nerd alert/john darnielle gave me a hug!

first off: taqueria super burrito? at 10 pm? on a sunday? manna from god's own heaven. that's why i have their number in my cell phone, no joke.

second: no, that's not a typo! pitchfork day one was ridiculously hot, but well organized, all things considered. met up with christine and her friends just in time for the mountain goats. since the goats weren't their thing, i thereupon promptly ditched said group, but i feel entitled. dudes opened with "jenny," which for whatever subjective reason had been pretty much the one song i really wanted to hear from anyone all day, and which obviously made me happy. "dance music," "cubs in five," "the fall of the star high-school runningback," and an excellent franklin bruno cover ("houseguest") were also played. not everything translated in the space and the heat, but it was pretty awesome nonetheless. later on, up close for art brut (who for whatever subjective reason make christine very happy), we found ourselves near some of the musician and writer intelligentia. i had a very pleasant exchange with jim derogatis about how awesome his lester bangs book was and why he's not on tv anymore, and stood next to the aforementioned mr. bruno, whose take on "armed forces" for the 33 1/3 series was one of my favorite books of last year and whose old band made me very, very happy many years ago. i think i saw the divine ms. jessica hopper too.

anyway, at that time, john darnielle and friends moved past us, and i was compelled to pat him on the shoulder and give a quick "great job today!" because, you know, i really felt that way. he said thanks, prepared to move on, then paused, smiled at me, and gave me a hug. it really meant a lot. not in the thirteen-year-old-omg-i'm-never-washing-this-dress-AGAIN! sense (although, shhhyeah, i definitely felt that way for at least five minutes afterward), but more profoundly. i realized, once again, that if someone does or says something nice for you, you can either give a cursory, if acceptable, thanks, or take a second to do it one better. if you choose the latter, then it will probably make both of you feel that much better.

otherwise, it was obviously great people-watching and a very mixed crowd. there were folks in breathtakingly weather-inappropriate attire, and others who could stand to cover up a bit. there were hipsters and fratsters (one dude, returning from the beer tent, notably exclaimed, "dude! this is the one song i've recognized all day!" when "the rat" came on....but if yr gonna know a song, i guess that's not a bad one!) and in-betweeners like me, who really shouldn't judge.

it was a great day, but even above and beyond the hug, the silver jews were the highlight. oh my. gorgeous, completely gorgeous, and that's not really an adjective i would have thought to apply to them before now. cassie berman is probably the most elegant woman i have ever seen in real life. (one of the most beautiful too, but i mean to refer to something beyond that.) and obviously, she totally wails. best stage banter of the night, bar none, including but not limited to berman's thoughts on his recent trip to the middle east and his issues with brian wilson as musical inspiration. the languid guitar, the lush keyboards, the backdrop of the moon and a beautiful church cast against the night sky, and most importantly, the amazing songs: it was lovely.

today?

mission of burma. oh my g-g-g-g-g-g-g-o-d-d-d. they opened with "that's how i escaped my certain fate," in my opinion, the best punk song ever written, and one of my favorite songs, generally. their sound, especially circa 2006, is so relentless, yet so nuanced. i defy you to find a more relevant, rocking and tuneful band right now, especially as compared to some of their past contemporaries orchestrating lame "reunions" these days. it was a little weird how many teenagers were in the audience. i mean, kids who absolutely had to be eight to ten years younger than me, but who recognized and responded to most of the songs, even from "vs." did it make me feel old? sure, yeah, briefly. but if the high-schoolers are listening to burma, then maybe we're not so fucked after all.

then i spent an hour on the phone talking with my brother and with jess, both to catch up with them and to avoid devendra banhart's set. what little i heard made me shudder.

then there was yo la tengo, perenially cute, pop historians, masters of the rock song in all its forms. who else could go from a garage-rock frug to an extended noise jam to a positively yacht rock lite-funk groove without missing a beat? they leaned a little heavy on the jamz at the end, but it all sounded good. several new songs were played. from what i heard, their album really ISN'T afraid of you and it WILL beat your ass.

other highlights:

• quasi-celebrity sightings: aziz ansari, fred armisen (twice), mark greenberg of the late lamented coctails walking with his wife and kids (so cute), the dude from the m's wearing a questionable sombrero (not so cute), the kid who works at jmls bookstore.
• the FUNNEL CAKES. oh, man. i've had some good ones, and i've had some horrible, rubbery ones, at fuck, i don't know, worlds of fun or wherever, but these were amazing. the one i had saturday was so good i had to buy one on sunday. am i a tool for spending five dollars on a piece of fried dough? probably. do i care? not really. i am a slave to the carbs, what can i say?
• the kids that gave me a free cab ride on saturday.
• seeing the aforementioned mr. darnielle pumping his fist and singing along to "that's when i reach for my revolver" and several other burma songs, not five feet away from me. does somebody have a crush? yeah, probably, kinda. as if his writing hadn't already accomplished that.
• finding out that the aforementioned aforementioned mr. bruno has a new musical concern! while wandering the indie-rock flea-market tent, i came upon the tight ship records booth. i guess it's a new label, run by barry phipps, ALSO of the late lamented coctails, that puts out rare/exclusive/left-of-center recordings by chicago musicians. they had bbc sessions from archer prewitt, something or other from the like young, and then they had...the human hearts. franklin bruno, jean cook (now of the beauty pill), mark greenberg, and some other guy. of course i totally bought it. i've listened to about half of it and it's totally nothing painted blue v. 2.0 in the best way, i.e. hyper-literate power pop. love it love it.

yeah, so, and, there was also ted leo (who debuted "army bound," a new, chisel-esque song that excited me in that the melody was more sophisticated than most of the last album, and the drumming was killer too , the walkmen, spoon (who also debuted a cool, promising new song), etc. etc. and the futureheads, who i'd never heard before now, but whose singer distinctly resembles paul weller. well done all around.

what the hell is going on?

which i guess just signifies more of the same. i just got back from walgreens, where i purchased two mousetraps. yep, that's right, somewhere in the last 24 hours, ali and i discovered a little grey stowaway. it's tiny, and cute (or would be, under any other circumstances) and seems way more terrified of us than the other way around. but fuck. i love how this little situation coincides with my several upcoming appointments to show the apartment in the next several days. "really, i love this place. i've had no problems....what? mouse? oh, that wasn't a mouse, that was a...shadow. yeah, a shadow. that's the ticket."

and in the last several days, i've experienced two bouts of relative paranoia, about my job, and a friend, respectively. maybe i really *am* turning into my mom. oh, well. i enjoyed an extremely decadent meal and cathartic conversation with kelley and friend the other night, in advance of k.'s impending london internship adventure. i'm so excited for her; no one deserves such an opportunity more than she does. and, in a matter of hours, i will be seeing ted leo, the walkmen, THE MOUNTAIN GOATS, and THE SILVER JEWS. that oughta help too.

yeah, it's oven-hot outside, but i'm thinking that it doesn't seem as humid as it could be...or maybe i'm just delirious already.

distracted.

my sales final is tommorrow. and while i still have plenty of work ahead of me today, my main concern at this point is the fact that i completely forgot to sign up to take my exam by computer. with respect to my handwriting, friends have recently commented: "you really should have gone to med school instead," and, less politely, "you write like a serial killer." whatever. at least i don't have Big Puffy Girl Handwriting. it's a completely irrational pet peeve, i know, but i feel strongly nonetheless.

work has been ok, but a little slow. except for the remarkably dramatic circumstances surrounding the sudden departure of gonzo (i.e. the eccentric, socially inept, vaguely creepy attorney). seriously, in the context of our little firm, it was practically "trapped in the closet." i really hope that guy can work out his issues, because he's got some. long-term, his departure is a very good thing. short-term, it meant that nick2 and i had to excavate his office to locate and salvage his case files. (one word: YUCK. if i had a nickel for every document with a mystery food stain on it, law school would be paid off. seriously, there should have been a hazmat crew up in that bitch.) the upside was that nick and i had free reign to listen to the mountain goats and bullshit like third graders while doing so. which was well-timed, as i have been one giant hormone this week.

otherwise, i have been running around looking for a new roommate since ali decided to leave. i'm sad, but i can't begrudge her since her current commute is pretty bad. based on the responses i've gotten so far, i'm pretty confident i'll find someone responsible and low-key. it's just one more thing to do. but if i can just keep my head down and take care of everything i need to do in these next couple weeks (roommate stuff, clerkship apps, any number of other little things) i know i will be richly rewarded by the pitchforkfest/lollapalooza/NYC!!! trifecta that is my next three weekends. in spirit, that is. financially, of course, i'll be cashed, but you know it's so worth it.

finally....

mac maccaughan blogging? very cool. mac maccaughan blogging about an elaborately snarky takedown of "the butterscotch stallion" by the members of steedily d? AWESOME.

equally awesome? this band, and that album title.

alright, i should have been at jmls yesterday. wish me luck!

my job is better than your job.

so my boss just came by and asked nick2 and i if we wanted to go to the cubs game. he has season tickets and was still recovering from the game last night. work was not an issue: he said he would "hide us". i'm more of a sox fan, personally, but who am i to argue with the boss? see you suckers later.

the soundtrack to summer*

so lately, i've been kind of obsessed with this band, human television. totally excellent throwback to the heyday of slumberland records (a.k.a., claire's soundtrack 1992-1996ish). think: the wedding present, the lilys, the ropers (!), the smiths (marr only), and ride. goes down easier than a diet dr. pepper. see you at schubas on friday.







* (aside from the new phoenix album. don't believe all the hype--it's pretty awesome. yes, the new guitar sound is superficially reminsicent of the strokes. however, it's still the phoenix. which means that it's way more interesting, and, perhaps more importantly, NOT as blase or cynical, than that band. is there anything as revelatory as "if i ever feel better"? of course not. but it bears remembering that, on the earlier albums, for every "too young" or "i'm an actor", there was a "funky squaredance" or nu-jazz splooge. this one is totally consistent, totally catchy, and totally smart.)

typically baffling.

so, this is totally old news, but, as usual, i've been too busy/lazy (truly a binary, as far as i'm concerned) to convey the deets to more than a few. and although i've gotten a couple good ones, i'm still open to opinions.

so, last week i went to the yacht rock thing, which was totally a good time. as you may recall, i had trouble getting others to commit to going. i actually did run into someone i knew, but they bailed early. but that was fine, because it was fun, and i can make friends. to wit: i found myself in intermittent conversation with the dude standing next to me, in between films. he seemed cute enough, and nice enough, and i was happy with the whole situation. the screening ended, and it was still pretty early, so we continued chatting. we got a drink, and i met his friends, who also seemed pretty chilll, and fairly intelligent. after a while, i remember that it's a monday, and indicate that i need to be leaving. the friends have already left at this point. dude offers to walk me home, but i'm in good shape and it's apparent that it would be a significant detour for him. however, i score digits (in the form of a business card. yet another "hi, i'm old!" moment, but i'm used to it now. as an aside, dude works at ddb, which intrigued me, not in a gold-digging way, but because it further indicated his smarts.)

a couple days later, i shoot him an email reminding him of who i am and inviting him to grab a drink sometime soon. no reponse, until late that friday, when i get an email saying, "hi claire! blah blah blah, blah blah blah. blah blah. anyway, i'm seeing someone right now, i don't want to lead you on or anything. see you at bar x or bar y, or at the next yacht rock thing!"

lead me on? no, you only bought me a drink, talked to me for an hour, offered to walk me home, and gave me your number. totally MY BAD. i'm not pissed, it's more just...weird. even if he thought we were just 'bar buddies', you'd think he would have alluded to his situation at some point.

more to the point: why is it that, even when i'm engaging in the most innocuous and straightforward dating rituals, something still goes horribly awry? maybe i should go ahead and send in that app for the convent. they probably can't go after me for my student loans in there, anyway.

shoot me.

statements which have come out of professor lousin's mouth today:

• "i just ate a tuna sandwich and now i'm burping."
• "the tickler must be conspicuous."
• "don't look at me like that."

she just spent, like, 15 minutes on a completely incomprehensible anecdote. and that's not blogzaggeration, i kept my eyes on the clock. whatever, though. she IS really erudite, and it clearly makes her so happy to share her stories, and occasionally they are actually interesting. but man! today, she's pulled out the big guns, and my ADD is far too advanced for this shit. it doesn't help that i have a million things to do for work which i have to work on as soon as i get home (my multitasking abilities do have their limits) , and stealthily, in order to keep my date with loren for martini night. i can't cancel on her, either, because the girl deserves a drink: she was on the train behind the train that caught on fire yesterday! (btw, thanks again to those who texted, called, etc.: i was not, in fact, on the blue line at all yesterday, and am thus ok.)

yacht rock at the bottle was awesome. sort of like a trekkie convention for hipsters. it was nice to hear everybody else laugh when i laughed (or at least most of the time...those who know me well know my tendency to pre-emptively giggle when i know something good is coming up. ditto for anticipatory "woo"s at shows.) the place was totally packed, more packed than anything i've seen there since stars. or franz ferdinand. (and yes, this is the empty bottle we're talking about. so that's pretty fucking crowded.) the q-and-a was not that revelatory. the yacht rock dudes seemed so stunned, and stoked, by the crowd (and also kinda drunk) such that they were not that silver-tongued. EXCEPT: apparently the world premiere of yacht rock 11 is ALSO going to be in chicago! in september! at either darkroom or sonotheque, i can't remember. one of those eurotrash nouveau ukie village clubs. meaning, like, half a mile from where i live. chicago is officially the coolest place to be this year. also, hollywood steve looks really fragile in real life.

fuck you, loggins!

this was such a monday. presaged by insomnia redux 3000, work was good but led to a brutally wifi-less 3-hour sales class. which is always about 1/3 uniform commercial code, 2/3 random meandering anecdotes and old lady mock-rants. seriously, it's like being held captive by your grandparents and their vacation slides. for 3 hours, twice a week. anyway. it looks like no one else can go to the yacht rock extravaganza tonight (something about "work" and "sleep"), but if everyone else wants to act like bank tellers,* that's fine. after hearing/hearing about TOTO not once, but twice today (jewel osco and the unfortunately yacht rock-unschooled nick2, respectively), i know where i have to be.



* (just kidding! i love you and am just making excuses for my own inability to make responsible choices. sort of.)

initial thoughts

karma is a bitch. i understand, and sorta even think, he didn't believe he didn't do anything "wrong." BUT STILL. never have i had more faith, or interest in, admiralty law.


YES.


so sleater-kinney is near-terminally dormant. i had just already been re-appreciating "one beat" of late (yeah really, stef, except for the song with the horns). "faraway" made me cry the first several, or dozen, times i heard it, and the reaction isn't so different these days either. (even mid-run. and while we're at it, that album is so good for endorphins, if not as great as the insistent throwdown of "the obliterati" (already, and still, my vote for album of the year).) and while i ultimately internalized "the woods" as "flawed but intriguing transition album," i know it's all for the best. the best elegy, or at least the one most nearly aligned with my own opinions, can be found here . (dude has been pretty on fire lately, especially with his breakdown of the "reasonable doubt" concert, and a few weeks before that, an excellent exposition re: atmosphere , although, i have to accede to the zen master in the one case, even if i haven't heard the album.) whatever your opinion, you have to respect. they certainly transcended the typical riot-grrl footnote.