san luis obispo

          after LA i drove up to san luis obispo. on the way in, there was a sign for beullton that read, "buellton, home of split pea soup!!!". needless to say i didn't stop in. san luis obispo is the home of cal poly and filled with youth. the night i arrived they were having a street fair. this is when i began to notice all the various religious and political agendas that seem to fill the state with freaks. next to the incense booths, next to the seated massage therapists, next to the veggie kabob. religious and political booths equaled that of the vendors. it reminded me of the homemade signs on the highway from bakersfield to fresno. first one baring the symbol of the federal govt. next sign, 50 yards later the word "OR". and the last sign, at equal distance, an american flag. even in the banks there were signs reading, "are you ready for Y2K?". california, a little more than the world, is one half paranoid gov't hating folk. the other half is stoned most of the time so they don't care enough to do anything about the problems they do see. and the third half are the poor, confused, stoned, paranoid loners. that's a lot of freaks for one state! despite this, san luis obispo, (or "slo" as they call it), is a heaven for those who don't like the hustle of life and love to party.
          my second day there, we went to the beach where i watched one of the counselors from camp do gymnastics. watched a school of dolphins disappear into the distance, and sunk my toes in the sand. my horoscope that day read as follows:
         

at this juncture in your glorious, maddening, unpredictable history, you
don't know anything. i mean it libra. you don't know any damn thing.
but on the other hand you don't know something, either. also, you don't
know nothing. you are, frankly, a BIG FAT ZERO. ridiculously empty.
miraculously clueless. your not even full of hot air, because in fact your
stuffed with absolutely zilch. i guess that under the circumstances, you'll
have to make it up as you go along. my advise: thank the gods profusely
for this opportunity to create your world from scratch without having to
answer to the past.