“i like to think of him as a real life cartoon character” – the neighbor’s opinion of my father.

brosis

as a child, my sister mary & i were always really close. three years apart in age but practically twins.

 

i’ve had a short break from touring lately. i spent it in cincinnati with my biological father. we had a chance to catch up with each others lives and look at old family photos.

house

he lives in an old house on a hill above the city. the area is called “mount adams”

adams-view

i saw some great views of cincinnati from up on the hill. it was very relaxing. a much needed break from touring.

 

and i spent some time with my biological father. he hadn’t been in my life for over 20 years. now i’ve had the chance to really get to know him. and he’s had the chance to know me. it takes more than a few days to really comprehend one’s character.

baseball

and baseball. it takes baseball. baseball with my father and half brother. i think this is the second game i’ve ever been to in my life.

 

my brother nick is quite the skateboarder.

skater

i even helped nick make a skate video while i was in town. it was a lot of fun to hang out. i spent the majority of my life with three sisters and two mothers. it’s nice to have a brother.

 

myras-dionysus

best vegan food in cincinnati? glad you asked! myra’s dionysus. delicious!

 

dumpster

although who needs gourmet vegan cooking when you can just dumpster dive with dad? he likes the local bakery a short walk from his house in mount adams.

 

owen

i won two free tickets to see owen pallet in downtown cincy. how funny is that? i’m just passing through town and i win tickets to see another looping violinist in concert. haha.

 

sambeam

and i saw iron and wine in concert across the river in kentucky. awesome! i was standing right up front with all the teenie boppers. before the show started there was a circle of teenage girls behind me huddled in a circle, like they were keeping warm by fire. what were they doing? mass texting. they all had their blackberries and iphones out.

 

bonnaroo

and i had tickets for bonnaroo too. but i didn’t go. sigh. instead i prepared for being back on the road.

 

violins

i did some much needed maintenance on my violins… repairing finicky tuning pegs and rehairing my bow.

 

visuals

and i pimped out my live show with even better visuals than before. these next two months of performances are going to be amazing. if you have the chance, come out to one of these shows. you won’t regret it.

 

superman

and of course i spent a lot of time on the computer booking more shows.

 

it was great having a break. and it was great spending it with family. but now it’s back on the road for me. hope to see you out there!

-marc

p.s. i found this bench-view of kentucky where i enjoyed reading a book or two.

reading