back in chi-town...longing for seattle...

...uhm yeah. i'm back in town. but i'm busy as hell. and not motivated to do anything about it. here's what i'd rather be doing...drink john's vodka lemonade @ flowers w/ jesse & ryan & megan...be a barfly with the regulars for an afternoon @ the knarr...

...watch serene pretend to be a eurodance outfit...watch laurel and matt dance dirty @ the shoboat...witness erik do his O-face while playing the bass...come under the spell of jesse's drumming...sing along to ryan as he plays beggars of the sea...stand by like a school girl as chris simpson of the gloria record chats w/ ryan or jesse...

...watch an underaged kid stand in the rain moved to tears as he sees and hears the gloria record live for the first time from outside the bar...have greg of hidari mae tell me what my first tattoo should be (pink duck on my forehead)...joke with denison about nintendo boy... swing in ryan's backyard waiting for the somber redheaded giant to awaken from his slumber...

...hear andy sing dissension live...hear the gloria record perform tracks 1-6 of start here live...sit with ryan at a sports bar/casino in federal way talking about relationships while security guards take care of a "situation" behind us...stay up til 6am w/ jesse & ryan watching a movie after driving all night from portland...fall off the top bunk in ryan's sister's room cuz i can't find the frickin' ladder while still groggy with sleep...wait, scratch that one...that really hurt...

...listen to deni play my song for me and megan... shoot photos of a very goofy serene outside the shoboat in tacoma...drive behind jesse's demon hunter soccer mom minivan...gaze up at a spectacular late afternoon sky outside johnny rockets with jesse...take photos of mirabelle making goofy little girl faces...

...i don't know when i'll be in seattle again...i didn't get to see ian but i'll see him december 6th @ schubas...jesse said he hopes to find some excuse to come out to chicago...i wish they'd do a midwest tour this winter...i miss long talks with ryan and long hugs from jesse...

the show last night in portland was really good. the turnout was great, esp. for a wednesday night. i went out on a cigarette run right before the show, and when i came back, i was outside the bar and realized that serene were already playing. there were a couple people hanging out by the window, where you had a full view of the stage, and the sound was pretty good. i stood there and took some pictures for awhile. i overheard one of the guys telling another person that that was the gloria record playing. i laughed to myself when i heard that, and i told him that it was actually a band from seattle called serene. the folks standing outside were really digging it. some dude who was waiting for a bus said he heard the music and walked over because it sounded so good. the kid who thought they were the gloria record turned out to be too young to get in. i think that's so sad that so many of the good shows are 21+. like what are you supposed to do for good music? i sympathized w/ him...he was a TGR fan, but didn't know what they looked like, which is why he thought serene were TGR. he was a really sweet kid, and i could tell he loved music because he was standing outside where it was cold and raining...i told him that the gloria record would be awesome and that he should wait for them to play...it's funny now how i see folks at shows and sometimes see myself in them...there was something about this kid standing outside the window of the venue that was so beautifully pure, it really touched my heart...i went outside for a bit when the gloria record played their set to see if the boy was still there and to shoot some window shots...he was...and he was in tears...i can't even tell you how that moved me...partially because i love the gloria record so much, and also just to see someone be so moved by music...



the drive back home from portland was hard...matt, laurel, jesse & i had to squeeze in the back of the van because we were giving ryan's friend jenny a ride back from portland up to seattle. it was great that she drove back w/ us cuz we were all fried and tired, but she was all wired and kept ryan awake the whole drive by talking to him. matt, laurel & i were sick & cold in the back, and jesse had a sore neck from drumming. i felt so awful for matt cuz he had to work at like 8 in the morning...(i wonder if he went in...he was so sick...) we got into auburn to ryan's house around 4am. erik took all the seattle folks in his car, and jesse stayed over w/ me and ryan. we stayed up another couple hours watching a movie, and so i didn't get to sleep until 6am. jesse woke me up around 8:30 cuz he couldn't sleep, so we talked a bit...it was really good to spend time with him, as he's someone i absolutely love dearly. he drove back home to kirkland a little bit after that, and so now i'm home w/ ryan the sleeping giant. he's not going to be up for another 6 hours, i can guarantee you that, so i think i'll go back to sleep for awhile and then get up and do something.



i think jesse & i are going to go to vashon island to see ian moore tomorrow. i'm excited! jesse grew up on vashon, so it'll be cool seeing the island with him.



no shows tonight...megan gets in around 9pm...we're going straight to the hidari mae practice to see andy and eric (of damien's gathered in song).



naptime...

ryan has finally woken up. thank goodness...

live from seattle...it's me!



got in last night around 7:30 pm...that flight was way too long...hopped in a rental and drove up to the city to the crocodile to see serene open up for the gloria record. as soon as i hit the city, it started raining in torrents. i made it to the club though, and it was so awesome seeing the boys again. and i got to meet matt's wife laurel who is totally cool. serene were awesome live. i never knew ryan could play guitar so well. i mean i kinda knew cuz he played on the album, but he would never really play my guitar except for a few chords here and there. he's such a liar. he told me he only knew like 4 chords. i love serene's songs...ryan's got some talent there that boy does.



i had a nice surprise when i went out into the bar after the serene set. eric fisher and andy myers (of hidari mae and damien jurado's gathered in song) were sitting in a booth waiting for me to come out of the show. it was so good to see them!!!! i just wished megan had been with me. we sat and caught up until the gloria record started their set. i'm so excited that i'll get to see hidari mae play when denison plays friday. AND jesse sprinkle from serene is drumming for robert deeble at that same show, so we're all going to be together!! andy myers is probably one of the sweetest people i've ever met. he made me and megan feel so at home the last time we saw him @ the bowling alley gala for rosie thomas & eric's going away to europe thing. andy is also an amazing drummer. i mean, i only got to see him on the big screen @ bumbershoot cuz i couldn't actually get into the damien show, but i hear he's pretty awesome. he's also a great songwriter. i was so impressed w/ hidari mae. i couldn't believe andy wrote all the lyrics. i'm heavy into the lyrics you know...



well, ryan's asleep and doesn't want to be awakened until 1pm, so i'm just hanging out...it's beautiful out now. hard to believe it's gonna rain all week. maybe i could get the forecast changed...hmm...



i just wish caleb were here because i feel so guilty i get to see the gloria record for the THIRD time tonight in portland. he's the one who told me about TGR to start with...this is gonna be such a rock 'n' roll week, and caleb is my rock 'n' roll kimosabe. he so deserves to be here. i love sharing rock 'n' roll moments w/ caleb.



hmm...maybe i'll wake ryan up early...

ah...codeine...

...note: if you have a severe chest cold w/ a hacking cough, it's probably not a good idea to belt out good morning providence @ the top of your lungs on the way to work...my bronchials are never going to be the same...on the other hand, what choice do you have when good morning providence is playing through your speakers but to sing it as loud as you possibly can? i don't know what else to do in that situation.

...well, the good news is that i called my doctor and had a coughing fit over the phone with him, which was pretty convincing because he readily prescribed me that cough syrup i wanted, the one w/ codeine in it. people at work have told me they can hear me hacking even w/ my office door closed from down the hall. i have a post-it on my door that reads "enter @ your own risk." people have left me alone for the most part.

more good news...that huge project @ work has been postponed, so i don't have to worry about working crazy hours before leaving for seattle. i'll suffer for it when i return to reality next monday.

i'm still thinking about last night's drumming performance by the appleseed cast drummer...reminded me of when i first saw glenn of wilco drum when i saw the wilco movie. man, i frickin' love an inspiring drum performance...

...at this moment, i am a happy camper..."i was born in omaha" is tickling my ears...my tummy is full of good mexican food...i have a prescription of codeine laced cough syrup waiting for me at my local osco drug...i found a cheap pair of rocket dog shoes at the DSW...memories of sebadoh's "willing to wait" play in my head...i have to stop @ reckless tonight to exchange the "live from battle in seattle" cd for my "pornography" cd...i am going to be in seattle in like 30 hours...i will see the gloria record perform twice this week...i will see serene perform three times...i will see hidari mae for the first time...i will see deni play for the millionth time...i get to see ryan & jesse & matt & erik & ian!!!! i so need to spend time w/ ian...meg & i both...there's something comforting about his company for us...

i think i'll put on some idlewild...i wanna hear some american english...