Has it really been a year?

It blows my mind to think that I moved to Chicago a little over a year ago. It's been an amazing year, probably in some part due to the fact that my two previous years were in Indianapolis. Anyways, all the friends, music, visitors, food, art, etc. has proven Chicago to be a great fit. I've also been racking my brain for some way to "celebrate" a whole year of adamidwest, so I decided to list some of my favorite things this past year has shown me. Not all were created in the past year, but let's say I discovered them since I moved here.
First off, favorite book: I had a lot of choices, I actually counted 47 books on my running list since I moved here. But if I had to choose only one, I'd go with Farewell to Arms. Such a great mixture of adventure, romance, traveling, and heartbreak, blended with Hemingway's incomparable style. At the same time, I read so many other great books that I just want to list them all. Alas, we must move on.
Favorite movie: the Room. Released in 2003, this movie is so bad (and I mean AWFUL) that it's fun to watch. Terrible script, atrocious acting, plot-holes left and right, unnecessary dubbing, the list goes on and on. It was written, directed, produced, and executive-produced by Tommy Wiseau, who happened to have the lead role. It's hilariously putrid, so if you have a chance, watch it. You will be disappointed. Runners-up: Armed and Dangerous, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.
Favorite food: close call, but I stick with Flub a Dub Chubs. Perfect burgers, dogs, and fries, usually has a Cubs game on TV, right below a bar, and I've never had to wait in a line. Close second: Kuma's corner. Possibly better selection of burgers, nice beer selection, but there's always a long line and they only play death metal. Tough decision, but I stick with the Flub.
Favorite Album: this is another tough one, since nothing totally blew me away. I'll go with Boxer, by the National. Something about the cool, dark music plus the lead singer's deep, deep voice is the perfect combination. Nice mix of slow jams with some up-tempo hits too. Runner-up: the Suburbs by Arcade Fire.
Favorite Song: another tough call. I'll go with 11th Dimension by Julian Casablancas. Runners-up: Crystalised by the xx (for the record, I chose this song before I realized they don't have a real drummer) and Zebra by Beach House. Once again, something about that deep voice kills me. Wonder what Freud would say about that?
Favorite Concert: I'm gonna go with seeing the Quartet for the End of Time at our old rehearsal space. Such a phenomenal piece of music, played extremely well, in an intimate atmosphere. Runner-up: seeing the CSO play Beethoven 7 (they lost points for starting the concert with Beethoven 1).
Favorite spot in Chicago: this is a strange category I just came up with. Being on the glass balconies at the Willis Tower is pretty cool, but I'm leaning towards this one little spot as you walk under Lake Shore Drive. The acoustics and lighting always remind me of being in an aquarium, as if penguins were by your side. It's hard to explain, but I'll take you there next time you visit.
Now, I probably forgot some good ones, and I apologize. To make up for any mistakes, here are some puppies I walk:
This is Lexi, a new labradoodle.

And here's this wonderful dog I only got to walk for one day, but guess what his name is? Adam C! No joke. I've always wanted to say "Adam, stop licking yourself!" and "Adam, don't sniff her butt! Inappropriate!!"

Lastly, if there were an award for cutest puppies, they'd win in a heartbeat. I believe they're half poodle/half cocker spaniel. Get ready:

Yup, this is my life. They're named Toby and Charlie. And I could probably fit one in each of my pockets.
So yeah, Chicago is great. If I think of any other good awards or things that should have been nominated, I'll let you know.
As for my reading, Homage to Catalonia was intense. Gives me a whole new perspective on Barcelona and the Spanish Civil War that I never even imagined. After that I read Brave New World for the first time since 9th grade or something, brilliant stuff. Then I went for Palahniuk's newest offering, Tell All. Interesting take on fame and aging stars who date younger men, as always very dark and graphic. Next was Less Than Zero, Bret Easton Ellis' take on a college freshman coming home for winter break and all of the crazy (and I mean crazy) shit he and his LA friends get into. Love that guy's style, barely any emotion whatsoever, almost like it's narrated by a robot. And on dad's recommendation, I tried Cold Snap by Thom Jones. Great collection of short stories, dealing with everything from Peace Corps to drug addiction to boxing to mental health to sex to suicide. Both humorous and depressing at the same time, really great stuff.
Ok, time to wrap this mega-post up. Work is good, weather is good, friends are great, everything is superb. I've been able to sample some improv comedy, some free-jazz (not money-free, more like stream-of-consciousness-free), more barbecues, lots of great everything. Go Pats!

Weekend at Charlie's

aka It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Town.
Ok, done with the puns. My weekend in Wisconsin was phenomenal. Getting to hang with my aunt and uncle has been one of the best side-effects of moving to the Midwest. I took the bus up last Friday, we caught some great music, I had the best duck of my life, and we just walked around Madison. I'm pretty sure I hadn't been there since my cousin's wedding which was 5 or 10 years ago. On Saturday we had beers in the Union, a sweet patio by the water where all the UW kids congregate. Then we prepared our tailgating ingredients and drove the hour to Milwaukee to catch a Brewers game. What an experience.

I've never actually tailgated before, but having my first experience with Uncle Charlie at the helm might have raised my standards too high. Not only did we have sufficient meats and sides to stuff an elephant, but he brought an entire box of liquor just so he and Jeanne could have a couple Martinis. What a classy guy.
The game itself was equally awesome, the first Brewer to bat hit an inside-the-park home run, and it ended with the all-time saves leader notching his 597th save. I wonder if there's anything that impressive that I could do 597 times in my life. Here's a video I took of Trevor Hoffman coming out of the bullpen, bonus points if you can hear what his entrance song is.

All the fans, and I mean ALL the fans were on their feet, the stadium was literally shaking. Seems like a great fan base, and I can only assume it is because everyone tailgated before the game and thus were in great spirits.
Back in Madtown we caught some more jazz, indulged in a variety of delicious Wisconsinite beers, and devoured fantastic food. We climbed up the capitol building, perused the museum, and they even took me on a tour of their old apartments on campus. What a ride.
I returned to Chicago last Sunday, and it's good to be back. Monday night our rehearsal space hosted a performance of Messiaen's Quartet for the End of Time, one of the most amazing pieces of music ever written. And that was in 1941. Tough to beat, check it out if you can.
Other than that, my buddy Dean is in town visiting for a view days. We already did so much when he came here several months ago, so now we're taking it easy, hanging out in my new pad, going to art shows, introducing him to everyone, and just kicking it. He Ruth and I got all-you-can-eat sushi, a Chicago staple, but they made us order it all at once. Here's the proof:

So yeah, that rocked. Ok, time for animal pictures!!
Here's my new roommate Dmitri. At least I know someone still values my extensive CD collection.

This is the face this dog makes when I rub her belly. Terrifying? Perhaps.

And here's a cat in a sink!

¡New Apartment!

In case you haven't gotten the memo, I am fully moved into my new apartment. It is about 10 minutes from my old place, still in Logan Square. The address is:
2700 N Monticello Ave Apt 1
Chicago, IL
60647

It's a beautiful house, with central air, front and back porches, a back yard, dishwasher, washer and dryer, the works! We've got Will, my Arkansasian fellow composer from Butler, his buddy Ryan from Arkansas, Ryan's old roommate Adam (I know, confusing, we're working on it) from Alaska, and Ryan's friend Dan from Michigan. So it's 5 guys, but we've got the first floor and the basement. We've already had a few barbecues, which have been beautiful. We have 5 couches, so plenty of space for guests to sleep over. We have way too many dishes and pots and pans, but I know they'll come in handy when we have 100 people over for dinner.
So other than having friends visit and helping unload all of Will's junk, it's been back to the grind. Rehearsing with our band, recording some tracks soon and then getting gigs around town. The calypso band is playing next weekend, hopefully we'll squeeze some rehearsals in before then. And I've got my gorgeous keyboard in my room so I've been playing and writing more. Recently I've been on a big lullaby kick, so maybe next post I'll have a link for a site where I can put my pieces.
I finished Flight by Sherman Alexie, which really took some surprising turns, and it just blew me away. I always love writers who can both break your heart and make you chuckle in the span of a couple pages.
After that I jumped into Sabbath's Theater by Philip Roth. As I've come to expect, it's super dense, and most of the book is introspective, like an internal dialogue in the narrator's head. This one is about an old sex-crazed puppeteer, his mistress, his wife, his family, his old friends, basically everyone involved in his life as everything just starts falling apart. Dark, extremely sexual and graphic, and surprisingly replete with humor.
I just started Orwell's Homage to Catalonia, something Dad has been suggesting ever since I studied in Barcelona. So far, it is somewhat reminiscent of Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms or For Whom the Bell Tolls, except written more from a journalist's viewpoint.
So that's what I've got going for me. Tomorrow I head to Wisconsin to hang with Uncle Charlie and Aunt Jeannie, seeing the sights in Madison and catching a baseball game in Milwaukee. It's gonna be a blast.
Unfortunately this post hasn't had any pictures, so I will leave you with a couple goodies from a little while back. First, the view from the roof of our rehearsal space:



Second, the sweetest little kid on the planet:

Bye Bye Boston

I just got back from an incredible trip home to Boston, but let's back it up a bit first.
Last weekend my bosses invited me to their wedding in Savannah, Georgia. Very cool city, amazing weather, I even got to stay at this beach house their parents rented. It was super fun, unforgettable food, and I met a ton of nice people. The ceremony was supposed to happen on the beach, followed by a reception at this cool historical restaurant downtown. Unfortunately it started pouring (like monsoon-style pouring) half an hour before it was supposed to start, so they just moved the whole thing to the restaurant. Luckily they had reserved a big room in the back, and there were only about 40 guests, so it all worked out in the end.
I came back to Chicago for couple days, and then hopped on another plane, this time to my hometown of Boston. My brother Gabe took a month off from his Peace Corps work in El Salvador to come home, so I had to make my way over there and join in the fun. I hadn't been back to the East Coast since Thanksgiving, so this was a perfect excuse to take a few days off work and see everybody again.
One night we went to the Jamaica Plain lantern festival, a nice little gathering of people in the Forest Hills cemetery with music and dancing followed by everyone putting paper lanterns into the pond with lit candles inside. You draw on your lantern, it's supposed to memorialize the dead, and it was my first time going, but I loved it. As always, the proof is in the pudding:

Another night we celebrated with our unfortunately less-than-annual Lobster Dinner, yum yum yum. Only on the East Coast.

But the best was seeing my beautiful little niece Addison. I saw her right after she was born, and over Thanksgiving, but she keeps growing! What's up with that? She's a little person, talking all the time, running around, playing in the water, she's too much. She makes everyone around her smile, case in point:

And then there was Gabe, hadn't seen him since last August when Ben and I visited him in El Sal. Sure, we spent some quality time playing video games, cruising around town, checking out the zoo and eating amazing burritos and Chinese food and everything else. But he also held a get-together/fundraiser for aidelsalvador.org at Doyle's Cafe, the famous pub down the street from our house. He gave a presentation about what he's been doing down in Central America, and how any donation will go right to scholarships for Salvadoran kids who can't afford to go to school. Not only did we get to reconnect with friends from around town, but he raised a bunch of money. Win-win.
So yeah, that trip rocked. I also finally had a chance to clean out the room I grew up in. I was literally throwing out papers from high school. Not just senior year, I'm talking 9th grade stuff. I guess you could say I've been meaning to get rid of that junk for a while. It was kind of nice always having that room to fall back on, filled with uncountable memories, but at the same time it was just too much. Most of that stuff was completely useless anyway, like essays I wrote for old English classes or posters I made for History classes. And tons of books, most of which I would never open again in my life. It was tough to discard and donate so much, but it was also completely necessary and somewhat cathartic.
I did keep a bunch of stuff, including the books I actually would want to read, which brings me to my book list. I know, it's been a while, so let's just cut to the chase.
The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven is a beautiful collection of short stories all about living on a Native American reservation, dealing with alcohol and depression but generally with a hint of humor. Loved it.
Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance was intense, super dense, but totally worth it. If you can't make it all the way through, I understand. There were parts where the philosophical jargon was way over my head, but the subtlety of the characters' relationships and the occasional rhetorical breakthrough really drew me in.
Snuff was another great Palahniuk novel, I won't go too much into the plot but let's just say it's about an adult entertainer on her last legs. Was that a pun? Anyway, very funny and dark as usual.
Make fun of me if you must, but in Savannah one day I read Charlotte's Web. So sweet, a nice change of pace.
And then I read the Old Man and the Sea again, I originally read it in high school and didn't love it. This time, after reading his three other masterpieces, I clearly appreciated it much more. Much much much more. Except for all the talk about DiMaggio, come on! Would it kill you to put in a Ted Williams reference?
And I just started another Sherman Alexie book, this one called Flight. So far it actually kind of reminds me of Palahniuk, which means I love it.
Ok folks, time for bed, but before I go I just wanted to thank my large and wonderful family in Boston for such a great trip. Really glad I could stay for longer than just a weekend, every day was pure magic. And good luck to all the bikers who are embarking on the ALS ride this weekend!
Hasta pronto!

Some don't like it hot

Hey y'all, time for another update from Adam country. It's summer, and it's hot. Super hot. Makes me fondly remember that kiddy pool we had at Robeson street. I've had more time to get over the events of the Game 7 that shall not be named, but before I really let it go I'd like to publicly compare the 2010 Celtics to the 2010 Butler basketball team. Magically making it to the finals but sadly falling to the enemy in a hard-fought effort, valiantly giving it their best. I truly loved that Celtics team, and as someone on ESPN brought up maybe even more than the 2008 team that won it all. This year's team clearly had its ups and downs, seemed to be falling apart at the seams, but they stepped up huge in the playoffs and defied all expectations. You never knew from one night to the next who would be our best player, every night had a different hero and it was always about teamwork. And to top it off, the Boston celeb contingent put an ad out in a Boston newspaper thanking our team for giving it their best.


As a fitting comparison, did anyone else watch the footage of Lakers fans lighting a taxi cab on fire during their celebrations? Stay classy, City of Angels.
The other big news was my roommate's wedding in Atglen PA. I was a little nervous at first about not really knowing anybody, but their friends and family were so welcoming, it was awesome. I've been hearing them plan their wedding via skype ever since I moved in, and it was wonderful to see it all come to fruition without a hitch. I got to meet their relatives, as well as Nate's friends from RISD who were unbelievably nice to me. It was a gorgeous day, beautiful ceremony, I even played a little Debussy as the grandparents were seated. There was great food, beer, company, and even dancing! I was considering putting up a picture of Nate and Elf posing for the camera, but I think this does them more justice.



They're still unpacking all the gifts they received, but I know they're just thrilled to be together and in Chicago. As some of you might have heard, I am moving into a new apartment with 4 friends, I'll go into more details for the next post.
How about that World Cup? Fun stuff, I did get to watch our goal in the 91st minute which got us out of the group stage. Unfortunately I also watched Ghana defeat us in extra time. As I've noted before, you can't have the ups without the downs. Luckily Ben gave me something a few years back that is the perfect consolation prize.

I hate them so much

Normally I give myself time to take a breath, step back, and analyze the situation. Can't do that now. I can't sleep. I hate the Lakers. I hate every single player. The person I hate the least is probably Ron Artest, because of his history. And because everyone else on their team was there in 2008 when we manhandled them. I am glad to know that everyone else from Boston in my generation, who admittedly disliked the Lakers but didn't truly hate them, now hates them with everything they've got. As in, violence will ensue. Maybe we needed this tough loss to bring us back down to earth, to realize that even though Kareem and Magic are occasionally funny on tv and movies, they are still the enemy. Maybe we needed this to remember how great the Celtics legends were, and to be thankful of every single game we were able to watch. I love the Celtics. I am saddened at how our postseason ended, but I will never forget how we upset Cleveland and Orlando. Remember how we felt after Orlando beat us in Game 7 last year in Boston? They ended up losing to the Lakers in the finals (with much less dignity than we did), but turned that loss into a great regular season this year. I hope we can do the same. Obviously with better results.
Oh Boston, our decade of sports dominance is officially over. I am glad that I'm not there right now to walk the streets and feel the general malaise, then again I did just experience Chicago's ecstasy as their Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup for the first time since 1961. Let's all take a deep breath, and be thankful our longest championship drought is only 38 years (Bruins, but let's not go there, that wound still hasn't healed). I know Bill Simmons will have his own take on the series, how we completely folded in games 1 and 6, got pounded on the rebounds, Ray Allen's demise post-game 2, blah blah blah. For the rest of my life I will fondly remember the sheer disbelief of beating Lebron (and perhaps single-handedly destroying the city of Cleveland), and then beating Howard, and to a lesser extent beating Wade. The Lakers can never take those series away from us. Unfortunately they won't make a DVD set of those games, but we should still be proud of our team. And now I will try to sleep confident that the younger Bostonians will feel the need to disembowel anything and anyone wearing purple and gold, that is until we redeem ourselves and destroy them next time. And there will be a next time.

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: