What�s next? Can I stop asking myself that for one moment and just BE in the present, appreciating this moment in time?

It�s quiet in the drop-in right now. In the weeks before I left for Burning Man and after I returned, attendance grew in quantam proportions, by word of mouth mostly, although while I was gone a couple came by who had seen the website in Los Angeles and were inspired by it to travel. Up until this week, there were upwards of ten young people here every day we were open, talking, writing, singing, going in groups to the open mic�s at Brainwash and 16th and Mission. The energy was absolutely beautiful and alive, creating a sense of interrelatedness and meaningful interaction. Writers came in with volumes full of new works. When I got back to work, The General handed me a 100+ page book he�d written while I was gone. Last Thursday, Luke came in and cranked out a 10-page story about his experiences in San Francisco, The View From The Street. I strongly suggest taking the time to sit down and read this, it just might open up your heart a little bit. Such honesty is a rare thing - even if it is only one perspective, isn�t that really all we have to share with one another? It sure beats the news, which has seemed the same to me for as long as I can remember, at least since I came back to the U.S. from New Guinea 12 years ago. Same war, different name. Same bullshit, different president. Same issues � racism, violence, economy � all different takes on the same thing. I mean, really, the Gubernatorial Debate - are all these things we are supposed to find important starting to seem unreal to anybody else? I feel like my Bible-beating father saying this, but this country IS in a sad state. Kobe Bryant and rape; �rebuilding� Iraq. I mean, really. No wonder I never know what to talk about.

So what IS next, apart from departure? I�m in; I�m not going anywhere, but I�m constantly dissatisfied with what I�m doing, thinking it can�t be enough, although at least half of the young people that come in tell me that they�re writing for the first time in years. I suppose that just being here is something. I just feel that they deserve so much more; I mean, the things that these youth talk and write about have so much more substance to them than almost everything else I hear in coffee shops and on TV and in bars and clubs. Really. How can we take over the world? We need some help here.

Last weekend, a whole group of kids took off to jump trains, several of them for the first time. I was so excited, but a little envious, and a little sad, watching them all go. I felt a little bit like the mother hen. It�s great, though, getting emails from those who came before. It feels like family.

The Freedom Manual is finally in the final stages of publication. It looks fabulous � hopefully its distribution will allow more people to know about the project, and the more awareness we can spread, the faster we can grow. I fantasize about getting a school bus and having a traveling drop-in�.making a t-shirt line, chapbooks, a Roaddawgz cabaret�.some of these ideas may actually become realities within the next few months, but I think we are ready to evolve in many ways and need only a little help to do so. If you are interested in contributing to Roaddawgz in any way, be it with materials, ideas, time, or anything else, please feel free to let us know. Thank you to all who have sent us words of support and encouragement, as well as those who�ve contributed their inner workings via stories and poems. It�s words like these that give me, and hopefully others, hope.