For those of you who haven't heard, Chicago had an insane snowstorm Tuesday night. It was awesome. I even got my first experience of thundersnow, which is not only a real thing but also a cool band name. We got somewhere around 18 inches of snow, and lots of people had work canceled (including me). So what do "adults" do when they get snow days? Start off with a killer breakfast of bacon egg and cheese bagel sandwich, of course:
Follow that up with watching cartoons, cleaning the house, organizing my room, and then celebrating Will's birthday the best way possible: with enormous delicious burgers and beers at Kuma's Corner!
That place is heaven on earth, no joke. Totally worth trekking through the feet of unshoveled snow. And what do I find upon my return home but a dead cat on my bed?
Ok, he wasn't dead. He just looked like it. For some reason he loves sleeping on my bed, and I couldn't be happier. But before this whole blizzard business I had a wonderful time with Charlie and Jeanne, eating oysters and other sea creatures at Shaw's Crab House/Raw Bar, and filling my belly with all things Greek at Santorini's. I've been fortunate enough to see some cool art, hear some killer music around town, sample some fantastic karaoke, and eat great food all over the place. What a city. If only I had friends to share it with...
Bookwise I finished Listen to This by Alex Ross, a collection of some great articles about all kinds of music. My favorite thing about him is that he treats all styles of music with equal reverence, and I completely agree. He draws comparisons across hundreds of years, never condescending or implying that older is better than newer or vice versa, or that an orchestra is better than a rock quartet or a jazz band or a poet with a guitar, etc. As Alban Berg famously said to George Gershwin, "Music is music" (This oft-used quote is also in Ross' phenomenal book the Rest is Noise).
I read a book about Bach's Cello Suites by Eric Siblin, intertwining a history of the composer and his manuscripts after his death, as well as Pablo Casals' discovery of them and role in bringing them back into the public spotlight, and for some reason the author's attempts at finding the original copy and trying to play them on his own. A little boring and reverential at times, but overall interesting.
Next came Slapstick, another Vonnegut book about a strange future. Not as good as his other works, but as always, enjoyable. I finally read Goodbye Columbus by Philip Roth, as well as the short stories that accompany it. Loved his detailed descriptions of life, the city, love, family, and of course, religion. Now I am in the middle of Look at the Birdie, another posthumous collection of Vonnegut stories. So far they're top notch. There was a time when I couldn't read short stories, something about the starting and stopping and always trying to get back into it, but recently they've been quite rewarding.
I apologize if my post-Patriots loss post went a little too far, I often overcompensate when I feel like punching my computer screen and try to convince myself it wasn't a big deal. All I can say is it felt so good to see the Steelers destroy those little snots. I don't know why we're supposed to hate the Steelers, they're a good team that focuses on defense, and they earned their Super Bowl trophies. Still, I hope Green Bay wins. Of course the Celtics are proving that teamwork is more important than age, and spring training is just around the corner!
Lastly, here's a quote I came up with:
"The stupidest thing you can do is to be content being stupid"
-Adam
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