7B 4 7B

My poor dear. Sitting, cramped on a bus. Traveling and teaching in Alabama, Kentucky, Tennessee and now Maryland...with a sore body and dry hands and a kind heart. Although my love knew he would be missing out on a nice little date, he sacrificed his happiness for the happiness of me and my Mom.

Last night was marvelous! It began with a nice little dinner for two at the fancy Buckhead Diner. Dinner was delicious! And served to us as though we were millionaires! Mom enjoyed the fish and chips with a vanilla milk shake and I enjoyed some home cooked fried chicken with mashed potatoes and carrots with a chocolate shake. AND we were stuffed!

We headed over to the FOX theatre and got there just in time to go to the bathroom and be seated. Our seats were terrific and the show was fabulous! One of my favorite musicals. I tried to get some shots on the dancing...however....in the FOX theatre, cameras are not permitted. So it was quite difficult but I did manage to get a couple...some have the top of peoples heads, some are blurry, and they all have a TIMESTAMP! I cannot believe it! (Travis is going to be so mad! He HATES timestamps and it wasn't my camera and I didn't know it was on...but maybe we can photo shop it out ;)

As far as today is going. I am all packed, sitting here at work waiting for the hours to go by. My friend Christina is taking me to the airport at 5:00 and I fly out tonight on airtran at 8:15 and arrive in Philly at 10:21. I look forward to the next week. My first tour experience.

Stay Tuned

Semi-packed and hardly ready
to go, now I just sit & wait. Today has been full of awful Saturday afternoon movies (Jumanji, A Knights Tale) so I guess going out on tour is better than watching those. I have been caught up in my new/old obsession; music. Lotsa new stuff recently, just a little more work & ALOT less money. So that's good & nice.

Want a little preview of my next 12 days on Earth?
Okay then:
I leave tonight to meet the crew at Milton HS in Alpharetta Georgia. From there we travel down to Alabama where we have a "free day" at some water park. Yea! my favorite form of human cesspool. We stay in god forsaken Alabama overnight for a show on Monday, then slip up to Lexington KY for another performance. At this point I will probably like to kill myself or at least some of the people around me. On Wednesday we have the beloved and adored "Music Is Cool" clinic. Those are always a treat.We finally escape the South on Thursday when we get to Cumberland MD for a rehearsal day. Fran also flies out tonight to spend a day or two with my parents and our cats. Lucky! But here is where I will probably get most of my work done, because Friday is another MIC clinic and a show at the same place. At least we get to sleep on the floor a couple of these nights.
Saturday is another clinic, but this time at Giants Stadium, which only amplifies the lunacy. But that's when Fran & my parents come & I hear my Uncle Ted & his fiance Carol may check things out. Sunday has something to do with a laundry day & a standstill performance so maybe that means Fran & I can get away, either to NYC or out with my parents. We will see on that one. Now we head up to Fort Edwards NY for just another show, but maybe it'll be cooler. Plus I think there's an ice cream stand right next to the stadium. Big plus.
Now's where the fun begins. From there we head off to Bristol for a big ol' frigin 4th of July celebration, the likes of which are rarely seen outside the New England area. A show on Tuesday night followed by two parades Wednesday morning, bringing us to Wakefield MA (old stomping grounds) for a show that night. Thursday we are set free in Boston to do as we wish until our flight that night. Then home sweet home.
So that's it. Hopefully it all goes that smoothly. I don't think I'll have access to a computer while I'm there so there may a be a lull in the posting for the time being. Maybe you can expect something from the Mrs. before she leaves. She does have some exciting things coming up. But if not, I'm sure we'll have stories/photos to share when we return.
til then...

Back, Briefly

Back. For a day or two. Then I'm headed out on the road with the corp. Should be a fun little stint. Alabama, Kentucky, West Virginia; you know, the exciting states. But Fran meets me at the Giants Stadium show and stays with us thru the 4th of July festivities, which is usually pretty neat-O. Bristol RI, a day in Boston, yes, we look forward to that.

Buffalo was just fine. Vinnie is nuts as ever. The kids are sweet and they're improving. Probably my favorite group since I been going to the O.P. back in 2005. Thinking about heading back up there in July some time to work with Vinnie's other group Eastburg. As usual, that's all up in the air right now. But it is a good gig; quick, low-profile, nice kids, free food, seedy motels. I think amidst my ongoing attempt at escape from the guard world this might be one worth trying to hold on to.

But for now I'm home (Acworth, GA), which is the best imaginable situation for me. Always more than happy to see my lovely wife hiding in the crowds at the airport, even if we do argue* about ice cream cake all the way home (I wanted one, she didn't). But what does she know? She has motorcycle hallucinations.

*I hesitate to use the word argue in this instance because what Fran & I do really cannot qualify as an argument. It's more of a spirited shouting sprinkled with ridiculous & silly insults and usually leading to even more ludicrous assertions, causing us both to become stupefied with our twisted logic and where it's led the conversation/argument, therefore forcing us to realize what buffoons we can be and leaving neither of us with a clue about what we were talking about in the first place. We love each other.

Ahem...

Don't ask. :)

I'm off to Buffalo. Whoopie! Vinnie is always entertaining so...should be an okay time. I'll be back tomorrow night and then off on tour this weekend. Double Whoopie! Almost done. Keep on swimming.

I am thankful...

.....that in a couple of days I will be on vacation! Now...I say a couple of days but in all actuality...9 is the number of days and that's more than a couple! However, we have jam packed the days so they will go by quickly. Travis leaves tomorrow for a day in New York to teach. I know he is dreading the flights but thankfully he will only be gone for a day. The Cadets have a show here at McEachern on Saturday and then he leaves on Sunday with the Cadets and on next Wednesday night me and Mom are going to see 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' at the FOX (thanks to my WONDERFUL husband) and Thursday night BAM I'm outta here!!!!

Flying up to New Jersey for a day, which I'm thrilled about! Can't wait to see Mom and Dad and all the kitties. Then we are going to a show up in NY and I'm hopping on tour with Travis and the Cadets. Which will be fun... I'll probably end up working on the food truck in my free time. We are traveling up the East Coast and will be celebrating our very first 4th of July together not only as a married couple but as any couple (Travis is usually on tour). We will be traveling to Rhode Island and Boston (my favorite) Its going to be a great vacation!

Oh yeah and my birthday was WONDERFUL!

Happy Father's Day Father's!!!

to Robert Travis Estler Jr. & David Lee Krupp...


Father’s Day
we love you

21 Years Ago Today

You name it...................

Fran turns 21 tomorrow. At 4:21am to be exact. We started celebrating a little early with a bottle of Walmart's finest wine and some flatbread pizza. Spurs just won the NBA finals. Whoop-di-doo. I burned CDs today. Fran is congested. It's cold in here. She has the whole weekend off. We have no plans. I need to mail some stuff tomorrow. She just took a shower. We've taken pictures for 158 days in a row. "So You Think You Can Dance" has some really good dancers on it. We'll probably eat at Miss L's tomorrow. Now she's tired. Handwalkers are amazing. We miss our cats. Rick liked Dr. Jeff. I don't wanna fly to California. Hell, I don't wanna fly anywhere. It's almost midnight. Courtney emailed me today. That was nice. She is nice. I need more blanks discs. Fran's afraid to fall asleep. Phoebe can't eat meat. Valerian root is a godsend. I need to send a package to Rob. I gotta get my camera fixed. I want one of those new sandwiches from Arby's. Did I say the Cavaliers lost? I haven't had anything to drink but water for months. Is that good? I hate my cellphone. Fran is getting ornery. I really want some ice cream. Tia smells bad and she tried to bite me. We wanna get ionic footbaths. Allison still hans't ordered my pills. I hate the Braves. Balance bars make me sick all of the sudden. We're not going to see Battles tomorrow night. Paris Hilton is in jail for the wrong reason. I am smarter than a 5th grader. A brimful of asha is on the 45. Fran is snoring. My neck is stiff. We need to do laundry. Tonight was fun. I think this blog thing is going okay. Things are good. Couldn't ask for much more. fin#~>*.'

Don't Stop Believing / LeBron James / Empty Nest

a few things on my mind this morning...

Here's a little nugget in honor of last weekends Sopranos finale that I've been hearing so many people complain about but that I personally think was genius. Now I must add that I've never actually seen a full episode of the Sopranos which may add to my apparent "lack of understanding the nature of the show", but I did watch the final scene and I can't think of a better way that anyone could have ended any show. Just a giant FU to everyone looking for a big "hollywood" ending; someone's gotta die, Tony will go to jail, blah blah blah. I thought it was perfect.

Plus Steve Perry's leopard print tee is SO kickass.



LeBron James is my hero. Yes I do watch sports nowadays and in lite of the Mets losing 8 of their last 9 games I've turned to the NBA finals. I'm rooting for the Cavaliers, just cause, and even tho they haven't won a single game yet, LeBron is still the man. No explanation needed.
And yes he was fouled last night, but he didn't whine like a little baby (Tim Duncan, man you already got 3 rings). He even played it off in the press conference and said it didn't affect his shot. Bigger man than most. His time will come. Just probably not this year.

The Krupps have left for the weekend heading up to Ohio for...well, I dunno why they went. But Fran & I have the place to ourselves. Most young newlyweds would probably plan a giant shindig, invite everyone over, place a keg in the middle of the living room and run rampant thru the joint.
Not us.
We have a few Netflix we're gonna watch, maybe make some pad thai, definitely eat some more Ben & Jerry's Cinnamon Buns ice cream (whoo-boy!). Who knows really? We'll keep you updated on all the excitement.

currently listening to:
"Tij" by Battles

Bored at Work

Today is going slow and when I say slow I mean SLOW!

I can't make myself do anything...not read, not write, not work, ha, nothing

I went down to the pool and socialized with some rather upset homeowners....They aren't upset about anything that really matters tho so, I didn't really care, I just enjoy getting to hear the gossip of the hood.

Im just about ready for a day off. Travis has been home for a couple of days now and the next time I get to take a day off is FRIDAY! (p.s. Thats my 21st Birthday) I feel like I have exhausted myself with this place.

Doing nothing is EXHAUSTING but at least Im getting paid for it.

Back To Better

Going from the crisp clean mountain air of West Virginia to the bleak, dry, smokey, smoggy, polluted air of Atlanta has done a number on my newfound allerigc obsessions. I visited the infamous Dr. Jeffrey Comanor (of the 1974 cult classic Phantom Of The Paradise) this morning, which was amusing as usual. He filled us in on his neverending string of royalty checks that he recieves from joint releases with Jim Croce & his upcoming trip to New Orleans for his birthday where he'll "run on the beach". Weird dude.
He subscribed me some new supplements which brings the grand total of shit I take everyday up to seven. Just a little folic acid in pill form and sanshedan chuanbei ye, a delicious little treat that comes in a cute little bottle. He warned me not to read the ingredients, which, of course, I did. Water, okay; Honey, delicious; Fritillaria Verticallata, uhhh...whatever; Semen Armeniacae Amarae, excuse me? (I found out it's just apricot seeds); Snake Bile, no misconstruing this one. Whatever, as long as it makes me strong like bull.

...and yes the mustache is gone.

Upper Lip Update

Guess who shaved himself a disgusting mustache this morning...
Don't worry. It won't be there for long.

Home Sweet Home

I am home.

I am happy.

First night back we had a celebration with the entire Krupp clan. The local Krupps anyhow. What were we celebrating? I'm glad you asked:

-Fran's 21st birthday (June 15th)
-Brian's 25th birthday (June 4th)
-Theresa & Bubba's 1 year anniversary (June 17th)
-Father's Day (June 17th)
-Fran's college graduation (March 15th yikes!)
-possibly St. Jean Baptistse Day Ca (June 24th)

This was the cake:

Killing six birds with one colorful cake.

Then last night we had a "surprise" party for Brian at Sidelines with his friends (which meant total strangers to us). They did the getting drunk thing and played volleyball. Even Brian played some volleyball, which I'm led to understand is very "un-Brian". Fran & I played photo hunt just a bit, were disappointed with our food, and left early. Boy we sound like jerks, but after some galoot ate Fran's sandwich and we were accused of having sex in the bathroom (how vile), we just kinda wanted to get out. No one seemed to mind.

My throat's been bothering me a bit again. This southern pollen count has got me all choked up. Probably head in to see Dr. Jeff this week. Can't wait to be out of Georgia.

Improvements/Lumber Yard

Still away at camp, things looking up. The weekend was great, got lots done. Saw the uniforms, saw the drill for the first time, got me a fan and I been sleeping well at night, it rained, which IS good.
So yeah, improvements.

Greg & I went for a walk the other day into town and ended up in a lumber yard. That was entertaining, getting off campus for a few fleeting moments. Here's photos:
Another fun tidbit was going out on the town the other night for Dreamy's (Daniel's) birthday celebration. We brought a touch of class to the little town of Buckhannon WV. See Mike's post for more details.

And in conclusion, a shot of me doing what it is I do here.