Thursday, October 9, 2008

the tour is over

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7am….cell phone alarm…four hours after the night cap in monterey….pack 6 weeks of wardrobe, cd's, guitar, and gear ….9am….leave pacific grove, california…9:40am…stop in santa cruz for iced coffee at cafĂ© pergolesi…9:50am….go back for another….9:55am…gas up…10am…turn on radio…rush limbaugh….10:07am….ask self why i can't seem to turn rush limbaugh off…. 10:08am….turn rush limbaugh off….10:20am….sing “do you know the way to san jose” to self while idly tapping fingers on steering wheel…10:30am…..return rental car to san jose airport….10:45am….re-pack huge suitcase on airport sidewalk due to weight regulations having changed since arrival on west coast 6 weeks ago…11:10am….now with the extra twenty pounds in the back pack and computer bag slung across shoulder, remove shoes, belt, change, metal objects, liquids or gels…remove computer from the bag… step thru security….11:15am ….put it all back together….11:22am…look for fresh food options at food court….find none…11:25am….purchase unsalted cashews at newsstand… glossy covers of time and newsweek out the corner of eye…try to open cashews…try to open cashews again….using teeth, open cashews…11:30am…proceed to gate…locate seat 23e in the middle of a row of three at very back of plane….no reclining feature…fly to phoenix in opposite direction of new york…try to sleep…fail…look for crossword puzzle…realize crossword puzzle is in the overhead compartment…nod in agreement with girl sitting to the right when she says “this seat feels like a prison”…converse further…reveal you play music for a living…“how do you like that,” she asks. “does the traveling tire you out?”“i love traveling”randomly recount the last six weeks in your mind…the awesome (and surprisingly liberal) audience in salt lake…(they loved “god III!)….the indifferent and drunk audience in big sky, montana only the next night…how cool bonnie raitt is…the lone drive through breathtaking yellowstone national park…all the lone drives… the liberation…the freedom…the loneliness…the insecurity…the montana stars that make one feel as if you are standing inside of the sky…the negative inner dialogue….the woman at the gas station who with all sincerity exclaimed “oh my god, I LOVE the color of your car” in reference to the ugly mustard seed yellow ford focus i'd been dealt in san francisco …the new friends you made at the folk festival in sisters, oregon…the talented fifteen year old songwriter who attended the workshop there… phil'z coffee in san franciisco… my god phil'z coffee….inarguably the most exceptional coffee i know of anywhere…. the secrets of the cosmos contained in every sip …. one could subsist solely on this coffee if stranded on a desert island...like coconut water …is all that stuff about coconut water a myth?... now the flight to nyc from phoenix… long flight… could really use a cup of phil'z…my right hamstring is killing me…thank god for those yoga poses sasha taught me…should have the kinks out by bedtime…upcoming shows in arden, delaware, nova scotia (with josh ritter!)…and back in SF with cassandra wilson … but as of monday, a couple “weeks off”....must do taxes…must write new record…must achieve …must achieve….stay afloat…stay honest….make the big money…make the small money…wear a mask…keep it real…”get sick…get well…hang around an ink well…ring a bell…hard to tell if anything is gonna sell…try hard…get barred…get back… write brail…get jailed…jump bail…. join the army if you fail…look out kid…you're gonna get hit….by losers, cheaters, six-time users hanging 'round the theatres….girl by the whirlpool looking for a new fool…don't follow leaders….watch your parking meters” that part was bob dylan…days ago in wendy and karen's bathroom in the east bay i randomly leafed through the book they had laying out… a new-age manual so to speak….it was all about being in THE NOW….and how THE NOW is the only thing that matters….and how even when you remember the past, you are remembering it in THE NOW…and when the future (the one you're always worrying about) finally arrives, it arrives in THE NOW…sitting there in their bathroom, i tried my to clear my mind of all thought other than only what was taking place at that very moment….i always suspected this was the only thing that matters…