Gladstone

OK, lots to report...Where was I...Took a ferry across Kootney lake, the worlds longest free ferry...Picked up Jonah the cherry picker...again...brought him to Creston, BC, slept in a nice rest area off the highway...drove through most of alberta and Saskatchewan in a day, shot a bunch of fun music videos in front of cool motel signs and out in fields...the van died in Swift Current, SK...then revived itself after 5 min...Slept in a Husky parking lot, drove straight through to Elkhorn Manitoba...where, after filling the tank, the van died...and did not revive itself. I played two songs at the Elkhorn Motor lodge Saloon...got paid in Taco slices(don't bother asking what they were... a kitchen experiment, but they were free...) Waited till 10pm, got towed to Winnipeg. We are camped out in the parking lot of a Volkswagon dealership waiting patiently for the service center to re-open and get us a new starter...We walked around this afternoon, asked about cool places to play music...most of Winnipeg went to the lake, so the city is pretty dead...But we walked into a bar, turned out a band had canceled, so I will play there at 9pm. Exciting! Finally, an actual show!

I noticed that we passed two different towns in two different provinces called Gladstone. I used to live on the corner of Gladstone and Kingsway in Vancouver. And there is a Gladstone street in Winnipeg. And i've noticed lots of other names repeating from other places i've been. Its kind of comforting...and at the same time makes me feel like I should google these names at some point and find out who these epic Canadians were.

Thats about it for now. I feel pretty good, since I went for my first shower in three days at the Y. I'm gonna go eat something, then relax and get ready for my show tonight.

Rock on!

KD

Slept at a Husky truck stop last night. Dylan made some awesome KD for dinner...
Today we are in Ainsworth, we took a slight detour to soak in some hot springs.
We picked up a hitch-hiker named Jonah. He is a cherry picker. He liked my music but did not buy my CD.
Still looking for a break the ice show...
I should go, we need to get to a ferry and think about dinner and a place to sleep tonight...and maybe a place to play some music...

Sunburn

I went to Wreck Beach the other day with my friend. It was a beautiful day, but I was consumed by my anxiety about my upcoming trip. It was ridiculous to think I could book a full cross Canada tour in under two weeks. I had just given my notice at my job. I had no money...and I got a sunburn...
Which brings us to today.
I went to visit that same friend, and she told me something that I can't believe I either didn't know or had forgotten, even though I felt I was entering into my wiser years...
"If you spend your whole trip worrying about what will happen when you get back, you will have wasted your whole trip...so let it all go!"
Simple advice...easy enough to follow...were I to commit to it...but as my sunburn on the beach a few days earlier had proven, I was distracted by an uncertain future.
So I looked her in the eye, which I feel seals pretty much any deal, said thanks, you're right, and headed home to finish packing.
I have to admit the packing is nowhere near done. I have a ridiculous amount to get done before Dylan and I leave tomorrow at 10am...ish... But my mind is ready. I am working for myself now, so I can make my own hours. I don't know how many shows I will get to play, how many CDs I will sell, how much money I wil end the trip with. But I know that tomorrow, I am busting out of the city in one of the coolest vehicles ever invented (the yellow Westfalia), with one of the coolest people i've ever met(my friend Dylan), to drive across my country and happily sing for my supper.
I am shedding my skin, and in this new life I will not allow myself to ignore a beautiful day!

Video for Elephant Trainer by Kim Simard

My friend Kim was experimenting with animation, and was inspired by my song. She asked to use it as background for her video, and I was happy to oblige. I was astounded by the final product! She did a tremendous job capturing the feeling of the song with the illustrations that she chose.

I'm a blogger

I just settup my blogger.com account! Trying to figure out how to integrate it into my website now, wish me luck....