(I took a few pictures today)
There is a guy that I see downtown quite often. He is homeless, his clothes are filthy, his hair is matted and in dire need of washing. His face is almost entirely covered in some sort of green tattoo.

Several times I have seen him. Most of the time he seems to be circling pioneer square. I have never heard him speak, except once.

He was walking up taylor street as I was walking down it. I saw him from a good twenty feet before we crossed paths. He said three words, quietly, as I walked by, but it was obvious that his intent was for me to hear him.

"I smoke crack" is what he said.

"you have no fucking clue." She spit as she walked out the door, confused and angry. She skipped off the makeshift mason steps with one gigantic thought forming in her mind. She felt the minute of conception as it rapidly grew in to a full born plot.

She hit the streets running, the rain pouring, her steps exploding on the wet concrete. She passed her house, barely turning her head to see her parents in the living room, watching television. She passed her school without a flinch. She passed the mall, no doubt full of girls she hated. She turned her head as she crested the hill, feeling a burst of bliss, a surpise endorphin fix. The feeling a child gets on christmas morning.

And when she reached the edge of the city, the edge of the world, the place where rivers drain and ships disappear and people never return, she dove head first. And as she did, a smile could be seen on her face.

I do believe this was the happiest day of her life.

I love the smell of freshly cut grass. My room mate told me that if you piss in the shower it lowers your chance for athletes foot. the sky looks nice today. I have athletes foot, and it really sucks. sometimes I fall asleep with my eyes open. I quit smoking four days ago. I want to walk through a rainforest and hear birds and monkeys calling. Sometimes when its raining I sit outside and soak up the sky. I once stole a plaster foot out of a shoe display in fred meyers. It now resides next to my computer. I want to stand by a stream, with no one around, my fingers just barely gracing the surface. I want to fall in to the river. I want to be carried away with it.

It's the starbucks phenomenon. The thing that everyone loves to hate, yet, with sheepish expressions, we hide when confronted with our own ignorance.

In my experience, however limited, life is a series of beliefs. Beliefs that hover above us, breaking the way in everything that we do. Whether it is the belief that anti-conformity somehow brings validity to your life, or the belief that a good job is the key to success, or that religion is the key to salvation, or whatever your conviction is, we all have one, or two, or three, or a hundred.

Really, is any one's belief or conviction any more profound, or earth shattering, or meaningful then anothers? I don't think so. We are all songs from the same band, but we all have a different tempo, and a different meaning. Ultimately, no one's perspective is any more relevant then anothers. Everyone thinks that their particular conviction is the most important, and that somehow they hold the key to the lock.

We all have a key, but there is no door to unlock.