Oh my has it been one long week.
Work was busy.

I company managed the BMG appearance at Milly’s Orchid Show. Super fun to be a part of that show again but man was it a long day. During the second half of the show Henning called me and was all like, “Whatcha doin?” and I was all like, “looking for Nora Dunn.” Boy was he not expecting that answer! At intermission the stage manager had mentioned that Nora Dunn, one of the headliners of the event-hadn’t showed up yet. They were hoping she had just snuck in and was waiting for her name to be called. I was out in the lobby looking for her, more out of curiosity than responsibility for her. I explained this to Henning who was all like, “What the hell else does Nora Dunn have to do?” Well it must have been something because Milly finally hollered out to her from the stage but no response. Bad Nora Dunn!

Started volunteering for the Chicago Independent Radio Project or CHIRP. Worked their booth at Pitchfork Music Festival. Liked working the booth but didn’t care too much for the festival. Hot, muggy and muddy.

Rode the bus to the festival. Two busses there, two busses back, two hours of my life. Look at me being thrifty and patient!

My other new project is that I was invited to be an Adult Juror for the Chicago International Children’s Film Festival. I am judging Documentaries and Live Action Television. I basically spend 3-4 hours a week watching and rating submissions. It’s a lively group and I look forward to the festival in October.

Took my nephew to Coldplay. It’s his favorite band and I decided to go for broke and spend $200 for the tickets. Now I liked some Coldplay but I was not a huge fan going in but I worshiped them coming out. Amazing show. Totally worthy of a full post.

Maybe tomorrow. Or this weekend since I hopefully have Sat-Mon off. Cuz man do I need a break. And I need to do laundry, clean my house, water my plants, hire a contractor, get rid of some stuff, return my library books….

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We ate dinner in Greektown and headed down to the lake for the Full Moon Jam. The moon was pink when she rose over the water.

I set up my camp chair and enjoyed the show. My sister and niece showed up and we made repeated phone calls to try to find each other. “I’m across from the tuba!” or “The guy juggling little fireballs is right in front of me.” “Now it’s the guy in the mask with the poi balls!”

I felt a bit like a fire spinning groupie as I explained who I had seen before and commenting on new tricks that they had learned.

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Sunday. The plan was to get coffee and take Lilo for a really short trip to the park. Instead I got coffee, John got ice cream and we all spent over an hour and a half at Horner Park. I laid down in the grass and stared up at the sky through the trees.

“Come down here and lay with me” I said. “No” John said. “But I want us to lay in the grass together and hold hands and look up at the beautiful tree and the blue sky” I said. “I don’t do that Dharma” he said.

It was hot and Lilo’s tongue was working overtime.

We, and by “we” I am pretty sure I mean “I” lost our little camera and had to buy a new one. I forgot what it is. I don’t like it as much as the one “we” lost, but it’s OK. And I tried filming Lilo with it. Here’s my first Youtube movie.

We always feel a bit superior as dog owners because we bring a water bowl for Lilo. We think it’s inconsiderate for the owner to be swigging on a bottle of water and there’s the poor dog panting away.

She appreciates it.

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I met Ernie for the first time last year at Homegrown, even though we went to highschool together and had lots of similar friends.
Ernie has a photo of himself with a pink elephant and I just assumed it was the one between Superior and Chicago. Wrong! So we made a special point of stopping in Deforest, Wisconsin on our way home last week.

Ernie’s elephant has a lot less grafitti then mine.

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We started our day with lunch at the Brewhouse. They welcomed Lilo on the patio and let her order off of the kids menu. She had a cheeseburger. I had a few beers and was in a great place for a ride up to Gooseberry Falls. Now we rent cars for our trips up North so we never actually apply the annual park sticker. This time we had one of those sticky protector things so we can put it on but then take it off when we return the rental. We hadn’t put it on yet for this trip when we drove by the ranger station. John slowed down but then kept going when I said we didn’t have to stop for the ranger who was walking out to his truck. Well the ranger saw the blank spot on the windshield and I guess he decided to follow us. We park down by the lake and he comes racing up to us. John shows him the sticker but that’s not enough for this guy. He starts lecturing us about not having the sticker displayed ahead of time and made some snotty comment about having to race after us. I was still a little happy with my Brewhouse brews and was all like, “Sorry, I didn’t know you were chasing us down.” He hassled us some more, accusing John of speeding and a bunch of other crap. He was not a very friendly ranger. I was all like, “We spent the $35 on a sticker so back off Ranger Man.” I didn’t really say that, but I was thinking it. Now as I write this I figure that the guy must have had a horrible day, it being the day after the fourth of July and all. The park was packed-crawling with people and they must have been making him crazy all day and he ended up taking it out on us. But still…

We tried to avoid as many people as possible, but it was hard.

We found a body…

We found a little corner where we could hide away.

Finally the groups cleared out and we had my favorite spot to ourselves. We looked for agates and pretty rocks to bring home for the garden. And John hauled a HUGE piece of driftwood to the car for me to add to our new patio. It’s HUGE. I should have taken a picture of him carrying it. He kept saying, “All I need is a crown of thorns and Romans whipping me from behind to complete this picture.” Did I mention it was HUGE?

The sun was setting on our drive home. We listened to the new Coldplay album. Twice. We stopped at Betty’s Pies. We arrived home in time for steak and beers with my family.

It was a great day.

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There was a bit of dress up today…

This would totally be my audition photo for Rock of Love 3.

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Lilo and I are alone in the gazebo at the edge of the woods.
Every once in awhile I will sense something in outside so I mute the I-tunes and listen. I hold my breath, listening to the rustling in the trees. Is it the wind, a deer, a bear? I wait to see if Lilo will react, she of the canine hearing and sense of smell, the one of us in this gazebo who can see in the dark. We both jump at a sound coming from inside the house. I want to turn the music back on to drown out the music of the night.
A few minutes ago we heard branches snapping as something moved just out of sight in the woods. The only light I have is a flashlight that looks like an alligator from the Target kids gardening collection. When you shine a flashlight through screen mostly all you can see is the glare of the mesh. Not much help at all. And from the top half of the window all I see is my pale reflection in the glass. Great. Now I know exactly how crazy I look to whatever is watching me from the woods.

I have made a sitting in the dark gazebo mix though. I call it “I Am Alone In The Gazeebo At The Edge of the Woods”

It Makes No Difference 6:18 My Morning Jacket Indie/Rock Playlist: January
Morning Is My Destination 3:20 Tift Merritt Another Country
I Will Possess Your Heart 8:26 Death Cab For Cutie Narrow Stairs
Get Up And Go 2:55 Broadcast 2000 Indie/Rock Playlist: June (2008)
Running form the Rain 4:00 Thursday A City by the Light Divided
If The Ocean Gets Rough 3:51 Willy Mason If The Ocean Gets Rough
Time 5:23 Tori Amos Strange Little Girls
Hyenas 3:35 Moby Last Night
No Surprises 3:44 Radiohead Chillout 05/The Ultimate Chillout
For Us 3:32 Pete Yorn Nightcrawler
Hljomalind 4:56 Sigur Ros Hauf/Heim
Arienette 3:47 Bright Eyes Fevers And Mirrors
Our Bleeding Hearts 3:47 Great Northern Trading Twilight for Daylight
She Ionizes and Atomizes 4:23 Modest Mouse This Is A Long Drive For Someone With Nothing To Think About

And now I want to go inside but it seems farther away than it really is. And I have to shut all the windows first. If something eats me on the way to the house this post will be my last words. I should have made them count.

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