Traveler from beyond 2036

I made it back to 2011 recently. Early January. It was eerie and refreshing revisiting. They all seemed so placid. Blissfully unaware of what was to come in 25 short years, even though the seams were straining all around them. I saw other travelers, they were easy to spot. Some that had never taken a step in the real world. Somewhere in this place in time, I Love Lucy was still being broadcast. The 20th century, in it's murky, multiple existence, was everywhere. I myself found several talisman. Pristine original vinyl, at ridiculously low prices. Neil Diamond's Hot August Night - $1.99. Steve Miller, Fly Like An Eagle, $1.99. Others too. Maybe they were plants. It seems impossible that relics like that could exist in such great condition so close to the end.

The salespeople at the junk shop were travelers, trying so hard to mimic the human experience. but obviously not real. There was condescension there of course, attempts to read me as a traveler too. But they couldnt make me. Unlike them, I'd felt 2011 already. I'd walked those streets, I'd had sore knees, and felt the breeze tickling my cheek. You can't fake that visitors, and as superior as you may be, you need these humans to stay what and where they were, at least until 2036, or thereabouts. And you need travelers like me to keep it real, confirm your suspicions, so to speak.

I'm thinking of staying around 2011 for a while. The rips are starting to show, and soon the structure will fall apart completely. It's an exciting, electric time. The denial is palpable. Theories run amok, and all distractions from what seems to be hanging in the air all around us.

There's a Super Bowl coming up. It's the Black Eyed Peas this year. The nonexistent. It'll be interesting to see how humanity side steps the breakdown of reality when confronted with the most tostito and beer consumptive 4 hours in human history.