Day 128, Missoula Rabble, Sean

Missoula Rabble, Sean is a self-titled "baristo" at The Break Espresso and a self-titled "mugician" outside of work. "I coined the term," he said. He told me a mugician is a mixture between a musician and a magician. I asked him what it means to be a mugician. "It's using music as a tool to do everything in life like traveling and touching people's lives," he said. "That's where the magic happens."

Day 127, Missoula Rabble, Nate

Missoula Rabble, Nate has music in the blood. "I wouldn't know what it wasn't like to have musicians around," he said. "In some ways that's how you succeed in my family. By how well you play music. In some ways." Nate grew up with a singing father, a music teacher mother, and three younger musically talented sisters. "My sisters and I learned to sing harmony together," he said. I asked him what it was like growing up with three sisters. "I had no physical recourse," he said. "It was really easy for them to terrorize me. We got along well, though." Nate's playing tonight at the Top Hat with his band Cash For Junkers. I asked him which instrument he played. "The electric guitar really lights me up right now. People know me as a mandolin player," he said. "If it has strings on it, I can figure it out."

Day 126, Missoula Rabble, Kia

Missoula Rabble, Kia says her vision for the Zootown Arts Community Center is somewhat of an expression of her "artistic ADHD." "I go through phases," she said. "I'm all over the place." Kia is the executive director of the ZACC and a versatile artist. She was the lead singer of Sasshole, received a degree in creative writing, and she creates visual and media art including the piece she stands in front of in the photograph. I asked her what she wants to see happen with the ZACC. "I would like to see it become a place where you can be inspired on all these different [artistic] levels," she said. "One of my favorite parts of my job is seeing people realize they have the ability they can create," she said.

Day 125, Missoula Rabble, Madison

Missoula Rabble, Madison wants to be a public defender once she graduates from law school. "Those are my people," she told me. I asked her what she meant. Madison is a recovering addict. She currently works at a public defender's office and says she empathizes for her clients. "I can identify with their experiences," he said. "I don't think I'd want to I it weren't for my own experience."

Day 124, Missoula Rabble, Ben

Missoula Rabble, As we come to the end of our west coast tour and the sun starts to set as we drive back to Missoula, Ben agreed to do the rabble today. Ben Prez is an important person in my life. He knows more about music and sports than anyone I know. He's a talented musician, a competitive runner, and he's a white boy who can jump. Ben's interest in basketball begin in the Michael Jordan era and he has been playing since his dad bought him a basketball hoop for his first communion present back in the second grade. "We had a dirt court in the country where we lived," Ben said. He practiced with his dad. "He wouldn't take it easy on me either," he said. Ben played in high school and continues to play pickup games wherever he is as long as there are courts and people who want to play. "You can walk onto any court in the country and if you're competent as a player you have an instant connection with strangers," he said. "That's something I want for the rest of my life."

Day 123, Twilight Zone

Day 122, Shipwrecked

Day 121, Nature's Bath House

Day 120, Missoula Rabble, Casey and Zach

Missoula Rabble, I'm on a little road trip to the west coast and we met up with old Missoulians Casey, left, and Zach. They met 2 years ago in Missoula. "I spotted him when I was working at Bernice's," Zach said. Their first date was at the Disco Blood Bath. They stayed out until 4am and Casey walked Zach to work at 5:30am. "I made him a peppermint tea for his walk home and hoped he'd wait up for me when I got off," Zach said. Casey did and they've been together since. The two were separated for 9 months when Zach moved to Portland to study cosmetology before Casey decided to join him this year. "I got to figure out whether we wanted to be together," Casey said. "I got to figure out what we mean to each other." 

Day 119, Missoula Rabble, Lynsey

Missoula Rabble, Lynsey and I go way back. We were rival high school newspaper editors back in the day. Now we are having lunch at the same table and we re definitely on the same page. This girl is no joke. She isn't shy and if she thinks a certain way about something you're going to hear about it. She's the definition of a strong, independent woman. "I've never known how to tone it down," she said. "I was born that way." Lynsey is the Director of Development, Outreach, and Communications at Blue Mountain Clinic. Her frank and earnest attitude can be perceived as somewhat intimidating, but it comes from a desire to unify and help others who may not have a voice like hers. "I'm not here to win fucking homecoming queen. In fact, I was never asked to prom," she said. I'm here to make it okay for women to be outspoken and assertive. It's okay to live a life of authenticity."

Day 118, Missoula Rabble, Rose

Missoula Rabble, Rose, 22, was walking to the bus station when I stopped her. She is without a vehicle of her own currently and she's due to have a little boy in about a month and a half. I asked her what she's scared of most. "I hear its going to be a cold winter," she said. "I feel comfortable with the public transportation we have here, though. The bus system is great. I'm just getting all my ducks in a row."

Day 117, Missoula Rabble, Max

Missoula Rabble, Max's dad was a criminal investigator and now he wants to be one, too. He's a student in sociology. I asked him what it was like growing up with his dad's profession. "He never really talked about all the really heavy shit," he said. I asked Max what kind of investigating he'd like to do most. "Arson would be cool," he said. "I'm learning about it right now. There's not a lot of evidence left. It takes a great mind to do it."

Day 116, Missoula Rabble, Michael

Missoula Rabble, Michael thought he'd be a film photographer for the rest of his life. "I used to stay with film, but then I bought a digital camera," he said. Michael is the owner of The Dark Room, the only local camera and printing service in town. He bought it seven yeas ago after having worked there for several years already. Michael loves his job. "It's not really work in a way," he said. Business isn't hurting and he doesn't plan on retiring anytime soon. "I don't plan to retire until I'm 75," he said. My family tends to live into the 90s and 100s. I don't want to be retired for 30 years."

Day 115, Missoula Rabble, Greg

Missoula Rabble, Greg once played 56 games of chess at the same time. He's most well known as 'The Octopus' in Missoula and he's considered a chess master. He told me he discovered chess by accident at age nine and became a pro at age ten, playing adults in adult clubs. "I took to it instantly," he said. "Chess helped me a lot as a youth. It took me a lot of places and I met a lot of people." Greg got his nickname from the media because of his ability to play multiple games at the same time. I asked him if he liked his nickname. "It fits me really well," he said. "It's domineering." I asked him if chess paid the bills. "Chess is fun, but it's just a hobby. It doesn't pay much," he said. "I always say, 'I've got the fame, but I'm still looking for the fortune.'"

Day 114, Missoula Rabble, Bob and Monica

Missoula Rabble, Bob and Monica met in Long Beach, CA the night before JFK was assassinated. They were at a Catholic singles mixer. I asked Bob how long they've been married. "Forty-nine years, one month and three days," he said. He had asked her to play ping pong. "She said she knew how to play, but she didn't," he said and laughed. "We're like oil and water. Cat and dog," he said. "She's Hungarian and Spanish. I'm German." They raised three daughters together. "I was outnumbered," he said. I asked Monica how they made it. "A lot of love and a lot of tolerance," she said. "Underneath his mixture of bravado, there's a kind man."

Day 113, Missoula Rabble, Mario

Missoula Rabble, "I don't like doing what I'm supposed to do," Francesco, 20, told me. I asked him what he isn't supposed to do. "The big one is college," he said. "My laundry." People who know him call him Coco. He is a musician and he is focused on making enough off his music for now. "[College] is an expensive way to get something I can get on my own," he said.

Day 112, Missoula Rabble, Coco

Missoula Rabble, "I don't like doing what I'm supposed to do," Francesco, 20, told me. I asked him what he isn't supposed to do. "The big one is college," he said. "My laundry." People who know him call him Coco. He is a musician and he is focused on making enough off his music for now. "[College] is an expensive way to get something I can get on my own," he said.

Day 111, Missoula Rabble, John

Missoula Rabble, John is a traveling man. He's been hitchhiking with his dog Reena all over the western half of the United States for the past decade. He considers home the deep woods surrounding Bonners Ferry in the panhandle of Idaho but he doesn't like staying in one spot for too long. "I get burnt out," he said. John says he does anything he can for work while he camps in one spot for a little while. He told me his favorite job this year was farming for food and money in northern Montana. I asked him what he liked most about the traveling life. "I like my freedom," he said. "I can get away from the humdrum. It's more relaxing."

Day 110, Missoula Rabble, Bridget

Missoula Rabble, Bridget is every bit as badass as she looks in this picture. Around a year ago this month Bridget was in a major, life-threatening accident on her bike. She was drug and pinned underneath a flatbed truck and her motorcycle on a road trip to Whitefish to get a tattoo from a friend who just opened a shop. "It was a good day until it wasn't," she said. "To this day I can feel the gravel and hear the metal." She survived the accident and after some time away from riding like she used to, she's back on the bike and facing her fears. "It feels different than it did before," she said. "But the risk is worth it." 

Day 109, Playing With Fire