In other news, I’ve been catching up on some math:

Journalists killed in Iraq: 10
US Soldiers Killed in Iraq: 79
Innocent Iraqi Civilians Killed in Iraq: 5,000 - 10,000
Weapons of Mass Destruction: 0

Anyone interested in a game of war?

Finally, I’ve decided to use the trip as a bit of a fashion show. Instead of packing all of my favorite clothes only to have them permeated with the always pleasant “road trip funk”, I’m going to fashion my own summer lineup of t-shirts that capture the spirit of our journey. Here are a few of the ideas I’ve had so far:

you two are the biggest losers ever
i can't beleive how gay you are
i hope you take my opinion seriously because you are the two lamest people i have ever heard of
faggot/bitch

Just who the fuck do you think you are you homophobic prick? It looks like squandering your pathetic life away at your hometown community college has left you a bit bitter. Don't take your anger out on us just because your mother didn't have the foresight to terminate you with a set a stairs or a wire hanger. May I suggest trying to fill the void with a personal savior or a hooker, they're generally pretty good at distracting useless fucks like yourself so the rest of us don't have to "take your opinion seriously."

Name: Philip M. Ritti
Email: philipritti@chartner.net

Eventually the excitement and need for retribution faded away and I started remembering. I remembered people like Phil from high school and I remembered what it was like to have people say things like that to me. I remembered letting it go on multiple occassions for a number of reasons. I remembered that no one should be forced to feel things like that. I decided to make my reaction to Phil my reaction to every person who has used me to compensate for something in their own lives. This response will also serve as my only responce to emails like Phil's if they arrive in the future.

Despite requests to focus my attention on ensuring I graduate, I've been able to make a couple improvements to the site's response time thanks to the dashing and talented Aaron Peckham. Although the comment count won't increase until up to 30 minutes after a comment is posted, the page should load significantly faster. Looks like a good time for a shameless plug...

Yes, we love him for all of his hard work and dedication to the ideals that will be upheld in this blog, and his desire to spread the word on our Steinbeck-esk rompings across the country.
We appreciate the links to news articles detailing the state of our fibbing union, his attempts to offend everyone who stands in his way, and commentary on the un-artist, Mr. Kinkade.

But please, "and I don't think I'm alone here," work on your senior project. Please people. Encourage Justin to get his work done, and I vow to put a little artistic estrogen back on the page.

With that said...

Hopefully by the time we leave for our trip, I will have magically gotten over my fear of being in front of the camera. Until then, those of you that have pictures of me, (ahem) keep them to yourself.

Things are wrapping up around here. It feels strange leaving on an adventure knowing that we're never going to return to the way things are now. Ready or not, it's time for cleaning houses and getting rooms "rent-ready" (not that we've really begun cleaning; have you seen Justin's room?!?), going dancing on Monday night for the last time, having the final computer science party (hint), and learning that riding on a motorcycle in the rain isn't always going to be a necessity. For better or worse...

We still have a bunch of non-website related things to take care of before the trip. If anyone has any ideas on camping supplies we should take with us to make our lives easier, please let us know (Jeanee, that means you). We're trying to keep costs down so I'll have enough money left to fly home in the event of an epiphany.

But that's not on the agenda. Happy or happier- that's the plan.
Thanks for reading, but you probably should be spending the time doing something else.

Secondly, I just finished spamming some friends about our site and encouraged them to join our aforementioned fan club. It's really an offer no one should refuse when he/she considers the benefits:

• First to know when we accidentally keep the mini-fridge on in the car all night leaving us stranded with one-eyed Jeb and his band of Wyoming sheep "herders"
• Top on our list of charitable donators when we have to choose between Top Ramien and toilet paper (you can paypal almostdraw@hotmail.com)
• Free t-shirt -- to wash if we stay at your place
• Join the betting pool to wager which city Caitlin departs from when she finally comes to her senses and flies home

From that realization we've taken away a couple things. Firstly, I've put in way too much work into the site considering Caitlin and I will be the primary readers. On the other hand, it has provided a welcomed distraction to my senior project, which I might add is pretty much the only thing that could possibly stop me from graduating. Finally, since our audience will be pretty small, we've decided to keep the entries mostly uncensored. That means I'll probably, if not hopefully, offend a couple people, if not groups of people, over the course of the summer. So if you have a tendency to freak out, that's one more excuse for you to find something better to do with your time; may I suggest finding your local Thomas Kinkade drone outlet and perhaps stop by the GAP? As for the rest of you, we appreciate your fortitude and determination and hope you enjoy our third rate version of reality TV.

Just incase...to comment on something just click "comments" below this post, come up with something to say, delete it, come up with something more interesting to say, then submit it. And don't worry, if we don't like what you have to say we'll change it, delete it, and/or block you from posting in the future.

• June 23rd
  Depart from Seattle, WA
  
• June 27th - July 1st
  Ottawa Lindy Exchange
  
• July 4th
  Washington, D.C.
  
• August 7th - 10th
  Swingtime in the Rockies -- Denver, CO

• Hershey, PA
  
• Boston, MA
  
• New York, NY
  
• Chicago, Il
  
• Columbus, OH

• Added links to our pictures and calendar on Yahoo! Groups
  
• Added a mailing list signup
  
• Added our contact information
  
• Made our site look way tres cooler
  

We spent our Memorial weekend getting our first taste of life as tourists in a couple big cities. Our first stop was a surprise trip to San Francisco I had been planning for Caitlin's birthday. The trip started off on the wrong foot as our flight had been cancelled due to fog in LA. Fortunately, adversity inspired creativity and we ended up with a much better deal than we started with.

Originally we were to make our way to San Fran via Los Angeles and San Jose. That route required two planes, a train, and a taxi; a tribute to the late John Candy. Instead we hopped on one plan directly to The City and caught a shuttle from there to the hotel. On top of that, I got a $25 voucher for the "inconvenience" of having our trip re-routed. What rotten luck.

After the flight, everything fell into place perfectly culminating in an incredible evening. Highlights included the marvelous Love, Chaos, and Dinner show by Teatro Zinzanni, limousine transportation to and from the theatre, and a wonderful evening in the Handlery Hotel in Union Square. The next morning we wandered around Union Square and up into China town before catching our flight from San Jose to San Diego.

Our visit to San Diego, while not as spectacular as the one to SF, was still quite enjoyable. We stayed with our friend Christina Coloura and about ten others in her swank apartment and hit up the San Diego Lindy Prom. Points of interest for this excursion included a live performance from the incredible Barbara Morrison, visiting my good friend Jason and his gal Kate, and both of us sleeping literally the entire length of the five hour car ride home. Lot's of dancing, a little too much drinking, and one lost wallet later, we returned home Monday to nap a little and work a lot.

San Diego served as the first major publicity stop for the tour. We passed out some cards and got a couple potential hookups for places to crash in Boston and Washington D.C.. We also got some good advice as to which forums to post this site on. Between the vast network of Lindy Hoppers and their forums, I’m sure we’ll find adequate housing.