Greetings...

...from parent/teacher conferences. Ugh. Hopefully it will be peaceful with little confrontation. Several of my students earned Fs this quarter.

Where have I been. Mostly rocking out. Went to State Radio at the Bluebird last week (which is not the greatest venue--it's pretty much not as nice as the bar in my grandparents basement, and they opened the doors 20 minutes late while it was pouring rain, leaving many diehard State Radio fans soaked for the show). The show was phenomenal, though. Ask the 150 18-year olds who were there. Last night caught Amos Lee, Elvis Costello, and Bob Dylan at the Fox. I forgot how much of a treat it is to see a show at the Fox. It's so majestic and beautiful. Amos Lee was a new artist for me, and I'll definitely look into his discography, and Elvis Costello was awesome. He was totally high-energy and chatty with the crowd. Dylan was Dylan. He's old and his voice is gone, so he sing-talks, which is fine for his newer stuff that was written for the rasp, but not fine for older stuff. Dylan and Costello did a great duet during Dylan's encore, but honestly, both Chris and I could hardly stay awake during the final set.

Speaking of rocking out, spent a raucous Saturday playing kickball, then partying until last call in full-on kickball regalia, which, for the uninitiated, meant I was wearing a camo t-shirt with neon orange "Awesome Kickball" all through South City. Did you know they sell $1 jello shots at the Double D Lounge on Hampton (not to be confused with the Double D Lounge in Brentwood)? They are, but avoid the tequila ones at all cost. There was raving to Daft Punk, there was South Park pinball, there was drunk Sister Ginny and Cuz Cuz Julie (don't ask), there was bikes and Ali Baba karaoke. As a tribute to Ed Best, I sang Brandy by Looking Glass in a very weird drag queen voice. Who knew? That's what you get when you drink for ten hours. Just ask Banter who passed out on Krchma's porch. Followed that up with a hungover Sunday brunch at Koko, which was very cliched in the Sex and the City sense, but delicious all the same.

This weekend: kickball, bike-riding, costumes, brunch, ShaNaNaNa....