010203

 

Berkeley, CA

Thursday January 2, 2003

                   Okay, time right now is about 5:05am. Shit, I don't know what day it is. It's the day after yesterday. I slept on the sidewalk at the park. The police will bust you if you sleep on park grounds. I got up at around 3am and it was cold, so I went back to sleep. Man, I want to go inside somewhere, it's cold. I want a cigarette. Now I am walking down the street. You see, I got a little weed on me but I lost my lighter yesterday. Cool, I see someone smoking. I'll go bum a light.
                   I took off walking down the street towards the guy. His name was Steven and I asked him if he had a lighter. He's a little crazy. Actually, he's just different. He hooked me up with a lighter and I asked him if he wanted to "burn". Jolo hooked me up with a little nugget yesterday. I asked Steve, "Hey man, do you know anywhere I can go inside? It's cold." He said that he knew of this girl named Crash, who we could go hang at her place. We walked around this neighborhood, about five blocks. We were just walking around shooting the shit.
                   God-damn, I was freezing. Steven was nice enough to give me his jacket, a big brown overcoat. Mmmm, warmth is good. I asked Steve, "Now, aren't you cold now?" He said not at all. Anyway, we walked up to this abandoned house that had a non-working Volkswagen van in front of it. We went to the backyard which is badass. I have to remember this place. Steven took off again and came back with a blanket that he found in the trash.

                   Okay, today has been the second of January, I just found out. I just woke up on the back patio of that house with the VW van. This place is awesome. umm, I'm going to go find a bathroom. Hmm, I wonder where I can score some breakfast, I'm hungry. Oh yeah, the time is now 7:45am.

                   Cool they have breakfast at Trinity Church here every morning, except Sundays. On Sundays they feed at the park. Man this sucks, I lost my badass windbreaker. I then realized I had left a lot of my clothes on the stage in the park. So after breakfast at the church I went back to the park and someone had cleared off the stage. Damnit, I lost a lot of good stuff. Maybe it'll turn up in the Free Box in the park(yeah right). Oh well. Easy come, easy go. Possession's never meant anything to me. It's all replaceable. Material possessions, that's all they are. Oh yeah, last night that Steven guy gave me this coat, so I'm warm now.

                   Well, I've had an interesting morning so far. I woke up and went to eat at the church. I was walking around looking for something to do. I decided to go get on a computer somewhere so I could type up some chapters. I went to the library at UC, but it's not open until one which is two hours away. It's eleven thirty right now. I went back to the park and met this dude, David. I asked him if he knew of a place to take a shower. He said that was what he was planning on doing, and he knew of this dorm room we could go to.

                   Okay, the time now is about one oh five. I just got done taking a shower, badass. I had met David in the park who showed me a place to shower. We went to some dorm house. At the dorm house I asked him if there were two showers there at least. He said he wasn't sure. I told them if there was only one, that we could take turns. Now, even though I am totally secure in my heterosexuality, I wasn't about to get in a shower with some dude I just met in the park.
                   We walked to these apartments. I had my big army bag on. We went up to the third floor and walked to the bathroom where the showers were. Badass, there are two private shower stalls with big doors that close. They were right next to each other. Cool. So we started taking off our clothes to get in the shower. David asked me if I had any shampoo and I told him I didn't even have any soap. I told him to go check to see if there were any dispensers at the sinks. He went and checked, but nothing. David was walking around naked and I was still in the process of taking my clothes off.

                   He finally got into his shower-room, but soon came out saying the water was too cold. That he was going to wait for it to warm up. Now, it's been a while and that water should be warm by now. I wondered why this guy was just standing there naked. When I got done taking my clothes off I jumped in my shower. Oh man, it felt so great. I hadn't taken a shower in like seven days, since before Christmas and today's like the second or something. I didn't have any soap, but I just rinsed off with water and I feel so great now. Well anyway, after I finished soaking in the hot water I see David standing in front of my door and he tells me, "Oh, my water never got hot, can I get in yours?" I thought about it for a little bit and told him okay, if he just wants to stand in the warm water for a second. He came in my shower room and I pressed against the wall. It was kind of uncomfortable and in my head I was thinking, "Man, he better not touch me." (Okay, I'm going to stop recording now because someone just walked by and gave me a cigarette. I'll be right back). Anyway, I got tired of just standing there with some naked dude in my shower. I told him, "Dude, I'm just going to go jump in your shower. I don't mind the cold water." I got out of my shower, stepped into his and tried the water. I checked the water and it worked fine. It got hot nice and easy. I told him that he had to turn it all the way to the right to get hot, that if he just turned it a little it would stay cold.
                   Actually, I think he was full of shit. He was just seeing if I was gay or not and was wanting to have sex with me. Hell, two naked guys in a shower in Berkeley. Wow, what a learning experience. Hell, I hadn't taken a shower in seven days. The only advance David made was stepping into the shower. He didn't suggest anything or try anything. Now, if he had, I would've had to beat his ass. I made it crystal-clear that I was straight. I am secure enough to be naked around another guy, but I'm sure as hell not going to do anything with him. There's shit in there! Well, I went in the other shower stall and soaked in the warm water some more. When I finished, David had already left. Cool. I put all my clothes on and left the apartments.

                   I walked back to People's Park. All my socks were dirty and I was going to see if I could score a pair from the free box. I didn't and I went and hung out at the park. I met this dude named Joel who's forty two years old. He looks a lot younger though. I told Joel about how much I walk and that I was looking through the box for a pair of socks. Joel immediately took off his shoes, removed his badass wool socks and handed them to me. At first, I didn't accept them, but he insisted. So badass, I got a pair of good quality wool socks that are perfect for walking. To the victor go the spoils, hehe.

                   The time now is eight thirty five right now. I just met up with, what's your name again? Shadow. We are going to try to hunt down the place I crashed out last night. The place with the VW van. Shadow and I are just walking down the street. I'm going to smoke some weed.

                   Okay, the time now is about ten oh seven. Shadow and I decided to stop looking for that place I crashed last night. We are tired and walking to a church where Shadow crashes all the time, up the stairs in front of the doors.

                   We are on the front steps of the University Lutheran Chapel on College and Haste street. 2425 College Street. Shadow is scraping my pipe for a resin ball. We are going to get stoned before we crash. Alright well, signing off.

                   Kickass, I'm hanging out here at the church talking with Shadow. He tells me he is a druid from Scotland and that he is the last of his clan. I just realized that the cement floor I was sitting on was cold. Shadow offered me a blanket which he kept rolled up in a bag that's made to hold it. I asked shadow, "Well, what will you use?" he told me he had a sleeping bag. Perfect, this compact blanket was exactly what I needed. I'm going to be more comfortable.

                   Okay, its eleven thirteen. Tonight has been very cool. I met other people who are like me. They call themselves "squatters." I had heard the term, but was never quite sure what it meant. Shadow tells me there's even a handbook for squatting. Wow, there are squatters in every big city. Shadow asks me what I'm doing with my recorder and I tell him I'm writing a book. I told him how I've been logging my life for months now.

Next day..