A Little More Adventure After All

Hello Everyone!

Well, so as it happened, my return home turned out to be a little bit more of an adventure than I expected…

As soon as I got off of the train from which I was last writing you, I found almost immediately that the close-fitting personal bag that had my wallet and passport was missing. Berlin was the last stop, so the train was already heading to storage and eventually cleaning. I went immediately to Deutsche Bahn, the German railway, and explained everything. However, it being a Saturday, any possible help was doomed to be moving very slow. You see, Germany (and most of Europe) essentially shuts down for the weekend on Friday night. The short end of a long story is that after almost four hours of investigation between DB and the local police, the bag was never found. The police told me that it happens all the time that service teams on the trains take and keep things that they find. I’ll write to DB again and press the matter of looking into lost and found and such as that, but that’s the last hope.

We all know what happened next: I was stuck yet again, this time in Berlin and with no passport, documents, cards, or money, and my flight home was due to leave in less than 24 hours.

A lucid mind is a virtue in situations like this, so the only thing left to do was keep my wits about me, stop and pray, and get the mess cleaned up. The U.S. consulate wouldn’t be open again until Monday morning. I needed a place to stay, food to eat, some kind of documentation, and to cancel my flight and bank card. One phone call later, everything was possible.

Before I go on, I really feel I have to insert something. I’m not sure what you believe or what your feelings are on God, but you all know well that I’m a firm believer. I hope it comes to neither shock nor surprise that I have to thank my Father God in so many ways for carrying me through the last several days. As the story unfolds for you, you’ll see what I mean. At every step of the long and winding journey, He put me in the hands of benevolent and caring people that each played a part in getting me closer and closer to home. I’ve been saying from the start that I fly on the wings of angels, and I mean it now more so than I have since I started.

The phone call was to Katrin, my friend in Hamburg, and after hearing my story, the wonderful conductor let me ride the train to get to her without a ticket and without paying a single euro. That evening, Katrin and her boyfriend gave me food and a place to stay and let me use the internet to organize everything. On Sunday night, I was on an over-night bus to Frankfurt where I would arrive at the consulate bright and early before opening time. There, I was ushered through the process with more ease than humanly imaginable. With the help of more than one person, I got my new passport in less than an hour and was sent to a print shop where I could maybe possibly use the internet to get my new flight. I went and they not only let me use the internet, but they let me stay and sit inside and they gave me water to drink while I was there for several hours emailing my dear mom while she booked the flight and talked with the airlines. I found every excuse to print pages off so that I could pay them back for their help.

That night, I stayed in a hotel near the airport and the next day was to board a flight to Paris that would eventually lead me home. I won’t hide some bumpy stops along the way – like my race through the entire Paris airport to catch a flight that would leave within twenty minutes – but I made it all the way back and was on American soil late last night.

My adventure isn’t over, however. Already I’m off again, halfway along to my next destination.

My family met me at the airport with a car full of my clothes and things for my next trip: my summer job at a kid’s camp in Texas. I’ll be working as a nature guide and a lifeguard (I think?) among other things for the next three weeks, and I won’t arrive back until the 1^st of August. I repacked, caught about three hours of sleep, and said good bye to my family again before getting ready to board my flight.

I move pretty fast, so it’s nothing new to me. Just going right along. Can’t say I’ve ever worked at a kid’s camp before, so that’s another dive into the unknown. Guess it’s just another adventure waiting to unfold.

I’m Jonathon, and this is my life.

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An Intimate Show

Happy Spring Break!

Well, at least to me and the rest of the university - that famous and infamous week off of classes has finally begun. I'm extremely ready for it.

This year for Spring Break, I'm off to visit my aunts and uncles in the Northeast. I'm flying to New York City to stay with my Aunt Tammy and her beaux John and to visit my Uncle Lee. Then midweek I am taking a train down to Connecticutt to stay with my Uncle Dan, Aunt Rachel, and little cousins until Sunday. I haven't seen Aunt Tammy in  maybe a year and a half and haven't seen Aunt Rachel since Thanksgiving two years ago, so it's a good opportunity to drop in and say hello.

Today, due to some booking and other issues, will just be a commute day for me, so my flight leaves later tonight for La Guardia. I'm hanging out at the airport writing to you right now, but that is boring.
Let me instead take you back momentarily to last night for a little bit more interesting of a story...



I had a full, free night before I had to leave and (what I thought would be) an early flight the next morning, so I had already left the university and was staying in Birmingham. I didn't want to waste the opportunity though - surely there was something cool and fun to do in town.

So I stumbled upon a concert thing downtown. It said that Matthew Perryman Jones and Hannah Miller were playing at The Dark Room. It didn't cost much, so I decided I would go.

I called the venue's phone number and got the personal voice mail of someone named Caleb. Part of me wanted to believe that it was a wrong number, but I figured that maybe he was the manager or something. When he called me back, I asked about tickets options and found that there were still spots available. I remember reading 75 people or something like that, so I figured it wouldn't be too difficult to be one of seventy-five late arrivals to get tickets, so I asked him to make sure I would get one. I got directions, thanked the gentleman, and headed down.

When I got there, it took a while to find the spot: I was directed to a little appartment building where I had to buzz in to get him to open the front door. After winding my way around the top floor hallways a while, I showed up at the front door to room 509 where a piece of paper told me that I had arrived.
Turned out that the 75 people were the most possible that the venue could hold.

The Dark Room is the name for the converted private penthouse photography studio in the Phoenix Building on 2nd Ave. N and 17th. The studio - A. Bryan Photo Studio - was dark, strung with little lights on strings and lit with tea candles on the tables and in the window sills. Little mason jar candles sat on the tables here and there and the living room floor was spread with cushions and pillows surrounded by the couches and chairs. The refreshments were a fridge full of drinks and a little bowl filled with packets of peanut butter M&M's.
These photos that I got with my cell phone aren't especially great, but I hope that they convey the ambiance.

I believe the correct term is "House Show" but whatever it was, it was relaxed, peaceful, and intimate. Just you and the music. Sit back on the couch or lay down on the pillows on the floor, holding your loved one dear while Matthew and Hannah sing.

Caleb welcoming everybody to the performance.

Hannah Miller, performing her first song of the night

Hannah and Matthew playing together

Hannah Miller

Matthew Perryman Jones

I have never had a nicer music experience. I sat down on the couch while they performed right in front of me. In all truth and honesty, prior to last night, I had not known of either Mr. Jones or Mrs. Miller, but I was very very pleasantly surprised in so many ways.

The candles and little lights set a kind of mood lighting that perfectly suited the singer-song writer style of the two musicians. People chatted and hung out while the house music played and as soon as the artists were ready, conversation quieted and everyone gathered close to hear them play, like school children at story time. It was so personal and close, it made me feel like this is the way that music is supposed to be heard. She wasn't playing for 40,000 others and me. He wasn't making jokes for stadium seating. It was like a talent show at a family reunion. She knew some of the people in the crowd. He was good friends with the couple sitting next to me. They played their hearts out for no one but the twenty/thirty odd people in the room. I won't lie saying that I felt a little bit criminal taking pictures and videos because the whole evening had such a close, special feeling.

Of course, the best part was the sound.

Hannah Miller kicked off the night.

Here's Hannah sitting on the pillows in front of my couch
while Matthew prepared.

Hannah Miller has a perfectly lovely voice, and a warm and friendly guitar playing style. Her songs come from her artist heart and they are about sadness and love and doubters and dreamers. She plays a little with her husband who has a personal music career as well.
She is a nice girl. I talked to her a little in the intermission between her song set and Matthew's. It was just like meeting somebody at a little social event. I enjoyed her company and she told me a little bit about her music career and the time that she has spent as a musician. She seems to really enjoy it, and loves the artistic aspect of it.


I wish I could go on - she was amazing.

I was able to get some videos of a few of her performances, but I thought that this one was the best. This is a song from the EP called Doubters and Dreamers that she is releasing soon. The song has the tagline for the album, but I regret that I have misplaced the actual name of the song. If you want to find out, I think she'd appreciate you looking up her album. Anyway, I thought you guys might appreciate hearing how awesome she sounded from my perspective.

After an intermission, Matthew Perryman Jones stepped across the moat of pillows and into the little stage circle.

I ran into Matthew during intermission and briefly introduced myself. I had been clued in on everything about him by the lady who shared my couch, but having never heard any of his work, I had to awkwardly admit my ignorance. I asked him what kind of music he played and he admitted that he simply didn't know. I really enjoyed my encounter with him though. He was very open and friendly, humble, and a little bit shy and awkward, but with an evidently big heart and a love for life and beauty.

How can I describe his music? You can hear how much he loves it. That I will say.
Later research found that he has done a lot of songs for TV shows like Grey's Anatomy, One Tree Hill,  Kyle XY, and more. There is a simple beauty to his sound. I had two favorite songs of his by the end of the night. My absolute favorite was one that was he wrote for his wife, called "Megan's Song". He said that she had been having trouble sleeping, so he wrote it to try to help her and it was passed down to each of his daughters. I did not record that one and I think that that is better. It was a little bit too specially to be recorded.
However, my other favorite was "Oh Theo". It was inspired by Vincent Van Gogh.
He talks a little bit about it in the introduction to this video, and he says that it's on the EP he is releasing soon...

A little bit after the show, I told him that I decided his music genre is just music.

It was an evening of just listening to music and...people. After the music stopped, Caleb thanked everyone and we hung out. I talked to Matthew about...life?...and had a really pleasant one on one with him. Later, when I was helping them break down and pack up, I met and talked to Hannah's husband as well, about college, careers, family, and what we love to do.
Oh well, guess I'm a bit of of a conversation bug.

I still can't get over how great that felt as a way to just listen and enjoy music. I highly recommend it.

I have to go soon - in a little bit I will be soaring over city lights and tiny toy cars.
Just another step in my adventure. Just what I do.

I'm Jonathon and this is my life.




http://hannahmillermusic.com/
http://mpjmusic.com/
http://birmingham365.org/org/detail/220173011/The_Dark_Room

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