Sweater Party Absentee

In Geneva now. Happy Holidays! So Vienna was a beautiful city. Really huge too!

It was hard to find a place to eat though. Peter and I can't agree. Happened in Prague too. Whatevs. It usually works out.

Prague was crazy. I don't know how to describe it. It was like half russian. I spoke russian a few times and they understood me! That is crazy because it isn't a russian speaking town. They speak czech there. I guess they know both.

From Prague, Peter and I took a 15 hour train ride to get to Interlaken. On one of our trains we sat with a drug addict close to our age. It was pretty sketch. He would keep going to the bathroom to take some lines. He happened to have 200 hits of doses as well. I don't even wanna know what else was in that bag of his. This dude was tweaking out. We felt sorry for him. He even admitted to us that he had a problem with drugs and hopes to find help soon. He is an artist actually. Photographer. I'm surprised Peter didn't talk to him about camera stuff. I guess Peter was pretty speachless from the whole scene.

Eventually we got to interlaken 2 days ago. That very morning, we went skydiving! In the swiss alps! That 45 second freefall will be remembered for the rest of my life. I don't even know how to describe it. I'll have to show the dvd i guess.

And now we are in geneva. Peter told me happy hannukah. I told him merry christmas. This should be good.

In Vienna, peter and I went to a cinema. We watched Vicky, Christina, Barcelona. We both really liked it. I think it teaches a lot of things. Not gonna get into detail. But just thought I'd throw it out.

I'm so happy to see whisney's pics of a krew gathering. Sweater party. Very good theme. I wish i could've been there. I hope that becomes a tradition for later holiday gatherings in the winters to come. It looked like a great time.

I guess I'll be going now. This is going quick. I'll be home in like 10 days! Forreal? Naw... no way! Unreal!

Austria City Hopping

Things have been going pretty well. I talked with peter after that last post. We discussed some things. Had a great last night in Florence with all of my roommates and friends from school. We did a couple final site sees the day I shipped everything back home.

I am living off a backpack now. Peter and I arrived in Innsbruck on early Saturday morning last weekend. Innsbruck was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Right in the heart of the Austrian Alps. We went snowboarding on top of a mountain. My body is still sore from how many falls I took. The view was incredible though. We stayed at Peter's friend Katerina's house. She was an amazing host. We hung out with all of her friends. It was a fun time. Her mom cooked us some traditional dishes. Very Tasty. We got to jam with some of her friends too. Flow is an excellent guitarist. It was fun jamming with people that had different styles. Flow and Bernie agreed with that for me and peter.

After Innsbruck we stopped in Salzberg for a night. One of Katerina's friends offered to drive us to Salzberg and let us stay at his place. People here are just really hospitable. It is really warming in my heart to meet these people. I plan to let couchsurfers come to my place if they please someday where I can be a good host as well.

Last night we arrived in Vienna and met up with my old roommate from freshman year at college. Jack! I accidently found him and his girlfriend on couchsurfing. We'll be staying at their place for 3 nights before we head to Prague on Friday morning. Unfortunately, Jack had to leave back to the states this morning to visit his family for the holidays. So we'll be staying with his girlfriend Janina, who from my first impression I would say is a very nice person.

That's all that's been going on really. We'll see what kind of changes and experiences are about to come.

So I'm sitting in the computer lab working on some homework. Peter arrived here 3 days ago. I feel like something is wrong though. He hasn't been speaking much. I'm worried about him. I took a look over and he's writing in his blog. I wonder what he's saying? Whatever it is, I wish he would just speak with me. It's the old case of Peter again when it was him, neumiller, and I living in the same house. Neumiller and I were worried about him.

I've been introducing him around, yet he can barely hold a conversation with anyone..... It just doesn't make sense. When I would read his blogs while he would be in Korea, or look at albums where he got tagged with friends, he looked really happy. Like he could laugh and hang about with the new friends he made. I wish he could be like with me. I did grow up with him. I helped him with chores in his house sometime to help out his very loving mother. We wrote songs together. We hung out in our hometown. Skated under Hollywood Video on numerous occasions. Ate pizza in downtown wayzata. Went to God Johnson shows and plenty of other meaningful shows. Even lived together!

Him not talking. That's not helping out the image of the krew. Has he forgotten who he was? I've always told my friends here about how my friends back at home are the greatest bunch ever when it comes to hanging out. We're just a bunch of fun, chill, friendly dudes. Peter isn't really showing it. Back in high school, we weren't the jocks, the goths, the drama people, ghetto, prep, punk, whatever. We're just laid back people that everyone loved. People from any group in our grade would always be down with us to give a handshake or join a hack circle. He's a krew member. One of the originals that I hung out with in middle school. One of the ones i would look up to along with brady, mark, neumiller, and whisney when they were getting action in 8th and 9th grade and I wasn't.

I would pick our my krew group over any other part of group that I was a part of. The reason for this is the exact stuff that I listed before. Sorry my jewish brothers and sisters, my friends back at home are just different. When there's a certain labeled group, thats about it i felt. Everyone was just being friendly and meeting eachother at the synagogue just because of what they were.....Jewish. Not who they were. In high school, i made close friends with people that i just liked chilling with. Don't get me wrong temple friends, i love hanging out with you guys too. I'm just making a certain statement right now that I'm not sure if you'll understand. Has he labeled himself to the korean or religious christian group? I'm not sure. I wish he would just remember his roots of a kid who grew up in Minnetonka that liked meeting other kids from hopkins, benilde, wayzata, etc.

Between high school and college, our good friend changed. What happened? I have 3 more weeks with this good friend of mine. I hope something with our relationship grows. Even though it feels like old unforgettable times with him. I feel like something has drifted apart. Just talk with me peter. I read your blog from yesterday. I see you typing now and don't know what. This is all i have. I have to get back to work.

Aladdin Sane

A lad insane. It's a David Bowie Album/Song. David Bowie is such an influential rock star. Might I say in some way a genius? Gotta love David Bowie. Listen to that song though. I wonder if Page McConnel got his inspiration from it when he decided to write his piano part to the Phish song Bathtub Gin? They sound very similar in some ways. It's a mystery.

One time I was at this bar and there was karaoke going on. It's different from any karaoke I've ever seen. It's this guy in like his 30's who is always at this bar. He plugs in his stratocaster in the amp. Just rocks out on guitar. And then there's this big screen with lyrics. So he'll pick songs off this program on his computer, he'll play the guitar part and then you get to come up and sing. Even if you don't come up and sing, you can still see the screen from your tables and just sing from there while the guitar guy will be on the stage. I requested him to play Fame. He didn't know Fame. I asked if he had any Bowie. He said he knew Let's Dance. I said that sounds like a deal to me. He had a big list ahead of him though. I didn't know when it would come up. I would shout David Bowie at him everytime he finished a song, just hoping that it'll come up next. My friends didn't think it was going to happen. I told them that the guy and I talked it out and he said he would play David Bowie. Soon enough, even my friends were anxious to hear some Bowie. We would all shout Bowie whenever a song would end. After like 5 tries. My friends were giving up. They were like, "Max, He's not going to play it. We're going." I agreed with them. We started getting up and head our direction towards the door. And then in my ears I heard dun nu nu n n nu nuh, dun nu nu n n nu nuh. "Wait guys!" He's playing it. LETS DANCE! we turned around. I went up on stage. Started singing it. All of the sudden I looked down and my roommates were all in a train with like 30 strangers while I was singing. I was like holy fuck! I'm not even doing that great. Not like the Twist and Shout night. It was good enough though. And afterward everyone was cheering. I gave some high fives. And then my roommates all lifted me up like I won the Stanley Cup and carried me out of the bar. Good Times.

Poncho Sanchez is so amazing. If you're ever in a bad mood just listen to him. I guarantee that he'll put a smile on your face and make you want to shake your booty.

So last time I decided to get my thoughts out, I wasn't doing so hot. Well, I'm better now. I was gonna call some friends. Thinking it might cheer me up. I didn't do it. Didn't wanna bring anyone down. The next day I talked with my parents. My dad went through the surgery fine. It was nice to talk to them. Then I gave my cousins a shout. It was really good to hear their voices. They told me they missed me and asked me how I've been the past couple months. I kinda lied and said I was doing fine. But I guess it wasn't lying since I was feeling pretty good when I was talking to them. I called them when they were at the synagogue. That really cheered me up.

So I don't know what it was. I feel a better. I am a bit homesick though. A lot of my friends here like getting high. I smoked every once in a while. I've been trying to get it out of my life for the past year. Sometimes I say that I'm good. Other times I'll take the hit. I barely ever smoke anymore. Every once in a while. I'm just kind of over it. Don't really like being high that much. It's hard to talk to people. Especially girls. I told myself half a year ago that Amsterdam will be my final touch. I don't even plan to smoke there though. Just nibble on shrooms if anything. It was all a phase. It was step by step from curiosity to experience, to abuse, to addiction. What a terrible way to go.

My roommates think I'm crazy for not wanting to smoke in Amsterdam. They say it's the weed capitol of the world! Yeah? So what? What exactly will I miss? I've been high before. High off of the shittiest schwag which still fucked me up. And high from the dankest gravities (my old manager at JJ's), AK47s (minibong with frog slide, remember that Peter and Amar? Those had to be the best), oh and remember when I picked up those Juicy Fruits and brought them to your house Peter (trav, you were there too)? Those had an unbelieavable taste! Wish I could've gone to Hawaii with you guys senior year and smoked some Maui Wowie. It's all good though. Key West was so dope with trav's family. We got high with Kyle and bought the underwater disposable cameras that people get when they're about to go scuba diving. So that you can take pictures of cool ocean stuff like fish and sand. But instead, we took it to the pool and did some underwater poses. Haha! That shit was funny.

So maybe i will and maybe i wont. Probably won't though. It would be nice to hold a conversation with a friend I haven't seen in over a year. Peter comes here in 2 days! Holy shit! Wow! Can't even describe the excitement. That's all I have for now.

Oh yeah my friends. Have you seen Dexter? Everyone here is crazy about it. One of my friends says it might possibly be the greatest show ever. And he's seen Entourage and other great shows. I'll take his word. I think it's about a Serial Killer that goes around killing Serial Killers. Everyone says the episodes just keep getting better and better! Well I hope you haven't seen any. Cuz when I get back, we'll have a show to watch together. Someone download it. Or maybe I'll netflix it. I'll talk to you guys later. Peace!

I Shall Be Released

So a lot has been on my mind lately. I thought this experience would change me somehow. I was looking for change. But, I was never really sure about what kind of change. And in the end, I don't think I've changed at all. I'm still the same me. I still act the same way I always did.

I've met a lot of new people. Made some friends. But, people don't always understand me. Even my friends back home. Sometimes I just have to go crazy. It's just pure entertainment for myself. If I'm not getting entertained by the people I'm around, I'll probably go crazy. Usually back at home I'm always entertained by at least one of my friends. We have a pretty crazy group. Our gatherings are just good vibes all around.

I have changed though. It is all on the inside. I shall take part of Florence with me everywhere I go for the rest of my life. Just the little details of it's inner beauty. The cobblestones in the thin windy streets. The gelaterias everywhere you look. The espresso bars. The guy at the deli who will always put on a smile when you want him to make a sandwich. The almost getting hit by a vespa daily.

Thanksgiving is tomorrow........This makes me homesick.... Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Every year on Thanksgiving Day, I have a tradition with my cousins. We've been doing it for the past 7 years. I never get to see my cousins that much. We're too busy. Or they're just a bit older. David is 4 years older. And Albert is 13 years older? They're brothers. Back when I was 13, David would pick me up from my house and we would go meet up with his older brother at Albert's place. Then we would all hop in Albert's Trooper with the dancing bears sticker on the back window with his girlfriend Katie (they're married now), and we would head down to the synagogue. Now I just drive to Albert and Katie's place and meet up with all of them in the morning.

Every year, my Synagogue hosts this event called Meals on Wheels. We would arrive there and sign in. There would be hundreds of people from the synagogue. A lot of familiar faces. Rabbi G and his band are just tearing it up on guitar playing classic hits on the stage for the good atmosphere. There would be plenty of bagels and cream cheese for people to munch on before we all get started. This was like the pregaming while we wait for everyone to arrive. There would be coffee too. Of course, we wouldn't get the coffee because we would stop at Starbucks before arriving to the synagogue. Katie has an addictions for Starbucks. She'll have it multiple times a day. Can you imagine how much money that costs after a year? Wow Katie.

Then It all begins. The synagogue cooks hundreds of meals for unfotunate families. Everything was in order. People would be assigned different tasks. Bagging, Tagging, Sending it to the butcherman in the store (haha, Phish- Reba), There would be people serving the food while others would be in line holding their trays out to get the food packed up. Then after everything was bagged, there would be delivery time. We would have addresses that would be assigned to our car. Sometimes there would be a couple extra bags at the synagogue. One year, we took the extra bags for our car and drove under the bridge in uptown on hennepin avenue. We drove up to the homless people standing outside in the cold weather holding their signs. We stopped at the curb. I hopped out of the car and brought them those extra bags. I'll never forget that moment of joy in their faces. But the families that were signed up in the program weren't homeless. They were in shitty situations as well. One time I knocked on a door with Katie in this shacky old house in Northern Minneapolis. We were like, "Umm.... we're here from meals on wheels! We have your meals!" There wasn't even an adult present. It was like 11 eight year old asian kids just hanging out in the house! That was a sight for sure.
In the process of this day, I would always get closer with my cousins. I looked up to them. They're tight older dudes. They got me into good music. They should be proud of themselves for doing a good job partly raising me. In 9th grade they got me into Bob Marley. In 10th grade it was Galactic and Bela Fleck and the Flecktones. In 11th grade it was String Cheese Incident and Widespread Panic. This would always be during the car ride when delivering. My music knowledge just kept building up. When we were done delivering, we would all part ways and go home to get ready to meet up later that evening for dinner at their parents' place (My Aunt and Uncles). I would arrive home at my Parents' house with new music to listen to from Albert. And chill out for a few hours before treating myself with a delicious meal for a good days work of good deeds. In recent years, I was getting more into certain jazz artists. My uncle has a Jazz collection of over 2000 cd's! He hooked me up a couple years ago with some Miles Davis and Poncho Sanchez. Then after the meal, once I finally had a cell phone, I would call up some of my good friends, part ways with my family, and go meet up with everyone with Pat. I treat thanksgiving like Christians treat Christmas. I just get a joyous feeling. Everyone is really happy after their meals. And just happy to see each other and hang out in the same room with friends that are usually out of town.

I've been doing more traveling. Not this past week, but the weekend before, I went to the little town of Malcesine on Lake Garda. It was one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to. Unfortunately, we were there during the off season. The whole city was pretty much closed. I wanted to hike on top of the mountain, but we didn't really have the time. We were gonna go ride some ATV's on the top. I'll have to go back there someday when the town is hopping with outdoor activities.

Last weekend, I was in Rome. I'm so glad I finally saw the beautiful city. It was unbelievable! I got to do everything on my itinerary too. I didn't think I would be able to. The Colloseum, Roman Forum, Vatican City, Trevi Fountain, Castel di Sant Angelo, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, and plenty more. I couldn't believe St. Peters Basilica. On the inside, almost everything is made in marble! It was the most beautiful church I have ever seen.

I went with 2 girls. They only wanted to stay for 1 night. I didn't think 1 night in Rome would be enough. So I spent an extra night on my own. It was really calming to just walk around Rome by myself. I snapped a bunch of pics. I ended up going to a Jazz Club. It was really cool inside. This dude was just tearing it up on the sax. They even played some of my requests. Watermelon Man and So What. I just kept ordering rounds and rounds of Bombay Tonics. I think that just might be my drink. It is a really good drink.

I haven't been myself lately. Perhaps I'm homesick. It's a weird feeling. I don't know what it is. But it is definitely hurting me on the social scale. It's like feeling depressed but not knowing why? Crazy huh. I might be catching a cold too. That could be it as well. Whenever I get sick, I'm never in a good mood. I just haven't really been talking to anyone for the past 3 days. My dad is supposed to go under the needle today. It's a really big surgery. They're like replacing his hip with a metal object. He'll be sitting in the hospital for like 3 days. He's really worried and nervous. I know everything will be fine. But, I still wish I could be there to support him. He sounded really sad last time I talked to him on Sunday. Maybe I'll figure myself out when I get back on this thing next time.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Playing In The Band

...........It's hard to believe that the same guy who'd driven across the country determined to become one of Bill Monroe's Blue Grass Boys all but gave up the banjo and bluegrass by year's end. Part of the problem, Jerry explained in 1981, was that "in the area I was in there were virtually no bluegrass musicians; very few, certainly nobody very good. I got to be quite a good banjo player, but I was really operating in a vacuum, and what I wanted was to have a great bluegrass band, but I only got occasional chances to put a bluegrass band together that was by my standards even acceptable. Although I had fun, none of them was serious or a very good attempt."

"I think he got disenchanted with bluegrass," Sara says. "it was clear he wasn't going to make it in that world. Socially, it was just too foreign. This was all these West Coast kids, some of them were Jewish, some of them had Hispanic surnames, and there was no way they were going to be part of the bluegrass establishment. It wasn't a good match socially."

But there was something else tugging at Garcia as 1964 turned into 1965. For one thing, like half of America under the age of twenty-five, Jerry had been seduced by the Beatles, especially their film A Hard Day's Night, which depicted life in a rock 'n' roll band as just about the most fun that could be had on planet Earth. The Beatles were deliciously irreverent and in-your-face anarchic; untamable gadabouts on an endless lark, always living in a completely different universe than the pitiably straight forces that were constantly trying to control, or at the very least, restrain them. Certainly the jug band had some of that off-the-wall spirit, but the Beatles were a whole different level of fun- that was obvious. And the screaming girls were real.

"[The Beatles] were real important to everybody," Garcia said. "They were a little model, especially the movies- the movies were a big turn-on. Just because it was a little model of good times....It was like [they] were saying, 'You can be young, you can be far-out and you can still make it.' They were making people happy. That happy thing - that's the stuff that counts- was something we could all see right away."

"The Beatles were why we turned from a jug band into a rock 'n' roll band," said Bob Weir. "What we saw them doing was impossibly attractive. I couldn't think of anything else more worth doing."

But poking at Garcia's other shoulder, all gruff and grumbly but still the essence of a different kind of cool, was Mr. Pigpen McKernan: "He'd been pestering me for a while; he wanted me to start up an electric blues band," Jerry said. "That was his trip. Because in the jug band we used to do blues numbers like Jimmy Reed tunes and even played a couple of rock 'n' roll tunes, and it was just the next step....Theoretically it's a blues band, but the minute we get electric instruments it's a rock 'n' roll band. Because, wow- playin' rock 'n' roll, it's fun!"

"It was always my impression that it was Jerry's decision to form the electric band," Dave Parker says. "That he was not that interested in playing the kinds of music he'd been doing before, and he'd done the jug band thing. That wasn't something you could really do for a long time, and the excitement of electric rock 'n' roll - what the Beatles and the Stones and Dylan were doing- was happening, and Jerry had this surge of energy to go and do that and make something happen.

"There was a feeling all around- and I think a lot of it came from Garcia- that anything was possible, so just pick out what you want to do and do it.".......... (excerpt from Garcia: An American Life)


Wow! I found that crazy when I read it. The Beatles, my number 1 band of all time had just as much of an influence on the Dead, whom I have been pretty much worshipping lately, as they did on me. I'm not in a band. I play guitar and jam every once in a while, but that's about it. The Beatles influence me just in general. But when it does come to an influence for jamming, It's all about the Dead for me.

La Chitarra:

The ongoing WOW is happening right now!

I arrived back in Florence about a week ago. It was an awesome 9 days of backpacking. Unfortunately our plans changed a couple times.

So it was me and 3 of the most annoying girls ever. I didn't really have a plan so I hopped on their bandwagon and traveled with them. I gotta stop doing that. If I wanna do something, I should just go do it alone.

Some of you guys actually know one of the girls. Her name is Claire. She went to Wayzata and hung out with Robin and Kyle. She was a stuck up bitch. Sorry everyone for the harsh language, but she is one of the most not chill girls ever. All she cared about was her hair. We were in London, and she just had to get this hair spray called Bumble and Bumble that they only make in London. I'm not even sure if it's that good. I think she just wants it so she can say that she has some rare shit. The other girls name is Molly. She's probably one of the nicest girls I've ever met. But at the same time, she was kinda annoying. I couldn't converse with her because it drove me crazy. How can someone be so nice and annoying at the same time? Then there was Deanna, she's actually pretty cool. But then these girls bought a magazine and just started talking about Jamie Spears being pregnant again and Hallie Berry breaking up. I was just like, "Who cares about this gossip trash?" Then they got kinda mad at me. Whoops. Lesson 1, if you're gonna travel with people, make sure there's a couple dudes to keep your sanity. So yeah, I probably won't be traveling with those girls ever again. Sorry Peter and hopefully Andrew as well, Claire and Molly were trying to join us for our adventures in December because they have a similar route. I don't think we'll be joining. We're better off as us 3 anyway. No distractions.

London was the coolest city I've ever been to. I don't really know how to describe it. It was just an awesome time. The people there are really nice. I made some friends at a couple pubs. We would just converse. They have cool accents too. Camden Town is like a Shakedown Street that is a city. I bought some souvenirs. I crossed Abbey Road too. It took us like 30 minutes just to find the exact spot. It felt good knowing that the Beatles were once walking in that exact spot.

Next was Ireland. We only stayed in Dublin. The Cliffs of Moher weren't happening. We just didn't have enough time to do everything. I wasn't too dissappointed because we were planning on seeing the fjords in Norway. We did see some other cliffs outside of Dublin though. That was a pretty site. The Guinness Storehouse was a cool thing to go to. But, I wasn't too crazy about Dublin though. It was just an ordinary city. The nightlife was fun in the Irish pubs though. Those Irish people get really rowdy. There was live Irish music playing. Everyone was singing and dancing around. I feel like if I would've seen Cork or the actual Cliffs of Moher, I would've appreciated Ireland a little more.

So our next stop was Norway. The original plan was to go up to the very north to watch some killer whales and see the beautiful northern lights at night. This was not going to be possible because it takes like 12 hours to get up north from Oslo and we really only had like a day and a half. So then our next idea was to check out the fjords of western norway. I found out about them when I researched them online. Screw whale watching and northern lights. The fjords are where it's at! I was even more excited about those. But unfortunately, we didn't get to go over their either because that takes like 6 hours and it just wasn't enough time. I would love to check them out at a later point in my life. Norway has to be one of the most beautiful countries I have ever seen. Except I only saw it in photos. Everyone check these out though.

http://www.visitnorway.com/

http://www.visitnorway.com/en/Stories/Norway/West/

So yeah, if anyone from the Krew ever wants to do a eurotrip in a few years to Norway, include me in! We ended up staying in Oslo. Oslo is a really cool city, except there really isn't much to do. It is big too. Reminded me of like Minneapolis on a coast. Because you kinda need major highways to get from place to place. It's not like Florence where you can walk through the whole city.

Funny story though. We went to a bar in Oslo. There was a one man band playing. He was just singin old classic tunes and playing the piano. We talked with him during his set break. A pretty cool guy actually. He was taking requests too. So I was gonna go request a song for the girls. And as I was about to approach him at the grand piano, some big giant guy stops me. He was yelling in some accent to me. He was like, "Hey! What the fuck do you think you're doing?" I thought about it for a bit. I answered back, "Hey man. It's cool. Don't worry about it." He wasn't having it though. So he says back "No! What the fuck do you think your doing?" I said back "I'm just doing what I'm doing. It's not your business guy." He answers back, "No! What the fuck are you doing here!" This time I'm kinda pissed. I respond, "Hey Buddy! Don't FUCKIN worry about it! Now let me get through here!" Then he puts his arm around my shoulder and says "Hey! You're cool. I like you. Come on through." And in my head I'm just thinking, what the fuck was all that about earlier? Whatevs. You just gotta show people who's boss I guess.

So that was my midterm break. It was a really good time overall. I saw some autumn colors on the leaves. Reminded me of going to the disc course a year ago in Ptown. I got some stuff done over break as well. Got some of you fools some souvenir gifts.

I checked my messages when I was on break. I found out that one of my best friends, Andrew, might be joining Peter and I for our Euro travels. That got me so excited that we might actually reunite as the 3 of us once again. I don't know if he'll join for sure. But hearing that just got me super happy and I had a lot of inspiration musically. Unfortunately I don't have my electric guitar and amp. I miss playing it a ton.

I've been hanging out in Florence the past week. Went to a soccer game on Wednesday night. I'm glad I went to it. They are crazy about their soccer team here. It was Florence vs. Intermilan. Ended up as a tie score of 0 to 0. The next night we went out again. Stopped at a pub and I did some karaoke. Pumped the crowd up with some Twist and Shout. Had my Ferris Beuller moment. Then last night was Halloween and we did a pub crawl. I shaved my beard into a handle bar mustache with a soul patch, and kept the sideburns that get wider as you go out. I went as a pornstar. And ended the night with some ass from a girl. It was about time. Haven't been doing so well lately. Well I got my game back neuscrill!

Here, There And Everywhere

So It's been a bit since my last post. These past two weeks have been kinda busy. They've been all about midterms. I kinda talked with Peter. Well, I commented on one of his blogs a week ago. It felt pretty good. Good things to discuss. It was like a conversation. And then today I got a message from him on facebook. Can't wait to travel with that guy. Peter, are you gonna bring your guitar? My roommate and I split a guitar and little drum here. I don't think I'm gonna bring it when we travel though. It just might not be worth it to haul around. I don't know how long you'll be in the states for though. And I think that you should mail your les paul back home so it will be waiting for us when we get back. We can use my amplifier. It has 4 inputs. Plus, you just gave me an idea. We should totally jam at open mic. This guy that hosts it could let you use his guitar. It has been a while. We might need to brush up actually. Or just play by feelings. Whatevs, we'll figure this out later.

So last weekend I did a couple productive things. On friday, I went on this trip to some hot springs spa about an hour away. It was very relaxing. I met a couple cute girls too. I really needed it after typing up an 11 page paper. Then on saturday it was a gorgeous day. I hiked to the top of Monte Ceceri in Fiesole on my own and saw the sunset over the mountains. You could see all of florence from it. They are the pics right above. Then on Sunday I went to go hike through Le Cinque Terre (The 5 Towns). It is a 4 to 5 hour hike through 5 towns connecting along the Mediterranean coast. Supposed to be one of the best hikes in the world. And it was so beautiful. So glad I did that. Check out the pics I posted up on Facebook everyone.

In 2 days, my Midterm 10 day break starts! I'm going to London!!! Then Ireland. It'll be 2 or 3 places in Ireland. Cork or Gallaway to see the Cliffs of Mohr (everyone google image that shit). Then Dublin. Then we're going to Oslo, Norway and northern Norway to see some Killer Whales and some Northern Lights!!! That is gonna be so sick! Europe is awesome. I'm so glad I could do this. I'm making the best of it too and will see everything I can.

Our art history teacher is awesome. He gets so into everything. We saw Michelangelo's David last week. Listening to him describe every detail made the sculpture so much more amazing to see.

Well, I gotta go study for my Italian quiz tomorrow. I will let you all know how my break goes when I get back. Oh and Andy, good job on getting into the U.

Here's Me at Cinque Terre

Just Kickin it in Florence

So I didn't do much this weekend. Kinda sucks. I feel like I wasted it. I should've just hopped on a train and went somewhere. I only have so many weekends out here. It's cool though. I saved some cash I guess. Always a plus. That way I'll have more for the next trips. Like London and Dublin in 2 weeks!!!! Hellaaaa!!!!

I just kicked it in Firenze and got some homework done. Midterms are coming up. Not looking forward to it. I got this big ass paper due for my art history class. It's an awesome class but writing this paper is rough. Our teacher gets so into it. We go around the city to sites and learn about how it all happened pretty much. The stories are insane. Our teacher is so passionate about everything. The dude like gives a noble prize speech everytime we have class. So I feel like I gotta describe everything like he does in my paper. It sucks cuz you wanna listen to him when he talks, but you are too busy trying to catch everything he's saying and write down the notes. While at the same time it is a 3 hour class at 8:30 in the morning and your thinking in your head "I wonder what I'll do for lunch today.....or...Man, I'm fuckin tired. Standing sucks. I wanna sit." Good thing the class is only once a week.

I did make good use of the weekend though. Bought some Jagermeister at the grocery store. Got Hammered on thursday! I held my ground though. Kept it vel (chappelle show episode). I was all over the place. Almost pulled a T Kreaperbach. Cuz we were at these girl's place that go to our school. I was definitely the most fucked up. The night was ending though and I guess I wanted some play. I remember bits and pieces. But I was hopping from bedroom to bedroom. These girls were like trying to go to bed. I guess that was a signal for "Max. You should leave!" My roommates were already waiting outside. Hahaha. One of them was like "yeah, i think i'm just gonna read and go to bed" I was like "alright word, lets get in bed" hahahahaha. It's cool though. They thought it was funny. It was all good intensions of course. I'm a nice guy. everyone knows that........

The walk back home was even funnier. There was this guy Justin. He was probably the 2nd most drunk after me. He tried messing with my head that he was more drunk and couldn't walk. So I was like "Oh no! I got you buddy!" And I'm trying to hold him up so he doesn't fall. He's pulling dinosaur moves on me as if a T-Rex just got shot and is about to fall over. He's a giant person too. So it looked really funny cuz I'm such a small guy trying to save him. Some girls got it on video. I saw it. kinda embarrassing. But some stuff was funny too. I guess I drunk dialed whisney. i barely remember what we talked about. i think it was new shirts and cool brands. the girls i was with thought i was calling some girlfriend. I had to explain that andy and I are just tight and have too many inside jokes.

fuck! that had to cost me like 20 bucks probably. you guys should call me cuz it won't cost you nearly as much. just don't do it on your cell cuz your companies will charge you. just get a calling card at the gas station and use your landline. dial whatever number is on the card for twin cities. then dial the code on the card. then dial 011 to go international then 39 which is my city code then my number which is 331 570 9484. Sorry everyone, I won't be calling as much now. Gotta save cash. So hit me up!

The next night I invited two girls over for dinner. Otherwise I would've had to eat alone. Brian went to Rome with some of his old school buddies. Jeff's mom came to visit so he was eating with her. And tim was with his girlfriend Cat. That was cool. I cooked them a feast. Later we went to the same girls house from the night before cuz they were having a dress nice party. And these two girls i showed up with got so wasted that there was drama. it was ridiculous. best friends becoming enemies in like 30 minutes. They almost dueled it out. Nobody even knew what it was about. I guess it went back to 5 years ago. I was in the middle of it trying to patch things up. They pushed me away. I was upset that they were upset. Whatevs. I heard they made up later that night after we left.

Albert and David, don't know if you read this. I tried calling both of you and it didn't work for some reason. It was the day the Phish announced their reunion. Phish is back together!!!!!!! I fuckin called that shit! Would love to go to Hampton. But it is the week before my spring break. not cool. I'll probably have a bunch of tests that week. Maybe i can get them done early if i talk to my professors. Otherwise i'll just have to wait for them to post a tour. Come to Alpine!!!!!!!

What a pointless blog. I might go to Lake Como or Cinque Terre this coming weekend. That's about all I can say. I'm out.

Munich

So I'm back at school after one of the most craziest weekends of my life. I went to Munich, Germany to check out Oktoberfest! I went with my roommate Brian. We stayed at Sarah and Hannes' place. They live in a fancy suburb of Munich. It's one their grandma's guest house. They are a couple at the age of 20. So it worked out perfectly. I found them on couchsurfing.com. Highly recommend it. It was free and amazing.

We arrived on Friday in the morning. We were so anxious to get our drink on. We dropped our stuff at the house first after we met up with Sarah. They didn't even want to go. I guess they hate Oktoberfest. But they live there. So I can only imagine how they feel about it. Brian and I got there in the afternoon. Started drinking. And we had too much too fast. Friday night, Brian and I got so trashed! It was crazy. So much shit happened that night. We had about 3 Liters of beer. Really alcoholic potent beer. In like less than 2 hours.

We made friends with people at our table from Italy and the UK. This big Italian dude grabbed my hand and we arm wrestled. I knew he was gonna beat me. But after he grabbed my hand. I really didn't have a choice. It was like BOOM 123 YOU LOSE! Whatevs. It was pretty funny. We were all started yelling vagina in Italian with our tongues sticking out. It is pronounced Fiha. So we were saying it like FEEEHAAAAHHH!!!! Then there was an embarrassing moment. Some skanky ass german girls were like asking me for cash. And I was like No! They were like, "What do we have to do?" I was like I dunno, I'm not giving you any. They were like should we show you our tits. I replied, "sure, if you want." Eventually one of them grabbed my face, pulled it to her and BOOM we were makin out for like 10 seconds. Then the other one was like "My turn!" and BOOM make out number 2. Well I lost nothing. Didn't give them cash. I guess they got some me out of it. Which is like bonus points for them. The embarrassing part of all of this is that they were not that good looking and pretty young. I just hate thinking about what age they were. Fuckin Gross Max! Thankfully it didn't get out of hand.

After this though, Brian came back with something on his head. It looked like a hat at the time. But he explained to me the next day that it was just some weird combover wig he took from the UK people. But one of those girls from earlier took it. And I started chasing her down. Brian was like "no don't worry about it". But he was already blacking out so I didn't listen to him. Eventually they got away. I was like "Nooo dude!!!! They took your hat!!!!!" He didn't respond. He was blacking out. So I had to help walk him back to the train station with his arm over my shoulder. It was a very brutal walk. We had to take it to the Baldham stop to get to Hannes and Sarah's place.

During the train ride, Brian was just passed out. Eventually I started feeling sick. I had to get out of the train to get some air. He would not wake up though. I was shaking and shaking him and yelling his name I was like "Brian! Wake up man. I gotta get out of this thing. I need some air!" Eventually he got up and we got off at some random stop. The second we got off, Brian just passes out on the ground. And this time, I couldn't get him up. I was shaking and shaking him. This is the point where I believe I blacked out because I'm not fully sure about the next detail. But I realized I had to get back on the next S4 train to get to Baldham. And I think I just left brian there. Because the next chapter was me on a train again after waking up from riding it back and forth through Munich for like 2 or 3 hours. I could've been fucked. Yeah, I woke up on a train. People were just staring at me. And inside my head I was just thinking, "Huh? Where's Brian?" I hope he's okay. Eventually I reached Baldham and got back to the house. Hannes answered the door. I told him I lost Brian. Hannes said you called me like 3 hours ago to tell me you were heading back. I told him "yeah, I fell asleep on the train. that's how I lost brian." But some good news is that eventually brian woke up at some random station, got on a train, and arrived at the house when I was sleeping already. What a night!

The next day, Hannes smoked us up with some dank buds. They gave us an inside tour of the beautiful city. Brian and I went back to Oktoberfest for a couple hours. By the way, there are so many fine chicks in those costumes. Their cleavage is just everywhere! We took it a little easier this time because Hannes and Sarah were gonna take us to a rave. Yep. I was at a Eurobeat DJ rave that was under some club until 5 in the morning Saturday night right after a delicious dinner that Sarah cooked. We almost didn't get in cuz we weren't on the list. It was pretty secret. Hannes talked to the bouncer though.

These German's were dancing weird though. The dudes and girls dance seperately. You couldn't tell if people were couples or not. Hannes and Sarah weren't even dancing together. But I was in this small circle kinda. There were 2 dudes to the right of me and then 1 good looking chick to the right of them which means she was pretty much across from me. And those guys weren't making any moves. So I started grooving out. She checked out my moves and dug it. She started meandering towards my direction. In my head I was like "Hell yes!" Eventually she was right in front of me and we were dancing together. So after a little bit I decided to get a little closer. The second my hand touched her hip she was like "No!" Like on those shows where you hear a dj scratch his record when the party has a buzzkill. That's what it was like. So that kinda sucked but oh well. So that's my Munich story. It's Monday. I'm gonna try open mic again. Peace!

The Red Garter/House of Sizzle

So I'm back since we talked last. I'm in the middle of my third week now. School is going by pretty quick. But nonetheless, I am making the best of it. Last Saturday I hopped a train and went to Pisa with a small group. It was an alright city. The only reason we really went was to see the tower. And then I saw it. And that thing was fuckin leaning! I was like "holy shit! that's a leaning tower right there!" I mean, you always see it in photos and on cartoons...but once you see it in person, It's a whole nother story. We went to the very top of it. Like the tippy top. You would think that you're at the top, and then you would find yourself wrong because there were all these extra secret flights of stairs. The view was incredible though. You could see the whole town and the mountains in the background. I'll show you all some pics later. We were only there for a couple hours. After that we went to Sienna that very same day. A very old town similar to Florence except even more trapped in time. It is a hilly town too. Walking through it was a work out. It was really cool and midevil. From the black plague era. We would've checked out the Chianti region which is right near that city, along with a small town called San Gimignano but we just couldn't fit it in that day. Chianti is the region where Italy's best wines come from. And San Gimignano is just a super old town that has some midevil character. Even older than Sienna. All these town are an hour away from Florence at the most so I'll just have to try again later.

About a week ago, I stopped at this clothing store cuz I saw some sweet stuff through the window. And the chick working there was hella fine! I tried talking to her for a bit but she barely spoke any english. And my Italian is not that good yet. I asked them to put my shirts I picked out on hold so that I could come again to see this girl. I came again the next day. She was excited to see me. Remembered my name from when I left it for the reserv. So I talked with her some more that day. Tried to ask her to hang out or do something. But she just wasn't understanding me. Man! I wish I was just fluent in Italian. I got her name though. It is Francesca. I know right! Even the name is hot. Unreal. I'll just have to practice my Italian and stop in every once in a while.

More bulletproof good news! There is this bar/restaurant called the House of Sizzle. Well, the Restaurant is called the House of Sizzle and right next to it is the bar called The Red Garter. It is a cool place. I checked out a soccer game on sunday and drank some good beer. It was a really good beer actually. It is a red ale called McFarland. Florence won the soccer game against Bologna. Good stuff. Then the rest of my roommates came to watch some sunday american football since this is one of the few places that plays american football. The menu at this place has Italian food and American food. Not bad, but kinda pricey. This place got way packed that night. I met a bunch of people from the U.S. that were studying abroad also. So it was a fun night. Ended up going over to these girls from new york's place afterward and we chilled on their rooftop. They got hooked up with a nice spot. There were a couple guys there too. One of the dudes had some bud for sale. First time any of us had seen some bud here. All we have found since we got here has been hash. Not even that good of hash. Gets you high, but it might be cut with wax. But yeah, It was night and dark when we were on the roof. My roommates wanted to get bud. I told them I'll check it out. I ask this guy if I can see what he's got. He hands me his bag as he is busy rolling a big spliff for all of us with my tobbacchi. I look in the bag, take a small nug out, pocket it, and hand the bag back. I know I know. Bad karma. At the time I didn't care though. Damn this story is getting long. So later in the night, my roommate Geoff was all like "we should have got some bud from him." And I was like "don't worry guys. check this out." Hahaha. The bud was shit though. The guy selling it knew too. Probably why it was so cheap. But yeah, we saved it for the next day. Why? Cuz Monday night is Open Mic!

The Red Garter has open mic night on Mondays. Brian and I bought a guitar and hand drum here for a decent deal at a music shop. I brought both instruments to the bar. Brian went there and did some stand up. He's a funny guy. What's cool is that he's into Brian Regan just as much as I am. He knows all of the jokes. He did his own material and it was pretty good. I ended up jamming with the man runnng the open mic show. The guy's name is Chris. He had an acoustic. I liked his style. He covered a few Zeppelin songs acoustic style. Also did Beatles' Helter Skelter right to Because back to Helter Skelter. I jammed with him the second set. I was nervous the whole day debating if I would even perform on stage. That was the first time. And it went really well. People were feelin the jam. And some dude that worked at the bar asked for my info so that he could have me come back. I guess I'll be coming there every Monday night. My roommates and I got home and smoked a celebratory J to that. That's that for now. I'm going to Munich this weekend for Oktoberfest!!!!! I'll let you all know how it goes. Peace!

Are We Seriously Doing This Right Now!?!?

Hey Guys. How's it going?
In Italy I try
I try with my roomie
we're fuckin flowin
down a river of rhythm
into a stream of freedom
10 days in I'm not leavin'
can't believe the beauty I'm Breathin
In and out of
my eyes, seein
three times, four times, ten times
the number of women
women seekin peeking out
of da peripherals
hey girl hey girl gotta have the balls
balls to say em
not to say the least
at the least at the last
i sense the day so fast
so fast, in case of the last
the last time
I thought this rhyme
the rhyme of my mind
spiral collagues
thank you buddy
glad I brought this

So that was a rhyme sesh i had with my roommate brian last night. I had us write it down. We would switch off after a few lines. While having Metal Fingers special herbs on shuffle. Trav and I used to do that sometimes. I miss that guy. Oh yeah, the spiral collagues line is from when I looked up at your tapestry Neuscrill. I have it over my desk. Thanks man! I miss all the krew guys. But whenever I do, I'll just pretend I'm with them. Sometimes the people here won't pick up on it. Like when I'll talk in the voice that's like "Sleepin Ova! Talking like this." I'll use that voice a lot with some random sentences. But they just don't get it. They will laugh at it though. It is pretty funny I guess.

So I've been feastin like every night. Just cooking up some bomb Italian meals. I took pictures of a couple of the meals. I'm pretty much the head chef at my place. But Brian will tag team with me most of the times. I just think it up usually. And he'll help make. But I shouldn't take all the credit. He's kind of a head chef too. The meals keep getting better and better. Last night was the best of them all. We had 2 cute girls from our school come over for it. Kristin and Allison. And I bought like a mini keg of becks at the grocery store. It was 5L. Anyone good enough at math to convert it to how many beers that is? But yeah, I got a bit tipsy from it.... which lead to the rhyme sesh after the girls left.

So last weekend I hopped a train and went to Venice. Such an amazing place! We stayed for the weekend. Went with like a group of 4. Friday was a sweet sunset. Saturday it rained all day though. Fuckin stormed. We made the best of the weekend though. We stayed at a camping village. But we didn't camp in tents. It was like a village full of trailors. Like a trailor park. And we got our own trailor. The place was pretty nice. Like a resort. There was a bar and pool table some ping pong tables. And backpackers from all over the world. There was a toga party the first night. Brian joined in on it. I didn't. It was a bit chilly that night. PS - Austrailian dudes that are our age are not that cool. They were kinda getting on my nerves. Like frat guys. They were just acting deuschy like they're better than everyone. When really they were just beligerent fools. Went to some fancy restaurants in Venice too. Ate some seafood. I took a bunch of good pics. If you want to see them, I'm putting them up on facebook right now in an album. The Florence pics will have to wait for all of you. I still haven't explored the whole area yet. I'm thinking about doing that this weekend.

So the title. It's actually a funny story. We all went to a pub. I don't know why. It's like the least Italian thing here. This was during our first week. I didn't even want to drink that night. And I ended up getting the most drunk that night compared to any other night here. There was some old school Dre playing on the speakers. I started doing some king tut pop n' lock footwork. People dug it. We like had a little circle formed around me. All of the sudden. Out of nowhere! Brian pops in. And he's like "No way! Are we doing this!? Are we seriously doing this right now!?!?" And people, including me were like "Doing what? I was just king tuttin." But while I said that, it was too late. He just hopped in the circle and started doing some crazy ass dance. Nobody knew what it was. And it was nothing compared to what I was doing. It was like a C walk with really swingy legs. So from then on, we will bring up that line in conversations cuz it's fuckin hilarious. Alright, I'm out for now. Here are some pics of my meals I have made.

Italia!

So I'm in Italy now. Let me rephrase that. I'm in Fuckin Italy!!! Oh shit! I don't even know how to feel. It still baffles me that I am living in such a beautiful place. I fuckin love it here. I got here last Friday night. It was late. So pretty much like early Saturday morning. Saturday was a good day. It was orientation. I met everyone. Everyone is really chill too. It is a good group. There's like 9 of us guys and like 24 ladies i believe. Which I gotta love. And 3 of the guys and ladies came with their bf's and gf's. So 6 guys and 21 girls. Amazing! And the ladies are all nice. I've had a couple long walks with some cuties already. so thats the girl guy sich here in italy.

This city is just really convenient for my interests. The deli meat and cheese here are mouth watering. the bread is so soft and wonderful. I have gone to a couple deli's and built a sandwich there already. I think I figured out the best place for them though. I'll become good friends with that guy. Babuda boobada! Beebada babooda! (haha! Peter Griffin with a mustache). Plus this place is right across from the best gelato and espresso bar I think. There's a ton of these places though. On every little cobblestone street. But those places are the best and only a couple blocks from my school. Not only that but every place in this city has wine and beer as well. So you can go to a gelato or espresso or deli place and also get some wine or beer there at the same time. pretty convenient. along with being around the most beautiful women in the world. no joke. also, i haven't seen one obese person yet. america has to fix their diets.

my roommates are all chill. i definitely got hooked up with the good crowd. but out of the 9 guys, everyone is pretty tight so it doesn't even matter. we live in a condo on the 3rd floor with a balcony. alright so i need to get a voltage converter. i bought the adaptor but that isn't enough. i was gonna trim my beard yesterday because i do that like once a week too keep it clean and not itchy. i plugged in my clipper. all the sudden it was like RNNYEEEEAAAAHHHHHHRRRRRR. so loud. like a chainsaw. so i turned it off and was like k, not putting this on my face cuz i dont wanna die today. i still had to trim though cuz it was getting itchy and burly as fuck. so i grabbed a razor and tried trimming it down part by part. it was all patchy. looked like shit. so then i was like fuck it. shaved my beard smooth like a baby's bottom. i hate it. i feel like part of me is missing. and i look like i'm 15 again. so i gotta wait like 10 to 15 days to look like myself again.

the first night, we went to this really hoppin bar that was outdoors. by we, i mean me and my roommates and their girlfriends. I have 3 roommates. 2 of them have gf's. Tim and Geoff do. Brian is my other roommate. but yeah, this bar was no bigger than a newstand. it was right near a beautiful park along the river. I took some pics during the day so i'll show you. and there was some foosball action going on as well. Brian and I ended up finding some hash. I guess bud here is not that popular. But hash is. We got it from Moraccans. Got pretty twisted.

I actually did find some bud though. Just didn't buy any cuz i don't really plan to smoke. I do miss Amar rolling the best spliffs ever though. So i bought some kind of English type shag and roll a cig every once in a while when i'm out and about at night. i'll probably get a little bud too for the weekends and inspiration. Especially since most of my courses are art classes. I'm almost getting the hang of rolling these Neuscrill. This stuff is called Virginia Golden. I don't know if I like it. I might just buy the American Spirit shag instead. The dude that had some green runs this sneaker shop. I walked by and was like OOOOOhhh! Some sick shoes for sure that aren't in the U.S. Crazy colored reebok pumps, dunks, blazers (finally figured out what they're called), vans, converses. Whisney would be in heaven. But yeah, i was in my tye die shirt so the dude asked me if I liked bud. He had long hair and was from the states. I believe his name is Tom or Todd.

All of my classes are cool. Good teachers. My school is a 15th or 16th century building! I'll show you some pics. You guys will see some sick pics. But it's just not the same. It is hard to capture the city. I mean, you'll see all the cool places and small places and beautiful scenery. But you won't know what it's like to just walk through these small streets daily and people watch and almost get hit by crazy drivers on vespa scooters. I think that's all I have for now. I'll post some pics up hopefully soon. In the meantime, I bought a cell. You guys should buy a calling card and hit me up. I think I'm 7 hours ahead of you guys. You dial 011 then 39 which is the city code, and then my number which is 3315709484. Ciào!

Packing Break

So right now I am packing while listening to The Allman Brothers Band's 1973 New Year's Eve Show featuring Jerry Garcia, Bill Kreutzman, and Boz Scaggs. It's unbelievable. I leave for Italy tomorrow! I can't believe this day finally came. It feels weird. That's the only word to describe it. Man I have a lot of clothes. I wanna bring almost all of it. But I don't wanna overpack. It's a tough decision weeding out some of the items. Cuz I really like most of my clothing. I fuckin sound like a chick right now.

I saw Mike Gordon last night as a final show before I leave. So glad I saw it. The show was incredible! I was amazed for sure. It was his own band. The guitarist in the band was really sick. Sounded a lot like Trey. I think it's because he his guitar was made by the same guy. A Languedoc I believe? But no, he totally ripped it like trey too. And Mike was just funky as hell! Also Leo Kottke came out as a very special guest since he lives here. They did an acoustic set. It was tight. I was inspired from it. It reminded me of when Ostlund and I used to just jam as us two in his room. We haven't jammed alone in a long time. These days we just jam as a group with trav drumming or mark or spiggs who both play the guitar very well. Everyone was just waiting for 1 Phish song. Just one is all I wanted at least. I love Mike's new stuff. But c'mon we gotta here 1 at least. And we did! They encored with Makisupa Policeman. A very good song to pick. I was expecting something different. He played at the Varsity Theater. I have never been there before last night. But that place is beautiful. I love the way it is set up. It's gotta be one of our best indoor venues we have. I highly recommend everyone to check it out if they haven't yet. And to top off all of that, I met Mike Gordon and shook his hand!!! I never thought that would happen in my entire life. He's a nice guy. But I felt bad for him cuz he was all sweaty after the show and looked really tired and had to deal with people coming up to him. So I just thanked him for an amazing show and told him I enjoyed it very much.

Peter called me yesterday morning and woke me up. We caught up on a couple things. Talked about our travelings that'll happen soon. Talked about spiritual growth. He's a very spiritual guy now. I think it's pretty cool. It's good for him at least. I'm a little different now that I think about it. I didn't tell him this. But I am not very spiritual right now. I feel that this reason is because before I can start believing in something else, I have to believe in myself first. Right now I don't believe I know who I really am. I'm kinda lost. I gotta get it together. Gotta gotta getit. Gotta gotta getitogether. We talked about how we both simultaneously watched Good Will Hunting together across the world from eachother without even knowing. Had to be fate for sure. FERSHER! (you knew i was gonna say that next). We also talked about personal issues we've been dealing with. Anyway, to sum that up, I look forward to seeing him in a few months.

So you guys remember how I had this little school boy crush on chick. Well that's all that it was. To be honest, it's not even there anymore. I don't know what I was really thinking. I mean I still like her and all. She's beautiful and a really tight person. Has some heady friends. Always a plus. But I don't know. Whatevs. I'm over it. I'm not sure if she liked me that much. I definitely made it kinda awkward between us. And I don't really wanna waste my time with that awkwardness. This guy at my work totally moves quicker with her anyway. Or at least it seems this way. Life lesson right there. It's titled "Get Some Balls and Start Making Some Moves Max!" But Brady saw me say I'm over her right to his face. And he was like, "No you aren't. I can see it in your face." So that got me thinking for a couple days. And I realized, yes I am. The only thing I can't get over is that I told her that stuff earlier. Because now things are way awkward. And I don't like that. I would still like to be friends and just chill with her. Maybe smoke some spliffs. I quit smoking weed pretty much. But spliffs aren't that bad. They're easier for me to handle in my head. Yeah, I'm not an idiot. I know there's weed in spliffs.

I still have so much shit to do before I leave. Man, I'm way behind. I gotta get on that. So this is my good bye to Ptown and Minneapolis. Next time you guys hear from me, I'll be in Florence, Italy! Peace!

My headroom's MC

Hey all
i'm glad you could make it
listen up
feel free to sit
stories of my heady
come on get ready
i'm groovin to medeski
gonna miss my good friend whisney
glad i'm typing this down
i got on my thinking crown
these are thoughts on my mind
once i say 'em, it's hard to rewind
travis thinks i'm drunk
not true, i'm just feeling the funk
tonight i got high
one question for myself, why? why?
i'm honest, i cant lie
tonight felt good, as mary jane should
wouldn't go back to change if i could
i hate keeping thoughts on the inside
too much of a wild ride

neuscrilla intellectual conversational
you guys should've been there
words coming out were exceptional
on the ride back
from the party where i lacked
a part of me
i'd like to be more socially
this jam is fuckin groovey


hope you guys enjoyed that. i thought i'd have a rhyme sesh. i heard the voice of peter today. he called me on the cell when I was on the way to pick up neumiller. man i miss that kid. finally i got a for sure answer that he will travel the full time with me. i wasn't sure. i knew he was planning on visiting me. i just didn't know if he would be able to backpack with me for 3 weeks.

i'm really excited for this. i'm really nervous too. but now that i know peter will be traveling with me, i'm just looking forward to it way more. me and him used to always talk back when he lived here. i have a large group of friends here. but out of the large group, there's only a few close ones that i can really hold a private conversation with. where they'll tell me stuff and i'll tell them stuff. and he was one of them. i feel that after over a year of not seeing eachother, we'll definately have some stuff to talk about and catch up on. we both have changed i'm sure.

this trip is about to change my life. i'm gonna be in europe for 4 months. mostly in Italy. I really need to go back and practice some italian because I forgot eveything. my winter break starts on the 13th of december. from then, i'll have 3 weeks to travel. i leave back to the U.S. from Amsterdam on Jan. 3rd. I'm thinking about spending my new year's there.

i've been researching psychadelic mushrooms a lot lately. you may think i'm an idiot, but those things are actually better for you than worse. they are just hard to handle sometimes since I myself have had bad experiences on them. i have read that when you try them, you'll want to be at a high point in your life when things are going great. that way, you'll have such a spiritual experience, that it'll change your life in such a positive way and things will be better in the end. when i took them, i don't know if i was at a high point or low point. i think i was just at the point of confusion. i've been confused for quite a bit now. we're always searching for something. i know i am. I don't know what it is, but i haven't found it yet.

i feel that this experience will change me in a positive way. i might be able to figure myself out. i know i'm making this seem like I have problems. but really, everyone has problems. nobody is born with a perfect mindset. even your therapists might need help. but yeah, i'm gonna grow spiritually, then i'm gonna see my good friend peter for the first time in over a year, and then we're gonna travel. i think i'll be at a very high point then, i plan on booming in amsterdam. it might be weird. it might be intense. but i'll handle it. take it easy. and then that'll be the end. of my substance uses. except for drinking of course. which i never considered a bad thing.

well i'm pretty tired now. i hope you enjoyed my ramblings. i'll be back to keep you updated.

New Things In My Life

So I finally told this girl my thoughts today. Way easier said than done. I don't know what you were talking about andy. It was over the phone too because I just had to let it out already. Holding a bunch of thoughts in your head that you need to get out is like bad energy build up in your mind. It's like a bad psychadelic trip. Or if some of you know me, it can even be a bad high.

But yeah, I wish I told her in person though. That would have been way better. Cuz now I haven't seen her for 2 days. Hope she works tomorrow though. Couldn't hang out with her today because she had work, and I didn't. I had to do errands too. So I call her up, we talk for a little bit. All of the sudden I just say "I have a big ass crush on you. It has been driving me insane. I just had to let that out of my chest and throw it on the table." She giggled for a bit. Asked me if that was what I wanted to tell her last night. I said yep. That was it. Then she said she was glad I got that out. Then it was a bit awkward and silent for a bit. I feel bad. I hope I didn't put her in an awkward situation. I hope she's not like turned off from me too because I still wanna be able to chill with her. She's a fun person.

So do I feel better now? I can't say yes or no. I'm just confused. I'm glad I got it off my chest. My body feels a bit lighter now. Not so overwhelmed with heaviness. But I kinda wish I never said anything in the first place. I mean....things weren't that bad in the first place....we were still good friends....I was just tripping out when I shouldn't have. So I blew it. Totally blew it. Whatevs! I leave the country in 2 weeks!!! I don't gotta worry about this shit.

Other news though. I bought a kickass backpack today at REI! This thing is huge! (that's what she said haha) It's a traveler's backpack meant for backpacking on extended day trips. I probably haven't mentioned it yet, but during winter break after my fall semester is over in Italy, I'm gonna travel Europe for 3 whole weeks with my good friend Peter! SO EXCITED! I haven't seen this guy for a year. And I've never done anything like this before. This will change my life for sure. FERSHER!!!!!

More news! Except not so optimistic like the exclamation mark makes it out to be. So end of summer really does suck........people are leaving. going off to school. I'll totally go through krew withdrawal when i'll be gone. Saying bye. I had to say bye to two people today. A good friend who I have just been getting closer and closer with. She's amazing. Ari! She's going to NYU for her freshmen year. I'll have to visit her during her college career. This isn't even talk. I'm totally gonna go there and it'll be kickass. And then my really close friend Amar who is just always fun to chill with. He goes back to Ohio tomorrow. And Pat and Spigs already left. Ostlund is in Thailand now. I feel bad because my summer has been so busy that I haven't been able to chill with people that much while they were in town. And now they're gone. Well I guess that's part of life. Since I needed to take a drawing class as a prerequisite and work a bunch this summer so I'll have money in Europe.

But yeah, tomorrow I'm gonna get a new pair of kicks! Fresh Kicks Fresh Tits! Have you guys ever seen this shirt? So sick! Totally gonna get it.

http://www.karmaloop.com/kazbah-products.asp?ProductID=38121&VendorCode=BOBKB

Girl Solutions (The One's You Wish You Were Just Born With)

So about 2 weeks ago, I met a girl. She's a new girl at my work. I wish I never met her. Cuz I have a crazy ass crush on her now. And in 2 weeks, I leave to study abroad in Italy for 4 months. I don't know how to tell her I feel this way. I bet she knows too. I always call her and make eye contact with her at work. I don't know why I'm being such a pussy. I should just tell her.

But I wonder how she feels towards me?
She doesn't really like me that much? Oh no! The world is over!...lol...not... I guess that's the worst thing that could happen though. I'm just too nervous to find out.

But what if she likes me? Now I gotta deal with this when I'm about to be out of the country. Fuck that! I'm going to Italy and I'm gonna hang out with some sexy Italian chicks. I don't wanna be in any relationship. It would be nice to fool around though (tehehe fooling around bahahaha like play tricks on eachother hahahaha! I'm just joking around. Whisney gets it) Yea! Fooling around! Free love! 1960's. Wish I was there.

I've been living the single life most of my career. Was in a relationship. Haven't been in one for about 10 months. feels pretty damn good too. Mostly cuz my ex-girlfriend sucked! Just had to throw that out there. What a fuckin bitch! alright. got some off my chest. Single is cool but I do get lonely sometimes.

What's cool about this girl, is that she knows my ex-girlfriend and also hates her. So we can just make fun of her together. It's not just that though. She's really really pretty, has a good sense of humor (always a plus), has good style (another plus), we have similar lifestyles, etc. She's Russian too. Just like me. Which is weird cuz i'm usually super turned off by Russian chicks. But she's not oober russian. Just kinda like whatever. If that makes sense. Watching her speak Russian with my mom was entertaining though.

So yeah. I've been hanging out with her lately. Never really made a move. I don't work like that. I move slow. But that's the thing. It's not like I want to work slow. I'm just uncomfortable working faster since I lack the necessary confidence. And this guy at my work has been talking to her now. And I bet he moves a lot quicker than I do which intimidates me. Especially since he's older and just seems to have more confidence than I do.

All 3 of us hung out. It was a fun time for sure. We went to Mystic Lake. But I felt nervous. As if she was more interested in him than me that night. Maybe I was trippin, but it almost felt like a competition. Which sucks cuz that's the last thing I want. I don't want her to be some prize object. She's just a girl that I happen to really like and just hope that she likes me back...and not him....After the casino, we stayed at her place and hung out. No way I was gonna leave first. Too afraid he'd pull a move on her. She ended up kicking both of us out at like 4am.

He's actually a cool guy. Don't get me wrong. We have stuff in common. He likes Phish and plays guitar. I just wish he wasn't getting so close to her.

I didn't call her last night. Just thought it would be pointless and give her a break from my daily calls. Mistake! I see her today at work. Asked her what she did last night. Said he came over. Fuck! Yeah, you guys know what's on my mind. I totally had an open window the first week I met her when It was just me and her hanging out and I blew it. Why did he have to bud in now?

But still, I get these texts from her that shows some interest from her into me because she wants to know if I work with her so she can see me. Or she'll ask me to hang out for the 30 minutes she's on break. I wish girls didn't mess with my head so much.

Andy Whisney is one of my closest friends I have. We always tell each other our problems and try our best to give good advice and support. He told me I had to tell her all of this. Easier said than done. So I was gonna tell her tonight because we were supposed to hang out. I was waiting for her call though since she had to do some stuff with one of her girlfriends first. Said she'd give me a call when she would get back home. I totally thought negative that she forgot about me cuz it was like 1 in the morning and still no call. Eventually she calls at 1:30. Says I can come over but it would be pointless if I did because her and her friend are just laying in bed and about to watch lost and probably go to bed by the time I get there. But all these thoughts have been building up in my head, I just had to say something. I told her that I had to tell her something. But not on the phone. It was awkward. We decided I'll call her tomorrow. I hope she doesn't think I'm a creeper. But yeah, that's where I'm at right now. Wish I never said it.

What a pointless blog post. I just babbled so much you guys are probably like what the fuck are you talking about max? Finally off my chest though. Now I just gotta tell her this shit.

Good Night

Title Description

When I was 17 years old, I bought the Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti album. It was a 2 disc album. I listened to the first disc during the day. Later at night when I arrived home that very day from my buddy's house, I put disc 2 in my discman.

Before I put the headphones on and pushed play, I went to my bathroom to smoke a bowl as my parents were sleeping. To this day, I still don't know what the fuck I was thinking smoking pot 15 feet away from my parents' nostrils. But I couldn't help it, I had just got some gravities from my Jimmy John's Manager and they were dank as fuck!

This was a time when I was addicted to my old friend Mary Jane. Even though sometimes she would play tricks with my head, back then she was a very good friend.

It was past midnight and I had just finished coughing as loud and soft as I could at the same time through my wonderfully packed zoom tube as I would stand on top of my cushioned toilet seat blowing the smoke toward the air vent. I went in the tub to take a shower. But, whenever I plan to take a shower, it always turns into a shower bath.

A shower bath is what I like to call laying in a tub full of water with the shower head dropping droplets of water on my chest and belly. When you are as baked as I was, it's kind of like a front of body massage.

I finally finished showering and got ready for my bed. "What the fuck is that?!?" Oh, silly me, I just lied back on my discman. I had forgotten I put it there earlier before I smoked the bowl. "Well lets see what disc 2 has to offer!"

There are some types of music that when you put them in your headphones, it is just a much better experience than listening to it in the speakers. As I put the headphones in my ears, I pushed play. I lied in my bed with my eyes closed. The first song was "In the Light". All of the sudden, I had an inner body psychedelic experience with this song. I had no idea what was going on. I mean....yeah...I was high...but this was too crazy to be true. The song went into the insides of my ears and through my body all the way to the bottom of my toes and fingertips. I felt as though each strum of Jimmy Page's guitar strings were tickling my entire body while the synthesizer was giving me a full body skin rub. Robert Plant's voice just giving me the quivers. And the rhythm section would just repeat these feelings in a pulsing matter through my bloodstream. I ended up falling asleep with a large smile on my face. And to top all of that, I had visuals like the Itunes visualizer going on behind my eyelids.

I woke up the next morning with the headphones still on my ears and the discman out of battery. I got dressed and went to school. That morning I still remembered what happened the night before that I couldn't wait to tell Peter and Amar.

I have had this exact same experience with a couple different albums. But in total, it has only happened 5 times in my life. This was the most memorable because it was my first one. It changed my life. Not for the better or for the worse. I'm not a new man. I am still the same old Max. The only difference is that I just happened to have a kick ass experience on those particular nights that nobody else did. That is why it is so meaningful to me. Because it was an experience by me, to me, and for me.

Here are the 4 other discs that gave me the same experience:
1. Pink Floyd - Wish You Were Here
2. Phish - Junta (Disc 2)
3. Miles Davis - Bitches Brew (Disc 1)
4. Radiohead - In Rainbows