Posted: Wednesday, 02/03 - 12:08PM

Posted: Friday, 01/29 - 12:15PM

Posted: Wednesday, 01/27 - 12:08PM

 

I have been running behind on these blogs! I'm drowning in regret (not true.)

Cambodia; amazing. From the sassy 12-year-old girls trying to sell me stuff, to the temples, to The Killing Fields, to the capital, I was pretty taken with the whole thing, especially since I had no idea what to expect. People were friendly in general, and I felt really great about being able to see "the 8th wonder of the world" - the temples.

I am in Vietnam now, on a motorcycle adventure with Justin. After spending a few days in Ho Chi Minh City, and then a couple days in a national park, we are doing a 6 day ride up the coast. We started in Dalat yesterday and the trip ends in Hoi An. I can safely say that almost 4 months into my travels, this past couple of days has been at the top of the list. The history, the mountains (unbelieveable), and just the freedom of riding a motorcycle across the Vietnamese countryside has been everything I was hoping for. It's also been nice to see some sincerity (instead of the non-stop quest to acquire my tourst dollars) on the part of the people I am around. The kids are truly excited to see us. They slap me 5 as I ride by and smile the biggest smiles you could imagine when they see us ride through. "Hello!"

Our guide, Tan (pictured with me, here), informed us that he was a "ladykiller" when he was younger. But, now hat he's older, "the ladies kill him." When we can't understand what he says (which happens a lot) we pretend that we do. This arrangement seems to work out well. Our food costs have been about $1.50 per meal, and this is for about 8 dishes scattered across the table from eggs to fish to veggies to soup to, of course, rice. I seem to eat about 2 or 3 times as much as the other men at the table, but anyone who knows me knows that this is nothing new. I don't like to see food go to waste. I consider it a challenge of some sort.

Cambodia, check. Vietnam, check. Feeling great...

Posted: Friday, 01/01 - 10:26AM

It's a New Year.

Are you kidding me? When did that happen? 2009 really seemed like it flew by more so than most years. 2009 was also the only year in the last 5 years that I didn't move forward, musically. I took a purposeful step away for a little while to see how it felt not to be a musician. How would it feel not to be a performer? Not be someone who is on stage all the time? Instead, I lived quietly in Kentucky, biding my time, and thinking about my next step.

It was a strange but important move for me.

The answer, naturally, was a resurgence in my yearning to create sounds (and all that sappy kind of crap.) So, it's been nice to realize that 2010 will once again be a year moving forward for me, musically, and I truly can't wait to get started on my new album. It feels good to be hungry again. Excited again.

The last several months of my travels have been sort of eye opening as well. Sure, I knew I had my western views of the world, but you can never truly open your eyes all the way until you see things as different from what you are used to as possible. It's been a learning experience that has helped me shape my plan for the next year...the new year. 2010.

I am Thailand now, and I made it out of the Full Moon/NYE party in one piece, relatively. I did wind up with a burn on my arm (from jumping a fire torched jump rope,) a busted lip (from getting accidentally hit in the mouth by some uncoordinated moron,) and a bloody toe (from stubbing it on the concrete, mostly sober too!) But, despite all that, I was able to bring in 2010 on the beach with a lot of excitement about the coming year.

I wish everyone a truly Happy New Year.