March 20, 2003 - Today did not start off with a very solid footing. I woke up a few minutes later than I hoped which prevented me from shaving but I did get in the shower. There weren't any clean towels so I used the one that was hanging in the bathroom as the generic 'bathroom towel' that everyone wipes their hands on and stuff. Who knows what kind of stuff Josh and Steve wipe on it...I don't really want to think about that. The morning drug on at a crawl. I had tentative plans to eat lunch with Mike Cloppert at the Barrelhouse Brewery but those fell through due to a meeting that Mike had to attend at 1 PM. I ended up spending lunch playing horseshoes at Tim Waters house while his two new dogs ran around chewing on each other. We picked up Skyline on the way back from work. I mistakenly got the small 3-way which comes in the most inconveniently sized cup rather than the nice bowl shaped regular 3-way. The rest of the day drug on at the same crawl, with only a slight lull when Kavia Gowda made her daily call in to me. Back at home I didn't have time to do much other than play the trumpet until Vanessa Lee came over. The sun was finally shining a little and she brought her skates so the plan was to go rollerblading. Little did she know that I needed to go to Goodwill to get some clothes. The guys in the band keep making fun of what I wear so I figured out I could come up with some ridiculous outfit to wear to tonites show. I wasn't able to find anything I would consider ridiculous but I did find a shirt that was the exact same as what Brian Hauk wore to our last gig, so I got that and another shirt. Vanessa and I went to Eden Park where we did 7 laps around the lake. I just might get in shape if I am not careful! On the way home we picked up Penn Station subs. It was so tasty but I again got too much to eat and my stomach paid the price for it. Kavia showed up at my house shortly after 8 and I changed into my new shirt. Vanessa departed and I drove Kavia up to the Mad Frog. The opening band was supposed to start playing at 9 PM. They actually emailed their fans and said 8:30. They didn't start until 9:45 which pissed me off quite a bit. They showed a lack of respect for us playing last since it effectively moved our start time back further and further as each minute passed. The drummer for the opening band had this teeny snare drum that sounded like a coffee can when he hit it. Their music was alright and possibly the best band that has opened for us but I wasn't totally into it. The next band was from Iowa on tour through the US. They had a jam-band kind of sound that was alright but again it wasn't my cup of tea. Finally around 12:15 Fisher Effect took the stage. I was way tired before we got up there but once the music started I was into it and ready to perform. I would rate this as one of my best Fisher Effect performances due to my playing and dancing and walking around the bar while we played. I can do that since I have a wireless mic. I didn't get home until about 2 and there was a message from Janet that said I could call her up til 1:30. Josh said it was close enough so I called her and we talked for a while. She told me all about her drive and the job offer she got earlier in the day and then I went to sleep (having taken a shower before calling Janet). What a long day...tomorrow is going to be a pain to get through.