Set The Sails, Again

Well, it's that time again, time to do some last-minute laundry and make myself a checklist of "to-do's" before I climb back into our 16 passenger black beauty. April is going to be a blast! I can feel it in my bones! Although it feels like we just got back home, I'm ready for another adventure on the open road. Michigan has been wonderful- it's always refreshing getting to spend time with family and friends. However, Michigan has also been cold. I mean, real cold. 26 degrees cold. Brrrr. I need some kisses from warm sunlight soon!

On the bright side, I finally got my other role of film developed from our previous tour. The internet is not cooperating right now, so I'll try and post from our adventures the next time I blog!

-Shannon

I think this says what I would like to blog about this week.

Not literally. The thing I appreciate about his songs are that it seems as though he’s holding a conversation with someone about what he is dealing with. Songs like this are more therapeutic for me than most. Good tunes.

Bruce Springsteen “Streets of Fire”

When the night's quiet and you don't care anymore
And your eyes are tired and there's someone at your door
And you realize you wanna let go
And the weak lies and the cold walls you embrace
Eat at your insides and leave you face to face with
Streets of fire

I'm wandering, a loser down these tracks
I'm dying, but girl I can't go back
'Cause in the darkness I hear somebody call my name
And when you realize how they tricked you this time
And it's all lies but I'm strung out on the wire
In these streets of fire

I live now, only with strangers
I talk to only strangers
I walk with angels that have no place
Streets of fire

Choose Your Own Adventure

Today we got back to Michigan after two and a half months of being on the road. I feel weird. Shannon’s family has been kind enough to allow me to stay with them for the next couple of weeks before we go out again. But being in a house and not playing shows everyday is an uncomfortable feeling for me. I know it’s strange to feel at home in the back of a van. But I don’t really own too much. Even if the only house I own is the back bench in black Ford, I feel a sense of pride in my ownership of that bench.

Anyway, I guess it just feels strange driving my car again. It feels strange not really having anywhere to go in it. I know this probably sounds ignorant, but I feel like I can relate to prisoners who get out after years behind bars, institutionalized and confused. I don’t mean to paint myself in such a tragic light. I am happy and blessed. I have people who love me and people I love. That is what counts. But I feel an obligation to be honest with whoever reads this blog about how I’m feeling and what’s going on in my head. I imagine it’s therapeutic for me to some degree. I think maybe there’s a lesson in there somewhere. Maybe that it helps you cope with your internal struggles when you don’t permit them to remain internal. Maybe that prisoners should get more time outside. Maybe the only lesson is that I am self-focused enough to senselessly ramble on and on about the problems inside me without even acknowledging those outside of me. I guess the ending of this blog is like a Choose Your Own Adventure book. I always loved those.

-David

One Last Show

Tonight is our last show of this trip. We've been gone since January, playing both coasts and everywhere in between. This tour had its ups and downs, but overall I'd say it was probably the most memorable trip yet. I mean, it's hard to top getting to see the Grand Canyon, visit a monastery, walk the tired streets of Tombstone, watch David win over 1,000 tickets at Incredible Pizza, meeting tons of new friends, visiting old friends, & devouring some delicious meals. However, tonight closes another chapter of our careers until we go out with Abandon Kansas and Swimming With Dolphins in two weeks. Tonight we play at The Foundry with our dear friends in Seabird. After a bit of a stressful day yesterday, with our van breaking and things looking a little grim, I couldn't imagine a better way to end things.

I woke up today a little earlier than I wanted to just to make sure I'd get to spend some quality time with some mini goats & other farm animals. It was a good choice.

-Shannon

Chicago

Our last show on this tour is Sunday in Cincinnati. After that we head up to Michigan, and I catch a train to Chicago. My girlfriend lives in Chicago and I'm super excited to see her again.

Besides my awesome girlfriend, Chicago has a lot to offer. Sweet vintage clothing stores, record stores, bike shops,  top notch coffee shops, a free zoo, and tons of fancy shmancy stores along Michigan Avenue. It is also home to Sultan's Market, maker of the best falafel I've ever had. Also, something I really want to see is the Shedd Aquarium. It is supposedly the best aquarium in the world!

One thing about Chicago that I'm really into is the public transportation. They have a wonderful train and bus system that can get anywhere. It's nice not having to rely on an automobile to get places.

I have myself a checklist of things I want to do next week. I can't wait to start checking them off!

-Burk

Decisions

What do we do? How soon do we do it? How do we do it? It's funny, the questions I ask. I had a friend tell me he lives and dies by his decisions.
This same person told me to make a decision and never look back.


I held my baby nephew for the first time a couple days ago. It was surreal. This brand new child with a fresh slate and completely bright future ahead of him. I looked at his mother and was amazed that the sister of my youth is now raising a child.


She made a decision to marry and commit her life to someone she loved, despite what others thought. Out of that love a new life has sprung and a family has begun. She made a decision after counting the cost. She fell in love and never looked back.


I want to do the same. The same friend who told me to never look back also said, "Weigh the options and ask yourself, "What's the worse thing that could happen?"". I have weighed my options. I have counted the cost. I'm ready to take a chance.  I refuse to sit idle just because it doesn't seem realistic.


The people who wait for something to happen are the people with mouths full of excuses.

"Champions are not those who never fail. They are those who never quit."
- Dr. Ed. Cole

I decide to push forward.

God is faithful

- Mikey

Nothing New Under the Sun

Nobody has anything insightful to say. I realize the irony of me writing a blog post that starts with that sentence. Maybe it’s just an honest admission that I recognize the senselessness of trying to type out words that have some sort of impact. Don’t get me wrong. I definitely recognize that words have the power to impact people. But I would argue that it is not words themselves that have an impact, but the ideas that they carry. Paint alone cannot move someone on a deep level. But paint arranged in the right way can convey ideas that words could never illustrate.

But regardless, these ideas that strike us are not new. All concepts have been recycled and reworded. For any of us to suggest that some idea has originated in our heads is to plagiarize. There is nothing new under the sun. I guess that means I’ll just have to write my blogs at night.

So let’s just do our best to keep quiet unless speaking would enhance whatever situation we are in. And if we must speak, let us only speak words that encourage those around us. And when we bring up some allegedly insightful concept or idea, we should, in all humility, acknowledge that we ourselves truly know very little about anything.

-David

Headed Back Home

After being gone for about three months, we'll be headed back to the sweet state of Michigan. I'm looking forward to hanging out with dear friends & family I've been missing. Even though Michigan may not be the greatest state, there are a few things I'm going to indulge in that I can only experience in Michigan:

Noodles & Company: One of the greatest restaurants ever created. Why, you ask? I'll tell you why: noodles, noodles, noodles galore! 

Vernors: Michigan ginger ale. You haven't had real ginger ale until you've had Vernors.

Making funfetti cupcakes and any other tasty treat I want, when I want. 




-Shannon

 

Coffee

I haven't had coffee in about two weeks. I am really missing it. Thankfully, tomorrow I will end this coffee-less streak. I'm gonna do everything in my power to have at least one cup.

Over the past couple of years I have become a coffee connoisseur of sorts. I have fallen in love with the way it tastes, not to mention the energy boost I receive from the caffeine. I love trying new brews, beans, and coffee flavorings. It seems that something new comes along everyday. A new way to make it or something. 

My top 5 coffee shops are:
1. The Wormhole in Chicago, IL
2. Guidos Coffee Lounge in Owosso, MI (Travis and Jon are legit baristas)
3. Jupiter House in Denton, TX
4. Java Jive in Hannibal, MO
5. Fido's in Nashville, TN

Try these places out. I promise they will not disappoint.

-Burk

Memories Again

I have been in Texas the last week. I learned a lot about myself while living here a couple of years ago. It's funny how certain locations have memories attached to them. What are memories? Perhaps some mythical bridge that connects us to our past that can only be crossed in our mind? I read in a book today that memories are "stuck in an eternally locked vault of time". How true.  

We can't go back, no matter how hard we pray. They exist somewhere in the ever fading shadows of time's past. History is truly a wonder. I often heard in school that history repeats itself. I don't know that I completely agree. I believe there are certain principles and formulas that work and ones that don't. When set in motion, sparks fly. However, I can say that I have spent a lot of time in my years focusing on the memories that make me wish I would have never been born. 

You know, the ones that we sweep under the rug, or regret, or wish we could erase with a Tide Stick. Yet, with the bittersweet sting of past failures comes an incredibly crisp sense of gratitude for forgiveness. Life isn't about trying to patch every little hole in our roof or take back every terrible word that slipped out of our mouths. I believe it's about celebrating the fact we are alive and that we are together- that it is the great adventure. We are stories being written one day at a time and someday ours will come to an end on this side of eternity. 

What kind of memory will we be in the hearts of our surviving loved ones? We are born. We all live. We all die. I hope that I can be a memory of love for mankind. 

p.s. I am officially an uncle now....

Tattoos

I am thinking about getting my first tattoo. The thing is, if this happens, I want it to be important to me. If this is going to be on my body for the rest of my life, I can’t deal with looking at nonsensical garbage for 60 years. Any tattoo I get must be representative of something that will be significant to me for all of my days, a constant inspiration. Therefore, whatever tattoo I get will be of a Pokemon.

But just a Pokemon will not do. I need something that attaches some emotion or philosophy to the Pokemon. Below are my top three concepts at the moment:

Let me know which one you like best.

-David