Going through old photos on my hard drive and found this. This was the kitchen of a house my old band stayed in on tour in 2003, after a show in Sullivan, Illinois. It was an empty house that had belonged to some kid’s parents, which he and his friends used as a squatter/party house. The basement had a foot of water in it, there were stains on the carpet, and the shower in the bathroom shot one straight, painful lazer beam of water out that had chipped away the tile on the opposite-side shower wall. I slept on a chair that night, curled up in a ball after I saw a beetle crawl across the floor at my feet. We got up early the next morning and snuck out before our three hosts (who had passed out on the other chairs and couches in the living room after drinking at least one bottle each of straight, cheap vodka) woke up.

Ah, tour.