Day Four

I slept in the van for the first time of the tour last night. The temperature here in Grand Rapids at night has been in the low to mid twenties, which is right where I like it. We got to the hotel by 1:30AM, and by two I was out. It was wonderful! With a little help from Zolipdem, I got a full 8 hours of sleep and woke up refreshed and ready to go.

We just got back from lunch at Hooters. None of us really like Hooters all that much, but it was the closest place to the hotel where I could catch some of the Steelers game. It was straight out of a movie. You have the grotesquely overweight manager dude clamping down on the disinterested, semi-attractive young women who spend their shifts watching slovenly dudes suck on chicken wings and stare at their chests. Part of me wants to be depressed, but I am not one to question what other people do to get by, and honestly, I prefer to focus on the notion that somewhere in that scenario there is a story arc that results in a great triumph over adversity. The beer was cheap and the Steelers won, so yay!





Grand Rapids is very similar to how I figure Durham will look in a few years. You have a downtown that has gone through the standard decay caused by the decline of industry which has then been followed by the takeover of bohemian culture. Good local record stores, art and dance studios, and this here rock club, The Mixtape Lounge. In ten years here, I figure there will be hotels, conference centers, and chain restaurants. You can’t stop progress I guess, but you can sure as hell enjoy the short period of time when it suits your tastes. Meanwhile, Durham is in the infancy of its revitalization. I look forward to seeing the progress there, and at the moment I miss it so much.

On a personal note, since this is supposed to be some kind of bear-all blog, I’m still about as confused as I’ve ever been, but if you know me you know that I'm not THAT confused, really. Still, I don’t have it in me to just go around and pick up women, and it’s becoming more and more obvious to me that I will forever be relegated into the category of “nice guy”. This doesn’t bother me, as I’ve known for some time that any attempts to behave in a lecherous manner do not coincide with my personality. In the last year I have managed to come out of my shell a great deal, but you really can’t change who you are, and honestly, I don’t want to. I’m going to have to realize that who I am trying to be on this tour is never going to be who I really am. Funnily, this is what most of my friends tried to tell me on my way out, even though I think many of them are still waiting to hear of “Behind the Music” worthy rock and roll conquests. For them, I will continue on!




On a sad note, I lost my keys during load-out tonight. I left my ATM card at a bar in Athens as well. I’ve been feeling lately like I’m losing my mind. I have been feeling kind of out of balance, and now I’m losing things. This is a significant step back, and since I’m usually a go-to person in this band, I feel like a different person altogether. IWTDI and The Story Changes are currently enjoying a late-night meal at IHOP right by our hotel, and I don’t even want to go in there. I don’t know who I am right now, but tomorrow is another day. Can today end please?