ok. on friday i did one of the dumbest things i've ever done in my life as an adult...
so i drive off for work in the morning, and a block later, my car starts making this awful grinding racket like something is very very wrong with the car. since i know nothing about cars, i called my friend allison @ work and described the noise to her. she told me it was probably my brakes and to call midas. so i make it back home, i call midas and describe the sounds, and they say to bring it in, that it would be okay to drive the mile to the shop...so i'm driving over to the fireside bowl which is where the midas is located, over on fullerton & rockwell, and at fullerton and western, as i'm making my left turn onto fullerton, i start smelling burning rubber. that's when it dawns on me that the awful grinding noise is that of my car driving on an entirely flat front passenger side tire. when i pulled over and looked at the tire, the rubber was literally falling off the rim...brilliant...i never even thought about checking the tires! i called midas again, and they were nice enough to send over two guys to change my tire. did i mention it was frickin' cold? those guys were really nice, and when i took my car to the shop, they checked it out for me and found me a tire store nearby that had the tire model i needed.
so i basically never made it into work because by the time my tire was changed, it was 1pm, and i did not want to deal w/ the friday traffic. one good thing about this whole ordeal is that i found a cafe called katerina's next door to the tire shop that's got great food (the portabello mushroom quiche was very yummy), the owner (katerina) is superbly friendly, and she is a big supporter of the arts. the reason i went in at all was that she had a poster up for theater oobleck, my favorite chicago area fringe thespians. turns out this cafe has live jazz performances and movie nights as well. i could spend hours just hanging out on the couches or at the tables or at the bar. i think wed. nites is sangria nite--you bring your own wine and they provide a pitcher of fruit, and you watch a movie. that sounds awesome. totally go check 'em out if you live in chicago. they're at 1920 w. irving park road, just east of damen, a couple doors down from duxler tires.
so yeah, that was one of the dumbest things i ever did, mistake a flat tire for bad brakes...but it was a totally serenditpitous event as i now have a new place to go and relax...esp. at noon on a friday...
i guess when michael put air in that tire last sunday and found it was going flat again a few hours later and he told me i had a slow leak and that i should do something about it, it should've tipped me off that i might get a flat...but if i'd listened to him, i never would've found katerina's.
well, it's been a rawk'n'roll weekend for me...nah...it was just great seeing people i really love like ian and bill...which was totally rawk, yeah...
friday night ian was late getting to chicago. he was supposed to sound check @ schubas @ 6pm, and i was supposed to meet him for dinner, but he didn't get in until like 7, and the show was supposed to start at 7:30, so he only had a few minutes before the show to hang out. i got to meet his family who live out in the western burbs. chris, ian's tour manager, was there too, so that was cool to see him again. he was so nice to me when i was visiting austin.
the show was packed out...it's always weird being w/ ian at one of his shows at a venue that draws his fanbase because he's got a really loyal bunch of fans...someone had this huge fender guitar pick (like the size of the palm of my hand) that he asked ian to autograph. that was the first time i ever saw anyone asking for an autograph @ schubas. we hung out in the back as jon dee graham opened up. jon dee is from austin too and he's awesome. he's got a raspy voice like he's been smoking all his life and it's absolutely lovely.
ian had had some tough shows in the midwest prior to chicago. but that night, he had the crowd eating out of the palm of his hand. he got to do some new material, which is different from his old stuff (more poppy) and everyone loved it. he played really well too. he opened w/ wash away my troubles, the sam cooke cover that i love so much...ian has such a beautiful voice...and i know that, but every time i see him live, i'm blown away anew all over again...he did some of my favorites...caroline, magdelena, today/will the circle be unbroken, room 229, fickle, elephant tears...
ian had a lot of fun playing that show...unfortunately, there was another show right after ian's show, so we were kind of rushed out of the music room. we had dinner at the harmony grill. tim was there and he & ian talked business, and then we walked over to the musicbox to see the wilco movie. it was cold, but i'm glad we walked because ian and i got to talk on the way to the movie. i'm so glad i got to see the wilco movie w/ ian. he and i have talked so much about wilco, and how much their music has meant to the both of us, esp. this past year in light of our respective personal struggles. i couldn't wait for him to see that part in the movie when jeff tweedy is in the tour bus w/ his family, and he's sitting next to his son trying to guess which of daddy's songs he's clapping out on his lap. ian liked that part...i'm sure he must miss his family while he's touring...i love hearing stories about max...
saturday, ian, chris & jon dee came and met me in the city and we went to penny's noodles for some thai food. they LOVED it. i was so relieved because ian has traveled so much and he cooks authentic thai food himself, so i knew he knows his good thai food from his mediorcre thai food. penny's came through for me...and they're cheap too. can't beat that. after lunch, we went over to reckless records. it was so neat to take ian where i buy the majority of my musical picks. he picked up a copy of the new doug martsch (built to spill frontman) solo cd. someone gave him the vinyl and he really liked it. i had bought that same cd just the day before, and i listened to it a couple times yesterday, and i have to say i really like it. it's not really like the built to spill stuff, but i still like it. i really like doug's voice.
after the record store, the guys had to drive up to milwaukee for their gig @ the social club, which is where ian and i forged our friendship the end of july. i really wish i could have gone with them...but i also really wanted to see bill mallonee who was opening up for over the rhine @ schubas that night. it's so hard saying goodbye to ian...i can't really explain it...it's kinda like saying goodbye to jesse. so much of the bond between me and both these guys is nonverbal because they're kindred spirits in a sense.
this may be hard to believe, but when i look at ian, i'm reminded of how my dad used to look at me...that same unconditional acceptance and love...except for maybe jesse, there really isn't anyone who makes me feel special and loved in that little girl/princess kind of way like ian does. it's all in the little things he does...like how he kisses my forehead or touches my hair and smiles at me w/ those eyes that heal me in the places where i miss my dad so much...these things remind me of what it was like to know that there was one person in the world who loved me without a doubt, whether i was a good girl or not...these things remind me that i have the priceless gift of never having had to doubt my dad's love...
saturday evening was absolutely lovely. i got together w/ pete & amy for dinner @ the harmony grill prior to bill & OTR's show. we ate w/ their friends troy & carrie. it was great conversation (not to mention great food...that was my 3rd meal there in 25 hours...with the same server...) we talked about environmental issues, capitalism, consumerism, the church's lack of response. we also talked a bunch about music. troy & carrie were at c-stone and saw a lot of the shows i missed. they were really cool. pete & i are excited about some shows coming up. he's really wanting to go to the fireside...he missed that appleseed cast show cuz of sigur ros. 
there aren't that many shows i wanna see right now...i think we're gonna see planes mistaken for stars, and i know i wanna see the waxwings on the 28th...then owen's playing @ the fireside on 01/04. and interpol's playing @ the metro on the 12th. i just wish caleb could stay for that show...he'll be here that weekend w/ pierre & todd, but he starts school on the 13th...well, we'll see...anyways, i'm digressing...yeah, dinner was awesome. neither pete, amy, troy nor carrie had ever heard bill mallonee before so i was excited that they were at the show.
it was so awesome to see bill again, and meeting his wife brenda was just lovely. she's a total trip! she was standing on a chair behind the merch table and dancing at one point. seeing bill w/ brenda restored some of my hope in the potential for successful relationships. this is an area of my life where i feel like a total failure, and i don't see much hope in the future for me. i would have totally given up hope if i hadn't met bill this year and seen how he absolutely adores his wife still after over 2 decades of marriage. the world needs more guys like bill...i mean, i'm sure it's cuz brenda's a wonderful person which would make it easier for bill to be such an adoring husband...but there really is something about bill that's different from what i've seen in your usual lot of men...
as for bill's show, i was a little disappointed that OTR's road manager only gave him 20 minutes for his set. like what kind of a set is that??!! bill really tried to fit as many songs as possible into that set, and he went over of course, but seriously, no one was complaining. the OTR fans loved him. the friends i was with who had never heard him before thought he was awesome! he closed w/ on to bethlehem, which nearly put me in tears...
i was kinda peeved that bill didn't get a longer set, so i ended up missing a lot of the OTR show as i was cooling down outside the music room. pete, who's not really an OTR fan, kept me company, and we smoked cloves and pete drank cheap beer. that boy loves cheap beer. he loves hamm's in a can! i was so happy pete was at the show w/ me. esp. since i was a little bored towards the end. pete's such a little punk sometimes...i love it. we were standing in the back towards the end of the show when bill got back on stage to do a number w/ OTR, and pete started waving his lighter. OTR did do orphan girl (by gillian welch) at the end which salvaged the show for me in my heart because i love that song so much. in the end though, i know this tour w/ OTR will be good for bill because he's going to win over a lot of their fans. how could he not?? if only they could see him w/ the full band...my one consolation at the end of the evening was that bill would be back in chicago the end of january. for a headliner. hopefully w/ kevin at least on drums!
my friend brandon who lives in bloomington, IN had called me before bill's show and left a message that he'd gone to that same show in cincinnati the night before, and that he had a story to tell about it. so i called him after the show to find out what happened...it was pretty interesting...i won't go into ALL the details, but it involved ticketmaster screwing up, a scalper who mysteriously tried to sell brandon the tickets that he'd bought and never received, 35 in a 30 zone, a young officer w/ both guns blazing, brandon being a smart aleck, backup being called...quite an evening for a couple young lads. reminded me of when i got my speeding ticket after the watchers show in milwaukee...the things we go through to get our music fix...bill is definitely worth it though...
Monday, December 9, 2002 at 4:35PM 
