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Thursday

I sleep in a bedroom in the basement. Or I attempt to. I'm awake constantly in a semi-conscious state. I give up on depressants; they never ever do anything for me. It's sunny and beautiful for the 4th day in a row and I sit outside and wander with ducks near the pond for a while. Eventually we head back to downtown Columbia for more food and more walks.

This time, Erick and I go to the hippy place. I get the multi-colored salad. Nothing like some good foods to start the day off right. Somehow it ends up being 9 bucks. Probably the tofu I asked for. Fuck this bullshit.

I listen to conversations of those around me. There are 4 Buddhist elderly lady social workers wearing comfortable yet stylish clothes from Chico's. There is also a massage therapist with giant protruding upper front teeth who came in for her PM shot of wheat grass juice. A butt-short sporting long haired dude rides his bike in and complains that there is no tempeh on the menu that day. The guy at the register tells him they have a tempeh- based sauce. Not good enough he says! And then he gets mad because the coffee isn't fair trade. It's only organically grown. The guy still finds something on the menu. I ask one cashier if I can take some pictures. He is happy to let me.

Erick and I each defecate in the organic bathroom and go look at vintage sunglasses. We don't see anything we like but we do turn around to see our buddy Jason Molina of Magnolia Electric Co in the same store. We last saw him a month ago on the streets of Austin. We all go get coffee and sit on the streets of Columbia, MO.

When its time to leave for Kansas City, we think about waiting for bit-more tornado warnings. "Fuck it," we say, and hit the road.

Kansas City is the deadest city I've ever seen. After dinner, Erick and I walk around for 2 hours. We pass 3 people. There are parked cars. There are buildings. There are no people.

We head back to the club. Talk to lots of nice folk, including fellows from the band [Dirt Nap] we played with last time we were in Kansas City, about 3 years ago. Billy from Dirt Nap is playing in the band opening tonight, Roman Numerals.

The show is pretty energetic. The stage sounds are good, and people are quite positive. In the search for sleeping arrangements we are offered, a) an RV that often houses homeless crack heads, b) wood floors in a small apartment with lots of dogs, c) a warehouse space with plenty of couches that needs a good cleaning. We choose Forrester and his warehouse space. Forrester has a flat tire on his bike so he needs a ride home away. He is extremely friendly and has a huge loft space full of all sorts of stuff. This is more typical ape sleeping style. They boys sit around talking and I put in my earplugs. We have to leave by 7:30 am for the 10-hour drive to Denver.

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