song of the day: white pepper ice cream / cibo matto
word of the day: uit / (means "exit" in dutch)

i woke up at 9am, went to the airport with wifey and baby. go through check in, finally leave at 2:20pm, fly into houston, lay over, leave houston at 5:30, fly over night (losing eight hours on the way) to Amsterdam, and by the time i arrive i've been in airports and such for about 24 hours with no sleep. i just could not sleep on the airplanes no matter what i tried. rinus, desiree, and tanja meet me in amsterdam holding a big buddha (the dharma pop logo)on a placard. HA! the best. we have a juice at the juice bar, then we're off to pick up the rental car, we get lost on the way, and when we get there it takes some time to get through the paper work and technical things. we leave the car rental place at 3pm, still no sleep for stuart, and leave schipol airport to head for Deventer for the first show. we immediately hit a traffic jam, and desiree does a great job driving us all the way to the gig. it's raining raining raining in the netherlands, cold and wet, my favorite weather (that's why i love seattle too...) we get there about 6pm, i lay down in the car for a bit before sound check, but still no real sleep. it's a beautiful club! has a very...european? feel. j/k. it's totally awesome, there's a lofted balcony above the stage, it's a long rectangular shape, great sound system, great equipment, the staff is kick butt. my pre-show dinner is thai food, wonderful. show starts at 9:30pm, and the room is pretty full, i'd say 50 people? it's a wednesday night, i am AMAZED at how quiet and attentive they are. i mean the whole room is dead quiet, and i finally have to tell them they are absolutely the quietest crowd i've ever had in a bar. it's very much a concert vibe, not a bar scene. i say many many funny things, which no one laughs at, more dead silence every time i make a joke. i can't tell if this is because i'm so tired (sleepy) that i'm saying stupid things, or if they don't clearly understand me (like cross-cultural translation is losing the humor) or if they're just really really subdude. i decide to stop trying to be funny after a while. maybe they laugh on the inside? anyway, who cares, because they are such a great crowd, very attentive and warm, and i really like every person i meet. i am amazed that people have driven from germany and remote parts of holland to see this show, many of them already have all my albums, and they are only missing idiot express, or big energy dream. i tell them they don't want those cds anyway. i sell quite a few CD, sign some copies, meet people, then we're back in the car to drive back to baarland. it's about a four hour drive, in the rain, again desiree is doing the driving, which is a god-send because i am so exhausted i can't see straight. we arrive at our destination, and i get to bed about 5am, about 44 hours with no sleep. i crash SO hard. coma. wake up....get this: 15 hours later. i slept 15 hours. i haven't slept 15 hours (without alcohol poisoning) in like ten years. holy shit. it's dark out...again. i have missed the day light portion of the day. whatever, i've seen the sun. tomorrow i go to amersfoort, i think, and i will see my friends from germany and australia, and explore another new town. i saw windmills today, real, old windmills. makes one think of wheatfields... i am digging it here. i could see myself spending a lot of time in this country. for starters, they let me in, which always feels so welcoming. but, on top of that the people are quite wonderful, it's beautiful, and when you're on tour here you get paid in Euros, which are worth more. whoooopeeee. having lots of fun talking with Desiree and Rinus about spirituality tonight, looking forward to another 15 hour sleep and then hanging with more friends. it's very far across the ocean, i forgot what it was like to get sleep deprivation. curious. lots of yellow and blue colors in the netherlands, like on cars and buildings and stuff. i also went by one of the red light districts (in deventer) where prostitutes were sitting the in the windows, maybe ten full size windows in a row, comprising a whole block, with a woman in each one, in her underwear, inviting passers by to hold a congress in their haven. the women did not look skanky, some where quite attractive, and the parlors looked nice, well-kept, their clothing was flattering. i couldnt' see any veneral disease in their cellular tissue, so i must assume they are equally meticulous with hygiene. we drove right by, and hey, my first day and no sex with whores! my wife will be so proud. if only i could say the same for heroin and hash...