Leaving Atlanta. part one of 3.

My current status is up in the mountains (i think) of Asheville, North Carolina. the NW part of NC. my ride up here was a bit on the rainy side. The last few days have been raining. I hear it has been the same for my homeland as well. I hadn't seen rain since i left Houston and made it into Louisiana. I'm amongst the mountains. I experienced the ear poppin driving this way. it was getting dark and it was raining so the mountains had their cloud wigs on. i couldn't see their nakedness which i was longing for. it was covered in mystery. I LOVE MOUNTAINS so much but i couldn't see them as i was climbing them. even now at 9:50am eastern time i can't see much of this landscape. Tomorrow should be sunny according to the predictors of weather.

I ended my last blog on a Saturday afternoon in Atlanta.
That night i experimented more with visiting bars. you know it's really a foreign experience for me. i know not much about alcoholic beverages nor do i know much about bar atmospheres. and i'm ok with that. =) its especially awkward going into them now by myself. but it's kinda interesting. i never know what the heck is going to happen.... who i'm going to meet....i know why people like them....i think.

little 5 points ATL rasta!

after walking in and out amongst the streets where people mingle, i met this guy doing some bangin beats with his makeshift drum and singing. it was great! i walked further down and met another guy...he was walking up to people selling poetry on the spot. i dug it. "do u enjoy great poetry? would u be willing to pay a little cash to hear the best poetry u've ever heard?" "sure" i said as i was locking up my bicycle to the rail across from Porters bar where Tessa, Ken and myself met up the night before."give me any 4 words and i will use them in my poem". He busted out. I got my couple dollars worth. it was interesting, unique and enjoyable. Spiritual connotations came out much in his time to rhyme. i neglected to get a pic. i've since learned to be more blunt about taking pictures. but nevertheless i am still forgetful.
so this night i went into the vortex bar and grill and i sat next to this guy, and asked him what he was drinking. i didn't know what it was but i asked the bartender for the same thing. that's what i usually do. "i'll have what s/he's having". just for the record, All beer still tastes like crap to me. they say it's an acquired taste....and well.....damnit. i can't wait for the day when drinking that beer is refreshing. it's almost a chore drinking it.
whatever. so somehow me and this guy talked for a minute or something and i guess the word "lesbian" came out in dialog. the girl sitting next to us chimed in and looked and listened. "i heard the word lesbian and it caught my attention". Then she turned back around to her buddy. the guy i talked to left and i was sitting at the bar by myself. i've only known one practicing lesbian my whole life and we never really talked much since i became a christian. But now since i was a bit more apt to talk, i started up a dialog with my lesbian neighbor Diana about lesbianism. =) it was great.  anyway, after talking for a bit Diana and her friend Tracy both made offers for me to crash at their house. Incredibly nice folks. I crashed at Diana's and split the next morning. wasn't smart enough to get pictures of my host! dangit! but i like lesbians now. =)
the next morning i went to visit the First Existentialist Church of Atlanta! it was amazing. it was a part of the Unitarian Universalist tradition. the preacher preached it well. i don't know where my notes are but part of what i got out of it was how to accept other peoples experiences. how to embrace them with kindness! not to be bitter. but to be kind. Often these days, when i tell people i have a hard time with prayer or the notion that god actually interacts with us, i hear personal stories and experiences that are shared to let me know that god does answer prayer and does interact. but this is not my experience. what do i do? do i dog the story. dog that persons experience? of course not! I should, as much as i can celebrate that experience with them. that is real to them. that is confirmation for them. not for me. if they aren't celebrating it! They should be! anyway. it was an interesting group of folk. i dug it!

Chris the Cross dresser

that night i was going to hit up this one particular atlanta park. i don't recall the name, but it's pretty big and it's obviously very popular. by the time i got to this park, loads of vehicles were going in and out of this thing. i think i had just missed some art fair, cuz when i was riding my bike around artsy stuff was everywhere being packed into uhauls and junk. People were everywhere. Just before i went into this park, i saw a big sign that said something like, "free live show...blah blah" and mentioned the band name. i thought this was at the park so i waiting around looking for live music. well, the music was at this restaurant/bar place which is pretty much connected to the park. as i rode around the park there was a drum circle going. I've been hearing "drum circle" a lot since i met Ruffio. This was my first one to see. it wasn't that exciting to me. i'm looking forward to hearing some more....especially here in Asheville. This place sounds like it's a very eclectic place. at the drum circle was this guy in the photo. he was wearing a bikini top, hula skirt and was shaking one of those new work out things. u can see his wig. this guy started talking to me. very interesting fellow. he had a lover to committed suicide several years ago. he seems to be a content guy. he's real into numerology and junk. he was adding my numbers up and telling me things about myself. whatever. =) to each his own. he's into numerology, not because it doesn't make any sense or has no value, but because it made a tremendous impact in his life. he read some book, i don't recall what it was but it changed him radically. it set him free from certain things and gave him understanding of his world around him.

Anyhow, it was getting late this night and me and Chris the crossdresser were talking for about an hour or so. i wanted to go hear some live music. he invited me to crash at his house....but this one was a little too odd for me. i wasn't comfortable to sleep at this guys house. so we went out separate ways and i split and went to the live music. i was listening to these sweet grooves when Tessa (the girl i met friday night) walked right by me. it was a sign from the Lord. just kidding. anyway, we hung out listening and moving to the groovin beats. Then she went home this sunday night. it was still early (11:30ish) and i wasn't done yet. i wanted to meet someone else.
This is kinda lame, but i was hanging around this place walking amongst the crowds by myself. at one point i was chilling enjoying the weather outside and i was poking my nose to get this really hard booger out...and my nose started gushing out blood like no other time in my life! i'm glad it was dark. My mom always told me not to pick my nose in public. so i ran in kinda trying to cover up my face so no one would see. what a dork. =) i confess. ha ha. the things i'll admit on here. =)
anyway. i ended  up going to my car. this was my last day in atlanta. i drove around looking for a wal-mart. dang GPS leads me to some of the wierdest places. it took me over an hour to find a real walmart. found it. Fell asleep. Then it was off to South Carolina next.
(to be continued)