Nothing's Free

So here's a post that I'd like to file under "helpful tour knowledge". There's no way of knowing this unless you've gone through it.

Everything costs something. Do you want to "live the dream" (whatever that "dream" may mean to you)? It's gonna cost you. For example: this tour. It may be just being away from projects you want to be a part of, it may be your friends, it may be a small piece of your marriage. And not only that, but you will pay up front, and you know what? You'll pay later, too. Nothing is free. I'm not saying the tour is the dream - it's only a small part, and a crucial one, I think. A stepping stone, but still, it costs. There are emotional tolls to pay.

I went down this weekend to see my wife, and it was difficult. Challenging. Leaving (again) sucked. I saw a bunch of friends, and that made it easier, but still overall, rough. Still, I'm glad I got to see her. I trust all my good friends to take good care of her while I'm away.

We've been on the road two days, now, and now that the ache in my chest has eased somewhat (that would be heartache, thanks for asking), it's been fairly enjoyable. We drove through upstate New York and are currently in the bustling township of Elkhart, Indiana, home of the Conn Musical Instruments factory (I myself have played several Conn instruments, including my guitar that I earned through chanting the name of the Lotus Sutra - ask me to tell you the story sometime, if you haven't heard it already. It's a doozy!). We do our first show tomorrow, and I must admit I am a little nervous. We must set up the stage, do the show, and hit the road to the next one. The driving and whatnot so far have only been preamble. Tomorrow comes the real deal.

As a side note: on September Eleventh (note caps) I wanted to say something. Yesterday, while driving across mile after mile of green, beautiful farmland, I understood something. The reason why we are as we are in the world is, at least in part, a direct result of the landscape we inhabit. We live in possibly the most fertile, bountiful, wealthy country in the most technologically advanced era that history has every produced. The land and our minds provide us with anything we can imagine. A majority of the people of our country believe that the rest of the world has it just as good. We see wars, destruction, but we don't really believe it. How could we? All we see is beauty. Brown people suffering in some far away desert hardly register.

And that is why we're kinda fucked.

(/ half-baked political rant OFF)

back to your regularly scheduled whinging.