Kenny Dirt Jeans

I ended up going to Santa Cruz today, and as I was heading down Riverside I noticed the Peter Pan Motel, the infamous home of my 1989 summer project with Campus Crusade for Christ. (I particpated my freshman year of college at Arizona State, long before I moved here,) Sure enough, the marquee sign read "Campus Crusade for Christ." Funny thing is, I don't remember those things starting until April or May. But at any rate, I saw a young-looking group milling around the grounds, which brought back all sorts of memories. That was me 12 years ago! Very strange.

The day also got me thinking about something S.L. said on Friday, when I was trying to decide between Santa Cruz and San Francisco. San Fran is good when you have something in mind to do, she said, but Santa Cruz is a place you can "just be." How true. I don't know whether things have always been this way, but public spaces -- places to just sit and be -- seem progressively sparse. These days, people gather in places like malls and bookstores, where a person has to purchase the right to spend time. BTW, the price for sitting in Borders and typing this up was $6.47: $4.75 for the tuna sandwich (with mustard -- ugh) and Lays Classic chips, $1.25 for the 16 oz. Hi-C lemonade and 47 cents in state tax for ordring it "for here" instead of "to go." Even government wants you to cough up the cash to just be.