Jail Style Dodge Ball

Written January 1, 2009

Well here we are, in a whole new year that feels almost exactly the same from where I am at. I have started my last few entries with the word "Well" haven't I? Oh whatever.

Only two things made today stand out from other days:

1. When I dated this letter I wrote a 200 and then a 9 instead of an 8.
   
   
2. We all had the idea to play dodge ball, which is probably one of the best games ever just as as it is, but jail style dodge ball took an a whole new persona.
   The shoes here are like the most shot-out, beat up, talking shoes ever. For those of you who've never seen them they are like some orange color slip-ons. So in our game of dodge ball, we allowed kicking the ball as a means of attack. But whenever anyone would kick the ball, his shoe would fly off and sometimes hit the target as well. There is a chain link fence across the top of our little outdoor area, and at one point someone kicked the ball so hard that his shoe flew straight up and got caught in the chain link fence. What are the chances? We all about died from laughing and spent the next little bit throwing anything we could to dislodge the shoe and finally did. Honestly it was the most fun and the most I've laughed since I've been here.

The only downside is we got outdoor rec after dayroom. I took a shower at dayroom, and then got all sweaty at outdoor rec, and didn't get another chance to take a shower that day. But oh well. The rest of the day I just wrote letters.

There is a way to look up booking numbers of inmates on the Web, and since there were a few good guys I wanted to keep in touch with whose info I didn't get a chance to before my hasty departure, I made a short list of people and sent to someone very special to me. This very special person in turn went on the Web, got these booking numbers, and told me they were sending them to me. Now I can let some people know what exactly happened to me and maybe find out how things are going at Musick.

As silly as it may sound, I was kinda worried about the place after I left. I know, I know, that's a clear sign I've been in jail too long. But the truth is I had been there the longest out of any of the white people (and most everyone else too) and held a lot of keys there at yellow tent and had a lot of responsibility. I was the wood Rep there. I had no faith in the Right Hand's ability to lead fairly, but all the other woods that were there were either worse candidates or only going to be in custody like eight or nine days. So not only am I kinda interested to know if the peace is still being kept there, but I was kinda interested to know who took over after I left as rep and if they are doing as good a job (or better) as I did.

I know I shouldn't care, but my heart is just too big sometimes and even though I am going home in two and a half weeks, there are people I've come to know well and care about at the farm who are going to be there for a little bit longer. I want to know they are alright.

I should get all their booking numbers hopefully tomorrow (Friday) and then Lord willing I should get some envelopes and stamps this Saturday (I run out of them pretty quickly) on commissary, at the latest Tuesday. But I already started writing the letters to them today because I was excited when I heard I'd be able to and also I had some free time.

Thanks Michelle for writing me and for reading the blog. It'll be a little bit before I can make it across state lines to come visit you. But maybe you'll be coming out this way soon after I get out and we can get together.

One more thing I wanted to touch on...apparently while I have
been in jail, "Chinese Democracy" the long, looooooong awaited studio album from one of my favorite bands, Guns N' Roses, has finally been released. Now, the better part of my life as a performer and someone with a deep appreciation for music has been spent waiting for this album to come out. Axl Rose has been working on it for damn near 19 years! I know it came out in November, but I just found out about it. Does anybody understand what this means to me? I get out of jail, and I will have available to me a brand new GNR album for purchase!! The gods smile upon me!

If I had been aware of Chinese Democracy being released I would have asked someone to play it for me over the phone or something. Anyway, I'm stoked.

But now, I am going to mark another day off on my calendar and go to bed. Another day down, another day closer to home. Bye y'all.