Some blips from journal entries along some of my 1998 travels: Bombay India September 1998: ...We walked cautiously passed stray dogs, wary of their bites. The sunday streets of Mumbai began to fill rapidly like the humidity and heat filled the air. Small children begged for rupees and chocolate and latched onto us until we demanded they let go. The people here need food and medicine desperately... We walked by several families sleeping on feces infested streets, naked babies running around, women, emaciated and helpless. And then we saw a bloated dead dog laying in the middle of the street...
Two months later: I have changed my opinion of India drastically... I ate like a gluttonous swine - curried this - curried that without too much bowel disruption... I went to an art gallery and looked at paintings by artists whose names I cannot remember.... I awoke tonight to the sound of someone knocking on our door. I'm sure it was the skinny man with blue shorts who brings us our bananas and tea....
Paris 1998: France in a large white bus... It's tempting to smoke instead of eat for food is quite expensive here... Each night at the coldest hour I find myself missing him the most... Fredo, short for frederique has given me a place in her home to sleep... Fredo loves black, Halloween, industrial music, kittens and cow patterns. her closet (where I sleep) is 12 feet in length and is filled with lots of black leather clothes. She claims to be looking for a biker man, but a fortune teller told her she wouldn't meet him until she left for America...
Munich 1998: People with rosy complexions walk along the sidewalks.... My attempts at speaking German are feeble. My courage is lacking and I'm convinced I sound daft. I went to an amazing exhibit today at the museum of modern art. 300 artists from varying periods... ... I was trembling with anxiety and had to calm myself down by smoking bidis...Jennifer, a 22 year old Australian lady consoled me by telling me that she had been away from her boyfriend for 4 months while she traveled by herself. She said she had the same horrible thoughts that I was having, but that they would only last for the beginning....Now I am here at a cafe on Scheller street, drinking hot chocolate and looking out the window.
Venice, Italy 1998: A very exciting day for me in Italia, on the bus headed to Venice, supposedly one of the most beautiful cities in the world... I've been boarding with a Jersey girl named Mary. It's been nice being able to talk to her. I don't feel the need to protect myself with trite words and glances...We stopped for coffee and a shit then wandered the delicate streets and hidden alleys... Women in fur and men in plaid scarves held onto their children... I noticed an awfully insane man, who I thought at first glance was attractive until I caught him licking his lips and holding his belly while laughing maniacally... At the Peggy Guggenheim, I attempted to stand in on a lecture about Boccioni until a woman from the group declared "If there are people here who are not part of this group would you leave now. We hired this guy and you haven't paid." I left with my hands in my pockets. "That bitch", I thought. "I already know about the futurists anyway"....