A truly underground party. In some sort of cavernous mine. I started out wandering, taking it in, talking to some of those that I came across.

When I happened upon somebody walking through a crowd of hanger-abouts, spouting some memebombs. Walking up to him, I mentioned how glad I was that somebody was doing what he was doing. Turns out, that I knew the guy. And surprised about seeing him in such a place, I decided to follow him for a while.

We ended up on the very top floor of this party zone. Never did find out how many floors were below us, but I did notice the roof high above our heads. He was manipulating pieces on a board game. I felt that it was important, that somehow, he was manipulating reality with the pieces he was moving around.

We continued chatting until I noticed the couple sitting on a railing. What caught my eye was, him leaning backwards too far and falling off! The gal next to him wasn't fazed in the slightest. I overhead somebody nearby say, "He didn't really fall down, did he?", and a tiny shard of dread crept up, wondering if he was okay. It passed after a few moments.

Noticing my friend had walked off, I did the same.

I came across another crowd sitting about. They seemed to all be watching something which I didn't manage to see. I sat down next to a girl and chatted her up.

Then, I started feeling dizzy. I got a little disoriented and found myself leaning against her. Thankfully, she didn't seem to mind. I told her that I needed to walk around.

She walked with me, and eventually, we found an exit which led to ground level. We didn't walk through it, as I felt there was more to this party that I had to see. I knew there was even more going on above ground, and eventually, I wanted to check that out. The exit looked like that of a mine shaft. It winded around a corner so I couldn't really gauge how far underground we were.

At some point, I walked down a narrow (and potentially dangerous) walkway of grey blobby material that was a bit springy. There was somebody bouncing up and down a giant balloon/trampoline thing.

Everybody seemed to be having fun, actively engaged in various levels. A current I could feel all around, this excitement, bubbling from the sheer novelty of it all...

I danced for hours this morning.

Almost 6 hours straight in the same place. Witnessing the crowd grow slowly, from a light crowd into a huge mass of pulsing bodies. And sweat.

People from all over the world are here in the Emerald City right now. (try to keep this in mind!)

And I'm doing it all again tomorrow morning. (but better, of course!) ;)

Oh, fire-spinner!
Your spinning attracts a crowd
Even people on boats!
Boats with booming sound systems
to provide a soundtrack to your art
Daft Punk
Darude
Benni Benassi
And the oohs and aahs and hooting and hollering
Faces lit by both the fires you spin
And the art you give

It happened in a park, surrounded by towering machinery, rolling hills, and a clear view of the downtown area behind the water. From dusk until nightfall. Seeing friends that I felt like I hadn't seen in months. Someone mentioned that she thought I'd dropped off the face of the earth.

I tell you, there ain't nothing like dancing like a salmon trying to jump upstream, with the music blasting from the boat of a curious spectator, in front of a couple of people laughing their asses off. With a guy twirling a fire staff a few feet away.

And the view was breathtaking.

* Saw a woman pee into the grass in a park. She lifted up her dress, squatted down, and... let it flow. Right in front of me and her sister.

* Hugged the statue of Jimi Hendrix that's in Capitol Hill:

* Tied strings of purple yarn into the fan at a zine archive.

* Opened up the windows, and blasted some music at said zine archive. One CD was given to me at a dance party, and I found out that, once again, it's really, really good. Opened up some fun door in me noggin. :)

* I started a friend's method of detensing, based on the methods of Dr. Hyatt. The exercises helped me keep a blissful attitude for the day, and I felt more energetic and willing to do a little bit of l'art du déplacement around the city. :)

This place you're in, reminds you of a Quake map.

She's all in white. Her dress gleams in the light. A hint of sparkle, with the gloss of vinyl.

You can't speak, even if you wanted to. She doesn't speak either.

Her very presence leaves you humbling. You watch her move, in silent reverence.

Her eyes could cut you in half.

You follow her, away from the crowd. She leads you down a passageway and she doesn't look back.

You don't look back, either.

It happened a while ago. I woke up, and as I laid there, I saw a circle of people standing around me.

The room I was in was expanded to accommodate such a number of them. It felt sacred.

And in a flash, I was immediately awake.

I suddenly appeared in a tank. The infantry was getting ready for battle.

The commander handed me a large gun. I examined it and I couldn't figure out how to use it... it was almost taller than I was. I noticed my brother with me. I believe he had a large sniper rifle.

I was also handed a pair of goggles. Putting them on, looking through them while pressing a button on the corner. Night-vision, heat-vision, scanning the fellow infantry through the eyes of a professional killer.

What was I here for? The question knocked me out of my trance.

The commander ordered me to suit up and move out. Others had ran out of the tank. I saw a suit in the corner, supposedly it was somewhat bulletproof. I put it on, and I suppose I was supposed to feel safer, but... the feelings of killing and being killed were all around me. Though thankfully, it was diluted by being in the tank and not witnessing such horrors.

Why was I here? I couldn't shake the question. Images of my brother witnessing me getting shot in the head froze me in my place. My brother was gone, though. Where did he go?

A song triggered in my head.
"Don't bother killing, don't bother killing
it'll make you sick
it'll make you SICK"

One of my favorite songs. It's what I needed to finally make a path and go down it.

Shots from the tank's turret filled the air. The light was almost blinding. Then, the sound of flames coming from the only window in the machine. Flamethrowers, from outside, cooking everybody except me.

I saw a couple of men yelling in pain, running around on fire. I waited, well after the sound of the flamethrowers stopped.

And I finally came out of the tank. But, to my surprise, a man with a knife stood in front of me.

He was black, and wasn't wearing a uniform. I asked him if he was an enemy. He threw me the knife, which I didn't bother to catch and which landed behind me. He then pulled out a sword, stained with some sort of black substance, and pointed it in my face.

I grabbed it on reflex. It didn't cut me. I ran my hand along the blade and it wasn't sharp.

Then I decided to run.

I was in a large field, filled with tall stalks of dead, yellowed grass. There were groups of other people, based on the way they dressed I realized that they were African. They didn't look hostile, but I kept running. I saw an exit in the far-away trees and didn't look back. A path made of tall rocks extended before me, and I leapt on them, unconcerned about where I was headed just as long as it was in the direction of "the fuck away from where I had been".

I ended up on the outskirts of a city, climbing into an abandoned building. Somehow I'd started near the top floor. Not wanting to be easily tracked, I opened a window and hopped onto the ledge of a different building, closing the window beind me. Finding a spot to scan my surroundings, a slanted piece of roof, I grabbed onto something and watched.

Below me, at the end of the street, a band was singing the praises of marijuana. A few buildings from there, a group of men were standing in front of what could have been a bar. Other people were walking about, yet it wasn't a booming city by the looks of it. By the feel of it, the whole place felt a bit desolate.

But the band playing below me gave me a sliver of hope. Mixed into a boiling pot of uncertainty, but, at least I felt safe.