I am now back in Colorado. However, even though my computer is only a fraction of a kilometer away, I find myself sitting outside at a picnic table, using a pen and paper as the small amount of daylight in the sky is about to disappear.

Why? After a brief jog and a supper at the little fast food Mexican place across the street, I returned to the Neighborly Abode, thinking I would transcribe my ramblings from the trip. But I had 2 problems 1) It was getting dark, and unfortunately there is currently no light suitable for reading near my PC. 2) It was so freaking hot and muggy in there, I just wanted back outside again. So here I am.

It is an absolutely beautiful evening outside. Not hot. Not cold. Not damp. Not overly dry. Not windy, but there's a tiny breeze. Just nice.

The next thing I need to document are the events after Illinois. Let's start with the playlist, from Lombard, Illinois, to Lincoln, NE. (Please bear with this oddly compulsive perversion of mine to document and post playlists from my road trips.)

• Too Much Information - an underground industrial compilation from unmediated productions
• Hungry Lucy - Apparitions
• Tool - Lateralus
• Nightwish - Century Child
• DJ Armin Van Buuren - Boundries of Imagination
• Britney Spears - Britney
• Tori Amos - Strange Little Girls

[Bitscape gets up to look for a spot to sit under a streetlight.]

Not the most comfy spot, but it will work. Now, getting back to our narrative...

On this drive, I wasn't quite as vigorous. I stopped a couple times both in Illinois and Iowa; to sleep and to call Yanthor. My attempts at a brief nap in the car at a rest stop succeeded. (It was the middle of the day, but I felt so sleepy that I honestly didn't consider myself a safe driver, despite a full night's sleep before. Wierd.) My attempts to contact Yanthor failed. AT&T cell phone coverage driving across country is absolutely dismal. The wise will avoid them at all costs if you do much traveling. (But I don't.)

So I decided I would be strange, and just show up unannounced. (Yanthor would later be telling funny stories about some of his relatives, but we won't go there.)

I arrived at around 21:00 CDT. Since Humblik's was the apartment whose number I remembered, I went and buzzed his first. I was semi-surprised to hear the outer door click open without comment from the little speaker. "The fest that never ends..."

Up in the Humblik Zone, Linknoid and Humblik were watching Star Trek VI on tv. Yanthor was not present. I attempted to call Yanthor again and this time succeeded. He had just gotten home from work, and was quite surprised to learn of my location. A few minutes later, he arrived on the scene.

More Battlestar Galactica episodes followed. (Sprinkle the preceding sentence liberally at random intervals throughout the rest of this rambling to get an idea of how things went without me repeating myself endlessly.)

More Battlestar Galactica episodes followed. (Get the picture?)

I slept over at Yanther's place, since he had a couch free, and, well, he was the one who had invited me. However, almost all movie and tv show viewing was done at Humblik's.

On Thursday, while Yanthor went to work, I busied myself with wandering around the city of Lincoln, visiting some of my old haunts. The ucollege.edu campus, I found more vacant than I've ever seen it due to the fact that it's summer. As for Culver Hall... My God! My, My, My!!! Speechless.

Of course, I couldn't resist Homer's, though I had to go to a different branch, since the one I frequented most back in my college days was long gone. At the Homer's on O St near 56th, the items that spoke to me were: Tori Amos concert DVD on sale for $16, which also included a companion cd with bonus tracks; DJ Tiesto's Just Be, and a used copy of Roxette's Look Sharp. (The last for someone other than myself, as I have had my own copy of it almost since the beginning of time.)

I went to the mall and found a card at Hallmark to send to grandpa. Normally, I'm not much of a card giver, but it was the only thing I could think of. I know it won't help his grief, but I want him to know that even after grandma's gone, there are still people in this world who care about him.

From there, I drove to downtown where I parked, signed and mailed the card, and walked around, noticing various things that have changed. (Most noticable: Some of the old theatres have been closed down, and a big new multiplex is currently under construction.) I ate at a little Greek place, and then hurried back to the car to see that my parking meter had expired. (Luckily, no ticket.)

Back at Humblik's place, I found Linknoid deeply engaged in Diablo 2.

Thursday evening... remember the phrase to repeat? Good.

On Friday, Yanthor took the day off work to hang with me. We went to the Lincoln branch of the Temptation Zone, where many exciting items were encounterd, and a few acquired. Yanthor purchased: An anti-virus program for a computer he's installing for somebody else, the complete Firefly series (I swear, I had nothing to do with it! Soon, Yanthor and Anya too shall also be inducted into our little cult. [Conspiratorial laugh.]), and a copy of Children of Dune miniseries.

As for me, I acquired a copy of the unrated extended cut of Underworld. Yummy. (The word "Unrated" conjures unprompted thoughts of Kate Beckensdale getting down with some serious NC-17 nudity action. While I certainly wouldn't mind if that were the case, I'm not holding my breath, and I'll be happy with anything that resembles a slightly longer version of what we saw in the theater.)

Saturday afternoon, we watched the 4.5 hour Children of Dune epic. It was indeed epic. I struggled to even remember a lot of the characters from the first one. There were many good scenes, and some very touching moments. This being the second time Yanthor had seen it, he said he enjoyed it even more than the first.

Saturday night, Yanthor, Humblik and I went bowling. (Linknoid wasn't feeling up to it.) We ended up going to the same venue where our Sunday morning leagues used to take place in the days of old. Loads of fun. By some odd stroke of luck, I even managed to win the first game, despite being severely out of practice.

After bowling, we searched in vain for an open Taco Inn or other fast food restaurant to satiate our nutritional requirements. Even though it wasn't even midnight yet, pretty much everything was closed down. On a Saturday night. Only in Lincoln.

Yanthor and Humblik did know of a Village Inn that stays open all night, so eventually we settled on that. We sat around the booth, ate our breakfast style foods, and talked on various topics.

When we got back to Humblik's, Yanthor and I watched his movie Evelyn. It was a very emotional movie. Afterwards, Yanthor and I talked late into the night about profound topics until our brains could no longer function.

Sunday morning, we woke up late. I watched part of Yanthor's Alanis Morissette Feast on Scraps DVD.

Around 14:30 CDT, I bid my hospitable hosts farewell, and took leave of the place. My stay in Lincoln had, in actuality, lasted longer than my stay in Illinois. It was time to go back to Colorado.