October 10th, 2011.

So, this past Tuesday I officially turned my Trax on Wax open mic over to Meg Bowen. It just seemed to be for the best. I never expected her to make such a big deal out of it! She threw me a party! I was really flattered – I mean, there was RED VELVET CAKE!!! With my NAME on it! I don’t remember the last time I had cake with my NAME on it!

In Heather’s words “at least you’re sleeping”. But man, I’m dreaming like I’ve never dreamt. Night after night of lengthy, detailed, intense and realistic dreaming.

Last night found me on a college campus. We’d evidently had to borrow a car from a friend while the ilyMOBILE was in the shop and used that to stop and visit a friend (James Leitch, classical guitarist from Baltimore) at some school in Pennsylvania before going on with our tour. While visiting, the car (some sort of small Toyota convertible) got towed by campus security and the rest of the dream consisted of Heather sitting chatting with James and me going first from parking lot to parking lot searching for the car, and then after determining it’d been towed, going from information desk to information desk chatting with different security personnel trying to figure out where the car was and how to get it back…

Lots of time spent chasing school staff who couldn’t be bothered, who would foist me off on someone else, who would “go on break” the moment I approached the desk… I finally trapped one by pinning him in a revolving door and pleading with him, but the moment I let him loose he made a break for it and refused to help me.

What was especially strange was that I kept waking up over the course of the night – and every time I fell back asleep I was right back in the hunt – it was awful. The whole nightwas spent stressfully hunting for the car, arguing with people, and just feeling lost.

Like Heather says – at least I’m sleeping!And a big “thanks rob” poster! Madness I say. Still, having a hot lass like Meg Bowen make such a fuss over me, I’ve got no complaints. (At Trax on Wax in Catonsville, MD)

Earlier in the day an artist had come into Trax on Wax to sign his paintings and create a fabulous buzz about his fabulous work. His portrait of Optimus Prime is hanging behind me, and we rocked out together.

Last night’s open mic in Takoma Park was full of great surprises. Another player with a home-built instrument from the Shane Speal school – not a cigar box instrument but a “diddly bow”: essentially a wire strung betwixt two nails with a can resonator all mounted on a plank. One-String Willie was well-known to Shane and Shane tuned in for a bit to watch the performance. Unfortunately there was no time for Willie to play any of Shane’s requests.btw – in case you were wondering – Brennan Kuhns of Petal Blight and I figured we’d show you how rockstars eat cake.
Bob and I jamming at the end of the night of the newly Meg Bowen’s Trax on Wax open mic in Catonsville, PA. Bob’s an absolutely fabulous drummer and I couldn’t resist joining him for some gritty, dirty bluesy noise at the end of the night.

We also met a brand new performer – Paddy Kilrain – who frankly blew my mind a little bit. Great writing, strong playing, a fresh import from Albany, NY. I was really taken with Paddy’s performance and looking forward to having HER as a featured artist… enough out of me. Time to be otherwise productive. Paloo.

Joining a local farming collective has been high on my list of “smartest things we ever done did”. Every Thursday either Sharif or I go and pick up a box full of fresh vegetables, all grown locally. We split it betwixt Kristen and me and Sharif and Joanna… and it teaches us muchly about things like… chard and bok choy.I went to pick up the vegetables last Thursday and in 15 minutes time the sky went from blue to one of the thickest fogs I’ve ever seen. I had vague concerns about dimensional rifts and tentacles. I was fortunate and escaped unscathed.