Well, I'm pretty excited by the fact that I have tickets to two great shows in the month of August. First on August 7th at Lincoln Hall I will be seeing one of my favorite current bands Blitzen Trapper after they play at Lalapalooza that afternoon. Here they are performing their most popular song "Furr" on Conan:

August 12th, I will be attending a showing of Once at Lincoln Hall that will be followed up by an interview with Swell Season by Jim Deragatis and Greg Kot (of Sound Opinions fame) followed up by a Swell Season concert! Here they are doing the song (Falling Slowly):

So, it's always nice to have something to look forward to. Also, I'm taking a short trip to Grand Rapids, MI Sunday-Monday to visit Aune Carlson. I feel like in some ways taking a trip to GR is a necessary step at this point in my life. I think it's kind of a context pilgrimage as I see the city where so many of my friends (Aune, Andy/Jim Meyer, Megan V. Hanson, the Petersons, the Tournells, Al Hollemans, I can't think of any more of the top of my head and I'm sure I'm missing some obvious ones) grew up. I'm looking forward to it.

I swear that construction on our road starts at about 5:30 in the morning. Nothing is quite as relaxing as getting ready in the morning while a steamroller and jackhammer are working seemingly on your front porch (on your frontal lobe).

I just had my first true code blue (the rest were people passing out after giving blood) today. It was definitely an interesting/eye-opening experience. There were a lot of people in that small room and then me standing outside looking stupid. Good thing it is one of my spiritual gifts (looking stupid that is).

I really need to paint my apartment. No more excuses. I should start looking at colors soon. Okay, I should go.

I've had some long days at work before, but I swear this one is moving at half-time. I feel like I've spent 24 hours at the hospital... 1.5 hours left. I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. My parents have been in town this past week, which is always simultaneously fun and exhausting. They got in on Friday night. On Saturday I worked on church stuff and then Matt and Elsa came over and had tacos with the folks. After that, I walked over to Margie's to celebrate two of my favorite people's birthday (purposefully vague to show that I was celebrating with Amy but also celebrating Jenny in spirit):

On Sunday after Church, my parents and I headed to Marquette, my home from the age of 2-5. Here's the house we lived in during that time.

While there, we stayed at Marge and Barry's, two of our best family friends. It was a good time down memory lane. We got home Monday/Tuesday morning at 12:30 leaving me a good 6 1/2 hours of sleep. This might have been the case had my mom not gotten up without her glasses on, looked at the clock, saw 8:05 instead of 6:05, and came and woke me up because I was late. That's a good way to start your work week.

Tuesday night we headed to Ravinia with Tom Kennington (former pastor at DGT) and Cindy Beier (former worship leader at DGT). We saw Peter and Paul (of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame) and their tribute to Mary. I have to admit that the first half was kind of lame. However, after intermission about three songs in they did a "This Little Light of Mine/Woke Up This Morning with My Mind Set on Freedom/Down by the Riverside" medley. That was definitely the highlight of the show and the turning point. From there they did "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "Where Have All the Flowers Gone?", "If I Had a Hammer," "Blowing in the Wind" and "This Land Is Your Land." It was wonderful. Again we arrived home late and, again, I was exhausted at work.

Last night we went to "Million Dollar Quartet." It's the story of the day Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Louis, Carl Perkins, and Johnny Cash all met up at Sun Records and recorded some songs. While some of the dialogue was stilted/forced, the music was pretty great. It was also the perfect show to bring my dad to. So, if nothing else I get good child points. Here's a picture of the actual day they met

...and a picture of the show.

So, now I'm finishing my last day at the hospital for the week and dreaming about sleeping in tomorrow. Softball game tonight! Hope it doesn't get rained out!

Have you ever had the experience where you are about to go to bed and decide you need a drink? So, you go to the faucet and pour a glass too large, but you decide that you won't drink it all. However, when you start drinking, the water is just so good that you keep drinking and drinking, and as you are doing it you know this is going to cost you a middle of the night bathroom run but you just are really into instant gratification at the moment? Well, that happened to me the other night, and I still think it was worth it in the end.

If hell was a Chicago neighborhood, I'm pretty sure mine would be Wrigleyville. I had to drive through it yesterday, and it just grosses me out. How can something in the shadow of the great Wrigley Field be so trashy?

There's a Loudon Wainwright III concert this Thursday in Evanston, and I'm debating whether I should go or not. I mean, I know that I shouldn't spend $28 on a concert, but I also don't know how many opportunities I will have to see him around here. I think I'll do it. I rarely regret spending money on a concert. The best is when you buy the tickets far enough in advance that by the time the concert comes, you feel like you're going for free! Here's him playing a great song:

I don't think I'll ever live in a place south of Chicago. If it too hot for me here, how will I ever make it in places that are actually in the South? I'd much rather take frigid winters if it means comfortable summers.

I'm about to start a tutoring session, so I gotta go.

Well, I realize in my absence that I never even acknowledged that my sister Anna got married! She married a guy named Peter Graves. He's a good guy, and we are very happy for the two of them. Here are some pictures. First, the cute couple up at Enger Park:

Next we have a picture of the entire family at the wedding:

Then there is this lovely picture of the siblings sans Isaac at the rehearsal dinner:

And finally here is a picture of my sister and me at the wedding. My left arm looks so awkward Seriously, is that a prosthetic?:

So that was the wedding in a nutshell. It's always great to be in Duluth as well.

Yesterday I decided that if I was not going to run (calling it "running" instead of "jogging" for Alli) outside because of the heat, then I had to go to North Park's gym and run in the air conditioning. So, that's what I did. Now I can't find my stupid North Park ID to get back in. Alas, losing and forgetting things is the story of my existence or at least a major theme within the story. However, I think I know where I may have left it, so that's what I'll be doing after work today.

Tonight I'm going to see Joe Schupbach star in "The Apple" at Neo-Fururists. It better be good, or I'm going to ask for my money back like my grandma did when she took my sister and I (children at the time) to Who Framed Roger Rabbit and made us walk out when Jessica Rabbit sauntered onto the screen. Good times.

I think after school I'm going take the position as chaplain at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry...either that or take a parish in the Shire. That seems reasonable, doesn't it? Okay, that's all for now.

Nothing makes me more apathetic about jogging than the humidity being at 1000% with a temperature over 85 degrees. I guess apathetic isn't the right word because that makes it sound as if I could go either way. Nothing deters me more than the humidity. However, I have decided to start bringing jogging clothes to work and go to North Park's gym if it is too hot outside (too hot being entirely subjective).

Now, I know this doesn't make sense, but when I'm with one other person and they need to go to the bathroom, it almost offends me that they walk in the bathroom and lock the door. Do you think I'm going to wait ten seconds until you're peeing and then come barging in? It's something I don't understand.

Sorry I have gone so long in between blogs. I have started my chaplaincy at Evanston Hospital, which is taking more energy than I thought it would. It's funny how fast you turn into an elderly person when you have to get up for the 8:30-5 job. Seriously, at 9 p.m. I'm thinking about how I can carefully extricate myself from any social situation and get to bed as soon as possible. It's sad really. Chaplaincy has been good so far. You become a much better listener through this process (probably a less selfish person altogether).

Today I'm buying Ravinia tickets to go see Peter and Paul's tribute to Mary. They're looking a little older these days (as opposed to when I used to go to their concerts in the 60s? What am I talking about?):

I think I will also go to the CSO playing some Mahler's Adagio from Symphony no. 10, Barber's Adagio for Strings, and Mendelssohn's Concerto in E Minor, which I am really looking forward to. Concerto in E Minor is one of my favorite classical pieces of all time. NorthShore employees get in free that night, so why not go?

I think the worst sound in the world is when a guitar amplifier falls. It sounds like what I imagine hell to sound like (lots of weird, crashing reverb). Well, I don't have much more to say; I wanted to get back on the blogging bandwagon. Later.