saturday, teddy & his roommate jozka & i went up to the wildwood office and i met w/ tim, leighann, debbie and erica the new intern while my boys romped in the backyard on the trampoline w/ tim's boys jack & brennan...everyone managed to keep all limbs intact somehow...tim is getting ready to move into the wildwood mansion next weekend...i can't wait to see that place...i asked for my own bedroom...i got all sorts of loot in the form of cds from tim...even teddy & jozka got some free stuff, c/o the 77s leftovers from their tour...













after the meeting at wildwood, we went up to mikey v's house for his party...actually, the party wasn't to start for HOURS...it was basically the four of us hanging out playing pool and badminton until other people started showing up...badminton is always fun, esp. in mikey's spacious yard...we had a keg of miller lite to liquify us...i stuck to oj for the most part...megan showed up for a little while...we just chatted and got caught up...i haven't seen her in months it seems! she's really busy these days taking summer courses and moving etc...



mikey's coworker's from california pizza kitchen started showing up around the time we set up the bonfire...we all gathered around and jozka got his guitar out and started playing songs...he played a song he wrote that i always make him play whenever he has his hands on his guitar...we actually made him play it twice...the song's about driving to teddy's brother's wedding a couple summers ago...i always feel so tingly sad when i listen to it...i get in my jd salinger mode which is kind of hard to explain or even justify considering i really should be grown up by now...i guess one of the things i really love about being w/ these guys is that they're like characters in a coming-of-age movie...which makes me feel like i'm in a coming-of-age movie...and everybody loves being in the movies, right?



by the end of the night, we had the djembes out as well as mikey's gyile, which is a marimba or xylophone-like instrument from ghana...mikey played a lovely and rather upbeat funeral song which was totally rad...it was lovely sitting in front of the fire...there was a full moon somewhere in the night sky...it was chilly, and the smoke from the fire was our only cloak of protection from the bloodthirsty mosquitoes...those things are brutal in the burbs...all in all, it was a lovely day, hanging with just teddy, jozka & mikey until the others showed up...we were sufficiently exhausted by the time we headed back into the city...







more later...

my little scheme to get jesse to visit chicago on the way to cornerstone is working! he totally bought the idea and is going to work on the rest of the demon hunter boys...he he he...i knew jesse wouldn't want to come THIS close to chicago without spending some time here...i guess one of his best friends moved out here, so he wants to visit him too...oh my gosh! that is gonna be such a blast! having jesse here when bill & annie are playing will be super special...i know jesse really likes VoL stuff...and sheesh...he like toured w/ annie as her drummer last year...and he'll get to see derek's band too! awesome! hmm...that means i'll have to take more vacation days...but like jesse said in his email, we could make up for what didn't happen in seattle...yes...it's true...i still feel a sense of incompleteness cuz i didn't get my time w/ jesse...i mean the whole reason i booked this trip back in march was cuz jesse didn't make it to chicago on the serene tour.



went and saw ester drang & starflyer 59 last night...ester drang blew me away...not in a rock 'n' roll way...they were more soundscapey like the 6 parts 7 or early day miners...but still beautiful music...i like the dude's voice...and i just found out i'll get to see them again @ cornerstone...they're opening up for pedro the lion...RAWK ON KIDS!!! starflyer59 were rawkin' too but their new songs are now what i expected...maybe i was just too tired...i did see andrew the drummer for the detholz! he really liked ester drang too...i had no idea he was into shoegazer bands but apparently he really loves stuff like slowdive and the cocteau twins & my bloody valentine...i also ran into kriss marion and maxwell...we had a nice chat...kriss is sporting her blonde marilyn look for the summer...ultra cute of course...if i ever have 4 kids ranging in age from primary school to teens, i hope i can look half as cute as kriss and have a quarter of the energy she always seems to have...



on a sadder note, josh's kitty freddy passed away yesterday...he was only about a year old i think...he was some cat...i know josh & lielle really loved him...now linus is alone...but as short a life as it was, he had a good one...josh adored him...he'd tell me that freddy would copy whatever he did...like a copy cat i guess...it'll be sad going to new york and not seeing that orange tornado of fur...god bless the kitty cats...



been listening to--

infinite keys--ester drang

locket full of moonlight--bill mallonee

photo album--death cab for cutie

AGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!

ok...got that out of my system...traffic sucked...i was forced to exit at dempster and take crawford/pulaski to bryn mawr to lincoln to washtenaw to farragut to western to ainslie (did a literal drive by cuz ted was outside his sister's apt) to damen to my apt...i probably saved myself 20 minutes...the scary part is that it still took me an hour and a half to get home...



so tim got me a hotel room for cornerstone! kick ASS!!!! you have no idea how hard it is for normal paeons like myself to get a hotel room for that festival...especially 17 days before it starts...so now me & brandon's got a room & i think debbie will stay with us too...if the weather's anything like last year, we're gonna be thanking tim big time...



so i have a little scheme to get jesse to stop off in chicago on the way to cornerstone from his demon hunter tour...i've emailed him and told him his old buddies bill mallonee, annie quick AND derek becker are ALL playing a show @ schubas, which is a venue of some sentimental value to us, and that he & his DH boys should come to chicago for some R& R...i've mentioned my new dvd player...my membersip @ facets...goose island honker's ale...a promised ride to cornerstone for the DH show wednesday night...like what more could he ask for??? hmmm...i should've mentioned homestar runner on unlimited high-speed internet...it's totally foolproof...i know he'll totally want to do it if he can get away with it...i emailed ryan and told him to coax jesse into agreeing to my little scheme here...we shall see...



should i go see starflyer 59 tonight? i'm gonna shower and see how i feel...ester drang is opening which is the main reason i wanna go...they're not playing cornerstone this year and i missed them last year, and they're one band bill mallonee said was worth watching...



right now i'm just a little annoyed with life...while driving down bryn mawr, i had a little pang of self-pity passing all those korean stores & signs...for some reason i thought about my dad...i always think about my dad when things aren't going quite the way i want...or when i want to emotionally throttle someone...or when i'm just plain lonely...i have this idea that if my dad were still alive, everything would be okay...i know that's a fallacy, kind of a copout, an excuse to wallow in my own emotional dirge...*sigh*...but still...



been listening to--

s/t--holiday runner

winners never quit--pedro the lion

this was outside our office windows an hour ago...a lovely little boy deer munching on some greens...now i know a lot of suburbanites can't stand these creatures because they're like all over the place...but i grew up in the city, see...and i still think 'bambi' when i see one of these lovely things...



just found out my friend brandon from bloomington, IN is gonna go to cornerstone with me! i wish ted could go, but i think he's gonna have to work...when he finds out brandon's going though, he'll totally want to go too...*sigh*...oh well...it would've been really great for him...so many bands...so little time...duvall, the band i went to see when ted's old band watchers opened up which was where i first saw ted, is gonna be playing there too...and pedro the lion...and starflyer59...and the violet burning...and denison witmer...not to mention all the great wildwood bands like bill & VoL, UHQ, ticklepenny corner, the 77s, the lost dogs, the detholz!...it's gonna be kickass, yeah!

i have been listening to holiday runner all day...that would be ryan & jesse's stuff not used on the serene cd...actually, two tracks from the holiday runner cd will probably make the next serene cd...listening to holiday runner makes me nostalgic...i remember megan & i played that cd all the way home from cornerstone last year...it's such a jewel of an album...matt's piano is perfect on it, even if he steals from pink moon...more than the music though, those songs remind me of all the goofy fun moments i've shared w/ ryan & jesse & megan & the rest of my seattle boys...from that week at cornerstone...to the crazy night of jager bomb depth charges and spitting on heads from attic apartments when ryan & jesse dropped in on the way from dansville, ny to seattle...to the wildwood gals' first seattle trip the last week of august...seeing ryan w/ a mohawk received while drunk...bumbershoot w/ erik...karaokeing @ the sunset bowl w/ erik...driving all the way to the portico fest to see jesse drum w/ poor old lu and then caravaning home w/ ryan & jesse...stopping off @ sherri's @ 2am...arriving @ ryan's at 5am in federal way...doing the ave w/ jesse the next day...long talk w/ ryan @ flowers lounge as jesse & megan goofed around w/ john our bartender concocter of kickass vodka lemonades...walking through the UW campus in a gentle night rain...ryan's antics in red square...ryan & jesse coming to chicago to meet w/ greg from arena rock & w/ tim & derek...jesse's surprise performance opening up for the lost dogs...closing down the bar @ flatlanders w/ r & j & the lost dogs & greg...'touring' with serene in november--crocodile & the black bird w/ the gloria record--ryan teasing me when i got a hug from chris simpson of TGR...the crazy showboat show in tacoma opening up for dj's...laurel & matt dirty dancing...hanging w/ jesse in the u district...drinking w/ ryan @ a casino in federal way...staying up til morning watching 'beautiful girls' w/ ryan & jesse after driving all night from portland...staying up til morning w/ ryan watching 'the professional' after drinking @ a casino after the tacoma show...ahhhHHhhh...the memories...



...and now tickets between seattle & chicago are back in the $300's...that means no more trips out there for the forseeable future...and that makes me sad...maybe the next time i go out there, i'll be driving a moving truck...who knows...