01/02/08, Thank You Adrienne Below is a letter from Adrianne D. Her letter is why Lovedrug is able to keep doing this thing called music. Thank you Adrienne. Dear Michael, David, Korey and James: I just wanted to take some time to personally thank each of you for "Everything Starts Where It Ends" and your performance. I had the chance to see you guys in June in Lawrence, Kan. I had never heard Lovedrug before, but I instantly found a personal connection with the music. My best friend and I met you guys at the merch table after the show, and we were so impressed with your down-to-earth personalities and kindness. It was a highlight of my summer. "Everything Starts Where It Ends" is my favorite album of 2007 and of all time. I connect with its songs on so many levels, and the music always helps me with the rough and good days alike. I listen to "Happy Apple Poison" while at the gym. "Salt of the Earth" is on my iPod when I am working late at night for my university's newspaper. "American Swimming Lesson" is what I listen to when I am mad at the world and U.S. society. The most important song to me is "Everything Starts Where It Ends." I had a lot of heartbreak in 2007, and the song gives me so much hope for the future, especially the line "Wake up/You're alive/We're on your side." It sounds really cheesy, but whenever I am so sad and cannot physically get out of bed, I remember that line and your guys' friendly faces from June, and it all seems OK. Also, I admire you guys for continuing your tour after your van and trailer were stolen and ruined. Most people would have given up, but you guys refused to, and I think that shows great courage and strength of character. Lovedrug isn't a modern-day rock band. You guys have class. You work hard, and your music is poetic with a message and connection. I truly respect that, and I am sure many other fans do as well. Thank you guys so much, again, and I look forward to future albums and shows. Take care, and have a very happy new year. Sincerely, Adrianne D. 12/27/07, The Ascent: A Recent Search for Inspiration and Deeper Meaning DAY 1 I landed today in the depths, below the sterile sky, a place abandoned by God after creation; barely touched by man. Unscathed, un-raped; this is true light. It slowly comes to reveal its' nature to me. For here pure good and pure evil share the same calm bed. And when it stretches out before you in a blank stare from the universe, the silent still and the savage storm bring forth the same fear to this lone soul standing here, staring into the empty beyond. Somewhere out here there is understanding. The only question is will I find it, or will it find me? And here, at the edge of the world, I can only imagine that the easiest way to find something I don't know how to look for is to simply look at everything I have never looked at ever before. And so, possibly for the first time in my life, I open my eyes. DAY 2 No sleep last night; eyes closed and still all I see is white. Thoughts of the mysterious clamor my weakest waking dreams here, during the wind kings reign outside my small tented corner of this very large world. The mornings fist attempt at climb frightly slow adjustment to these surroundings. Confusion and abnormality pause my body and make it complain due to life too used to mild comfort. For here my body is my prison, my mind my cellmate, and my body can't yet understand my intentions, my dreams, my desires that I wish so desperately to accomplish here in this place. Time moves slow as seconds become hours in the hyper pulse of my hearts accelerated beat. Nothing done, little accomplished, but yet, one day closer; closer to freedom, closer to something. DAY 3 I am slowly becoming more accustomed to my surroundings. The wind is rushing down from somewhere up the mountain. I can only imagine the Yeti up there, blending into the mountainside, eyeing my every move. He breathes out and the winds grow stronger, barreling downward far below until it reaches my face and chills my bones. If he is up there at all, he waits for something unknown to me. Regardless, I journey upward. DAY 4 The sun comes to life as it rises over the hills in the distance. It is so bright that for a moment I believe in God again. But once my eyes focused and my body adjusted to the light I realized there was no warmth. And if this was God then He is a cruel jokester; providing the light and denying the warmth. But truly this is just a mild spectacle and a distraction from the unsettling and even more unnerving sounds I heard last night during my lack of dreams. Tiny clawing feet were everywhere, all around me. Were I not paralyzed by fear I would've attempted to look outside my tent to behold what horrors made those sounds. But alas I could not and today I am left with the equally crippling notions that either I imagined these terrible noises or indeed there are in fact some unknown heinous beasts out there that are now very aware of my apparently imposing presence in their land. Fear grips me, my brain tightens and onward I journey up the mountain. Dusk arrives and I grow restless. My legs and feet are cold. numb lead. Things grow more desperate at night; more depressed, more lonely. The desire for warmth is as unbelievable as my hunger. DAY 5 Awake. I can sense that the sun is about to rise, which brings with it a sense of accomplishment; another day survived. Lying here I stare at the top of my tent remembering as last night I was once again awakened by scratching, clawing sounds amplified outside in the snow, becoming more of a reality and less chance a figment of my imagination. I attempted to open my tent slightly to see what was making these horrible sounds, but when my fingers touched the zip door to my tent the sounds fell silent and retreated. It took me sometime to fall back to sleep again, but now having woken up here in the morning I am aware more than ever that I am being watched. After breakfast I packed and began the days hike with reluctance. An hour in and it begins to snow. A storm is coming. It hit without regard for anything human; encased in TV snow. It is too thick; too much for accepting resistance; for fighting ahead means pushing back at this point. Camp is difficult to make in this invasion of all things sensible. In the white I clamor to put myself together and survive the night. In the midst of the insanity I sensed something strange. The feeling again overcame me that I was indeed being watched. And swear I caught some eyes; blue eyes; glowing insatiable in the white. I am delusional. I am tired. I can't think. I must sleep. DAY 6 I awoke with the strangest feeling. It was as if a large blanket of numbing iron fur was laid upon me and I could not move. My eyes were hazy and my mind was filled with water. Drugged. Bewildered. Was I captive to some strange, evil force? What was happening!? It took several minutes for me to open my eyes and truly accept my surroundings. I turned my gaze to the right and could see my tent about fifty yards away. I was pinned anchored to the snow by invisible bindings. My God! I thought; have I been out here all night? Why didn't I freeze? I didn't even feel cold. What kind of magic could this be? I blinked a few times to focus and then that's when I saw it. The creature was small, about the size of a large raccoon. Its legs were tough and wiry like a chickens and its fur was grey and swayed in the chilling wind. Its hands were oversized and claw like. Its arms were long. It had a long snout like a fox but teeth like a humans. I was a strange sight indeed and the creature was hunched over my pack by the tent, searching and clawing through my gear. It was searching for something. I refused to believe my eyes, but I couldn't stop staring, motionless. The creature stopped rummaging suddenly, jerked its head up and looked directly at me. It removed its claws from my pack and ran straight toward me. It practically glided over the snow as if weightless and stopped right next to my head. It reached its claw like hand down and into my mouth. I could not scream. I was wrought with fear. Its fingers felt like cold steel in my mouth. It grabbed hold of something and I was certain it would end me. But it did not. Instead it pulled from my mouth a small black glowing ball which the creature then crushed in its hand. The ball turned to dust and scattered in the wind. The creature slowly turned its gaze to me and for the first time we were staring right at each other. Its eyes were blazing blue and glowing as if to shield intruding looks from a universe of thought and knowledge. Out of innate reaction I closed my eyes and yelled silently in my skull. And then there was nothing. When I came to I was lying on my belly next to my tent and I was very cold. I jumped to my feet and darted my glances in a three hundred and sixty degree notion to but saw nothing. What had happened? The creature had let me live for reasons unknown. What was it searching for? I couldn't be sure. One thing however was clear to me, I couldn't turn back. And even though my logic and fear spoke differently I knew that I must continue forward. I packed and set afoot. It was already 10:30. Looking upward I could see the misty green cloud surrounding the next climb into the unknown. Something was up there, and it was allowing me to climb. I was no longer here on my own terms. DAY 7 Yesterdays climb was harder than usual due to my cluttered mind. I couldn't get that creature out of my mind. It was as if it had imprinted itself into my conscience and I could not escape it. Though today things seemed clearer and my food gave me gumption to take the days climb head on. My pack seemed lighter and my feet easier for the travel. I was pulling on my gloves when I noticed a deep cut on my right hand. I don't remember getting hurt or sustaining any injuries. Strange, it didn't hurt, though it was a dark red crimson and obviously quite deep. I retrieved my first aid kit from my pack and cleaned up the wound. It lightened a bit and I wrapped my hand with gauze. I put on my gloves and began walking. I looked up ahead to catch sight of several large rocks on a cliff sincerely up the mountain. One of them fell. My God! I thought; and avalanche! It felt like a wild river made of charging bulls rushing over my every intention. 400 tons of snow threw me around like a doll and then pushed me under for the final sleep. It buried me God knows how deep and left me unconscious. DAY 8 I came to suddenly with no idea what time it was. I couldn't move at all. The snow might have well as been a blanket of concrete. I was trapped, incredibly thirsty; numb from the waste down and completely certain that I'd suffered some sort of serious concussion. I could feel the warm blood dripping from the crown of my head, down my face and into my mouth where it turned to metal and gagged my will to stay clear and solace. Worst still I was feeling sleepy, and I knew this was a bad sign. For if I feel asleep now I might not wake up at all. I tried to keep my mind busy with logical issues such as math, geometry and religion but instead it wondered to other places. My fiancé was an extraordinary woman. She was an achiever. Her hair was dark brown, almost black, but she often colored it to a deep, deep red. Her skin was smooth like silk and she always smelled like a soft dream in the cool autumn wind. She was thin with gorgeous features. Her eyes changed colors with the rising and setting of the sun. They had speckles on them like stars which made her eyes so perfectly unique and beautiful that I got lost in them constantly; a sea of green and grey to beautiful brown with hints of blue. There was a universe behind her eyes that few got to see. I was so lucky. There was a grace in the way that she carried herself that you just knew she was off to accomplish something great. She never wasted time but always enjoyed the moment. Nothing slipped by unnoticed. There was beauty in the world and she saw it. She wrote poetry. Her words were perfect, though she never knew it. She was a far better pianist than I and her voice was angelic. Her singing relaxed my cluttered mind and made me feel calm. When her hand touched mine it was delicate and soft. Our hands fit almost perfectly together. Her laugh was amazing and it always made me smile. She challenged me, made me stronger, more outgoing more confident. She made me a better person. She sought adventure and chased her dreams. Her lips were soft but not submissive, sleek and wide with prestige. The lines that surrounded her mouth when she smiled exuded great character and tenderness. Her smile melted my heart every time I knew it was for me. She dressed with class and never spoke with obscenities. She had respect for people and she genuinely cared. We'd stay up late in my apartment, talking about everything silly and serious. She was like a fine wine and her taste was impeccable. She was my dearest and closest friend. The only person I could say anything to, my one and only best friend. My love for her was the truest and purest thing I'd ever known or felt, even though I didn't realize it until later. Time changes things. Memories fade into a dream like state of haze and romance. It is hard not to think on such things. And yet there is another; two actually. And then, like a television changes channels, there was rotten cole slaw, one piece of turkey and some rancid cold beans… then… click… Just snow. Had I dazed off? How long had I been trapped under this prison of snow and ice? I couldn't tell whether it was day or night. I moved my fingers a little. My face was frozen with tears. I am going to die here. DAY 9 Apparently, I did not wake. DAY 10 The sounds of a thousand birds' wings and marching centipedes filled my thoughts and soon my mind convinced my ears that it was real. I was awake, warm and wet. The snow was melting and I could see the first signs of light in this eternal drowning darkness. I must have passed out again; this time from hunger. For I awoke in a ten foot wide clean patch of green grass, warm and blinded by the sun. There was snow all around me but I was no longer wet. My pack lay beside me. I retrieved some food, devoured a small meal and investigated my surroundings. There were tracks leading to my clearing. Someone had saved me. Someone had managed to melt the ton of snow and ice on top of me, found my pack and given me a second chance at life here on this mysterious mountain. It was no longer fear that gripped me but a sense of gratitude instead. I strapped up, bundled myself and set forth on a new mission; I would find my savior. DAY 11 I followed the tracks for hours without pause to the base of my first real intense climb. It was a wall of sheer smooth rock and ice and it stretched upward and out of sight. The higher I grappled upward, the stronger the winds got. And after a few hours I stared below at an abyss of black cloud. I was in God's country now and few survived it. I knew that as the wind picked up it would be an easy slip to doom. And if it caught me right I'd be hurled hopelessly to my death. Frightly I had no choice but to stop for a couple hours of sleep. I strapped myself with ropes and rivets to the rock and closed my eyes, wrapped like a mummy. An hour passed and I continued my climb; the winds continued to be perilous. I needed a way to dodge this storm for a bit. Worry and doubts about my success on this journey began to cloud my energy and direction. DAY 12 The air got thinner as I climbed higher and higher. My arms were tired and cold to the bone. On top of this I was hearing music. My back hurts so badly. These fucking people are so ignorant and demeaning it insults my being and makes me cringe with every disgusting breather they muster. These people should rot in a cage for the rest of their lives. Cleanse the streets of these scum I say. For the first time in my life I feel like I can relate to God. He too wanted to wipe these bastards out… I understand His anger with us now. We are fools. …Click… Awake. Dangling from my rope on the ice cove, my face bloodied and bashed. I was a mutant weak force here. I must die. DAY 13 My God, I can't go on. Time stretches out here like the wave of a sand storm. It is relentless, pounding and cruel. It knows no mercy and brings with it a pool flooding my soul with regrets and past lives gone wrong. I've never seen myself in such light. I am a horrible creature. DAY 14 The bell. It rings. It rings. It rings. It rings. I can see her eyes through the not so distant darkening clouds. The snow flakes slow to a deafening pulse, turn over and stop in mid air, growing larger until the light catches their crystalline nature and reflects like a diamond in the clouds eye. Calm. Climb. Climb. Climb. Climb. Untouched air. Stealth black clouds filled with snow and death ice. Beauty is so very evil and pure sometimes. Climb and Climb. Ice ledge to rocky ice ledge and finally, a cave. DAY 15 The cave was considerably wide and deeper than my eyes could behold. It was an odd find up here in the mountain, but it was my salvation from the storm. For soon, without shelter, I felt as though my head would explode, my eyes bleed and my lungs would collapse. At least now if it were to happen it would happen in the solace of a dry cave. I started a fire and soon my grandest worries melted for a bit while I sat victorious in front of this warm and tender flame. I ate beans and a rancid excuse for food, but it filled my belly and I felt good. It wasn't long after that I fell asleep and wondered into the dream place. The prince had a nasty habit of getting what he wanted. Growing up with the endowments and riches beyond ones imagination has a way of turning what could be a potentially level headed individual into a savagely pompous non-thinker. For it took imagination to survive when you had nothing, but the Prince had much and hence would never understand the value of this moral. He was always surrounded by the newest, nicest fashions of clothes and extravagant entourages. He was rarely alone. And in the presence of his peers he felt rather obligated to fit the role which they so figured him to fill, the man of the hour. He was a competitive, pious flout with no regard for anyone but himself. His life was a routine portrayal of what poor men hate about riches. There was however one curious, dusty corner of the Princes life that he kept very much to himself. There was an inventor who lived in a medium sized shack in one particular corner of the poverty stricken kingdom, not far from the exuberant castle where the Prince lived so very well. This inventor was an odd man, very intelligent, wise beyond his years and he surrounded himself by his work. For he, unlike many in that day, believed that this world was but a mere stepping stone to something greater in life and we as its inhabitants had a duty to better ourselves and search for improvement. He pushed the human mind and spirit to its limits. He had grey and white hair, disheveled and unkempt. He wore spectacles that were held together by rotary wire and twine. His hands were thin, long and purposeful. He always wore a heavy apron and tool belt filled with tools of his own design. Today he worked on something very special and very secret. And today, being a Tuesday, the second Tuesday of the month in fact, was the day on which every month the Prince snuck gingerly from his castle and came to visit the inventor. Maybe it was because the inventor amused the Prince with all his gadgetry and foolishness, or maybe it was something more, none could be sure. Two knocks on the old wooden door and the Prince entered into the mysterious shop. The inventor greeted the Prince as usual with a warm smile and a nod. "What are you working on old timer?" said the Prince in a jovial tone. "Something incredible today my good Prince!" replied the inventor. "But it is not ready yet and a key element is missing. I must keep this secret. Come back in three months time and perhaps you can witness something grand." The Prince was disappointed and regretfully shuffled out of the shop. Time passed slowly, and even though it was against the inventor's instruction the Prince did attempt to visit the medium sized shack in that particular corner of the village. But there was nothing, the inventor was not there. The Prince soon slipped lazily back into his routine of yakking with the court maids and generally being himself. Then, in the dawn of the third month, early one morning there came quite a bustle all around the court and into the castle. The Prince awoke to sounds of great commotion and concern from down the hall. He walked down the hall to the council room where the doors were closed. He put a soft ear to the large wooden door and listened intently. "… and some shop maker in the 3rd quarter of the kingdom has found it sire! He fancies himself a magician of some sort we think." The Prince thought for a moment and knew they must be speaking of his friend, the inventor. "What is worst sire, the man may have discovered how to wield its' power!" 'We must stop him!" another voice cried out. A moment of silence passed and then the Prince recognized his Fathers voice. "Send the guards to arrange and pick up this shop maker, seize his materials and bring him to me." The Prince ran back to his room and dressed quickly. He then rushed quietly and undetected from the castle out of a secret passage through the garden pass and into the 3rd quarter of the village. He rushed into the inventors shop this time without his normal, jovial knock and looked around in worry. He spotted the inventor hunched over a lantern in the darkest corner of the dusty shop. "Good sir!" he cried. "The Kings guards come now to seize you and whatever magic you take work upon!" "Make haste, for they shall be here at any moment!" The inventor raised a bloodshot eye to the Prince as if he barely acknowledged his presence or what he had just said. "Good Sir!!" repeated the Prince. But before he could again state his warning there came a pounding at the door. It was the Kings guards. "Open up, in the name of the King, shop maker!" The shop maker darted from his seat with determination and crazed fright in his eyes. He grabbed the Prince, shoved a small satchel in his hands, pulled him back against the dark wall and shoved him until he fell over backwards through a section of wall that gave way not unlike a trap door, and then snapped back leaving the Prince completely hidden and surrounded by dust covered relics and stacks of books in other languages. The inventor was halfway across the room when the door burst open and the guards seized him angrily. For no one stand make the Kings guards wait for anything. It took several hours or waiting before the last of the guards cleared out the remainder of tools and strange objects from the inventors now barren shack. It was about dark in fact when the Prince finally ventured out of the hiding place that he was so abruptly forced into. He lit a lamp that stood on an empty table in the middle of the shop. For these were the only two items left inside the entire shack. The guards had taken everything! The Prince stood for a moment in shock until he, startled, realized that he still held this satchel that the shop maker had given him so suddenly hours prior. He paused for a moment and then opened it. There was a soft glow that illuminated from the bottom of the bag. It was a large, black gem. What was this? What the…click… The fire was almost out and soon the sun would come up. But this did not concern me. What concerned me was the several pairs of eyes that stared directly at me, glowing deep blue from across the ash of the smoldering fire I had started but hours ago. DAY 16 My dream had left me with a good jolt that was hard to let go of. The creatures that surrounded me now were very similar to the creature I had encountered earlier in my journey; except these were all a little different, each with minor alterations. One was taller and thinner than the rest with slightly larger eyes. The Second was fatter and looked almost jovial. The Third held a small staff in its hand, with a squinted eye and stood slightly askew as if it had seen the darker side of battle. The Fourth wore a sash, stood wide and strong with arms crossed. The Fifth was the smallest of them all, wore spectacles and held two small black shining spheres. This one frowned and held a skeptical disposition. The Sixth stood a step or two in front of the rest, was of medium height and build, wore a belt that was adorned with what looked like small photographs and stretched out a hand as if to invoke silence before a speech, even though it was already quite silent, minus the sound or savage wind outside the caves entrance. The Sixth was obviously the leader of this group. His gaze was paralyzing. He stepped around the fire and walked toward me. He put out his claw-like hand and as if summoned, one of the black glowing spheres floated from the palm of the Fifth through the air and landed gently into the palm of the Sixth, now standing directly before me. He reached out his hand and placed the black glowing sphere next to my ear. It felt cold like ice and then it got warm. I thought of resisting, turning and running out of there; but why? These creatures had now spared my life on two occasions. Why would they save me then only to destroy me now? Besides, there was nowhere to run. The warmth that started at my ear soon took over my entire body and filled my being with a satiation that I have never before felt in my life. Then there was a popping sound and a hard long ringing that filled my head that nearly deafened my senses. It was painful but not unbearable. I opened one eye and caught expressions of wonder on the faces of these creatures. All of a sudden the ringing crew incredibly loud. I tried to scream but before my mouth could make a sound the ringing climaxed and stopped dead silent. And then, I could hear… everything. It was like my world to this point had been in black and white, one dimensional and shallow. But now I lived in multiple colors and multiple dimensions. I listened to the wind outside the cave. It sounded not like foreboding doom but instead it sounded musical and carried with it whispers from all corners of the earth, in all languages, and I could understand them all. Prayers, wishes, dreams, ghosts lamenting. It was terrible and beautiful all at once. The cave walls were alive and breathed a life into me. The smoldering fire was a wise old friend just now retiring for sleep, like a soldier that stood by me all night and now was off duty. A mutually understood salute to one another and the fire was out. After what seemed like a lifetime of new discovery I remembered the company in which I stood. I returned my stares to the Six in front of me. They spoke, but their mouths did not move like ours. And the Sixth said to me, "what forth is your intention here on my Lord Bermegzees mountain?" He said it softly but with a determined authority. I responded quickly and in truth. "I search for inspiration and deeper meaning here in this land of beauty and solitude." The Sixth stared at me as though the answer neither pleased nor displeased his statuesque nature. The Fifth then spoke. "Do you know how it is that you have survived us in this our most sacred terrain?" I replied abashedly with a head shake, no. "We have allowed you to come, and twice over aided you in your quest!" He said. The Third then spoke in a rather gruff voice. "Our master wishes to speak with you. You shall stay here another day, and on the morrow Garduna will show you the way." It wasn't but a matter of seconds as he finished speaking that all but one vanished out the mouth of the cave. The Fourth stayed behind, and it wasn't until now that I recognized him. He was the one who was searching through my pack all but ten days prior. And then, she spoke. Her voice was soft, tender and warming. It was calming and my body tingled at the sound of her beautiful voice. "I am Garduna. Look here." She took me to the edge of the cave and as I peered over I saw everything my new eyes. It was like the ground was right below me. Any point I fixed my eyes upon became magnified and I could see it clearly. And then I looked up. The sky and the stars were right there to touch. Heaven stood before me and I stared for an eternity. DAY 17 The Morning came with amazing refreshment. I ate heartily from the fire that Garduna had started, and soon I realized that we were to leave soon. I put my pack together and prepared for whatever this journey might be. "We will have to take the old Wiseman's pass." Garduna said. "For you cannot climb the way we climb." I nodded and out of the cave I followed. Had I not my new eyes the way would have looked impossible. But a tiny ledge appeared that clung so very close to an ice wall scaling upward and out of sight. I followed Garduna as she said to me, "keep tight to the wall and within an arms reach of me and you shall be fine." I acknowledged and staid closed behind her, my body pressed so very tightly against the wall. It was difficult, but I felt a fool as I'm sure she was moving extra slow on my behalf. After what seemed like and endless climb we came upon a clearing and I told her that I must stop and rest. She hesitated a moment then turned to me and nodded. We sat in silence, I was breathing heavy, and she turned toward the sky and said softly, "I remember the first of your kind to traverse up our mountain. He was small for a human and carried with him many strange devices. His intentions became clouded and impure." She turned her head to look at me and said, "The world is not a safe place." "This mountain has been our refuge for many ages before men came and tried to corrupt it with their ill desires." I didn't know what to say. I felt ashamed. "Now, we must continue" She said. It was dark when we reached a cave that seemed as though it rested on the top of the world. "We sleep here tonight, and on the morrow we shall travel into the mountain to the Masters Hall." She started a fire instantly. I ate and immediately