Paranoia or are they out to get me?

It seems a running joke towards Americans here is forewarning us to either be silent or behave especially well around certain individuals due to a great disdain towards my native land.

The way in which this "joke" is presented baffles me: is he serious? Might I upset this A&R guy? Will that bartender spit in my beer for ordering in English? Will this shop attendant give me intentionally wrong directions? Sarcasm translates as a dead serious statement. It is hard to appear dry and cynical when one stumbles over words. If the comic concentrates hard enough on the proper English, he or she forgets to display the twinkle in the eye, the wry smirk, or the eye roll. Maybe I should just tell people I'm from Canada and see how their reactions may change.

Today we had a long break between load in and sound check--around 5 hours. Therefore, I sat comfortably scrolling through my iPod to find music I have not listened to for one reason or another and actually enjoy it. The Guillemots were great, Peter, Bjorn, and John's Writer's Block was also good. I chose to listen to the latter because I was able to meet John earlier this week. Very nice, very unassuming guy. If anyone has found anything truly amazing recently, please pass it along. I've heard great things about Fleet Foxes but haven't had a chance to listen to or even learn a thing about them.

Sitting in the green room listening to music and contemplating my origins today, I noticed two tea candles on the table and I wondered: what is it about candles or contained fire in general that is comforting? The small amount of light they put out is romantic in a restaurant setting but frighteningly unhelpful in total darkness. Is it human nature to, even now in the 21st century, amaze ourselves in the discovery to cultivate fire? Our ability to overcome what once alluded us for thousands of years? I'm not sure but I will allow myself to be pulled blindly toward the softly flickering light time after time.

I ramble because I'm quickly running out of book. We have, I believe, 20 shows left in Sweden and I've already finished The Corrections, Why White Kids Love Hip-Hop, and American Pastoral. Today alone I read half of Made to Stick and after that it's a thin Elmore Leonard novel and a John Grisham legal "thriller"--gross.

I do know of a Swedish bookstore with a variety of English titles as well as a record store with various music themed books but it would cost me $15 round trip for a one day train pass. Oh well, I don't have much choice. $10 says the bookstore has stacks and stacks of Stephen King, Jeffrey Deaver, Dean Koontz, and other horribly boring fiction while carrying nothing of interest to me. Maybe they'll have a sweet used section full of heavy paperbacks tourists didn't want to take back with them in lieu of all the heavy Swedish stuff they bought while on vacation escaping the doldrums of reality television, fast food, and shopping malls. Little did they know that they would be watching nothing but reality TV in Sweden (many stations carry it), eating fast food (easy to understand menus), and shopping in malls (there are tons of them here).

Either way, I need something to fill my time otherwise I'll just it around and know what it means to miss New Orleans while thinking nonstop about this cold that refuses to die. I think it's my body telling me to head West.