All I want for Halloween is a quiet morning. No complaining, no crying, no waking up before 8 a.m.
Is that what I got? Nope. I’ll spare you the story and give you the ending. Elsa is grounded.
Is it so much to ask that my family would conform to my will?
Check out the tour recap!
On Sunday night I returned from a 5 day tour with Jonathan Rundman. I was going to write all about it but I knew Jonathan would do a better job, and sure enough he did. So click on the recap up there and check it out.
I will note that I came back a better musician. Not just because I bought a Peavey Classic 30 in Minot, but because Jonathan, Justin, and Graham are three of the finest musicians I have ever played with. I’ve played with all of them in different line ups before but never as the four of us supporting Jonathan. Wow! What a blast. It’s so fun to be in a band where you know everyone is competent enough to catch if you take a few risks and as a result you get some amazing results. So thanks to them and thanks to all the folks that came out to hear us!
First of all, last Friday at the Bean Factory was a blast. The crowd was sparse (where two or three are gathered there Nate Houge will play) but it was all quality. Really great energy. It’s weird to talk about the energy that people put off, so I won’t. Ah heck, why not? I generally think that sort of talk is hogwash, but if you’ve ever been the focal point of a room full of people you know that they are putting off energy. Sometimes it’s a neutral, sometimes it’s negative, and sometimes it’s positive, all synched up, harnessed, focused, wanting the best and having a good time. Aspiring rockstars take note: you want to harness positive energy. And get free drinks.
Then yesterday was a great morning for toddler rock. This fall has been a great time with the pint sized crowd I sing with on Tuesday mornings. We’ve been doing a few railroad songs which is always a hit. Fun.
And finally, in 45 minutes I get to hit the road with Jonathan Rundman, Justin Rimbo, and Graham Peterson. We’ve got a 5 day Nodak tour (with two stops in MN).
I packed last night and I hit an all time maturity high in the toiletries department. There was a time I traveled with only a toothbrush and maybe a razor. Over the years I’ve been adding some things. Toothpaste. Patchouli. Shaving brush.
But last night I went all out. Deoderant. Aspirin. Ear plugs. Dental Floss. I’ve got a total dad toiletry bag. It’s all there. Oh yeah, and I put odor eaters in my Doc Martins. How rock and roll am I?
I wonder what Keith Richard’s toiletry bag looks like…
That’s right, the songwriting force that is Nate Houge and Micah Taylor is playing once again at their monthly Bean Factory gig.
Get the whole scoop at http://natehouge.com/news/wordpress/up-coming/
God only knows what Micah will be playing (unless you’re an open theist, in which case God may not know), but we all know it’ll be good.
Me on the other hand? Well it may not be as good but it is a bit mapped out: 3 older songs, likely peace related, 3 songs from last month (a quiet love song, a country gospel number, and the song I rewrite every 4 years “Nader 2008”) and then 2 or 3 new songs including a reallly horrible country song with a really long great title, “You Said Your Days of Loving Me Were Over (But You Never Said Nothing ‘Bout the Nights)”
and to top it all off I’ll do a song from my forthcoming kids CD and finally play along as Erik Ritland covers the lovely number, Folkstar.
So please do come, bring a friend enjoy the great spot that is the Bean Factory, hang out, tip well, and support the local economy.
Or don’t come, it’s a free country. We can’t force you, we can only be broken hearted that you didn’t show up, and if that’s what you want fine, be that way.
For troubadours the world round,
Nate
I am not a morning person. I was never really a sleep in person either though. My ideal morning would be to wake up around 8, drink coffee, read and write, go for some sort of exercise around 9. Come back, have a cup of coffee while I do a little stretching, take a shower and then around 10:30 have my first social interaction of the day.
Unfortunately the rest of my family refuses to sleep in till 10:30 am every morning. In fact it just so happens the least self sufficient member of our family woke up at 5:30 this morning. Punk. Ours is the type of house that even though I handed her off to Jodi at 5:32 (that’s right I gave it a quality 2 minutes before crying mercy) there is no more sleeping. There’s just no where to escape the hub bub of an alert toddler. So now it’s 10am and I’m tired. The wee one is just fine. She fell asleep mid diaper change. Punk.
I did it. I unsubscribed from the move on e-mail list. I have officially moved on. I’m sure they’ll be writing a success story about me anyday now. This is almost as big as the time I emerged from church. I’m a highly developed individual. (But one that still laughs at bodily functions.)
We have Flight of the Conchords on DVD and my wife is watching two of the many vice presidential candidates talk about how great they are and how they lame their opponent is. That’s not a debate it’s a commercial. I hate commercials.
Here’s something they should debate: How can McLame and Palin (comparison) both be Maverick? One of them has to be Goose.
Although now that I think about it Goose’s survival rate was a little less than stellar.
That might inform the Goose/Maverick debate.
I’m going to go get some dry erase markers and decorate the candidates while they recite sound bytes. super phun.
Jodi’s been assigned to the St. Paul Area Synod.
The Houges are very happy.
Tears of joy happy.
We’re going out to eat.
Now that’s happy.
