Since my big 3-0 is coming up and I'm narcissistic enough to write articles entirely about myself—here is a list of 30 fun facts about DJ:

FACT: Along with my older sister, I once microwaved the corpse of a dead toad until it exploded. Our plan was a miracle resurrection. The two of us were made to re-clean the microwave multiple times under parental supervision. The family never used it again.

Follow-up Fact: My Grandpa still thinks this is the funniest thing that has ever happened.

FACT: My favorite colors are black and white. Each time someone points out to me that "black is actually all colors" and "white is the absence of color," I thank them for their contribution to science. I then show them all of the black and white items in my possession before I kick them in the shin.

Follow-up fun fact: In kindergarten, a girl once told me that I didn't know how to color because I used the black crayon too much. I haven't touched a crayon since. (This fun fact is not entirely true.)

Follow-up fun fact #2: I grew up pronouncing "crayon" as "crown". Anybody with me on this? No? Alright.

Follow-up fun fact #3: I also didn't know there was a difference in the pronunciation of "pin" and "pen" until I was 19. I still feel shame about this.

FACT: My eldest sister took me to see a Led Zeppelin laser light show when I was 14. I had never heard Zeppelin before that day and I had only played a few grunge licks on guitar. It changed my life forever.

Follow-up fun fact: Laser light shows now make me sort of queasy.

FACT: I would totally be into being a scientist if there weren't so much math and science involved.

Follow-up fun fact: I really just want the lab coat.

Follow-up fun fact #2: I want a lab coat for my birthday.

FACT: I had a goal to visit all 50 states before age 30. My arbitrary rules stated that drive-throughs counted but airports did not. I made it to the contiguous 48. I have extended the deadline to age 31. Hawaii next week and Alaska this summer.

FACT: My new goal: All 193 recognized countries before death. I'm thinking of counting airports this time.

FACT: Current count: 7 with airports. 6 without.

FACT: As a child, I would occasionally get grounded from watching Cincinnati Reds games because I would get too angry.

FACT: As a child, I would occasionally get grounded from playing Nintendo® because I would get too angry.

FACT: I still have to stop myself from watching sports and playing video games when I start getting too upset.

FACT: Each year, I informally attempt to get myself to like a new food that I previously disliked.

 2005- Bell Peppers: YEP
 2006- Peas: DONE
 2007- Mushrooms: CONQUERED
 2008- Asparagus: VANQUISHED
 2009- Cucumbers: LOVE THE CUKES
 2010- Tomatoes: DOMINATED
 2011- Onions: STILL ON THE FENCE BUT IF THEY'RE COOKED, I'M GOOD
 2012- I'm thinking eggplant, mussels or zucchini 

FACT: I don't like feet.

FACT: Sometimes I sprint away from a basement or a dark place if I'm feeling a little freaked out. Yeah, I'm 30 years old.

FACT: The movie That Thing You Do! had an alarmingly influential role in determining what I wanted to do with my life.

FACT: My first public performance on guitar was the 9th grade talent show in which I played John Lennon's "Imagine" and Led Zeppelin's "Ten Years Gone" with my band GWC.

Follow-up Fun Fact: GWC stood for "Guitars, Women and Cars."

Follow-up Fun Fact #2: After GWC, the bands that I have been in with silly names:

 Satellite of Love
 Like Buttah (one performance)
 Tubb n' Chubb's Fat Funk Fiesta
 Brother Big Bad  

FACT: I have spent roughly 900 collective hours performing in full cowboy garb. That's over a month if you add it all together.

FACT: My personal record for consecutive hours asleep: 15, when I was 15 years old. And no, I wasn't sick.

FACT: My personal record for consecutive hours awake: 40, when I was 16 years old. And no, I wasn't sick. But I felt like it.

FACT: My personal record for consecutive days without bathing or showering: 4, on tour in the UK when I was 25. The first place that was available was a bath without the option for a shower. It was almost worse than going for 5 days.

FACT: I once ate an entire canister of Planters Cheez Balls in one sitting.

FACT: I floss my teeth every night.

Bonus Fun Fact: I was hoping to be a bit more in shape at 30 (the canister of Cheez Balls probably didn't help with that) and I'll never be good at setting realistic goals for myself. But overall I'm pretty damn thrilled to be where I am at 30 years old. Thank you to all of you for helping me make it this far. Cheers!

Today was a big day.

I said goodbye to a friend who has been with me for over 7 years and every bit of 220,000 miles. That's right my Honda Odyssey, The Golden Dragon, is gone. She's gone.

Last known photograph

It was about time for some serious cash investment to keep her running at tip-top form and it just made more sense to part ways and put that money towards something with a little less mileage and abuse on it.

And while I try to be mostly logical about these sorts of decisions, I have to admit that the process of changing vehicles has been emotionally charged. I guess it's not too surprising considering what a big part of my life the van has been. I don't know if you've noticed, but I tend to spend a crapload of time traveling.

While the Golden Dragon wasn't my first car, she was there through extreme highs, lows and all transitions in between. She helped me move at least 10 times. She outlasted 3 long-term relationships. She was with me on the toughest road trip of my life (and even had a hand in some of the reasons why it was tough), not to mention dozens of others that were less traumatic but just as formative. And, most importantly for a vehicle, she ran smoothly for a vast majority of the time.

Having given TGD the proper emotional send-off, it's a vehicle. And I have to say I'm pretty excited about her replacement...

Ladies and gentlemen, meet:

Falkor, The White Dragon

That's correct, a gently used Honda Fit will be my new road companion. I'll have a little less storage room but a bit more zip and a lot less gas-guzzled. I'll let you know how I like the trade-off as we begin our new adventures together.

Thank you for allowing me to dedicate an entire blog entry to a proper goodbye for a reliable companion. You may now resume your regularly scheduled online consumption of output from people who are probably less crazy.

A year ago today I was admitted to a hospital in Seattle while on an extended road trip for a still-unidentified illness. Lots of people go through much worse much more often but for me, this was a scary time and sort of a benchmark for my life thus far.

The hospitalization itself taught me that:

1. Despite my history of a seemingly tough immune system, I shouldn't take my overall health for granted.

2. That I have an amazing friend in Seattle that will put his life on hold when my planned three-day visit turns into two weeks, take me into his home and rush me to seek medical attention whenever things get to be too much (even though we had only previously spent two weeks in the same town).

3. That my family will spend countless hours on the phone with me listening to deliriously babble about pain and hallucinations while carefully transcribing every single thing I say in order to track my condition.

4. And that the hospital is a really crappy place to try to get some sleep. Though, the medication certainly helps.

And as if those lessons weren't enough to ponder over and be grateful for, over the year since I have:

1. Made a full recovery, eventually gaining back all 25 of the pounds I lost during those two weeks in Seattle. (Yay?)

2. Watched my little stepsister get married and remembered at the reception that-- given the right circumstances-- I quite like to cut a rug.

3. Watched my oldest niece turn 16 (Yikes!), not to mention my other nieces and nephew turn 12, 12, 6 and 5-- I am officially feeling old.

4. Attended my 10-year high school reunion. Much less awkward than you might expect. I actually had a blast seeing everyone and hanging out.

5. Spent my first summer away from Medora, North Dakota since the age of 19 and attempted to launch a solo music career.

It seems appropriate that my first full band performance as a solo artist comes a year after my brief hospitalization. It serves as a nice bookend to a wild year.

The remainder of last year's road trip provided a vast array of experiences and memories despite my weakened state. Skip the photos and explanations below if you don't want to join me on a little trip down Memory Lane.

Before reaching Seattle, things were pretty glorious. I was just taking in the views and enjoying the drive.

My esteemed Seattle host, Matt, attempted to keep me busy and we saw some of the sights.

But eventually, it was too much and I landed in the hospital (the one from Grey's Anatomy even! Oh Em Gee!) I tried to keep it light while in recovery but the doctors and nurses didn't think I was very funny. C'est la vie.

After being released from the hospital (FREE AT LAST!) I made the long, arduous drive down to see some dear friends in San Francisco-- made longer and more arduous by the fact that I could no longer drive more than 3-4 hours at a time before being done for the day. It was in San Francisco that I began to regain my appetite, thanks to a Nashville friend who happened to be in town and his insistence that we all eat at PPQ Dungeness Island, mmmmmmm....

Best buddy Jacob in a park in SF.

I then got to hang with my uncle and cousin for a brief stay in central California. Just enough time for dinner and to watch the football game with the other Bengals fan in my family! Woo!

It just so happened that my good friend Vince was in LA the same time as I arrived. A visit with him to do some ocean swimming and to see a taping of the Ellen show did a TON to help my spirit and recovery.

I got to Vegas just in time to catch a flight to Boston for shows with my incredible friends in Goli. I could barely sing, but I managed to eek out performances in Boston, Worcester and NYC.

I made it back to Vegas in one piece and needed a day to crash. I slept most of the day away, but I did get to walk around the Strip a little bit before another early departure.

I thought it was pretty cool that I was in NYC for real and the New York, New York Casino within 24 hours of each other.

As a big giant nerd, seeing Meteor Crater in Arizona was also a huge highlight for me.

I made it to Albuquerque to hang with my cousin for a day. We ended up randomly going to see Passion Pit downtown, which was pretty darn cool. (No pictures, sorry.)

The rest of the trip back to Nashville was a slog. I still maxed out at around 5 hours of driving per day, so it took a good four days to get all of the way back. And about 40 miles outside of Nashville, this happened:

This story in and of itself would be an entire blog post but suffice to say: it was a tough day. Taking all of my stuff out of the middle of the van (remember, I still had ALL my stuff packed from a summer in ND) and putting on the spare on a narrow shoulder of a busy highway in a cold drizzle while still at about 40% strength was a challenge. Tack on to that a busted spare 10 minutes later, a hitched ride with a semi driver and a tow truck driver who couldn't find my van and I was ready to sleep for about a week straight.

Funny thing: a year later, and I wouldn't change a thing.