His name was .5. I named him this because he was about 6 inches long...this roach was huge.

A few nights ago I saw him in my kitchen, and I'll admit, he startled me. Before I could properly react he escaped.

Two nights had passed and .5 was but a memory until I heard my wife shriek from our kitchen. Immediately I knew he was back, and had just put the scare on my wife. I walked into the kitchen and this what I saw. .5 was back and he was creeping up around the sink. When I had seen him he was on the floor and scattered as soon as the light had hit him, not tonight, he seemed oblivious to the light, Kristi's presence, and in no hurry to do anything but what he pleased. This roach was getting brave, and this was unacceptable. Kristi stook in attack mode with dish towel in hand.

As I was taking in this scene, my mouth was just a couple of steps behind my mind. I knew what was about to happen, but I just didn't have time to say it before it did.

Kristi launched her attack by hitting .5 with the dish towel at which point she immediately jerked the towel back toward her. If you play this series of events out in your mind you also know what happened, Kristi captured .5 in her towel and effectively flung him off the counter and back toward us, more directly, me.

As .5 was hurtling through the air toward me we locked eyes, and I'm not sure who was more scared. He bounced off of me and hit the ground and Kristi yelled, "KILL HIM!" I stepped on him but didn't apply the amount of pressure necessary to crush a 6 inch cucaracha. Kristi suddenly had a wave of compassion come over her as she thought of .5's suffering. So in an ultimate act of humanity she cut .5's head off with a butter knife. I love my wife and I cannot make this up.

I just picked up an acoustic show in College Station on Friday, that should be a good time. My buddy Jesse Fritz is going to come along and play mando/guitar/bass all at the same time. Not really. June is a bit slow, but if you've seen the calendar you know that things are beginning to pick up for July.

The Texas River Jam looks like it's going to be a big time. Get your tickets and let's go camping. Until then, watch out for cockroaches and we'll see you soon.

TGIF.

Remember when ABC had that two hour block of shows called TGIF, with Urkel, and Full House, and other shows that you can't even stand to watch for more than two nostalgic minutes anymore. That used to be all that Friday was about. My brother's and I would watch TGIF religiously. When did Friday become so burden by expectations?

Who, what, when, and where is going on? When did Friday become a night that you had to be doing something? If I find myself at home on Friday night, and not out playing somewhere or doing something it can really be depressing. That in itself is kind of depressing I think.

It basically relates back to my theory on "fun". I first explained this theory to my lawyer friend Matt Kita, and he agreed with it whole heartedly, thus giving me the confidence to share it with you here.

Some people are capable of creating their own fun, no matter what they are doing, it is fun, and when they tell you what they did, it sounds as though they had fun. Fun beyond your wildest dream. Other people, and I find myself in this category, have lots of fun, however, they find themselves always secretly thinking that someone might be out there having more fun than they are, and consequently wonder how they could somehow get in on the more fun time.

My cousin Jeremy is one of these always fun people. I could be on Willie Nelson's bus, getting a back massage, after having just won the lottery and Jeremy could call me up and say, "hey, me and Kita are getting some beers at the Melvin, wanna come?" Now obviously my situation is far preferable to going out for a couple of beers with guys I can see anytime, but for a split second (sometimes even more) I will think to myself, "wow that sounds fun!" and then worry that I am missing out on a more fun situation than the one I'm currently in.

I guess that is because I tend to miss the memorable moments. I can be at the party, or gig, or whatever, but the memorable moment, or funniest joke, always seems to be told just before I walk in the room, or just after I walk away. I then always try to compensate by creating an equally memorable moment, or hilarious comment...I am rarely successful at this.

(I honestly had no plan for what I was going to say when I started this, and I just read back what we've got so far. Therapy.)

Speaking of what's going on for Friday, Kris and I will be in Dallas, at Adairs, opening for Peter Dawson. Michael O'Neal is supposed to be there also. Check Michael O'Neal out, it is good stuff. His album, Dark Side of A Small Town, is one of the most real albums I've heard from a new artist in a while. At any rate, come and see us in Dallas tonight, between the three of us there will be a great time to be had.

Saturday night we'll be in College Station at Uglie's, where you don't have to be to get in. It is graduation night so I imagine the night will be full of spirited whoops! and gig 'ems! We always have a good time in College Station, hope to see you there.

We have some new shirts, I'm looking to sell them off the web soon, for those of you in far corners of the world that our tour doesn't stop in. And by far corners of the world I mean anywhere but Texas, or Las Cruces, NM. Thank you LC for the hospitality and great time. You too, El Paso and Ft. Worth. Last weekend was great. I'll have to tell the story but with the therapy session we had earlier I'm sure you're as tired of reading as I am of typing by now. I haven't written this much since college.

Request the single, tell your friends, stay true, and we'll see you at a show soon. Thank you for all you support....later.

Josh

Viva Nuevo Mexico! We're homeward bound (home for me at least). We head out in the morning for Las Cruces for a show tomorrow night. We'll be in El Paso, Saturday, then Kristi and I will leave the guys to head for Ft. Worth for a Clubhouse Concert Series show. I am excited, I love hitting the road for a long weekend of playing music.

Speaking of Ft. Worth the show Sunday will make the 3rd time I've been at the White Elephant in two weeks. Thanks to Jason for having us out, and supporting what we are doing.

It looks like the Texas River Jam is a go for us. Check out http://www.sterlingtalentgroup.com/rj/ for info. It looks to be a night of camping, music, and good times. Hope you'll join us.

Kristi and I are getting settled into our new place. We have a ton of stuff, but there is still a bit we need. If I could sit on a plate and watch TV that would be awsome, we have plenty of plates, not so many couches though. We'll get one, they say starting in utter poverty allows you to greater appreciate the stuff you get along the way. Maybe so, but if we won the lottery tomorrow I certainly wouldn't complain.

I have a garage again, and this one is actually mine, I don't have to share it with any other guys and their junk. I love it. When we were little boys we had our forts and treehouses, the garage is just a grown man's fort. It is a retreat, where I can go and have a beer, build something, or just open the garage door and watch the world go by. I plan on being in my garage alot, come over and hang out.

I hope you can make it to a show soon, buy a CD, and call your local station and request "South of the Border", we are making a big push to get it charted in the next couple of weeks. Talk to you soon.

Oh yeah, I'm picking up new t-shirts today so look out for them. I hope to be selling them online soon.

Josh