I just wanted to say hello. I've been reading every email you've sent!

I hope that things are still going well. I got back from sunny Palm Beach

last Saturday.. to cold rainy Ohio! Geez.... On the plane they thought my

laptop was a bomb. Anyway... take care! I hope you guys make it there

safely.. and soon!

Jim

 

 

 

At least if I remember the song correctly, there are a few lines that relate

to you in Columbus..."Now, the end is near, it's time to face my final

curtain..."

 

At least the December 25 one. It seems that once upon a time you had a New

Year's gig too, but among all the emails from "FreePussyAndAss@AOL.net" and

"FreeXXXForLife@AOL.net" and "HardCoreHolly@AOL.com" (There's a pattern here

that started after I ended up on the mailing list for some reason. Small

price to pay!) I must've missed that one.

 

Good luck if (assumption here) you and Jessica are *driving* out...across 80%

of the continent...in the middle of winter...not that there are any

weather-related problems in driving through the Rockies in December. Hey, I

managed to drive out here in July with the thermometer hovering near 110

degrees and my 10-year-old Plymouth overloaded to begin with, so you ought to

be able to make it too. Just pack the parka and skis, in case.

 

I don't get to check the AOL email more than weekly, but once you get to

California drop me a line. I'm living a few hours north of L.A. (OK, more

like an 8 to 10 hour drive, but I'm close enough to Tahoe, Reno, and even

Sacramento (capitol of the state...think of Columbus without OSU and

surrounded by rice fields instead of corn and soybeans), so you'd have one or

two people in the audience. Unfortunately the halfway point is San

Francisco, and I don't know if you'd have to tune the Bert & Ernie routines.

On the other hand, maybe the phrase "giddy up" will be the hottest thing on

the men-only club circuit in San Francisco in six months. And appearing

onstage in crotchless pants is a small price to pay for the, er, exposure.

 

Gotta run...Christmas eve and my job has kept me running so hard that this

has become The Day When All Shopping Must Be Done. Well, that and the bran

muffins.

 

- Jim

 

 

 

By now you ought to be in El Lay...may your first encounter with the freeway

system in that megalopolis (you have to fly in there some day to truly

appreciate it. At night. You start flying over the lights of the city about

forty minutes out; either an awe-inspiring sight or (thinking of all those

people living in what is naturally a waterless desert, dependant on a few

pipelines that any dedicated Greenpeace wackos with some C4 could take out,

easy, and leaving all those people pissed off big time in a city where

rioting is an after-church pasttime) kind of frightening.

 

Anyhow, tonight is 01/04/2K; I'm sitting on the living room floor reading

email with a fire burning in the fireplace and one annoyingly cute cat

stretched out next to me. The cats are part of the reason that I'm here

instead of Columbus; I basically had a laptop computer to take with me, but

my wife would have had three cats and a piano. It's about time to head to

bed, got to put a brown rice vegetarian casserole (welcome to California,

indeed!) away. Funny, I'm between assignments here, getting to putter around

the kitchen and do yardwork (34 bags of leaves! a cord of wood! tomorrow,

burning stuff and pruning trees!) and play with the annoyingly cute cats,

while my wife - who teaches voice at Butte College - is heavy into teaching a

"Jazz Appreciation" class and is frantically keeping at least one day ahead

of the students.

 

So anyhow...Los Angeles is very "beautiful people" oriented, filled with

self-obsessed individuals bordering on narcissistic, for whom the feelings

and needs of other human beings are a puzzle. Los Angeles is built in a

desert, and feels like it in summer. Better like a tan. Los Angeles is

built on dozens and dozens of fault lines, so that in a couple of weeks you

won't even notice the daily tremblors around 3.0 on the Richter scale.

 

You want to be famous? Lots of monumental things happened this past few

days. Charles Schultz retiring. Clayton Moore going on to the Last Roundup.

You've got a long road in front of you before "Adam Kontras sees Columbus

Ohio in the rearview mirror for the last time" gets up there on the scale of

monumental things. I'm not going to predict or guess the future, or how you

will end up; there are thousands of palmists and tarot readers and mentalists

and channelers and spiritual sooths and sayers in Los Angeles County to take

care of that. (And the 1-900 psychic hotlines...free when you call from

somebody else's phone!)

 

I wish you luck. Give me a month warning before you play in Tahoe and I'll

be there. (Hell, never thought I'd have a chance to catch your act after I

moved from Columbus to California, so once you move beyond lesbian biker bars

and zen macrobiotic Hare Krishna festivals, I'll be watching the email for

the schedule). And by the way, did you by any chance haul the CDs and Tapes

of Adam Kontras' Career, Part I with you? I better buy now before you decide

that you have "collectibles" and charge a premium. Especially now that

you've spend twice as much as planned on gasoline and are desparate for money.

 

OK...got to put that brown rice casserole away. And find a way to sneak out

for a Quarter Pounder with the extra-salted french fries tomorrow.

 

- Jim

 

 

 

Dude,

 

Well, coulda warned you about Arizona. It snows in the mountains there all

year long but you made it and thats cool. Hope everything works out. Hey,

started my new job yesterday. Very excited about it. If I do well I can

make 2 to 3 times as much as working at 5/3 Bank so "Screw You" Pat Fehring

heeheehee.

 

Later,

Michael

 

 

 

I'm really happy for you. I wish you all the best!!!

Danielle

(PS - I'll still always be your

#2 fan...who's #1? Jess, of course!) ;~D

 

 

 

please tell me who you are and how you got my address!!!! (But don't stop

sending me stuff =)

Charlotte

 

 

 

Hey Adam,

This Grier Johnson, I was friends with Matt Rogish among other people that enjoyed your show back in Ohio. I stayed on

your list when I moved to California cause it was cool to hear about some of the stuff going on in Ohio. I'm up north though

near San fran, but it would still be cool if you could let me know when some of your show dates are, I'd like to fly down and

see your bits, I never got a chance to see them in Ohio. Good job on following your dream, I picked up and moved to cali

and I'm doing great... I love it out here. I hope everything works for you... and gas prices suck, don't they.

Grier

 

 

 

Hi guys! Hope all is well and you're settling in! I'm gonna miss the

pictures from the road - I feel like I'm watching an episode of Real World!

(Isn't that the name of that show on MTV?) Except cooler, because it's

people I know.

Palm trees sound pretty damn good right about now!

Jen

 

 

 

By now you should be in your new place, all unpacked and fully rested....Ha.

Hope everything went well on the last day.

Hope J-Dog recovers quickly...

 

Stephen

 

 

 

I just now got your first email from Missouri - don't know why other than I thought I didnot have to get on the net to retrieve

my new messages. Imagine that! This definitely brought tears to my eyes. Your Dad is so proud of you you have no idea.

Sunday after you left we both were in slow gear. I had to tell him everything he needed to do next as his mind was not

there. I went over to Maxine's that evening and we were talking and she was telling me about when Keith (her son) moved

to Florida. Thinking about you moving brought back all those feelings for her and her heart went out to your Dad. Never

having children, I do not know exactly that feeling but I do know that I have mixed emotions - strong emotions of

excitement and envy for you guys but I also feel a sense of loss as we will miss you. Thank God for the age of

technology! Your Dad and I were talking last evening after you called. He is so excited for you. You are living your dream

and his all at one time. No matter what road you take, your Dad is so very proud of you right now for following your dream.

He has total faith in you and what you are doing. He will miss you but we are both working hard to get through my job

transission and back on our feet so we can get out there to see you guys in the not too distant future. Our love to all of you

- J Dog too!

Lonna

 

 

 

You've always had the rare ability (and I do mean RARE) to step into

someone elses shoes. It's a gift...trust me. It's part of why I think

you'll 'make it' in this industry. Just remember...It's YOUR DREAM, and

yours alone. YOUR instincts and judgement will determine your success.

Period. Advice is just that...advice. It is usually not founded on

first-hand knowledge or experience and therefore cannot have any real

priorty in your decision-making. Use what you have inside you, not what

others try to give you. You've got what it takes and so far, you've used it

well.

 

By the way, I'm going to send you some of those pictures you referred to in

that e-mail.

 

Love, Dad