so lately my email box has been bombarded w/ unsolicited emails from what look like legitimate email addresses all containing virus infected attachments...and they're not small documents...each email ranges from 80K to about 100K...and i get like 5 an hour...which means that while i'm asleep, i'm gonna max out my mailbox...so if anybody knows what's up w/ that please email me but don't use re: approval or re: thank you or re: wicked screen saver as subjects or i will delete them...



i'm exhausted and i'm going to sleep...but before i do, i will leave you w/ the following:



http://chicago.craigslist.org/about/best/



been listening to perfumed letter & panda panda ALL DAY LONG!!!



come see panda panda @ the fireside w/ me thursday night! 8pm! they play 2nd! bye!

so this past weekend was the air and water show...the thunderbirds were headlining this year and over 2 million folks crowded the lakefront for miles to get a peek...ted & i didn't get to see any of it until sunday, when there was only the thunderbirds act left...i picked him up from trader joe's at 3 and we sped over to the lake towards recreation drive/belmont harbor and drove right into a traffic jam that we couldn't get out of...recreation drive was a parking lot of cars coming out and going in, but you didn't find that out until you were in it...so there we were...stuck...not much of a view from the car...and then teddy saw an escape route over the median into the marina parking lot, which you would normally need a keycard to get into...and so he drove my little 4x4 subaru over the curb right into a parking spot and we ran towards the lake just as we started hearing the jet engines of the thunderbirds...it was a great view once we ran out to the point where we had fished w/ my cousin kris & pom a few months ago...those planes flew right over us! they do some nutty things, those thunderbirds...



...anyways, after the show was over, we realized that there was no way that we were going to be getting out of recreation drive anytime soon...there were still cars stuck trying to get into the park who never made it for the show...so we abandoned my car, risking parking ticket & getting towed, because i was famished and was developing a migraine from all the sunlight...we walked quite a ways to belmont & halsted, where teddy bought new saucony's from the army surplus & we ate @ a thai restaurant...teddy's sister lauren was on her way into the city from her parents' and she came and rescued us...we all ate together and then lauren drove us back to my car...it was STILL crowded, 2 hours after the show was over, with cars trying to get out, but it was nothing like earlier that afternoon...



note for next year's air & water show...either stay home or ride bikes...

so everybody minus mikey v (that being teddy, jozka, john and phil) congregated in my apartment yesterday afternoon and we proceeded to hang out...



(here's a little background...john, phil & mikey v grew up together since they were wee little ones...john went to high school w/ jozka & teddy @ st. viders back in the 90s...jozka & teddy befriended mikey & phil through johnny boy...jozka moved to michigan during high school but continued to keep in touch w/ da boys...john, phil & mikey all went to college together in missoula, MT...teddy remained in chicago...somehow they all stayed friends over the years, thanks to the phenomenon known as the internet...jozka moved in w/ teddy a year ago when he moved to chicago from ann arbor, where he'd been hanging since graduating from college there...that's how i met the jozka...



and he's been dear to me because he has spent hours listening to me when i was really depressed...he's also been a great companion for some really good shows i've been to, like the jeff tweedy/wilco show, teddy's last show w/ watchers in january, the eternals and folk implosion/mia doi todd...)



so after some congregating, we headed over to penny's noodle where we set our tongues on fire...phil had gotten a new digital camera, and we were looking at photos he'd taken @ great america the day before w/ john & mikey v & john's sister & mom...there were some really great shots taken on the rides, including some video clips...



after eating, we went to wicker park where the boys played football...at some point between my apt and penny's noodles, mikey v had called and told us about all the power outtages in several major cities in the u.s. my first thought was that the msblast virus had gotten into the power grid...that's still my theory...anyways...we were just glad we still had power in chicago...we tried calling phil & mikey's ex-roommate in new york, but couldn't get through...



after the park, jozka went to meet a friend and the rest of us went to pick up dave and headed on over to the liquor store where we got a 30 can case of PBR, jozka's beer of choice...teddy & dave & i went to jewel to get ingredients for my guacamole and some quesadillas...by the time we got to the boys' apt, mikey v was there...we just chilled w/ beers and chips & salsa & my guac etc...jozka & some of his friends showed up later in the night and thus we hung out...some of the boys got really drunk...



mikey had just gotten back from a music fest in portland for thumb pianos and other instruments not normally played by indie rock bands...he brought this huge thumb piano w/ like a couple dozen plucking prongs...he would place it in this hollow gourd and play...it was lovely...



a bunch of us jammed throughout the night...my skills on the cowbells were noted by john & teddy...teddy loves my drumming actually...i practiced the beats he'd been teaching me...dave played bass...jozka's friend shawn played guitar...john played drums at one point...teddy played drums sometimes...mikey played the jimbe...it was cool...i didn't think i could jam and creat beats like that, but it was lots of fun! i think i'm really gonna be a drummer someday...



at the end of the night, the finale came when jozka threw his nonfunctioning compaq desktop off the roof...again and again and again...those pieces of shit are a muther to kill! i thought we should take it out to the woods w/ a sledgehammer personally...



jozka leaves tomorrow...although i wonder cuz he's not really packed from what i could see of his room...oh well...he'll get it together, i know that...



it was fun having everybody together one last time this summer, but i'm really gonna miss my jozka...



been listening to--

s/t--panda panda

spirit electricity--bad brains

my favorite things--john coltrane

i'm home! i'm home! yup...i'm taking a half day today to spend time w/ jozka, who is leaving this weekend to move back to ann arbor, and the boys (teddy, john, phil & mikey v)...we officially have a party tonight, but the boys (except mikey) are free this afternoon so i think we're gonna meet up and hang...i wanna do a photoshoot of my jozka before he leaves...he's very photogenic, you know...check it out for yourself...



tomorrow i'm going in late so that i can catch some zzzzs after partying for the jozka...



bye!



been listening to--

more motion--trenchmouth

well, i have an announcement to make...as of yesterday, i have a new boyfriend...i have turned in my mop-haired red ted for this extremely cute guy who met me at the train station when i got home from work yesterday...his name is...ted...but don't be deceived...it's not the old ted...this is the new short-haired ted...



yup...it's true...teddy cut his hair...it's been 5 months since he's had anything even resembling a trim, so it was sorely needed...he looks like a whole new person, and i think he feels it too...



last night, while i did laundry, teddy checked out grandmaster tsai's martial arts school in my neighborhood...he took a chi class (kinda like tai chi) to just check it out...i don't know if he'll actually take it or not, but i thought i might be interested in taking martial arts...i used to do tae kwon do when i was a little girl, and my instructors would ask me if i was doing tae kwon do or if i was dancing...anyways...i sat in for a little while at this school teddy was trying out during the shaolin kung fu class, and there was a girl who was teaching the class...i thought it was cool to see girls doing kung fu, and i think it would be cool if i could be a girl who does kung fu...like for real and not just goofing around w/ teddy...at any rate, i think it's important for women to know some self-defense techniques, esp. for those who live in areas that are not so safe, and i just saw a warning poster in my neighborhood about a man wanted for a series of sexual assauts that have occurred recently around the wicker park area...



after the chi class, ted & i went to the holiday club where his roommate joe (my jozka) has been going every tuesday for quite a few tuesdays to shoot pool...this is his last tuesday here in chicago because he's leaving this saturday for ann arbor, so we wanted to hang out w/ him...the holiday club is on milwaukee avenue across the street from where myopic books used to be before it moved to where earwax cafe used to be...the holiday club is a bar aimed at the hip singles crowd, i guess...since i don't really go where the hip singles hang out, i wasn't too familiar with it...but i guess tuesday nights are not too busy and they have good specials, like the 20oz PBR for $2.50...joe was already playing a game of pool w/ a guy who wearing a t-shirt that said ASS on the front...the ASS guy was really good...he basically won every game of pool that night until he started playing doubles and got a so-so partner, and joe & teddy finally beat him...this was right as we were leaving...but i was glad SOMEBODY beat the ASS dude FINALLY...i didn't play pool because i would've had to play the ASS dude, and when someone's that good, it's just not fun any more...



so i hear matrix reloaded is now playing at the IMAX...i can't wait to see it again! maybe this weekend...yes, that would be awesome!



oh, FYI, i just checked out pandapanda's new album which is available for download on their website www.pandapanda.net...it's pretty awesome! there's 10 songs in like 20 minutes, so they're each short and sweet, really fun poppin' rockin' songs! pandapanda is miss mia's (of chic-a-go-go) other band besides kim...she's my role model right now cuz she's an asian female rocker who plays drums! yay!