"and so it is... i can't take my eyes off of you"
so phoenix was fun and low-key, we had a huge amount of driving the next day, and rested somewhere around Las Cruces to see the film "Madagascar". it gave me relief to do something familiar. we drove so much, but it was never too bad. i love watching the scenary unfold and change slightly. we'd stop for bathroom and gasoline and everyone would play a quick game of soccor in the lot. it was a grand relief to sweep into Austin. i love that city. i tried to get my cousin to come to the show. while he couldn't, it was still cool to talk to him for the first time in 4 or 5 years. Emo's is an awesome venue, except that setting up my stuff w/ the sun glaring down was hellish. but at night, i appreciated the fact that the show is outdoors. (I)NC headlined, folks were so damn friendly there. a woman named Ingrid sat next to me selling cd's for her husband's band, "The Arm". she was so nice and we talked about her kid and staying awesome and punk even when you're married and have a baby and are totally stoked on those aspects as well. she inspired me lots, i gave her a pin to give her kiddo. i got tons of tips, everyone had lots of interesting stuff to talk about, and they gave me a cool poster. the guys have a friend named Mani who lives there, and we discussed Palestine a bunch. Dave from Trail of Dead was also at the show, it was good to see him one more time. And Stefan's sister Jen lives there now, and came to say hi. I used my spare time to hang out w/ the Quebec kids at a bar called Maggie May's, and hung out mostly w/ Alex for the remainer of the night. He's phenomenal and I'm glad I got to know him; one of those folks by whom I feel changed,. As I was packing up and saying my goodbye's at close to 3am, it started to rain. It was sad but f'ing perfect as well. Kisses and hugs and goodbye forever or for a long time, back to the hotel, up the next day to drive to Houston. Mani met us there, we hung out at Rice University while Dennis got interviewed, I sat in the grass in the sun, called Carolyn, made plans to meet up in NYC. The show was the tour's finale, and Susan met me there. Susanface! So good to see her after 2 years. We sat together, acted goofy, ate vegan brownies that Jen made us. Saying goodbye to everyone was sad, but they'll be back in L.A. at the end of July for some festival. Suz took me home, and I slept forever. The next day she took me to the best thrift store ever, a good veggie restaurant, and we walked around all these cool places. We met up w/ her friends Alexia and Brian that night. Thru Susan's life, Houston ain't bad at all.
I was sad to leave, i definitely wasn't ready for anything to end. And now I am in SF and a bit sniffly, Brian is here and it's good to see him. A week from tomorrow I leave for NYC, to celebrate my loved ones' birthdays, see Pixies and Interpol at Jone's beach, see Manowar at BBKings, catch up w/ Carolyn, spend time at our cabin in Chichester hopefully, and see Benny and other philly kids. Things are going well, I shouldn't let myself be too sad or scared. I will have to get another job soon to bring $ in, but i know it doen't have to be a big career-centric thing.