Don't Freak Out!

I know, everything looks different! You're scared! You don't know who to trust! Fear not. The content shall maintain its high quality, I give you my word. The visuals just needed a little sprucing up, that's all.
Where to begin? As the school year ended, I had my last guitar class at the Pilgrim Lutheran school. Unfortunately some of the older kids missed our last day because they were on a field trip, but I still got to photograph a few.
Here are Adrian and Riley showing off their guitar/pokemon skills:
And here are Hayden and Hayley, the best brother-sister guitar duo since the Gallaghers (zing!)











It was a great semester, the kids who practiced showed a heck of a lot of improvement, and I learned more than I thought I would along the way. Maybe I'll be back in the fall to teach them again, but if not, don't stop believing!
Directly after this last class, Mom and Ellie flew into town for a weekend of adventures. Needless to say, we sampled all of the finest Chicago had to offer. Ellie captured some great moments and views, so we'll start with a classic shot from the tour boat:
We took an architectural boat tour of downtown Chicago, so they take you up and down the river telling you about all the cool buildings and architects and history and so on. Tons of information, most of it quite interesting, and ample time to set up your sweet camera to grab cool pics like this:
We spent some time in the Art Institute, saw awesome paintings, and walked around the loop just taking in the amazing weather. Even made it to Old Faithful:
Ok, my sources are telling me that may not actually be Old Faithful, but rather Buckingham Fountain. We'll just have to agree to disagree.
We heard some killer jazz at the Jazz Showcase, another fantastic recommendation from Uncle Charlie. And then we saw a Cubs game!!!!
Like I said, the weather was AMAZING. Apparently parking spots are so tough to find in Wrigleyville that someone decided to try the warning track. Probably a lot cheaper, why not.
So that was a blast. In other news, my Calypso band has returned from hibernation, and we're back to rehearsing. It feels good, real good. Bricklayers Foundation is moving into a new practice space, which is inspiring. I'm writing more music for my solo album, and as always reading up a storm. I finished the Blade Runner book, very fine indeed. It's nice mixing a little sci-fi into my collection every once in a while. I read Vonnegut's Galápagos, which blew me out of the water (pun probably intended). After that I cruised through Eric Ambler's A Coffin for Dimitrios, a brilliant detective novel with suspense that just grows and grows and some unforgettable characters and stories. Now I'm onto Mountains Beyond Mountains, detailing one doctor's quest to actually help a third world country (pre-earthquake Haiti), but most of the messages could be applied to so many other places. Obviously there are parallels to what Gabe is doing in El Salvador (getting clean water, building schools and hospitals, fixing roofs, etc) so that brings it a little closer to home, which is cool.
Dogs and cats are mostly doing well. Here are a couple of wonderful little guys I got to spend a week with, Oliver and Gus:
On a sad note, Elmer the puppy bulldog I've been walking isn't doing well. Apparently he's had a few heart attacks, I honestly couldn't believe it. He's in the hospital, and it's not looking good. It's very surreal to me, they say it's the breeder's fault, but he's so young it doesn't make sense to me. Mega bummer.
Luckily the Celtics have been carrying their load. As if beating the Heat, and Cavs, and Magic weren't enough, we're one win away from beating the Lakers. Granted, this series is far from over, but I think we can do it. Our bench has been huge, and everybody's been helping in one way or another, that's just good basketball. But here's a thought that few in Boston will agree with: even if they lose the next two games, let's give our 2010 Celtics a parade. First off, who knows if Ray Allen will come back, let alone the rest of our team. Second, this has been an unbelievable run. If you had asked anyone in mid-April when the postseason started how the Celtics would do, it was pretty unanimous that we would maybe make it to the second round and then definitely get destroyed by Lebron. But we keep beating these amazing players one by one, and it really makes you see how important this whole "team" thing is. The Impossible Dream Red Sox got a parade after losing to the Cardinals, simply because they exceeded everyone's expectations. Of course, I think we're going to win, but it's food for thought.
Lastly, I'm seeing the Chicago Symphony do Beethoven's 7th Symphony this Wednesday. Rock and Roll!
And here's a little parting gift, care of the Bean: