The Day I Visited Turn Verein And We Lost Water (Again) At Old Soul Where I Worked With Hank For The First Time And Bought A Six Pack Of Black Star Beer

My Top Five Lines From Five Mumford and Sons Songs:

5. From "Sigh No More"

Love, it will not betray you, dismay or enslave you, it will set you free / Be more like the man you were made to be

Went to the Sacramento Turn Verein today. Took these pictures.

I don't know if I'll get to go to their Oktoberfest. I'm only doing the Preview Piece. Interviewed Heinz Ludke today, the Secretary of Turn Verein (ver-ine), which means Gymnastics Club in German. Then the President, Robert Krieger, called to tell me the phone numbers of the bands. I wrote my rough draft. It's up for editing.

4. From "Awake My Soul" 

How fickle my heart, and how woozy my eyes / I struggle to find any truth in your lies / Now my heart stumbles over things I don't know / My weakness I feel I must finally show

After trying to get inside the Turn Verein building and finding the doors locked, I took this photo through the window and then left. 

Oktoberfest, before. 

3. From "The Cave"

Cause I need freedom now / And I need to know how / To live my life as it's meant to be

Then I fell victim to a ceaseless belief that I can calm and pet any animal in the world, simply by kneeling down and making a ticking sound with my tongue. What the hell is that sound, anyway? I think it only works for squirrels, really, but cats seem to notice it sometimes, too. Never your cat, but other cats, like this one: 

2. From "Roll Away Your Stone"

Stars, hide your fires / These are my desires

I had a rather peculiar and disoriented shift at Old Soul this morning. The details of it lose meaning almost as soon as I leave that warehouse, though, because tomorrow is a new day and tomorrow will be completely different. We had broken ovens. We had the water shut-off from 7:30 to 10:30 and a total lack of espresso. Not to mention an inability to do dishes or wash hands or flush toilets. It was subdued chaos, with everything always about to crumble like a playing-card tower. We endured, somehow. Coffee was still served, by God! I got to work with Hank for the first time. Found him to be pleasantly straight-faced about everything. We made good tips, considering.

Also have to thank John Hannon for getting back to me. Got that interview about the gravel restoration project he was in charge of. Always fascinates me to talk to people who love nature this much. The command they have over the topic. The big words they know that haven't even entered my vocabulary. I guess I feel that way about anyone speaking passionately about their trade, but these kinds--the people who are trying to save the world--they really impress me. 

1. From "After the Storm"

And I took you by the hand / And we stood tall / And remembered our own land / What we lived for 

- Left to Fry