don't carry the world up on your shoulders.

i sit, drinking a beer at one o clock pm, and i update.

after a high level of difficulty booking a show or even a place to stay anywhere in alabama, we decided just to sneak on through and camp at the border to florida. the clouds protested greatly, trying to keep us out.

finally we arrived in an absolutely beautiful and out of the way forest in tallahassee, which i quickly realized i was allergic to. there was a river flowing right by our campground with really amazing water, but i was too afraid of gators to get in and so was cole. we saw an albino squirrel and a really cool lizard. cole saw a tree frog. we played scrabble and ate food and looked at the moon.
the next morning i was pretty miserable with allergies and i'll admit i got a little whiny. we decided to leave earlier than planned which i was happy about, but it didn't end up happening. we packed up and started our way into georgia.
i was a little nervous because i booked the show in augusta and wanted it to go well, but soon after arriving people kept coming up to me stoked on the place. cole told me it was the nicest venue of the tour. ryan gay played and he is really charming and good, sort of dylan-esque. not too many people showed up but the people who did were really into it. this is the first show that i sang on 'a heart so swollen,' which is now my most favorite song to sing. it is such a fun duet! i like standing next to cole and singing together. i love looking back at the enormous band while i'm not singing. after the show that night there was a pretty righteous dance party in front of the stage with all the apple miners plus a few more. ryan was nice enough to let us stay in his brand new two bedroom house where there was little to no furniture and they'd just finished painting. thanks ryan!
the drive from georgia in north carolina was absolutely stunning (contrary to the above photo.) there began to be hills and mountains for the first time in a long time. a lot of the forest was covered in kudzu, which is sort of an invasive plants brought over from japan- it completely takes over the ground covering but also completely covers any trees around so it looks like they're all wearing clothes of vine. asheville was a really damn cool town that i could totally see myself living in. very hippy, very healthy, very beautiful, very artsy.
the venue, firestorm cafe (an anarchist bookstore), was having plumbing problems that for some reason jeopardized the show, but it went on anyway. here, the people are amazing and there is no boss. the whole thing is worker-run.
my good friend matt dudley from my senior year came all the way out from portland to see his parents, me, and the show. i wish i could've seen you more dear friend, i'll owe you a trip out to portland.

nukulele opened which i'd never heard before. everyone only didn't get to play because of a time issue (my only complaint about the venue is that they were not clear on when we needed to be there, set up, be finished, etc.), but they were invited to play the next day at the 'been open one year!' bash. apple miner played totally acoustic which was interesting, but the entire crowd was wrapped around the band's gigantic finger. this was probably the best audience we've had so far, though there is some stiff competition.
naomi (james' cousin) invited us to stay at her extremely lovely home, then the next day we packed up and head out to charlie's (tenor sax player). her property was also extremely beautiful and there was food, showers, and a river.
well it looks like i'll have to catch up some more later, we're off to new york today!