Posts by admin

My memory of the 452 miles of interstate between Toledo, Ohio, and Syracuse, New York, is desaturated and brushed with a Gaussian blur: gray concrete, barren trees, and generic hillsides. I drove that stretch dozens of times in college; my father lived in Toledo, my brother lived in Cleveland, and I lived in Syracuse. My…

“I think we’re going to be friends,” Tim said, looking up from his signature. “I think we are,” I replied. He rose from the small, walnut-laminate desk tucked in the back of Barnes & Noble, and smiled. “Time for that hug shot,” I said? “Time for that hug shot.” Camera and all, Chris got a…

I’ll be honest with you. I wasn’t sure we could pull it off. Sure, we were rehearsed. We knew our roles. We knew the songs. And yeah, Chris is finally clean and sober. Ryan’s kicked his Advil addiction. And Tony’s back from his six-year exploration of Wicka. But it’s been a long, long time since…

“Are you with the orchestra?” I’m waiting in line at Andy’s Deli on the corner of 80th & Columbus, a slice of broccoli and chicken pizza in one hand, a Newcastle Pale Ale in the other. My guitar is slung over my shoulder. The deli is unusually busy for midnight, on accouont, I deduce, of…

I have one of the strangest jobs ever. Today, New Found Glory stumbled by. Later, American Idol Fantasia Barrino passed by (lookin into my office, they always look into my office), followed just a few seconds later by Chris Brown. In the last few weeks, I’ve seen Kate Bosworth, Ashanti, Kevin Smith, and Tom Morello…

Chris and I were in the middle of a fifteen mile training run a few weeks ago when he turned to me and asked, “Do you think this is the human version of the hamster wheel?” Abbi and I are knee deep into New York City Marathon training. This week, for example, looks like this:…

It was a quiet weekend, punctuated by deep greens, blues, reds, and oranges, and the thought that I don’t ever want to die. The cool, dry weather was a welcome reprieve from the Inconvenient Truths of the last few weeks. Gone was the sweltering blacktop, the pre-soaked t-shirt, and instant exhaustion. In its place were…

It’s Iowa State Fair time in Des Moines: humidity, corndogs, pork on a stick, funnel cake, cold beer, tractor pulls, beauty pageants, butter sculpture, fireworks, and rock ‘n roll. So I sent a note to my pals in The Nadas. Gents: Thinking of you this State Fair season. Wish i could be there with you.…

I was dreaming about a triathlon. I had missed my swim start, and was scrambling to find another wave. When I finally found a group of swimmers in goggles, wetsuits, and yellow caps, no amount of freestyle was enough; I couldn’t make forward progress through the water. I woke to a crushing headache, and the…