I'm in a band, which is a lot of fun except for the fact that Michael the bassist is in another band that already plays lots of shows around town, and he never actually has time to play with us. I think we've gotten together as a full band about five times since May. We have a show in Chicago in December, and are supposed to set up our first ( Read more... )

I like watching brilliant musicians screw up occasionally. Whenever it happens, I'm reminded that they are in fact human, and not some godlike musical force created for my own amusement. Then I'm more in awe of the times they get it so right. Joanna Newsom played thousands of notes, and messed up about 4 times, which is a pretty amazing percentage ( Read more... )

Falk, Biggerstaff, and I went to see the Fiery Furnaces last night. It was quite excellent, despite opening bands that, while not bad, seemed to just prolong the evening unnecessarily. Eleanor Friedburger wore hideous clothing, and kept squatting down by her monitor when she wasn't singing. We were about five feet away from her-essentially looking ( Read more... )

Princeton: I stayed at an apartment in the "projects": a collection of buildings for people visiting the Institute. I had never stayed there by myself, but remembered the nearby playground as one where I had played basketball with my dad when I was little. I saw grandpa and helen for dinner, and then hung out with Nora, who'd taken the train up ( Read more... )

The next day, I woke up at noon and took a train out to Brooklyn to see Megan. I had never been to any non-Manhattan part of New York before. After comical toing and froing about which line I should take, I ended up in Park Slope. Megan and I went to get her laundry, stopped at her brownstown, and went out for Mexican food. I carried an umbrella, ( Read more... )

Apparently I informed no one in Milwaukee that I would be leaving for a 2-week, easterly jaunt. I left last Monday, and am in Atlanta and the midst of said jaunt ( Read more... )

I wrote this for the parody issue of my high school paper during my senior year. I don't think I ever published it. The editorial is written from the perspective of the school principal ( Read more... )

"I've got to get my bike into the garage. There's a man walking around your neighborhood with a boa constrictor coiled around his torso."

-Michael M., at band practice.

I had my first ride on a motorized bike several days ago. Abby picked me up on her sky-blue Vespa and with her martian space egg helmet, and we rode to Conejitos and Alterra. The first moments were rather terrifying, all following moments were grand.

Clever!:http://www.bruceduffie.com/

I bought a Velvet Underground album today ( Read more... )