10/07/07 Norman, OK

Hello home. You are as exactly as I'd like you to receive me. My bed is as unmade as the morning I left you there three weeks prior. My curtain was already drawn and successfully blotting out the setting sun as if to say "welcome home little guy, why don't you enjoy an early evening nap?" Which is exactly what I did. I kept my shoes on in case Becky got here before I woke up and I dreamt about deserts and highways. Perhaps it was as a recalling and recapitulation of what my brain has stored in the last few weeks. I woke up sweaty and decided to listen to some jams. I turned my stereo up loud and listened to whatever the fuck I wanted to. Alone Time. We left five till 8:00 and loaded in at the Opolis located four blocks from where we live. It's strange how Norman feels exactly the same as it did as when I left. As though time were stopped, the movie paused. Save for the random structures that seem to wait for me to leave town to newly erect or newly fall like the new liquor store within walking distance or Sonic drive-in raised on Lindsay Street. Dinner was nice, soup at Bison Wiches. The show was bittersweet. In a business sense, the turnout was dismal for a hometown return show. In a friend sense it was lucrative and successful. I took in as much Zookeeper as I could, knowing it was our last time playing with them for a long while. I played the tambourine on I Live In The Mess You Are real hard for them. Later that night we went to the bar and all had drinks. After that they came over to the Halfie despite their impending 14-hour drive to Atlanta to hook up with the Good Life for a weeks worth of dates. Most of us drank beer and a few drank coffee and in a sobering moment Chris Simpson and Seth Woods performed for us acoustic renditions of Two Part Invention and Modern Life. Look, I don't cry really that often. And only really when I'm touched by something beautiful instead of things that are sad. Depressing things dehydrates me; truly incredible things pull my tears out like the morning warmth does the dew. I cried a little when they sang those songs for us. I felt as present as I did standing in the ocean a week prior. And I guess if I could pick my favorite moment from the entire tour that would be it. Lying on Scott's bed, ten minutes before our woeful goodbye.

10/06/07 Austin, TX

It took us a while to get moving today. College football makes these guys move like molasses. Which is fine, but I know if I wanted to stick around because there was a live feed of some sort of competitive poster printing match going on I'd get loaded up into the van whether I liked it or not. Once we at lunch (4:00pm) it was one at one of the only places I find redeeming in San Antonio and it is an authentic Mexican restaurant called Mama Margery’s. Then we went to see Kenny at the Buckle he manages in a cool outdoor mall and to the apple store because among the tens of things Nick has lost on this tour his Mac book charger was the most recent. Unfortunately, the apple store did not have any in stock. Then we drove the hourish to Austin and I slept the whole time. It was great sleep. The kind where you have to wipe the drool out of your moustache. When I woke up we were in front of Emo's. There was an early show going on so we couldn't load in yet so we walked six blocks to my friend's coffee shop, Progress Coffee, and all got some tasty coffee treats and read neat magazines. I sat outside and talked to my sister Emily on the phone for a good while about how my niece is going to an outdoorsy camp and how she's (my sister, not my niece, Ashley is totally stoked!) so nervous about it. Chiefly because she won't be around to tell her "not to step in the bear poop". Parents are funny in that way. I don't care how young you are; you're not going to step in a giant pile of shit on purpose. And if you do nail it, BAM, lesson learned: "Stepping in huge piles of shit is really not all that great. I am never doing it again." So Emily, if you ever read these accounts of my quasi-interesting exploits, let me assure you that Ashley has got it under control. Even if she steps in something undesirable, she's gaining something valuable.

How the hell did I wind up way over there on that tangent? Anyway, Emo's was great, really good staff and a stage manager that just all together had all of his shit in one sock. And our drink tickets scored us any beer wanted. It was fun seeing Zookeeper play their hometown, they had an accordion player and a piano player that joined them for their entire set. It was wonderful. We're staying with a very solid dude named Pierce. Though, I think he spells him name differently than that. He and I talked for a long while out on his porch; I really enjoyed his insight and vantage point.

Tomorrow, tomorrow we drive home. I'm ready for that. I'm excited for that. Don't ask me why because just don't.

10/05/07 San Antonio, TX

Dang it if I'm not totally discombobulated. The overnight drives always make me feel so crazy. But I had fun; Scott and I nearly finished The Kid Stays In The Picture and had deep convo about deep stuff. That's always good. We also saw tons of deer. Throngs of them. My rough estimate is about 30. The majority of the drive was small highways except for I-10 there at the end so we saw a lot of animal life. Every time we'd see a deer or a family of deer we'd both tense up and go "oh god" for fear that they may dart in front of us but they were all pretty blasé about us driving by. Scott said he saw a giant rabbit standing on its hind legs but I think he was hallucinating by that point. There was also no moon at all for the majority of the drive so everything that emerged from the darkness by the illumination of our headlights was some sort of creature until it came into focus. The sleep after completing the all night drive is always weird because, though I am beyond tired when I finally get to lay down (6:00am this time) I am completely addled by all the coffee and brain energy used to keep myself alert. We are staying with our friend Kenny who Scott has known for several years. He's a solid dood. So the show tonight was a lot of fun. It had all of the right ingredients to be no fun at all but regardless we all had a great time. The bush league promoter made Zookeeper open and then put two locals after them. If I had a confrontational bone in my body I would have given that guy what for but I don't. The culmination of little sleep, lots of lone star and playing after midnight made for a fun performance. At one point Scott did a high kick in my direction and my glasses flew off simultaneously by happenstance. It was awesome; it looked as though he just totally wailed me in the face with his Rod Lavers. It took me a while to find my glasses. So Austin tomorrow, we'll see you there.

Well Lookie here.

Here's some pictures I've taken.

Look at moon in the background! Sanfrancisco.

Yes please. Huntington Beach.

Look at those Zookeepers smilin'. Sacramento.

Did you know Blizzards were good? I had no idea!

I bet you are wondering why my hair is sticking up in the back. Well pal let me tell you. A SEAGULL SHAT IN MY HAIR.

Look at these Bozos.

Two of my favorite things. San Diego.

10/04/07 Midland, TX

Oh glorious audio books. Thank you for your wondrous time passing abilities. Scott and I listened to about three and half hours of Robert Evan's autobiography The Kid Stays In The Picture on our way through Barren Wasteland New Mexico on our way to Midland Texas. Robert Evans was a radio voice turned actor turned studio executive turned producer from the 50's through the 80's. And man are his stories crazy. Patton Oswald has a hilarious bit on Feelin' Kinda Patton about Bob Evans on ESPN. I can't do it any justice here so if you haven’t heard it just agree with me. There is not much going on in Midland. I think high school football was invented here, i think I heard someone say that. We’re playing a little college in a conference room. Pretty strange. The kids are nice though. We did not find anywhere to stay so we’re, much to our chagrin, drive through the night to San Antonio. Seven hour drive from Albuquerque to Midland, five and a half from Midland to San Antonio. I think Scott and I could be truck drivers, I’d be his wingman and we’d learn new languages and listen to books on pod.

10/03/07 Albuquerque, NM

These last couple of days of the tour consist of some hefty drives and time changes, the hefty drives are allowing me a lot of time to read. The time changes are making me tired. I think I slept in the back of the van for a couple of hours but honestly I can't remember if that was today or yesterday or tomorrow (I often update my blog retrospectively a day or two later). On this tour, we've either been getting buy outs or fed by the venue. Naturally I hope for the buyouts because it's 10 bucks I get to put in my pocket, $3-$5 of which I actually use for food and then hold on to the rest. Plus there is always a little bit of apprehension getting fed by a promoter or venue. Sometimes you'll get a great quizno's party tray, or perhaps even a well prepared, home cooked meal. Equally chanced though (perhaps more so) is the prospect for luke warm mystery meats, peanut butter and a loaf of bread or diet orange crush knock off and funyuns. Well tonight the Launchpad ordered us pizza from a local joint called "Punk Rock Pizza!" If I had my way, I don't think I'd ever dine somewhere who's name psychologically triggers the stench of poor genital hygiene and never-washed hands. I do not have my way. The pizza wasn't bad actually, but you wouldn't eat that burger if you saw the cow get knocked. Just like I probably wouldn't have eaten the pizza if I saw the circumstances of its preparation. There have been a couple of shows that for some reason or another the promoters haven't taken the whole tour package, just Lydia and Umbrellas, no Zookeeper. This is one of those nights and those nights are always a little slower. They played at a bar across town. If we weren't so beat we would have gone to see them. Instead we went to our motel (number two of the tour) and slept. Long drive tomorrow to... Midland TX? Oh great.

10/02/07 Phoenix, AZ

Sorry, I haven't had Internet connectivity in the past four days. I'll get caught up now. We drove through the night; I've had 4 hours of sleep. Let’s do this.

So today we did some waking up early and breakfasting at a diner. It was pretty good. Scott picked us up at 10:30 and we started the trek towards Phoenix. Finally leaving California. Finally leaving this time zone. I was starting to get used to all of it. Not LA mind you, I'd lose my mind living there. The 7-hour drive to Phoenix went by strangely fast, that seems to happen when we don't really listen to anything and I just zone out really hard. I also read for a long time. This book, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, I'm really enjoying it but it also makes me really sad. Phillip Kaufman made it into a film in 1988. The cast seems pretty stellar; I'd like to see that once I finish the book.

We played the Modified tonight, a very cool art space with a stage and modest PA. I don't know why but tonight was the most energy I've felt while playing on this tour. Maybe it was because it was loud, or cramped, or the deluge of shit crashing down around me and needing an avenue of outlet. Whatever the source, it was good. I always have fun playing, but this was more elation, I found myself smiling and chuckling at my own nuances and those of my band mates’ performances. Who knows what that means.

Tonight we're staying with a tender christian named Sam. He really warmed my heart with his hospitality, offerings of good beer and wine. He shares his house with a roommate named Seth and a 61-year-old transient named Herbert that freely comes and goes, I gather mainly to use the shower and restroom. At first of course I reacted with a cursory "whoa, a homeless guy lives here? Is that safe?" when he told us. Then I felt like a fucking asshole. It's easy to use words like "transient" and "homeless" because it neatly removes some of their humanity thus exonerating one from compassion. Perhaps this if for a different post altogether. Or perhaps just not at all. Anyway, I found a lot of comfort in his small house; I slept soundly and woke up of my own accord.

10/01/07 DAY OFF LA

When I woke up this morning I read an Interview with Jason Schwartzman in the LA times about the Darjeeling Limited and George Clooney about political involvement and his role in the film industry. I wish the Norman Transcript had such illustrious interviews. We ate at an incredible Mexican joint called Las Barcas. I had two chicken soft tacos for under $4.00. wooooo! And they were so good. I find much culinary fulfillment in authentic Mexican cuisine. We were right by the beach so we went. It was beautiful; we went to the end of the Huntington Beach Pier where a SEAGULL SHAT IN MY HAIR. That son of a bitch. I got over it. It wasn't too messy, no white residue. I think he just had too much to drink. So I went and stood shin deep in the ocean and watched the waves picking up the surfers for the better half of an hour. Every time I stand and look out into the ocean it's a rare moment where I have a memory come to the surface about the last time I did this and then I have the same conversation with myself and say "this is when I feel the most present to myself. Not thinking ahead, or looking back, just looking out into water painting the horizon blue." Or something to that effect. It's not always such forced poetry but you get the idea. I've only stood and looked out into the ocean a handful of times, but that's always what happens. It's a good feeling. After that I had a Blizzard from Dairy Queen. Then we went to Starbucks and I had some iced vanilla brew. After that, H&M where I scored a very swank sweater vest. Then Scott dropped us off at the girls from the Hollywood show's house. Now I'm sipping a Whiskey and Diet. Man, besides shit in my hair, today was such a good day! Now I'm sitting at their kitchen table, no one is here except for Sammy, Nick and I, all of the ladies are in class. They left the side door unlocked for me. It's very serene in here. I have a fan blowing my hair; I'm blogging and enjoying my cocktail. Feels like home a little, nice and relaxed. I actually didn't feel like I was in someone else’s house until I walked into the bathroom a little bit ago and saw the slew of tampons in the trashcan. Then I realized quick "I don't live here." I had a good laugh. I imagine we'll just drink and listen to jams all night. Seems perfect. See you tomorrow.

9/30/07 San Diego

Wow, this is an interesting venue. It's called SOMA, and is what used to be a movie theater in a shopping center. The green room is behind a door you punch a code into and climb some stairs that lead you into what is an empty floor that used to house the film projectors. Every single thing I have touched has been sticky. Every scent I've smelled has a vintage popcorn finish. The sound system is huge. Huge. There are two stages at this place, we played the side stage, which is probably 300 cap, the main stage is 2300 cap. I guess it's three of the theaters combined. I know this because I counted number of projector windows that there are up stairs that stare into it. If there was going to be a zombie apocalypse, this is a prime location for it to start just based on its dramatic lighting alone. Everything is shadowy. Every third door is locked. Roof access. Palm Trees. There should always be palm trees with zombies. Mainly because California is so expendable.

Scott's lady Megan came with us, I like that because I like her. The old drummer of Umbrellas, Brandon came as well. He rocks. And he's 6'9". And he has a blonde beard. Love that. So when we back loaded our amps I didn't really pay attention, I just put my cab in front of the headlining band's bass cab. So when the time came for us to play, I found myself positioned in the middle of the stage with Nick to my left and Scott to my right. Oh I felt awkward. Everyone was looked at me as though I'm the singer. Star of the show. Crap. I just faced Sammy all-night and laughed. The show went well. Worst stage sound I've ever experienced but we made it through. So I have my niche markets where the ladies inexplicably love me. Washington DC is one of those places and Now I guess San Diego has made the list. I had four girls (three of them together) come talk to me at length about how "precious" I am and how "cute" my glasses are and "I just love saying your name, 'Sethy.'" Kinda awesome. Kinda. I'm not big on being regarded as a novelty but it's fun now and again. Only one of them bought something. Thanks. Being hott doesn't but food in belly. We drove back to Huntington Beach and stayed at Megan's house. I slept the sleep of the dead. That felt good.

9/29/07 Fullerton, CA

Based on my evening there, Fullerton is one of those OC towns filled to the gills with ridiculous cars, ample fake tits, oxygen bars, cool restuarants that close after six months and reopen as something more "now" and $400 throw-away trends. Which if fun for me, I only have to do it for a night. I bought some smokes at a smoke shop (my first of the tour, sue me I'm stressed) and the vendor bought a fag from me for .50 cents and we sat and talked for the duration (approx 5.5 minutes, they were european cigarettes) he said he'd been to Oklahoma with his boyfriend and proceeded to tell me stories about it. Inaccuracies abound. As he told me about Oklahoma like I'd never been there, I wondered if he'd even been there. And then, after blandly nodding, drawing smoke and waving the cigarette in my hand to further support my corrections of his impreciseness I realized that maybe the story I tell of Fullerton is one he'd correct and scoff at in the same manner. Abrubtly 5 men came in looking for cigars to smoke at the bars later while scouting for bone-prone babes. That's not what they said, just what I assumed. So I ducked out and wandered back to the venue. This show got moved two days prior due to some sort of city coding or zoning indescrepency at the original venue. The new location was about 50 yards away at a place called plush lounge. Very nice, set up more for dance parties and casual drinking but it worked. Tiiiiny stage. I like being cramped like that though sometimes, even if I am coordinating my movements with the headstock of Scott's guitar as not to get the shit knocked out of my head. Lots of people came out, that was fun. I had plenty of good convos with the zookeepers. Those guys are so rad. Tonight we're staying with some nice ladies we met in Hollywood that don't live too far from Fullerton. Their house is totally killer. They just ran to the liquor store, I've got a bottle of whiskey with name in it.

9/28/07 DAY OFF, CA

So today was a day off with George and Lauren. We had a good day, real relaxed. I did laundry, read, played some acoustic guitar, washed my body. Then we went to Beverly Hills, went to the H&M and drove down Rodeo Drive. That was weird. Saw the Paramount lot, that wailed. For dinner we ate a fine little joint called The Birds. Nice and cozy, more of a local spot so I didn't feel as much like a tourist. After that we bought some Boddingtons and some Spaten Premium, took that home and watched the new Office episode. Gosh Darn It. That was so good. After that we watched the Hotel Chevalier. It got me pretty excited about the Darjeeling Limited. Not an exciting day, but mostly good. I received a call from Kimber (my sister) that my cousin's husband died in a car wreck, leaving a widow and three boys. I don't really know how to process it. Emily (also my sister) said some pretty right on stuff in her blog about it. Life's rough. I guess that's about it.

9/27/07 Hollywood, CA

After the San Fran show we drove for about 70 miles and then got a motel, first one of the tour! That’s pretty good, sometimes we get several motels on the road, and that's expensive. Luckily, we've known some very fine people all along the way that have graciously offered their domiciles to us. I don't know if I touched on this before but in Salt Lake the couple we stayed with actually have a room in their house that is just for traveling band. Two bunk beds, wireless router, and a board for staying bands to leave notes tacked to. It wailed. Anyway, that was a while ago, back to Pacific Standard Time. I don't really like staying in motels because my overactive, over-vivid imagination over thinks the idea of the literal thousands of people who have slept in the bed I'm sleeping in. Laid their head on this pillow. Coughed into it. Copulated on it. Died in it. Eeeewwww.
Luckily, I had some drinks that helped put me to sleep at the bar after the show so I got some z's in the back of the van and then I just walked in when we arrived at the motel room and immediately fell asleep. I woke up at 7:00am feeling pretty skeeved out so I got up, washed my beard and brushed my teeth and messed around on the ol' lappy tappy until the other dudes woke up. I remembered at 9:05 that these places have breakfast until 9:00. I said, "shoot".

It was a good drive from San Francisco to Hollywood, we didn't listen to any music almost the entire way until we were getting into town and I put on Cat Power's Covers Record. We got here kinda way early. Like, 3:30 and load in was at 5:30. Luckily the promoter at the Knitting Factory was there and let us come in. The Knitting Factory is a weird place. The way to the green room is verbatim the Cleveland scene in Spinal Tap. A winding catacomb littered with pipes. The green room even had big pieces of meat and cheese and tiny pieces of bread. It wailed. Becky, I think it's just about time you see that movie. After loading in and sitting around for a while, Scott and I went down the street to get some slices of pizza (this is before we found out that they had disproportionate sandwich ingredients). Hollywood Blvd is more like the state fair than any Californian would like to admit. A culmination of textbook stereotypes, any food on any stick and an endless supply of crazy peppered with sadness. And lots of American Apparel stores.

So on to the show. This bullshit band fronted by a rejected American Idol backed by Nashville session musicians opened the show with their lavish video shoot. Evidently, instead of renting the Knitting Factory out for their shoot, they piggybacked on our Tour's show to make their video without telling anyone. It was ridiculous. And pushed the show back an hour. That was lame. Other than that, the show was good. I've been getting to play tambourine in Zookeeper on the song Î live in the mess you are. I love that song.

We are staying with George and Lauren in Pasadena, That's always nice, I love them. Tomorrow is a day off of funness. I'm stoked.

09/26/07 San Francisco

Short Drive. Played Bottom of the Hill. Tons of killer bands have played here. Its a really cool venue.
We didn't really get to see the city except from the highway so we could have been playing anywheresville. But, but, I did see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz.
It was a fun show, I got to play tambourine in zookeeper on a song I really like. That wailed.
Got an oil change. earlier.
Sleep isn't really coming to me these days. I need some sleepytime tea with valerian root stat. Tomorrow, Hollywood. Last time I was there I (literally) ran into Andy Milonaukis on the street. My hopes are set high on a collision with someone A list.

09/25/07 Roseville CA

Roseville is a suburb of Sacramento.
It was a long drive. Scott and I enjoyed listening to some comedy, old bands, new bands, learn spanish CD.
Good show. Jamba Juice.
I don't know. My brain is Anxious.

09/24/07 Portland OR

Rolled into PDX (why is it called that?) around 5:00 today. We played downtown at a venue called the Satyricon. Portland is a rough town for music, small indie bands anyway. So the show was a little rough, which was expected. It was actually better than we could have expected. And a few people that were there for us were so stoked we were there so that always feels good. We get to stay with the almighty brewcaster which wails. We unfortunately have to get up at 6:00am to drive to Sacramento. Sick. It's a really beautiful drive though, that helps. I'll probably just take a crucial nap in Apartamento Del Sethy. So yep. There's my Portland post. Wasn't really here enough to formulate anything substantial. Although, there was a girl with hair that looked like my friend Becky's dog Lucy. I really wanted to pet that girl's hair. I was vibing her but she didn't seem into it.

09/23/07 Day Off Seattle

So Chad, the guy we stayed with last night and are staying with tonight tends bar at a private country. Said club sometimes has overstock on wine so the employees get to take it home. What does that mean for Sethy? He gets to imbibe Italian wine that costs $150 a bottle. Ho-lee Shit. I'm used to bottles of Tisdale Cab Sav back home which cost approximately 37 times less than that. Man it was so good. And so kind of Chad to share because I'll probably never to get to try something like that again. So that's what we did last night, Had a nice pasta dinner and enjoyed fine wines while listening to vinyl. Yes Please.

Today we walked from Freemont to Downtown Seattle, which is a really long walk. I think we all were feeling very stagnant after all of the long drives and just wanted to be active. I think had we known before that it was going to take 2 hours, we maybe would have reconsidered. I'm personally glad we didn't. I love the exercise. So we walked around downtown, by my old apartment and some of my old haunts. It was really awesome to see it all again. That's a really great city. We got coffee at the first Starbucks by Pike's Place Market, I think I was in the background of 50 photos taken by international tourists. Starbucks is such a strange phenomenon. But that rant is for another blog. Probably called boringyawn.blogspot.com

Tonight we ate Burritos and drank beer and wine and champagne while deeply discoursing about goals, dreams and success. It was good brover analysis. Get a few drinks in me and ask the right questions and I just might expatiate about self actualization for an hour or two.
Is that why I'm always drinking alone? Just kidding.

22/09/07 Seattle

Wow that was an early show. Doors at 5:00, we played at 7:00pm. we were done and out of the venue by 8:15. It kinda rocked. Helmet had a show right after us so we had to clear the hell out of there. Helmet is still around? Pretty sureal, all of it. We are staying with an old friend of Scott's that has such a killer music collection. He rocks. His name is Chad.

It's been wonderful being Seattle. I've really missed this town. Tomorrow is a day off in which we will explore and I will bore everyone with "Ooh, I used to by chik-o-sticks there!" and "I saw a homeless guy pee straight into the street right here!"
I'll give you a detailed pic post soon.

21/09/07 Boise ID

Today on the Drive I finished "In the Miso Soup" by Ryu Murakami. It was very enjoyable. And, kinda gross. More and more as I get older I have a harder time watching movies or reading books with gratuitous violence. I'm just turning into a softy I guess.

The show was good. The attendance was strange, mostly teenagers that stood outside all night looking cool smoking. I have to admit, they kinda looked cool. Not that cool though.
Tonight was the first night where I really got the chance to attentively watch and take in Zookeeper. Dang. It was awesome. We ran into them at a rest stop somewhere in iowa earlier today, we're all already at the stasis of hugging. That's the best.
Girls in Boise really love the glasses. Typically, one or two people in any given place will sometimes notice them, and I'll notice that they notice. Not here, no one is bashful. One girl even went as far as really wrapping her arms around me and calling me her "nerd boyfriend! Get a picture of me and my nerd boyfriend!" She hugged me so hard that I could feel feel the clasp in between the cups of her bra. That's right, exploit me baby. Actually don't. It made me really uncomfortable. I'm sure the picture is hilarious because i'm probably making a very pained face.

Once we got to our friend Dustin's house where we were staying we hung out with a bunch of cool kids. A very calm circular congregation on the couches in the living room. I was sitting on the floor with my laptop where it goes and all of the sudden a very realistic, very large, very pliant dildo emerged. The only pictures I've taken all tour are of that icon of illicit sinew stuck to the living room ceiling by its surprising suction cup. Worst part: they found it in a field. Said they washed it in the washing machine. Still so gross.

Have to get up at 6:30am to drive to Seattle tomorrow. hhhhhghhhjjhh. It is a beautfiful drive, I am looking forward to that.
If I had my way we'd listen to the entire owen catalogue.
I do not have my way.

Here's pictures of ceiling wang.

Salt Lake 20/09/07

Man. I love family times. Just getting to go to the grocery store with my sister Emily and my niece Natalie is for some reason such medicine for my soul. So staying at their house with their whole family for two days was like a big love hospital for sethy.

The shows have been great. I really enjoy watching zookeeper. I appreciate muchly their ragtag, non-chalant professionalism they carry themselves with on stage. Their an easy listen and watch. Plus we're hitting it off with them which is always nice.

Drives are long at this stage. I've read a lot. I started "In the Miso Soup" by Ryu Murakami today, I'm already 2/3rds done. I won't lie, it's a tough read. Not in a level of scholar way, but a brutal murder scenes sort of way. Very smartly written though. I'm enjoying it. Tomorrow I'll either start "the Unbearable Lightness of Being" or "To Own A Dragon". My sister bought me the latter for my birthday because she read it and really enjoyed it. She said "this book is about growing up without a father, You'll love it". Funny how that's true. The author (his name escapes me at the moment) wrote a book called "Blue Like Jazz" that a lot of people recommended to me, I tried that one but couldn't passed the nondenominational comedy shtick. I guess I'm in a literary dark period.

Wait, this is a tour blog. Sorry friends.
I had a nightmare last night. IT was LAME.
I am not being good to my body so far. Too much coffee. Too much food.
Boise tomorrow. should be fun.

Sorry for the typos, spellcheck's not working.
be well.

Denver 19/09/07

Today is Day 1 of the Umbrellas, Zookeeper, Lydia west coast tour. We had a drive day yesterday, I finally finished a book I was reading. White Teeth by Zadie Smith. It rocked. I have four books I'm going to try to read on this tour. Pretty ambitious, I know. I'm a deliberate reader.

We're at my Sister's House in Superior, about 30 minutes West of Denver. There's a lot of love in this house. I really enjoy being here.

I'm interested in meeting the other bands tonight. I hadn't really even thought about that until today. Hopefully they're good people.

UMBRELLAS DAY 2

10 Jun. Phoenix. Thought it was spelled pheonix up until today, boy is my face red. Because it is EFFING HOT HERE. I guess I was really getting used to the uncommonly temperate weather in Oklahoma which I've heard left the state when I did. 102 degrees is hot no matter how you boil it down. "Dry heat" just means it hurts to breathe it in. Okay, I'll take my diaper off now, it's summer, I'll get used to it. Phoenix was fun, saw some friends from previous tours. The show was great, the venue was nice. Last summer when we played at this venue Denison was playing down the street at the Modified and Scott and I walked down there and spent some time with him. That dude rocks. Well, not much to report so I won't force it. Tomorrow is another long drive to california. I've been getting some serious naps and reading done in Apartamento Del Sethy. That's what I call the back seat of the van that I've usurped for my own devices.

my computer broke.

Should get fixed tomorrow, updates will ensue after that.

UMBRELLAS DAY 1

9 JUNE
Woke up early today and took a nice, easy approach to the day. I put on some pants, brewed some coffee and walked to the bank. The weather was so killer. After the bank I walked by the post office to send somethings and I was very stoked to deposit my mail into the belly of R2D2. When I got home the coffee was ready and I scrambled the rest of my eggs that would have gone bad while I was gone. They were very tasty. So I had coffee and eggs on the balcony alone and spent some time thinking about the next two weeks, places we're going that I haven't been to since last summer, people I'll see who I haven't seen since they left Oklahoma and the bewilderment i experience everytime I see the ocean.
I live a very fortunate life.
So, Low stress morning, I was already packed so we loaded up the van with our luggies and hit the road. I should inform you that this tour is comprised of Scott, Sammy and I, no keyboard player. So the van is nice and roomie. Only two other voices to hear when the driver asks "Are we all in?" before departure. For these first three days Megan, Scott's girlfriend is with us, she flew to Oklahoma and is riding back out to california with us. She's badical and a real treat to have around. Oh I should also inform you that today was just a driving day, We (by we I of course mean Scott) drove the 8 hours to albuquerquee and then got a motel room. Had some pizza and beer, watched some boob tube. Today was a very relaxed day and the perfect way to start the tour. I'm sure all of this doesn't make for a very interesting read but I am fine with that, I'm sure plenty will happen in the next two weeks that will be pure blogold. Tomorrow we play Pheonix which has a high temperature of 101 degrees. yikes.

DAY 6

WICHITA KS, the Electric Snake.
Wichita is a strange town. I really like playing there, and the people at shows are very kind and nice but each time we go I feel like I get a taste of the darkness that is Wichita. We ate at a place next to the Electric Snake called Taco Shoppe. I'm pretty sure everyone in there was on some sort of bath-tub concocted drug. Everyone was really edgy and bleary eyed, staring us down as we walked in. We don't even look that rock and roll. I mean, sure I do because looking awesomely rock and roll is inherent to my nature but not so much yesterday because I was sick and just wanted a taco. And the show was sort of blah, the local bands played first even though we requested they play last so almost everyone left after their friends played. I don't know. That town is just bumming me out more and more the more I get to know it. And its so distabilizing and depressing when it seems like everywhere you go everyone is high or drunk or concerned about how soon they will be, no matter the time of day. but that's kinda been this whole tour. That's just not my scene, I don't like being around that. But, BUT, Some really rad people stuck around and watched us and Berry play and danced, that makes it worth it. Got home at 4:30am. Slept the sleep of the dead.

DAY 5

Lawrence KS, The Replay Lounge.
Today wailed pretty hard. Except for that I am officially sick. Cold or something. Sucks crap. Today we ate at Taco John's, which I've never eaten at but always laughed at. That's about as mexican a name for a restaurant as Taco Regis. It was pretty good for what it was. Then we went to Blue Collar Press where Eric and Ricky work. Met Jim from the anniversary and Sean from coalesce. That was pretty awesome. The show tonight was good, Some Oklahomies came out. I just felt so crappy but I did enjoy myself. The singer from the appleseed cast was at our show but I think he was there for the $1.50 well drinks. Lawrence has the best drink specials! Afterwards back at the house there were three girls in the kitchen that seemed to be having a yelling contest to see who could yell and laugh the loudest while everyone else in the house tried to sleep. I think they all tied and each took home part of the gold. Really looking forward to Wichita tomorrow.

DAY 4 Lawrence

DAY OFF #2

Since our Colombia and Kansas City shows fell through We've just been enjoying hanging out in Lawrence staying with the very hospitable Eric Massay and Kyle Sheline. The have the cutest kitty named Happy Birthday Barry Sanders. He's pretty rowdy but I like him a lot. Today we ate some really tasty thai food at Zen Zero, went to a punk rock book store, a crappy musical equipment store and a really awesome record store. Justin got the Hawk and a Hacksaw and Beirut records, they are both really awesome. I feel like we've been listening to some really great music on this trip.

Tonight we went to two shows, the first was Ted Leo and the Pharmacists at the Bottleneck which Kyle got us on the guest list for. That wailed. It was a fun show. Then we walked to the Replay and saw Chin Up Chin Up. All in all a really good night. Everyone stayed up late but I've just been so tired lately that I went to bed pretty early. I Look forward to playing tonight and hitting the road again. I'm getting pretty cagy. cagie? cage-ie? whatever, restless.

DAY 3

Lawrence KS, Day OFF

Woke up with a near migraine today, I was bummed about that. I don't know where it came from, I haven't drank heavily at all this tour. Maybe just from being awake too much and not eating enough. The shower, 600 milligrams of advil and food did the trick though. Drove to Lawrence today, It was a very nice drive, a little windy. I can't believe how many "ADULT SUPERSTORES" there are in this state. They all advertise that they sell shoes too. Who's going to buy a rubber giner and shoes on the same trip? Weirds. Now we're at Kyle Sheline and Eric Von Massay's digs. Such a rad town with rad doods in a rad house. I am enjoying myself quite a lot. very tired but that's okay, i will get some serious rest over the next two days. These dads I am in a band with just get up way too early for me. Might go to Blue Collar Press tomorrow, I'm stoked to see another screen printing shop other than ours! we're going to see ted leo tomorrow night as well, that should be way fun. i'll keep you updated!
be well my friends.

Day 2, March 21

St. Louis MO, The Red Sea Underground.

Wowee Zowee. Stayed up too late last night and then walked around a lot today. But, (BUT!) I did get to go to H&M and got a sweet new Hoodie and V neck. So stoked. We got to StL pretty early so we walked around a lot, ate Thai Pizza and Checked out the tattoo parlor. Wish I had some tattoo money sooo bad. Oh and on the drive here we stopped at a winery and got to be a part of a small wine tasting at which i bought some very on sale syrah that tastes waaaay awesome. I think I'll give the bottle as a gift to Eric and Kyle in Lawrence because they're letting us stay with them.

So this venue was wild. It was in the basement of an Ethiopian restaurant called the red sea but to load in or even to get to the venue you had to walk through the restaurant. So awkward. I was so pooped that i ended up taking a two hour nap in the back of our vehicle until it was time to play. That was kinda wild, Eric came and woke me up and said it was time to play so I walked down there, set up, plugged in and started playing 5 minutes after waking up from a very hard sleep. I don't think i've ever done that before. Deer hunter was playing for free somewhere near where we were playing but the show was still good. Good crowd and really nice people. We hooked up with the band we're touring with today, Berry, they really really wail. So stoked to watch them play several nights in a row. check them out. www.myspace.com/berry
We all forgot cameras so no good pic posts unfortunately.

STUDENT FILM TOUR!

DAY 1, April 20th, 2007.

Welp, what a day. What should have been a 4 and a half hour drive to springfield turned into a 6 and half hour drive that included arkansas. Kinda embarrasing considering there's only one highway that goes from OKC to Springfield. But, we made it. A very kind little lady named Hannah Hooked us up with a show at Nathan P Murphey's pretty last minute. Kind of a weird show, we were the only band so they made us do two sets. The sound guy made us sing acapella during sound check. But I think playing two sets was the strangest part. We played 21 songs including Justin doing three by himself. It's pretty awesome that we can play that many songs but there aren't many occasions that i would elect that we play that number of songs. I like the "wham, bam, thanks dude" approach to set lengths. We stayed with a killer bro named Evan, he had a really sweet dog named Buddy. I really liked buddy. St. Louis tomorrow. Pretty stoked about that.

WHAATSS UP DOOUUOODS!?

i'm not even going to say what day it is because i'm way behind. where did i leave off? shooot. maybe san antonio? good enough. so we drove to austin and on the way there we stopped at an outlet mall and i got some really great levi's for 25 bucks. student film played a show wednesday night at the hole in the wall, it was a very good time, good to see jill and the doods. it was fun to play. i never know what to say about a show because honestly i'm only focused on playing and not paying attention. what do you want? detailed accounts of how i was stoked that i slid up to the D# in the middle of the chorus of chopo and hit the 16th notes without rushing?
probably not.
anyway, we rocked. my G string is a little messed up but i'll get that fixed.
Day WTF:
Student film plays at 405 showcase.
The night prior Scott, Brady and I stayed with Pierce, the most hang hard dude i've come across. gave me some jameson, Reno 911 On Demand, all while solid in his faith. the kind of dude i would rather like to know. When we offered him some coke he denied before i explained that it was indeed coca-cola and not bullshit rockandrollerie.
we're not rock and roll.
we're hang and hard.

High fives to pierce.

Get up around 11:00am and get dropped off at progress coffee to play at 2:00pm. Ate a $1 dollar bagle and enjoyed the stock market crash and 40: of hell. Borrowed AK's Bass rig and played with student film. the sun was hot on my shins but the sound was good. first good outdoor sound i've ever experienced. It was a very nice thing to see all those oklahoman faces since they could have seen any of these oklahoman bands play on any given weekend back home in oklahoma. maybe we're doing something right? maybe.

Leave progress directly after playing, Eric gives me a ride to Momo's where umbrellas is playing. He is a solid bro. Hope he made it back in time to see ryan lindsey play. Momo's is a little dead, all industry types that i don't understand so i go eat some tacos across the street with brady. Got to see Everybody Else play, they wailed a good amount of ass. Played right after them, it felt like a good performance, I rocked pretty hard, made an oath with myself to just play hard and not spend any energy on anything else. felt good. rocked hard. Someone was supposed to see us but made it too late. We still fucking rocked. what else do you want? That's why i'll never make the big bucks.

Afterwards we just hung out, saw some celebs (wank wank) but got to see some people that actually matter to me like eric, nathan, jeff shoop, denison witmer and i got to meet rosie thomas who was quite altruistic. it was very nice to see them, kind of made the night for me. I don't know who Matt Pinfield is and i'm kind of tired of acting like i do. But Denison witmer did tell some great stories about his journeys in europe which is way more interesting to me then showing up on MTV2.

after all that we stayed up late at a house the the militia group rented for the bands which was a lot of fun. i learned that i am a huge fan of chase paegan, his music, his band and his very nice girlfriend. stayed up too late chatting about ghost stories. anyway, listen to his record. not in a Perez-Hilton sort of way, I won't show you titties if you do. do it in a self rewarding/ you'll be more stoked on music if you do way.

so this is my SXWSXSXSXSWSXSW account. I'll hit the road again soon, have a day or two off to recoup before i get back to the grind. I'm in hiding right now trying to find somewhere to do some laundry. Picture post ensues. Sorry for the spelling and gramatical errors, despite the fact that i promised unabashed reality, it's St. Patricks day and i'm plenty irish.

DAY 3 march 12

Day off in San Antonio!
Shitty weather. But, I kinda love it. Torrential rain and lightning. We're staying with our friend Kenny, he is a solid bro. Killer house, sleep-in sitch. love that. Ate at mama margie's just like I hoped, enjoyed some great tacos. Not a lot going on today. I lost 10 bucks to Jarod playing blackjack. I'm feeling pretty rock and roll. and broke. gotta hold out for tomorrow's per diem. Tomorrow we play here at a place called the sanctuary, which I hear is a misleading name. I'm really loving spending time with these guys. Brady and I are working on communicating without words and just using facial and bodily expressions. so far we've learned that we can't make very communicative faces. but it sure is fun to raise eyebrows back and forth until one of us gives up and talks. check brady's blog for more pics. oh, and he had to get a new one because they other one started jiving.
bradyandtheroad.blogspot.com

a couple pics for you chickadees.

DAY 2, March 11

It is always pleasant to sleep until you wake up. And that’s what we got to do today. After some lunch and coffee we made our way from Ft. Worth to Deep Ellum around 4:30. There is a festival going on there called North By South West. I had a great day, had a really good time with the bros, really enjoyed playing but as far as festivals go, it was a bust. No one was there. Bummer for the promoter. Down the street there was an all day death metal festival as well. That seemed even stranger for some reason, walking by a venue on a Sunday after noon and hearing brutal gutturals and punishing sweep arpeggios coming from there door. It seemed like there were about as many people at the show as there were at ours. Got to see Okkerville River play, that was rad. They were great. Oh, and I got a really great jacket for 12 bucks at a vintage store. I also determined that I think I’m starting to have identity issues because of my beard and hair, I don’t recognize myself right away when I see myself in reflections. That’s a wild sensation. The trips in the van are just getting better and better. When the drives get longer, everyone gets a little more candid, tells stories they maybe shouldn’t and we just all around really get to bond. I don’t know the last time I have gotten to laugh this hard. It’s a good feeling.

Last night I was having wild dreams about werewolves and how I was safe if I was in my car but I always had the wrong house keys so I could never get into my house and then I was stuck outside in the dark with giant werewolves. The weirdest part was that the werewolves had tie-died fur. I think that it was just a reaffirmation of my severe disdain for hippie culture.

On our way to San Antonio today, we’ll have the day off so we’ll be eating some good Mexican food at Mama Margerie’s and I’m going to push that we go to that outdoor mall thing. I have family in San Antonio, but I forgot to let them know I was coming and I’d hate to spring that on them. I don’t know, maybe I’ll call them. That’s just something my dad totally does and I don’t think I want to come to grips with the fact that I have those traits. I really hope we go to the alamo, I've never gotten to see the basement.

Day 1, March 10

Welp, here we go again It’s been a really long time since I’ve written in the roadlife. I feel like my life has changed a lot since the last time I’ve gone on tour. Finished college. I have a full time job. My life is exponentially more draining and hectic than it was last summer. I’ve really looked forward to this tour, essentially being forced to sit still for extended period times. Can’t do anything but ride in this van with these four friends and play these shows. I’m finding a lot of solace in the idea that I’ll essentially be single goal minded for the next two weeks. So, my esteemed readers, I think I’ll set some goals for this stint of musical traveled chronicled in this blog. This should make it more interesting for the both of us.
1) To live life for each day, concerned only with the time book ended by sunrise to sunrise. I’ve been working on doing some self-actualization as of late because I’ve been dealing with some heavy depression and anxiety the last few months that has not been common to my life thus far. One problem (among many, I’m sure) I’ve determined is that I generally live at least a day in advance, constantly worrying about the stuff that’s coming to me, not what’s happening at the current moment. So there’s goal number 1, enjoy the happenings of each day. I think that will also help me in my relational investments with my friends.
2) To be honest in my retellings. I have a real talent for talking myself out speaking my mind because I don’t want to step on any toes. Well damn it, you’re just going to have to watch your toes. Sethy needs to have some honest time.
3) Because I’ll be doing each day a day at a time this blog is going to be largely more exciting, candid and cathartic. Hold on to your butts.

I’m sitting in the van next to Brady typing on his computer. So we’re on our way Wichita Falls TX to play show one of two week tour. I’ve never been to Wichita Falls, but I hear that there are some very enthusiastic music fans down there. We’re playing with a band called gazelles, I’ve never heard them but I once bought a t shirt from them because it was such a rad design. And they seemed like very nice people. And I find the keyboard player quite attractive. Jarod suggested I approach her with a “mature greeting kiss.” Not gonna happen. So yeah that should be a fun time. It’s a VFW, I generally really enjoy playing VFW’s, less pressure, more of an intimate and relaxed setting. Well, I’ll let you know how it goes, We’re almost to Wichita Falls.

Welp, that was interesting. The VFW was right next to a lake so Brady, Jarod and I walked over there and enjoyed some sitting still by the placid washing of the water. The show was fun, good small town show. Lots of young kids, I don’t think too many people there were born before 1990. Wow, that’s weird to say. I had a really good time, when we played everyone sort of wrapped around us and that was neat because we were playing on the floor. I really like playing these songs with these guys. Oh and Gazelles ended up just being their singer, everyone else was doing other stuff, he was good, I liked it. The New Frontiers (formally Stellamaris) also played last minute. I really like that band.

So this band played that really got my cranial cogs a churning. All the guys seemed pretty young, under 18, maybe. It was like watching a way low budget A&E made for TV documentary about contemporary musical movements in rural towns, chock full of historical reenactments and this band was one of those scenes of reenactment. A new era of ADD culture fed on world of war craft, high fructose corn syrup and Jackass movies. They couldn’t really get through a song but damn it all if they weren’t having the time of their lives. That is, until they got distracted by boobs or their shoelaces. Then they were having the time of their lives all over again.

I was kinda bummed on how much underage smoking was going on. Just a bunch of kids trying to look cool and rebel against their parents that don’t understand them, who will they themselves turn into their parents who don’t understand their kids who drink, smoke and are sexually active at an early age.
Anyway, We’re on our way to fortworth to stay with one of Jarod’s friends. Tonight is spring forward, right? I like when it stays dark out later. Brady is asleep next to me, his computer is about to die so I think I'll sign off. be sure to read his tour blog as well, I'm sure they'll be conversational. bradyontheroad.blogspot.com

DAY 1 January 26

So student film left today for a nice little three day jaunt in Tejas. We almost didn't due to the classic vehicular trouble that comes just prior to driving one thousand miles. I guess that may have to do with our vehicle having close to 400,000 miles on it. What a stellar idea! but, we've made it down safely and the venue was pretty rad. we played with pompeii, or some form of spelling of that name. they were cool. and totally rad doods/ lady. The bar tenderress was very kind, enjoyed our set and bought me a shot of jameson. I thought that was very gracious. we played a little shitty because we hadn't practiced in a while but people seemed to still be into it. we stayed up way too late but i was rewarded to the gritty sheets of super 8 motel sheets, the railing moan of I-35 and different qualities of logs being sawed by the the rest of the band.

Today has been great (techinically it's day two, but hey, i'm at a computer, i've gotta take advantage) woke up and made some coffee, took a shower and we went and met our friends joshua and mauricio for good thai food and bad service at mekong river on sixth. now were at the progress coffee office looking at art, listening to jazz, drinking beer and just having all around gay old time. joshua hooks us up so hard every time we come down here. he's a real old friend. those are the best. tonight we're playing at his coffee shop, progress coffee, with tacks the boy disaster. then after that i plan on going to see zookeeper since our show is a little earlier. i'll let you know how it goes.