this is it. this is mecca. freaks and robots from all over dream of the day they first set foot on the strip of beachfront cement referred to as "venice beach" its ... "99 cent  cheese slice" "free doughnut samples" "get your magic fairies" "hey" "ill play 6 people at one time" "mushrooms? "who needs mushrooms?" "not me, i can barely deal with it now" never eat mushrooms in the presence of aliens and venice beach is filled with aliens. i was lucky enough to meet one young pilgrim called rafe. he hitch-hiked here from his home town of salt lake city. he has been living in a bathroom on the beach since july 6 of this year. he is 23. a country boy with a message. i asked him lots of questions and he answered positively every time, even when he was speaking of his living arrangements. he said "if you can keep your karma straight, everything always comes when you need it." how wonderful it is to be living in a universe where the only worry we really have is keeping our karma straight. all the other things are our own additions -the trailers that we choose to pull around with us. rafe and i walked up and down the strip together as we talked. he knew every street person and freakshow by name. sometimes its nice to have a guide. he seemed happy enough to have someone new to talk to and bum smokes off. cigaretts are a fair trade in my opinion for good conversation. i watched as he haggled with some of the others over a popason chair that some guy had brought down to the beach, positioned atop one of the small service huts, and sat down in....after the police took him away the chair was quickly claimed by a local and bidding started at a bong and a pair of slightly worn red loafers.i couldn't  stay. i felt too guilty to be standing there with my good fortune. i went and checked out the "tv man" show. he sits under a table with  his head through a bombed out tv set acting out improvisational battle field dramas with plastic army men...the thing that is most disturbing to me  with all of these people is that you get the eery feeling they're right. i dont know who's right but i can tell you this-- there is a community of aliens living on the coast of california. happy aliens with no home, with no money, and no worries,and i almost joined up. venuzianly,