Bicycle Diaries

August 12^th, 2010

SIX DAYS BEFORE LEAVING:

I figured I’d better start writing again to get back in the habit before I leave, since I want to log every day on the trip.

The last couple of weeks have been relatively stressful; being right in the middle of Cabaret – this is the last weekend – trying to plan this trip and prepare for it, both physically and in terms of equipment; working at the Lutheran church camp and finding out today that I have bronchitis – so it turns out the haggard, phlegmy cough I have had for three weeks is not just going to go away by itself. I’m freaking out about money because all the stuff I need for this is really expensive and I still need to pay for food and camping, and I’m starting to wonder if I will even physically be able to do the ride. All signs point to the craziness of the whole endeavor, but I guess I am going to do it anyway, bronchitis and all.

Part of me is absolutely terrified and part of me is like, “dude, chill, it will be okay.” Such is life. Talking to Adriane today at Cabaret after the show reaffirmed the feelings I have towards life right now. I’m very confused, I’m pretty scared most of the time and I have no idea where I’m going or what I’m doing, but apparently I’m okay with it. Maybe working at the Lutheran church is getting to me – God has a plan and everything will be cool if I try to do the right thing. If I hadn’t been raised a strict Atheist I probably would have made a good pastor. I mean, I get it. It’s all the same shit. Just people trying to deal with being scared.

So I am doing this thing. At least attempting it. I might end up being pretty miserable for most of the trip, but I said I would do it. I’m really excited. If I actually pull it off it will be awesome. My mom is really excited. Lolly is excited to see me in LA. I would be letting a lot of people down – especially myself – if I didn’t do it. This is not going to end up being one of those crazy ideas I have that I never follow through on. This is going to work.

UPDATE (next morning): The more research I do, the better I feel. The book I got – Bicycling the Pacific Coast, is phenomenal, and YouTube videos about packing for long tours put me at ease J

Gun Control and the Black Market

I remember in 9th grade having to present an argument in my social studies class - we could argue for or against anything we wanted - and I chose to argue for a ban of the second amendment. I was astonished at how many kids were angry. I thought that everyone would agree with me - I mean, this is Santa Cruz - but most of them were very offended. They started claiming that the second amendment is an American institution and that it can't just be changed. They seemed to think that taking something, anything, out of the constitution was like taking away one of the Ten Commandments. And when I argued against the entrenchment of institution for the sake of institution alone, many of them came back with exactly what second amendment purists seem to say - that outlawing guns would only force them onto the black market. I didn't have an argument for this when I was a freshman in high school, but I knew there was something illogical about this statement. As it was, I couldn't form a decent response, and I lost the debate. I still can't really put into words what I think is wrong with this sentiment, but I think it has something to do with the defeatist attitude it implies. A "Why even bother to try and make anything better - it's all going to shit anyway" mentality. This is the kind of mentality that destroys the morale and motivation of citizens, and it is absolutely rampant in the world today. The black market is the black market - a completely separate issue that should be dealt with as and when needed. Allowing the threat of the black market to determine whether or not we outlaw guns in this country is cowardly and ass-backwards. Should we also legalize cocaine to take it off the black market?

I'm not saying that the second amendment should be banned - I no longer believe that it is an appropriate thing to do. Though I do not personally agree with the use of hunting rifles and shotguns, I can see that for many people they are a part of life and it is not for me or for anyone to decide to take them away from citizens who do use them responsibly. Semi-automatic weapons and handguns, on the other hand, are a completely different story, and they need to be controlled. Unfortunately, I don't believe it will happen within my lifetime - America is too entrenched in its constitutional tradition, just as England is still clinging desperately to its royalty. And anyway, as with most natural and man-made disasters, it doesn't seem to happen very often, really, and it hasn't ever happened to us, has it? These kinds of things don't happen to us, we just hear about them on the news. Every time some lunatic with a gun kills a bunch of people, the issue is raised, and for a few weeks it's all anyone talks about. Then something else happens, and the issue is dropped, forgotten about, or played out. Didn't the same thing happen a decade ago at Columbine? And what really came of it? The same thing that will come of this, probably - Michael Moore will make a movie and we'll all go and see it because, you know, it's like, a relevant issue, and then suddenly it will be Valentine's Day, we will realize we haven't bought a present for so-and-so, and we will completely forget about it.