Day Nine

DAMMIT.

DAMMIT.

DAMMIT.

I found out last night that my ATM card never got sent ahead on the tour, so now I’m without a means of getting my own cash for the duration of the tour. I will figure it out, but Idunno, I was really hoping to get the card back. Also, my cell phone battery was dying so I turned it off. Then it wouldn’t turn back on again. So for several hours I was convinced that I would have to stop by a Verizon store five months short of my renewal period and just pay for a damn phone. Luckily, it eventually came back on again, but it’s still messed up. It’s on old phone, but come on...

THROW ME A BONE HERE.

Driving north from Ames, IA to Minneapolis, it has dawned on me that I will not see the sun again on this tour. In fact, we are experiencing our first snow of the trip. Cars are careening all over the place. John would rather I take the wheel, and so I will. John is a freaking CHAMP of a driver, the only band mate I’ve ever toured with whose driving habits never make me uptight. Snow is not his bag though, so I’m gonna take over because well, I love it. It’s really coming down now, huge flakes, which means it probably won’t last long. One might think that the emergence of this snowstorm would further depress me, but as those closest to me know, this is my element. I do wish I had brought a heavier coat though…

I was right, and the snow didn’t last long. We made it to The Beat Café in good time, and it is here that I now sit, enjoying the best mocha I’ve had in a long while. I love Minneapolis. I’ve only been here maybe four or five times, and always on band business, but nonetheless, when I look out the window of the van or stand on a street corner, I just love where I am. There are maybe four cities that I can name off the top of my head that affect me this way. Pittsburgh, Portland, Minneapolis, and of course Durham.



Have I mentioned yet that one of the headlights in our van is burned out? One of the headlights in our van is burned out. We don’t even care. That’s like, hell, someone farting in the van. It’s like fate isn’t even trying anymore. Famous last words?

Here's Flipside in Ottumwa: