xoxo

"happy valentine's day, all you lovely folks out there!"

(...more photos from the stripes series right over here...)

...well, we did it, and we lived to tell about it...teddy & i drove down to urbana to see the dethoz! open up for wilco @ foellinger auditorium on the U of I campus...photos are right here...my mom & brother came over mid afternoon on tuesday to take over on the babyfront, and we left town around 3:30pm...despite heavy traffic on the dan ryan, we made it to urbana by 6:30pm and even found free parking just a block away from the venue...we had time for a lovely dinner at the bread company which was around the corner from where we parked, so we were totally set for the night...

...the lovely and talented derek becker had tickets waiting for us, as well as a photo pass for me...we went to the dressing room to say hi to the boys in detholz! and then i did some prepping in the auditorium for the photo shoot...elliot dicks, the drummer for the nerves and frequent empty bottle sound guy, was also there to do sound for the detholz! i don't know how many the auditorium seats, but it was a sold out show, and the kids started streaming in...it was weird being among the oldest in the crowd...most of the audience was probably not even of legal drinking age...i have to say that the kids doing "security" for the show were sweet...one of them even tracked down ear plugs for me & teddy...

...i have never seen the detholz! play on such a HUGE stage...even from the very front where i was taking photos, they looked so small because they were arranged on the back of the stage so that they could be behind the overhead stage lights...as always, they played a very tight set, and they were well received by the youngsters, who esp. enjoyed their version of johnny cash's 'ring of fire'...this was the first of seven shows that the detholz! are playing with wilco, which is a great opportunity for them to get some well-deserved exposure...it was nice to see the band after my almost 6 month hiatus from the music scene..in fact, the last show i saw before having cadence was the detholz! show @ the hideout, the night i saw jeff tweedy and forgot his name like the bumbling fool of a fan that i am...

...the wilco set was sweet, and teddy was as excited as i was to see glenn kotche drumming live...he is definitely one of my favorite drummers to see live! they did a lot of songs off their latest album, a ghost is born, but they surprisingly also did a lot of songs off of summerteeth, including via chicago, which is one of my favorite songs...i didn't take any photos of their set, even though i technically had a wilco photo pass...i could've for the first 3 songs, which is what they generally allow, but i chose to just stand back and enjoy the show...

...we left as they began their encore because i wanted to make it back home to our little one...all in all, this little trip took 10.5 hours, and it was totally worth it, even though teddy had to work at 7 am the next morning and cadence still woke up at 6am ignoring the fact that her mommy and daddy hadn't gotten to bed until 2am...

...just another exciting night in our rock 'n' roll lives...next shows i'm looking forward to are radio4 (the detholz! opening up) @ the empty bottle on march 2, lungfish on march 26, and bob dylan the first week of april...YAY!

...one of the joys of being a new mommy has been introducing the little one to some of my favorite music...bob dylan, bill mallonee, gillian welch, rosie thomas, damien jurado, denison witmer, sufjan stevens, iron and wine, johnny cash, the innocence mission, etc...i've also started singing and playing songs on guitar for cadence, and that'll capture her attention for a while...unfortunately, the only song i know how to play by heart is 'via chicago' by wilco, and i was thinking that maybe a song that starts out with the lines 'i dreamed about killing you again last night/and it felt alright to me' might not be the best song to be singing to my baby every night...so i've decided that i am going to learn me some new songs...i'm shooting for about 3 a month...i don't learn too fast (my brain reached information overload about 4 years ago) so that's about what i figure i can handle...right now, i'm learning 'one little song' by gillian welch, which i played on repeat on the cd player for a few hours for cadence as she slept yesterday...so by the end of the year, if i keep this up, i should have a few dozen songs under my belt, and by that time, maybe cadence will even be singing along! and playing her red monkey rattle! or the drums! won't that be fun?!



...speaking of wilco, looks like the first show i'll see post-baby is gonna be the detholz!/wilco show @ u of i urbana...interestingly enough, the last show i saw before i had cadence was the detholz! show at which jeff tweedy was present which got the 'holz their current mini tour of seven shows with wilco...thanks to the lovely lovely boys of the detholz! and to derek becker of satellite booking, the nicest and best dressed booking agent in town...i've been an utter failure trying to get wilco tickets in the past, so it's nice to be able to get in on the guest list...and teddy too! that was an added bonus! now i don't have to drive all by my lonesome to and from urbana...



...in other news, watchers are playing with the eternals at the fireside bowl on thursday night...yeah, they still do shows there every now and then, but it's not all ages any more...i probably won't go but i think ted's going...if it had a restaurant attached to it, we could both go and take turns, but oh well...i think we're gonna try that at venues like the empty bottle, schubas, abbey pub--all the ones that have restaurants with no smoking sections so we can bring cadence too...



...yeah, the overall feel these days is that i'm ITCHIN', baby...itchin' for the outdoors, itchin' for live music, itchin' to do some street photography, itchin' for seattle...itchin', itchin', ITCHIN'!!!

happy birthday, miss mia!

"whutcha lookin' at, daddy?"

born to be wild!

...so last night was miss mia's birthday party...we showed up early cuz we knew we couldn't stay too long with cadence, and also cuz we knew it was gonna be a smoky party as the night progressed...the party was in the motorcycle shop that's in the building where mia lives, and teddy's eyes got big when he saw all the cafe racers that were being rebuilt in there...he's been watching shows like american chopper and southern steel just about every night on the discovery channel...i swear, those are the only shows they even air now on that station...anywho, it was great to be able to say happy birthday to a chicago rock 'n' roll icon like miss mia...she inspires me to keep on rawkin' out, and i know she'll do the same for cadence...and it was cool to get those photos of our little shorty on a racer!

...so did i mention it was an absolutely beautiful day here in the windy city yesterday? it felt like the middle of spring...cadence & i went for a long walk in the neighborhood over to lincoln square...yup, i'm a mommy with a stroller now! i have to say, it was a little difficult maneuvering that minibabySUV through the narrow aisles of laurie's planet of sound, so i had to park her in the store window behind the country section...which was just fine with me because i decided it was high time i picked up gillian welch's 'soul journey' which has been out for almost 2 years already...sheesh...that was just pure laziness on my part...anywho, after thinking about the good ol' days when i'd spend saturday afternoons at reckless records, it was nice to browse through an indie record store again, and even if it's not as big as reckless, they still sell the good stuff there...AND they sell buttons at laurie's! i picked up a bob dylan button of the blonde on blonde cover...i love that photo of him...he's so..YOUNG...

...hey, look at that! it's a photo without cadence in it! yeah, i took a few of those yesterday on our long stroll through lincoln square...still not as many as i would've back in the old days, but enough about the old days already...it was just so lovely to be outdoors yesterday in a hoodie instead of a big thick down coat, which is what you would normally wear on february 5th on any given year in chicago...pretty soon, it'll be spring, and when spring comes, cadence will be 6 months old...wow...you know, there's a BIG difference between 4 months and 6 months...and then come summer, holy schmoles, she'll be crawling and maybe even taking her first steps towards the tail end of summer...i can't wait to take her to the little baby pool in glenview at the big pool where teddy & i went last summer...i've already been looking at swim suits for her!

...so much to look forward to...you know, having a kid is about the hardest thing i've ever done...but oh, the joy! the joy, the everyday joy that is my cadence joy...even photos can't do justice to the joy i feel during so many little moments throughout the days that i spend with my little one...

...remember the good old days when i used to go to a couple shows a week (sometimes a couple shows a night) accompanied only by my trusty friend named Nikon so i could stare at rock star footsies? or when i spent saturday afternoons browsing the bins at reckless records, again accompanied by my trusty Nikon to and from the record store so i could capture the sights in and around wicker park? or the times i'd shoot off to places in rural illinois or wisconsin or seattle or new york or austin to see my favorite bands play? well, those days are over...



...or... are they? so i'm thinking that maybe we'll do a family vacation to some music festival this year...there are so many these days...i think SXSW would be too early (it's in march) for the little one, but bumbershoot in seattle won't be til labor day, and austin city limits is in september too i think...cadence will be practically walking by then and ready to embark on her life as a rock 'n' roll prodigy... and outdoor festivals are easier to get away from the inevitable drunks and cigarette smoke...although usually there are other kinds of smoke to contend with, but that's besides the point...



...i know that we have to go to new jersey for my cousin ben's wedding the first weekend in june, but i wanted to do a real family vacation...like maybe even involving a plane ride...i will admit the prospects of boarding the confines of a steel bird with a squirmy little one in tow is a daunting one at best, but it's done all the time, and i see no reason why we shouldn't jump into the action too...seattle...maybe a drive up to vancouver...or down to portland...oh, the pacific northwest is so beeeeyewtiful in late summer! *sigh*...



...can you tell i'm getting cabin fever? the temperatures hit 50 degrees today, and all i can think about is how much i need a vacation...and by vacation i mean a little more than shooting down to champaign next tuesday to see the detholz! open up for wilco...not that it won't be fun...but it'll just be a 12 hour get-away and i need a little more than that...