tired.

i think that i am truly exhausted, as i have been sleeping long and messing up on guitar much more than normal. in two weeks, we go down to mexico to write/demo the new album, and i am just LONGING for that trip. this tour is pretty good, but my heart jsut isn't in it.

i need a break, i need a computer and a keyboard and the GarageBand Jam Packs and a notebook, and the ocean and the sand, and some great books and better friends. i need two hours in the morning before most of the band is awake to sit outside and write and read. i need the same ceiling fan every afternoon, and a refrigerator full of corn tortillas and cheese.

soon, friends. i will have those things soon. =)

if i were a monk, i would sign my email like this:

Cloistered,
Dan

vegas / gentlemen's clubs

nate lost a hundred bucks.

mike, joe, nate, gabe and i each spent almost 20 bucks on the "best buffet in the world". it was indeed the best. i didn't eat for another 8 hours or so, and wasn't even really hungry when i did. i had at least 4 of those vomit-burps where a little bit of food comes up. gross, i know. but how could i pass up on fried cornbread, creme brulee and sushi?!

i lost 20 bucks gambling/tipping the cocktail waitress, but did receive four (4) whisky & cokes, which were most definitely mainly coke, but that was what i was hoping for, so i was not dissapointed.

all-in, i spent $40, which is more than i was hoping to spend in vegas (desired amount: $0), but there were a lot of laughs and fun experiences, and i saw a shania twain look-alike dancing semi-erotically on top of some slot machines to "I Feel Like A Woman." what is the oddest thing about that experience? it was only SEMI-erotic; like, she would almost do something really sexy-like, but then just kind of smile and point. i guess this is because it was just a normal casino room, not one of those rooms for "gentlemen."

sidenote: what makes someone in a strib club a "gentleman"? i think that Gentleman's Clubs should be big rooms with tables and chairs, as well as lots of sparkling water and Harvard Classics literature libraries. and there should be girls working there, but not stripping. They should be trying to carry heavy objects, open doors for themselves with their hands full, forgetting their wallets at home, and the job of the Gentlemen is to carry the objects, open the doors, pay for their lunch, push chairs in for them at the tables, and buy them drinks.

at (perhaps) my wittiest, and therefore stopping now,
danimal.

disco

does anyone else share my conflict? i grew up in scorn of the Disco movement, mocking bell-bottoms and Saturday Night Fever. The film Detroit Rock City was a musical anthem (although i replaced NOFX and MxPx for KISS), and yet now, here, today, I am downloading ABBA and Gloria Gaynor songs... and LOVING IT.

it never ends...

fried cheese curds.

is there a better flavor in the world?

i guess the northern midwest is good for something after all.

the day i became friends with jesse...

we went to the mall of america.

we talked about morality and God for over three hours.

for half of that time, we were sitting near the clear glass window/wall of the Starbucks, drinking coffee while the nearby area filled up with contestants for America's Next Top Model. =)

we went to Pizza Luce for dinner, in honor of Tony's birthday. Jesse bought me a shot called the Marshmallow Salad, which tasted EXACTLY like marshmallow salad.

we went to a dueling pianos bar, where i requested "What if God was One of Us?" by Joan Osborne, and asked the pianist to please say that it was "from God to Jesse".

Claudio, MCS's former drum tech and dear friend, played drums on at least 5 songs, and cowbell on one, and was absolutely the highlight of the evening. he was much better on the drums than any of the pianists.

and now, to bed again.

high school

was on the bus today, and across from me sat two boys, must have been freshmen in high school, in soccer outifts. then this kid comes on the bus, must have been a junior, also in soccer attire. they start talking, they go to the same school and are on the same team, although perhaps the the older kid is varsity, the other two JV. but it strikes me that these younger kids are NERVOUS talking to the older one, and make awkward jokes and agree with everything he says. it is so hard for me to remember when a two-year difference was such a big deal.

for those of you in high school: it is not a big deal. =) enjoy your life.