forgetting . . .

Keep yourself as an other
Keep perfection as a crime
Keep illusion for the end
Keep on line for the while

Jean Baudrillard Cool Memories

I have been on the road for nearly 9 months - about 7700 miles, close to 8400 miles including boat travel. I crossed the Tropic of Cancer and the Equator. My journey is beyond the half way point. My daily existence can be pretty all consuming at times . . . then nothing. I am forgetting a lot of things. My past life is falling away in pieces phone number by phone number. I don't remember my own phone number then again I don't have a phone. What did I wear before bike shorts and a jersey or jeans and red t-shirt? I remember faces without names, movies without titles, music without artists, places without addresses - I don't use them and they fade. I start to reference something in conversation then realize I don't remember details to make it relevant. I am forced into a new way of speaking, into the moment, because that is where I am. I talk to so many strangers they no longer seem strange. When I realized what was happening I resisted and tried to remember, sitting, pedaling, remembering, but you cannot fight the tide of forgetfulness. I don't actually feel any different just in a new place. I still swear to much. Perhaps memory is overrated, how much do I really need to know? I see faces that look familiar but I cannot remember the name of who they remind me of. I have read that there are only so many types of people in the world. I see the same faces over and over, maybe a little browner or a little shorter or a little taller but still a person I know. Makes the world feel small all of a sudden. As for news . . . what news? Wait the world is not here?