just thought you should know

the sky right now is amazing. luminous prussian blue with cottony clouds moving so fast and so low that as i stood on the street, the biggest one passed over me like a u.f.o. in the movies. and the stars, wow! they are big, middle of kansas big. seriously, it's like a bierstadt painting come alive, minus the mountains.

i heart chicago

i just got back from that 5k at the stadium formerly known as comiskey park. i SOOO wish i had brought a camera. it was perfect weather, and the race was objectively good; it was well-organized, i was happy with how i felt, and happy with my time. but mainly, it was just SOOOO cool to finish by sprinting into the actual park, like onto the field. then everybody got free beers and watched a surprisingly galvanized local h (yeah) play for an hour. they were undoubtedly hungover or at least sleep-deprived, and they phoned in part of it but were actually pretty cool and very high-energy. bonus points for doing a hard-charging chicago cover in the middle of their "hit" and also a well-executed version of brit-brit's "toxic." (yeah, i do mean chicago the BAND.) pretty funny dudes, too. surreal and fun and quintessentially chicagoan. i really hate that i have to go study now.

there is a shortage in the blood supply, there is no shortage of blood

it's ok. we are back. last couple weeks = low-level smoking habit, ipod trained exclusively on the mountain goats and ida. (i.e., Sad Bastard Music. specifically and especially Tallahassee, unsurprising as this stupid exam has made my brain as dysfunctional as the Alpha Couple.) but we can see the light at the end of the the tunnel. running our 5ks, doing our practice tests, looking ahead to the august we can enjoy, after we kill the bar dead and get drunk for several days. books, travel, friends, sleep--small miracles.

i'm not going crazy, just tired. and tired of seeing the negative effects this professional hazing ritual is having on my good friends.

things i think about in my cubicle:

1. new spoon album = characteristically consistent, an excellent soundtrack to the summer i'm not having. at this point now, they've honed their sound so much that they almost quote themselves. for better ("finer feelings" = wiser, looser, happier "me and the bean"), and for worse ("rhthm and soul" = poor man's "monsieur valentine.") jim eno deserves some kind of medal or something, though. my mind is also blown by the fact that the dude laying down those smoove bass lines was in the mothereffing get up kids. still wrapping my head around that nugget of information.

2. new stars album = i want to like it so much more, especially since this was totally classy and incredibly shrewd. i mean, i knew it wasn't going to match "set yourself on fire", an album i will unreservedly rank as one of the best of the last ten years. this one = too much of what i didn't like about "heart" and no "elevator love letter" to redeem it. it's mainly the piano ballands and the synths--employed more for 80s cheeze than modern atmospherics. and some good stuff to be sure. dude is pulling a full-on morrissey impersonation on a few tracks and it's actually a good look. but overall a little weaker than i expected.

3. target, killing it with their cute sundresses. the photo does NOT do justice. the pinks are pinker and the grey is really a robins-egg blue. i look forward to wearing this when i have a social life again.

4. i am a bad hipster, i haven't listened to lil' wayne, though i respect his constant repping for NOLA. but i saw an interview in which he kept referring to his peers and mentors as "ninjas." this is brilliant for two reasons: (1) it avoids the connotations and controversy of the "n-word" while still evoking it. (2) ninjas are inherently awesome.

5., but should be 1.....new pornos and MY FAVORITE FEMALE VOICE EVER. you know, i think i might go see that.

6. getting legitimately excited about my job, for a variety of reasons.

7. getting legitimately excited about the new caribou record. what i've heard is pretty, intricate and blissed out as ever. merge now = matador 15 years ago? probably better, in terms of both constistency and sheer diversity.

8. where should i move?

9. what should i do in san franciso when i'm there? (bonus points if your suggestion involves food.)

10. i need to study.

amazing

monica eng, you are my hero.