Hey Jeremy,
I am in Omaha! Traveling for work right now - that's why this post is so short. I am currently writing it in a hotel lobby on my Nexus tablet, which I have to say is a great device but not really working for me as a "blog machine". Not going to lie, I kind of feel like a real asshole right now. Like everyone is looking at me and thinking "look at this guy, he thinks he looks like he's in the future."
I spent yesterday walking around downtown Ohama and I have to be honest, I don't fully understand this city. I can't tell if it's up and coming or like, down and leaving. You know that feeling when you're walking through a tourist town during the off season? It's kind of like that. There are a lot of large buildings, giant parking garages, several convention centers, but not really anybody around. Maybe it's just because I was here on a Thursday and it starts to pick up on the weekend? I have no idea.
I obviously can't stop thinking about Bright Eyes. It's one of the only connections I have to this city. Well, that and 311 but I try not to think about 311 too much. They were 100% a peer pressure band for me in my youth. Now that I am older I can clearly see how silly 311 was, and I publicly apologize for pretending to like them. Bright Eyes on the other hand, I make no apologies for. They came into my life at the exact right time.
You probably already know this, but I was kind of a sad sack in high school. Nothing major, just low self esteem and an overwhelming need to fit in (see 311 above). It made for an interesting collection of terrible songs I wrote and recorded and will never release. Luckily through I found a great way to get out all of my sad sack feelings without resorting to anything too outlandish like some high school kids. I didn't cut myself, or do drugs, I had Conor Oberst and a lot of alone time.
I can very clearly remember sitting on my futon (which if you ever wanted could read about here http://www.tellmesomething.org/rewind/lock-the-locks ( sorry can't figure out how to create a link on this stupid tablet)) listening to the semi-local alt station 89x, when "A Lover I Don't Have to Love" came on during their late night 'underground' block of programming. It was one of those moments for me when I just stop and stare at the speakers, amazed that someone had somehow created the exact sound I heard in my head. I went out and bought the album the next day.
Since then I have been a Conor Oberst fan. Bright Eyes, and specifically the song below, were the soundtrack of my high school break up. The perfect tonal representation of my sad sack-ness. Today I am going to take some time away from work to try to pop into the Saddle Creek record store, which was closed yesterday, to buy the new Desaparacidos album directly from the source. They're still an Oberst outfit, but easy less sad than the Bright Eyes stuff. I'm hoping to run into Conor Oberst somehow and give him a hug, not just for me but for him too.
Sorry for any typos or grammatical issues, I am writing this next to a fake waterfall and about 35 business men. Man, I look really out of place amongst these businesses guys. But that's a letter for later on.
Talk soon,
DYLAN