I think Cannibal Paul deserves more than just a note in my journal Because no one reads the travel journals of another person I don’t read my own. They exist to be filed Travel journals are just like photo albums Except a journal prevents that inevitable question That stops the smooth flow of narrative: who was that to the left of mother was he someone we knew? or was that the waiter? Who took this picture? Did we get the camera back? But in a travel journal when you write the landscape was so beautiful or stunning or sensational or whatever inadequate adjective your fumbling mind came up with at the time in the face of something foreign There is no corresponding picture to add verisimilitude to your claim of breathtaking But I dream that someday The journal the story about Cannibal Paul will keep me warm at night when I’ve forgotten everything Short Term - Overwhelmed by Daily Life.