Much like all my years in school, summer 2009 gave me a great chance to travel (for fun — not work), connect with friends and spend some well-earned free time. In my line of work, time off like this can be rare, so pardon the long absence from posting. Here goes the whirlwind tour of my summer —

I closed Superstar in May…

And took a dive trip with Donavan to Honduras…

And spent way too much time in a hammock…

Came home and lit a show in The Dells…

Traveled with my dad to Scotland…

And hiked the highlands in search of vistas, goats and heather…

Built a wall….

Hung out with my mom’s new dog, Emmett…

Went to NY to build my next show…

And opened it in Atlanta…

I travel a lot. I stay in a lot of hotel rooms (like right now!). It may sound impossible, but oftentimes I have trouble remembering which room is mine. Many hotels are similar and tend to blur into one another after being on the road for a few months. I’ve found myself going to the front desk on more than one occasion asking, “Pardon me. Can you tell me what room I’m in?”

I’ve started snapping a photo of my room number on my phone so that I can look in my phone for my room number the next time I come into the hotel with that blank look on my face.

My tourmate, Haley, had the idea of posting her daily schedule a while back on her blog. I thought I’d follow suit and share what a day in the life of a sound engineer on a one-off is like:

1. After having gone to bed at 1:30 am the evening prior…
2. 7:30 am wakeup.
3. 7:33 Get dressed in your bunk into the clothes you wore last night.
4. 7:36 Stumble into the bathroom, brush teeth, pee.
5. 7:38 Fill cup of coffee, add a bit of sugar.
6. 7:39 Eat a yogurt and a nutri-grain bar, if you have any left.
7. 7:50 Wander inside to see if Load-In’s started yet.
8. 7:52 Check out the space — “how bad is today going to be?”
9. 7:57 Meet Crew chief –”how bad is today going to be?”
10. 8:00 Load in the show. Land the truck, pull the snakes, build front-of-house, stack the towers, balance the room, set the pit, check it all.
11. 1:00 Go to lunch.
12. 3:00 Take a nap. Set your alarm for 5:30.
13. 5:40 Wake up and eat something.
14. 6:00 Sound check the band.
15. 6:20 Sound check the cast.
16. 6:45 Sound check the principles.
17. 7:15 Focus.
18. 8:00 Mix the show.
19. 10:12 Pack up the console.
20. 10:20 Pack up the pit.
21. 10:45 Pack up the towers.
22. 11:00 Push boxes to the truck.
23. 11:40 Grab ice for the bus coolers.
24. 11:50 Shower at the theatre.
25. 12:05 Store the dirty towel under the bus.
26. 12:10 Drink a beer back on the bus and unwind a bit.
27. 1:30 am… Go to bed and don’t forget to set your alarm for tomorrow.

Sorry for another delayed post. I was in Texas.

Saw the Alamo. I remember most of it.

Played a very cool space in San Antonio, right on the river walk… a very cool part of town.

Went to Waco… didn’t fit real well. Enjoy:

I promise better, more frequent, wordier updates.

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while… here’s what I’ve been up to:

I went to Portland,

and used a speaker cluster older than dirt:

We went to Canada and played a hockey arena in Kamloops. It was a bad day.

We flew to Alaska and put on a show. I went skiing on some of the best snow ever.

We spent a week in Beverly Hills playing the historic (translation: small and old) Wilshire Theatre.

Came back to MN for Christmas… heading back out tomorrow to Tucson where I’ll get out of the cold and ring in the new year!

Oh! The tour bus was out with The Jonas Brothers (ask anyone in middle school if you don’t know who they are). New bus and new driver after Tucson… there may be a round TWO of “guess who used to ride Dillon’s bus!”