the days just seem to fly by...which is fine by me until spring weather arrives. then i want things to slow waaaaay down...
i spent monday pretty much in bed w/ a migraine. it sucked. i did get to talk to caleb for a while, which i don't get to do very often. it's always good to talk to him. i got to tell him all about pierre & jack playing my guitars and how awesome that was.
except for that, monday was a mopey day...i felt like i had a freight train running through the middle of my head, and i was depressed to boot...but i did do a lot of thinking...good thinking...about stuff...relationships...how to love other people...
i made a conscious choice that day to be kind to someone who wasn't so very nice to me...i'm not the best at turning the other cheek ya know...usually i get really passive aggressive and plot the offender's ruin in good sweet time...but this time i chose to love instead...and so instead of plotting revenge, i made a mix cd! yes, music the great peacemaker...
and i have to say there's something powerful about choosing to love when you have a right to be pissed off at someone. i'm not talking about letting others walk all over you and overstep boundaries and all that...i'm talking about choosing to not give in to fear and hurt and self-pity when someone wrongs you, even if it's someone you especially care about, thereby making the pain all the more excruciating...when you're in a situation like that, you can choose to strike back, or to repress the pain and let it simmer, or to swallow your pride and be kind. there are consequences to each of these choices...i am learning that our characters are to a certain degree molded by our thoughts and actions...and these are things we choose...and it may sound silly or crazy or stupid, but i can honestly say that a part of me changed by this little proactive step on my part...the change was confirmed later that night when i did something i have never done before...i actually had an honest heart-to-heart discussion w/ my offender regarding the offense...it wasn't easy...but i was choosing honest open communication as opposed to running and hiding in my hurt...and the payoff was so worth it...
i'm not saying that every choice to do the right thing will result in such a positive experience...but still, somewhere down the line, there will be an impact, even if it's just on your own character...
and the conclusion i've drawn from this and other recent experiences and broodings is that this life is about love...there's a quote from kurt vonnegut's sirens of titan that someone put in an email to me that puts it pretty plain and simple...i don't know if i've put this out here before or not, but here it is: "it took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."
spread some love y'all...
i spent monday pretty much in bed w/ a migraine. it sucked. i did get to talk to caleb for a while, which i don't get to do very often. it's always good to talk to him. i got to tell him all about pierre & jack playing my guitars and how awesome that was.
except for that, monday was a mopey day...i felt like i had a freight train running through the middle of my head, and i was depressed to boot...but i did do a lot of thinking...good thinking...about stuff...relationships...how to love other people...
i made a conscious choice that day to be kind to someone who wasn't so very nice to me...i'm not the best at turning the other cheek ya know...usually i get really passive aggressive and plot the offender's ruin in good sweet time...but this time i chose to love instead...and so instead of plotting revenge, i made a mix cd! yes, music the great peacemaker...
and i have to say there's something powerful about choosing to love when you have a right to be pissed off at someone. i'm not talking about letting others walk all over you and overstep boundaries and all that...i'm talking about choosing to not give in to fear and hurt and self-pity when someone wrongs you, even if it's someone you especially care about, thereby making the pain all the more excruciating...when you're in a situation like that, you can choose to strike back, or to repress the pain and let it simmer, or to swallow your pride and be kind. there are consequences to each of these choices...i am learning that our characters are to a certain degree molded by our thoughts and actions...and these are things we choose...and it may sound silly or crazy or stupid, but i can honestly say that a part of me changed by this little proactive step on my part...the change was confirmed later that night when i did something i have never done before...i actually had an honest heart-to-heart discussion w/ my offender regarding the offense...it wasn't easy...but i was choosing honest open communication as opposed to running and hiding in my hurt...and the payoff was so worth it...
i'm not saying that every choice to do the right thing will result in such a positive experience...but still, somewhere down the line, there will be an impact, even if it's just on your own character...
and the conclusion i've drawn from this and other recent experiences and broodings is that this life is about love...there's a quote from kurt vonnegut's sirens of titan that someone put in an email to me that puts it pretty plain and simple...i don't know if i've put this out here before or not, but here it is: "it took us that long to realize that a purpose of human life, no matter who is controlling it, is to love whoever is around to be loved."
spread some love y'all...
ok. i'm back...
so thursday i took a half day off of work...the weather could not have been lovelier for february in chicago...sunny and frickin' 50 degrees, dude...rt & the gang from hominid went to play frisbee in the park, but did i get to join them? NoOoooOOooo...cuz i'd procrastinated doing laundry again until the day ryan (of serene) was supposed to come to town like i always do....i don't know why it is but i always HAVE to do laundry THE VERY DAY ryan comes to visit...so i did laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaned my apartment all afternoon and missed out on all the fun...
so rt & i went over to gunther murphy's for the serene show @ around 8:30pm...i had come prepared w/ a fifth of yukon jack that i'd poured into an empty crown royal bottle. this was for erik, serene's bass player, who introduced me to the wonderful 100 proof bouquet of flavors that is yukon jack at the last serene show. the funny thing was when we walked into gunther murphy's, the boys were sitting around drinking beer, and erik was just reaching for his cell phone to call me to remind me to bring the yukon jack, and the first words out of my mouth to him was that i had a 'present' for him in the car...so the first thing i did that night was to go back to the car w/ erik and we put away half the bottle together . that stuff is so dangerously delicious...i had given rt a taste of it before we went in, and he was hooked...that's right folks...my poison of choice from now on is yukon jack.
i was expecting matt to be w/ the band (matt's the guitar player for serene) but apparently he didn't fly to new york to meet up w/ them because of the code orange thing going on...that was a real bummer...it would have been great to see matt again...i think rt & i are going to do a trip to seattle this spring...i just miss too many people out there...
connolly made it to the show this time, so he got to meet ryan and rt...that was cool...and ryan did my favorite song again (internationals)...the first time i ever heard him do it live was at the beat kitchen show...any song that has the words "fly by" and "photograph" and "fireflies" all in the same song is alright by me...
after the show, ryan, erik & rt went back to my apt...jeremy went out w/ some friends who came to the show...we were supposed to meet him, but he went to clark's on belmont & clark and i was just too exhausted to deal w/ the traffic & parking out thataways...so rt went home after a little while, and the rest of us popped in fight club...actually, erik fell asleep right away on the couch...poor thing...he's too tall for that couch...so ryan & i set up the air mattress and watched fight club, and then jeremy came home in a little while...i started falling asleep and went to bed around 3:30...i had a 10 am meeting w/ tim & deb & derek for wildwood stuff, so i needed my sleep...
friday morning, i had my meeting w/ the wildwood gang. i think we got a lot done. wildwood's come a long way, i have to say. i kinda had to cut the meeting short cuz erik & jeremy were waiting for me to take them to hilary's urban eatery for brunch. that was one of the first things they asked me..."could we go back to that place again?" meaning where we'd eaten breakfast the last time they were here...it really was THAT good...rt met us at the restaurant, and we had a lovely lovely meal yet again...
it was a beautiful day...sunny and 50 degrees...so after brunch, we went back to the apartment, got ryan and went to wicker park. jeremy, rt & erik played frisbee while ryan & i went to get him some swank frank's...i wanted some time alone w/ ryan anyway, so that worked out...it still felt rushed to have them leave so soon...which yet again confirms my need to go visit seattle SOON...
i was feeling totally bummed and pathetic because rt left for work 20 minutes after the boys left for their next gig in michigan, and there i was...a beautiful day and all alone...i tried to stop feeling sorry for myself and walked back to wicker park, where i sat and wrote a letter for about an hour...it was around the time of the gloaming, my favorite time of day, and after the sun began to disappear and the air got a bit more chill, i found myself walking over to reckless records (surprise, surprise...) where i proceeded to buy some james brown, ornette coleman, mineral's end seranading (finally! i've been looking for a used copy of this for about 3 months now!), woody guthrie's library of congress recordings (woohoo! i love woody...), an american football ep, some le tigre and my first naked raygun album (basement screams). oh. i also picked up a royal tenenbaums dvd. not a shabby day at the used record store, eh?
when i got out of reckless, i had a voicemail from none other than pierre, 1/3 of dickey's funky love bomb. he and his friend jack were in town and wanted to get together. i was thrilled cuz a) i thought the only company i'd have all evening was my cat abby; b) pierre is one of the coolest guys i know; and c) i knew my guitar was itchin' to get played by the likes of mr. pierre bourgeois, especially after getting fixed up and all.
so i went and picked up pierre and jack from downtown later that night...pierre was showing jack all the cool places in chicago, and he asked me where else we should go...quite frankly, i don't know any cool places to go in chicago in the dead of winter unless they're a music venue, so i ended up taking them to goose island over on north ave...it was a friday night crowd, and as soon as i entered the place and looked around, i turned to pierre and told him i hated it there. so we just went back to my apartment. i felt bad that i couldn't come up with anywhere else to go...but it ended up not being bad at all. as you can see by these photos, pierre and jack were very happy to play my guitar into the wee hours...and y'all know that there's nothing i like better than a private concert...and pierre played via chicago for me, so what MORE could i ask for??? well, it would've been nice if caleb & todd had been there too, but i gotta tell ya, that jack can play one mean guitar...except "mean" 's not the right word...cuz i just don't associate jack with the word mean, but he's like totally awesome on the guitar, ya know? anyways...so it was a lovely lovely evening of great music...and pierre got me onto the pixies...i love discovering new bands that are worth a damn...i just wish rt had been there too...pierre's into kung fu too, and i know rt would've loved to get to know him...
pierre & jack were both totally loving the way my gibson was sounding...pierre said he was SO glad i got that guitar fixed...caleb would be happy too i'm sure...you know, i can't fully appreciate how great of a guitar that j-45 is until someone like pierre or caleb or jack plays it...i was near tears that night; it was so frickin' beautiful...
so yeah, that was one of my highlights this weekend...pierre & jack playing my guitars...
saturday was pretty uneventful...rt came by on his way to work and we tried to call germany to get a hold of his best friend, but we had the numbers all messed up...i think i got it figured out, but i still haven't been able to get through...i called pete & amy & they met me for the ted leo & the pharmacists show @ reckless records that afternoon. it was a good show. i knew i wouldn't be able to make the sold out empty bottle show that night (which watchers were opening up for), so i was glad i got to see the free show. it was pretty kickass, even though the keyboardist was M.I.A.
rt ended up leaving work early cuz he was sick, and he came over and we had dinner and a relatively quiet evening. oh. and we drank yukon jack.
so thursday i took a half day off of work...the weather could not have been lovelier for february in chicago...sunny and frickin' 50 degrees, dude...rt & the gang from hominid went to play frisbee in the park, but did i get to join them? NoOoooOOooo...cuz i'd procrastinated doing laundry again until the day ryan (of serene) was supposed to come to town like i always do....i don't know why it is but i always HAVE to do laundry THE VERY DAY ryan comes to visit...so i did laundry, grocery shopping, and cleaned my apartment all afternoon and missed out on all the fun...
so rt & i went over to gunther murphy's for the serene show @ around 8:30pm...i had come prepared w/ a fifth of yukon jack that i'd poured into an empty crown royal bottle. this was for erik, serene's bass player, who introduced me to the wonderful 100 proof bouquet of flavors that is yukon jack at the last serene show. the funny thing was when we walked into gunther murphy's, the boys were sitting around drinking beer, and erik was just reaching for his cell phone to call me to remind me to bring the yukon jack, and the first words out of my mouth to him was that i had a 'present' for him in the car...so the first thing i did that night was to go back to the car w/ erik and we put away half the bottle together . that stuff is so dangerously delicious...i had given rt a taste of it before we went in, and he was hooked...that's right folks...my poison of choice from now on is yukon jack.
i was expecting matt to be w/ the band (matt's the guitar player for serene) but apparently he didn't fly to new york to meet up w/ them because of the code orange thing going on...that was a real bummer...it would have been great to see matt again...i think rt & i are going to do a trip to seattle this spring...i just miss too many people out there...
connolly made it to the show this time, so he got to meet ryan and rt...that was cool...and ryan did my favorite song again (internationals)...the first time i ever heard him do it live was at the beat kitchen show...any song that has the words "fly by" and "photograph" and "fireflies" all in the same song is alright by me...
after the show, ryan, erik & rt went back to my apt...jeremy went out w/ some friends who came to the show...we were supposed to meet him, but he went to clark's on belmont & clark and i was just too exhausted to deal w/ the traffic & parking out thataways...so rt went home after a little while, and the rest of us popped in fight club...actually, erik fell asleep right away on the couch...poor thing...he's too tall for that couch...so ryan & i set up the air mattress and watched fight club, and then jeremy came home in a little while...i started falling asleep and went to bed around 3:30...i had a 10 am meeting w/ tim & deb & derek for wildwood stuff, so i needed my sleep...
friday morning, i had my meeting w/ the wildwood gang. i think we got a lot done. wildwood's come a long way, i have to say. i kinda had to cut the meeting short cuz erik & jeremy were waiting for me to take them to hilary's urban eatery for brunch. that was one of the first things they asked me..."could we go back to that place again?" meaning where we'd eaten breakfast the last time they were here...it really was THAT good...rt met us at the restaurant, and we had a lovely lovely meal yet again...
it was a beautiful day...sunny and 50 degrees...so after brunch, we went back to the apartment, got ryan and went to wicker park. jeremy, rt & erik played frisbee while ryan & i went to get him some swank frank's...i wanted some time alone w/ ryan anyway, so that worked out...it still felt rushed to have them leave so soon...which yet again confirms my need to go visit seattle SOON...
i was feeling totally bummed and pathetic because rt left for work 20 minutes after the boys left for their next gig in michigan, and there i was...a beautiful day and all alone...i tried to stop feeling sorry for myself and walked back to wicker park, where i sat and wrote a letter for about an hour...it was around the time of the gloaming, my favorite time of day, and after the sun began to disappear and the air got a bit more chill, i found myself walking over to reckless records (surprise, surprise...) where i proceeded to buy some james brown, ornette coleman, mineral's end seranading (finally! i've been looking for a used copy of this for about 3 months now!), woody guthrie's library of congress recordings (woohoo! i love woody...), an american football ep, some le tigre and my first naked raygun album (basement screams). oh. i also picked up a royal tenenbaums dvd. not a shabby day at the used record store, eh?
when i got out of reckless, i had a voicemail from none other than pierre, 1/3 of dickey's funky love bomb. he and his friend jack were in town and wanted to get together. i was thrilled cuz a) i thought the only company i'd have all evening was my cat abby; b) pierre is one of the coolest guys i know; and c) i knew my guitar was itchin' to get played by the likes of mr. pierre bourgeois, especially after getting fixed up and all.
so i went and picked up pierre and jack from downtown later that night...pierre was showing jack all the cool places in chicago, and he asked me where else we should go...quite frankly, i don't know any cool places to go in chicago in the dead of winter unless they're a music venue, so i ended up taking them to goose island over on north ave...it was a friday night crowd, and as soon as i entered the place and looked around, i turned to pierre and told him i hated it there. so we just went back to my apartment. i felt bad that i couldn't come up with anywhere else to go...but it ended up not being bad at all. as you can see by these photos, pierre and jack were very happy to play my guitar into the wee hours...and y'all know that there's nothing i like better than a private concert...and pierre played via chicago for me, so what MORE could i ask for??? well, it would've been nice if caleb & todd had been there too, but i gotta tell ya, that jack can play one mean guitar...except "mean" 's not the right word...cuz i just don't associate jack with the word mean, but he's like totally awesome on the guitar, ya know? anyways...so it was a lovely lovely evening of great music...and pierre got me onto the pixies...i love discovering new bands that are worth a damn...i just wish rt had been there too...pierre's into kung fu too, and i know rt would've loved to get to know him...
pierre & jack were both totally loving the way my gibson was sounding...pierre said he was SO glad i got that guitar fixed...caleb would be happy too i'm sure...you know, i can't fully appreciate how great of a guitar that j-45 is until someone like pierre or caleb or jack plays it...i was near tears that night; it was so frickin' beautiful...
so yeah, that was one of my highlights this weekend...pierre & jack playing my guitars...
saturday was pretty uneventful...rt came by on his way to work and we tried to call germany to get a hold of his best friend, but we had the numbers all messed up...i think i got it figured out, but i still haven't been able to get through...i called pete & amy & they met me for the ted leo & the pharmacists show @ reckless records that afternoon. it was a good show. i knew i wouldn't be able to make the sold out empty bottle show that night (which watchers were opening up for), so i was glad i got to see the free show. it was pretty kickass, even though the keyboardist was M.I.A.
rt ended up leaving work early cuz he was sick, and he came over and we had dinner and a relatively quiet evening. oh. and we drank yukon jack.
ok. i have a confession....my posts to this blogger may become either less frequent or less detailed, which means this will become considerably less interesting to anyone who happens to stop by at this here website. why? i'm just damn busy these days. also, there are some personal details which i'm gonna leave out, so don't feel insulted if you think i'm withholding information or something...if ya wanna know what's going on in my life, yer gonna have to contact me to find out the details from now on...
hominid from brooklyn, ny">so is it saturday already? sheesh...alright...let me pick up where i left off...wednesday night watchers were live in the studio @ WLUW and rt & i listened to the program together at his place...it was weird hearing michael's and ethan's voices on the radio...they played live stuff w/ jamie on drums and the new percussionist damion who played at the hideout show back in january...well, anyways, rt & i had to go to phyllis's musical inn for the hominid show, which is a band that's got rt's sister-in-law's sister arone as the lead singer. i really liked them. they were pretty tight for only having been together for 9 months. arone is totally AWESOME...she was so much fun to hang out w/...i hope to see them again soon.
well, i gotta go now...rt got off work early unexpectedly so i'm outta here...
hominid from brooklyn, ny">so is it saturday already? sheesh...alright...let me pick up where i left off...wednesday night watchers were live in the studio @ WLUW and rt & i listened to the program together at his place...it was weird hearing michael's and ethan's voices on the radio...they played live stuff w/ jamie on drums and the new percussionist damion who played at the hideout show back in january...well, anyways, rt & i had to go to phyllis's musical inn for the hominid show, which is a band that's got rt's sister-in-law's sister arone as the lead singer. i really liked them. they were pretty tight for only having been together for 9 months. arone is totally AWESOME...she was so much fun to hang out w/...i hope to see them again soon.
well, i gotta go now...rt got off work early unexpectedly so i'm outta here...
ok. it's wednesday already. egads...time sure flies...it especially helps when monday is a holiday and you're taking half of thursday and all of friday off...which means as of right now, i have 3/4 wednesday and 1/2 thursday left to work....
well, sunday night my family got together at my cousin kris's cuz my aunt from new jersey was in town...kris's mom can cook like a gourmet chef, so i had no complaints...my family loved the $5.99 tiramisu i got from trader joe's, and we drank cheap wine from binny's. the cousins had a chance to catch up, which is always nice...my cousins are more like my siblings since i only had one older brother growing up. i'm always fascinated listening to rt's stories about his 4 siblings...i've always wanted to be part of a big family...so now i just adopt the folks i want to be my family...like the boys in serene...megan...caleb...pete & amy...sam...
monday night rt & i went out w/ his sister lauren to see daredevil, the latest superhero movie...it was kind of a depressing movie, i thought, although i enjoyed it...the action was good and all, but i still like matrix better. i do like the fact that jennifer garner kicks butt in there...not that she's my favorite actress or anything...i just like movies that girls get to kick butt in.
well, the fun begins today...rt's sister-in-law's sister's band hominid from new york i think is playing @ phyllis's on division tonight...free show...just buy booze...they're staying w/ rt tonight. i've actually listened to their cd, and it's pretty good stuff for their first recording. i'm excited to be going to a show...i feel like it's been forever since i went to a show...then tomorrow night serene will be playing at gunther murphy's...i'm just a tad concerned as to when the boys are gonna get in...they're in grand rapids today, which is only a 3 hour drive, and i wonder if ryan is going to trek the band all the way out here in the middle of the night like 2 weeks ago from st. louis...i need to clean the apartment...it wasn't a mess until yesterday, when i started cleaning out my closet...i really intend on getting rid of a third of my possessions...it's amazing how junk accumulates...
i still haven't found a car...rt & i need to go do that sometime, hopefully this week...it's just kinda crazy w/ the boys coming in and all...i still don't know what to get...my solar buddy john wants me to get a hybrid, of course, or drive his electric truck...i don't know about those hybrids yet...they're kinda expensive...and i really want a 4wheel drive...not an SUV or anything...just an all wheel drive vehicle that will be safer in snow & rain.
i've been listening to a lot of wluw (88.7 fm) which is loyola university's indie sation. this morning, on the way to work, the djs mentioned that watchers are going to be in the studio today ~7pm...michael had mentioned that they were going on the radio station...maybe they'll play some songs...who knows...but they get to play w/ ted leo on sat. night @ the empty bottle...i still haven't decided whether i'm going to that show or not...
i'm so sleepy...i think i'll take a nap during lunch...
listening to--
one part lullabye--the folk implosion
harmacy--sebadoh
substance--joy division
s/t--serene
well, sunday night my family got together at my cousin kris's cuz my aunt from new jersey was in town...kris's mom can cook like a gourmet chef, so i had no complaints...my family loved the $5.99 tiramisu i got from trader joe's, and we drank cheap wine from binny's. the cousins had a chance to catch up, which is always nice...my cousins are more like my siblings since i only had one older brother growing up. i'm always fascinated listening to rt's stories about his 4 siblings...i've always wanted to be part of a big family...so now i just adopt the folks i want to be my family...like the boys in serene...megan...caleb...pete & amy...sam...
monday night rt & i went out w/ his sister lauren to see daredevil, the latest superhero movie...it was kind of a depressing movie, i thought, although i enjoyed it...the action was good and all, but i still like matrix better. i do like the fact that jennifer garner kicks butt in there...not that she's my favorite actress or anything...i just like movies that girls get to kick butt in.
well, the fun begins today...rt's sister-in-law's sister's band hominid from new york i think is playing @ phyllis's on division tonight...free show...just buy booze...they're staying w/ rt tonight. i've actually listened to their cd, and it's pretty good stuff for their first recording. i'm excited to be going to a show...i feel like it's been forever since i went to a show...then tomorrow night serene will be playing at gunther murphy's...i'm just a tad concerned as to when the boys are gonna get in...they're in grand rapids today, which is only a 3 hour drive, and i wonder if ryan is going to trek the band all the way out here in the middle of the night like 2 weeks ago from st. louis...i need to clean the apartment...it wasn't a mess until yesterday, when i started cleaning out my closet...i really intend on getting rid of a third of my possessions...it's amazing how junk accumulates...
i still haven't found a car...rt & i need to go do that sometime, hopefully this week...it's just kinda crazy w/ the boys coming in and all...i still don't know what to get...my solar buddy john wants me to get a hybrid, of course, or drive his electric truck...i don't know about those hybrids yet...they're kinda expensive...and i really want a 4wheel drive...not an SUV or anything...just an all wheel drive vehicle that will be safer in snow & rain.
i've been listening to a lot of wluw (88.7 fm) which is loyola university's indie sation. this morning, on the way to work, the djs mentioned that watchers are going to be in the studio today ~7pm...michael had mentioned that they were going on the radio station...maybe they'll play some songs...who knows...but they get to play w/ ted leo on sat. night @ the empty bottle...i still haven't decided whether i'm going to that show or not...
i'm so sleepy...i think i'll take a nap during lunch...
listening to--
one part lullabye--the folk implosion
harmacy--sebadoh
substance--joy division
s/t--serene
so saturday i went over to rt's to do a photoshoot...i was supposed to wake him up one of four ways: 1) throwing rocks at his bedroom window; 2) shooting spitballs at his bedroom window; 3) radioing him on our walkie talkie; 4) ringing the buzzer...well, i forgot my straw so i couldn't do the spitball thingie...i found some light woodchips that would be easy to throw and wouldn't break a window, so i'm standing at the bottom of his apartment, looking up, and i'm wondering when they changed the sign on their window...it said something else now...and then it dawns on my that i'm looking at the 2nd floor apartment, and that rt's bedroom is like WAY WAY WAY up there...i had zero chance of ever hitting it w/ the woodchip, although hitting the 2nd floor bedroom window was much more likely...what the hell was i thinking? rt lives on the 3rd floor of apartments w/ like 10' ceilings. so i radioed him instead...
rt wanted me to take photos of the watchers concert posters that he'd had framed and hung on his living room wall so that he could show it to people when he tries to explain them...they're really great posters...ethan made all of them...i have to admit i'm rather covetous of them, even if rt's not in the band any more...
after taking pictures of the posters, rt wanted some photos of his fish so that he could post one on the employee pets board at trader joe's. these fish are weird...rt can predict their every move...all that male dominance territoriality is just weird to me...sometimes, i think they're gonna jump out of the water chasing each other...the cool thing was that there were baby fishies wiggling in their eggs in the gravel...it's been about a week since the girl fish laid the eggs.
rt had to leave for work around 3:15, but i stuck around a little while. so i had gotten rt a red teddy bear for valentine's, which he loves...and i decided to do a photoshoot w/ red teddy and rt's brown teddy which he's had for years. i know it may seem a little weird to do a photoshoot w/ stuffed animals, but trust me...rt LOVED the pictures...alright...so it's an inside joke...i couldn't possibly explain the intricacies of the relationship amongst the 4 of us...
i also took some photos of rt's drum kit because i'm helping out my friend brandon w/ his band's website (brandon pfiffer & the rest). he likes my photos and i've given him free reign to use whatever photos he wants on there. anyways, i'm gonna go down to bloomington one of these days to do a photoshoot of the band, but until then, brandon asked me if i could take photos of the various instruments so that they could post those next to the band members' individual bios. so i have to take photos of my acoustic guitar & electric guitar. and i need a bass guitar to photograph...i have one, but it's a little girly one...and a cello...i need a cello...i think i'll take that at my cousin kris's tonight...i covet that cello, but my aunt won't let me borrow it...
anyways, i gotta get ready to go now...gotta make posters for serene's show @ gunther murphy's this thursday @ 9pm...i think serene don't go on until 11. you should all come to that!!! they're playing w/ locals can.ky.ree and los hombres perdidos. it's $6 at the door, 21+. and after kinko's then it's off to trader joes for rt's lunch break...but i'm gonna wait outside this time...i'm afraid i'm gonna get him fired, although really, i'm a faithful customer, so ALL trader joe associates should be nice to me, not just rt...did i mention trader joe's has caviar for $2.99? oh, it's true...
i've been listening to bob dylan all day...ever notice how on nashville skyline, bob doesn't sound like bob? or is it just me? am i nuts here? caleb, what's the dillyo?
today's music:
s/t--bob dylan
nashville skyline--bob
the freewheelin' bob dylan--bob
the times they are a-changin'--bob
well, happy valentine's day, y'all!!! hope it was a good one...i guess i have a couple of days to catch up on...it feels like it was kinda busy this week...i think i was stressing about finding a car...i'm using my mom's right now, so i'm not too rushed into buying a vehicle...although i think i really do want that subaru impreza...whether to go w/ the wrx or not is the question...
alright...so wednesday night, it was the day after amy's bday (amy, my buddy pete's wife who's also my buddy) and so a bunch of folks from hyde park came up to my hood to take amy to cafe delucca's, which she loves...pete called me, and rt happened to have just come over to watch the next installation of bruce lee movies (the chinese connection). so rt & i walked over to cafe de lucca's and hung out w/ the gang for a while. i was glad rt finally got to meet amy...and it was good to see pete & sam again...it's been so long since i'd hung out w/ those guys...
after cafe de lucca's, rt & i went back to my place...there happened to be a rerun of a nascar race on espn classic, so we watched that for a while before starting the chinese connection...bruce lee goes crazy in this movie...and of course, everybody dies again...after the movie, rt showed me some beginning kung fu moves...high block, inside block and outside block...i need to practice these dilligently cuz it's all i know so far...i fully plan on kicking some ass this summer...preferably rt's ass...
thursday night, rt came over on his way home from his sister's...it was a nice night, so we went for a walk looking for trouble...rt wanted to practice some kung fu, ya know...we did a few moves, practicing the stuff he'd taught me the day before... when we got home, we watched conan the destroyer for a while...then we launched into a series of OLD sitcoms...three's company...head of the class...perfect stranger...charles in charge...family ties...it was so awesome, bringing back memories...
so friday...i didn't go into work cuz there was a rumor about snow...so i dialed in from home...at lunch, rt & i went to the texas bar & grill...i was glad i got to see him a little bit for valentine's day...these flowers are from rt...he picked them out for me @ trader joes...the cool thing was that i wouldn't tell him what kind of flowers i liked, and there were all these roses around for valentine's day...he figured out that i wasn't a rose girl, and he actually guessed that my flower was the daisy, so he picked out a mixed bunch that had some daisies in 'em...
last night, i got together w/ the girls for my friend tina's bday and a valentine schmalentine party, where we ate lots of yummy food like caviar ($2.99/little jar @ trader joe's), pate, brie, and other stuff and my cousin brought her entire bar...and then we watched a cheesy chick flick (sweet home alabama)...it's always good to get together w/ the girls...last year at valentine's we went out for tina's bday and then went to friar tucks where we all got drunk on vodka lemonades and jello shots and lost our voices doing karaoke...that's when i did my infamous punk rock version of dreams by the cranberries...
alright...i'm falling asleep...i'm going now...
well, rt and i never made it to the evanston subaru place to see the impreza wrx...here's why...SNOW...LOTS OF FLYING WHITE STUFF EVERYWHERE...it was damn scary driving my frickin' rented minivan...we were all ready to go...i head out of my apt to go pick up rt at 6pmish, and whaddaya know, it's blinding flurries out there! i had to run upstairs to get a snow scraper cuz rental companies don't want you to bother cleaning the snow off their vehicle before getting into it...at least that's what i gathered since the last 3 rentals i had did not come equipped w/ such a device. so yeah...white stuff everywhere...i get to rt's and he was just waking up from a nap, and when he looks out the window he flips out cuz that snow had gathered in the span of his 20 minute nap. so i'm like, there's no way we're driving up to evanston in this mess, i don't care if rt drives an outback wagon...so yeah...we didn't go...
instead, we went to see shanghai knights @ rt's little bro's theater downtown...we pretty much had the theater to ourselves...we both enjoyed the movie thoroughly, although i'm such a wus i didn't keep my eyes open for the whole thing...rt kept holding my arm down so i'd watch, but somehow my hands would still keep flying up to my face...it was kickass, man...i love owen wilson...he's like the same character in every movie...except maybe that one serious war movie he made...and jackie chan is always fun to watch. i like movies in which girls do kung fu, so i liked this one a lot.
on the way home from the movie, the roads were treacherous...on the 290, right before rt's exit, we saw cars at a standstill w/ flashing cop lights up ahead, so we slowed waaaaay down...then out of the blue, this black sports car about 30 feet ahead of us goes out of control horizontally across 3 lanes of traffic and crashes at a high speed against the wall of an overpass...rt & i saw the whole thing, and it was surreal...the SOUND was unbelievable...it brought me flashbacks of my accident...then this white minivan comes from behind going way too fast and careens in and out of traffic and gets out at our exit...we saw the dude get out of his van and check it out, then he jumped back in and got back on the highway...rt says he thinks the dude bumped other cars on the highway...as we exited, we saw like 3 other accidents pulled over to the side...it was nuts...we were so happy to make it home safe and in one piece, but i was too scared to drive home then...i had to wait a couple more hours before i could venture into that minivan...rt had me call him and let the phone ring once just so he knew i made it home ok. i bet he fell asleep before that...
so it's good to be alive today...and i'm listening to uncle tupelo...
so my rental doesn't have a cd player...i mentioned this before, right? so i was listening to WLUW, loyola's college radio station...sometimes i just love listening to college radio because the kids are so BAD...they were doing the news, and this one girl reads one segment, and then she's like 'well be right back after a short break.' and you're expecting some public service announcement or something...instead what you get is total silence for 30 seconds...and then you hear the girl go 'ok. we're back now...' i'm sure there was supposed to be a commercial in there somewhere, but it was just funny to have total dead air for all that time...it was cool...
instead, we went to see shanghai knights @ rt's little bro's theater downtown...we pretty much had the theater to ourselves...we both enjoyed the movie thoroughly, although i'm such a wus i didn't keep my eyes open for the whole thing...rt kept holding my arm down so i'd watch, but somehow my hands would still keep flying up to my face...it was kickass, man...i love owen wilson...he's like the same character in every movie...except maybe that one serious war movie he made...and jackie chan is always fun to watch. i like movies in which girls do kung fu, so i liked this one a lot.
on the way home from the movie, the roads were treacherous...on the 290, right before rt's exit, we saw cars at a standstill w/ flashing cop lights up ahead, so we slowed waaaaay down...then out of the blue, this black sports car about 30 feet ahead of us goes out of control horizontally across 3 lanes of traffic and crashes at a high speed against the wall of an overpass...rt & i saw the whole thing, and it was surreal...the SOUND was unbelievable...it brought me flashbacks of my accident...then this white minivan comes from behind going way too fast and careens in and out of traffic and gets out at our exit...we saw the dude get out of his van and check it out, then he jumped back in and got back on the highway...rt says he thinks the dude bumped other cars on the highway...as we exited, we saw like 3 other accidents pulled over to the side...it was nuts...we were so happy to make it home safe and in one piece, but i was too scared to drive home then...i had to wait a couple more hours before i could venture into that minivan...rt had me call him and let the phone ring once just so he knew i made it home ok. i bet he fell asleep before that...
so it's good to be alive today...and i'm listening to uncle tupelo...
so my rental doesn't have a cd player...i mentioned this before, right? so i was listening to WLUW, loyola's college radio station...sometimes i just love listening to college radio because the kids are so BAD...they were doing the news, and this one girl reads one segment, and then she's like 'well be right back after a short break.' and you're expecting some public service announcement or something...instead what you get is total silence for 30 seconds...and then you hear the girl go 'ok. we're back now...' i'm sure there was supposed to be a commercial in there somewhere, but it was just funny to have total dead air for all that time...it was cool...
so sunday night, flying home was not very fun...i got to the airport like THREE hours before my flight because of the heightened security, which was even more heightened in nashville cuz gool ol' dubya was coming to the city the next day...so i had a good 2.5 hours to kill...i wandered around the halls of the airport bored out of my skull...i did find these really funky rainbow colored drumsticks that say GRAND OLE OPRY on 'em for rt.
they did have an interesting photo exhibit by some woman whose name escapes me now...a lot of the photos were from new york city. i have to admit seeing those photos up there made me think i could do that too...so why don't i? uhm...i dunno...i like being able to pay my bills? one of these days...speaking of photography, rt asked me last night what i wanted to do in the next year...i told him i've been thinking about getting more serious about my photography...i've even thought about rearranging my work schedule so i'd have a day off regularly to spend on photoshoots and what not...we'll see...
anyways, my flight was delayed sunday night by like an hour while they covered the plane (which was a fokker-100 btw--josh had to look up my flight info for me cuz i had no idea what time my plane left, and he started cracking up when he saw i was gonna fly in a fokker...i was hoping the laminated airplane info sheet would say FOKKER-100 on it so i could steal it, but it only said F-100...) with this deicing formula...that plane was packed out...it wasn't all that big...only like 21 rows or something.
so i had to rent me another vehicle when i got into o'hare...would you believe that enterprise, where i had my reservation, was out of cars? so guess what i'm driving...yup...a MINIVAN! ha ha ha!!! this will be the closest i ever come to being a soccer mom, i guarantee it...yeah, i really need to buy me a car...i'm scared to death of the insurance rates though...i've had the worst driving year of my entire LIFE...i was great for so long...and then BAM! BAM! BAM! SPLAT! it SUCKS...rt & i are going to look at a 2002 subaru impreza wrx tonight...rt really pushed me to get an allwheel drive vehicle for safety purposes...at first i wasn't too keen on the subaru, but everyone i talked to kept drooling when i mentioned the car i was considering, and the more i looked into it, the more i decided that's what i wanted...now rt thinks i'm getting it cuz he wants it...little does he know that i've been inducted into the subaru cult...oh, it's true...once a subaru owner, always a subaru owner...
i'm bringing my cat aberdeen (abby) home tonight...poor thing...it's gonna go stir crazy in my apartment...oh well...
i have no cd player in my rental van, so i'm listening to a tape rt lent me called wreck--soul train. i have no idea which is the artist and which is the album name. it rocks though.
ok. the following is adapted from an email i sent to my friend on saturday night (actually, sunday morning ~ 6:30am). since it captures the weekend for me and i'm too lazy to type it all over again, i'm just gonna cut and paste for the most part...photos to follow...
*begin transmission*
dude...
well, i pretty much hung out w/ noah & beth of ticklepenny corner & erik & jeremy of UHQ this afternoon...they both did showcases in little hotel rooms...
so bill does this afternoon showcase, and it's supposed to be just him & jake in this littly tiny hotel room, smaller than the room we stayed in at cornerstone...well, julie miller decides to join him on percussion, and 45 minutes before the set, bill talks to kenny [ed. note--kenny is kenny hutson who was a member of vigilantes of love for two years until around the tail end of 1999] on the phone and kenny's like 'i've got my mandolin' and he scoots on down to the hotel...so there's julie miller plopped down on the bed, drumming on a HOTEL TRASH CAN with a tambourine inside it, and at times she's shaking this plastic bag of little bells that they sell at craft stores...and there's kenny smokin' on the mandolin, and beth of ticklepenny corner is playing violin...beth was so cute because she's a huge fan of julie miller, and she was so excited that she got to play w/ her...bill gave this big huge speech before going into resplendent about all the fear and distrust in the land these days and how we need to start by preaching the sermon of forgiveness and love to ourselves and then to those closest to us, etc...and then they do this rendition of resplendent that was so gutwrenchingly beautiful...even bill loved doing that song w/ those people...he said that julie & beth were singing the same harmony parts, and at one point, he said the two women looked at each other as they sang, and that it was just such a precious moment for him...
then we all hung out at this bar called legends...bill, jake, kenny, kenny's roommate won, beth, noah, tim, erik & jeremy of UHQ, an irish singer/songwriter that they were all friends w/ named susan, derek becker, and mike wooten who's also now w/ wildwood and is bill's road manager for this tour...we ordered pizzas and drank...derek got the idea of buying noah a shot because he'd never done a shot before, and that turned into everybody at the table getting a shot...the poor bartendress...13 shots...not all the same...
we went back up to one of the hotel rooms, and all the boys got their guitars and harmonicas out and they jammed...they were playing all these oldies like neil young and bob and i don't even know who else...we all wished afterwards that we'd had a chance to record it...
bill's showcase at night wasn't until 12:45 am...it was just a few songs...he gave a whole big speech before solar system...they're minisermons, yeah, but when bill preaches, it sinks in for me...it was kickass...everyone was talking about how great it was afterwards--the UHQ guys, noah, etc...
after bill's showcase, we wanted to have a drink, but the hotel bar had stopped serving liquor...it just so happens that kenny's roommate won owns J&J's market, which happens to have the best selection of imported beer in town...it's also got a cool cafe vibe w/ couches and tables and chairs and what not...so we all piled into bill's van, and won opened up his store to us at 2am...we all got to pick whatever we wanted to drink and eat...it was awesome...then we sat around and talked...we started talking about favorite movies...it was so kickass to be sitting on a sofa next to kenny with bill right across in the other sofa talking about so many different movies...kenny is a frickin' riot...he knows like all the lines to ghostbuster, pulp fiction, and a bunch of other movies...
then someone picked up the guitar and they started doing old country songs....jake and kenny have an endless supply of them, and they just passed that guitar around between the two of them...it was soooo awesome...you know it's my favorite thing in the world, just sitting around watching boys jam...well, when it's boys like jake & kenny & noah with bill piping in every now and then...that is so awesome...
we didn't get back to the hotel until 4:30...noah & beth were staying in tim & derek's room, and we got into a discussion about god and all that jazz, and i didn't leave until close to 6am...it was good stuff...
what a day...this one will defiitely go down in history for me...
and of course i wish you'd been here...
rawk on dude--
*end transmission*
*begin transmission*
dude...
well, i pretty much hung out w/ noah & beth of ticklepenny corner & erik & jeremy of UHQ this afternoon...they both did showcases in little hotel rooms...
so bill does this afternoon showcase, and it's supposed to be just him & jake in this littly tiny hotel room, smaller than the room we stayed in at cornerstone...well, julie miller decides to join him on percussion, and 45 minutes before the set, bill talks to kenny [ed. note--kenny is kenny hutson who was a member of vigilantes of love for two years until around the tail end of 1999] on the phone and kenny's like 'i've got my mandolin' and he scoots on down to the hotel...so there's julie miller plopped down on the bed, drumming on a HOTEL TRASH CAN with a tambourine inside it, and at times she's shaking this plastic bag of little bells that they sell at craft stores...and there's kenny smokin' on the mandolin, and beth of ticklepenny corner is playing violin...beth was so cute because she's a huge fan of julie miller, and she was so excited that she got to play w/ her...bill gave this big huge speech before going into resplendent about all the fear and distrust in the land these days and how we need to start by preaching the sermon of forgiveness and love to ourselves and then to those closest to us, etc...and then they do this rendition of resplendent that was so gutwrenchingly beautiful...even bill loved doing that song w/ those people...he said that julie & beth were singing the same harmony parts, and at one point, he said the two women looked at each other as they sang, and that it was just such a precious moment for him...
then we all hung out at this bar called legends...bill, jake, kenny, kenny's roommate won, beth, noah, tim, erik & jeremy of UHQ, an irish singer/songwriter that they were all friends w/ named susan, derek becker, and mike wooten who's also now w/ wildwood and is bill's road manager for this tour...we ordered pizzas and drank...derek got the idea of buying noah a shot because he'd never done a shot before, and that turned into everybody at the table getting a shot...the poor bartendress...13 shots...not all the same...
we went back up to one of the hotel rooms, and all the boys got their guitars and harmonicas out and they jammed...they were playing all these oldies like neil young and bob and i don't even know who else...we all wished afterwards that we'd had a chance to record it...
bill's showcase at night wasn't until 12:45 am...it was just a few songs...he gave a whole big speech before solar system...they're minisermons, yeah, but when bill preaches, it sinks in for me...it was kickass...everyone was talking about how great it was afterwards--the UHQ guys, noah, etc...
after bill's showcase, we wanted to have a drink, but the hotel bar had stopped serving liquor...it just so happens that kenny's roommate won owns J&J's market, which happens to have the best selection of imported beer in town...it's also got a cool cafe vibe w/ couches and tables and chairs and what not...so we all piled into bill's van, and won opened up his store to us at 2am...we all got to pick whatever we wanted to drink and eat...it was awesome...then we sat around and talked...we started talking about favorite movies...it was so kickass to be sitting on a sofa next to kenny with bill right across in the other sofa talking about so many different movies...kenny is a frickin' riot...he knows like all the lines to ghostbuster, pulp fiction, and a bunch of other movies...
then someone picked up the guitar and they started doing old country songs....jake and kenny have an endless supply of them, and they just passed that guitar around between the two of them...it was soooo awesome...you know it's my favorite thing in the world, just sitting around watching boys jam...well, when it's boys like jake & kenny & noah with bill piping in every now and then...that is so awesome...
we didn't get back to the hotel until 4:30...noah & beth were staying in tim & derek's room, and we got into a discussion about god and all that jazz, and i didn't leave until close to 6am...it was good stuff...
what a day...this one will defiitely go down in history for me...
and of course i wish you'd been here...
rawk on dude--
*end transmission*
the following was written at o'hare before my flight to nashville:
i am sitting in chili’s restaurant @ o’hare. i always eat at sit down restaurants if i have a long wait before a flight. now technically, i shouldn’t have had a long wait. my flight to nashville was supposed to be at 7:01 pm. stupid me though decided to do the laundry after serene left this afternoon, and in between working, doing laundry and having lunch w/ rt, i just kinda ran out of time…i had to return my rental car which was another problem…i guess when you have a rental to return by 6pm on a friday and you actually want to make your 7pm flight, and you’re leaving from the armitage exit of the kennedy xpressway, it’s probably not a good idea to take off for the airport as late as 5:30 pm. what the hell was i thinking? well, quite honestly, i was being overly optimistic.
so yeah, i missed my flight. the next one to nashville wasn’t until 8:54, so i suddenly had a lot of time on my hands. which was good cuz they pulled me over at the security checkpoint and that took like a zillion years. this was the first time i ever missed a plane. my family came close to missing our plane from tokyo to honolulu when we came to this country cuz my dad was buying a camera. i got a lot of use out of that camera when i was a kid…i have a vague recollection of running like the dickens through the toyko airport. i’m sure i thought it was all fun and games, and my mom was probably in tears…
i’ve gone through a lot of firsts this past year, huh? first time on my own…first time totaling a car…first time in austin, tx…first time missing a flight…i don’t mind missing my plane…gives me a lot more time to just relax…yeah…it’s been hectic the past couple days like you would not believe…
so ryan and the boys of serene arrived early thursday morning, and i went to work as soon as they got here so i could get out early…i got home from work around 2:30pm and i took the boys to penny’s noodle…they loved it…at least everyone but ryan loved it…it’s hard to tell how ryan takes to foreign food…after penny’s we went to reckless for a while…i picked up a nappy roots dvd for jesse…i miss him so much….i think we watched a movie…yeah, bottlerocket…man, i love that movie…i wanna marry wes anderson. i bet we’d get along just fine…yeah we watched a lot of movies...i found out after i left for work, the boys watched zoolander! it was frickin’ 6am! anyways, we went to the beat kitchen to load in probably at 8pm. the boys went on right at 9pm. it was a lot earlier than i was expecting them to go on…it was cool seeing jeremy drum…i’d been wondering how he’d be, and i have to say, that i can’t believe he learned all those songs like overnight to do this tour. i had fun hanging out w/ him before the show too. he’s a lot of fun! and extremely sweet. unlike ryan. sweet is not a word that comes to mind when i think about that boy…as much as i absolutely adore him…
anways, after the show, erik & i decided to go to lemmings for drinks. the others stayed at the apt and watched terminator 2. rt called me and met me & erik @ lemmings. we had a couple drinks, walked to estelle’s, there was no room for us, so we walked to spin cycle to see if jeremy was doing laundry, took pictures w/ tim duncan, and then went back to the apt. we finished watching t2 and just hung out…i was glad rt got to meet the boys…
after rt left around 3:30, we watched meet the parents (that’s like four movies in one day for these guys!)…ryan & i had a good talk…short but sweet…it really meant a lot to me that he considers my place a home away from home…i went to sleep close to 6 am. i got up at 9 to dial in to work…i got this snazzy new laptop for work, which is what i’m typing on right now…it’s sweet as hell…
the boys started waking up around 10ish…except for ryan of course…we left him at the apt. and i took the others to hilary’s urban eatery…they loved that place too! they have such good food there…i saw the boys off at around 1:30. they have a show tonight in louiseville, ky…i miss them already and so i’m listening to their cd right now…but they’ll be back in two weeks, so i’m not too sad…i just wish i could tour with them and take care of them…
after the boys left, i called rt, and he came over…before he did, i threw in my laundry @ the spin cycle, worked, started packing, etc…rt & i went over to café delucca…we talked about what car i should buy…i really want a subaru impreza wrx…rt says he’ll be so jealous if i really get that car, even though he knows i’ll let him drive it whenever he wants…he’s such a funny boy…
well, we’ll see what i think about nashville…my first time there…i’m looking forward to hanging out w/ derek, wildwood’s booking agent extraordinaire…we always have a lot of fun…although i have a feeling i’m gonna smoke a lot of cigs if i’m w/ derek…and i can’t wait to hear bill & jake play more, and ticklepenny corner & erik of uhq! yup. showcases every night from 11pm until 4 am! i just wanna see bill playing at 3am…i wonder if he’ll be cranky…
anyways, i was a bit frazzled earlier today, but i’ve had a great couple of days w/ my boys…i love those guys so much…even jeremy i took to right away, even though i really was hoping for jesse to be drumming on this tour…no one can replace jesse, but if it had to be anyone, it might as well be jeremy. he rocks. he’s a sweet drummer too.
alright. time to board that big iron bird in the sky…
i am sitting in chili’s restaurant @ o’hare. i always eat at sit down restaurants if i have a long wait before a flight. now technically, i shouldn’t have had a long wait. my flight to nashville was supposed to be at 7:01 pm. stupid me though decided to do the laundry after serene left this afternoon, and in between working, doing laundry and having lunch w/ rt, i just kinda ran out of time…i had to return my rental car which was another problem…i guess when you have a rental to return by 6pm on a friday and you actually want to make your 7pm flight, and you’re leaving from the armitage exit of the kennedy xpressway, it’s probably not a good idea to take off for the airport as late as 5:30 pm. what the hell was i thinking? well, quite honestly, i was being overly optimistic.
so yeah, i missed my flight. the next one to nashville wasn’t until 8:54, so i suddenly had a lot of time on my hands. which was good cuz they pulled me over at the security checkpoint and that took like a zillion years. this was the first time i ever missed a plane. my family came close to missing our plane from tokyo to honolulu when we came to this country cuz my dad was buying a camera. i got a lot of use out of that camera when i was a kid…i have a vague recollection of running like the dickens through the toyko airport. i’m sure i thought it was all fun and games, and my mom was probably in tears…
i’ve gone through a lot of firsts this past year, huh? first time on my own…first time totaling a car…first time in austin, tx…first time missing a flight…i don’t mind missing my plane…gives me a lot more time to just relax…yeah…it’s been hectic the past couple days like you would not believe…
so ryan and the boys of serene arrived early thursday morning, and i went to work as soon as they got here so i could get out early…i got home from work around 2:30pm and i took the boys to penny’s noodle…they loved it…at least everyone but ryan loved it…it’s hard to tell how ryan takes to foreign food…after penny’s we went to reckless for a while…i picked up a nappy roots dvd for jesse…i miss him so much….i think we watched a movie…yeah, bottlerocket…man, i love that movie…i wanna marry wes anderson. i bet we’d get along just fine…yeah we watched a lot of movies...i found out after i left for work, the boys watched zoolander! it was frickin’ 6am! anyways, we went to the beat kitchen to load in probably at 8pm. the boys went on right at 9pm. it was a lot earlier than i was expecting them to go on…it was cool seeing jeremy drum…i’d been wondering how he’d be, and i have to say, that i can’t believe he learned all those songs like overnight to do this tour. i had fun hanging out w/ him before the show too. he’s a lot of fun! and extremely sweet. unlike ryan. sweet is not a word that comes to mind when i think about that boy…as much as i absolutely adore him…
anways, after the show, erik & i decided to go to lemmings for drinks. the others stayed at the apt and watched terminator 2. rt called me and met me & erik @ lemmings. we had a couple drinks, walked to estelle’s, there was no room for us, so we walked to spin cycle to see if jeremy was doing laundry, took pictures w/ tim duncan, and then went back to the apt. we finished watching t2 and just hung out…i was glad rt got to meet the boys…
after rt left around 3:30, we watched meet the parents (that’s like four movies in one day for these guys!)…ryan & i had a good talk…short but sweet…it really meant a lot to me that he considers my place a home away from home…i went to sleep close to 6 am. i got up at 9 to dial in to work…i got this snazzy new laptop for work, which is what i’m typing on right now…it’s sweet as hell…
the boys started waking up around 10ish…except for ryan of course…we left him at the apt. and i took the others to hilary’s urban eatery…they loved that place too! they have such good food there…i saw the boys off at around 1:30. they have a show tonight in louiseville, ky…i miss them already and so i’m listening to their cd right now…but they’ll be back in two weeks, so i’m not too sad…i just wish i could tour with them and take care of them…
after the boys left, i called rt, and he came over…before he did, i threw in my laundry @ the spin cycle, worked, started packing, etc…rt & i went over to café delucca…we talked about what car i should buy…i really want a subaru impreza wrx…rt says he’ll be so jealous if i really get that car, even though he knows i’ll let him drive it whenever he wants…he’s such a funny boy…
well, we’ll see what i think about nashville…my first time there…i’m looking forward to hanging out w/ derek, wildwood’s booking agent extraordinaire…we always have a lot of fun…although i have a feeling i’m gonna smoke a lot of cigs if i’m w/ derek…and i can’t wait to hear bill & jake play more, and ticklepenny corner & erik of uhq! yup. showcases every night from 11pm until 4 am! i just wanna see bill playing at 3am…i wonder if he’ll be cranky…
anyways, i was a bit frazzled earlier today, but i’ve had a great couple of days w/ my boys…i love those guys so much…even jeremy i took to right away, even though i really was hoping for jesse to be drumming on this tour…no one can replace jesse, but if it had to be anyone, it might as well be jeremy. he rocks. he’s a sweet drummer too.
alright. time to board that big iron bird in the sky…
holy crimeny, when and where am i??
it is thursday morning, and i did not sleep last night...i got a call from ryan (of my boys serene) at 12:30am while rt & i were watching fists of fury that serene decided to come straight to my apartment after their st. louis show. i thought they were nuts, and i wasn't quite ready for them, but there's no way i'm gonna say no to seeing my boys earlier than later...so i drove rt home around 1:30 and then i ran errands like grocery shopping so the boys would have breakfast stuff in the morning...i decided to just come straight to work once the boys arrived so that i could get out earlier today, and that's what's up...
i miss jesse...jeremy's really superduper nice though...i always get along with drummers anyway...
ryan has hair again...i like him w/ hair...reminds me of when i first saw him back in april of last year when he backed up annie quick @ the abbey pub.
so anyways, what have i been up to...well, let's see...tuesday i worked...after work, i went over to rt's and had my first drum lesson...he basically taught me what all the different pieces were called. my favorites are the tom toms and the floor tom. love that sound...one of my favorite beats is joy division's atmosphere. that's a lot of tom toms, right? i'll have to have rt listen to it...LOVE that beat...
last night, rt & i used some of the free burrito coupons that libor gave me @ chipotle. yummy! then rt gave me driving lessons in the chipotle parking lot. it all started when i drove over that curb...rt won't let me buy a new car until i pass his driving tests...i was doing great...until i drove over another curb...those curbs...they're just a suggestion, right? speaking of buying a new car, rt gave me a quiz tuesday night to determine what kind of car i should buy. right now, we're thinking the subaru imprezza or the VW golf...i want the imprezza...we think it's best that i be in a 4-wheel drive vehicle...
after the driving lesson, we went home and watched fists of fury. bruce lee is so awesome...i can't even describe it...and he's so damn good looking too. i think the only asian actors i like are ones who do that kung fu fighting. like jet li. jackie chan. bruce lee.
so that's bruce lee movie #1. i have 3 more. we're gonna be watching kung fu for some time now, i think. which is fine by me. the dialog in bruce lee's films crack me up. it's so stupid it's great, ya know? i love it!
i hope ryan doesn't sleep all day...
it is thursday morning, and i did not sleep last night...i got a call from ryan (of my boys serene) at 12:30am while rt & i were watching fists of fury that serene decided to come straight to my apartment after their st. louis show. i thought they were nuts, and i wasn't quite ready for them, but there's no way i'm gonna say no to seeing my boys earlier than later...so i drove rt home around 1:30 and then i ran errands like grocery shopping so the boys would have breakfast stuff in the morning...i decided to just come straight to work once the boys arrived so that i could get out earlier today, and that's what's up...
i miss jesse...jeremy's really superduper nice though...i always get along with drummers anyway...
ryan has hair again...i like him w/ hair...reminds me of when i first saw him back in april of last year when he backed up annie quick @ the abbey pub.
so anyways, what have i been up to...well, let's see...tuesday i worked...after work, i went over to rt's and had my first drum lesson...he basically taught me what all the different pieces were called. my favorites are the tom toms and the floor tom. love that sound...one of my favorite beats is joy division's atmosphere. that's a lot of tom toms, right? i'll have to have rt listen to it...LOVE that beat...
last night, rt & i used some of the free burrito coupons that libor gave me @ chipotle. yummy! then rt gave me driving lessons in the chipotle parking lot. it all started when i drove over that curb...rt won't let me buy a new car until i pass his driving tests...i was doing great...until i drove over another curb...those curbs...they're just a suggestion, right? speaking of buying a new car, rt gave me a quiz tuesday night to determine what kind of car i should buy. right now, we're thinking the subaru imprezza or the VW golf...i want the imprezza...we think it's best that i be in a 4-wheel drive vehicle...
after the driving lesson, we went home and watched fists of fury. bruce lee is so awesome...i can't even describe it...and he's so damn good looking too. i think the only asian actors i like are ones who do that kung fu fighting. like jet li. jackie chan. bruce lee.
so that's bruce lee movie #1. i have 3 more. we're gonna be watching kung fu for some time now, i think. which is fine by me. the dialog in bruce lee's films crack me up. it's so stupid it's great, ya know? i love it!
i hope ryan doesn't sleep all day...
well, i got a call from allstate this morning...they told me what i already knew...my car is totaled...it's official folks...I HAVE TOTALED MY FIRST CAR...i now have to go and pay my last respects and get all my crap out of the car...i'm gonna take photos too so you can see what a honda civic looks like after being attacked by a concrete barrier[ed. note--see photo to the left--inserted this afternoon]...it's not pretty, so be forewarned...
i have so many memories in that car...i bought it right before my best friend from college michelle got married...so many cds played for the first time...like when caleb introduced me to the promise ring...it's where i played my first gang of four cd...and bikini kill...and the stooges...and the ramones (also the last cd ever played in that car)...it's the car in which megan, me and caleb (remotely via walkie talkie) and i became friends on our drive to c-stone...it's the car in which i, drunk, sat in the back seat with jesse sprinkle and found out he'd drummed on the denison track that happened to be playing at that moment...it's the car that took me & megan to milwaukee where i bonded w/ ian...it's where megan & i drove around w/ the windows rolled down, smoking cigarettes and singing along to denison this past summer...and then there were all the countless shows it's taken me to this past year...i'm just sad it never had a chance to make it to see its uncle josh one last time out in new york...
well, i guess i'm gonna have to buy me a new car...rt told me to just take his car w/ the insurance money, but his car is worth so much more than what i'm gonna get...and do i really want a station wagon? my friend brandon would say YES YES YES....but i'm not sure...it is 4 wheel drive (which is why rt wants me to drive it cuz it'll be safer for me)...it does have an INDECK 6 disc CD changer...that's the most tempting thing about it...we'll see...i just need something functional...i'm gonna start taking the train for real...
i know it's a little late to be having this thought, but...i sure as hell hope i got all the details right on that damn poster!
i had a strange-yet-appropriate-to-the-hour-between-2-&-3-a.m.-experience at kinkos...the kinkos dude first gives me this look when i tell him i want the posters on bright yellow cardstock. i'm like, 'what was THAT look for?' (i was a bit cranky, i admit...) and he's like, 'oh, nothing, it's just...do you really want something THAT BRIGHT?!' and i'm like, 'i want people to see it.' mr. kinkoman's like 'oh, they'll see it, alright...' they ended up not having yellow cardstock anyway, so it went on a nice glossy white poster quality paper. i liked the result. it was a bit of a splurge, but it's my boys, ya know, and it's their debut in chicago. that's not the end of the kinkos story though...i guess the dude thought i was a pro at making posters or something, and he comes and shows me these postcards for this business that had like hearts and cupid and the words COLON and CLEANSING on it...i gave him this look, and i was like, 'uh, yeah?' and he's like, 'i just thought you might appreciate it...' i have to say it was a sad looking document...i felt bad because he apparently liked it. i'm sorry, but it used a zapf chancery font...you know, that calligraphy font from the 90's. i hate that font.
anyways...i'm off to disneyland...not...
i had a strange-yet-appropriate-to-the-hour-between-2-&-3-a.m.-experience at kinkos...the kinkos dude first gives me this look when i tell him i want the posters on bright yellow cardstock. i'm like, 'what was THAT look for?' (i was a bit cranky, i admit...) and he's like, 'oh, nothing, it's just...do you really want something THAT BRIGHT?!' and i'm like, 'i want people to see it.' mr. kinkoman's like 'oh, they'll see it, alright...' they ended up not having yellow cardstock anyway, so it went on a nice glossy white poster quality paper. i liked the result. it was a bit of a splurge, but it's my boys, ya know, and it's their debut in chicago. that's not the end of the kinkos story though...i guess the dude thought i was a pro at making posters or something, and he comes and shows me these postcards for this business that had like hearts and cupid and the words COLON and CLEANSING on it...i gave him this look, and i was like, 'uh, yeah?' and he's like, 'i just thought you might appreciate it...' i have to say it was a sad looking document...i felt bad because he apparently liked it. i'm sorry, but it used a zapf chancery font...you know, that calligraphy font from the 90's. i hate that font.
anyways...i'm off to disneyland...not...
SERENE ARE COMING TO THE BEAT KITCHEN THIS THURSDAY FEB 6TH!!!! DOORS ARE AT 9PM AND IT'S ONLY $5!!!! are you at all curious who my redheaded giant ryan is? well, he'll be rawkin' out on his guitar and singing w/ the rest of serene this thursday night, and he wants to meet you!!! i love ryan. and matt green, an awesome musician all-round who has the loveliest wife you've ever seen. her name's laurel. she's cool too. and sharp as a tack. she's not on this tour, but i thought i'd mention her cuz megan and i think she's the coolest. then there's erik gust, the other redhead, on bass who makes the 'O' face when he plays. it was hard to get him in focus in most of the photos i took on the little shoot i did outside the shoboat. then there's jesse sprinkle on drums of course, but he won't be on this tour. in his stead will be jeremy who toured w/ damien jurado last fall. he's an excellent drummer, which he has to be to fill jesse's shoes. jesse's still my favorite drummer. look for him to be drumming on the summer demon hunter tour near you. 
those guys are the best death metal you've never heard. you know they're gonna have good beats w/ jesse drumming...speaking of that photoshoot, ryan told me that paste magazine published this very photo you see up there of serene outside the shoboat in the latest edition of their magazine! i won't believe it until i see it for myself. but if it's true, i'll let you all know so you can go get your own copy of the magazine. or go run out to the borders and buy it anyway. it's a good issue. and it comes w/ a sampler cd that's pretty much worth the money. look for the article on serene. i think it was an interview w/ ryan. this would be my first published photo! we'll see...
i gotta make some posters for that show now...
been listening to james brown and VoL all day. the perfect combo, don't you think? ha ha ha! oh, and i got my package from dischord records...finished my fugazi collection plus some q and not u, the entire minor threat collection, and a nation of ulysseus.
i got to see bill play last night at schubas. it was a good show. good crowd, esp. for a sunday night. i was happy. he did a couple oldies like welcome to struggleville & real down town. it's always fun to hear the old stuff...
OH! and rt came to the show too! i bribed him with promises of free beer. so he got to meet tim & bill & brenda & derek (whom he'd met before when watchers played w/ derek's old band). i wasn't sure how rt would take to bill's music because it's so different from what he normally listens to (punk, jazz, latin, funk, soul...) but he liked it!!! i told him i was bummed the drummer didn't make the tour, but he said bill doesn't need a drummer...he's good on his own...it meant so much to me to share bill's music w/ rt...bill and his songs have been a source of comfort and encouragement this past year...and i really wanted rt to meet bill...
it was a fun show for meeting old friends too. saw kriss marion--her hair's a lovely shade of purple! she is so awesome...also ran into peter and caroline, folks i knew @ the evanston vineyard...then there was good ol' scott p. who i first met at bill's uncommon ground show back in june and who i've run into at various shows over the months. he introduced me to his friend david bruce who is a former vineyardite and a local singer/songwriter. he was taking photos at the show too so we compared notes during the show. afterwards, rt & i were having newcastles (*sigh*...newcastles will ALWAYS remind me of jesse...*sigh*...) at the bar, and scott & david joined us. turns out scott's sister & rt's brother are friends! like how weird is that?! david & i had a good talk about our beefs with the church...it's always cool to run into people who understand where i'm coming from...
so that was last night...i can't wait to see bill this weekend...he said we'll do breakfast...we've been saying that every time we see each other it seems! but we will this time...i love that man so much...i told rt that bill was the one who gave me hope for the male population...oh, it's true...and if you don't know bill's music, what are you waiting for? go here and check it out!
i've been home all day w/ a migraine for the most part...well, ok, maybe i was hung over...that's really pathetic cuz all i had to drink last night was a red stripe and a pbr. i'm such a wus...
i saw bill & jake but no kevin last night. that bummed me out. it was great to see bill & jake, but i was really looking forward to catching up w/ kevin. and y'all know i love watching drummers do their thang...
another drummer i'll be missing is my favorite favorite favorite drummer jesse...he called me today from seattle...i cried after i got off the phone w/ him because i miss him so much and because he's not coming to chicago w/ the rest of serene...he's got good reasons for not coming out, but it doesn't stop me from being totally disappointed...don't get me wrong; i'm psyched to see ryan & matt & erik again...but jesse...jesse has a really special place in my heart...he's one of those godsends who's made me feel loved and special for no reason at all...
i also talked to ryan...he was driving the tour van from fargo to minneapolis...i miss him...it'll be good to catch up w/ him...i told him i've got the flat screen tv & dvd changer all ready for him! i hope the boys stay a couple days and hang out...i took my beer & liquor order from him, so i'll be ready for them...i need to get a bottle of crown royal...
i'm seriously considering SXSW again...mainly to see ian...i've really been missing him lately...i've been missing ALL my seattle folks! sheesh...no wonder i wanna move there so bad...
oh, the band that opened before bill last night was a band called 41 rivers. the frontman kevin and the guitarist anthony played as an acoustic duo called port eleki and opened up for ian @ the schuba show in july where i first met ian...they did those neutral milk hotel covers w/ ian that totally blew me away. i talked to kevin for a bit, and he told me they're now playing under the moniker the royal we. i hope i can see them again soon. i'll have to tell ian i saw them.
well, i'm going into work tomorrow for a full day since i didn't get anything done today like i'd hoped to...i'm tired...i think i'll go to sleep...
bill mallonee & jake are playing schubas tomorrow at 8pm. will kimbrough opens. should be an awesome show. i love bill...
i saw bill & jake but no kevin last night. that bummed me out. it was great to see bill & jake, but i was really looking forward to catching up w/ kevin. and y'all know i love watching drummers do their thang...
another drummer i'll be missing is my favorite favorite favorite drummer jesse...he called me today from seattle...i cried after i got off the phone w/ him because i miss him so much and because he's not coming to chicago w/ the rest of serene...he's got good reasons for not coming out, but it doesn't stop me from being totally disappointed...don't get me wrong; i'm psyched to see ryan & matt & erik again...but jesse...jesse has a really special place in my heart...he's one of those godsends who's made me feel loved and special for no reason at all...
i also talked to ryan...he was driving the tour van from fargo to minneapolis...i miss him...it'll be good to catch up w/ him...i told him i've got the flat screen tv & dvd changer all ready for him! i hope the boys stay a couple days and hang out...i took my beer & liquor order from him, so i'll be ready for them...i need to get a bottle of crown royal...
i'm seriously considering SXSW again...mainly to see ian...i've really been missing him lately...i've been missing ALL my seattle folks! sheesh...no wonder i wanna move there so bad...
oh, the band that opened before bill last night was a band called 41 rivers. the frontman kevin and the guitarist anthony played as an acoustic duo called port eleki and opened up for ian @ the schuba show in july where i first met ian...they did those neutral milk hotel covers w/ ian that totally blew me away. i talked to kevin for a bit, and he told me they're now playing under the moniker the royal we. i hope i can see them again soon. i'll have to tell ian i saw them.
well, i'm going into work tomorrow for a full day since i didn't get anything done today like i'd hoped to...i'm tired...i think i'll go to sleep...
bill mallonee & jake are playing schubas tomorrow at 8pm. will kimbrough opens. should be an awesome show. i love bill...
