Tonight I went for a walk. My head has been all sorts of jammed up, and I’m still not quite sure where things are heading. I’ve interviewed for jobs, had conversations with many friends, had plenty of alone time, spent a year and a half on the road and yet I’m still no closer to “figuring things out” than I was a year and a half ago.

Growing up I always had “something” that I was doing. For many years it was doing the music thing. Playing shows, booking shows, going to shows. In those same years I was always riding BMX. Then it was “doing Buzzgrinder.” Then it was “doing Noisecreep.” Then it was doing my Bike Nerd thing.

Lately I’ve felt as if I’m not doing. Like, what’s my “thing” these days?

And then it dawned on me that traveling, spending time with friends, doing bits of work here and there has become my “thing.”

It might not be the grown up thing. It might not be wise thing. All I know is this; this stuff, this “thing,” is my “thing.” I think I’ve come to really own that.

Mind you, I don’t sit on friends’ couches all day, eating chips and watching Sportcenter after Sportscenter. I help people with websites and other fun stuff. I write a lot (that you don’t see). I have projects I’m working on.

I could die next week and I know damn well I’m going to remember all the rad people I met in my travels. That’s important to me, and I need to continue that.

beulahbeans:

do you know the places we could see in this thing?

This. This is all I need.

Houses of all shapes and sizes.

Leave Philadelphia, PA at 10pm. Found this place above around 8am in TN. Arrive in Knoxville, TN at about 11am. The plan was to take a bus to Nashville, TN at that point, but the next bus didn’t leave until about 8pm. So I scanned the schedule at the Greyhound Bus Station, for other cities where I could possibly crash. At noon a bus left for Columbus, OH, where my friend Amanda lives. 

Bought a one way ticket. Sure, it was eight hours, (on top of the 13 hours I had just spent on the road from Philadelphia), but what the heck, right?

So now I’m in Columbus, OH. Way back on November 14, 2010 I was here, for one night and stayed with Blake. Now I’m here a little over a year later, still working the internet thing (been building a portfolio blog for my friend all day), and it’s still cold.

I’ll be hitting the road in a few weeks, traveling to Boston, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Columbus and I hope Detroit, Chicago and Minneapolis and even more hopeful for 923324 other cities and towns to rest my head in.

As I’ve said before, I’ll be traveling and looking to interview metal and hardcore fans for my Skull Toaster project. Not just “ZOMG, I LOVE SLAYER” folks. Or the hawt singer of some whatever band. I mean people who listen to this stuff with their eyes closed, or while driving down the highway after a crappy day at work and the only thing that makes things better is listening to Pantera. I want to talk to the kid with a ten year old collection of flyers from local shows. THAT’S who I want to talk to.

If you’d like to help me out, please consider subscribing to my email newsletter. I’ll be updating that first with photos and stories from the roads, and private videos and audio entries. That stuff won’t be on the blog. It’s $6/month, which I know.. is like a nice coffee drink or a sandwich… I know, we’re all broke. But if you’ve helped me along with my previous Bike Nerd adventures, and perhaps I even helped inspire you to bigger and cooler things.. I would seriously be humbled if you could help me out.

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