The Tourist

 A very lovely day in Lincoln yesterday! While I had been downtown Tuesday night, I went back in the daylight and played tourist a little bit. I've explored a lot of the downtown area already, which is surprisingly large, with the University of Nebraska - Lincoln, a kind of bar district, the state capitol, a lot of eclectic shops. It is very vibrant, too - when I was going around Tuesday night, the bar was full, if not somehow over fire code - overall the feel here is small town mixed with downtown, west mixed with east.

I got some decent pictures of some cool older buildings. The first is the YWCA, according to the stone over the door, and the second was really cool and probably ten stories tall:

I also walked down to the Nebraska state capitol building:

It was really cool inside, although I think I went too late in the day, and I got thrown out of the big tower. I made a cool $8 busking downtown yesterday; not to make excuses, but it was a bad time of day. For the time of day, roughly 2-4 PM, I think I did very well. Also, not one, but three or four other musicians ended up stopping by and jamming. Two of them were even young teenagers, and we formed impromptu three person jams for a song or two before someone had to scoot on their way. When I left to re-connect with my friend at his job, a just-back-in-town singer/songwriter type guy and a girl from a local band were still playing!

It's a really cool atmosphere here, but I am just passing through...

Lincoln, Nebraska

I survived 21 hours on two buses, arriving in Lincoln Tuesday evening. The roommate of the friend I am staying with was nice enough to take me out to downtown - we got pizza and drinks at "Ya-Ya's" (a local institution here, it seems), then moved to the bar/club "Duffy's, where we chatted and played pool. Eventually, we were picked up by my long-time buddy on his way back from playing a successful show with his group: Bolzen Beer Band.

Yesterday was the 4th, or Independence Day if you will, and we spent it with a group of very cool Lincolners. Guess what - there are lots of garden nerds up here, too:

I was able to meet a lot of cool people, the main group of which lived in two nice, old, turn-of-the-century houses; very reminiscent of SLC! 

Also: everyone in Lincoln goes crazy for fireworks! So today I am off to hang out downtown, do a little busking, and get some more pictures. The show is tomorrow night!

Pre-Tour Decompression

I have been very busy these past few weeks, getting everything lined out for the "Greyhound Run-Around" bus tour, and doing a lot of work around the house and in the garden so that I'll have less to worry about while I am out on the road. This past weekend, with the trip looming ever closer and most of my preparations complete, I took off for the weekend on a whim. I hopped a ride with the Remodel Man up to the Uintas, which are a series of mountains and forests rising up from the mountain plains East of the Wasatch Front. It was a good little adventure, and certainly more relaxing and restorative that simply hanging out around the house feeling anxious. Above you can see our first campsite, in a nice meadow atop a ridge.

I also managed to capture some nice images of the sunset, which was a rich and fiery orange, probably due to the great plumes of smoke in the air from the half dozen or so wildfires burning throughout the state. It the fading twilight, after some experimenting and failed attempts, I managed to get the following panorama, with the moon and sunset both in the wide frame:

Our second day camping was filled mostly with driving, as we explored the high desert landscape surrounding Red Creek and its namesake reservoir, which we camped near on the second night. We did a few small bush-whacking, trailblazing hikes, especially around our campsite, situated in a spring-fed grove of cottonwood and other deciduous trees. I got up early yesterday morning to check out the wildflowers, then we both explored the highest part of the lonely copse. Now, I have one final busy day of packing, double checking, last-minute errands, and finally I will get on the bus this evening, bound for Lincoln and the beyond. I'll just have to think of this if I get too stressed out on the road:

Delusions of Grandeur

In just a few short weeks, I will be departing SLC for a month long greyhound bus 'tour' around the West. I say 'tour' because I am taking along a guitar and plan to play music all along the way, to include (hopefully) a couple of shows with some friends to back me up with a band. This is something I have wanted to do since my discharge from the active-duty Marine Corps, but it just hasn't been feasible before.

While it would be incalculably cool, for me, to have those friends come through with the back-up bands and more legit gigs...I am prepared for this tour to consist mainly of me playing for change at bus stations and hitting the open-mic nights wherever I go. Still, it is shaping up to be at least a little bit better than that. I've got one house-party show lined up for Lincoln Nebraska on July 6th, to kick off the cross-country jaunt. Also, I know so many people in Tucson where I grew up that if just half of them will turn out for a show, it would be pretty successful.

I am spending my days making calls, sending emails, and searching out venues. It is quite the organizational undertaking, even to just get a hold of everyone that I am trying to visit and coordinate a good time to come through their town. Also, next week we're going to try to get some solid demos put together, so I will have at least a home-made CD to give out along the way.

It's exciting!

Quick Musings on Nerdy Activities

So yesterday was a pretty good day. First of all, my old Scoutmaster from Tucson and his wife stopped by, as they are traveling up to Montana. We reminisced about our (sometimes) scandalously bad-ass boy scout troop, and traded tales of their youngest son, who is couple years older than me and was one of my clique's anti-role-models.

Then I was joined by my friend, and Genre Zero drummer, for my introduction into the "Game of Thrones" card game. It was pretty fun - although I think my basic starter deck was a little underpowered compared to his - those rich Lanister bastards! It's a pretty solid CCG, with some well-functioning original game mechanics that deviate (in a good way) from the now-standard Magic: The Gathering card game model.

After that, we went to an indoor archery range. I haven't shot a bow in over a decade...in fact, maybe not since I was actually in the boy scouts.

Graduation Weekend Pictures

Last weekend, despite all the highfalutin' purchasing and talk of cameras, there were sadly few pictures taken. My uncle was, however, the dedicated photo-journalist. The many pictures and movies he was taking throughout the weekend left with him, sadly, and I only have a few that my family managed to snap. Above is a panoramic taken at "This is the Place" state park, where we took my aunt Lynn last Friday. Below is the sea of graduates:

I am in the far group, across the aisle. I sat in the fourth row from the front, a couple seats in from the aisle, with a friend who was graduating with an arts administration degree. It was really nice to have a buddy to go through the ceremony with...you rock Shan!

And finally, here I am with my mom (awww!):

"..."

Well I walked in the commencement ceremony on Saturday, had an excellent party, got my band shut down by the cops, moved the party to a friend's house...

...and I am still a little bit too stunned to know what to say.

All I can really put together is: Thank you!

Thank you to everyone who has helped me get so far. Thank you to my family and friends for your kindness and generosity.

I have a lot to do...