PMA! PMA!

PMA! PMA!

Woke up this morning to find GalPal had disappeared! I found her sleeping on the couch downstairs. Our house has central air but for some reason the upstairs is always a handful of degrees warmer than the other floors so GalPal and I tboth migrate to the cooler lower environs from evening to evening. Still, it's slightly unnerving to wake up and find yourself alone in a big bed.

I'm up incredibly early -- couldn't get back to sleep I guess -- and already the day has a weird feel to it. We're moving to a different office today at the 9-to-5 so we're shutting everything down early which already gives the day a combination of "hustle and bustle" and "early holiday" vibes. This afternoon is GalPal's company outing, and they kindly invited me, so I'll be catching the Cubs game, giving the day an even more surreal tinge. And later tonight Keep and his lady are hosting a small get-together which means I'll get to catch up with some of my favorite people in the world.

Can this day get any more stuffed?

So, um, yeah, that's what I got. What've YOU got on tap today / this weekend?

Don't blink!

Don't blink!

Ladies and gentlemen, proof of the Do312 Lollapalooza celebrity kickball game...


I'm the only person in a red t-shirt.

A shout out to my lady.

A shout out to my lady.


Look, dating me IS NOT ALWAYS EASY. I’m a loving boyfriend but I can also be a complete idiot. So let’s take a moment to reflect on just how awesome GalPal is for putting up with me!

And no, I haven’t done anything REALLY stupid at the moment to warrant this, I just thought it’s one of those things that should be out there.

I am totally buying her an ice cream cone tonight.

That picture is over a year old. Man have I lost a lot of weight!

Gone fishin'.

Gone fishin'.

Be back tomorrow!

The metal is oddly cool against our feet.

The metal is oddly cool against our feet.

When Betty the Beagle walks down our stairs it sounds like a herd of beagles are slowly making their way down some steep metallic hill. Our interior stairway was actually designed for outdoor use; it's made of metal and I bet it could withstand the elements better than our non-weatherproofed wooden front porch. As a result unless you have feet sans any sort of claw (read: GalPal or Tankboy) you're going to make a ruckus. Heck, even the cats make a healthy amount of noise running up and down those stairs and they're supposed to be all lithe and quiet and shit, right?

Why would you put an outside stairway inside? I kind of like its quirkiness though I admit there has been once or twice where an unsteady step upward resulted in a bump that could've broken or at least split open a shin. I wouldn't recommend letting your kids using it as a jungle gym. But I like things that are slightly off so it suits me. The house we rent is old and has lots of little idiosyncrasies that I or GalPal would happily change or update, but our outdoor stairway that's inside is the one I'd probably just leave as-is.

Pushing myself outta the comfort zone.

Pushing myself outta the comfort zone.

GalPal left town this weekend to head south and visit her family then head out with her sister to get drunk on a friend’s really big boat at some place called Party Cove. I was extended a last minute invite but turned it down because, let’s be honest here, putting me on a boat in “Party Cove” surrounded by a bunch of hard partying early twenty-somethings would probably lead to me getting smart-alecky and end in some sort of drunken altercation with some super tan guy named Biff. Or something like that. So I opted to stay home.

Usually when GalPal leaves town I tend to stick to the familiar: this includes lounging around the couch watching lots of DVDs, maybe having a couple early evening beers, and then heading off to The Burlington or something close to home. This time around I decided to mix it up a bit. I tend to be – and this may surprise most – a little less comfortable in social situations than you might expect. Maybe that’s why I DJ, or started putting on shows, or feel I need a reason to be somewhere. It affords me an excuse to be busy when I want to sort of fade into the background for a bit. So I went to meet friends at a bar I never hang out with and ended up having a really great time. It certainly helped that the company was stellar, but I also found I couldn’t rely on talking to the bartender or disappearing to escape a lull in a conversation I didn’t want to deal with. It was actually rather nice.

Saturday I went a step further and met some friends I almost never see for dinner. Now, this is something I NEVER do … I eat with GalPal and, every once in a great while, with Keep and his lady or one of GalPal’s old friends. And you know what? Great time again! The I head to a surprise party where I was unfamiliar with, oh, 80% of the attendees and, again!, a great time! A bit more bar hopping followed, hitting up establishments I do not regularly patronize, and I found I was really enjoying myself. Apparently you can teach n old dog new tricks, or at least this old one.

So what’s the upswing of this? Well, I think GalPal will be pleased when I suggest we go out in the evening she won’t hear me reading off the same five possible destinations; instead I intend to try and mix it up more. Y’know, I tease my Wrigleyville and Lincoln Park friends for never leaving their neighborhood, and I have a certain right to since I DO make it to those neighborhoods on a semi-regular basis, but maybe it’s time to start venturing even further north, further south, and maybe ringing up people I know that I rarely see in order to reconnect somewhere new.

At least it’s worth a try, huh?

Top Photo: Within minutes of GalPal leaving town I return to the eating habits of a 12-year-old

Bottom Photo: Pickle the Kitten asks, “Is she back yet? Is it safe to come out? The boy is stinky!”

She's a sneak!

She's a sneak!

Pickle the Kitten has grown a lone dreadlock on her back. In college, when I had long hair and people would mistake me for a hippie I'd tell them it was just a ruse to draw in the patchouli crowd and then lob nitroglycerin filled hackey sacks their way. I can only assume Pickle's taking after her dad and sporting the dread to draw hippies in and give 'em a good swipe of her paw!

The automatic shut-off is broken.

The automatic shut-off is broken.

I sit here at my desk surrounded by CD cases -- it seems all my desks are decorated thusly -- and find I am once again awake at an ungodly hour. Part of that has to do with the fact I fell asleep slightly earlier than I usually do but the primary reason would have to do with my brain. It just won't shut down lately. Now I've always been the sort who is happiest with an occupied mind but as I'm getting older I find I'm beginning to have to prioritize where I allow my thoughts to coalesce. Information keeps rushing in and I have to admit sometimes it's getting harder to know where to file it.

I no longer have the musical memory I once did, the storage lockers in my head that handle that vast library are stuffed full and exploded into such a disarray years ago that it's often difficult for me to even answer the question, "What are you listening to right now?" Things are in order enough that when I write down to write a piece of musical criticism I can sort through the stacks and all the information I need is still there, I'm just finding snap responses to be more difficult.

Sometimes it takes me forever to read a book. To someone that used to be able to blow through a 500-pager in a few days (sometimes a single day when I was younger and between jobs) this is distressing. Granted, occasionally I still do breeze through a book, but I think it takes more effort than it used to. Some of this obviously has to do with time constraints, and some has to do with the fact that through RSS feeds, daily news and other media sources biting into my book time, but I again find myself realizing it's due to my realization that as time passes prioritization becomes more necessary.

My brain is a fertile ground. Over the years my creative powers have deepened, and I've found getting older has made me both more curious and more pragmatic. I think this prioritization I keep thinking about is the result of learning that simply sucking information in at every level isn't enough. I mean, it never was, but it's easy to forget that in a time where the flow all around us has picked up into what basically amounts to a non-stop flash flood of stimulus.

I realize I'm never going to be the person who can just unplug and slow down. My brain will always hunt for something to amuse or challenge it. Even on a vacation where I had nothing to do but sit on a beach and sip fruity drinks I found my thoughts simply wouldn't slow down. But that's O.K. That's who I am. The thing that makes me work well is that I've learned how to process this stuff, analyze and understand (or giggle or hum along to or be moved by) it, and then decide what's important and what isn't. I've learned to prioritize and it has served me well.

But sometimes, every once in a while, I over think my over thinking and find myself writing a blog post about the shut-off valve in my brain being broken just before 5 a.m. on a weekday morning.

Investing in karma.

Investing in karma.

So yesterday I’m at Au Bon Pain, rubbing my high falutin’ ways in front of anyone and everyone walking through the underground walkway, getting some lunch. I purchase said lunch, decline my receipt like I always do, and headed back to the office. A few minutes later I get a call from my bank saying something or other about suspicious activity on my account so I call them back. Turn out my attempts to withdraw money to pay my rent from an ATM the day before had tripped their system so they wanted to make sure it was me and no hank-ypanky was involved. I assured them all was well, thanked them for their diligence and as I was about to hang up the phone the voice on the other end said, “That’s great news we’ll reinstate your account immediately.

It didn’t hit me at that second but about an hour later I realized that if my account had been frozen there was a good chance I walked out of Au Bon Pain without paying for my food! I checked my bank account, saw there was no charge for a sandwich, and ran downstairs to rectify the situation.

I explained myself to the manager on duty, but she had just come on and the day manager had left. (Obviously it is here you may correctly infer that I tend to eat my lunch very late in the day. What can I say, I’m busy!) She said if I really wanted I could talk to the day manager the next morning, so I set off agreeing to do just that.

So, I arrive bright and early this morning, head straight to Au Bon Pain, hunt out the manager, tell her what happened, apologize, and pull out my money to settle my unintended debt. She looked at me stunned.

“They never come back!” she said.

She explained to me what happened was commonplace and more often than not an honest mistake, but that she was kind of touched by my honesty and I felt al warm and fuzzy and was pleased that deep down I really am the guy who wants to do the right thing, even if every time I don’t actually do so. In this instance my ethics steered me the right way and I felt good about it.

So I walked out and gave GalPal a call to bring her up to speed since she had seen how distressed I was at inadvertently “dining and ditching” only to find my phone wouldn’t work. So I get to my computer, check my account … and find my service has been cut due to a billing error.

Sigh.

Hey you!

Hey you!

Don't forget tonight is TankBird Tuesday at The Burlington!

Lollapalooza-ed.

Lollapalooza-ed.


It was pretty epic and I'm not sure I ever want to push my body that way again (not so much the boozing as the booking from one end of Grant Park to the absolute other side almost 5 times in an hour ... my legs hate me) but it was definitely worth it. Next year I have to take it a little bit easier! I'll go into more detail later, but just wanted to let everyone know I survived!

Photo of Billie Joe giving Mike advice on running the bases is by me!

Lollapalooza-ing it.

Lollapalooza-ing it.

Please hold for future transmissions.

So there’s this thing happening this weekend…

So there’s this thing happening this weekend…

Lollapalooza is upon us. Already. GalPal and I went to a small media mixer thrown by the organizers to grab our press passes early so we wouldn’t have to do it Friday morning. We met up with a friend and proceeded to stay out late into the night, jawing about music writing, the state of the industry and just how delicious the drinks at The Whistler are. Tonight I have an invite to some Perez Hilton party and while I’m not a fan of the dude it sounds like there’s gonna be some cool musical guests. Plus, you know, free booze. Beyond that point we have no concrete plans.

This is the first year GalPal and I both have press passes but it’s also the first year I don’t have VIP, so I guess I’ll probably be a bit more sober than usual.* It’ll be nice for both of us to have access to the press area since that means I may get to see her a bit more than I usually do at these types of events. Usually we lose each other because there’s no cell signal, but this year the park is blanketed in WiFi and the Lolla app has a chat option so we’ll always be able to figure out where the other is. Yay!

So yeah, there you have it. Lollapalooza will dominate my life until sometime early Monday morning when I finally fall asleep...

*The only year I didn’t cover the fest was it’s first as a destination festival n Chicago, but my friend won free passes to the Lolla Lounge that year for herself and ten of her friends, one of whom was me.

Rally the troops, it's a new day and we're on the march!

Rally the troops, it's a new day and we're on the march!

Man, I did not sleep well last night. I'm juggling a couple big things mentally -- all positive, don't worry, they're just time consuming and somewhat pressing time-wise -- so I found I kept waking up every 15 or 20 minutes because I was trying to work on this stuff even in my sleep. It's funny, usually my summers are slow, or at least not mentally draining, but this year has been unusually busy on all fronts. That's a good thing since it means I'm being challenged and engaged and feeling appreciated for my talents. It's an excellent place to be right now.

And now, if you'll excuse me, I have a day to conquer!

The storm approaches...

The storm approaches...

Two more days ... and then Lollapalooza swirls in to take over my like 72+ hours...

In which our hero admits that, perhaps, he might actually be human.

In which our hero admits that, perhaps, he might actually be human.

Yesterday was one of those daze where my antics probably entertained a good number of my friends, annoyed a few others, and caused GalPal to want to shove me in a garbage can and walk as far away as her legs could carry her. Much of this can be attributed to my thinking it was a good idea to a) start drinking at 8 a.m. and b) actually drink multiple shots of whiskey at Mars Cheese Castle (who knew they even had a bar in there?!) and then continue drinking at Wicker Park Fest whilst waiting to watch fun. So if you ran into my yesterday and I amused you, did not try and steal your drink or hand you an empty cup to hold for me, congratulations, you were one of the lucky ones!

Everyone else? I again thank you for putting up with me acting a fool.

I'm a celebrity?

I'm a celebrity? Duh.

So, I'm doing this next weekend to take a break from shooting Lollapalooza:

I promised you last week more details for the Do312 Celebrity Kickball Game so here they are. On Saturday, August 7th, Do312 will be organizing a kickball game at Grant Park during Lollapalooza. Confirmed players so far are, Wolfmother, Foxy Shazam, Team Bayside High, Billy Dec, Ryan Manno, Johnny Radtke, Chris Holmes, Alia Shawkat, Clark Duke, Jim Kopeny and more keep rolling in daily. Keep an eye out to see who we add, and make sure to RSVP here, because 50 lucky people will win a spot to cheer the teams on.

All the guests haven't been announced but it's gonna be a lot of fun. RSVP now for your chance to see me be "athletic!"

Busy week, busier weekend!

Busy week, busier weekend!

It's been quite a week. Things at the 9-to-5 are poppin' (in the most excellent way) and Chicagoist has been keeping me busy in my off time so I'm really looking forward to unwinding over the weekend.

As if.

I'm DJing at The House of Blues Foundation Room tonight, so if you're a member this would be good evening to stop on by! I've never DJed there before but judging by the mix of music they requested it should be a good time, with lots of rock, some '80s and a little pop. Then tomorrow GalPal and I are heading up to Wisconsin with SuperBird and her man to attend the annual Burlington Good Times party; a weekend filled with friends, drinking, huge dinners, fireworks, and epic games of flip-cup. Your basic chance for a bunch of adults to just have the best time they possibly can. And then we hope to make it back in time Saturday to catch a few of the headliner acts at The Wicker Park Fest. And then Monday it's right back into the work week!

And did I mention Lollapalooza and the 72-hours of madness that accompanies that is next weekend? When am I going to find time to sleep?!

Soundgarden fans are WAY more aggro than your average Juggalo.

Soundgarden fans are WAY more aggro than your average Juggalo.

Man, right when I thought Smashing Pumpkins fans were the people who hated my music writing the most, along comes an army of Soundgarden fans that REALLY hate my writing. I wrote a piece about the band's pre-Lollapalooza show at The Vic gently dissing the latter period of their career -- and keep in mind I'm a fan of the ban myself -- and WHOA did these people come out of the woodwork to let me have it! In the end it was really amusing (and generated quite a healthy number of pageviews for Chicagoist) so I have no complants.

It's so funny when fans get so worked up over a single person's opinion. Does the fact I'm not excited about Soundgarden reuniting or Billy Corgan continuing to use the Smashing Pumpkins moniker really warrant someone getting angry? I think not.

The end of Sweet Treat Wednesdays...

The end of Sweet Treat Wednesdays...

Tonight marks the end of Sweet Treat Wednesdays, Gal Pal and our friend Lisa's weekly early evening DJ gig at Beauty Bar. The duo always plays sweet tunes, but Beauty Bar is doing away with the early shift DJs since it's proving a bit hard to build up traction in that time slot. I had noticed Sweet Treat Wednesdays was getting busier -- more of the girls' friends were dropping by and the evening $10 special for a martini and a manicure has been getting more popular -- but in the end the uphill battle just proved too difficult for the bar.

So let's see the duo's residency out with a bang tonight! They'll be spinning from 7 - 10 p.m. and I GUARANTEE you will dig the selections. Both DJs have excellent taste and their styles compliment each other well. This isn't the end of the Sweet Treat DJs -- I'm sure they'll find another monthly residency or two elsewhere -- but tonight is your last chance to see them where their partnership got started. See you at Beauty Bar!