Below are the 9 most recent journal entries recorded in nlduchno's LiveJournal:

Thursday, June 1st, 2006
12:58 pm	Journal Moved Again.... Got my own server: http://www.untitled1.us (Comment on this)
Sunday, January 15th, 2006
9:11 pm	Journal moved Continued at https://netfiles.uiuc.edu/duchnwsk/index.html (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 29th, 2005
11:04 am	</i>"I've been through the desert on a horse with no name." I lost all my stuff - temporarily. I went hiking one more time on Mount Turtleback. I found a cave and camped there for the night. In the morning I decided to leave my gear in the cave and hike around a little bit. When I got back I discovered that I couldn't find the cave. I felt pretty stupid about that. Hiking on the steep incline of a desert mountain is tough work, especially when you're lacking food, water and sleep. After a good six to eight hours of searching yielded nothing but delirium from exhaustion and dehydration, I decided to hike back down the mountain. There is a river at the base of the mountain and I took a drink. I'm not sure how clean the Rio Grande is, but I figured that in my current condition drinking from it couldn't be worse than not drinking from it. I still had four miles to get back into town. I spent the night in the hostel and went back the next morning. After a mere thirty minutes of looking I found the cave and my stuff intact. I took a bus from Truth or Consequences to Taos. A few people had told me I should go to Taos and from what I had read it seemed like an interesting place. So I went to Taos. As soon as a got into town a hippie picked me up and took me to a coffee house to hang out with other hippies. They were very informative about the goings on of the town and most of them offered me a place to stay. Despite what the website may say, the Taos Pueblo does not open on March 25th. I was hiking up to the Pueblo entrance when a cop/ranger/whatever stopped me and told me that it was closed for the next three days. He then not-so-politely suggested that I turn around and start walking the other direction. It started snowing. I decided to leave. Right now I'm in Tucson visiting my grandparents. I decided long ago that I want to establish a healthy lifestyle while I'm still young, strive to maintain through middle age, and thus avoid the common ailments of old age. Being around old people reminds me of this. So far I've met quite a few hippies, tramps, gypsies, or whatever they choose to call themselves. Although they all have been really nice to me, I've realized that I only have a very limited amount of respect for them. Guided tours would be less obnoxious without the other tourists. I'd rather be a copper miner than a coal miner, but really I'd rather not be a miner at all. Current Mood: contemplative (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, March 19th, 2005
11:24 am	</i>"We're heading downtown at 3:00 to watch the paint dry..." As I said, I arrived in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico two nights ago. I was scheduled to get in at about 2:45 am, so I had planned on just sleeping in the bus station. As it turns out, there is no bus station in Truth or Consequences. They just dropped me off on the side of the street. A cop stopped and gave me directions to the hostel, which I didn't find. It seems odd to me that laundromats are open twenty-four hours but gas stations close at night. I would think that the man who runs out of gas at four in the morning has priority over the man who has dirty clothes at four in the morning. I hung out with some locals yesterday. As I was coming out of a grocery store two women and a man in car picked me up and I drove around with them for a while. I hung out with them at somebody's house and "jammed" on a guitar with a drummer. Apparently the Prabhata Samgiita song that starts "Jiivane marane..." sounds like "Ghostrider." And my self-esteem booster for the day: "You're a very beautiful man, and I'm gay so I don't say that very much." EDIT: I found that hostel and checked in. It's nice to be able to do things like sleep indoors and take a shower. After not having showered for nearly a week, I consider this a service not only to myself but to the rest of humanity as well. (Comment on this)
Friday, March 18th, 2005
10:34 am	</i>Truth or Consequences I tried walking into the library this morning, but a woman stopped me and told me that it wasn't open until 9:00. I thought of trying to argue that it was 9:00 (central time), but didn't. I suppose this is like taking into account the rotation of the earth to get out of a speeding ticket, or saying, "It's always breakfast somewhere in the world," to justify serving pancakes all day at IHOP (it's always dinner somewhere in the world, why don't they serve burgers all day?). Not everyone finds the humor in that. I've noticed that I tend to write really long run-on sentences. That's okay; I usually think in really long run-on sentences. I've also noticed that there seems to be a surplus of four things in Texas: Goodwill stores, dollar stores, pawn shops, and places selling factory manufactured homes. I've also seen more than one giant, inflatable, blue gorilla, but I'm not sure how common that actually is. But I'm not in Texas anymore. Last night (or this morning, rather) I arrived in the City or Truth or Consequences. If nothing else, the name sounds really cool. I was sitting in a bus station in Killeen and there was a little girl running around. For one horrible fleeting moment it occurred to me that children can actually be cute sometimes. I still detest them in large groups though. Later I was sitting in a bus station in El Paso and it occurred to me that there are a lot of horrible parents in the world. Yelling at a child to go to sleep seems counter-productive to me. And I don't care how obnoxious they can be, nobody should ever tell their small child to shut up. It soon after occurred to me that many people don't know the difference between the words "lay" and "lie," or if they do possess this knowledge they don't actively make use of it. Will this distinction fall into the bottomless pit of forgotten gramatical rules, like how "their" should only be used in a plural sense? Oh, damn, wait a minute... And then there was that woman who literally had here two small children on leashes. I wanted to take a picture, but I thought it might be inappropriate. And my library internet time is running out. Apparently there is a filter on this computer to block out words like bottom and girl. Hopefully my knowledge of HTML will help me circumvent this. (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 15th, 2005
2:47 pm	</i>On Sulfur Creek Last Friday we went to visit Liila in the hospital. The doctors think she's having an allergic reaction to some antibiotics she was taking. It's amazing what you can learn just by listening. I learned the following interesting facts while listening to some girls' conversation: If you have a urinary tract infection, drinking a lot of cranberry juice is a good thing. Yeast infections can be cured with a clove of garlic (just make sure you tie some floss around it for... um... easy.. removal...). Urination after intercourse should be practiced. If this is not possible, drink a lot of cranberry juice. I left Austin Saturday morning. I took a bus to the northwest edge of the city, bought a hat and some socks (I'm still not sure how I lost that one), then started walking. I was going north on SR 183 for a while, but it seemed like a pretty busy highway, so I got off to go along another road. Lakeside Road runs parallel to 183, but after a while the road ended and I had to turn east or west. I chose west. The morning of the second day I got up and continued going west on Crystal Something-or-Rather Road. I wasn't walking for very long when I noticed out of the corner of my eye a car slowing down beside me. I turned my head and saw that it was a cop. Not just a cop, a sheriff. Up to this point I had been avoiding police because I figured they would generally dislike me and what I was doing. I didn't expect this sheriff to arrest me for walking down the side of the road, but I didn't think anything good would come from it. He had his window rolled down. "Where you headin', boy?" I realized how ridiculous it would sound had I said, "Tucson." From looking at the map I knew there was a small town nearby, but I couldn't remember the name. After some mumbling, I said, "Lubbock." Even as I said this, I knew it sounded no less ridiculous. It would take me two and a half weeks to walk to Lubbock. "Boy, you goin' in the wrong direction. Lubbock is due north; you're going west." This wasn't news to me. I had a compass and knew exactly what direction I was going. Furthermore I had a map and knew that Lubbuck was not due north, but actually about thirty degrees west of north. I explained that I had been on 183, but turned off of it and now could only go west. The officer then kindly informed me that the road I was on was a dead end, that 183 was the only northbound road around, and that if I turned around and went the other direction I would meet back up with it. I thanked him and he drove off. Later that afternoon it seemed like I had been walking for days. I was walking on the left side of the road so as to not look like a hitch hiker. I'm not sure what the laws about that are in Texas, and I'm not sure that I would trust a stranger outside of Austin to give me a ride. I was, for the most part, out in the middle of nowhere. I passed by a house on the other side of the road that had two dogs in the yard. One of the dogs started barking and running toward me. I stopped to watch it thinking it would stop at the end of its yard. It didn't. The woman was screaming for it to come back, but the dog kept running toward me. I didn't say anything or call out; I just put my hand forward, as if this gesture could stop either the dog or the oncoming traffic. The sound of the van hitting the dog was quite loud. It was a white van. The woman was still screaming, but now at the man running into the street to retrieve his dead dog. The van pulled over and stopped, but the driver didn't get out to do anything. It just waited a moment, then continued on its way. I started moving towards the man to ask him if he needed any help, but he was back to the other side of the road before I had taken two steps. I thought about going over there, but I didn't really know what I could have done or said. I just waited a moment, then continued on my way. Later down the road a mexican guy offered me some beer and grilled chicken. I wasn't sure how he would react if I told I was a vegetarian and didn't drink, so I just said, "No, thanks." I arrived in Lampasas (pop. 6786, some 67.5 miles northwest of Austin) yesterday afternoon. There's a nice park here with a river running through it. I thought it smelled kind of funny, but then I saw the sign that said, "Sulfur Creek." They have a public library with internet access. Washing your hair in a sink is difficult. Texas is not a good place to be when you run out of gas. When you wake up and realize that you had been sleeping next to some kind of animal carcass, eating unwashed celery is not that big of a deal. The fact that bread is squished does not diminish its taste value. Coughing up mucus could be interpreted two ways: I really am sick and possibly have bronchitis, or I'm starting to get better. There's not a greyhound station in Lampasas, but there is in Killeen, a mere 30.6 miles away. I hear there are some nice hot springs in New Mexico. Curses, before I left Austin I forgot to buy me a pair of those pink short-shorts with "Longhorns" written across the butt. I guess I'll have to go back. And for those of you thinking of visiting the famous Barton Springs in Texas, here's your quote of the day: "There is currently no public ordinance in Austin prohibiting women or men from going topless." Response to a Letter to the Editor complaining of a lack of dress code at public swimming areas. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, March 8th, 2005
8:55 pm	</i>4U2P So I've realized that those clever signs they put in Jimmy Jon's are the same no matter where you go. That's okay; their day old bread is still good. So I was hanging around downtown Austin for most of the day today. At a bus stop, a decently large african american gentleman seemed to be trying to pick a fight with an even larger mexican gentleman. After a few minutes of talking to himself or someone the rest of us couldn't see, he came over to me and asked if it was true that I had said he was a criminal. I smiled politely and said, "No." What I said or the way I said it seemed to throw him off guard. He then informed me that I was probably lying because, apparently, a lot of people do that. After a few more minutes of talking to himself or someone else I couldn't see, he came back over and asked, "Are you Jesus Christ? Are you the Savior?" It's a good thing I wasn't, otherwise he might have - as he put it - "fucked me up." He then spent a good amount of time talking to either me or someone nobody could see. I couldn't make out much of what he was saying, but I smiled and nodded politely rather than just ignoring him. It was something about cursing, being where you're supposed to be, French, and whether or not he was a criminal. The old woman on the bench next to me got up and moved to the other side of the bus stop. I considered cursing at him in French but thought better of it. So I'm not very good with buses. I got off way too early and had to walk a ways. That's okay; I like walking. So I went to this park and walked on the "Green Belt" trail. I wanted to find a nice spot in the shade near the water to eat lunch, so I left the main path to explore what may or may not have been an actual trail. I never did know what poison ivy looks like. Anyway, I found a decent spot and ate lunch in a tree. After a while a man came by, apparently unaware of me, and sat down on a rock near the tree. He then cracked open an ice cold Bud Light (or maybe it was luke warm, I don't know). I liked this man. He seemed to have a good understanding of the Circle of Life. He knew that everything originally comes from the Earth and must there someday return. He demonstrated this knowledge by crushing his empty beer can and throwing it on the ground a few feet away, thus letting nature's cycle continue undisturbed. After smoking a bowl of marijuana, he got up and left, still unaware of my presence. The moral of this story: Don't litter. You never know when Jesus might be in a tree watching you. So on the way out of the park I talked to a pretty cool guy who had a feather in his hair. He said he was living in the park and cleaning up the trash. Not a bad way to spend your time. I gave him some day old bread from Jimmy Jon's. I might go back down there and look for him sometime. So, if YOU ever decide to visit Texas and have sixty-five dollars to blow, why not tour the state's capital on a Segway HT? Visit www.segcity.com for details. Current Mood: tired (Comment on this)
Sunday, March 6th, 2005
11:40 am	</i>"Everything is bigger in Texas..." So I made it to Austin. Besides being long, boring and incredibly uncomfortable, not much happened on the bus ride down here. On the layover in Memphis I met a small skinny kid dressed in all black who was on his way to Arizona. He said he was transferring his two jobs there: Walgreen's clerk and Bounty Hunter. Imagining this little guy taking down any criminal did bring me a small smile to my face, but I suppose it's possible that he packs a punch. Then in Dallas I discovered a McDonald's that employs security guards. Apparently they don't like it when you sit in their restaurant without buying anything. I got some hash browns to make him happy. So I arrived in Austin yesterday at 11:00 AM. I went outside the station and started walking around. I soon saw two kids begging for money at an intersection. One of them held up his fingers and said to me, "Peace, dude!" I guess that's to be expected when you look like Jesus and are traveling around with all your stuff on your back. So I talked to them for a couple minutes and asked where I could get some real food. They told me how to get to a grocery store or, if I didn't mind waiting, how to get to a Salvation Army that gives away free stuff at seven o'clock. I spent some time walking around downtown. Day old bread from Jimmy Jon's is good. The weather was good. I felt free. It was nice. I'm staying with two sisters I met last year, Radha and Haripriya. Soup is good with miso. I'm disappointed I can't find any of my hair ties. I've discovered I'm not a cat person. So it goes. Dhruva sent me a quote. I like it. "The time that my journey takes is long and the way of it long. I came out on the chariot of the first gleam of light, and pursued my voyage through the wildernesses of worlds leaving my track on many a star and planet. It is the most distant course that comes nearest to thyself, and that training is the most intricate which leads to the utter simplicity of a tune. The traveller has to knock at every alien door to come to his own, and one has to wander through all the outer worlds to reach the innermoste shrine at the end. My eyes strayed far and wide before I shut them and said, 'Here art thou!' The question and the cry, 'Oh, where?' melt into tears of a thousand streams and deluge the world with the flood of the assurance, 'I am!'" --Rabindranath Tagore, "Gitanjali" chapter XII Current Mood: calm (Comment on this)
Thursday, March 3rd, 2005
11:34 am	</i>New Beginning Last night I was at Kuk Sool Won and Noah, having successfully rendered me unconscious for quite some time when I refused to tap out of a grappling match, suggested that I keep a blog going while I travel. I had thought of this before, but - while I planned to keep a private journal that might eventually be seen by a select few - I wasn’t sure how much the general public cared about where I was going and what I was doing. After his comment I decided to go ahead and do it. Here’s the deal: I had been going to the U of I College of Engineering for some time when I decided that I no longer wanted to be an engineer. I suppose I’m not really sure if I ever wanted to be one in the first place, but I guess that’s neither here nor there. Anyway, I didn’t like going to class, so I stopped doing it. People used to ask me what I planned to do with my life. Not having a serious answer I would jokingly quote Pulp Fiction and say, “I’m going to walk the earth… you know, like Caine from Kung Fu.” Now I’m actually going to do it. I only have a vague idea of where I’m going. I’m not sure what I plan to accomplish once I get there. I certainly don’t have enough money to be doing what I’m doing. All I know at this point is that I have about twenty-three pounds of worldly possessions packed in a backpack and a bus ticket for Austin, Texas that leaves tomorrow morning. I know some cool people in Austin. I also figure that if I’m going to be a homeless bum for a while I might as well do it someplace warm. I eventually plan to go to the UK, Europe and India, but we’ll see how long my physical body and monetary funds can survive this lifestyle. I have a palmtop with WiFi, so I may be able to stop at various Starbuck’s locations along the way and update this journal. If anybody wants to email me, my address is duchnwsk@hotmail.com. You also might be able to IM me on Windows Messenger at the same screen name (AIM for PocketPC costs money; MSN doesn’t). If, a year from now, I’m still alive and you’re still alive, I may see you again. Until then, namaskar. Current Mood: optimistic (Comment on this)