2003-04-07 - 11:06 p.m.

So I’m doing an entry for my day that isn’t in the middle of the night. Why? Because I don’t feel like driving home tonight. This is going to be one of Rob’s transient use a geo Prism as a bed and a roof nights.

Today was a pleasant day. I started out on the quad by talking to James and Ihsan about movies. James and his girlfriend Annaliese just broke up. She’s interested in another guy but she’s also still interested in him. They have a very powerful relationship because they are two dependant people. So James lamented about that with me. But then Ihsan, a writer for the California Aggie and a mutual friend of several people I know, shows up. I have never met him but I did the lay out for one of his stories for the Exposed 2 magazine. He talked about working on Seele, the undergraduate literary magazine, and how the people on that staff felt about my work. My short story "This Is Not A Johnny Cash Song" was ranked number 7 against all the submissions. But it probably won’t get in because it is too offensive. Earlier I had been talking to Eloise, a poetry editor at Seele, and she said that a lot of people were offended by my poetry. Mostly stuffy liberal women. I’m a liberal guy. Hell, I’m a feminist. Women are in majority so they should have the power. They are stronger than men and smarter than men, but their one flaw is an inability to group together in order to set things straight. So the only poem I wrote that got into Seele (I submitted 5) was "Pick Up Lines for Horny Poets." I’m not surprised. Its just edgy enough that it will offend people but not too much. They aren’t envelope pushers over there at Seele. All the great geniuses offended people at first. Nabokov, Joyce, Bukowski, Galilee, de Sade, Nietzche, Freud, the list goes on. I’m not saying I’m that wonderful but it pisses me off to outrank people and not get in. It’s like affirmative action – I don’t have a problem with that – but I do I have a problem with being censored. Aisha would later say that now I have been banned. I like the way that sounds. Rob Roy – banned in Davis.

So as James and Ihsan left Aisha showed up and we went to the cross cultural center. Actually first I went over and talked to Eloise and Lisa again. I had told Aisha that she was a published poet and we went to find Diana ball the publisher of Seele. The first thing I did when I got on campus today was autograph a page for Seele. She had called me last night and said that I got in. the American River Review also said that I’m having poetry published in their pages this year. I told my family last night. They were very proud. If you include everything that I’ve been inside, no matter how small (98 copies), I’ve been published 10 times now. Aisha and I went looking for Diana but couldn’t find her. I asked Eloise if about Aisha’s poems but no one could remember because it was so long ago – and anonymous.

At the cross cultural center I met Aisha’s friend Vanessa, whom she went to Seattle with. They talked about the several activities they will be doing soon. Mainly they are published a magazine called One Drop that talks about multiculturalism and bi-raciality. I said that I would submit a poem about the subject that I have –"Horny Homogenization (i.e. America)." I liked the way that Vanessa looked at me and said, "Is this your friend?" It looked like Aisha had talked about me. Now we are just being friends, but lets be serious. I’m her friend, but I want more because I think we match up nicely.

Out on the quad we sat and studied, or at least tried to. Aisha ended her concentration by forming a shadow puppet with her hand and said, "Hi Rob." Then we talked about stuff like writing and Seattle and what I did this weekend.

Aisha had a class so I went to the computer lab. She got out early and met me back at the quad at 5:30. She had run into Jennifer from our poetry class. They talked about me (and other things of course), but it’s weird when people talk about me. I always want to know exactly what they say. But Big brother doesn’t work for me, so I’ll never know.

Dan showed up and the Aver and Lisa and the guy Chris, who I barely know, show up. And we all talk about stuff for hours. We talk about multiculturalism, Steven Hawking, Christopher Walken (two of Lisa’s childhood crushes). We talk about Rudolph Valentino, Aisha’s childhood crush – she was very surprised that I knew who he was, but I didn’t know that he was a published poet married to 3 lesbians. We talked more about Seele, Fuck Valintino - Aisha and I are also published poets. Earlier I told her about the time a biker told me in a restroom that he liked my poetry – my first fan, all while my hand was on my dick. We talked about what the word Caucasian means. Aisha swears it has to do with a skull, but Azver and Lisa say it is a mountain range. I’m ignorant – I’m just a dumb white guy.

Eventually we all split. I walked Aisha to the D.C. On the way we ran into Gordon, who talked about a girl he has the hots for and write poetry for. I pity the bastard – oh wait – well, I pity myself also. Aisha and I talked about muses. And about our childhood. She said that she had Barbies as a girl but didn’t have a ken so she used Woody Woodpecker instead. All of her Barbies were blonde and blue eyed, unlike Aisha – and the first thing she did was strip them naked and have them frolic with old Woody. I bet if Barbie had more orifices she would have had lots of crazy stories of the places where she found feathers.

On the way to the D. C. Kristin calls and says she’s going to Delta Venus tonight at 9pm. She is putting together a feminist article with some friends. I say I’ll be there to give the male perspective. Aisha is a little perturbed by Kristin because Kristin doesn’t get a long with her. Aisha wants all women to get along. The first rule of feminism is, feminists must unite. I agree. I’d like them both to get a fresh start and try to understand one another. They are both too good of people to dislike one another. And after all, they both like me as a person – so I am the common denominator.

After dropping Aisha off I go to Subway to eat and then I walk back through Campus to Delta Venus. I see Aisha through the glass as I walk by. It occurs to me that she was the only person that I touched today. We were walking from the Aggie when we were trying to find Diana and she had just Kristin. She was frustrated that Kristin didn’t like her and I put my hand on her shoulder. My only bodily contact with another person. I wish I was one of those guys that hugged everyone, but people are annoyed by those guys. People are annoyed by me already, so I guess I shouldn’t make it worse.

I walk to Delta Venus and I am there at 9:00. I read my book. I remember a line from one of Kristin’s poems about being late. So I wait until 9:25 to call her. Her roommate says she not home and her cell phone isn’t being answered. I wait until 10 and then leave and write this. I didn’t get much accomplished today but I feel good because I smiled a lot today and I made a lot of other people smile.

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