TBA

We've decided that this tour can be captured by 3 letters: TBA. To be announced. Where are we? How long is the drive today? What's the set list? If this isn't flying by the seat of one's pants, I don't know what is.

The other night I was apparently talking in my sleep and having a conversation with Camelia as she was also sleeping. "Where are we going? CJ, where are we going? Where are we going?" CJ: "I don't know." This explains a lot of unconscious stress.

We are headed to Humble, Denmark next. Yesterday was a day off from playing and we drove up to Bremen, Germany for the night. We stayed with a really hospitable and fun German couple (of about our age), and they let us use their kitchen, do laundry, cuddle their dog, drink their wine, and have a jam session in their living room. I look forward to having a home to share with strangers and friends. We found them through www.globalfreeloaders.com- crazy concept.

During the drive to Bremen, I had a surreal musical experience. I was at the wheel, 3 of us where asleep, 1 was on Dr. Who, and the other one was reading. I decided to shut myself up into my headphones and put on an album of solo piano I got from my brother... "True Love Waits: Christopher O'Riley Plays Radiohead." After a beautiful breakfast at the Chat Noir Variete, we headed out of Trier, Germany just as snow started to fall. The roads were almost empty, and it was nice to have this music in my ears. Let me just say, this album is exceptionally fitting for white weather. Christopher O'Riley is the type of musician that plays from the pit of his stomach. If you allow it to, the music can enter directly into the very bottom of your own stomach.

By the time track 7 (Subterranean Homesick Alien) came along, I had hot tears on my cheeks. It was a really beautiful snow storm... flurries coming from every direction, and us driving through the thick of it in a van whose interior was calm and still. Then came track 12 (Bulletproof). This is when the weather started to change from 1 degree celcius and snow to 12 degrees and sun. The remainder of the album was a soundtrack to windmills stretching out their arms and elegantly moving with the air. I love windmills. CJ and others in the car have a fear of them, but I think there's something beautifully mysterious and even spiritual about them. Hard to put my finger on.

Other thoughts of the day:

You can discover a LOT about a person's personality and character by the way they handle their sound check.

I can appreciate being exhausted and in a routine of performing almost every day; there's no room for nerves when you get on stage.

I'm glad I'm not a singer.