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to it's own demise over the past oh year or so. I mean, my last update was how I was going to Hartford to see the Dave Matthews Band. Hell, that was two summers ago! Quick synopsis? Impossible. Hartford was incredible, I met fantastic people, including a couple of Canadians. But really, the highlight was meeting the actual band! Yes I did! I got Butch Taylor's autograph, I got close enough to Dave to LICK him. He's fantastically more wonderous up close and personal than far away and impersonal...??... I had a crazy taxi driver who told me about how horrible Hartford was, I got followed around town by some derelict who wanted to sleep with me, I walked all over the damn place, went to the Mark Twain House and Harriet Beecher Stowe houses, had a five hour stop over in Buffalo, saw a live show in the Buffalo Bison's Stadium, met the band after the set, watched Anna and the King the Disney cartoon version on the giant screen in the stadium, slept a couple of hours on the same bench at the Albany Greyhound station on the way to and from Hartford, met a crazy old hippie who used to follow The Grateful Dead on tour and was at the same DMB show as me in Buffalo, got hit on by a museum security guard, got a $100 US ticket to the show (20th row, centre), visited the Old State House where the Amistad trials were held, laughed with an ambulance driver, did a quick midnight tour of Albany that included the State Capitol, Justice Building, Empire State Plaza, Arts Center and New York State University, chatted with a couple from France who live in Montreal and eventually made my way back to Canada. So after Hartford was my trip 5000 kilometers west to Vancouver, where I was finally home. I started working like crazy, got a promotion to Shift Supervisor at Starbucks and did that for a year while getting steadily disillusioned and disheartened and angry and resentful and unappreciated. While all that was going on, I went on my 2000/2001 New Year's extravaganza! Louis back out on me so I ended up going to San Francisco by myself, which I am used to so all was fabulous. I got to eat Clam Chowder in a Sourdough Bowl from Boudin on Fisherman's Warf, rode the trolley cars constantly, had my first alcoholic beverage in the United States (a Whisky Sour at The Stinking Rose), hung with a sax player in Union Square, got some of my shit ripped off at the hostel, partied for hours on the Embarcadero, met and chilled with this cool dude and his son, fell inexplicably off a concrete wall, checked out The Castro, wandered around The Haight, had a treat at Ghirardelli Square, got too close to live wires, learned shit at the Exploratorium, met some crazy folks in the Tactile Dome, enjoyed a tremendous stroll on the nearby beach, took in a gorgeous sunset behind the Golden Gate Bridge and loved the balmy weather before eventually making my way back to Canada. Sometime between then and summer I went to see Ben Harper and The Innocent Criminals with Leanne from Starbucks, David Gray with Kieran from 1208 Park Dr., Soulive with Ed from Gay Haven on Cambie, Bela Fleck and The Flecktones all by my lonesome in Bellingham on my way down to Seattle to see The Actual Tigers and Chris Whitley...now pay attention, because this particular trip ended up being a cornerstone for the coming months. Anyway, just before and around this time, I was feeling more and more depressed (yes, for the first time in a long ass time) and I started to really worry about myself and the turn I'd taken for the not so great. I actually started to want to move back to Ontario! Can you believe how fucked up I was feeling?? All I had to look forward to was Dave Matthews Band at The Gorge in Washington for three nights. I felt the longing to be with an old friend out east, I hated my job and my boss more and more everyday and started taking more and more vacation to get away from Starbucks Granville Chapters. So I went to Seattle for the first time in about four years to see a couple of shows, while I was down there I went to see Experience Music Project which was totally not worth the price of admission, but I'm glad I went because when I left the place I saw this guy sitting out on the lawn of the Space Needle selling some drawings, I stopped to look at them and ended up having a seat and chatting with him for awhile, then I went and got us food and coffee and he gave me some art in return, well, we ended up spending the entire day together, he showed me lots of Seattle I didn't know, and we talked about so much! Oh, his name is Ruby Jets. We walked all over the city until night when this punk band he knows from Tuscon was playing at Gibsons, so we met the band before the show and got on the guest list so we didn't have to pay a cover. I discovered a great Seattle microbrew called Mac & Jacks, met more awesome people then bid the crew farewell when they drove me back to the Hostel. When I got up the next day I went back to the Space Needle and bought a couple of coffees assuming Ruby would be there, and lo and behold, he was. So once again, I spent the day in the park with Ruby listening to horrible music coming from giant Space Needle speakers ("Standing in the shadow of the needle in Seattle...). That day I met a couple more people, Eric Anderson and Joseph Wartes, who were also selling art, their work is fantastic. I have a few of their pieces on my walls now. Anyway, these dudes ended up becoming good friends of mine, I started spending all my time in Seattle with them, I spent the greater part of two months in the Emerald City going to different Art Walks in Pioneer Square and in Ballard as well as one of Joseph's gallery shows, and other people's gallery shows, open mike nights at The Globe, cheap beer at Ruby's place of work, a bar called....Julia's?, can't remember, just know where it is, one of the last places Kurt Cobain was seen alive, wandering around Capitol Hill and Broadway or hanging at Joseph, Adrienne and Tristan's loft at Pioneer Square. I've only been down once since Terrorist Day September 11th since border crossing is quite a hassel now. Anyway, life wasn't so bad when it was being spent in Seattle, spent just over a week down there for the DMB Gorge shows, most of which of course was spent at the Gorge. Ah, the DMB Extravaganza, Louis once again copped out, so I went alone, which of course is cool with me, drove and drove and drove through Washington State, finally got to the Columbia River, got more and more excited the closer I got to the exit, picked up a hitch hiker trying to get to the Gorge, went through a gauntlet of searches to actually get into the "campsite" and parked in close quarters with thousands of other cars, this campground was essentially a grassy parking lot. The dudes camping next to me were from all over but they all knew eachother, we ended up hanging lots and I still e-mail Andy. The shows were of course incredible, three nights in a row, rare songs, great songs, living at the show, not sleeping at all, being one with the essense of Dave. It was beauty. Eventually I made my way back to Canada and the next week was down in Seattle for another full week to celebrate my 22nd birthday with my Seattle buds and to check out the infamous Bumbershoot, also got a crazy haircut and was actually planning on trying to move to Seattle and possibly live with Ruby but then September 11th screwed that all up. Actually WTC Day marked a lot of things for me, I had my second interview with the Bank of Montreal and was offered a full-time position (which I took) and as a result only work part-time at Starbucks now (which makes me not hate the place so much anymore because I don't have to care anymore), I had to pretty much stop going to Seattle and didn't get to see my friends for a long time, and since then I've been so busy with my jobs that I haven't really had time to do anything but eat, work and hang a bit at 1208 Park Dr., no time to really sleep even. I have gone down to Seattle once since Terrorist Day, I got to see all my friends and also got to attend one evening of Groundwork2001 whose featured artist was Dave Matthews Solo. The show was amazing, there were tons of artists, Daniel Lanois, Emmylou Harris, The Spoonman, Blind Boys of Alabama, an amazing pianist, someone else (my notepad is out in the van) and of course Dave. I even got to hear a new as of yet to be titled song (fan sites call it Superman). During all of this Seattleing, I only stayed at a Hostel my first time down, after that I perfected the Art of Urban Camping. I might write a book about it, but I've got it all figured out, all I need is my van and I can be comfortable anywhere. I'm sure this entry has been long enough, but do remember, it's over a year of updates so only the big events have been highlighted. I may later think of some things I wanted to let y'all know, and if that were to happen I could always do another update. I really intend to update the rest of this site soon and try to keep it up, but now I have to go to sleep, as my plans for going to bed at a decent hour were thwarted once again. Also must figure out where I'm going this New Year's.... 
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