it's here. september 9th.

oh, man...

the car is pretty much packed. sleeping bags, red light lanterns and flashlights, a bunch of random snacks, a pillow, my sneakers.

what is in a pile at my front door is a backpack full of clothes for all temperatures, my camera, more food, cigarettes, star charts, a map of the sky.


in preparation for being off the grid, i'm writing this now.

i don't feel like i have all that much to say, or write, rather. but maybe just a few quick words while i have a smoke before heading to bed ridiculously early.


actually, i do have something to say.

i saw a show last night.

i saw balmorhea.

they are delightful.

if you can ever see them live, do it. their music is beautiful recorded, but is alive when they're putting on a show.

i had a few looping thoughts last night while i was watching them. i don't know their names or their songs or anything.

but singer dude (who really doesn't sing too much) who plays piano and writes most of the music. he is so full of the music. watching him perform was like seeing someone using an instrument to direct energy.

he stood back from the microphone and projected so well. when he played guitar, it was moody, like he was trying to get a message across. a very sad, dark message at times. and a very happy message at others.

the frontman dude who sings sometimes and plays banjo, along with every other instrument, was adorable. he was my favorite to watch. he had this steve carrell quality to him that i couldn't pinpoint, but was left with.

i love when bands switch instruments, i always have. so there are four people who don't change: violin, cello, upright bass, drummer.

two main dudes rotated between acoustic and electric guitar, electric bass, banjo, keys, and frontman played drums alongside the drummer on two songs.

so much silent movement, flowing around the stage. their set was incredibly quiet and just beautiful.


in any case, thanks to kit for introducing me to them during writing day. and thanks for getting an extra ticket a long time ago so i could go.

and sorry about that surprise. i'm glad it didn't ruin our night.


i got home at around 1215, and had one beer too many to feel good when i woke up this morning. i felt horrible, i felt sleep deprived, and a little hungover.

despite the fact that i don't get drunk at any point, drinking a beer every couple hours for six or so hours tends to take a toll on me.

i'm only having one beer tonight, instead of the typical two.

and i'm going to get a full night's sleep because i have a big weekend of sleeplessness ahead of me.


and back to it...

dark sky.

i hope i can sleep because tomorrow is going to be rough.

there are clouds popping up in the weather now, mostly during the day. but i imagine it's impossible to have cloud cover during the day, and none at night. hopefully it's not like the second night, last time, when everyone went to bed at 2 am because it was too cloudy, and everyone was exhausted anyway.

no sense in even thinking about it. it will be what it will be.

i made no time for creating a mix of music, so i suppose we'll just shuffle and drive, which worked amazingly well last time.


so after a half day at work tomorrow, i leave for the mountains. hopefully there's less traffic this time. and it takes the five and a half hours it's supposed to, instead of the seven and a half it took last time we drove up.

camping and non-showering and bug bites and sweaters. lightning bugs and sleeping bags and smuggled beer and stargazing-induced vertigo.

yayayayayay.