So this is what South Dakota's like?

It's funny...I expected Montana and Wyoming to be flat and desolate with the freeway pretty much going straight, but to my surprise South Dakota takes the gold medal. Now, I didn't travel through all of Montana or Wyoming. We did cover a pretty good chunk of Montana, and a good majority of that drive was quite beautiful. Northeastern Wyoming was also quite pretty. Western South Dakota was promising at first, but after Rapid City things became undeniably boring. I guess I'm not surprised by that. I'm just surprised that the other two states were quite different.

The day of travel was okay today. We were up at 5:30am, on the road an hour later with full tummies from continental breakfast. Luke was pretty cool for a good amount of the time, but we still stopped four times. The weather reached 104 degrees F in some parts of South Dakota. We also checked out this drug store in Wall, South Dakota known as Wall Drug, which is really just a missive tourist store, restaurant, bakery, ice cream parlor, clothing store & so much more. The cool thing was that there were tons of billboards more then 80 miles out of Wall that told motorists about all about Wall Drug. Pretty cool place.

No, we didn't stop at Mt. Rushmore. It was too far out of the way from I-90. Holly wanted to go at first, but ultimately decided to bypass it, considering the amount of driving we were actually doing.

As much fun as this road trip is, it'll be good to be done on Thursday. It sure is cool to see all this new territory.

Take care and value music.

Day two of the move

I sit here at the Best Western hotel in Billings Montana with Luke on our king-sized bed while Holly showers. It is 12:37 AM MST, and we are f***ing exhausted! Our first day of the move was also long, involving us leaving Holly's parents' house in the morning, grabbing the moving truck in Richland, and loading up all of our stuff in Prosser. By 6pm, we were ready to leave Prosser, exhausted, sweaty...plus, we had to drive to Spokane! We pulled in at about 11am. We stayed at another very nice Best Western there. We were planning to leave early the next morning, but we ended up not leaving Spokane until 11am, which sucked. Luke caused us to stop 4 times along the trip, each stop lasting about an hour. So, that means we pulled into the hotel in Billings at 11:45pm. Not cool. So, Holly devised a plan at leaving at 6am later this morning. Also not cool. But, practical. This way, we'll pull into our next destination, Chamberlain, South Dakota, much earlier, and Luke will probably sleep a little better at the start of the trip because it's at a time of the day he's usually sleep. Holly and I are just going to be really tired. Well, I will be. I have to drive first while Holly gets to sit back zonked out with her mouth hanging wide open like she's in a coma. She's very skilled at that.

One of our stops was in Butte, Montana. Two words: Redneck Junction. I was quite surprised.

So, we'll see what tomorrow has in store, and hopefully I'll remember to let you know about it.

Take care and value music.

Last day in Washington State

Sad, but true. Today is the last day before our move begins. Well, it technically isn't our last day in Washington, since we'll be staying in Spokane our first night. But, you know what I mean.

"So, tell me about your trip!". Okay, I'll be glad to. Tomorrow we leave Holly's parents' house in the morning and head to our storage unit in Prosser to grab all of our stuff. We have to make a quick detour to Richland to grab our moving truck first. Then, we load the thing up, hopefully with the help of some local pals *hint hint* (if they even read this damn thing), as well as my parents when they arrive. Now, my parents are going to come along with us on the move and drive the moving truck for us while Holly, Luke and I drive one of our cars (the other will be towed by the moving truck). They get off work tomorrow morning, so they'll join us later. But, anyways, once the truck is loaded, we'll head to Spokane and stay our first day. The next day we'll stay in Billing, MT, the third day we'll stay in Chamberlain, SD, and our fourth day on the road will end up in Madison, WI, with a short drive to Milwaukee on August 2nd.

Now, those of you who know your U.S. geography well (or just have a map handy) will notice that these days don't have a whole lot of driving in them. The max amount of driving per day is about 575 miles, which is about 9 or 10 hours of driving. One would think that we could do more driving per day, but there's an important factor: Luke. Feeding Luke will cause us to stop for a while every 2-3 hours, thus we cannot travel as far. It's annoying to have to stop and wait, but it's gotta be done. So that means we won't drive as long each day. Plus, we have the moving truck for 7 days, and our landlord wants to be there on August 2nd, so everything worked out as such. It will be nice to not have to drive so much every day, but even nice to get there sooner. Oh well. I'm not going to complain about it. I can go with the flow pretty easily, within reason, mind you.

So on August 2nd, we will have a new home in a suburb of Milwaukee known as Shorewood. Shorewood is actually considered a "village", although when in Milwaukee one wouldn't know where Shorewood city limits begin and where Milwaukee ends. We're right on the southern border of Shorewood, and the UWM campus is on the northern edge of Milwaukee, which means the campus is only about a mile and a half from our home. That's incredibly convenient for me, because that means I don't have to drive to school. You wouldn't believe how happy I am about that, since I had to do so much driving these last two years just to get to where I needed to go. In case you didn't know, towns in eastern Washington are far from each other...not like western Washington at all. But now, the drive to anywhere in Milwaukee or Shorewood is quite short. Or, we can just walk. Sweet!

People ask if we're nervous for our big move. Definitely not! Holly and I both are extremely excited! It's like we're starting our lives anew, and all the cruddy things that our lives have consisted of in the last couple years seem to be going away...while we bring all the good things with us. Which cruddy things am I referring to? Well, long drives, as I mentioned. Also, our terrible landlord, our crummy house, earwigs, fleas, and just other non-tangible things that have been difficult. I'm definitely taking is as a fresh new start, and hope to change a few things about myself and how I live. I know that new cruddy things will arise once we get there, but hey, at least it's something different. Hopefully the hard times will be less. I'm going to make sure that they are less. Ah, it'll be nice to get a fresh new start...and to get things right.

An update on Luke, for those of you who haven't seen him in a while. He's becoming every more vocal, and he'll smile a lot more for people. He's around 12 lbs. now, and he's getting even stronger and stronger. His behavior has yielded many laughs from everyone around him. Never seems to stop amazing people.

So, since Holly and I will be away from pretty much all of our friends and family from now on, I'll do my best to do a blog entry every day, or every other day. I know you're going to want updates on Luke and Holly, and maybe even me. Those who are interested in my career should keep up with the blog I keep on my website, SeanBrownMusic.Weebly.com.

Take care and value music.

Here, there, and everywhere.

It's seems like I've been here, there and everywhere in Washington state for the past couple of weeks. No, I didn't explore the whole of the state of Washington, but I was pretty much from one end to the other. I had my performance weekend in Walla Walla that I mentioned, and then a week of rehearsals and a performance at the end of the week in Chelan, which immediately followed the Walla Walla gig. I traveled from Wenatchee to Chelan every day I was there, and once that was done, I had to make a trip all the way down to Prosser before returning to my wife's parents' house in Granite Falls. Then yesterday, we headed back to my parent's house on Whidbey, where we currently are, along the way stopping to do some various clothes shopping we've needed to do. So, if you have a look at a map of Washington and follow the journey I've taken, you can see I covered a lot of ground.

It was sure fun being out and about, despite travelling pretty much by myself. The Walla Walla gig was a real kick, and the symphony put the out-of-towners up in a motel, which was quite convenient. The Chelan Bach Fest has always been a great week, and this week was no exception. Lots of fun music to play and hear, and good people to play it with. I guess the final concert, which the orchestra played at, had the largest attendance it has ever had. Great! It's good to know that more people are going to concerts. If most American's didn't hate listening to orchestral music so much (unless, of course, it's a movie or TV soundtrack), the musician's lives would be a little easier. But still, those who are appreciative of it and are willing to spend their time and money to listen are invaluable to us.

This is our last week residing in the state of Washington, and it's not going to be the most relaxing week. We've got to figure out how to get all our stuff from both of our parents' houses to the storage unit in Prosser, and ultimately to the moving truck. We used several car loads to get everything back to our parents house, and only have two carloads maximum to take back. One would suggest to make a special trip down to Prosser before the move day, but it's a pretty long drive, which we don't have the time or money to spent on. So, we're in a pickle here.

Take care and value music.

Fun in Chelan

No, this isn't the kind of fun you're probably thinking of. You'd think the phrase "fun in Chelan" would mean visiting all the little shops downtown, or hanging out at the water slides, or swimming in the lake, or even boating in the lake. Those things are all really fun, indeed, but what would I mean by "fun in Chelan"? Think really hard...that's right! Something music-related, of course! There ya go. The Chelan Bach Fest is upon us...well, upon those who are in Chelan. I am part of the festival orchestra, which rehearses throughout the week and then performs at the very end of the festival, this time being July 21st. The Bach Fest is a really cool event that has been going on for a while. It lasts longer than a week (I'm not sure exactly how long, but maybe 2 weeks), during which there are concerts almost every day. These concerts usually feature smaller ensembles or soloists, who are either brought in or choose to come in to perform on a recital. And yes, a good chunk of the literature being performed is by J.S. Bach. The festival orchestra isn't involved in very much Bach unless a piece they're doing calls for them. This year, only the string section and a few woodwind players from the orchestra play music by Bach. Otherwise, the orchestra plays a concert composed of orchestral lit standards and pops music. It's always a very fun week, as this is my 4th year doing the Bach Fest. The music is fun to play and to listen to. So, if any of you happen to be in Chelan on the 21st, then I'll see you at the Riverwalk Park...or, at least I'd better see you.

The downside about being in Chelan now is that Holly and Luke are not here with me. I miss them a lot. But we're all doing fine. Luke had his very own photo session this morning, and Holly says that Luke was quite cooperative, and the pictures turned out extremely cute. Can't wait to see them!

One thing's for sure - I'm sure diggin' these un-interrupted nights of sleep. Holly even tells me to enjoy them with a firm tone in her voice. Yes, dear! Whatever you say! It's funny, I still feel really tired for some of the day. Is fatherhood just one of those things that makes you tired all the time, no matter where the kids are? I hear that becoming a dad makes you fatter, and I'd love to use that as an excuse for the weight I've gained in the last couple years...but, oh darn...Luke's only 3 months old. I guess I can't really blame my weight gain on Luke. Unless I say that I gained weight in anticipation for being a dad...no? don't think so? Indeed. It is not...logical.

Seriously, though, I'm really not diggin' being "overweight", if you will. It's not cool when the t-shirts that you've been able to wear for 9 years feel small to you, and your body tires out easier, and you just look fat in pictures. The camera seems to add a lot more than 10 pounds, in my case. It's kinda sad...I remember about 5 years ago thinking that I could eat whatever I want and not exercise, and as a result not care about how much weight I gained. I used to laugh at those who worried about their weight (well, not really laughed out loud. Just inside the crazy world that is my brain). But now, I see why people worry about their weight. Not only do I feel worse-looking than I already did, but I feel worse. I hate that I tire out easier, and I hate that I need bigger clothes.

So, I hope to do something about that quite soon. Stay tuned.

Take care and value music.

Thunderstorms...and lots of them.

I guess many places around the state of Washington has had thunderstorms in the last couple days. Back on Whidbey Island, my parents said that they had thunderstorms all around them yesterday. Here in Walla Walla, WA, where I currently am for the weekend for a series of performances, we had a pretty spectacular show of lightning bolts east of town last night. I spent almost the entire intermission of our performance looking out the window, seeing some of the largest bolts of lightning I've ever seen. This morning, I was woken up by loud thunder, and I saw more lightning to the south, which also was large and struck often. No doubt, it was fun to watch and listen to. But I worry about any resulting wildfires. There are already enough wildfires in this country right now.

Yes, like I said, I'm in Walla Walla now, away from my family. I'm performing a summer program with the Walla Walla Symphony, and we perform three times. We played yesterday, then we play tonight and tomorrow afternoon. I'm having a lot of fun with it. After this, it's off to Chelan for another week of playing at the Chelan Bach Fest. Holly was planning on playing this gig, too, but the attention the baby needs from her is too great, and she decided she couldn't do it. You have no idea how bummed out I am.

Take care and value music.

Sure, America's got talent...but is it entertaining?

Holly and I have been following the show, "America's Got Talent" since season 5, and season 7 is currently airing. You see some pretty amazing acts on there, stuff you would've never guessed people could do, and just some really amazing talents. Of course, you see a ton of crap, acts that are embarrassing, lousy, and just...not talented. The seasons begin with audition rounds, where every applying act does their thing for the celebrity judges (As well as a full audience). The judges vote whether they think the act is good or displays talent. The acts that get at least 2 "Yes" votes from the three judges will advance to the next round, which is in Vegas, and they get perform for the judges only. They choose 48 acts, which go one to perform live and get judged by America. 

Here's what I've been thinking. It's no doubt that there are more than 48 acts that really have good talent - I mean, they are really good at what they do. Thus, they don't end up making it to the top 48, despite how good they are at their act, or even how good they think they are. I like it when said acts say how hard they've worked, or that they think they did a great job and should go through to the next round. Here's the sad reality: They may be very good at their acts and be quite talented, but you're sent home because you act is boring...at least to the majority of people. You can be the best in the world at something, or close to it, and still not be very entertaining at all. This fact is even more evident in the semi-finals and finals, where great acts are sent home when they think they should stay. Well, they lose to acts that entertain more, not always which ones are more talented. The show should be called, "America's Got Entertaining Talent". I mean, c'mon! You're competing for a show is Vegas! You talent has to be entertaining! You can be a great singer, but be terrible at choosing songs or "owning the stage". You can be a great dance group but have a narrow variety of different of moves. You can have an incredible artistic talent, but just can't make it exciting. So, that's what annoys me about the show, especially since people should've figured it out by now after 7 seasons.

Take care and value music.

Back to the future...

Holly and I decided to do watch all three of the "Back to the Future" movies today. It's definitely one of my most favorite movie series, and surprising, despite being a science-fiction series, Holly really likes it. Good for her. It's an important step in my effort to culture Holly with non-girly movies. It's a strenuous process, and it will take quite a while.

We didn't do a whole lot else today. We're at my parents house, but they were at work, so we enjoyed our time alone. We had some good fun with my parents that last few days, taking walks, playing games, all sorts of stuff Tomorrow, we have a lot more planned, as it is our last day together for a few days, and my last day on the west side of Washington for a week and a half. I'll keep a report of what I'm up to, for all you curious folks.

Oh, and Luke's doing great. His actions get cuter and more extensive every day.

Take care and value music.

Interaction

Our son Luke has begun to interact with people in the last few days. It's really amazing! It's mostly just smiling and making little sounds with his voices. Believe me, it's incredibly entertaining. He'll just stare at you intently, and when you start smiling and saying things like "HI!" to him repeatedly or sighing with an "oo" sound, he sometimes smiles really big. You can tell that he really wants to say something, but can't always do it. He'll just make some random sounds sometimes. Soon he'll be laughing, and then saying actual words. Cool!

We're back at Holly's parents' house for a few days. We've been quite busy, and will continue to be, running around to visit people and got to various parties. I've been able to find some good practice time in, which is reassuring. It's been fun, too.

It'll be great when Luke is able to sleep though the whole night...getting kind of tired of getting up three times a night.

Take care and value music.