August 16, 2004 

It's been sixteen days now and I still haven't heard a word from Reyes. I've been calling him on his cell phone but as usual he's not answering. That is a common complaint from those who know him best. He hardly ever answers the phone. Taking it a step further, consider yourself luccccckkkkyyyy if he even returns your call. I've been in a state of panic as of late because we have a gig that is part of a huge festival in the south of France. The gig is in three days and there is no sign of Reyes. I've had to play guitar during rehearsals and that's not a good thing. If you've ever heard me play you know that I am NOT an accomplished guitarist. I was a drummer before I was a singer, therefore, I can beat the guitar better than I can play it. I've written a few songs on the guitar but I know it's as a result of some massive divine intervention.

I last saw René when we were on the island of Kauai vacationing. A few of us had gone to the island as a getaway of sorts. We had been sharing a drink and talking about how nice it was to be in the company of beautiful women and good friends. René had mentioned to me that he was thinking of going back to Texas to work in a cotton field located 20 miles outside of Robstown which is a small community close to Corpus Christi. René has this very bizarre fascination with cotton. He is EXTREMELY particular over which grade of cotton he wears. This has always been the case. In a second he would give up his music career to spend his life around fine cotton.

He once informed me that his true dream in life was to live in Turkey just to be around the finest cotton in the world. "Turkey is the land of fine cotton, the land where cotton reigns supreme," he said. I told him all this talk about cotton was freaking me out and that I was going up to the beach house to shower then get ready for the evening and that we'd catch up later when we all got together for dinner. Well, we showed up for dinner that night but René was nowhere to be found. We have since returned from Kawai and he's still nowhere to be found. I last saw him and Norma looking pensive and drinking mojitos on the beach. Who is Norma? Perhaps that's a story for another page. In any event, I've tried calling him on his cell phone but...

This isn't the first time something like this has happened. As a matter of fact it's happened dozens of times. He disappears then magically reappears. There have been times in recent years where he has been missing for weeks then casually joins in as we're walking onto the stage. No words, no explanation! 

We leave tomorrow!!!!!!