I’m writing from the dining room table on what I hope continues to be a calm day. Were the day to become even calmer I would not complain. Pretty soon I’ll get my clothes, lunch, etc. ready for tomorrow, maybe clean a little upstairs, and settle in with a book. I wouldn’t mind falling asleep at 4PM. Ok, maybe 6PM.

This weekend has been great but exhausting. Shall I start at Friday? I don’t think anything notable took place earlier in the week. Friday afternoon, after a baby-showerish SOE meeting, I drove downtown and parked in a lake lot. Dan was running late and didn’t have his GPS so I talked him to the Art Museum to pick me up. We drove around a bit before coming to the conclusion that Friday night garage parking wouldn’t start until after 5, so we left his car at a meter and walked back to my car. Then we found a surface lot next to a restaurant, paid five bucks (Milwaukee parking is cheap), picked up his car, parked that in a garage, and hit Renaissance Books. The building is falling apart; I don’t think I can describe accurately the broken plaster, skateboard-worthy floors, and stacks and stacks and stacks of books everywhere. Dan was terrified and says he never wants return again. I got some good pictures, perhaps I’ll post some here soon, and a video, if I can figure out how to get video from the phone to the computer. After the bookstore we hit a brewpub (Hm. That word annoys me) restaurant for fish (Dan) and grilled cheese (me). We were in front of the Pabst for the DBT concert a little before eight. A Farm Aid benefit caused a delay so doors didn’t open until eight and the opening act (Henry Clay People, I thought they were fun, Dan didn’t) didn’t start until nine. DBT were in fine form, excellent, I thought, and the set list included “One of the Days” and “Zip City”, two of my favorite songs. We didn’t get out until close to one. I talked Dan out of downtown Milwaukee on the phone after he got lost and nearly robbed at a north side gas station. When I returned home I tried to sleep but for whatever reason didn’t sleep well, catching maybe four or five crappy hours of rest.

Saturday morning M and tag-teamed one of S’s soccer games way in the city. I stopped at Java Dock but the line was too long so I got a McDonalds latte off of Brown Deer. Holy fuck, I needed coffee. S was playing at one of these huge complexes with a couple dozen soccer fields, so we weaved our way to his field. He borrowed my cool black hat because the wind was blowing cold and wore it throughout the game. They tied a good team, 2-2 while I sat away from the other parents and listened to eels on the mp3 player. My mind wasn’t in reading shape. After we returned home I considered sleeping but M and N were off at a sturgeon release and T’s game was starting soon so instead I channel-surfed and…that was pretty much it, I think. Near 5 I drove back to Milwaukee, parked in the same lot, and drank more coffee at Starbucks waiting for Dan’s return. The eels gig was sparsely attended and we snagged front-row off the riser seats for the 2nd time in two nights. Yay us. Let the kids stand in front of the stage. A truly horrible ventriloquist opened the show, followed by some rather cute but spacey folk singer, and eels walked on stage a little after nine. They opened with “Daisies of the Galaxy”, possibly my favorite eels song ever, and the rest of the show (sort of a 60s rave-up theme this tour) was tight and strong. They’re nearing the end of the world tour but still seemed happy to be there. I think most bands like playing the Pabst. It’s a beautiful theater. Most of the new material held up well, if not better live than on record. Dan and I parted immediately after the gig and, despite a sleep-deprived, hallucinatory highway stretch, I arrived home by midnight. I read a little Gibson, combined beer and melatonin, and slept like the dead until 8AM.

Today has been good so far. I made some of that ass-kicking Starbucks French roast coffee I snagged on sale at Costco. My French Press rig is broken so I dragged the drip rig from the basement but I have to press the little button under the spout with a fork because I can’t find the kettle top. Oh well. Man, I love how that coffee smells. I showered, felt alive, and cleaned the first floor after kicking the boys off of electronics. I lifted through the first quarter of the Packers game. My workout schedule has been decimated over the last week but I don’t feel like I’m going to hurt someone if I don’t go to the gym so maybe I needed the rest. After lifting/abs I ate a little, started a pie crust (French silk today) and here I am. Have a great start of the week, people. Doesn’t the first slow day after a busy stretch feel wonderful? Hell yes.