just got home from being out in the neighborhood w/ connie & my cousin kris. it's been a while since we hung out, and it was good to be w/ the girls again. we went to the northside cafe & grill for dinner then headed over to the maproom where a rockabilly band was playing. they were called the wild ones, and they were fun to watch. a lot of elvis covers & other really popular songs from back then. the maproom has a million different beers from all over, and tonight i decided to deviate from my usual sierra nevada and chose victory brewery's hop devil. the venue was fun but loud; i am afraid i may have freaked out my ear drums a bit more than i would have liked to.

this picture (of me, kris & connie) was taken at danny's tavern by someone named nikki whom we had just met. i was pretty surprised that she held so still for an 8 second exposure considering the probability that she'd been drinking for a couple hours already. we had fun just talking it up, meeting people from the neighborhood, and generally hanging out. i think i will be going back to danny's. i have to say it was the darkest bar i've been to in i don't remember when. also, i hear that u2 go there when they are in town. i don't know when that'll be, but if i am in the area, i am there. i will definitely check out danny's on the weeknights and hope it's less crowded. i just hope it doesn't turn into one of those hip yuppie places in lakeview where you put on a mask at the door and hope people don't see the real you.

hanging out at local bars is always a fascinating experience for me, probably because i did so little of it during the age when most people do it. i always feel like an outside observer, kind of like an anthropologist, and i love to watch the people there, and listen to what they have to say. first impressions clouded by alcohol, shrouded in smoke and obscured by darkness set to whatever soundtrack being played at that particular establishment are always interesting, and i wonder what it would be like meeting these people on the streets in the sobering light of day. would they still buy into my "my knowledge is a mathematical zero" theory in the sunlit evian hours as easily as they do during the barely candle-lit booze-soaked hours of the night? would i still find them as interesting to talk to in their daytime occupations as i do in their careerless alcohol colored bar personas? i don't know...

ok. i am like way exhausted, so i will leave you w/ my soundtrack for the past day:
things shaped in passing -- the six parts seven (i like this cd more and more each time i listen to it)
other songs -- ron sexsmith
amplified heart -- everything but the girl
unforgettable fire -- u2
songs for the new year -- simon joyner
firecracker -- lisa loeb