Monday February 8th 2010 Officially in Austin for a week and staying at the Hostel had been great, as cheap as $25/night is I was quickly depleting my monetary resources and come Friday they would be booked for a solid week so I had to find something. Up for most of the night doing laundry and shaving my beard with a razor I managed to get three hours of sleep before going to look at a room to rent. The room was perfect and the people so cool, the interview went well and my prayers were answered! I went from there into town and set up at the Hideout coffee shop. Posted my microphones and Martin guitar for sale on craigslist hoping to get some capital together. I got a buyer for the mics right away with my Shure 57 and 58 going for $100. So I took the bus back to the Hostel and back to pick them up to meet the guy later that night at Nuno's where I was hoping to perform having heard about their open mic from Addie whom I met last week. I sold the mics, grabbed a burger and some wings at Daddy's, went back to the Hideout and performed my first spoken word piece at their poetry open mic, back to Nuno's and realized I wasn't going to be able to play there. Found my way to a bar called MugShots www.mugshotsaustin.com which had an open mic I heard about from the door guy at Daddy's. There list was a little too long for me to get to play that night but I heard some great performers and will definitely go back to play on another Monday night. Headed back to spend my last night in the Hostel.

Tuesday February 9th 2010 I arrived at my new home around noon and was happy to be able to leave my guitar and camera behind and do some exploring without having to carry everything with me. I headed up to the area that had the Whole Foods Headquarters. On the way I was happy to find and pick up an excellent cup of coffee at Juan Pelato Cafe. View Larger Map The barista was very helpful in suggestions of places to go and check out in Austin. I went on to check out The Book People, Whole Foods (where I ran into one of my new roommates), and Waterloo record store. I went to Office Max and spent $35 of my last $40 dollars on blank CD's and sleeves in hopes of creating some income. One of the things I had been struggling with over the last week was the question of, "Which comes first, the address, or the job?". I got to work at the Starbucks next door looking for available jobs online and also picked up an application for Starbucks. I headed back over to the Hideout for the open mic that I had played at last week. Unfortunately I had left my guitar at home. Addie was there and was gracious enough to allow me to use hers. She sang a really beautiful song about her decision to move from Idaho and transition to Austin called "Austin's Arms". I got a phone call from someone interested in buying my Martin. I was asking for $600 but said I could go as low as $500. I ran home to get it and headed to their place to show it. They were concerned about it's condition but she still played nice and I ended up giving them the deal of a century at $400. I walked home a little lighter and was excited about this final part of my personal purge and rebirth.

Wednesday February 10th 2010 Woke up this morning at my new place with rent paid for the next month but still needing to come up with the deposit and without a guitar! They gave me some grace to work on the deposit so I set out to find a replacement guitar and get to work. My first stop was Dominican Joe Coffee and then I noticed a boutique guitar shop next to it called Qunicy's Guitars. I had to ring the door bell and when I entered I realized why! A beautiful room with some spectacular guitars that ranged from $2000-$10,000! Someday, but not today. Check out their website though, amazing! From there I walked about a mile over to Music Makers where I met Paul Loidice and friends out front. I went in and looked, and played, and deliberated finally deciding to a black Epiphone for $140 and a gig bag for $48. I walked from there up to Heart of Texas Music where I ran into Paul and his friends again. I bought a Dean Markley pick up for $80 and was officially back in business. I worked on burning CD's and getting them labeled with a sharpie so I could have something to sell or give to people that tipped me and I thought would like them. Later that night I took a bus up to Kick Butt Coffee to do their open mic again. I had another exceptional night of learning, sharing, and jamming out. My first performance with the new guitar and I broke a string on my second strum =( so I retied it on the spot and finished the set. Ryan was there again, along with Derek, and Nate, T and Phil with the Bee Sting Sessions, and others. I stuck around till the end of the night and got a ride home from my friends Frankie and Joe.

Thursday February 11th 2010 The morning brought a cold wind and heavy rain. I had heard good things about the open mic at a spot called Flipnotics so I went super early to check it out. I worked on the website, burned CDs, dreamed and schemed about what to do and how to do it. I think that it's strange how I can be having a great time, cool experiences, be really inspired, and facing a future full of opportunity when suddenly the past catches up and it all hits at once like a storm cloud coming out of nowhere and raining on what was a sunny day parade. Depression. A generally positive outlook on life can get so easily obscured when I hit the slippery slope of fear and then I sit there with my mind wandering off in the wrong direction instead of moving forward in faith. Maybe it's just low blood sugar, improper rest, or stress. Whatever brings it on it happens and you've got to work it out. Okay, enough of that. I grabbed some dinner across the street at Austin Java and worked a little more on the computer before heading back over to Flipnotics. The open mic was PACKED and I ended up 23rd on the list. I met a lot of cool new people and had a helpful conversation with a guy named Cameron. The 21st and last act of the night, Bob Barney, only played one song so that the last two of us could also play a song. He was really good! Click on his name to check him out. After midnight and two miles from home I started walking with big dreams of Taco Bell. I got there just as they turned off the lights but realized that it was only the drive through that was open and you can walk through the drive through. Same at Jack in the Box... Rrrr. Then I happened onto my greatest discovery in Austin yet... WHATABURGER! Talk about mood swings! I'm not sure if I've ever been happier in my life. I made it home by 2am and slept like a baby.

Friday February 12th 2010 Today I burned CD's, finally went through my voicemail, worked on the website, and sent off some emails concerning various potential performance opportunities. Later in the evening I went downtown with my guitar to 6th street intending to play but oddly enough was feeling a little to shy. Me, Shy?! It happens. I checked out Esther's Follies from the window to see if it was something that I my show might fit in with. In the end I made a stop by Whataburger on my way home and got to bed around 1am.

Saturday February 13 2010 A new day to give it a go. I left my computer at home and took a walk with my guitar and camera. I walked, played, and sang my way over the Congress Ave bridge turning heads as I went. I feel that there is a particular freedom represented by this when people see it happening. As much as I need to make some money whether it's taking tips or selling CD's sometimes I don't want to ruin the moment or experience by asking for it. I would rather just keep going and leave people to wonder. So not asking for money or pushing CD sales is one part principle and one part just being too nervous and shy, I won't lie. A car stopped at a red light yelled over to me and gave me a cupcake wrapped up with a bow with this message on it, "Happy Valentines Day God Loves You! 'Love never fails... 1 Corinthians 13:8' Is there any way we can pray for you?", with an email attached. Cool! It was a great cupcake and I was really happy to receive something. I went to Whole Foods and got an energy bar and banana. Headed over to Waterloo Records and kept walking. I finally saw some people look at me funny so I offered to play them a song and assured them that they didn't have to pay me. They listened and enjoyed so I decided to give them one of my CD's. I played and sang my way back to The Hideout and ran into one of my new friends Will. We really connected and had very encouraging conversation just about life and what it is. I also met Jeff, a homeless vet in a wheelchair and we both shared songs that we've written with each other. The Hideout closed and I made my way to 6th St and finally performed with my guitar case open on the sidewalk outside of Jimmy Johns sandwich shop. I played for two hours and made $15 in the process of breaking every string on my guitar. There were a few groups of people who stopped and danced and I met somebody that makes hula hoops! A couple of drunk guys staggered and screamed at me to play "Free Bird", so I did what I usually do when someone requests that song... I flipped them "The Bird" ;-)... I think it's so funny every time but I have to be careful and hope that they get the joke. Then they wanted to play my guitar and I told them that it costs $20 to play my guitar. This is all happening while there are other people standing around to listen and I have found it to be an effective way of dealing with intoxicated individuals that don't seem to recognize that there is a show in progress even if it is just happening on the street. All in all it was a good experience and I was so happy to make $15 I packed up and went straight to Whataburger 2 miles away at 3am where I could really taste the fruit of my labor.

Sunday February 14th 2010 Happy Valentines Day! I took a walk on a mission for guitar strings. Every music store that I got to was closed on Sunday's. By the time I made it by a pawn shop where they might have had strings they were closed too. I went to Far Out Furniture where South Austin Soul is located because I saw online that there would be a gathering of hula hoopers and I was excited about running into and meeting some of "my own kind". I was a little early for the main party but intended on coming back. After all, I needed to get guitar strings. I stopped by an Office Depot and found a great deal on CD's so I bought another spool of 100, some envelopes, and the tripod for my camera that needed. I made my way to a coffee shop called Rutamaya that had come highly recommended. It was about three miles further away then I had thought so when I got there I was really happy to get some and sit down. I met another musician that was out hustling CD's and we talked a bit about the life Radio Valley Music. There was a live Salsa band that performed that was awesome. I hid out up in their loft and burned CD's all night while enjoying the music. Thinking I could catch the night owl bus home I stayed until they closed only to realize that even though it was Sunday night there were no night owl buses that run Monday mornings. I walked four miles to Kerby Lane 24/hr diner and ate before catching a cab home around 3am. In my first two weeks of being in Austin I think that I had walked at least 50 miles. Whew!