What a beautiful day. It was grey to the point that I left my sunglasses in the car till we’d set ourselves up at the Taste of Bethesda Festival today and then the winds whipped the clouds on out of the area and left us with dramatic skies and brisk winds and hair whipping gorgeousness all over our little plaza.
We operated like a well-oiled acoustic grunge MACHINE today. We transported gear from the car and laid our devices out and about as the previous band broke down. We didn’t get tangled or delayed. We set up gear smoothly and sans any standing around. We threw cables to one another, yelled numbers and were up and running 20 minutes after we’d pulled up. Flying without a setlist, the music was good, solid, banter was ON. We sold lots of CDs, handed out a bunch of cards… broke down two hours later and again, went smooth, good pack, all bases covered – 3 hours and 16 minutes after having arrived in downtown Bethesda, we’re already on I-95 North headed back Baltimore-bound.
The ever-charming DeJohn 
Joe Isaacs 
Dougie Wells-Cochrane 
It felt good to just be so very, very solid. Even under the influence of Dayquil (I’ve had a really nasty cold for the last couple of days and I’m taking medicine that at least dries me out, but also makes me pretty fuzzy) I was able to maintain a logical run down of visual and structural differences betwixt Dimetrodons, Brontosaurs, Apatasaurs and Brachiosaurs while playing the not in-complex guitar line for Slight Departure… we were pretty on.
Yeah – this guy’s visible from orbit. And that’s just cool. And he’s just silly. This was kind of a good time had! 
Hee! Kristen Jones at Dinosaur Land in White Post, VA. 
The dinosaurs are wonderfully painted if not always nicely sculpted, and though the park is tinier than maybe I’d dreamed, it was a good meander through a good beastiary.
Shame about my tuning issues, really. Not quite sure about that. It feels like my tuning machines are aging and possibly giving me some angst. I’ve long thought about replacing them, maybe it’s time…
In any case, my one point of distraction was a political invasion of a Romney-sign-wielding Republican who made me want to get a little vocal. I ended up just playing Protest Song which wasn’t going to at ALL get my feelings across, but is about as political as I was immediately able to volley off… what I WANTED to say was “Hi there – we’re ilyAIMY from Baltimore, MD. We’re a self-made band who are able to get to you via a federally constructed highway! We wrote all our own songs and made the small business that IS ilyAIMY Text Textures and Noise from scratch! Yes – we BUILT THIS! However, I’d like to thank the musicians that came before me and the other artists from who I’ve borrowed, learned and stolen. I’d like to point out that my guitar was made in the USA! And that it got here on roads built by the federally funded construction projects. I’d like to thank the teachers that taught me how to intelligently express myself. I know they’re employed by the state and the county and were teaching me some of what the federal government asked me to be taught, but it seems to have worked out. I’d like to thank the City of Bethesda for putting on this festival and paying ilyAIMY a decent wage– and as acknowledgement of how we all work together, I’ll be paying county, state and federal taxes on that wage. I’d like to thank the electric company for existing so we can be loud, and for the federal trade deficit that allowed us to import these incredible microphones from China at such an affordable price – and for the federal standards that keep me from being electrocuted by these awesome made-in-the-USA speakers… And to thank that Romney supporter over there for reminding me how great it is to be a small business owner in the greatest country in the world – for without his asinine re-purposing of Obama’s words perhaps I’d forget to be so thankful to all those amazing things that have made this moment possible.”
And then I’d bite him so he could try out the Affordable Care Act. Ass.
Dinosaur Land had originally started off as a Civil War-themed gift shop of all things – and that muchly racially-motivated war still seems to lurk in the merchandise in the form of grey Confederate coats for kids and Confederate flags and weird edging-on-racist toys and ornaments. 
after Dinosaur Land Kristen and I hit up a local orchard and bought apples and apple cider and apple cider donuts and surprisingly delicious apple jalapeno wine. 
General cat and kitten interaction update. 
ilyAIMY at Veteran’s Park in Bethesda, MD for the Taste of Bethesda festival where we had many a fine, fine moment. 
The crowds at Taste of Bethesda in Bethesda, MD. About a hundred different restaurants all with their own stalls and music provided by yours truly.
