Tales of Brave Ulysses

After work yesterday I drove slightly tipsy to look at an apartment that's available for sublet for two months. That would take me through the heart of winter, a winter so cold I'll have no choice but to look for warm places to meet people and to work on my music and writing. Then off to Acadia to listen to Mary's set - we met at the 331 last trip up. It was pretty good! I really enjoyed her lyrics and her pronunciation of "heart". And then off to the 331 to listen to the Roe Family unamplified and catch up with Adam. It was a little hard to hear them, Q was out with food poisoning, etc. I joined them for a song but my voice was hoarse from screaming at the wind all day from my cardboard box.

Will I ever get around to bothering Zander? Now that I can do it any time I want it seems like less of a priority.

Ah! Back

I am sitting in Spyhouse early on a Monday morning managing my various online personalities and drinking coffee. There's a pound of sumatra sitting in front of me ready to ship off to a friend that I've somehow done wrong by. I'm dehydrated - a day on the road drinking coffee and eating beef jerky left me dried out. This'll be a first: me in the ham offices without Bret being there. What will happen? Who knows.

If it hasn't been said before, myspace sucks donkeys. Not any part of the donkey, the WHOLE donkey. Fox needs to invest some money into redoing the damn thing and doing it right. Anyways, back to looking for a place to house myself through the winter - last night in the cardboard box was rough.

Jendorphine

Neil, who is looking to be the default champion for this year's chili contest, has sent out info on his next show:

hey there,

I'm doing another one of my exploratory/minimalist/atonal

/country
blues sets at Enemy next monday.

Ben Miller/degeneration (prepared guitar/sax/spoken word)
Neil Jendon (a guitar, an amp, and a chair)
Zeropoint (Jason Soliday & Robb Drinkwater - electronics)

11-20-06
enemy - 1550 N. Milwaukee Ave 3rd Fl. Chicago, IL 60622
Doors at 9PM, Music at 9:30PM
$5 suggested donation

I'll be out of town but Jendorphine has been working on some interesting stuff recently and the price is whatever your conscience allows.

Why Why Why?

Back to waking up in the middle of the night and not getting back to sleep. Terrible.

Zelienople Show

Howdy folks, the Zelienople boys will be playing a late set Thursday night at Gunther Murphy's in Chicago, with a bit of instrumentation from Dodd Billyans ("BALLS!!!!"). And Odawas will be playing too! Be sure to get there early and buy lots of CDs and t-shirts.

Z Boys

The boys from Zelienople were interviewed for the Reader last Sunday. Check out the article in section three this week! Got back early this morning, slept, went to Old Navy with Matt and picked up some really nice slipper shoes and met one of his cousins who was working the register. So many Christensen's about - you'd think they were Irish or something (note: they are Irish). After that I ate a Gyros plate and napped, woke up, got some supplies and here I am.

What a fun trip I've had. When I got back there was a card from T. I guess it's time to get off my duff and hustle up some gigs for Idyllville and do more recording.

Fergus is still meowling. He's lost his best friend and brother and is inconsolable.

Home?

Time to fill up the ipod with a new set of tunes and hit the road back to Chicago! After a week here it feels like I've never been anywhere else, so going back will be like a little adventure. I can explore the city, figure out where to get groceries, etc. Today I'm taking Max out to lunch to pry bits of info about his upcoming trip out of him (and also to get him properly fed. you're so thin! eat! eat!).

Just Another Minne Monday

Upon hitting Snelling Avenue I felt like a different person - almost like I had never left. I had expected Dave to be home working on H*****, but he was at Aesthetic Apparatus screen printing posters. On 1st Avenue I walked past someone who looked awfully familiar - "are you a cartoonist?" He was in fact a cartoonist, but I have no idea where I'd seen him before. He hadn't participated in 24 hr, or the cartoonist conspiracy, and didn't know anyone I knew. It was one of those weird things.

The Roe Family Singers were in fine form, and Charlie Parr's playing has stirred my interest in alternate tunings. I got carded pretty seriously, which is kind of baffling as I was wearing my fake moustache which apparently makes me look younger (like a kid wearing his dad's suit jacket) rather than older.

I wonder where your postcard will come from...

So This Is Goodbye

I don't normally talk about work but Dave and Greg put together a nice little web app with a lot of potential for funny for the Junior Boys and it's not getting the traffic I had hoped it would. Visit, turn off the music if you don't like it, and participate.

So This Is Goodbye

And for god's sakes, be funny.

Thursday!

Well, it's Thursday. Ye olde Minneapolis itinerary is filling up, with gaps left in for extra hours of work. Things I don't know that I'll have time for:

* Bother Zander.
* Refresh my coffee supplies and sit and doodle at Spyhouse.
* Visit Big Brain Comics.
* Browse Cheapo Records for musical treats.
* Curse Dunn Bros. - then go in for a cup of coffee.

Sigh. Such is life! Going through the five stages into the sixth stage - giddy anticipation.

Wednesday Night

Fergus is now in full mourning. He keeps on calling for Rufus but no one responds. This is absolutely the worst timing for another week away. If there had been more time I could have borrowed Archer from Brian so that Fergus could get acquainted with him and see if they could get along, but it would be too risky now. I wonder if I can find a home for Fergus as I'll be gone quite a bit and he goes a bit nutty without company.

I popped online when I got home and there's Maxeem on Messenger, working away at writing a press release to promote his novella. Nearly spotless writing - only one questionable item, and that a suggestion from someone else. Donnovision 1.0 will be turning into Max-o-max with some help from Shad and I'll be looking to find a home for Sammy, the old laser printer.

On Monday I went to the Chicago chapter of the International Cartoonist Conspiracy's meeting at Clark's on Lincoln to see how the mix compares to the Minneapolis branch. The first thing I noticed was down here, I don't know anyone. Second, the skill range seemed a lot closer in this bunch and much more focused on cartooning. Third, the gender mix is about even instead of mostly male. I aim to take little breaks during the day to doodle so I can sharpen my skills back up, work on simplifying my lines and expressing more with less.

Saturday was the weirdest day. First thing was Rufus on the floor barely breathing, barely alive. Then a rush to the vet, and then Rufus passing away. It was weird because sitting there I thought I heard him meowing, but it ends up it was a dog. Rufus was very dog like. He barked, he played fetch. At PetSmart today I was tempted to take home a cat that looked like him.