Follow the blood out of here

I've been gone too long. I forgot that you always, always have to carry toilet paper around you and I forgot that it helps to have a ring. Yesterday forgetting the ring meant that I spent 40 minutes talking to a Palestinian guy named Marwan who claimed to like me a lot. You don't say? I bet you tell every blond chick that walks past your store that you're a poet and a very romantic person. But seriously, Marwan was OK and it was insightful to talk to him about the situation here.

Which, by the way, isn't great (that saying it mildly). You don't understand what checkpoints and barbwire really mean until you've driven from Jerusalem to Ramallah and seen all the points where the IDF has just blocked the road to piss you off. And I do mean piss you off, there are places where security-wise you could let the traffic flow but no, not here. Block it! Wire it! Make if difficult! I wanna take Condi out for a ride...

I'll come back to the blood-following at some point. Now need sleep.