Letters from the Inside, Justin Barber, #2

Hey Kelly,

I hope this letter finds you safe and well. Thanks for writing again, althugh I wasn't able to receive your last letter. I've enclosed a copy of the unathorized Mail Return Receipt pertaining to your letter. you shoudl receive a copy from the mail room and the rejected mail, but it could be a while. I decided to send you my copy so you'll know why I haven't responded to your letter and so you'll have the mail rules. Of course it's nice to hear my nail at mail call, and it's disappointing to only receive a rejection notice. It must be how Charlie Brown feels when Lucy snatchs the football away while he tries to kick it. [Ed.: I sent him a small snapshot taken of me on New Year's Eve so he could see what I look like. While photos are allowed, I happen to cut someone out of this one and then taped the small picture of me to the letter. I didn't realize that one is not allowed to tape anything to a letter.]

I'm well. it's been cold here lately with los in the teens (extreme cold for NW Florida). The weather has limited our time outside on the Recreation Yard and my running is suffering. The staff here have been using the time indoors to thoroughly and repeatedly shake the place down, searching for drugs and cell phones. Ironically, most drugs and phones are introduced to the facility by members of the staff. Calls to approved phone numbers are allowed via land line at roughly $2 per 15 minutes, but contraband cell phones are still an issue. Possessing a cell phone is a felony carrying up to 2 years, so it's serious business getting caught with one.

Having re-read the card you sent in December, I'm interested in what you mean by having recently privatized your blog. Do you mean the blog is a commercial endeavor available to paying customers or is it available only to select friends and acquaintances? And of course I'd like to receive stories from your blog. Or from anywhere else for that matter. Intellectual stimulation, well, any type of stimulation, really, is in short supply here.

I need to close. It's chow time. The DOC has eliminated virtually all meat protein from the menu and replaced it with TVP (texturized vegetable protein). From what I understand, it's derived from the oil component of soy beans and shipped in a dehydrated flake form. It's re-hydrated here and used as a meat substitute. TVP is basically the residue or waste/recovered part of the soy bean, or do I'm told. I do know it absolutely wreaks havoc on the digestive system. With 56 men living in a space roughly the size of 2 raquetball courts, TVP has not been well-received by the inmate population. You probably didn't need ot know that. I don't like to complain, but I'm 5'9" and 145lbs at last weigh-in and I'm starving to death. But when I think about it I'd be the last person to advocate prisoner rights. At least not if all the prisoners are actually guilty.

Take care,

Justin