Spent most of the weekend with my students...really the nicest folks you'd ever meet. Are all Mexican's this cool?

Was having trouble with wi/fi at hotel. It's fixed now,so I shoul be able to post real posts again.

Played a gig sat. Nite. Great show...crappy place. We had the joint jumping. Nick and anthony were kind enough to play my new tune. Sounded great

too swe-ui-et-e

I checked in to the extended-stay suite today. Very interesting place (not pictured). It's kind of small, but it has everything I need. It's got a big bed and T.V., sofa, kitchen table and chairs, a small kitchen with coffee maker and microwave, oven, etc...It's nice to have a place to go. Ali's has been great and I like it there, but after a week you are imposing. That's not to say I won't be imposing every time I am invited to dinner!

Anyway,,,been working alot at the shop and spending the rest of the time with my students who are fantastic. We are playing Rack Daddys on Saturday night. It should be much better than the outdoor show. It's indoors.

Went to Ok.city to look at a comic collection for the shop. Talk about the middle of nowhere. All the bad things about Dallas w/none of the good.

Also hit the Winstar casino. Lost 50 bucks. But it's not so bad, I was down 120 at one point.

Had BBQ for students Sat. Lots o fun. Lots of food and good company. All 8 students are great. And they pay me for this!?!

Saw batman last night w/my students and Ali. Good comic flick. Going to Ok.city today to evaluate a comic collection for the shop.

Played Obzeet last night. 100 degrees. Miserable outdoor show. But...it was great playing with Nick again. Working at the shop today...ah...AC

Grendel

the lost dan track

First, sorry about the lame post yesterday. I sent it from my phone from the comic shop I am working at when I am not working with the exchange students. I spent all day sorting comics. Very cool.

On Tuesday night, I went to practice with Nick and Anthony. What a good time. Of course I was embarassed because it had been six months + since I had played the tunes, but overall it went well. The best part of the night is that Nick asked me if we were still going to play "reborn", which is one of my tunes. For those of you that didn't know...I had lost the lyrics and somehow did not have them on the Computer, so I thought the song was lost forever. I got over it and moved on. Well, when I told Nick what happened, he said he had a copy. Wow! What a nice gift to get at my first rehearsal back in Dallas! Anyway...Thursday night is our first gig of the summer at Obzeet.

up up and away...

I hate superman. I just sorted hundreds of superman comics. Go lex luthor.

"Everybody complains about the weather...

but nobody ever does anything about it"(Mark Twain).

What a day yesterday was. Hung out with Ali and his cousin Nima (his last day in town). My students arrived from Mexico. They are a great group; we already started having fun.

Also, I had a chance to hang out with Nick and a friend of his (David...a really good guy). We were sitting outside having a cup of coffee at around 11:00 and all of a sudden the wind picked up. Instantaneoulsy, the weather dropped at least 15 degrees. I mean it changed in a second. Then the lightning was crackling above us in its usual Texas electrical curcuitrous way. The wind started to really whip around and soon Nick, David and I were the only ones still sitting outside (we did move under an oning though...just in case). After about five good minutes of this, the locusts started goign crazy and retreating. Nick and I agreed this was a bad sign. Not long after that it was a downpour. If you've been in this part of the country you know that heavy rain in Philly is a drizzle here. Well...we retreated into the coffee shop (but only after we were sure we wold get drenched otherwise) and waited it out. Ali at that time was in Addison with Nima and reported hail. Crazy stuff, huh? It's one thing I love about it out here. When the rain stopped, the rest of the evening was beautiful. Now today...hot and humid already!

Throwing matches into the fire

After a long two days, longer than most since I stayed in Tennessee on Saturday night, I am in Dallas. I know Philly is hot, but even though Dallas was only a few degrees warmer yesterday, Dallas always feels like an inferno.

Speaking of infernos, on my trip in to town, I listened to the entire fourteen lectures on the "Heroes, Myths and Legends" portable professor package I bought at Barnes and Nobles. For the record, there are no reason to buy one of these things ever unless Ed does one one day. The guy giving the lectures was interesting enough as far as his voice went, but the lectures were rather basic with more plot summary than discussion. I guess it's okay as a refresher, but even then, in a series of fourteen lectures that discusses The Iliad, The Odyssey, Beowulf, The Divine Comedy (a lecture for each book and one on the books overall), The Fairie Queen, and Paridise Lost, you can imagine how much is left out of the discussion. It left me really frustrated and yelling at the radio.

BTW...Don't get confused, the picture shown above isn't Dallas or UTD. No, it is a shot from the University of Guanajuato. Today my new crop of students arrive from this school and end up in Texas...Dallas, Texas. For those of you who don''t know, my job is teaching an English class and I am also responsible for cultural enrichment. One purpose of the program is to recruit these students to come back and do their Masters degree at UTD. So yes, part of my job is to show them how great Dallas is. Sounds just like me, huh? Well...it can be tough, especially when you really wouldn't recommend the town, but I try to keep at least even keel. It reminds me of the old Tick episode with Pinapple Pokopo. Pokopo says, "Here on Pokopo, we have two things; we have pinapples and we have sharks." To which American Maid responds to the tourist hungry despot, "Go with the pineapples."

Tennessee is too long. Even the spelling has too many letters. I would like to be out of tennessee now. Oh well. 900 miles to dallas.

Some Don't...get to play with Some Don't anymore

One day to take off.

Last night I went to my last practice with Some Don't. Not only are these folks fine musicians, but they are also about the coolest cats and nicest people you would everwant to meet. While I am certainly excited to get to Dallas and start playing with Nick and Anthony again, I will sadly miss my time with these folks. So, Judy, Noel, Keith, Jackie and Bob, thanks so much for everything.

Last night the band generously devoted 90% of the practice to a new song I wrote. Not only did they agree to play around with it and record it, but they made the song much more then it was before their collaboration. It is a beautiful thing to work together and make music.

Lancaster Pa...not just for Amish anymore!

Well we've come to the last leg of my Pennsylvania tour. Yesterday I took a ride down to Lancaster to visit my friend and mentor Dr. Beverly Schneller (buy her new book, (Anna Parnell's Political Journalism: Contexts and Texts).

I lived in the Lancaster/Millersville area for about 5 years and I can honestly say I loved it there. It's the perfect distance to and from everything and the people are amazing. I'm going to miss it (again).

Pictured above is Demuth's Tobacco shop, the oldest in the states. Ed reminded me that it was there (it's been a while since I lived there) and I remembered being in there a bunch. Nice place...nice people. That is Lancaster. Of course you have your Amish farms and tourist stuff going on too, but Lancaster is much more than that.

Anyway...I'll be hitting the road Saturday morning and making my way to Dallas. I'll be there for eight weeks and then it's off to New Mexico. I hope to have some interesting things to pass on to you all from the road.

stuck on philly

I'm gonna keep this one brief (because I've already lost this post twice due to computer error and I'm tired of writing the same thing). In a nut shell then...traffic sucks. I know that isn't much of a post for today, but that's what I think. I am sure you all agree.

It took me an hour and a half to get back from the ballpark last night because I got stuck at 95 and Cottman where they were pushing all the cars into one lane due to construction. I'm n o engineer by any means, but it just seems to me that there should be a way around this problem. At least the Philles won.

BTW...while were on the subject of traffic...did anyone else see the Phillies last night?
Would someone please explain to me why our genius manager batted Cormier with the basses loaded and two outs in the bottom of the seventh? Besides to give the Rangers a chance to come back of course.

Devil's Den

We went to Gettysburg on Saturday. I had not been there since I was a kid, and I have to be honest, I may as well have never been there before. I did not remember a thing about it.

I was so impressed with the whole town and how they have preserved the battle site. We took a guided tour (though between Ed and Scott and their expertise, it probably wasn't necessary). For me the best part was "Devil's Den" (shown in the top left of the painting above). It was ominous and spooky. It reminded me of Stonehenge in a way. The whole experience was awe inspiring though. And though my attention span only lasted about 3-4 hours (much to the chagrin of my fellow travelers who could have spent much more time poking around), I would highly recommend it (especially if you are living in Pa and haven't made the short trip).

Most astounding of all to me is what is not known: the stories of each and every soldier that fought there. We get the big-wigs' drama, but to think that thousands of soldiers fought and gave their lives, who probably had fascinating stories we will never hear...I can't even put into words how that makes me feel.

Anybody been to other awe inspiring historical sites??

Parking-blog-Spot

I know this is going to sound like a rant, but I can't help it. This is what I'd like to do to the car that parked in my spot last night: smash,crash, demolish, destroy, crush, mash! I guess I'm a bit grumpy that I had to wake up early to move my car out of the driveway so my mom could get her car out of the garage.

Why do we get bent out of shape over parking spots in front of the house? When you think about it, nobody really owns a spot, right? Hell, we don't own the sidewalks in front of our houses. But...try not shoveling the snow one from your sidewalk next time we get 22 inches. Whose walk is it then? Maybe we should own the sidewalk and parking spot right in front.

Uh...come to think of it....Technically...I guess it really isn't my spot...kinda...I park in front of my neighbor Mark's house cause they don't use the spot. Um...but...like...I park there all the time...Well...DAMN IT!!! HE SHOULD GET OUT OF MARK'S SPOT!!!

Wireless Worlds of Fun

I just came back from Ed's house where we were installing his wireless router. I am still simply amazed at all of the technology around us. I feel like putting my computer, or phone, through a metal hoop and saying, "look, no plugs" to everyone that passes me by. Of course the 1 1/2 hours on the phone with the router tech support who offered no assistance when nothing worked was frustrating, but we got it done on our own eventually.

I know I might sound like a bit of a techno geek here, but when I think about my life, I realize that it is completely wireless. The internet is available to me at any hotspot. My phone keeps me leashed to my world. My video game system is even wireless. Heck, my freakin radio works from a satellite! I guess the real question I have is what's next? What major advancement will change our way of life next?

Texas History 101

This is a historic photo from Dallas Texas. I was looking over my schedulefor this summer's Guanajuarto exchange program and noticed once again I'll be making my way down there. Has anything good ever happened in Texas? JFK gets Whacked...The Alamo...Waco and Koresh..."Houston we have a problem"...Bush? Please someone tell me one positive historic event that doesn't include killing people! Maybe I'm just spoiled by growing up in a town like Philly.