fear the new year

My last post of 2009 isn't a positive one. All I've seen through out this year is the slow decay of everything I've been working for since I started playing in bands when I was 10 years old. Ever since then music has been a builder of friendships and community. It's opened my eyes to so many amazing ideas and better yet, amazing people. It taught me how to be a good person and not to follow all of the things we get force fed growing up. It gave me my own mind and better yet taught me to stand on my own even when everyone around me was telling me I was wrong.

Now nearly 12 years later all I am seeing is all of that fading away. People growing up and falling off because they never really cared about this anyways. I thought most of the people I knew were different than that. I thought we were all in this together until someone came and ripped it from our dead hands. But now we're getting less and less interested in working to keep this together. Some people are still doing what they can but lately it seems like nothing will work. Omaha stays in Omaha and Lincoln stays in Lincoln.

I could be making mountains out of molehills and maybe over exaggerating one little event, but it's a series of little events that have made this hole in what we cared about so much. Friendships are dying and no one seems to notice. It hurts a lot because when this is dead what are we going to have left? Just empty, destroyed houses with faint reminders of what was once accomplished by a group of poor kids that the world didn't give a fuck about. What are they searching for as they all fall out? A career? Security? In these times I think that we should be more concerned about our happiness and less concerned about our wallets. Just because the world around us is falling apart doesn't mean that we have to.

2010 is looking bleak to me.

Shows - Downloads - Weekends

Hercules is playing 3 shows in December around the midwest! If you live near any of these towns, come out to the show!

Friday, December 18th Omaha, NE @ Sokol Underground

with : The Heat Machine (CD RELEASE) Artillery Funk & The Bishops

Saturday, December 19th Cedar Falls, IA @ The 1108 House
with : Agress, Caulfield & Dead Heroes

Sunday, December 20th Sioux Falls, SD @ Middy Mansion

with : Worst Of Times, Caulfield & Dead Heroes

Also you (meaning the 6 people who look at this blog) can download the newest Hercules full length "Moon Riders" (released 06.11.09 on Nihilism Records - www.myspace.com/nihilismrecordsne) for free by going to www.mediafire.com/hercules

tell all of your friends to download it. pass it around if you feel like it!

On a personal note, things are going awesome right now! I am in Omaha today using the internet, eating at my parents then going to the dudes house to soundproof our practice space and have Hercules and Koizumi practice. I am currently on a 3 day weekend from work which is really awesome. This whole Thanksgiving weekend is going to rule. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving 1 in York with my dads family, Thursday is Thanksgiving 2 in York with my moms family (Lyndsi, Kailey and Dani will also be attending!) Friday at midnight is the bar then the casino for Gabes 21st birthday, Saturday is Punxgiving and Touche Amore @ Ghost House and Sunday is Phobia @ Ghost House! What a weekend I have coming up!

Pumped on life. Still have no money but I never do so fuck it!

LincOmaha

I haven't made a post in over a month. Things have drastically changed since I got home from tour at the end of September. I quit my jobs at Coco Key Water Resort and Godfather's Pizza. I first quit Coco Key but still stuck around at Godfather's for a few weeks. We decided to move out of the Float Crib at the end of October so I quit one job to search for a new place to live and a new place to work. I ended up moving in with Kailey in Lincoln and got a job pretty fast at Jimmy Johns. I moved here October 19th, right after I got over my mono and have been hanging out and working ever since.

I am also the most broke I have been since before I started working when I was 14. I have had $1 in my bank account for the last week and a half and that is the only money that I have. Touring 3 and a half months this year plus moving plus bills has put me in a terrible money situation. But I'm working and I will bounce back, I always seem to. But things have been really rough the last month money wise. Haven't had money to get back to Omaha much which sucks because I really miss it there.

Thought I wanted a break from booking tours, but after almost two months of being home I'm already itching to get started on the next one. And luckily for me, that's exactly what I am doing! Hercules and Battle are going to road dog together again in March! This time hitting up the Midwest, Canada and the West Coast! I am really excited to hang out with those dudes again and am really excited to tour in Canada. Hercules is working on getting either a 7" or at least a CDR of some new songs and a Black Sabbath cover released by this tour. Really excited to be writing, recording and touring again. It's what I love to do!

Been in a real good mood lately, things are looking up. Want to start making money and get back to Omaha more often then things will be perfect!

Mono

I can't believe this shit. So I'm still dealing with what originally was thought to be an abscess on my tonsils, that is not the case at all. I was prescribed an antibiotic by the hospital to help my swelling go down. The next day I went to an ENT (ears, nose, throat) doctor to get my abscess drained. He stuck a needle in my neck but nothing would come out and he was saying he was not convinced that this was an abscess. He told me he thought it was some sort of virus that my body was going to have to get over itself. He told me to keep an eye on it and call him in the morning. During all of this I also developed a cold and was having high fevers everynight before I went to bed.

The next day all of my swelling was the same and I didn't feel better so I went back into the ENT and he told me he was sure it was mono. We didn't do a mono test because he said it takes a week to get back and it would cost me too much money to find out for sure. He told me to keep taking my antibiotics and just let the mono do it's thing. The day I got done taking my antibiotics I broke out in the most ridiculous rash I have ever seen. This rash goes from my feet all the way up to my skull. It itches, burns and hurts. I am honestly more rash than skin right now, I look like a ginger freak. I woke up with this and decided to go into the hospital to see what the hell was going on. The doctor did a mono test and confirmed that I do have mono. He told me this rash was caused by my antibiotics I was taking. He also told me taking those antibiotics was completely pointless since I did not have a tonsil abscess.

So here I sit, dealing with this for the last week and a half, now with a rash I got because I took medicine I didn't need to be taking. Here's the real kicker...I will have this rash for 7-10 days. And if I have it longer than that I have to go back into the doctor. The doctor at the hospital in Lincoln told me he got mono when he was in his 20's and he had it for 2 months. Symptoms can come and go at anytime so basically I could feel better then just get all of these symptoms again a week later. The only light at the end of this dark, dark tunnel is that after I'm over it I just have the mono virus forever and can never get this again. Again, I can't believe this shit.

Abscess

This all started with me finding a huge lump on my neck Sunday night. I thought it was weird but I didn't think much of it. After talking to a few people who had similar things I wasn't worried and just figured it was no big deal. Thursday I woke up with a little bit of a sore throat but I usually get those when it gets a little colder out so once again didnt think anything of it. Friday brought some swelling and a weird pus filled sore in my throat. I q-tipped some of the pus out of the sore and it literally smelled like human shit was in my mouth. It was awful.

Saturday I woke up in extreme pain and my neck was now swollen in a few different places. I decided that Monday I should go into the doctor because this was looking pretty bad. I went itno work Saturday night and noticed my pain was getting worse and my throat swelled even more. At the very end of my shift I started getting shooting pains in my ear and I knew I had to get something done. After work I decided I couldn't let this slide and went into the emergencey room.

When I arrived I should a nurse my huge swollen neck and my pus filled sores and she was horrified. In fact, everyone I showed was horrified. I was told multiple times that you're not supposed to see swelling outside of the neck with things like this. They said they needed to do a cat scan. During the scan I had iodine pumped into me to see if I had an abscess in my throat or not. I was luckily warned of this before it happend but when they pumped it into me my body got super hot and it felt like I was just pissing in my pants the entire time, it was a really strange feeling.

After my cat scan Kailey came up from Lincoln to hang out with me at the hospital and it ruled, made me feel a lot better. She called my mom and my parents decided to come up to hang out as well. After waiting for about an hour after my cat scan the doctor finally came in and told me that I have an infected abscess in my throat. The only way to really get rid of this is to cut open and drain the abscess. Unfortunately for me the pocket of infection hasn't fully formed so I have to wait until tomorrow (Monday) to get it cut open. I have to get up at 7:00am tomorrow to call a Ear, Nose and Throat doctor to try to get in. If I can't get into there I have to go back to the emergency room to cut sliced and drained.

Luckily I went in when I did though. The swelling was so huge that is was putting pressure on my windpipe and if I didn't go in it could have swollen my windpipe shut which would obviously kill me. That was wild news to get. I got some medicine to take for the swelling and it has gone down a bit today and the pain isn't nearly as bad. It's 1:05am right now and I can't really sleep because I have absolutely no idea what to expect tomorrow. I was told they would cut it open and drain it but I have no clue what that process is like. I hope everything goes well. This is all a huge bummer.

Home For A While

Moving out of The Float Crib this month. Not sure where I am moving to. Not sure where I am going to work. Not sure what I am going to do. Things will work out as they should.

Go Big Red

What can I say on my 70th post about tonight? I guess I can be cliche and start from the beginning. Gabe picked me up and we rolled over to the manor where Jay's younger sister hosted her birthday party. Imagine any college movie party you've seen and set it in the manor with our friends strategically placed throughout the party like hobo streamers. Bumping' beats provided by a DJ, green lights to set the mood and more booty dancing and break dancing than you can handle. No one knew who any of these people were or where they came from. But we knew they were there to get drunk, smoke weed and grind their dicks on ass or ass on dicks.

The night rolled on and it fucking sucked the whole time. I even heard a go big red chant, and not in the funny way like when we chant "USA!" at ghost house. Real, heartfelt chants to the gods of the grid iron more commonly referred to as the black shirts. Gabe, myself and a handful of others decided to seek sanctuary in his room and spend our Saturday wrecking Liberty City on Grand Theft Auto 4. It was a great fucking time, eons better than the lame ass party that raged beneath our feet.

Just as I blew a cops head off (on grand theft auto) Joey walked up to tell us that the cops were here. They were let in by two histerical girls who were not ok with the idea of not allowing the police to come into your house. You don't have to let them in. They busted in and honestly said "OH NO IT'S THE COPS!" just like in Super Bad, or was it Super Troopers? Either way, Cody looked outside only to tell us that there were 3 cop cars, oh wait here comes a 4th, never mind here comes a 5th! Five goddamn cop cars lined up outside of the manor ready to crack some fucking minors domes. Two cops entered Gabe's room and asked us who lived there. Gabe looked around for a bit as if to think that one of us may decide to lie and fess up to cover him. He finally approached the cop and told him that he lived there. The cop asked 3 or 4 times if this was a frat house which blew my mind (do we look like we live in a fucking frat?) .

Time passed as weed and pipes were confiscated from unsuspecting teenagers trying to let out some steam after this weeks grueling school week. Some left in tears, one left in the back of a cop car. As we sat and watched the scatter out on the street another cop entered Gabe's room with the same old questions. He asked us if we were smoking weed then pointed directly at Marc and said "you've been in the weed room." We all laughed and asked him what the fuck that meant to which the cop replied "come on guys, he's obviously been in the weed room." A total mind fuck of ungodly proportions. We laughed, talked about all of the wild shit assorted people saw then decided to head to Rados then call it a night.

Home From Tour Again

Didn't really do a home from tour post. Pretty much got home and was thrown back in to working a lot and having a ton of shit going on when I'm not working. I put my two weeks in at Coco Key on Monday and my last day is a week from today. That will be awesome not working that job anymore because it literally took my soul away, that's the only way to describe it. I don't know what my deal is, I once was content with working but the older I get the more I hate it. It's one of the reason I am usually in a bad mood. I've had a lot of bad shit happen to me this year and being at work reminds me of standing there in one place for 8 hours thinking about all of my problems and having nothing to keep me occupied from them. It's a real mentally draining job.

Now I have other bad shit going on right now. I am ruining good things around me being in a shit mood but I literally can't stop. My problems are just going to wear me down and put me in an even shittier place. I've tried having a positive outlook and I can't, even when I have things going great in my life. Always focusing on the negative. Feeling so unmotivated lately. Feeling alone when I'm clearly not. This has simultaneously been the best and worst year of my life.

Man Vs. Food

So tour is dwindling down to the last couple of days here and I can't lie, I'm pretty bummed out. We've had a killer time. I wish I could have had more internet access because I didn't get to post very much and because of that I couldn't share so many great stories with the people who actually read this when I'm gone. But I do miss my friends, kailey, dani and my family a whole lot so coming home won't be bad at all. If I didn't have to head back to work two jobs then it would be great but if life was that easy I wouldn't know what to do.

We had our show in St Louis get canceled yesterday...kind of. Pretty much just got stood up which sucks but that's the only time a show got canceled on this tour which is great luck for us who are use to having like a week off straight on tour. I really miss hanging out with the Battle dudes but we discussed a midwest / canada tour in the springtime so I really hope that happens because I need to see those dudes again. I don't think driving down to play an after party around the fest with them is going to happen because a few of us have some "other" halloween plans. Muahahahahaha!

Today we're playing a show I've been looking forward to for a while in Normal, Illinois. Our buddy Randle's band "Dripping Slits" is playing and with a name like that they've got to be wild. It's at a venue I've heard about for a while called The Kitchen so I am excited to play there and hang out. I always love getting back into the midwest where people are nice and normal because every show you play is just with a ton of friends so it rules. Tomorrow is Iowa City then Saturday is Des Moines where some friends from Nebraska are going to come out to. I am really excited to see everyone and hang out. I'm always weird the first little bit seeing everyone because for a month a I walk into a room, know no one and get looked at weird then suddenly I walk into a room and all of my best friends are there, it's a wild, fast transition.

So right now I'm sitting in a gigantic house in St. Louis with a gigantic dog named Miss Jenkins, just did some laundry, gonna shower, shave, clip my toenails, maybe exfoliate? Things are looking up in the world of hygene for me. Didn't have much to say in today's blog, just kind of a pre-recap for I do my final one of tour. Excited to get home and see all of your poor freaks. We will hang out real hard.

Warren! We're Going Streaking! Let's Go!

Tour ended with Battle on Sunday morning and we were all really fucking bummed to leave those dudes. We had great times. Stayed at a parents house for a few days and were destroyed with unlimited free food and soda. Played a church in Ft Myers that gave us unlimited free food and soda as well. Florida was an incredible time and I will miss it dearly. If you haven't checked out Battle do it now @ www.myspace.com/battle they're one of the most legit bands around right now, hands down.

Over the past two days we've had two hellish 8 hour drives. The first to Birmingham, AL and the second to Mountain Home, AR. Last night in Mountain Home we slept in the back of a dog grooming shop called Dog Gone Pretty. It was fucking wild. Woke up to 4 different older women grooming dogs and asking us a ton of questions about why we were there. We decided to get out of there as early as we could, hit Taco Bell and then get on the windy road to Springfield for our show @ The Outland with Suzi Trash.

Rolled into Springfield around 3:45 and met up with our best buddy Warren who was ready as shit to party. He took us to a strip club called The Pony where the dudes got bombed ass wasted while Matt and I saw who could hold different body parts over candles longer. I witnessed a stripper fall down and hurt her wrist so bad that she had to stop. Another stripper had vampire teeth. The guys ended up hanging out with the strippers and getting their numbers to hang out later. We hit the road so Warren could open up The Outland for us. The show was really rad and we saw a ton of old friends which was fucking awesome!

After the show things got really wild. Everyone kept drinking and finally Tyler decided to get naked and streak around downtown Springfield. There was a good 5 minutes Tyler was gone and no one could see him. He said he ran around, gave a point to every car he saw and high fived a guy. Later on a taxi cab driver drove by, stopped, backed up and told Tyler "I remember you!" We hung out with a few more local crazies and The Machete Archive who happend to be playing about a block away from us which was absolutely nuts! The bar closed and we hung out in back while the guys waited for our new friends from The Pony.

The strippers arrived and we came back to Warrens. They all went swimming at Warrens parents house. I stayed here to play guitar and have nothing to do with that hahahahaha but I know everyone is having a great and wild time. It's currently 6:15am and they are still gone. I'm sure they will have some insane stories to tell me when they get back, I think I am going to wait up for them so I can hear the tales while they're fresh in their heads.

We're supposed to play in St.Louis today but no one in Suburban Smash will return any of my emails to tell me if we have a show or not so I think we're just going to hang out with our friend Christie. I'm hoping to do some laundry and take a shower. Also I'm really hoping to eat Chipolte today at some point. I hope all of that could happen! 3 more shows of tour...

09.17 Normal, IL @ The Kitchen
09.18 Iowa City, IA @ PS1
09.19 Des Moines, IA @ The Haunted Basement w/ Thunderbolts!

Then we're playing at Ghost House Friday September 25th w/ Rotting Out, Expire and many more awesome bands. Home on Sunday. This tour has fucking ruled!

Dooze Or Looze

We can't come to Jacksonville without having a wild time. We drove 7 and a half hours overnight from North Carolina to Flordia. It wasn't too bad because I just mouth quivered the entire time. Rolled in Jax at around 7:45am and instantly went to sleep. Had a really nice chill day just doing laundry, showering and watching How It's Made and Man Vs. Food. The show was at Doozers Pub, a place we played in February with The JV All*Stars. Before the show we went to Hip Hop Chicken and ABC Liquour to get the night going. The show seemed like no one was going to come to it then all of a sudden later in the evening people started pouring in.

All of the bands were really sweet. Played with a surf punk band called Gnarly By Nature who was awesome. When we played things got really wild and the push mosh was set to extreme. I saw a girl get knocked right to the floor and Tyler attempted to help her and then moved on before she actually got up. Battle's set was of course incredible, they have become one of my favorite bands in hardcore right now, check them out! Robbie (LHLL) played a sweet set for arguably the biggest crowd. Another sweet sludgy band who kept quoting East Bound and Down called "Legacies" played and they were awesome even through the barage of drunk slander.

After the show the boys got tanked and things got wild. When everyone had cleared out of the bar for the night all that were left was the Hercules crew, Robbie, the bartender of Doozers and the old guy who sand "Zombie" by The Cranberries last time we were here in February. We were jamming and doing Karoke to songs by the greats like Slayer, Pantera, Fear and some band who covered "Baby Got Back" nu metal style. We were circle pitting, moshing around, screaming, air guitaring and head banging all with two 40 year old men. Dooze or Looze was the slogan on the door, and we followed it's war cry. Then it was finally time to hit the road and see what the night had to offer.

We drove 30 minutes across Jacksonville and went to one of the local beaches. The water was surprisingly warm which was really nuts to me. Everyone got in the water except for me, I decided to stay back and watch everyones clothes who decided to skinny dip in the ocean. Some girl was taking pictures of everyone and other people would just laugh uncontrollably when everyone would walk by. At about 3:00am we finally left the beach and hit up McDonald's to get large fries and coke's that tasted like a chemical bath. We're in Florida for the next week, we jumped on some shows on a Thick As Blood / Endwell / Lionheart tour which should be really interesting.

Tonight we play @ The Engine Room in Tallahassee, Flordia. We have to leave Jacksonville at 11:00am because the promoter of the show tonight called yesterday and asked what time we were going to be there to eat lunch. Free food, tour, warm weather, beaches, punk rock, this is a great time. Be home in 2 weeks!

Risking My Life For Your Limbs

Played murder city Baltimore, MD tonight and had a great time. Played at Charm City Art Space. No one was at the show but I heard that was because Cro Mags and Hatebreed were playing a show in Washington DC, a mere one hour away from here. What are you gonna do, right? Can't compete with that show at all. Still had a really good time, hung out with some good friends from Baltimore and chilled in the city.

There was of course an insane man there. Never caught this nut jobs name but I do know that he didn't stop talking the ENTIRE night. He was the dad of one of the kids in the first band who played. They were all a bunch of younger high school kids. Every word that came out of this dudes month was quoutable. Every time he would talk I would tell myself "remember that." But it just kept happening! He was telling us he wanted to go to the woods, get high, get drunk and fuck his wife before she got fat. He sang "Breakin The Law" while Danny, Tyler and I air guitared and headbanged.

He kept telling us how we were living our lives the right way. Told us that we were driving down the road of rock while he went home to his wife, kids and4 dogs. But he assured us that he rocked for a living and worked for a hobby. He told us that we had to be self employed and that he makes $50 an hour with his tree removal company who's slogan is "risking my life for your limbs." This guy was a fucking genuis. Aaron has two different videos of this guy on his phone. He talked non stop the entire night mainly about metal bands he's seen (megadeth ACOUSTIC, metallica, van halen, black sabbath, and many more), weed, booze, his company, fucking his wife and his sons band.

Every time he would mention his sons band he would say "we" like he was apart of the band. This guy was straight up insane and talked to EVERYONE alone at the venue tonight for at least 10-15 minutes. His mouth wouldn't stop and the only way to get out of a conversation with this guy was to literally walk away. Even if you told him you had to go he would keep talking. We were at the venue for at least 30 minutes after everyone else left just waiting for this guy to stop talking. I wish I could remember all of the gems that this guy had. Every word from his mouth was poetic and memorable.

Tomorrow we're going to Washington D.C. to see some sights for a bit then we're playing a show in Harrisonburg, Virginia. I think we have 16 more shows to play on this tour. Be home September 20th.

I'll Gobble You Up Old Man

What a fucking time we had in the city that never sleeps the past few days. We drove to Queens overnight after our show on Monday in Waterbury, Connecticut which was a great time. We played at Home For Lost Boys and it was a blast, Battle played an amazing set. Got to Queens around 1:00am and hung out with the biggest asshole/our best friend Tym. Sat in his apartment for a while, heard some awful songs and some good songs from the new Brand New record then hit the hay.

Woke up early the next day and hit the streets of New York. Met up with Tym and had some killer pizza by his work. His yuppie ass works in Manhattan by the Empire State Building, holy fuck. After that we cruised around Times Sqaure and went into the dopest Toys R Us I had ever been in. Right when you walk in they take your picture then try to get you to pay $10 to buy it. Right when we left Toys R Us we witnessed a car wreck 10ft in front of us. The two vehicles involved were an ambulance and a taxi cab. Everyone in the street laughed, it was nuts.

We got back to Tym's and Matt and I went back to Manhattan to find a gym to no avail. But while getting on the on ramp to head back to Queens someone was flying down it backwards and almost crashed into us and about 3 other cars. I fucking hate New York City drivers. We headed to the show in Brooklyn but of course had to stop and eat the best vegan buffalo wings in the world at Food Swings. The food was incredible. Expensive as fuck but toally worth it.

The show was at a bar called The Charleston and it was a pretty sweet show. Played with a band called Spectators who were kind of in the vein of Botch, it was killer. Outside of the show while chilling on a stoop the guitarist of Sick Of It All strolled by so everyone yelled "Yeah! Sick Of It All!" and he simply put his fist in the air and kept on walking. Not many people went to the show. The show was in the basement of the bar and upstairs was trivia night so most of the hipsters stayed up there to eat their free pizza w/ every alcohol purchase.

After the show we were all hanging out getting ready to head back to Tyms when an old man walked by with a bag. Our wild friend from here, Vic, decided to say "what's in the bag old man?" The old man took major offense to this and told him "mind your own fucking business MAN." The dispute ended there until Aaron informed Vic that the old man had said the above statement for Vic did not hear it. To add fuel to the fire Vic yelled at the old man "I'm gonna make it my business."

Then the gloves were off and this old man was fucking pissed. He screamed "YOU WANNA MAKE SOMETHING OF IT BUDDY?! COME HERE! I'M RIGHT HERE!" This was litereally a 65 + year old man wanting to fight a 25 year old guy. Vic told him to go and eat his food which made the old man grab his junk and yell "EAT THIS!" Vic hit him with "I'll gobble you up old man!" The verbal argument continued on until we asked the old man what he was going to do to Vic to which he replied "I'M GOING TO KICK HIS FUCKING ASS!" To my amazement Vic then said "OK" and started walking towards the little old man with his bag of food.

I was in fucking shock because I thought either A) Vic was going to walk up and deck this old man or B) This old man who was reaching in his back pocket was going to knife Vic in his throat. A couple passing by stepped in and tried to mediate the argument. Vic told the old man it was a joke and to keep on walking and even offered to help the man pick up his food. The geezer was absolutely not interested in Vics help, picked up his food and headed home. It was a crazy fucking time.

Today we're playing in Philadelphia, PA. I'm hoping to get this box of 20 pretzels or whatever that everyone from Ghost Towns keep telling me about. Still have 18 more shows to play on this tour. It's been a great time so far.

Finger A Guys Butt

So much shit to catch up on. Don't know where to begin. Haven't had much computer access on this tour but we're in Queens with our boy Tym right now and Aaron picked up a laptop while we're here so hopefully I can do more posts. Tour has been fucking incredible. All of the shows have been amazing. Last night we stayed in a gigantic house in New Hampshire. A girls parents were out of town and her brother told us to eat whatever we wanted. We literally ate ALL of their food, I'm not joking around. 

Upstairs in this house was a pool room that was filled with sports shit. They had something signed by the biggest star in every major sport there is in the world. It was so insane. They had 4 dogs and 4 cats all running around fighting each other. We had a great time. These dudes in Battle are fucking rad as hell and their band is amazing. If you haven't heard them go to www.myspace.com/battle and check out all of their shit. Also check out Robbie from Little High, Little Low www.myspace.com/lhll. I have so many stories to tell but I don't have time to type them all so I'll give one good story:

On a train back from Boston 4 of the most methed out people I have ever seen were sitting directly acorss from us. A fat guy, a fat girl and two skinny girls. The fat guy and one skinny girl were fucking passed out not knowing what was going on. The other two were staring at each other with zombie expressions on trying to communicate. In mid conversation the huge girl passed out and was GONE! Her friend then started yelling "Sarah, I LOVE YOU! WAKE UP! I LOVE YOU!" She finally came to and her friend told her that they had to get off at the next stop and that she wasn't able to carry all of them around. Those meth heads somehow stumbled out of the train.

Seconds after another man stepped onto the train equally methed out. As he entered the train he stradled the platform and the train until he finally threw his body in right as the doors closed. He stood up the entire train ride, even with many seats open up around him. He was literally falling asleep standing up. Bending at the waste until his face almost touched the ground. Swaying back and forth every which way nearly falling over at every bump. The train stopped and he slowly exited the train not to be seen again.

Shit has been so much fun. Every show has  ruled. Been playing with some good fucking bands. Check out The Bonus Army from MASS, they are heavy hitters. Hopefully I can start keeping this more updated. We're having a killer time. I have a lot of wild stories to tell. I miss you all back in Nebraska.

-BC

Wheel Chair Mosh

Tour is fucking awesome so far. Sunday we played in Iowa City with Cross Examination and they were so incredible live. It was the first time that I ever saw them. You know the last song they played was Reign In Blood by Slayer and it slayed so fucking hard. Outside of the show there were bums all over Iowa City looking for a handout. Always blows my mind. Had a really chill night at our friend Joe's house, hanging out, eating and talking late into the night.

Had our show Monday in Illinois get canceled but luckily our good buddy Jeff Chord got us on a show in Cedar Falls at a bar called The Hub. It was like a back to school bash and we played with a ton of high school bands. A few of the bands were really really good and they were like 15 year old kids which got me really pumped on punk rock music. The show was a killer time, but a long night because 9 bands played and we went on last. I was really excited to see some Iowa friends for two days. Matt and I tried to break into a snap fitness at 2:30am and that didn't go over well. Saw a janitor at a rec center on the walk back to Jeff's and asked if we could come in to lift. He told us "I shouldn't even be talking to you, you'll come in here and get wild." All in a voice that sounded like the farmer dude from Waterboy.

Today we had a long drive from Cedar Falls to Indianapolis so we left Jeff's at 9:00am and started our Journey. A nice chill day of driving and it didn't go by too slow. Pulled up next to a truck full of turkey's that were mere feet from me and I was absolutely terrified. Had a lot of laughs in the van and at the show today. We have a really good group of people with us on this tour. The show tonight was awesome. It was in this huge building that an artist has called The Murphy Building. We played with Sometimes, Axis and Allies & Crime In Stereo. Axis and Allies was fucking amazing, check them out, they're from Indianapolis. Crime In Stereo gave a shout out to The Party Plex and we all hooped and hollard and everyone else in the place had no clue what was going on.

Just drove an hour and a half north to stay with our best buddies in Kokomo, Indiana. We had to stop at a White Castle first. The fries were great but I had my first White Castle burger and it was fucking terrible. Now we're hanging out at our friends with an awesome dog named Cody. Matt and I are going to try and lift at a gym a few miles away. It's like 2:00am but what else do we have to do when everyone else is at the bar? We have our first day off tomorrow but that is luckily one of two we'll have on this tour (if all goes well that is). I'm kind of bummed because we had a show but it's whatever. Driving to Cleveland, OH tomorrow and Danny is gonna buy us a hotel room. HBO, swimming pools and vending machines. Playing in Buffalo, New York on Thursday at a sweet house called The Argyle. This tour is looking to be an awesome time. So many jokes and movie quotes. Time to go lift.

Licensed To Chill

Tour starts today. Check back for updates. Be home in a month.

punching bag

Food Poisoning

I leave in two weeks. I can't really believe that. I still don't feel like I am leaving. I absolutely don't have the money to do it but I'm going anyways. I am letting Kailey borrow my car since hers broke down. I am now without a car for two weeks but it's no big deal, she needs it more than I do. Things have been pretty cool lately, just hanging out, working kind of and getting ready to leave. I'm not really stressed at all which is cool. I just want to get on the road already. We don't have anyone going with us which bums me out because I think that will make me miss home a whole lot. I start my second job on Tuesday. Saw the new Harry Potter movie today and it was great.

Kailey and I got food poisoning at Fazolis on Thursday night so don't eat there. Threw up 7 times. Had diarrhea about 15 times. Felt awful the next day. Feel alright today. Slept in today and am staying up late tonight, two things I haven't done in a while and it feels awesome. Tomorrow I work. Monday I don't. Nothing much to say. Show tomorrow in Omaha. Should be a fun time if I make it there after work.

Ralph

It has been a busy week. My days have been spent at work from 9-4 then doing whatever I can before I leave for Lincoln. I helped Kailey move everyday except Wednesday this week. I was there until 1:00-2:00am every night, most nights driving home to Omaha just to wake up at 8am for work. Plus I got a second job at godfathers and have been doing all of these things for our tour and our record. Things have been pretty fucking nuts. But it's all whatever and it's all worth it. Tour is 3 weeks from today. Real excited but real bummed to leave the people I love for another month.

A sweet band called Dawn Treader is staying at the float tonight, they're super nice. They're playing a show today at Ghost House w/ Treeline, Lord Green & Hold High The Severed Head of Thine Enemy. I am excited to see all of those bands! Then Monday Hercules is playing @ Sokol Underground w/ Terror, Death Before Dishonor, Trapped Under Ice & Fight Like Hell. I am hoping that this upcoming week is not as nuts as this one has been. I still have a lot of stuff to get done for tour. New tshirts, new records, new buttons, van tune up, new merch tubs, get all of our show info, much more. Plus Koizumi is trying to record before we leave and I'm trying to record some acoustic stuff with Chris Atkins. Hopefully I can get it all done before we leave, that would rule. Time to go to bed and go to work tomorrow. Looking forward to having Tuesday and Wednesday off. Hope to get some work done and hang with my friends and Kailey. Things are good. Life is cool.

I got puked on this weekend.

I eat

and am hungry right after.

Godfather'sPizza

Tour in 26 days. I've been home 24 days. Time has been flying. No money for tour and no money for bills. It's no big deal. Haven't felt like writing much lately. Waiting for Gabe to call me so we can eat Godfather's Buffet for the low low price of $3. I have a laundry list of things to get done before tour. Always last minute stuff.

chipotle 3 times in 2 days

May have a 2nd job at Godfather's which would help me a lot before tour.
Trying to figure some things out right now.
A lot to do and it's real stressful.
Tour in 5 weeks and I can't believe it's already time to leave again.
The fuck.
The fuck.

I am a...

professional fuck up.

Eh

Today wasn't all bad. I finally got to sleep in a little which was nice. I woke up and had a lot on my mind so I took a nice walk around my neighborhood. Then Gabe called me up and we went to eat free Hong Kong Cafe. Then plan was to then go swim at a public pool but I remembered my 4 free passes to Coco Key Water Resort so I took those babies and hit the water slides hard. After that I lounged around at home for a few hours, worked on tour, made a flier, played guitar, all of that jazz. Finally came to the manor for some grand theft auto 4, treats from QT and now endless internet surfing. Things aren't really bad today but they're not great. Have to wake up at 8:00am for work and I am not looking forward to that. All I can do at work is sit and think about things bothering me in life.

Staying at my parents this weekend to watch my dog while they're out of town. Punch show Friday in Lincoln. Linoma Saturday with my family, my love and my loves little girl. Things aren't bad, I just have to stop getting down. Don't have ANY money to go on tour next month but it's whatever. May just have to move in with my parents for a few months when I get home. Don't want to but I'm gonna do what I have to. Not looking forward to starting my work week.

Home

Adjusting back to life not on tour is always really weird for me. The first week or two I am back home just feels really foreign and I never feel like I belong. Then I get re adjusted and leave a few months later. But, when I got home this time I was thrown into the countdown to leave again. Everything feels surreal I guess would be the best way to describe it. All of this time at home feels like a dream or something. That's not really a positive or negative statement. It's just weird to get thrown back into the life I had before I left and it seems like I was never gone. Maybe tour feels like a dream and not my life here in Omaha? It's hard to tell anymore.

I've been going on tour regularly for the past 3 years and it's been great but I feel more and more disconnected from my friends and family every time I leave. It seems like the more I leave the more I turn into less of a friend or less of a son, brother, cousin, etc. It's probably my fault. I'm sure people see it as me leaving them. Maybe I'm just being selfish and I just expect a bigger welcome when I get home? The first few times I left and came back it was always a big deal now it's just what I do so no one really makes a fuss anymore? Maybe I just need to grow up and get over myself. I can't tell. I always have really wild thought patterns late at night.

I feel so far away from everyone I know. I'm becoming less and less social and I don't know why. I can feel it happening and it seems like I can't stop it. I feel like when I leave and come back I'm just toying with people and it seems like they're starting to feel the same way. I haven't gotten much sleep since I've been home. Going to bed late and waking up around 8:00am everyday, it's really starting to grind me down. I've felt so unproductive lately. Basically I need a vacation after my "vacation."

Tour is great, don't get me wrong. But it's no vacation. It's actual work. Waking up early, driving ridiculous distances everyday, loading and unloading, playing shows. It's a tiring thing to put yourself through everyday for a month. Then you get home and are tossed back into work and other responsibilities and people don't understand how you can be worn down. "You were just on vacation" they tell me, not knowing the amount of work I put into tour. It all starts months before I leave. Then I get home and just start booking another one. I can't stop, I love tour, I love punk rock music. I'll be doing this for years to come.

Post # 50

Home from the get high or die tour. It was a great fucking time! Sold out of the first pressing of Moon Riders. Getting a 2nd press made soon. Went back to work Monday and got sick as fuck, but my beautiful girlfriend Kailey nursed me back to health yesterday and I'm feeling almost back to normal for the first time since I left. Just added another tour for Hercules this year. 2 or 3 weeks total. Hitting the west coast then 5 shows on 3 different islands in Hawaii then tour home. A total of 3 and a half months of touring this year, it's awesome! Also we're working on new songs right now for a future 7" and a song for a compilation our friends in Old Habits Die Hard who run Puna Punk Records in Puna, Hawaii are putting out this year.

Really busy right now. Writing, recording, tour, home, release a 7" then tour again. Aaron and Danny may be staying in Hawaii when we go in November until April or so. That will give us a long break which may be nice after a busy year, but I'll miss touring so much for that 6 months they're gone. We'll pick it right back up when they get home, if they do stay in Hawaii that is. If not I'm sure we'll go on tour early next year again.

I hope to keep this better updated on tour in August but no promises. It's hard when you have no computer to keep a blog updated. I am considering getting a twitter as well for those quick updates then can elaborate on them all when I can get to a computer. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!

Time for bed. It's only 11:40 but I'm sure I have about an hour on the phone with Kailey then an hour and a half watching a movie then I have to wake up at 8:00am for work. Time to get into my bed, sleep will come in 2 and a half to 3 hours. I used a lot of numbers in this post. 50th post, by the way (if the title didn't already give that away)

I'd rather not...

Interesting day in my life and in the collective lives of my comrads in the Hercules crew. We woke up in Spokane, Washington after staying with a very nice mom and her two daughters. They had Rollins band pictures and records everywhere so I was really pumped on that. I spent most of my morning looking through it all. We left for the first half of our 16 hour trek from Spokane to Salt Lake City. The plan was to drive to Boise, Idaho and try to find a place to stay or get a hotel room.

We stopped at some restaurants in downtown Spokane to get some food before we hit the road. After we all ate we went to start up the Winnefaygo. No dice. A lady and a daughter came out of Arbys and we decided to ask them for a jump. Aaron approached the woman and asked if we could get a jump. "Excuse me?" she said "Could we get a jump?" Aaron replied. The lady had the most horrified look on her face. "I don't have jumper cables." "We do." After a 30 second pause and silence coupled with a terrified face the lady exclaimed "I'd rather not, someone else will come around." I called AAA to get a jump since we thought it was our battery. About 30-45 minutes later Roy from the local AAA affiliate rolled up. He told us our battery was looking great. He got his plump body under our van and emerged 3 minutes later only to tell us we definately need a new starter.

Got it towed to an auto repair shop a couple of blocks from the immaculate Arby's we were at. After an hour or so wait and $176 later we were on the road to Boise. It was a 7 hour drive that we started at 5:00pm. Idaho is the most beautiful state in this country, if you haven't been, visit it. So many green green green hills and beautiful rivers. The drive got hellish with so many twists and turns I almost puked. We finally rolled into Boise at 1:30am and destroyed food since none of us had eaten in 12 hours. Met up with In The Face of War at a house we're staying at. They played a punk bar with The Ashers (members of The Unseen). We have to wake up in the morning so the guy we're staying with can fire someone at Papa Joe's (no, not John's, Joe's) then give us free pizza.

Can't spread too much about my family's life but I found out today that Stephens is not my last name and now my whole family is about to go through a huge process and getting our last name legal. Holy shit. Wild fucking day. Another long ass drive tomorrow to Taylorsville, Utah. I'm finally feeling a little better. I sadly passed the black death onto Tyler Cain who is now sick as shit. Home in 4 days. This tour has flown by. Hopefully I will see you all of the fourth of July.

4th of July @ Ghost House
- Hercules
- In The Face of War
- Life of a Scarecrow
- Thunderbolts

You guys are from Oma-mersa?

Really limited interweb access on this tour, sorry for the lack of updates. Another brief overview.

6.23 - 6.24 San Francisco, CA: Stayed with our friend Nic for two days and checked out San Francisco, had an amazing time. We saw a lot of cool stuff and ate some incredible food. When we weren't out and about we played the new Grand Theft Auto game and it was amazing. Made me want to buy an X box 360 just to play that game.

6.25 Redding, CA: The show in Redding was nuts. We played at a place called The Downtown Eatery which was a bar/grill type place. There was almost no one at the show but we got free food and free drinks all night. Plus we got to stay in an apartment above the venue that was there for bands to stay in. Vic got super sick while in San Francisco and slept a full 24 hours straight. A wild ass time.

6.26 Portland, OR: Had a hellish 7 hour drive to Portland but luckily the scenery was beautiful. The show we played was super fucking awesome. Played a local Portland band called Life and Limbs last show. All of the bands were sweet, there were a ton of kids there and everyone had fun. Unlucky for me I got Vic's sickness at this show and passed out in the van, missing 3 of the bands. We stayed at some really nice kids house and they made us soup, stuffing and bread.

6.27 Tacoma, WA: I woke up feeling like dogshit in Portland and pulled a Vic, sleeping all day until it was time to play in Tacoma. We played an awesome venue called The Viaduct with some sweet bands. Met a nice dude named Bryan and we chilled at his apartment, stayed up late eating spaghetti and watched What About Bob. I didn't sleep at all and woke up every 10-2o minutes. My sickness was really kicking my ass and it was god awful.

6.28 Spokane, WA: Woke up today feeling the worst I have yet. Thought I was going to puke when I was ordering my bagel for breakfast I could only eat half of. I once again slept the entire drive today. Woke up to us stopping at a scenic overview and it was incredible. The show in Spokane was sweet. We played at the Cretin Hop. In the back of the venue they had a projector and a huge screen. After the show they played Resevoir Dogs so we hung out and watched that. Now we're at a huge apartment/house where a ton of people live. A drunk girl fell down and smacked her face hard as shit on the cement and I lost it. She almost fell backwards down the stairs. At that point it was time to get upstairs before shit got nuts. Our show in Boise got canceled tomorrow so we're just staying with some people ITFOW know. Our next show is in Salt Lake City on the 30th. We will be home in 5 days. This tour has been fucking awesome. The northwest is my favorite place I've ever toured.

Throwing Bricks

This tour has brought crazy times. Last night we jumped on a house show and it ended up being the best show of tour. It was in Concord, California and we played with Until Your Heart Stops & Rebuilt. Two bands that I beg you to check out because they're fucking incredible. The show was awesome and everyone was super nice to us. They even asked us to come play their show in Reno the 24th so now the only day off we have on this tour is today. Which is super incredible because we usually have a ton of days off from tour so it rules to get one rest day then hit it hard the last 11 days!

The show ruled and we were all hanging out then it finally started to die down around 2:30am. Some local kids were hanging around walking back and forth all night. Then when we were all getting ready to settle down and go to bed these two twenty some year old dudes and a girl walked up. They were asking if the show was going on and if all of the bands were good. They were told by Tony (owner of the house) that the show was over. They just stood there in silence watching everyone hanging out. Tony told them that they could leave now since the show was over. They didn't take too kindly to that. They were repeating everything Tony would say then they kept asking him who's van was who's. Tony finally got them to leave.

Minutes later they came back and started throwing bricks at two of the vans. Everyone ran outside to chase them away but they were nowhere to be found. Everyone was a little weirded out but we didn't think much of it and I laid down to go to sleep. When some of the dudes were standing in the doorway telling us the whole story another break flies into the entry way of the house and almost hits 4 different people. Everyone got really sketched out and didn't know what to do. We all wanted to move the vans so they didn't get fucked with. While we were deciding whether or not to leave or just move the vans MORE bricks started to hit the house. We said fuck that and packed up all of our shit and drove to Oakland to go to sleep.

Today we have our day off on tour. Usually I would be bummed but today we're finally getting vegan pizza here in Oakland! Then we have the following shows the rest of tour. Come out to Ghost House July 4th!

6.24 Reno, NV @ The Eyeball
6.25 Redding, CA @ Downtown Eatery
6.26 Portland, OR @ The Daycare
6.27 Tacoma, WA @ The Viaduct
6.28 Spokane, WA @ Cretin Hop
6.29 Boise, ID @ The Good Life
6.30 Salt Lake City, UT @ Taylorsville House
7.01 Logan, UT @ Why Sound
7.02 Grand Junction, CO @ White Hall
7.03 Denver, CO @ Blast O Mat
7.04 Lincoln, NE @ Ghost House

how'd you not see that curb?

I didn't have an ideal start to my day this morning. We played to 5 people last night in Fresno but I still had a great time. Vic got us a place to stay with a friend of a friend in Sacramento so we made the 2 and a half hour drive up here after the show. I slept in the van because it was pretty crowded in the apartment. I woke up this morning and had to shit extremely bad but the bathroom was in the room of the couple we're staying with and I didn't want to impose.

I hoped in the drivers seat of the winnefaygo and drove to the nearest thing I could find where I could poop and charge my phone. That was a starbucks. I pooped and then charged my phone for a little while then decided to get out of there. I stopped at Trader Joe's on the way back to get some orange juice and a banana for breakfast. I had to park the van in a different spot than it was at. I was pulling up to this huge curb when I ran into something and heard a loud POP noise. I screamed "FUCK" because I knew I had just blown our tire. Ironic because last night Vic asked me if we had ever popped a tire on tour and I told him "are you trying to jinks us dude?" He did.

Lucky for me I have AAA. So while most everyone was still asleep I called them up, got the car towed to a near by reapair shop and got a new one put on for $60. It really could have been much worse and it worked out for the most part. Playing a show in Concord, California tonight. Should be a good time!

I dated the drummer of AFB

Wild times in California. Had a 7 hour drive up to Ventura from Arizona yesterday. Got stuck in traffic on the 101 but I didn't mind because we got to drive to Sacred Heart Hospital and I almost threw up because I was so excited. At a gas station a guy told us about his kids band who opened up for Kiss. He told us to check them out on myspace and add them so we can maybe play some shows together. The drive through California yesterday was beautiful. Mountains and farmland everywhere. Suddenly after going down into a valley the air got really cold and it felt like we were driving with the A/C on. It ruled!

We showed up to Ventura and said hi to all of our friends here. It was good seeing everyone again. While we were eating we got a call from In The Face of War. Apparently while leaving from getting gas they smashed their trailer into a pole and bent their wheel. It was a huge bummer because they couldn't make the show. They ended up fixing their trailer this morning and will meet us in Fresno today. The show was really awesome. It was in a recording studio and it was the first hardcore show to go on there. The owner was nuts and told us he played with the Sex Pistols for 18 months until he cut his fingers off, then he opened that recording studio. The only thing that sucked was the stupid fight during our set. It ended though and the show went on without any complications.

A big thing the venue was trying to instil at the show was that there were NO IN AND OUTS. Even for the band. They had a whackjob hick security guard running the door all night with a iron fist. While trying to go out to our van he stopped me and told me for the 700th time "hey! no in and outs!" I told him it was ok and I was in a band. I pointed to our van where the boys were toking on some pot, he looked back and me and made the "joint" gesture with his fingers and put it to lips. I didn't know what to do so I just said "uh, yeah." He looked at me and said "make it quick." It was fucking hilarious.

After the show we went to a crazy party in the middle of nowhere outside of Oxnard. It was this family's land surrounded by trees. We pulled up to an opening with a man made pond that had hundreds of coy fish in it. There were lights strung up, huge trucks blaring country music and weird pseudo cowboy/California bros. The party was a great time, I mainly just hung out around the fire by the pond. A drunk dude kept trying to jump in but the dude who owned the land wouldn't let him. All of the bros were pissing in the pond nearly falling in every time and it blew my mind. I felt like I was in rural Nebraska, not a big city in California.

The highlight of the night was when Vic and I started talking to this girl who asked us where we were from. We told her we were on tour from Nebraska. Her eyes lit up when she asked us "are you in a band? Have you ever been to Reno?" She informed us she was straight edge for 3 years and dated "big names" in the Reno hardcore scene such as the drummer for famed Seventh Dagger band Armed For Battle. But after a move to California to attend Paul Mitchell her edge couldn't hold up against the temptations of cigarettes. Her WASTED friend strolled over to talk to Vic and I. After talking she asked me if I was vegan straight edge. I told her yes and she said (in a drunken slur) "so you haven't ate or drank ANYTHING for 3 years?" I told her yes. She then said she went to many vegan straight edge bars in Reno but everyone there was eating sushi so she didn't think they were vegan.

She then informed us that the guys putting in A/C at her parents house suspect her and her friend of being homosexual because they share a bed. She told us "now they all thinking we're raging gay!" I lost my mind and almost fell into the fire laughing. The drunk girls continued the hilarity when they called each other retarded....

"You're a retard"
"No I'm not a retard, rain man is a retard"

They also coined the phrase "she's a zoo." Frat bros tried to kick us out of the party about 10 times but we just laughed and kept hanging out. They told Vic to walk home and he exclaimed "I live fucking 2,000 miles away." It was a wild night and we finally left there around 2:30am.

Today we're driving to Fresno, CA to play at Chinatown Youth Center then we have 3 days off. I think the days off are being spent in Santa Cruz, San Francisco & Angel Camp, CA before we play Redding on the 25th. I want to eat pizza and go sneak into Land of the Lost.

FAPFAPFAPFAPFAP

This summary is not available. Please click here to view the post.

SEE YOU AT THE PRINT SHOP

First post of tour! Gonna keep this one relatively short because I have about 15 other people looking to use the one computer here at Veronica's house. Also I have a terrible cold and am allergic to the 5 cats in this house. Our tour kickoff show fucking ruled. So many people came out and it was such a great time. Thank you to everyone who showed up and had fun. Take Controls last show was incredible. I'm betting 200 people were there. All of the bands were really sweet. Saw Agress for the first time and they ruled hard. Take Controls set was nuts! So many people going off. It made me remember why I love being involved in punk rock music.

I haven't been getting too wild lately because I of course got a cold the day we left for tour. ICT Fest was last night. We had a hellish 9 hour drive to Wichita from Cedar Falls. On the way we pulled over to the side of the road because I had to pee. A cop pulled up behind us and I was a little concerned. Tyler then just gave him a "we're cool" out the window and we drove away unharmed hahahaha it was wild. Played the show and it was a super good time. Did our Black Sabbath cover for the first time, it went pretty well. Only have 18 records left which is sweet and not sweet at the same time.

Crazy thunderstorm last night. I slept in the van to avoid being sinusly (fake word) murdered by Veronica's cats. Only have a 2 and a half hour drive to Oklahoma City today. Playing with Violent Crime, should be an awesome time. People really want me off of this computer. I will give a better update next time.

Gabe shit his pants last night, I'm 100% serious.

Big Buck Hunter Porn

Today at work I watched a little kid try to enter the following initials into the game "Big Buck Hunter Pro..."

TIT
FAG
ASS
DIK

There is a parental control type thing on all of our games so you can't enter names like that. Gabe tried a similar move a few months ago. I sat there watching him do this, laughing the entire time. He finally saw me watching him, turned around, entered "DAN" and started playing. Got off an hour early for my last day of work until July 6th. So excited. Tour starts tomorrow. Good times ahead. Hopefully I'll have some real good material for this blog. Be looking out!

f - r - e - e - f - o - o - d

So pumped on life right now. Yesterday hung out with Kailey all day and had such an awesome time! Today ate valentinos grand italian buffet for Gabe's sisters graduation party. Met Gabe's family and they were all super nice. Went to the gym, lifted for an hour, came home to Tyler's step dad bringing us a new love seat. Went to Joey's graduation party, hands down the best one I've ever been to. The food was great, the friends were plentiful and the tunes were set to Sabbath. Came home, played guitar, took a cat nap then played a huge game of kickball at leavenworth park. A full 9 innings with The Float Crib coming out victorious 22-14. Tons of trash talk, so much fun!

I am pretty busy everyday until I leave. Honestly don't know when I'm gonna have time to pack. Tomorrow work 9-3, Koizumi practice then a show at Ghost House. Tuesday donate plasma, print Hercules inserts, Cruel Hand at The Manor. Wednesday last day of work 9-3 then Cody Ma's graduation party. Thursday donate plasma then play our tour kickoff/record release show. Leave Friday afternoon. This really snuck up on me. I remember telling Gabe "only 3 more weeks dude" and that feels like a few days ago. I am glad I have a lot to do these last few days though because if I didn't I'd be bored out of my mind and would just want to be on the road.

I have no food to eat until Friday and no spare money to buy groceries. I might just have to say fuck it and buy a little bit of food. I have to eat. Real tired, what a great day.

GETHIGHORDIETOUR

6.09 Orland Park, IL @ Orland Park VFW **
6.10 Central, IL @ tba **
6.11 Omaha, NE @ Mosaic Community Center
6.12 Wichita, KS @ The Eagle's Lodge **
6.12 Waterloo, IA @ Amvets Post 19 *
6.13 Wichita, KS @ The Eagle's Lodge *
6.14 Oklahoma City, OK @ OKC Info Shop
6.15 Fort Worth, TX @ 1919 Hemphill
6.16 Lubbock, TX @ The Way
6.17 El Paso, TX @ No Man's Land
6.18 Tucson, AZ @ Dry River
6.19 Tempe, AZ @ The Slurp
6.20 Ventura, CA @ Mega Sound Studios
6.21 Fresno, CA @ Chinatown Youth Center
6.22 Santa Rosa, CA @ tba
6.23 Reno, NV @ tba
6.24 San Francisco, CA @ tba
6.25 Redding, CA @ Downtown Eatery
6.26 Portland, OR @ Blaine's House
6.27 Seattle, WA - day off -
6.28 Spokane, WA @ Cretin Hop
6.29 Boise, ID @ The Good Life
6.30 Salt Lake City, UT @ A House
7.01 Logan, UT @ Why Sound
7.02 Grand Junction, CO @ White Hall
7.03 Denver, CO @ Blast O Mat
7.04 Lincoln, NE @ Ghost House
7.05 Des Moines, IA @ tba **
7.06 Waterloo, IA @ tba **
7.07 Chicago, IL @ tba **

* = show does not feature In The Face of War
** = show does not feature Hercules

www.myspace.com/inthefaceofwar
www.myspace.com/herculesne

This is how I'm spending the next month of my life. So excited about everything right now!

GoinVeg

I got a great little read from Lauren yesterday called "Goin Veg!" It's basically any vegetarian/vegan how to guide you've read but more personal. It doesn't just spout out facts in 2 -3 sentences. It makes things relatable to you and I really enjoyed it a lot. Thank you Lauren for passing it along. I've been vegetarian again for one month and 2 days! Bummed that I ever stopped but what can you, right?

Trying to slowly transition into veganism. I know all of the guides, books, websites, messageboards, etc say it's so easy but in actuality it really isn't. Maybe for some but it hasn't been for me. The main reason it's been an issue for me is getting ample amounts of protein in my diet. I'm not a bodybuilder or anything but weight lifting is a big part of my life and it's hard to grow and strengthen muscle without protein. It's quite literally the building blocks of muscle. I've found so many vegan protein powders but they come with two big problems. One, they are all even more expensive than regular protein powders and two, they are all derived from hemp. If you know me you that I do not have money and I won't put any hemp placed product into me. Where's the straight edge bodybuilding website?

I am actually pretty positive eating vegan on tour won't be too hard. Luckily for me all of the guys from In The Face of War are vegan so I just plan on eating whatever they do honestly. Might be a little childish but I figure they tour and are vegan so I'll see how they do it! Also, Vic is vegan but I went on tour with him in February and he just ate KFC potato wedges the entire time. That is something that I absolutely cannot do. My plan for tour is a lot of nuts, fruit, vegetables, and meat subsitutes. The only problem is I am finding that most of the meat substitutes that I love contain milk or eggs. Fuck. Whatever, I will figure it out. I think I am heading in the right direction, just need to fine tune my life.

I was concerned with food I still have with animal products and clothes I still have with animal products. I think getting rid of those things would be stupid. I've purchased them, I've already supported it. If I give it all away it will just be someone else actually using it. I have leather shoes, I may as well use them since I bought them. I think throwing them out would actually be worse than anything. It's really awesome that Kailey is kind of on the same track as I am. She is vegetarian but really doesn't want to be vegan. She can't give up cheese. But every time she has a lot of it she get nauseous and throws up and so hopefully I can convince her to quit!

I hope I can stick with this. I'm already feeling better since I stopped eating meat. This time I'm going into vegetarianism/veganism for new reasons than ever before. I never really cared about animal rights when I was vegetarian for 2 years and then again for another year. I mainly did it because meat made me sick. Now it's more of a social issue for me. I think meat and dairy tastes great but I think I'm a person with some self control. I'll keep this updated while I'm on tour and tell the 5 people who read this how it's going!

24.49.30

Just did my finances for tour yesterday. I think if I did everything right I'll come home on July 4th with about $68. Fuck. Then I have to somehow get from $68 to about $800 in a month and a half so I can then go on another tour and pay rent up front for 2 months. Things are going to be really interesting in my life! But I'd rather go on tour and be poor than stay home and have a lot of money and nothing to do with it except buy useless shit I don't need. I know that's what would happen too, because I've done it before.

Been really stressed lately with trying to get everything done that needs to be done for tour. We leave in 10 days and still basically have nothing done. We're a real last minute type of band. I wish I didn't have to take on the brunt of all of the work. On top of work, Kailey, the gym, and all of the other shit in my life, doing everything for this band makes my days all really full. I rarely have a day where there is nothing for me to do. But then when I do have nothing to do I'm bored so I should stop complaining.

I'll be working on while we're on this June tour trying to book our August - September shows. Luckily I only have to book the first and last week, Battle is taking the middle week that we play with them. That will make things a lot easier on me. Still have to get our stickers and buttons made, finish and print our inserts and apology letters, get the winnefaygo an oil change and tune up, print out our directions, get our covers screened, assemble our records, make a merch sign, burn all of these cdr's for our records and I'm sure I'm forgetting a ton of other shit.

It's whatever, it's all worth it in the end. Excited about the full few weeks before I leave, I'll get get to hang with everyone a lot before I'm gone for a while.

6.03 Greenfields @ Ghost House
6.04 Era's last show @ Ghost House
6.06 Wilmot Proviso @ The Float Crib
6.08 Koizumi @ Ghost House
6.09 Cruel Hand @ The Manor
6.11 Tour Kickoff * Record Release @ Mosaic

Hell yeah! Looking like I only have to work anywhere from 4-6 more days then I have 3 and a half weeks off! 24 days gone, 49 days home, 30 days gone. I'll be gone more than home all summer for the first time in my life. Pretty excited to see the entire country with my friends. Excited to see who we take with us in August. Hopefully some people who haven't experienced tour before so they can see how awesome it is.

Today : laundry, burning cd's and exercising @ my parents, donating plasma, then going to hang out with Kailey and Dani in Lincoln at 7:00. My mom was real nice to me and gave my poor ass $20 for gas so I could go see Kailey and Dani. She said she wanted me to see them as much as possible before I leave. I love my mom. No complaints today!

eastcoast2009pt2

BATTLE/HERCULES tour route and dates have been confirmed. Big surprise for August 22nd in Omaha. So fucking excited to tell the world!

8.28 - 9.12 w/ Battle

8.22 Omaha, NE
8.23 Waterloo, IA
8.24 Kokomo, IN
8.25 Columbus, OH
8.26 Pittsburgh, PA
8.27 Philadelphia, PA
8.28 Burlington, MA
8.29 Haverhill, MA
8.30 Dover, MA
8.31 Providence, RI
9.01 Hartford, CT
9.02 Brooklyn, NY
9.03 Baltimore, MD
9.04 Richmond, VA
9.05 Wilmington, NC
9.06 Jacksonville, FL
9.07 Tallahassee, FL
9.08 Gainesville, FL
9.09 Jacksonville, FL
9.10 Tampa, FL
9.11 Port St Lucie, FL
9.12 Lake City, FL
9.13 Birmingham, AL
9.14 Clarksville, TN
9.15 Louisville, KY
9.16 Saint Louis, MO
9.17 Peoria, IL
9.18 Iowa City, IA
9.19 Des Moines, IA

www.myspace.com/battle
www.myspace.com/herculesne

on the subject of sleep . . .

Up till 6:00am yesterday figuring out my life
Woke up at 10:00am and did nothing all day, it felt good
2:45 am and I still cannot sleep
Want to hang out with Kailey
Want to go on tour
Do not want to work
Do not want to go to school
Want to go watch Arrested Development and fall asleep

Sometimes when things look bad you have to say fuck it and think about how sweet other shit is. I love being alive.

Quick! Ask Zooey what stops xrays!

It's interesting to me the way people chose to react to situations in life. Most of the time you think it would be more beneficial for you and everyone to live by cliches such as "don't sweat the small stuff" but that isn't the way it works anymore. There's a bigger picture that we miss because we're too busy nit picking at all of the bullshit day to day battles and obstacles we have to deal with. I'm not on any high horse, I do this all of the time too. I think that when it comes down to it you just have to weed out the shit in your life you disagree with and then move on. Don't get heated when it comes back up every once and a while, there are more important things to tend to. Getting caught up in day to day struggles will put you nowhere good in life.

I'm not really sure what I'm even talking about. It's 4:00am and I'm waiting for Black Teeth to get to my house so I can get some sleep and go to the zoo tomorrow. I guess I just see people lose themselves in trivial things everyday like their bad 6 hours spent at work or something said about them by another person. All of that shit is always going to be in your life. You have to make the choice to let it dictate who you are or give it an ultimate face push and stay positive. To hold onto another boring cliche, life isn't fair. I think the sooner we all accept that the better.

That doesn't mean that people shouldn't be held accountable for their actions. But, if you actually care about it then please act on and don't waste your time smackin your lips together. All that's gonna get is spit all over your chin and your situation nowhere. If you hate someone, tell them and move on. If you love someone, give them that news. If you want to be an activist then be one. But don't sit in your room bottling up all of your emotions and then talking down to people when they don't agree with you. It's easy to sensationalize things.

This isn't about a particular situation. I'm just trying to stay positive in my life. I've been a slave to misery and depression for so long. I'm trying not to confuse that with anger though. You should keep the anger but lose the loathing, and lose the hate. The hate is what really tears away at you, mainly the self hatred. Rather than dwelling on why I hate people and things I'm trying to dwell on the reasons why I am not like those people or things. Reasons like my friends, my family, my girlfriend, punk rock, straight edge, etc. Sweat the small stuff and you'll be drenched in it. I should probably clean so these guys don't think we're total losers, even though we are.

I'll go back on everything I said because that's who I am.

Wardrobe Malfunction

I realized today when I started standing up straight that probably 95% of my t-shirts don't fit the way I thought they did.

9 YEARS

GONE ALL SUMMER

This will be the least amount of time I spend home over a summer in my life. I'll miss Kailey, my friends and my family a lot. But, on the bright side, I will get to see almost the entire country...

6.11 Omaha, NE
6.12 Waterloo, IA
6.13 Wichita, KS
6.14 Oklahoma City, OK
6.15 Fort Worth, TX
6.16 Lubbock, TX
6.17 El Paso, TX
6.18 Tuscon, AZ
6.19 Tempe, AZ
6.20 Ventura, CA
6.21 Fresno, CA
6.22 Sacramento, CA
6.23 Reno, NV
6.24 Redding, CA
6.25 Redding, CA
6.26 Portland, OR
6.27 Seattle, WA
6.28 Spokane, WA
6.29 Boise, ID
6.30 Salt Lake City, UT
7.01 Logan, UT
7.02 Grand Junction, CO
7.03 Denver, CO
7.04 Lincoln, NE
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
8.21 ST Paul, MN
8.22 Chicago, IL
8.23 Cleveland, OH
8.24 - 8.27 Albany, NY
8.28 Haverhill, MA
8.29 - 9.01 Providence, RI
9.02 Brooklyn, NY
9.03 Baltimore, MD
9.04 Richmond, VA
9.05 Wilmington, NC
9.06 Jacksonville, FL
9.07 Tallahassee, FL
9.08 Gainesville, FL
9.09 Ocala, FL
9.10 Tampa, FL
9.11 Port ST Lucie, FL
9.12 Lake City, FL
9.13 Tallahassee, FL
9.14 Birmingham, AL
9.15 Clarksville, TN
9.16 Louisville, KY
9.17 ST Louis, MO
9.18 Peoria, IL
9.19 Iowa City, IA

INTERNETZ

The Float Crib is now internet friendly.

ChineseInternetTacosBikeRide

Just ate free Hong Kong Cafe. Every Monday with Nathan and Gabe. Things are looking up and looking down at the same time. On the downside I am currently not working for 11 days. Over the next 2 weeks the only money I will make is $120 total from donating plasma. Luckily, on the upside I am using my down time in a positive way, getting a lot done booking shows, tour stuff, making flyers, getting internet at our house, etc. Finally getting internet at home, won't have to go to my parents house or work to use the internet. That will be really great.

I've been in a great mood lately which hasn't happend since probably 2007 so it has been a wild feeling. Playing a lot and going to a lot of shows coming up here...

May 22nd Young Widows @ Antiquarium
May 23rd Borealis @ Mosaic
May 25th Take Control @ Antiquarium
May 29th @ Benson Grind (Koizumi Acoustic)
May 30th Comadre @ Ghost House
June 4th @ Ghost House (Hercules)
June 6th @ The Float Crib (Koizumi Acoustic)
June 8th @ Ghost House (Koizumi)
June 11th - July 4th Hercules / In The Face of War Tour

hell yeah. punk rock is cool.

50 cent tacos @ the moon then a bike ride tonight. followed by internet use at my home. Maybe not so much of a shit life?

THIS IS JOHN...WHATEVER...

Haven't posted anything in a tiff. Not much has been going on. Been struggling to get this Hercules/In The Face of War tour booked. You know no one gives a fuck about our band so it's real hard to book tours, especially on the west coast. It will work out though, it usually does in some way. Wild shit has happend lately. I'm only working 3 days in the next 2 weeks. Don't know if I'll be able to afford to live at The Float Crib after tour. Things are iffy right now. But just like everything else in my life, it will work out in some way.

FUCKEARTHDAY

I don't give a shit about the earth. Here's what I'm all about ^ ^ ^

HORSESHOE

Last night me, Tyler & Aaron decided to go to the casino around 12:30am. We rolled into the Horseshoe hoping to win big. Tyler and I didn't even plan on gambling, we just were bored and wanted all of that free soda. We loaded up a few cups o' sod and Aaron hit the roulet table. He instantly lost $15 so we thought we were already done after about 10 minutes. We walked around some more and he decided he wanted to play some blackjack. He wanted me to play so he gave me $10. After two hands of blackjack we were both out. It was a good enough time though, got us out of the house and into the land of freaks.

I can't believe the people you see at a casino in Council Bluffs at 12:30 on a Tuesday night. Tons of people were there and it blew my skull. People were spending hundreds, some probably thousands of dollars. Old and young alike. I thought it would be dead but every table was full and the slot machines were bumpin. The trash of America all attracted to one building...what does that say about us?

Afterwards we stopped at the donut stop for a few pastries before bed. We told the lady there that we had just went to the casino. She then started to tell us about her serious gambling problem. She informed us she couldn't even loan her boyfriends $5 and is too afraid to admit to him that she has a serious addiction to gambling. She just spent her entire paycheck over in Council Bluffs and she couldn't even buy things from Wal-Mart that she needs at home. I couldn't handle the conversation seriously so I just laughed the whole time she fed us all of this information. People are wild, I see it everyday. All you have to do is walk down Park Ave anytime, or go to the casino late at night...or even go to the donut stop.

MASTEROFREALITY

PEEK A DOOR - 6:30AM

Hercules realized we didn't have the money to drive from Minneapolis to Iowa City to Omaha. We could have, but we would have come home with $2.00 so we decided not to go to the Trash Talk show. I was super bummed but luckily I got dropped off along I-80 in Iowa and got picked up by Nik, Kailey, Lindsay and Moose. I had already been in the van for 6 hours then I realized I still had another 8 in the car, fuck. I did it anyways because it was Kailey's birthday and I wanted to hang out with her and of course I wanted to see Trash Talk again.

Iowa City is just your average college town, looked just like Lincoln, Lawrence, Madison, you've seen it all before. Joe formerly of Haunted Basement in Des Moines fame was there and it was really cool to see him again. The first band that played was a straight up radio rock band from Minneapolis called "A Verse Unsung." I thought they were awful but I guarantee they will be huge on the radio someday, they have what it takes. Most people just sat down and watched them but I stood in front with Joe and tried to at least pretend I was interested. I eventually sat down about 6 songs in.

In Defence played next and that was a great fucking time. Hercules played with them in October of 2007 in Minneapolis and they were a great time then. The dudes in the band are all really nice and they're just down for punk rock music. They had some great things to say about circle pits, tacos, pizza and gay marriage. Kids were really into them, even the nazi punks fuck off kids came out to show their support which was pretty wild. Haven't seen any of those kids in a long time, wish they'd come to local Omaha-Lincoln shows.

Trash Talk played next and I don't know what to say other than they were fucking amazing. Probably the most legit band in hardcore music right now. They tour hard, play hard as fuck and they're just super down to earth dudes who do this because they love punk rock muisc. They played a great set of stuff from all of their releases since Walking Disease. I was bummed for people from Nebraska didn't come out, it would have been a killer time. Lee told me that they're doing an all basement tour this summer and they really want to play Ghost House again so everyone be looking out for that show.

We didn't stay for The Bronx, I don't think any of us were super interested in seeing them and it was already 12:30 when Trash Talk got done and we still had a 4 hour drive back to Omaha. You know my old ass passed out right when I got in the car. I had a lot of trouble sleeping, I pinched a nerve in my arm at the show and it hurt like hell the entire car ride home. Still hurts today, I'm super pissed off. Got home around 4:30 but was still wide away from the 4 hour nap I just took. So I talked to Kailey on the phone for a little bit then watched all of Clerks 2 and threw in Grandmas Boy before I finally hit it around 6:30am.

This week has been pretty sweet, got out of Omaha for a while, saw some cool bands play. Whammy. Playing tonight in Papillion @ T.O. Garcias. Sorry that Hercules is playing AGAIN. Don't get sick of us. I'm excited to see what this place is all about, I'm always down for new venues. Hopefully some kids come out, fuck easter sunday. I'm back home so now I probably won't have a lot to write about. Hopefully I do though. I don't even know if anyone reads this.

ALAMINNEAPOLIS

Left Fargo after eating some nice pita's at Pita Pit. Changed my life for the better. Drove to Minneapolis, pretty short drive today but seemed like it took forever. Stopped outside of Minneapolis and ended up sitting at a Target for an hour or so. Got to The Alamo around 6:30 and no one was there. It was really weird for a while but people finally started showing up around 8:30. I fell asleep in the van and missed Condominium, I was super pissed. I woke up to Tyler telling me it was time to play and I was really out of it.

Our set was pretty fun. I can never tell if anyone in this town likes us or hates us. Modern Problems from Winnipeg was super awesome. Real fast, old school hardcore. I went back out to the van and fell asleep again and slept through Dios Mio which really bums me out because they are one of my favorite Midwest bands. I woke up this time to Danny moving the van so we could load up. I talked to Kailey on the phone the whole time and didn't load up anything, kind of felt like a dick.

We were all really excited to eat what we were told were the best burritos in Minneapolis and Pineda. It was closed when we got there. Just my luck! Then we went to Little Ceasars to try and dumpster some pizzas from there but that of course did not work either. So we're at this dudes Charlies house making spaghetti, listening to black sabbath. It's a good time. Unfortunately for me he has two cats and smokes in his house, looks like another freezing night in the van for me.

Tomorrow (or today if you want to be a dick about it) we're driving to Iowa City to see Trash Talk @ The Picador. Friends from Lincoln are driving there as well so it should be a really good time. I am super beat this week. I have only been getting 4 - 5 hours of sleep since last Thursday or so. Don't know what my deal is. The shitty sleep I got last night (and will most likely get tonight) aren't helping either. Fuck the world, right?

Sunday we're playing in Omaha AGAIN (sorry everyone) with Energy, Defeater and Reviver @ T.O. Garcias. Should be a good time, never played there before. It will be weird going out to Papillion, I haven't been there in such a long time. But there's no point to go to a part of town that Jordan might possibly patrol. Come out, but don't watch us because we'll just be playing the same set we played Tuesday & Wednesday.

I'm tired, I think I'll go out to the van.

FAR-GO

Last night Hercules played a show in Fargo, North Dakota. I was nervous driving up here because of the recent flooding on the entire city. Turns out the waters have receded for now but the 8 inches of snow they received after the flood is about to melt and start the whole mess over again. I'm sure everyone here is really excited for that to happen! The dude we're staying with, Wang, said his Uncle lost his house a few weeks ago. I can't imagine your fucking house gone because of water. Holy shit.

Tuesday we played Agnostic Front & Ruiner, the show was fucking badass. A lot of people came out and almost all of the bands were sweet. I honestly enjoyed Ruiner more than Agnostic Front. I know that makes me nuts but Ruiner is here and now, my time in hardcore, I think we live in the past too much, cool shit is also going on right now. Wednesday we opened up for Jucifer in Lincoln and I don't even know what to say...one of the best live performances I have ever seen in my life. Heaviest guitar tone I have ever experienced. There was a point when their gear was feeding back where I didn't know whether or not to throw up the horns or start crying like a baby. And of course they played in Omaha the next night and we had to leave. There's always a good show when we leave town!

We left Omaha late (like usual) at around 12:00 noon yesterday. Left The Float Crib around 11:30 but had to make a few pit stops to get drum sticks and gas. We took our good buddy DJ with us. We picked him up in the Walgreens parking lot on 27th ST when we were leaving Lincoln. We pulled up to 3 cop cars surrounding Lindsays car. We just parked and waited. A cop approached the van and started shooting the shit with us about our Deleons. He then asked us what we were doing, blah blah blah then asked to see my license. I gave it to him and he left for a while. Then we reappeared and said "You know you have a warrant, right?" I said "no." Then he said "hahaha just kidding, you don't" to which I replied "ok." Cops are fucking assholes. Then we finally got DJ and left! Got to sleep at 5:30 and woke up at 9:45 so I was fucking wrecked.

The drive to Fargo was a little longer but it didn't feel too bad. I spent most of my time finishing up the last few books of Y: The Last Man. I have 2 or 3 more and I don't want to be done, such a good story! On a pit stop to get gas, Tyler left the back door open and as we drove away from the fueling station we heard a load crash out of the back. Tyler turned around to see his board bouncing up and down the road to which he exclaimed "NO!! You need to pull over right now!" It was hilarious. Luckily nothing else fell out, we got really lucky.

Finally pulled into Fargo around 6:30, I had never been here before but it's not a bad town. The show was kind of weird at first. We jumped on a show for a touring act called Howards Dillemma. It's just one dude touring the country alone in a mini van. Think of the show is the rainbow meets B52's meets a weird sketch comedy show all with loud techno music behind it. It was awesome. He pulled people on stage and sprayed them with silly string, made them do other things to be apart of his act. Check him out if he comes through your town. Then we played with a bad two piece band called Almost Something then this really sweet melodic punk rock band from here called Too Fast For Frank closed the show, they were fucking awesome.

We played at a sweet 16+ (kind weird,kind lame) coffee shop called The Red Raven. Omaha or Lincoln needs a show space like this so let's get on that ok? Jed who did our show was a super nice guy but couldn't hang after because he had to go to work. We stopped at Taco Bell to eat since Pita Pit was closed. At Taco Bell Tyler asked the girls working if they wanted to smoke in our van. The manager said it was too sketchy but gave us free Cinnamon Twists instead. Had nowhere to stay but luckily Charlie aka "Wang" let us stay at his place. He has a really nice house with an awesome dog named Joe in Moorhead, MN. He also has 2 cats who shed, so to avoid death I slept in the van. Fell asleep around 1:30 then woke up EVERY hour until I finally just got up at 9:30. It was so fucking cold I can't even believe it. I was actually pretty cozy, just my face of feet were freezing. The worst sleep ever, but it could have been a lot worse.

Today we're playing in Minneapolis, MN at a house called The Alamo. Wang told us the kids there party really hard so I'm looking forward to playing. Haven't played Minneapolis since November 2007 so it's cool to finally get back up there. We kind of pass the northern midwest a lot of I don't know why. Hopefully after our June tour we can get back up north and north east like we did a year and a half ago. Tomorrow is Kailey's birthday and she's coming to the Trash Talk show in Iowa City. I'm excited to see her and excited to see Trash Talk again. Lincoln friends will be in attendance so it should be a wild time. I know Joe is going to crack some skulls.

It's awesome to finally have something to write about other than my boring day at work or how I have nothing to do. I like being on tour. I miss home, but I think getting away from it all is good for you every once and a while. Makes you miss it, makes you appreciate what you have at home and makes you realize what and who you really care about. My 21st birthday was the best birthday of my life. New hilarious license, the casino buffet, doubling my money playing blackjack, new shoes, hanging with the boys, scholtzskys with T, Jucifer show, mine and kaileys party at ghost house, presents from so many people. Thanks to everyone who gave me a memorable birthday! Feeling really pumped and excited about life today. Keep it up!