Oh hi. Blog. That thing I love to do. It’s been crazy! The weather alone calls for its own blog post…turns out that last week my zip code and very apartment were where the infamous “rolling blackouts of 2011” hit hardest here in Texas. At least that’s what my center of the universe complex tells me. Last Wednesday at 5:30 AM (because I was awake and Idon’tknowwhyaaah!) they turned off the power for 45 minutes and then subsequently turned it on for 20, off for 45. For 6 hours.  This is not a very even balance of power juice, to say the least.

I had an awfully fragmented morning, in that every 45 minutes I’d try and see where I was in my stack of email when the wifi came back on, and then before I knew it I had no power again. My roommate, Havilah, and I had this exchange:

Me: There’s no window in my bathroom. It’s dark.
Havilah: Use a candle.
Me: What do the Amish do for for fun?
Havilah: Nothing. They make candles. Because it’s dark.

Truth.

Anyway, I was thrilled to hop in the car with The Boss and head to Lubbock and New Mexico to escape the rolling blackouts…only to get a call from our Red River venue that they had turned off the natural gas…to the WHOLE NORTHERN PART OF NEW MEXICO. So there was no gas. And no heat. For a venue that means no people. For musicians that means no gig. We weren’t too disappointed to miss out on negotiating a possibly snowy mountain pass, so that was ok. We felt bad for the folks in Taos and Questa and Red River with no heat, though.

In a fit of precision booking on my part, I managed to meet my new little nephew (who is not my nephew by blood but I met his mom, Jamie, on our first day of college and we have been inseparable ever since) about 18 hours after he was born in Albuquerque. The Boss is good about allowing for touristy things when we tour, like seeing newborns.

Actually this was the first newborn we’ve ever seen on tour, but Luke is adorable and Jamie and Mike were proud parents and we brought her a stack of Cosmos to read while she recovers. We’re tasteful like that.

We had a great show in Albuquerque, probably the most people I’ve ever played to there at one time at Solid Grounds Coffee House…over 100. I say “at one time” because in the college days Ben and I used to play in front of the check out registers at Wild Oats (think Whole Foods) for four hours straight. We probably played to more than 100 people on those days, except 5 at a time and they all happened to be carrying eggs and organic plums. I digress.

Then we headed back on Sunday and it was sunny, and then 40 miles down the road it was blowing snow on I-40, and we turned south and it was sunny, and then all of the sudden THERE WAS SNOW ALL OVER THE ROAD AND WE DROVE REALLY SLOW FOR LIKE 15 HOURS. Ok maybe an hour. And then we got to Roswell and there was no snow anywhere, and the rest of the drive was fine. I mean, I didn’t drive…The Boss did, but I read articles out loud from Scientific American to keep us all entertained and educated.

So here we are. Tomorrow is the big Boss CD Release Show at the Cactus in Austin. Excited!