain silent, anything you say will and can be used against you in a court of law.”

Laughter roars again and I am taken to a side room with offers of tea,

‘looks like you’ll be out of here in a hour” says a deputy with a big bushy moustashe, and kind eyes..

Hmmmm, I wonder why?

“Oh we believe this was given to you as you said, and all your friends are here, can’t miss your going away party right?”

“Nope” that would be really sad..

“We do have to give you a caution though, if you get caught with a substance again here in the UK you WIll stay all night and have charges pressed.”

“No Worries!, Officer you won’t be seeing me again…”

My friend Sam the driver of the van had also been taken in for “theft by finding” of a breathlizer test they found in his van, we both got released together at about three in the morning and made a suprise attack on the party going on in my hounour on top of the highest hill in all of Brighton..

The lights of the city twinkled below, the gray sea was looming far down the hill, and just an hour before the jailbirds arrived.

Arockalypse did.

So sorry if you haven’t met Arokalypse before, the most rockingest theme camp of all of Nowhere, with their Never-ending Libations and grooves, and tunes, they kept us rocking through out the whole event. ( and I must say they had the least set-up/ most fun ratio I have ever seen)

They had hours’ before made the crossing over to England, driving through France, rescuing lost ladies, and not to metion being the last rockstars on site,

Monkey Jon,Austraulian Jess, Dangerous Dave, Ya’ll made Nowhere then miraculously showed up, provided the Bar (stacked to the brim with donations from the other camps), brought the sound system, brought the capret, and brought the “money” (monkey jon knows what I am talking bout) then proceeded to rock it all night long, or at least what was left of the night.

Nooners came out of the wood work, Helen over there, Sara over here, Dougaul magically appears, I am massive smiles in between dancing Twinks and Rich’s, Ninjas and Hares. rolling around, on the carpeted meadow, we revel in the night that rapidly escapes..

Impromptu joy and goodness was what I was after and it was delivered thanks to the rockingest crew this side of the pond….

Morning comes in with a grumble, the skies start to shift and move at record speed before our eyes, below we see the clouds shift into stormy ones, abover the storm we are safe right?

we all a watch in wonder as the sun rises meekly in the east and is gobbled up by the ominous clouds racing across the sea, it becomes apparent we are screwed and next for the rain attack..

As the rain moves in we grab tarps and huddle underneath, maybe 15 people holding tight togeher for warmth to stay out of the rain, the closeness of us all make us giggle and laugh about Nowhere which happened only days before.

More rain comes, we sit and then cover with the make-shift tent/tarp.. Thank goodness dougal warms a stick on the fire and sets it in the center of us to hold up the tarp and also to hold on to as it give us warmth.

“Love LIve the warm stick” we cry,

Huddled we grasp the warm sitck until it gows tepid, and someone probably dougal) puts another one out there in its place…

“long live the warm stick!”

we all shout, huddled together, against the rain, with renewed warmth from our new stick we are content and suggled against the elements..

But the rain finally has its way with us, and we are forced to take refuge in Dougal’s Pikey van, safe and sound and warm.

I couldn’t have written a script for a better going away party, My friends and our experiences are stranger than fiction anyway..

YAY for the London Collective, Brighton, and Especially

Monkey Jon, Adam, Brother Hare, Australian Jess, Michael,Dangerous Dave Helen, Dougal, Kathy, Sam the VAn and all the others I can’t seem to say right now

I love you guys and miss you dearly.. Thanks for making my adios so freaking great.

‘less the getting arrested part’ but hey

who’s complaining.

certainly not Squirrel.

I am miss slacker pants…

But… I wear these pants with pride , they have my stories written in them, along with the dust and grime of the road. No matter how much they are cleaned the stories never fade, even though time passes, the stories stay forever waiting for the right moment to be passed on, suppose that moment would be now, as I am here and ready to spin some yarns bout the last few months.. I had all intentsions to be doing this well sooner, but I have to admit coming back to the states got me well into the grip of PTD, post travel depression… kind of a cross between revesrse culture shock and denial, Big loads of denial that I am an American, back in MY country, having to be aware of MY fucked up government, MY fucked up reality, and being homeless in your home country for some reason isn’t quite as glamorous as doing it in others,

So after being in Ohio approxomatley three days, I went and spent a third of the rest of my savings on a one-way ticket to New zealand. Responsible? NO. am I excited? OH hell yes of course I am 🙂 Do I have money to support my self while I travel there??? ummmmm I am working on it… that would be the irresponsible part/ before I had it all planed, I had the money saved, back up, insurance, blah, blah. everything.. Now it seems I could care less, I just want out, I am not ready to be here for good again. not yet anyway.

Seems like I have taken to the Nomad lifestyle like a little kitten to some nip… Don’t take it away, or I will show my teeth and bite and scratch.. Okay perhaps another anology wouuld have matched me better.
but I feel like a kitten, all fresh and full of energy.. I have been orgainzing closests for eccentric peeps in Santa Monica, I take everything out, reasses, and then put her all back in, in a easy to follow and practial way.

Not so bad!? ALso have been catering, doing focus groups and yard work, also a bit of construction (light stuff) and plumbing.. ! cody would be pround. I thank most of this to craigslist, and the city of LA for being such a melting pot of possibilities.

I love the homeless in LA too, petey was just saying how riding the bus is like paying for a $100 circus ticket, dude is soooo right sometimes 🙂 I end up getting into the most intense converstaions with the homeless here. I suppose because I look them all in the eye, and catch their attention.. a routine jounrey to the bus stop turns into a few hour long personal councelling session, and a bite to eat and a few hundreed cigarettes rolled. Its hard to belive I was one of them about 10 years ago, circumstances left me homeless on the promenade in Santa Monica, Its hard to get back up once you fall, and that is mostly our conversations… bout how I got back up… sheesh always trying to be an inspriation 🙂

But I can see, and I enjoy all and everyone;s opinion about LA and AMerica, the people in cities, especially in the big ones differ drastically from the little towns, these people are educated on the facts that couldn’t trivkle thtough in a normal little town, conspircy theroy, cctv, the twin towers, Iraq, Iran, BUSHHHHH, Condi, more bush… In ohio they only speak of football, baseball, TV,nascar and (my favoriate which should be on the top for everyone) canning veggies and making it to the county fair with the posssibilioties of the most ribbions, now that is life

or what you would think you’d ( or a closet hippie like me) would want it. I want the middle grounfd, honestly I start the nod after being in a political coversation too long, and I can’t seem to be in Ohio long enough to see the WHole canning prosess throught the season, guess I will have to get a recepire book and an open mind bit more time and a willing ness to stay put (my goodness wish me luck**** So much to learn! AS much as I would like to be an advocate for free speech, and bringing down the conspiritors. I am afraid I don’t have the drive or attention span for it… Oh poo must focus on something else… Oh yes! looks like I have finally found a place to teach me welding, in exchange for some of my amazing organizational skills… WHat?! no that is good
… fantastaic reason for me to be hopping up and down…the world needs more lady welders, I am sure of it.

miss squirrel be floating on air..

xx j

ps…. keep yer eye out for back stories if I ever get round to em

muahhh!