I think it's safe to say that this is the only reason I travel: to pick up delicious cheese spread from Wisconsin. I've had a long love affair with Merkt's. I don't know the exact time in my life when I was given the epiphany that a bright orange slightly crumby cheese spread could be so wonderful, but it was around an impressionable age, say 8 or 9 years old. I was in WI at the time, visiting my grandparents. Only recently did I stop eating it with a spoon and starting being more dainty with it (to make it last longer) and putting it on pretzels and not letting guests eat it. Usually, I truck back about 4 pints. This time, only 2. I was rushed at the end of my visit and didn't get to the store. And also, I'll use it as an excuse to tour out there sooner, rather than later. mmmm.


Drew Vervan and I played together this past weekend at the end of my tour. We presented our Simon and Garfunkel project to the suburbs of Chicago-land and reminded people of how great the songs and music are of S&G--whether they were ready for it or not. I picked up Drew in Milwaukee on Thursday and quickly inducted him into the glories of touring, ellen cherry style. These glories include a muffler that's so loud you can't have a conversation in the car, eating at odd times or not at all, meeting incredibly different people from ourselves (who text on their cellphones ALOT), and bizarre gigs that go well and then go really really weird.

We played well, but the venues were not exactly well matched. The best gig we had was above a car wash in Mundelien, called Elements Hand Car Wash. Thanks to Ric and Bill who had complete enthusiasm and understanding of what we were trying to do. It was a great gig. That was a definite highlight of Drew's portion of the trip--plus, we played well and sold cds, always a bonus! Other highlights included Saturday night where I got to play next to this dashing fellow, apparently a mechanic (thus the adult one-sie outfit), who was so bedazzled by my presence that he had to look away. (This was Saturday night's gig--at a Mick O'Shea's type pub north of Chicago. Only with no Smithwick's and severely drunk 20 somethings as early as 11PM.)

Drew rocked it so hard on his solo stuff that I couldn't catch him on the camera. It's been a while since I've heard him solo and I remembered how much I like his song "Tell Me What You Want" which has a good beat and you can sing to it.

However, the best and most highlighted of the highlights was when I walked back into the smoky bar gig on Saturday, feeling quite misplaced with what we were trying to present to people and saw this lovely gent, friend and dedicated uber-fan sitting at a table with Drew. Raj, you are awesome. Not only did he travel all the way to Chicago to see us and support us, but he even brought new people to the show. That's dedication.

It's good to be back--back at my desk, at home with #1BB and my dogs. I'm reminded of how much stuff I have in this house. The task now is to plan next summer's Chicago-land assault, finish up the album and get to work on the rest of my life. Business as usual I suppose.

Can't say I'm happy with the dreary and cool Baltimore weather. Where has the summer gone?