The Continuing Literacy Crisis

June 14
5:08 p.m.

They said there was wifi here, but I can’t seem to crack the code. I’m in a lovely café in Lexington, Kentucky, right across from the theater where the show will be. It’s called Natasha’s. I’m sipping green tea (yes, I’m indoors) and waiting for the couple I’m meeting for dinner—people I’ve never laid eyes on. The Internet is strange.

I’m getting very eager to just be at Bonnaroo. I think I’m pushing myself a little hard, driving-wise. I have another five hours tonight.

I have bought the materials to make a Corncat-themed shirt. I went to a Salvation Army in Hurricane, West Virginia, and got a yellow T-shirt. I also got a pretty silver bangle and a truly terrifying gold-tone pendant: It’s a face—maybe a jack o’lantern, maybe just a smiley with a triangular nose—and where the eyeholes are, rhinestones dangle. It’s hanging from my rear view mirror.

While I was in Hurricane, I found the most badly edited newspaper I’ve ever seen in an English-speaking country. I’m pretty sure it’s not from a school project. Some of the headlines just stop when the space runs out. The Sudoku is spelled “Sodoku” on the solution page. The word search misspells two clues. I’m afraid to try the letter jumbles. The incredibly nuance-impaired crossword puzzle offered the clue “Hemlets.” I hoped for some cleverness—a clue for “MINIS”—but of course it was for “TOWNS.”

My horoscope for the month of June is as follows: “You need the fellowship of others to be complete. But the poeple in your ife must accept you as you are. Your psychic abilities are valuable. Learn to trust them.”

Are you Taurus? “Reasonable and able to take on responsibility don’t over do it, others get to the point they expect this. Then in their eyes, your gifts fode. Keep the magic and love in you to share with all.”

I had a message from my British friend earlier; his plane was overbooked, and he’s stuck in New York. He’s supposed to be at Bonnaroo by now. I hope that things get sorted soon; I want him there next to me at the Thompson set, bellowing “Push and Shove!”

I didn’t even look for RT’s tour bus. I must be slipping.