IOWA

So I'm back in Iowa for the second time and Des Moines is growing on me. We just started tour with Saints Never Surrender and so far it has been good. We all tried to eat at wendys last and tom tom took us to the ghetto. It didn't work out.

I can't really tell if kids are into what we are doing. I guess for our first tour out here it could be much worse. We are making enough money to keep going and I am thankful for that. I feel blessed to be doing this.

Oh man

I am about halfway through a 12 hour drive to Missouri. Nick is driving 55 to save on gas because we are running out of money. All get out is blasting to keep him awake. A few small changes have made this trip a little different but I'm feeling good about everything. I get to see my mom in a few days while we are in Minnesota. I drank 4 energy drinks earlier and I felt my heart trying to jump out of my chest. I peed about 8 times and now I'm feeling so much better, I read on the can that you can only have 3 in a day. I had 4 in 30 minutes. My impulsiveness sometimes gets me in trouble. I want to remember small details from days. I don't want to forget anything. I did a handstand on michaels door today, I watched waiting with Elyse. I filled up the water bottle with pee 5 times. My worst, 11 pm 2/12/09.

God has blessed me in so many ways; we paid for the van with money to spare, we have gas, and we have sold some shirts.We drive to Angrier,NC today and then to Wilmington. After that we head out to Florida and the midwest. I cannot wait to see my mother in minnesota and start this saints never surrender tour! Fun times for him

Two off days.
Possibly the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life.
I want shows to be booked and confirmed for a change.
I cannot wait until these dates are rock solid and do not fall through like the last few.

Im looking forward to getting back and writing 6 more songs.

tour

In the van right now on the way to Virginia. The past 2 days have been ridiculous, here is an overview. First we get pulled over for our trailer lights being out. The cops helped us and got us back on the road after we found out it was a broken fuse.All of that made us late to the new brookland show, after our set michael walked into the bathroom and discovered two guys fighting in the bathroom.one of them being a new brookland employee. He broke it up and on the way of throwing the drunken idiot out, he turns and swings at michael. We all grabbed the guy and threw him outside. Later on he came back starting more stuff and he got punched several times by a whole mess of people. The cops came and we decided to leave. I don't understand how anyone can act like that, alchohol or not. We drove to greenville and then realized that our lights for the trailer were wired backwards. when we pressed the brakelights they turned off on the trailer.plus the turn signals were not working. In greenville we got all that fixed thanks to the guys at leonard, super nice guys. That brings us to now. Somewhere in virginia.

So I am saving money like crazy to buy a van. This is a lot of money but I am in no way worried that I wont get it. I know what I am doing is right, I am on the right track with this. I am sick but I am still going to work because I need money so bad. I don't feel bad because I am not hoarding for myself. This is really scatter-brained but I need to vent......

Awhile

Sunday morning and my house is burning up, chad is sleeping in my closet on an air mattress and Matt is on a futon downstairs. Outside it is chilly and I am laughing to myself that everyone was wishing for cold weather a week ago, then it finally comes and they are miserable. I like being cold. I like hoodies and toboggans. It's cold enough for my toes to thaw out in the shower and they get the weird tingly feeling. Love that.

Dusk is the first CD I am content with. I cannot wait to tour.

I need to re-string my axe for the show tonight.
I need to get the trailer organized.
I need to get some cash together to duplicate this CD.
I need some food and water.
I need to take buddy to the vet.

I want Taco Bell
I want to get the van we saw yesterday(which is amazing BTW)
I want to get some records made.(I don't have an extra 1,000 laying around though)
I want to find some black curtains for my room to block out the sun.

I want to add more to this list, but I cant think right now.

I am convinced this whole band is nocturnal now. We sleep until 4 and go to bed at 5. We went out once today to go eat some Outback for Chad's birthday. Thank you Glenn and Miss Jessie!

I explored a little, skating around Cleveland. The wheels on my skateboard are rusty from skating in the rain the other day. Needless to say, I was going pretty slow.


Home in 3 days

First of all Congrats to Tyler and Jenny. Jenny gave birth to a boy early this morning!!!!!! Everything went smooth.

Yesterday was weird without Koontz here. He left for a few days to spend time with his family. I felt like I forgot something all day. You spend that much time with someone you get used to hearing them around I guess. THANK YOU TO MATTS FATHER!!!!!

In light of all this excitement it looks like we will be taking a few days off. We may do a few things tomorrow buts all up in the air.

Three songs are complete and all the leads are finished.
We have three more songs that need vocals .
We are going to stick around for some mixing.
Then the songs are being sent off to get mastered.

After all this its back home. It's going to be a shock walking in my front door. Coming back is going to frustrate me. Im treading water at home. Stagnant is the word. I miss my family and friends but I don't miss Myrtle Beach.
Its crazy how some peoples idea of paradise is another's idea of hell.

So its has been a chilly Tuesday morning and I just took my third shower of this trip. We have finished vocals on one song and will be doing leads today and vocals at night. Chad is nailing everything and the studio is filled with good spirits. Except for a few midnight wrestling matches. The schedule for the rest of the week follows the same trend, leads during the day and vocals at night. No pics, I will take some today. By the end of the weekend this CD may be done. Then we have to head home, which sucks!

Its Thursday, Day 2 of guitars. Im ready to get started on all of this. We are about halfway through one song and it is sounding heavy, my Krank head and a JCM 800 together. I might upload some pics of yesterday once I find my USB cable, I can't find it for the life of me. We played some basketball yesterday too. Intense stuff. Koontz elbowed me in my tooth. Other than that things have been fairly low key. Plenty of ridiculous jokes and moments that will keep me laughing the rest of my life.

So its Monday and we are tracking bass. The day off yesterday was good. We went to the mall to buy a football and a basketball. The mall here is an exact replica of the old inlet square, fountains and all. I felt like I stepped onto the set of "Fast Times at Ridgemont High" and Spacoli was going to pop out of a corner and slap me a high five.Then we went to Lee University to play some 21. We played about 3 games and decided to call it. We got some groceries later and then hung out at First St. the rest of the night. Fun Times. 2 more weeks of it to come.

It smells so fresh outside. Clear air with faint odor of funnel cakes. All of First St. is blocked off for some Apple Festival tomorrow or something. There may be free food so we are going to head up there sometime today. We went to the museum yesterday and looked through the gift shop, I did not feel like spending 5 dollars on seeing the actual museum. Then we headed to this place called The Spot, I guess they have great hamburgers, but I ate some fries. They were pretty tasty. Taco bell and ramen are saving my life right now. I bought some Soy milk too, so I'm pretty set. Its cooling off here and I cant wait to throw on a hoodie!

Day 6 brings more drum editing. We will be listening to everything and if everything is good we will move on to tracking bass tomorrow. We drove down to the dam yesterday and took some pictures. It was awesome. Im excited to hear some guitars.

Matthew Koontz pumped through some songs today, We will spend the next few days editing and cutting up. Fishing is what is happening tomorrow.

Its about 10:30 in the morning and I am sitting outside after just walking to the store for some pineapple orange juice. I cant sleep past 8 so I figured I would let everyone sleep and find something to occupy my time. Cleveland is exactly what I expected it to be, and I think living here for a month will be a nice change. First Street has a real homey feel as well. There is a T.V. in our room with game cube and the only game in it is Mario Cart. Go Fig

"This isn't irrational or primitive or blind faith. It is merely being honest that we all are living a "way"

I'm convinced being generous is a better way to live.

I'm convinced forgiving people and not carrying around bitterness is a better way to live.

I'm convinced having compassion is a better way to live.

I'm convinced pursuing peace in every situation is a better way to live.

I'm convinced listening to the wisdom of others is a better way to live.

I'm convinced being honest with people is a better way to live.


This way of thinking isn't weird or strange; it is simply acknowledging that everybody follows somebody, and I'm trying to follow Jesus"

So im heading to Boone tomorrow. I will have no phone. Which could be pretty awesome. I can wait to climb something.

So today was my first full day of eating vegan again. It went pretty well. I have been slowly been easing my way back into it. Its going to be tough, I know myself, I know how shoddy my past attempts were. There were a few hurdles I had to overcome though and I feel like Im on the right track with my decision. I wouldn't be feeling this guilt about it if it was something I didn't want to do.

Rick said Clitoris at Church tonight. I am going to every night of this new series. Its going to be amazing. I cant wait to see all of the amazing things that come out of this. Recording got moved back a few days, So we can go to Ken's wedding. Pre-production is happening this week. Maybe one track will sneak its way onto myspace.