"Woulda Been Better On A Boat..."

Bea's my favorite.

SO! The long-awaited Chicago saga! You are giddy with glee! You weep tears of joy as your dreams come to fruition! You dance a spontaneous soft shoe as elation pours through you! You...you don't? Oh. Alright. Just reading is ok, too.

I went to Chicago a coupla weeks ago for Sean and Keffy's wedding extravaganza. It was an action-packed week, to say the least. I got in on Tuesday morning and settled in at our home for the next few days: The La Grange Motel. Hoo boy. It was...adequate. I was neither mugged nor beaten while staying there and the price was right, so I guess no complaints. (ok, one complaint: I couldn't get the little slatted window in our bathroom to close and it was actually IN the shower...so I could see the goings on in the parking lot below whilST lathering my hair. Kind of unnerving). Bea and Andrew and Brad and Erin all showed up that evening and the week o' activity began. We did oh so many things. Some highlights follow in what I shall heretofore refer to as...

WEDDING WORDS!

City - Pat, Andrew, Brad, Erin and I spent about two days exploring downtown Chicago. We rode the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier. We ate pizza at Unos. We went to the top of the Sears Tower. We ate pricey food at Harry Caray's. We visited the House of Blues. We walked...a lot. It was pretty much awesome.

Second City - Bea and I wandered down to The Second City on Thursday afternoon. It's in a really cool neighborhood - lots of little local shops and cool buildings and whatnot. Great place to wander on a beautiful fall day. Anyway, we went to Second City to check out the place and maybe get tickets to a show. Done and done. We saw all kinds of great photos of troupe members who went on to be pretty dang famous. And we booked tickets for Saturday night. At 11pm. The show was hilarious...and lasted until 2am. Downtown Chicago is pretty interesting at 2am. Good times!

Ed's - After our first trip to the Second City, I introduced Bea to Ed Debevic's. I went there once with my college roommate - it's a fun place. The waitstaff is all sarcastic and they dance on the tables and stuff. Our waitress' name was Babycakes and she was just about as sarcastic as they come. On our check she wrote "Thanks - now get out!" I was waiting for Bea to actually call her Babycakes...cause, you know, it would have been funny to hear him say it...but he never did it. Ah well. Can't get everything you want.

Zoo - The wedding was on Friday evening. Friday morning dawned cold and windy, so instead of going downtown for pictures (where it would have been even colder and windier) we went to the Brookfield Zoo. Yup. All 17 of us piled into the stretch Escalade and rolled on over to the zoo for a couple hours of pictures.

Best People - We finally got Sean and Kathy married off [cue simultaneous sigh of relief for me and the Bea]. We were Best Man and Maid of Honor and I'd say we definitely put in our hours over the months leading up to the wedding. The ceremony and reception were really great. They sort of sprang our Best People toasts on us, though. We walked into the reception, sat down at the table, and ten seconds later the DJ says "and now we will hear a few words from the best man..." Yikes! I was not-so-secretly glad that Bea had to go first. At least I had a couple minutes to collect my thoughts. I think it went fine - I honestly can't remember what I said. Hm. And I caught the bouquet. FANtastic. It was me and about a dozen 14 year old girls who I had about a foot and a hundred pounds on. Nope, not embarrassing at all.

I'm sure I'm leaving a ton out, but I think this is long enough as is. It was a great wedding and I'm so happy for Sean and Kathy. I remember a couple years ago, back in Augusta, when Kathy and I would be driving away from church and she'd be going on and on about how cute this Sean-guy was and how she wanted to get to know him better etc. etc. etc. etc. ... etc. etc. etc. (Keffy's a bit of a talker...) Mission accomplished, I'd say. :-)

Ate A Slice Of Wonderbread

and went right back to bed.

Ah, Regina Spektor. I went to her concert tonight and it was incredible. She has such a unique and eclectic sound. There is such an ease to her performance - like she's sitting in her living room just trying out some things and having fun and singing and playing her heart out on her piano and you and 1300 other people just happen to be sitting there listening. It was great.

Also great: her opening act. I love it when you can enjoy the opening act just as much as the person you actually came to see. Like when David Bazan opened for Ben Gibbard (I went to see both of them, though). Or the Shaky Hands opened for The Shins. This time around it was Only Son: a guy, his guitar, and an iPod. Seriously. He played a couple songs with just his guitar and then said "I'm not gonna lie, I don't have a band so I'm just going to play along with my iPod." He hit play and the accompaniment came pouring out. Fun stuff.

I've been listening to a few different things lately. The new Iron & Wine album is just amazing (Bree, he's going to be in your area (I think) in December - you should go!). I'm loving me some Joe Purdy right now. Also, the new Eisley album and a little Willie Wisely. Yep.

I saw the movie Bella on Saturday and loved it. You should go see it if it's in a theater near you.

More soon on my wanderings of the past month. I was in San Diego and Chicago and Flagstaff and did all kinds of stuff. I'll tell you about it soon.

How are you guys?

A New Twist On Medical Illustration

(Get it? Huh? Huh? Because of the balloon animal thing? ...yikes.)

Pneumatic Anatomica by ~freeny on deviantART

click on the image to see it larger

We Got SEALEGS

The Shins. were. awesome.

They played at a smaller venue here in the city and when we walked in, we saw that it was an "in the round" setting. So we scoped out where we thought the front was going to be and chose our seats. The opening band came out to start their set (The Shaky Hands - they were great!) and as they played their first notes, things started moving. I thought I was dizzy or something--but nono - it was a rotating stage. It slowly spun so everyone got to see the front of the band at one point or another. It was so cool.
And, as I mentioned, The Shins. were. awesome.

I Know, Right?

I'm just saying...

So, a while ago I saw a picture of my sister that, as soon as I saw it, made me think, "whoa...that is freaky." Not because she, you know, looked freaky or anything. But because it reminded me of a picture of myself that was taken a few years ago. And I realized that we have the EXACT same "Um...ok..." face. Don't believe me? BAM!So, this made me laugh and I hadn't really thought about it since. UNTIL...a couple months ago I was mindlessly perusing the internet and you know how sometimes you get bored and you wander into...sites you wouldn't normally visit? You know what I mean...you look and you enjoy it and then you hate yourself afterwards? Don't judge me. You know you've been there, too. We've all done it once or twice. So there I was at icanhascheezburger.com (What? What did YOU think it was? GOSH.) and I saw THIS and it was all I could do not to spit diet pepsi all over my keyboard.
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Are you ready?
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I KNOW! :)

"You Look Really Nice Today

for some reason."

...I think that's a compliment?

Top Fours!

Things I did this weekend:
1. Saw Across the Universe with Brad, Ashley, Katie and Haley. Good movie, good tunes. Bono did an awesome job with his little part AND sang I Am the Walrus (coocoo ca choo). If you like the Beatles and maybe a little Moulin Rouge, you'll probably like the movie.
2. Cheated on Borders with the more conveniently located Barnes & Noble. Oh the shame. I sat in the cafe with my purchases and with each sip of my Starbucks nonfat no whip pumpkin spice latte, I died a little inside...but the deliciousness brought me back from the brink.
3. Bought a crossword puzzle book. Did you know I am 78 years old? Whatever. I love crossword puzzles. I have a system, I work in pen, and I get to use words like epee and falcate and termagant.
4. Went to Oktoberfest. It was a great day to be outside - fun atmosphere and the weather was perfect. We sat on the grass and talked and listened to the bands on the main stage and drank our requisite beers (mmm...Hoegaarden). It was fun.

Things I'm looking forward to:
1. The Shins on Tuesday night.
2. San Diego on Friday.
3. Seeing Bea and everyone a week from Tuesday.
4. Sean and Keffy's wedding a week from Friday.

Aaaaand I'm spent.

Just Some Things...

My grandpa died last Friday. It wasn't sudden or even all that shocking--he was 94 and hadn't been well for quite a while--but it's never easy to know that someone who has just always been there suddenly...isn't. It seems like not that long ago that I was in the same little town in Kansas for my grandma's funeral, but it's actually been nearly a year.

My grandparents were married for 62 years. They were farmers, raising sheep and wheat and milo and my mom and her sister and two brothers. They were good, honest, hardworking people with a strong, quiet faith and an absolute love for family and friends.

His funeral was hard for me, not only because he was my last remaining grandparent, but because I heard so many stories from so many people that made me realize how much of a life he lived - things that I knew little or nothing about. How he and his friend took off for The West during the thirties to "find their fortunes." The pranks he and my grandma's brothers used to pull on each other. How he and Grandma and my mom and her siblings would all work together to bring in the harvest each year. Just things that gave me a bigger picture of the man I clearly only knew a glimpse of.

Grandpa was a World War II veteran (a maintenance crew chief on the B-24 bombers), so at the grave site they conducted a military burial. As we pulled in to the tiny country cemetery we saw, all lined up, backs straight and proud, eyes ahead, a line of men wearing their military best--not one of them under 70 years old. The pastor read a few verses and spoke a little, and then a tottery old man left his place in line, came over, saluted my grandpa, and presented my uncle with a folded flag. He gave a very formal speech thanking my grandpa for his service to his country and at the end, in such a sad and sincere voice, simply said "We're gonna miss 'im." Oh, did I cry. Then they did the three-shot volley and one of the men played Taps. I don't think there was a dry eye.

My cousin Brian spoke at the funeral service - of all the grandkids, he knew Grandpa best. At the end, he read this verse by Walt Whitman - a tribute to my grandpa who loved the land.

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love.
If you want me again look for me under your bootsoles.
You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.

As hard as it is to know people are gone, I'm so happy for Grandpa. He lived his life. He had a solid faith. And I know Grandma's probably up there talking his ear off right now.