The Mars Volta @ Hammerstein Ballroom

Whenever i'm having a great time I tend to not document it. Part of the reason why there is little to no documentation of my last year of touring. Either way, here's a quick re-cap, since I woke up too early this morning and have a few minutes to spare.

Last wednesday I was invited to see the Mars Volta. I've never seen them, and my buddy Aric works for Universal (their ex-label) so he got a pair of free tickets, so I said why the hell not. I don't know if you've ever seen them, but I had no idea there was this super-hispanic-pride thing going on with this band. I know they sing in spanish sometimes, and that should have warned me, but the people in front of us had a Gigantic flag they were waving at the end of every song (if you've seen the mars volta you know that means every twenty-thirty minutes)

Very rarely do I get inspired by any sort of fashion icon. I never see an ad or a mannequin and thing, man, that could be me. But have you ever seen Cedric and Omar? I know I was in the mezzanine, but from that distance they looked like the coolest mother-fuckers I've ever seen. Maybe it's the hispanic fiber of my being, but I couldn't stop thinking about how I could create a strange punk-rocker-salsa-dancer aesthetic in my life. But, these feelings quickly subsided, as I entered my almost completely white world.

I like to post set lists for bands, but I couldn't even begin to figure that one out. I think they only played like seven songs (i'm being serious) and played for like 2 hours. It was amazing, but you kinda just have to go with it and no concentrate on waiting to see if they'll play your favorites (they didn't)

This took longer than I thought. I have to go to work. Next Up my experience at the free Bloc Party concert @ Roseland Ballroom.

Super-Amazing...

Sometimes at work customers ask us to draw something cute on their invoice... a job best left to someone with a steadier hand. But, regardless, I have become resident 'Doodlebugger'

I have so far drawn Miley Cyrus, A Jonas Brother, a giraffe, an owl, and a myriad of other not so interesting things...

But I rather enjoyed this one... I took a few liberties with her request.

click the photo to see it in all of it's glory... and for those who can't read the blurry text she asked me to draw her a "super amazing pair of green high heels"

Ode to TX

I got a bittersweet text from a good buddy of mine, informing me that she was hosting a party tomorrow, with free drinks... and that we should drink them because she was going back to Paris pretty soon. I've gone months without seeing Texas, but it's always pretty lame when she leaves. This is my ode to her existence in my life for the last few months... Read her blog. She leads a far more interesting life than I do... and she's reeeeeally pretty.

Mason Dixon

I've never regularly attended a place as often as I have been at Mason Dixon, every tuesday night. It's nothing out of the ordinary, and it isn't even some huge party, just friends cheap drinks, and bull riding.

The meganddias were in town between shows on their headlining tour (their first U.S. tour since I quit touring five months ago) and I took them down with reasonable expectations. I'm glad it ended up being the fantastic time that it did. Suejean (edit) was out in NYC for the first time in years (as a resident) and I exposed everyone to the dirty skeletons in our closets. She threatened my life, and told me that I'm doomed to be haunted by asians. I think she's right, but I wouldn't dare admit it to her face.

Tuesday the 19th of August.

Today started off pretty gnarly.

I got sick to my stomach early on in the day, attempting to communicate with my ex-girlfriend. I sent her a birthday present last week, and she liked it, so of course I had to pester her to the point of embarrassment. Lesson learned.

Work was rougher than usual, and this week is going to be pretty crazy, but the silver lining was that I got to see my good friends / ex touring partners Meg & Dia today. Not only did I get to hear some of the new disc (amazing) but I got to enjoy their company for the better part of a whole NYC evening, which consisted of Dinner, drinks, and bull riding. I took it for granted because, i'm so used to seeing their faces everyday, that saying goodbye to them is slightly surreal. Chances are I won't see any of them until next year (except maybe Nick and Carlo if they come out for my birthday!) so, here's to the biggest relief of the day... something i've been rep-ing hard for the last few days: I love my friends. They are scattered across this odd shaped continent, but they make me who I am, and I would do anything for them, even when I don't tour manage them anymore (see, tomorrow, how is meg getting back to chestnut ridge, ny)

Hung out with Suejean (edit), she's back in town. Happy seven year anniversary, Suej. Here's a photo of the good times.

APW

This all actually happened.

I scored the number of the girl who loved the heart pin on my man bag. But she never called me back. :(

Other than that, good times.

Official.

As of 7:35PM today I officially have...

1) an apartment.

2) hot water.

3) gas (oh, grow up)

4) a bed.

5) a closet.

6) the internet.

7) a record player

8) all of my CDs alphabetized.

9) all of my DVDs back in their cases, and in alphabetical order.

and it only took four months.

it's good to be back.