they say that the road ain't no place to start a family.
three weeks is a record for me, and i was having trouble coming up with anything to update about, but a few things have come up that i can talk about before i forget to mention them. i certainly not have been very social lately with 99% of the people i normally talk to, which really means i have had a conversation with maybe one person in the three weeks. i'm going to blame this on the lack of activity and leave it at that, even though doug and i have been up into the am every night since we got home writing new music. if you want to know what to expect, go listen to TIN WALLS. i've also been going to some agent sparks rehearsals, and a lot of people don't know who they are but i am still really close to the members, especially ben einziger and paul fried. i like what is coming out of them so far, and i haven't been in a hot rehearsal room for a couple years so it was a nice change of pace. also, at the end of july we are going back on tour for some radio festivals and various county fairs. should be a blast.
markku and i are planning another tahoe trip before the tour, for the weekend after fourth of july. of course, something else is going on that weekend but i'd rather count it as everyone's party because it's no fun to be the center of attention when everyone else is also on vacation. it'll be nice to have some of the old friends around, and i know some of them are planning to be there because i've had a chance to catch up with them with all the free time. hell, one of them carried me home after a party the other night, where i was destroyed by a few too many mixed drinks. you always know who are your true friends by the ones who help you put your clothes back on and guide you home safely without questions or complaints.
fathers day. eh, it's not much of a blip in my radar of important holidays, but it's really important to my mother for reasons i won't get into. piper was home for the weekend so i packed the small family into my car and drove over and met tracy in the driveway so we could shoot the shit before going inside. she and piper made fun of me some, and i went on inside before my parents noticed we were there and thought we were discussing how to get out of visiting. i ate my mom's cooking and she talked to piper about being a mother and what it was like to raise me and what to expect, and piper took NOTES, like actual written notes. tracy took the kids into another room with dad and i felt a little ill so i went to lay down in my old bed which still looks the same as the day i moved out (i'm a little concerned with what food might have been left there to rot) and i was out for a good three hours. when i got up, piper had gone home with the little guy and my mom was napping; tracy had done dishes and was out the door just minutes before i was up.
my dad met me on the back porch and said he hadn't felt so good in years, and this guy is not the type to get into the emotional dad thing. he blamed it on his age and having a lot of time to think about how he was more than halfway done with his time, and said he'd missed feeling the presence of one of his children in such an inactive state. he was used to us being out the door before school and not home until late, and when i graduated i went to work earlier than he did and went to bed later. he never got to feel me sleeping. he said it gave him a sense of responsibility he had gone for so long without that he had forgotten how it felt altogether, and he missed being able to protect me when all of my defenses were down. i'm a few weeks short of 29 and i'm still his baby. piper knew he was going to have this discussion with me, which is why she had gone ahead and left it up to my father to drive me home, and before i was allowed to leave the car he insisted i let my children stay weekends with him because he felt like a better person with the duty still attached, that he might sleep like a child himself later. i felt a little nauseous when i realized my dad was feeling old, and i have never thought of him any older than he was the day i was able to recognize him it was also a little daunting to realize that in about twenty years i'm going to understand what he's talking about.
i know how she feels when i have to be away for more than a night. being on tour keeps me busy and distracted, but now i am restless and searching for new ways to stay occupied so i don't have to focus on missing her. i'll spend the weekend where she is, or vice versa, but for the most part i still have a job to do back home and cherish the moments we do get to have. thank god she is not in another continent, because plane tickets and weekend rates are expensive, plus the travel time would subtract from piper time.
markku and i are planning another tahoe trip before the tour, for the weekend after fourth of july. of course, something else is going on that weekend but i'd rather count it as everyone's party because it's no fun to be the center of attention when everyone else is also on vacation. it'll be nice to have some of the old friends around, and i know some of them are planning to be there because i've had a chance to catch up with them with all the free time. hell, one of them carried me home after a party the other night, where i was destroyed by a few too many mixed drinks. you always know who are your true friends by the ones who help you put your clothes back on and guide you home safely without questions or complaints.
fathers day. eh, it's not much of a blip in my radar of important holidays, but it's really important to my mother for reasons i won't get into. piper was home for the weekend so i packed the small family into my car and drove over and met tracy in the driveway so we could shoot the shit before going inside. she and piper made fun of me some, and i went on inside before my parents noticed we were there and thought we were discussing how to get out of visiting. i ate my mom's cooking and she talked to piper about being a mother and what it was like to raise me and what to expect, and piper took NOTES, like actual written notes. tracy took the kids into another room with dad and i felt a little ill so i went to lay down in my old bed which still looks the same as the day i moved out (i'm a little concerned with what food might have been left there to rot) and i was out for a good three hours. when i got up, piper had gone home with the little guy and my mom was napping; tracy had done dishes and was out the door just minutes before i was up.
my dad met me on the back porch and said he hadn't felt so good in years, and this guy is not the type to get into the emotional dad thing. he blamed it on his age and having a lot of time to think about how he was more than halfway done with his time, and said he'd missed feeling the presence of one of his children in such an inactive state. he was used to us being out the door before school and not home until late, and when i graduated i went to work earlier than he did and went to bed later. he never got to feel me sleeping. he said it gave him a sense of responsibility he had gone for so long without that he had forgotten how it felt altogether, and he missed being able to protect me when all of my defenses were down. i'm a few weeks short of 29 and i'm still his baby. piper knew he was going to have this discussion with me, which is why she had gone ahead and left it up to my father to drive me home, and before i was allowed to leave the car he insisted i let my children stay weekends with him because he felt like a better person with the duty still attached, that he might sleep like a child himself later. i felt a little nauseous when i realized my dad was feeling old, and i have never thought of him any older than he was the day i was able to recognize him it was also a little daunting to realize that in about twenty years i'm going to understand what he's talking about.
i know how she feels when i have to be away for more than a night. being on tour keeps me busy and distracted, but now i am restless and searching for new ways to stay occupied so i don't have to focus on missing her. i'll spend the weekend where she is, or vice versa, but for the most part i still have a job to do back home and cherish the moments we do get to have. thank god she is not in another continent, because plane tickets and weekend rates are expensive, plus the travel time would subtract from piper time.