boolar

…in albuquerque.

new mexico equals long-lasting, beautific sunset, a good co-op, nice people with suggestions for the mexican food i been missing, and wi-fi in the the hotel. so far. apparently, tonight, tonight, to ni-ite is the night. ouch. we’re getting close and all gypsy-caravany with our tour buddies the locust and yip-yip. fun fun fun on the autobahn. time farts.

oklahoma city, ok equals racism, man-loving men, decent thai food with some locusts, and a really good record store.

where were we before that?

oh yeah, kansas city equals bosco the favorite tour dog, female fetuses, generous jews, barbeque, 45s, homoerotic photo booth sessions and really a very nice time indeed.

bradley and i skipped st. louis (nice choice on our part considering that three mac-tops, passports, and other good shit was stolen from the locust-mobile while they shopped for groceries in that town. big bummer.).

memphis equals the club formerly known as a karate dojo in which the very same elvis you know and hate or love once trained, piggly-wiggly grocery stores advertising five pounds of chitterlings for $4.99 that used to be big star grocery stores that helped name bands that used to have worse names for which bradley and i drove around looking. we like memphis.

birmingham, al equals the bottle tree cafe, the best hosts of this tour thus far. ask me to what lengths these people went to make certain that we had everything we might or might not need and i’ll tell you in terms certainly. we love them. melt banana headlined. we like them all right for hot, energetic, talented japanese people.

asheville, n.c. is the home of the mysterious emily in whose home i slept but did not meet. the day after thanksgiving feast was yellow curry with sweet potatoes and other veggies over mashed potatoes with cranberry-orange-ginger chutney. you heard me right the first time, over mashed potatoes. amazing thanksgiving day drive through virginia. amazing.

baltimore. weird, dirty, black, fun, with genuinely nice people. a great performance by the people and the locust. we decided to extend bradley’s stay through kansas city (we were having too much fun you know) did i mention that john waters was in attendance? yes he was. went back to rockville (despite requests to do otherwise from rem) to stay with donny, katie, and milo again. love them.
oh new york city. tooo many somethings to list. we love bushwick, mushpot, and rai rai ken.

hampshire college. my old stomping grounds. it was nice to go record shopping for a minute, but i was not happy that day, so i don’t want to talk about it.

more detail soon, just trying to keep it all straight in my own head.

love,

a fish will only get as big as the pond in which it lives.

a flock of geese can only fly as fast as the slowest one.

just some thoughts on the road from pittsburgh to washington, d.c. today.

quick reviews, from most recent back:
*navigating d.c. by car is challenging, and, therefore, fun. the rock and roll hotel is probably a fabulous venue to play because they have french fries with truffle oil on the menu. i’ll let you know. bradley is flying into dulles in about 4 hours. yes, i am excited.

*pittsburgh is weird, old, dirty and clauterphobia-inducing. the boys of 222 north craig with whom we stayed discussed making mashed sweet potatoes with chipotle sauce. they actually made challah bread french toast, eggs, and coffee for breakfast. we love them. manny of the garfield artworks is psychotic in a really delightful way. the sleeping people have entered week three and are speaking (when speaking to one another at all) in esoteric tour inside jokes (sheer tom cockery).

*cleveland is the fattest, poorest city in america. it looks like it. lake erie is pleasant enough for the most polluted of the great lakes. the top bunk in which i slept at the punk rock end-of-the-world commune provided a shocking amount of comfort. highlight: beans and millet/quinoa/buckwheat i was able to make in their kitchen.

*dayton is my favorite midwestern small city. we were most graciously hosted by one ben penry in the fabulously run-downish historic entertainment district (called “Oregon,” pronounced or-eh-gone). saw the new wes anderson film. revelled that i was in bob pollard’s hometown (which he shares with kim deal, you know). met fabulous people, cooked awesome stirfry, yes.

*continued our tour of rapidly gentrifying america in chicago’s logan square, where we crashed with c.j. boyd (of c.j. boyd). loved the apartment, loved the neighborhood, loved the thrifting and the cuban market on armitage and the veggie quesadillas we made. loved walking. once we got in to logan square, i never made it out until we made it out for good. i figure you can either know one small area of a city really well or the whole thing hardly at all. i choose the former, usually. chicago will always remain in my heart the place where i got the warmest, most comfortable insoles ever.

*we met more late-teens and early-twenty-somethings who prove yet again that the kids (some of them, anyhow) really are alright in denver. michael, forest, and i can’t-remember-the-drummer’s-name played rock and roll and then took us back to their sweet little house to listen to records. they love daniel johnston and introduced me to pit-er-pat. yes.

i’m ’bout to spend a week in new york city. maybe i’ll post more soon.

ahhhhhh.

i found my misplaced moxie right about the time we left missoula. by salt lake i was golden, and i’ve been riding that wave all the way to denver.

this just may be the best tour food a band with $10 per diem has ever eaten.  organic oatmeal for breakfast with butter, honey, and flax seeds (we’ll get some spice today), which we are making in a rice cooker, and some kind of salad for lunch. yesterday it was a quinoa, millet, and buckwheat deal with kale, broccoli, carrots and a ginger-miso-grapefruit dressing (all organic, all scratch)… the day before was potato and pisces tuna (oregon coast, hook and line caught fabulousness… i brought a whole case along) with gina’s portland-grown spicy greens, dressed with a honey-mustard-chili madness.

i’m gonna make a list of the tools i brought along (they fit in a milk crate) and the supplies (another small box)… and i’ll start getting more specific on our tour recipes…. not just for rock stars, you know…. these will be useful for any healthful road-trippers.

love.  listen.

p.s. much love to my new best friend lisa for the ridiculously pleasurable mixed tape. much. love.

on the road with the people who sleep and the little killer bee.

week one is not even out and we’re having van troubles, hick troubles, and pains in our stomachs and hearts.

i’m gonna make some updates right here to tell you how were cooking from the road.  let’s hope i figure out how to get some video going, too.  and as always, photos, photos, photos.

kisses.  i miss you.  the (free, wireless) internet is still rare-ish in small town usa.