11.6.02 – Louisville, KY; Memphis, TN; Birmingham, AL; Chatanooga, TN, Nashville, TN

i’ve got a little technological rain cloud following me around on this tour, so it’s been a few days since i’ve been able to turn my computer on. blog entries are piled up in my notebook again, but i’m short on free time in the hotels at night.

i took a walk thru downtown nashville today. it’s nice to be in a town with some life for a change, and to walk the streets and think of all the music history that has been made in this place. nashville has that sense of gilt-edged glamour tinged with desperation that you find in cities that collect a lot of stars, and the associated star seekers. walking into downtown i went over a bridge that crossed very high over the river. the city in front of me was backlit with the late afternoon sun, and the sky was the first blue we’ve seen in weeks. the air was mild, almost warm, and walking into a lively city lifted my spirits. i suddenly felt very small on that bridge, but small in a seeing-my-little-space-in-this-world kind of way that that was this strange moment of enlightenment for me that to some extent defines description. anyway, it was a good feeling. after shopping at a run-down walgreens and then making dinner on a slice of the Worst Pizza Ever i walked back across the bridge in the dark, and my spirits had apparently sunk with the sun. i’m terribly moody these days. this was a rough week for the tour – everyone is over-fatigued and homesick and disillusioned with the purpose of our tour (bring theatre to children? make money for our producer?), tempers flare easily, and moods swing wildly. h-o-m-e-s-i-c-k. i don’t really have a home to be sick for, but i’m sick for the homes i’ve loved in the past. and the home i’m looking forward to creating when i get done with this tour.

the hotel we’re staying in has a giant guitar shaped swimming pool. no kidding. and one wall in our hotel room is mirrored, floor to ceiling, right next to the bed. how kinky.