8:28 AM

Monday in the happiest place on earth: Athens, Georgia! [Editor's note: this ended up a real long post! It was because I liked the place so much! But you can skip over it if you get bored.]

• I went to the Welcome Center and got tipped off about a sweet secret parking spot. I planted my car there and walked around town the rest of the day. Sweet! And no, I'm not telling you where!!!
  
• The grand R.E.M. tour: The "Murmur" railroad trestle, the steeple of "The Church" where the band played their first show, and Weaver D's Fine Foods (of "Automatic for the People" fame). That was probably the greasiest meal I've had in years. YEARS.
  
• I shopped 'til I dropped. I was throwing down so much cash that at one point I had to simply haul my treasures back to my car and lock myself in for an hour so that I didn't totally go broke buying comics and CDs (the winner, and new champion...best store in the world: Low Yo Yo Stuff) and junk/treasures (Agora...almost sorta like a flea market except awesomer).
  
• I chatted with many locals. I think people are really friendly there! I talked to one fellow who ran a store called the "X-Ray Cafe", which was a weird name because they only sold plain coffee, and then everything else was videos, books, CDs, and records. He asked me if it was just Athens where people, in a nutshell, were getting "preppier", or whether it was a national trend. If it is, I suppose I'm contributing to it. I kind of felt bad and disappointed with myself that I wasn't doing something unique and creative with my life.
  
• I had the Grand Opening Special $2 Mocha at Hot Corner Coffee, twice. Once in the afternoon, when it caught my eye while walking past, and once at 2 AM to keep me awake for the drive back to Atlanta.
  
• I had an utterly inspiring meal at a diner called...CLOCKED! Everything was just exquisitely perfect. All the ingredients I liked were in everything, and nothing I didn't like, and it was all just the right amount. And I was reminded that RC Cola is real good! I was so inspired that I took the excess change I had in my wallet and left it on the table arranged in the shape of the word "TIP"...photograph duly taken and so it shall be posted here when I get it developed. In fact, I almost unloaded a whole roll just on Athens stuff.
  
• Bars! I tried Woodchuck Peach Cider. Very tasty! And then a PBR. Tastefully priced! At the same place, called Lunch Paper, I played both pinball machines and rocked the jukebox with my awesome selections: "Jeepster" by T. Rex, "Aggressive Perfector" by Slayer (although on second thought, I would have picked "Criminally Insane"), "Johnny Hit and Run Pauline" by X, and "Stop Breaking Down" by the Stones (I actually meant to pick "Happy" from the same album, but hit the wrong buttons). I also got a High Life at the 283 Bar. Somebody said during the day that law students from UGA hang out there, but I saw no evidence of it. But that was my drinking for the evening.
  
• The Caledonia! Don Caballero! I got there really, really early. In fact, I got so bored waiting that I decided to get my hand restamped and leave the club to find and photograph the Double-Barrelled Cannon and the Tree That Owns Itself (wait til I show the photo to Prof. Braunstein!!!). So then I came back, and saw the opening band, Concrete Duck. Pretty excellent and cool. Then the "new" Don Caballero...drummer to the gods Damon Che was set up front-and-center. Musically, awesome. Che was either surly or faux-surly, but definitely 1000% rock star. There were two annoying drunk guys that Che was bantering with. Again, annoyed or faux-annoyed? Not sure.

So that was my day in Athens. Today I need to settle down and relax and rest my knees and back...I must have walked...geez...like 5 miles yesterday or something. Maybe I'll go see a movie today. Anyway, sorry for the long post. I hope you skipped it if you thought it was boring. I was just really into Athens.