SPEAK INTO MY GOOD EAR!

Last night was july 4th and I was going to flick one of those monster Pop-Its at my cousin, but somewhere in the flick I discharged the megaPop-It right next to my right ear. I received shrapnel to my face and a distinct high-pitched hum that is traveling with me still. I can't tell you the physics on how it happened because I don't know how it unraveled. I'm ringing.

I got a phone call the other night from a friend of mine who'd had a little too much to drink. Actually, a lot too much to drink. The actual phone call was about 45 minutes long and included a lot of making fun of me and then ended with a marriage proposal. Strange? Not if you happened to be listening. But very strange because you are assuming the call was from a woman.

I went to another concert last week. Saw My Morning Jacket down at the Edgefield McMinamins in Portland. Great show. I didn't know them before, but I do now, and am a fan. Some highlights from the evening:

• There were a lot of high people at the concert - makes for fun people watching.





• There were also what seemed to be an unusually high amount of pregnant women (is the phrase "pregnant woman" redundant?) I do not think they were high, but they were well represented.




• We met a real nice white guy named Mateo (like San Mateo). He was so nice he offered me three things: whiskey out of his flask that he smuggled in, some of his weed, and a backrub in the middle of the concert. I accepted one of them.




• Met Jeff Oja. Changed my life. Funny guy. Just kidding, didn't change my life but we made some good fun at the expense of the people standing near us.




• Ok, Ok.... I got a backrub from Mateo mid-concert. But before you judge me, let me explain. There was a pretty rocking song playing and he puts his hands on my shoulders like he's going to start jumping up and down (which would have been appropriate), but instead starts rubbing them. He asks, "Does this offend you?" This was the perfect question for him to ask (assuming he really wanted to give me a massage) because I felt many things at that moment, but offended was not one of them, so I said, "No." What I was feeling was ackward, strange, confused, and hungry, but certainly not offended. So he proceeds. And it was weird. Imagine the middle of a bangin song, people jazzed, singing, dancing...and some stranger is giving you a shoulder rub??? I really felt weird and sort of uncomfortable - mostly because it felt SO GOOD. I'm not ashamed to say that I let him do it for the rest of the song (probably a couple minutes). So there you go.

If you'd like to take something as mundane as weed-eating and liven it up a little, try using 3-D glasses instead of your normal protective eyewear. I did this yesterday. Not only was it more fashionable, but when the little pieces of grass came at me it was like I was Neo from the Matrix.




There is no spoon.




I played at Hoopfest in Spokane for the first time a couple weeks ago with my buddies Jon Webb, Kelly Clary, and Jake Knudsen. We had a blast, we got beat and beat up, and we're probably going to do it next year. Lots of fun. Dash came with me too. I was so glad he did. Things are better with him there. He got his cast off btw. The picture of him is traveling home from Spokane.
That's about it for the last couple weeks. If you call me in the next couple weeks, speak up. Between the concerts, drumming, and fireworks, my hearing is mediocre. Here are a couple snapshots from the last couple weeks.

My new favorite vehicle...My old favorite vehicle with a big a$$ chair in the back. This is how I watched fireworks this year and I highly recommend it. I was a fully mobile stargazing/firework watching aficionado. I got this chair for $10 at a garage sale (talked him down from $20). Sitting in that big beautiful lounger is like you're enjoying the warm embrace of a soft, comfy hug from someone you love who smokes cigarettes.

And finally, this is the first house I lived in. We rolled through Ritzville, WA on the way to Spokane. Dad bought it for $17,000 in 1976.