repressed childhood memory

I was hanging out with Jenn and her boys a few nights ago when one of them asked me a question... I don't remember exactly what the question was, but it was one that had an obvious answer... not really a rhetorical question, but one more like this: "Eric, is the moon made of cheese?"
Now, that wasn't the question he asked, but it was something that he obviously knew the correct answer to... at that moment a distant, foggy memory came rushing to my brain... and I immediately began laughing.
When Andrea and I were kids and would ask ridiculous questions like this, my mom and dad would say: "what do you think?" and we'd answer the 'obvious' question correctly... at that point my mother and father both would reply: "very good retarded child."
The more I thought about this, the more I laughed... I couldn't believe my parents called us retarded, but I remember laughing about it back then too... but I don't know why I would have thought that to be funny back then as an impressionable, fragile young boy...
Upon further investigation, I asked my dad about this scarring detail in my life... he immediately began to laugh uncontrollably. He told me the 'very good retarded child' line was a punch-line to a joke that he and my mom heard around that time and then just always used it around Andrea and I to make us laugh...
Don't think that my parents would call their children retards... on second thought, that could explain so much...... (:

sometimes

there is just nothing to write about.

I hate winter

my car got stuck today and the blower is broken... so no heat and no de-fog... perfect.
I'm so glad I bought a new car that doesn't even work.
I'm selling it and getting something with 4-wheel drive I decided this morning... I might change my mind here in a few minutes... we'll see.

thankfulness series: post three

with you I'm spoiled, without you I'm soiled...

happy holidays

let it... ugh... snow?

the worst part about snow is driving in it...
the best part about snow is that Jen looks like an angel in her little hat... (:

thankfulness series: post two

Seeing that I have had a lack of Internet and didn't really have any more opportunities to post during the week of thanksgiving, I will just post a collage of other things that I love and am grateful for...

thankfulness series: post one

Seeing that Thanksgiving is right around the corner I thought I would take some time in showing some appreciation for some of the people/things I am most thankful for… without further ado…



I am thankful for my beautiful mother. I have never known anyone more full of life and passion than this amazing woman. Her heart is so evidently displayed whenever she has something to share… most things being that of love and compassion for others… the way she talks about her friends who need Jesus and healing, orphaned babies in Romania, and especially her family. I don’t think I could even get started on how she feels about her family… I did not realize such love existed… I feel it every time I am around her, every time I hear her speak to me and every time I hear her speak about me. I love my mom deeper and richer than anything I have ever loved (next to Jesus)… Jesus may have loved me first, but my mother loved me the very second He spoke me into existence.
My mom has always been my biggest fan and number one supporter… If there is any self-confidence and social skills oozing from this once shy little blond haired, blue eyed, 45-pound five-year-old it’s because of what my mother has shown me. If there is any hint of respect and honor that I show girls it is because of what my mother has instilled in me. If there is anything I speak about truthfully or honestly, if there is any part of me that shows humility, integrity or if there were ways that prove me to be just, if there is anything inside of me that cries out for compassion, lives for joy or dreams for others, then I can not take any responsibility for these things. These are all things I have seen and continue to see displayed by my mother.
As I write this list, I can hear her specific words of counsel. My mom has always been so gifted in discerning right from wrong. There was never any question while I was growing up distinguishing between the two. It was always black and white and I am so grateful for being raised with that.
If you know my mom, I’m sure you all already know all of this and need to be reminded. If you don’t know my mom, I hope that now, you feel like you do… I would never want anyone else to take her place.

getchyo fitteds

if you haven't heard my brother's rap side project yet, be sure to listen in.
He's the one who raps second.
I'm sick today. I've felt it coming for a couple weeks... allergies/sinus/cold stuff... sucks...
Meanwhile the Lions are 6-2. It's about time they're playing well.

fall is here

I love this time of year... I love wearing jackets, long pants, beanies, turning the heat on in your car first thing in the morning to take the edge off the chill in the air. There's nothing quite like the month of October... baseball playoffs, football season, my birthday, halloween, the leaves... it's the best month there is... hands down.
I hit the road again sunday for about a week or so... we'll be in Colorado and Louisiana. Not too close to each other.... will surely make for some long days in the good ol' van.
The holidays are just around the corner as well.... I am already feeling the pressure of family issues coming down on me as they approach. It's going to be interesting juggling thanksgiving and christmas around my mom and my dad especially with the dynamics of andrea and the boys needing to try to juggle their families as well. Nothing will be the same and that's hard to come to grips with. I've always valued my family being together on the holidays... and I'll never get that back...
At least it's October... for another week anyway.... that makes me happy...
that and my previous post. (:

drum roll...

I know you are all anxiously awaiting the details of this new development in my life... without further adou.. let me introduce to you my girlfriend.. Jennifer...
she's the best. (:


If you're lucky you may get to meet her someday... I'm sure glad I did...

home for a week...

it's been a good week... I have been home from tour for seven days.
A lot has happened... two of my best friends got married (Nate and Holly)... I was able to re-connect with a lot of people I hadn't seen in a while and had a great time at the rehearsal dinner as well as the wedding and reception....
I have also just been able to spend a lot of time with close friends and family... which is always good.
I didn't realize how much I have missed being at a church, being a part of corporate worship and being fed by some good preaching... I really enjoyed that today... so much in fact that I went to Lakeshore Community Church this morning and Mars Hill this evening...
There is also another new development in the 'relationship' area of my life which most of you who are close to me know already, but more details to come with that in the near future.... (:

my 205th post!!

I missed my 200th post a few days back so I thought I would take the time to at least celebrate something.... better than my 28th birthday which is one week from today...
I've had this blog for just over two years now... an average of 100 posts per year isn't too bad in the blogger world I suppose... it's been quite a journey... for those of you who follow my life and it's ins and outs know how crazy things have been!
The latest chapter of my life has been an awkward one... one I didn't really see coming... stepping away from my job at the church was not an easy decision... I really thought I would gain some sense of clarity about my future while I'm on the road, but sometimes I sit back and think that I'm just more confused... maybe confused isn't the right word... the biggest question that I wanted answered was whether or not I wanted to immediately jump back into full-time ministry when the tour is over... and I still feel like I don't know... I hope and pray that it will be clear to me at the right time.
On a lighter note, I had Chipotle for dinner tonight in Ohio... it was awesome. and by the way, if you haven't checked out AG Silver's music yet, do yourself a favor and do so immediately... you will never regret it the rest of your life...
Traveling has been great... I wish I could see every inch of the whole world, but if I traveled to a different place every day of my life from here on out I still wouldn't even come close... oh well... at least I have this time to do a little traveling in the U.S!!

middle-of-nowhere, massachusetts

9/26, MCLA
soooo... we may or may have not drove 60 miles out of our way today... but we did.
what a beautiful ride though... rolling green hills, pastures of sunflowers, cottages on perfect little hills... breathtaking.
a great show tonght too... our last college show til mid-october. there were about 50 people there, but they were loving every second of it...
we're off for the next two days now... saturday night we play a festival in Cinci.... then home sunday...
miss you all...

my first trip to New Hampshire...

...was a memorable one...
Plymouth State University: 9/25/07
We may or may not have set the smoke alarm off with our hazer mid-way through the show... I am still holding to the theory of a disgruntled campus safety worker tripping the alarm to prove a point... but none-the-less, it went off and the building was evacuated... after a 20 minute delay AG Silver finished the show strongly without losing any listeners...
P.S. New Hampshire is beautiful... many rolling mountains and forests... much like Vermont...
back to Massachusetts tomorrow!

I think I'll go to boston...

the last two days we've had off and today we decided to hang out in boston... it is a very historic city. we saw Paul Revere's house and gravesite, the building where the boston tea party started, the first church built here, fenway park... etc... I'm feeling pretty sick today too so I did as much as I could until my body told me to stop and get some rest...
tomorrow we have a show in Newton, MA. it's the start of our last week for this leg of the tour... I'll be home one week from today!

Middlebury, Vermont

My first time ever in Vermont... driving into the town was so awesome... there mountains and lakes... and the sun was going down over the mountains, shimmering off the glassy water... gorgeous! We also drove past a church with a sign out front that said: Pastor Michael Richards... nice.
Tonight's show was a good one... it sounded great, and there were about 65 students there who were very interactive..
I'll be home a week from Sunday!

New Joisey

New Jersey Institute of Techmology (NJIT)... 9/20/07
This was a fun show... it was definately a 'bar' atmosphere and there were some really fun people there.. they didn't have adequate power there so the light show kept cutting in and out and eventually we just used the stage lights that were already there in the venue....
something funny that happened when we got to our hotel after the show... we checked in and went to our room, opened the door and there was a dude in the bed sleeping... so he was mad.... so we got a new room... only to find a half-eaten quiznos sub and a coffee on our desk and a light on... oh lovely New Jersey!

ghetto-fabulous

Albertus Magnus College: 9/19/07
I thought Muskegon Heights was the mecca of all ghettos until I visited New Haven, Connecticut.
The campus was really nice, but the town surrounding was a bit sketch...
It was an alright show... it was in a really cool atmosphere and the lights looked sweet tonight... enjoy the pics...

70 screaming girls

Bay Path College... 9/18/07
An all-girls school... one word for ya... 'yikes'
I wasn't able to get many photos here because all the girls were at the 'stage' which was actually down in this little fire-place area.... it was a cool atmosphere... it was definately our most 'lively' crowd.... these girls were cheering pretty loudly... we sold a TON of merch too... some of the girls even said they were coming to our next show tomorow night which is about 45 minutes away...
it's past midnight now and we haven't even started tearing down yet... and I'm exhausted... good times.

a much needed day off...

after 5 straight days of shows, today we had a day off... now we have five more in a row... starting tomorrow... well, today... since it's past midnight... this is our 10th day in I believe... It's absolutely flying by...
on our day off we did some laundry, got our van's oil changed, and played some tennis... well, I watched the guys play tennis while I made some phone calls to upcoming venues... then we traveled thru Maryland, Delware, New Jersey and tonight we're in Connecticut. Our show tomorrow night is at Bay Path College.. an all-girls school... I've been talking with the director of the event over the past few days and she said there was a banner hanging up there that says '4 Hot Guys' are coming to campus to put on a rock and roll show... I guess they're all really excited about having boys on their campus... we'll see how it goes... (:
I've really been having a blast out here on the road... it's like a road trip with good buddies that just never ends... hopefully we don't get sick of each other, but so far so good...

by the way, 20 years ago today, my baby brother was born... Happy Birthday Nick... I grow more proud of you by the day... love you man.

peace.

Terrapin Nation

9/16/07
University of Maryland...
Our best show yet... we were tucked between 3 dorms and the cafeteria where the students in those three dorms eat their dinner... there were about 75 students who were there... but many were filtering through... and we sold 47 CD's... so that's a good percentage.
it was a low-stress show... the student volunteers there were so helpful... one guy bought us all dinner at the cafeteria on his student account, so we gave him a free shirt... it was a beautiful day today too... it was nice and cool...
enjoy the pics!! miss you all.... (:

College of William & Mary

9/15/07
this was a tailgate party for the football game today.... W & M vs. Liberty.
kind of a weird show... there were like 100 students or so meandering about, but we only saw maybe 10 of them actually paying attention... we sold 6 CD's... nice.
(:
it's been fun... and it is a beautiful day!!
thanks to you all who have been praying for me!

Virginia Wesleyan

9/14/07
interesting... I saw four different people smoking on campus, and later found out that drinking was permitted there as well... we asked some people if they were 'wesleyan' and they looked at us like we were retarded monkeys. anyway, a fun show all-together... we finally were able to use our fog machine too...

about 35 catholics...

9/13/07 Catholic University of America... Washington DC
not a huge crowd tonight... about 35 to be exact... but all 35 absolutely loved the show... including the tour manager.
a few things I learned today:
#1) Washington DC is over-rated
#2) don't walk in uncharted grass in the dark... (see video blog on myspace.com/agsilver)
#3) sleep is not over-rated
By the way, there is a huge church on this campus that is unbelievable. I can't even describe how ridiculous this place was... maybe if you did a google search for it you could find pictures... I didn't bring my camera when I went inside this place...

St. Mary's College

9/12/07
This was a fun show... there were about 100 students here for this one... we had some technical difficulties with the power, but made it through... I was trying to be the sound man, merch guy and photographer at the same time, so I wasn't able to get the best shots of this show, but had to at least get a few...
I'm still having a great time!
I really thought God would be showing me so much during this time and he has... it's been different then my expectations, but I'm used to that when I want to grow in a certain way or learn a certain thing... but that's a good thing...

I dub thee, Lord Fairfax

show #2.... Lord Fairfax Community College: Warrenton, Virginia
we set up yesterday and took our time... we tweaked what we didn't have time to tweak in Hanover... this afternoon was the show... it sounded really good... not a whole lot of people there, but this was a last-minute throw-together type of show...
I've been having such a great time doing this job! It can be stressful at times with securing contracts and being the 'heavy' when making sure the venue is complying with EVERY detail of the rider agreement and contract... but other than that it is great!
hope you enjoy the pictures!!