It’s my birthday soon, I’ll be the big 2-5. If any of my blog admirers read this and you would like to wish me well you can shower me with shampoo, clean underwear and socks, and baby wipes if you attend any upcoming Warped Tour dates…

I’d like to thank the following bands and sponsors for all the clean clothes they have graciously offered me the past few weeks: We Are the Fury, The Spill Canvas, Paramore, It Dies Today, Anberlin, Parkway Drive, PlayRadioPlay!, Meg and Dia, To Write Love on Her Arms, Modern Mischief, Alumni and of course anyone else I am forgetting…

That’s all, see you this summer…

Listening to Lifetime and traveling down the interstate on the internet. Life on the road continues at an alarming pace as the days seem to fly by. I had just written an entire blog on it and the computer froze and I lost it so let’s try this one more time and hope for the best.

Florida is a bit of a rainy,stormy blur. I am glad to be heading out of here en route to North Carolina. The bright spot of the humidity, sweltering heat and tornado watch weather was above all the people we met. The kids in Florida were amazing (lots of straight edge kids! our friend ‘elton’ who came to all the dates, and dozens of other great kids.) Plus, I got to see New Found Glory play pretty close to their hometown which was especially impressive. I also saw Grant who I met who on the tour in 2005 and his new band Ambush played the Jacksonville date so all in all it was a good time. I am pretty tired but we are trekking through this long stretch and looking forward to our next (distant) day off. My friend Will’s band Straylight Run just joined up with the tour and he came by and played some games at the zone today.

Yesterday we all went to an after party though I was a bit under dressed in my Throwdown t-shirt but I had a good time hanging out with some of the Gallows boys and the Fuse ladies. We also managed to squeeze in dinner in Miami outside of warped tour at “the moon under the water”. It was a short enough distance that Jess,j9,Justin and myself trekked over.
It was nice to be off-site indeed. Speaking of food,catering has been making lots of bean dishes lately but there was vegan pizza today so I was in good spirits.

I am going to listen to Lifetime and go to bed.

Locals Only,
TaRa

We have finally crossed into somewhat familiar territory … the east coast. I thought that a drive across the country would be exciting. Unfortunately, I managed to sleep through the entire ride. Along the way (I hope someone catches that Bad Religion reference) we stopped in Mobile, Alabama. You would think that a band of multi-colored haired, pierced, and tattooed Warped Tour veterans would have intimidated the natives. However, as the majority of the population was dressed in what I always believed was Sunday, not Tuesday, best and draped in pearls, it was me shaking in my boots.
     Dirt singularly describes our first day in Florida. I did not manage to gain any extra insight into Jacksonville, as the shower shuttle to the Quality Inn constituted my only extra-venue adventure. Today we arrived in St. Petersburg, Florida. To say the least, the weather here is bipolar. Temperatures ranged from around 85 to 100 degrees, accompanied by a mixture of sun, clouds, and lightning-filled thunderstorms. Normally, suffering from major fear of water, I stay indoors during rain; however, the lovely attendees taught me to tango and waltz in the storm. The crowd persevered quite nicely, capping off an eventful day by claiming that Aristotle was a member of the elite Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Let me just say that it feels good to be back on the east coast! Eastern time zone! Humidity! Bugs! mmm I love it!  Yesterday we were in the ATL and today we finally made it all the way to the east coast in Jacksonville, FL.  It’s been such an awesome lifestyle out here on the road.  Like last night we had an 11pm bus call so we booted up the xbox 360 and started playing some Guitar Hero 2 as the bus rolled out towards Florida.  After schooling Trife in the ways of Guitar Hero I went to sleep and when I woke up this morning I looked out the front of the bus to discover that we’re parked on a beach overlooking a river.  Most of the venues so far have been the parking lots of stadiums or at amphitheaters, not at a yacht club.  Another awesome thing about the show in Jacksonville is that I got to see a friend from back up in the DC area that I haven’t seen in forever.  She’s out on the tour promoting for one of the bands over the next 3 weeks, so i’ll get to see her a lot for the next few weeks.  Alright well all the drummers on the tour are about to participate in “drumwars” so I’ve gotta go check it out.  Till next time.

Peace,

Mickey

These last few days being in “the south” has definitely been a totally new experience.  The sights, the people, the stores, the accents…all new to me.  Especially today in Atlanta.  The first time in the tour where almost EVERYONE had an accent which was totally awesome because it officially marked that I was in a different world other than CA.

The humidity is KILLING me though.  I guess I have to get used to it because according to some of my team mates it’s going to be like that all over east coast.  I’m going to Florida tomorrow, so that’ll be interesting.

That’s all I really got to say right now.  I think I’m going to just take it easy tonight…take a shower, go to the bbq, and go to bed.  Today was the first day of a 12-day stretch with no day off’s…

…woo!  Looks like tour REALLY started!…

Greetings from Mobile, Alabama. We’re here for a few hours, about to embark upon the second leg of our trek back to the East coast…oh how I’ve missed it…Atlanta is our final destination, where we have a show tomorrow, and then 11 straight days of shows to follow along the coast. It is going to be insane. Although normally I might dread the stress to come (lack of showers, lack of #2 bathroom usage, lack of all strength and energy at the end of the day, etc.), I love my job, and look forward to the physical and emotional challenge that awaits. But I’m not exactly normal. In case you haven’t realized that by now.

 Some highlights of the past few days:

1)Lots of press, a particularly fun TV interview at the Fox studios in San Antonio, Texas where we did a fashion show. Also got to answer some LGBTQ and tobacco related questions for a camera crew, which made me very happy.

2) Inclement weather lead to the postponement of our Houston show (which kinda sucked) but lead to fun times at Super-Target for the Truth team. I got to buy raspberries, blueberries, and some funky green shorts with whales and skulls on them (Shilpa hates them, but I got them anyway).

3) We had a dramatic team meeting where some yelling and crying happened, but after untangling some knots we ended up having our most successful day yet in Dallas. Lots of love now.

4) We took showers at a very scary hotel that smelled like death.

5) I finally started using the port-o-potties.

6) I had a chalk drawing contest in San Antonio and met some amazing, creative souls who participated, including Rudy Melendrez II who created a piece about his grandfather who passed from lung cancer.

7) Jess and I purchased enough sugar free Red Bull to last the rest of the tour. (Who am I kidding? It’ll probably last another week…)

8) I got to talk to my mom for awhile on the phone, which made me feel a little more whole.

9) Saw Harry Potter with Jess, Justin and Mickey. Though it was fantastic!

10) I realized just how many teens smoke in Texas and wanted to cry, but then assured myself that I’m lucky to have the job that I have, that impacting such a huge social catastrophe takes time and strategy.

11) I found some hidden clean underwear and socks in my suitcase under the bus. (Yay!)

12) We used my Ipod in Houston, and listening to Tegan and Sara, Goldfinger, Common, and Hanson made my dddaaaaaayyyyyyy!

13) Last but certainly not least, I got hugs from strangers almost everywhere we went from New Mexico to Texas, and it reminded me of how incredible my life is at the moment.

PEACE.

Warped Tour was postponed due to the bad weather the other day in Houston and rescheduled to today. The team pulled together and we had the most phenomenal day imaginable. We are all getting along and performing at 110% of our ability. At this point our team work ethic is impossible to describe and I am so happy!

My friend Kameron drove from Dallas to Houston the other day and we spent all our time the other day doing nothing and everything. It was a great day and I can’t wait for the rest of the tour! Did I mention how happy I am?

So we are in texas…. HOTTTTTT! how can anyone live?!?! It’s our fourth night straight on the bus and we have found several ways to amuse ourselves… wii… tv…. dancing…. oh and doing trife’s eyebrows….

They were just so bushy, how could someone not want to do them??? The video is hilarious!

… what a baby….

So after 2 days of chilln’ out max relaxin all cool in Santa Fe and Phoenix, it was time to get back to work today.  Today was a VERY long day tho.

Our day started at 5 AM in the morning.  We drove 20 minutes to a local TV station, set up the truck like t was a normal day, spent literally a minute demonstrating what we do for the camera, packed up right after, and left to the venue for 8 more hours of work at Warped in Phoenix.

Not ONLY were we tired, it was probably the HOTTEST days on the tour.  I feel bad because I had to sit out for a while due to a sickness from dehydration.  Also, it was pretty slow at the truck today since we were basically away from everything else at the venue.

Highlight of the day: Matt Traynor from Blessthefall stopped by the truck with his girlfriend and grabbed a shirt.

Supposedly tomorrow’s weather won’t be any better, so I’m gonna get to bed early today and be ready.

Today marked my first day ever in Texas. Being from the northeast, I must admit I was somewhat apprehensive. For one, everything is bigger in Texas, and I am a measly five-foot-three. Secondly, I have rarely traveled south of the Mason-Dixon line. Thankfully, despite my northeastern conceit and complex, I discovered the southern buried within. Before I continue to discuss San Antonio, I would like to mention my new friend Ashley, who I met in New Mexico.
 The day began with a lovely 5 am wakeup after being whisked away on a plane from New Mexico to San Antonio the previous night. I had the honor of doing twists and twirls on Fox News as Jeannine described my homemade Truth gear. After a grueling maze of a journey to find catering (if anyone has the ability to install GPS into my brain, please let me know), I dived into my daily routine of making “five-minute friends.” The crowd was extraordinarily receptive; I even met a few Harry Potter fans who possibly match my own extreme fandom.
 To top off my exhilarating (not to mention long) Texan adventure, I watched Bad Religion from the back of the stage. Greg Hetson, the guitarist, was even wearing a Truth shirt. Even though I have seen them at least five times since the beginning of the tour, I will never get tired of them. Although the show temporarily revitalized me, the lethargy combined with my typical spaciness, resulted in yet another sad journey of circles as Jeannine and I attempted to find our bus. This blog attests to our success.