Thursday January 5 2012 (MILTON KEYNES)

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DREAM: Two parakeets. Gripping one at a time with my hand careful not to squeeze too hard. An energetic shorthaired dog, maybe a lab or a Dalmatian. Bracing myself every time it tries to pounce on me.



Awakening around 11 a.m. in a cold and quiet room. I love these silky sheets. A foreign body next to me. She’s quiet and reserved, still dreaming. Time to go. She walks me out.

Me: “Hey I had a nice time. It was a pleasure to meet you.”


In the van driving to our next destination...

The boys give me a hard time and banter me with questions pertaining to my night...

“So did ya have a shag?”

“No. It was totally PG.”


Food stop before we hit the motorway for our 3 and a half hour drive to Milton Keynes.

Egg Salad Sandwich with Lettuce. Strawberry Yogurt. Valencia Orange Juice.


Laughing and sharing stories...weirdest place you masturbated...weirdest time and place you had sex. What’s talked about in this van stays in this van.


Arriving at the venue: The Craufurd Arms. This place looks like they took a Hot Topic and turned it into a bar...but it’s surprisingly comfortable. The actual venue room however is grimy—wood floors stained from a year’s worth of beer spills and cigarette butts.

...

Finding out the eighteen year old drummer for Rookie of The Year is a model for Seventeen magazine and does a love advice column. I wouldn't even have thought.

...

With Zach and Dave walking down the cold windy streets of Milton Keynes. We find a warm pub that one of the other tour members recommended to us...

There, sipping on our respective pints—mine is a Carlsberg. Jacob and Tom join us. At the table enjoying our meals...



Cottage Pie (Shepherd’s Pie with Beef, Mashed Potatoes, Carrots, and Peas). Fries.

Discussing relationship issues. You can’t depend on love like it’s some romantic idea that’s going to whirl whatever relationship you’re in to incredible heights. In the end you have to make a choice.

Jacob: “Love is like a dessert you have to chew a thousand times.”


Back at the venue

Zach: “It’s so weird that people exist in other places, like, people have lives...”

Me: “Yeah, like somewhere else. [haha] That’s a good observation.”

...

Sitting down at a booth in the bar...some Coheed and Cambria song is playing on the overhead system. One of the dudes sits down next to me and comments on the music, “Coheed sounds like a prog rock band stepping on mice.”

...

The show must start. We conduct our set as usual. Not many people on the floor, similar to Glasgow’s turn out. Dave and Zach perform a toned down version of the song "Sun" and I’m supposed to play a piano solo at the end. Even as many times as I practiced it on my own...I end up pounding a bass note that is obviously wrong. I stop for a second to announce in the microphone, “Sorry, I messed that up.” Laughs on the stage are incessant but I continue the tune with an embarrassing grin.

...

We have to rush and load up quick after the show. We pack into the van and so begins our roughest overnight trip yet...

Custard-filled Doughnut with Hot Chocolate.

A few hours drive. Things are hysterical in our camaraderie. We become immature boys poking fun at anything. Already we’re creating running inside jokes.



Then, hopping on a ferry across the English Channel to reach the mainland (France). About an hour and a half ride. Walking around, exploring the massive ship complete with restaurants and coffee shops and casinos. Freakish cold dark water swaying us left and right. Sea legs.





Egg Salad Sandwich. Valencia Orange Juice.

...

Back in the van...extremely tired but I’m so tired I can’t sleep. I forgot what tour life was like. You catch Z’s when you can and get sustenance when you can. Your body is forced to submit to this unscheduled clock.
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[i] All images by me.

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