A long time ago my musician father taught me that there are two kinds of great bands: great live bands and great studio bands. Being one doesn't necessarily imply or prohibit the other. But when a band is both, it's worth celebrating. Sometimes it's that easy. So when BQDC's spirit-animal-turned-band Gates came through Detroit on Friday, [...]
Tag: IRL
Halfway Home
In my experience, the hardest part of NaNoWriMo - and all writing in general, really - is getting past the endless mental hurdles and simply starting to write, every day. That's it. It's very, very easy to get caught up in all the reasons not to sit down and create new sentences on any given day. And [...]
Among the Mud People: A Review of Riot Fest Chicago
Over the weekend I traveled to Chicago with my friends Matt and Brenda in order to attended all three days of the Riot Fest music festival. The whole weekend, held in the Windy City's Humboldt Park, was a strangely segmented affair and trying to turn all of my thoughts from it into one cohesive piece seems not only painfully [...]
Burrito Baby
After some failed errand-running that involved a hockey girdle, the state of California, and a monkey company (don't ask), I ended up at a Mexican place for lunch. More specifically, a Qdoba. And I think they tried to kill me. Now, let me get a couple things out in the open here. First: Obviously, whatever homicide [...]
Le Décorateur
It's been eight and a half months since Caitlin and I bought our house and, admittedly, we've been very busy in that span: we adopted Jersey, we got married, we painted, and then the basement flooded. The confluence of all those events meant that we haven't had a whole lot of time (or, perhaps more importantly, [...]
Wasting Time (Makes Me Angry)
How do I know I'm old? Not because another birthday has come and gone and not because I'm married or own a house. Certainly not because I put on a tie every morning (you need not be old for that). No. I know I'm old because I get upset when I'm not allowed to be [...]
The Curse of Pocahonto
While we're on the subject of my sister's bizarro gifts, and since I've only recently recovered from a bit of a cold, I think it's time that I tell the tale of the Curse of Pocahonto. Like many of my strange childhood stories, this one begins on a No Moms Allowed camping trip. In this particular instance we were [...]
Fear of Falling (Rain)
Caitlin and I are far from the only people to have experienced the joys of water damage. Talking to a number of people who'd had similar experiences we learned a lot of things about how we might be able to prevent or react to similar problems in the future. And though we've known all along [...]
The Bean Lady
My sister, Michelle, and I have a long-standing tradition: whenever either of us goes on a vacation, we bring the other back the most grotesque, cringe-worthy (or at least stupid) gift that we can find. This hallowed practice actually began some fifteen years ago when, on a family vacation with our parents, Michelle and I [...]
There and Back Again (and Again and Again)
It's just about time. As is the case every year, I simultaneously feel like it's snuck up on me and that I've been awaiting it for months. I'm talking, of course, about my annual reading of The Lord of the Rings. For those of you previously unaware of this annual tradition, which I've been doing [...]
Songs & Stories 