Swingout Sister Was Right*

Inabidi niondoke kesho.

That's Swahili for "I have to leave tomorrow." I learned in my Lonely Planet phrase book in the 'romance' section.

My stomach's been in knots for the past couple days. I'm not sure if it's anxiety or excitement, or maybe a cocktail of both. Lots of change and uncertainty ahead ... going back to school, giving up (for the time being at least) on making any significant money in a "real" job, waiting to hear about that liver thing. Feeling that the big blah is just around every corner and trying to avoid figuring out why.

It's that hollow rumbling feeling in your gut before a big test, or opening night jitters, or being 15 years old and dreading having to mow lawns all day with a fireman and an English teacher in an unwanted summer job your mom's hooked you up with. Looking back, the fireman was kinda hot, but that could just be a false-repressed memory. I have those sometimes.

All those years of therapy gave me such a good set of tools and what do I do with them? Travel!

As we've said before, It's not running away. It's carefully planning an escape.

So yeah. Off to Africa in the morning. Kenya believe it? (see what I did there?)

It's truly going to be amazing. We're staying here, here, and here. And despite my neuroses here on the homefront, I'm really looking forward to it, and hoping that no one channels Mrs. Francis Macomber.

I've decided to go without the laptop. Just write in a new notebook, specially purchased today for the trip, and take a break from technology. It's the first time I've done that in about ten years, I reckon. I'll have the camera, with at least 1gb of memory, and I'll take the iPod with plenty of Battlestar Gallactica on it, just in case, but that's more for the plane ride. Um, yeah.

So blogging will be sparse, if not non-existant. But I have added a little Twitter window in the sidebar, so there might be some updates there. If you get bored, there's plenty of other good stuff out there. Why not troll through my archives and compile a "reader's favorites" list? It can go on the redesigned site in the next couple of months. Yes, changes are everywhere.

And remember, you can go here and sponsor me in the marathon. Only four weeks till that comedy of painful errors.

Or you can go here and buy Shaggy Blog Stories.

Or you can hurry up and send me your home address and I'll write you a mini blog post postcard from Africa. Actually, I've had a few postcard requests (for readers' kids, of course), so if you'd like a postcard, go on and email me your snail address. Anything received before midnight tonight (my time) is guaranteed, anything after, well ... we'll do our best.

bob@DELETETHISbobzyeruncle.com

I wonder if I'll have the chance to say unanitumia kwa mapenzi tu** to any of the Masai guides we've been promised.

But that's all tomorrow, and it's all about living in the present. So now I have to bolt off to the opening night gala of the London Gay & Lesbian Film Festival. I don't know why they call it a gala. It's just a movie screening. Apparently you have to get invited to the big shindig after. The Royal Post has mucked it up again.

Nitakukosa.

* It's better to travel

** for those of you sans phrasebook, that means "you're just using me for sex." Those phrasebooks sure do come in handy, eh?