Just found this on my lap top. it's now January. I evidently wrote this on my way back. Anyway, yeah.

4:52 AM in the Atlanta Airport listening to Mario Lanza on the iPod and people are running around getting ready for their day of work, or perhaps finishing for the day.

Thankfully, Richard Reed (the shoebomber- I think that was his name) taught me well and I snuck matches on to the airplane so I could smoke in this disgusting smoking lounge here in Atlanta that I’ve been to on more than one occasion. I don’t think I even slept on the plane. I was on the aisle seat next to a friendly Mexican gentleman who at one point asked me if he could use his cell phone on the plane. A few more hours and I’ll be home. Feels like I’ve been gone for five weeks. I can’t remember what New England feels like.

Last week of the trip we went to a Dodgers game (they lost), met up with some of my father’s friends and went to Universal Music in Santa Monica where I caught up with an old friend that worked at Rounder. We also went to downtown Los Angeles and looked at the giant Catholic Church, and the Disney theatre which were designed by some famous architects whose names escape me right now. The last night of the trip I met up with Laura and Noel in Santa Monica and had a couple of beers and watched Noel have her fortune read by two Siamese cats. A good amount of freaks down there, but not as in-your-face as they are on say, Hollywood Boulevard.

So on the airplane there was a young kid, about 19 maybe. Middle Eastern looking. The fucking kid would not sit still. First, I notice he’s wearing a wrist thing that says “Jihad”, reading The Koran. He was shuffling through his bags over and over for the first hour or so. At one point when the stewardess passed him he took pictures with a disposable camera of the cockpit area, which with me being initially only a tiny bit freaked out was a bit of relief as I imagined he was probably in on a plan to blow up a different plane. Perhaps I should report this to someone? Maybe I watch Fox News too much.