sippin on gin and milk

Try it; you'll like it.

Jesse visited this weekend, with his new girlfriend Kirsten who he knows from Green Lake. She was sick and needed to take it easy but we had a nice weekend. Things have been pretty great since Valentine's, which Ben and I spent eating and watching Sesame Street videos on YouTube. It was a happy time. Then Friday night I played a show at the Heartland Cafe with the band that I had been kind of dreading but which turned out to be a lot of fun. It was a benefit show for this organization, and we had a nice group of people playing and a good crowd. I've been feeling pretty anti-baba lately, and was considering quitting the band, but after this gig I remembered that under the right circumstances I really enjoy it. So I think I just need to be more deliberate about my yesses and nos.

Saturday I had a great Cardio Jazz class, and then Jesse and Kirsten showed up. We lunched at Taco Veloz, dinnered at Santullos, then went our seperate ways as they headed to the Super Furry Animals concert at the Metro and we headed off to Ben's college friend Pete's party. After mistaking a party guest's screwdriver ingredients for gin and milk, we decided to try the drink that didn't actually sound too bad. It wasn't bad at all. It's delicious. Refreshing. I'll have to try it warm some time. Turns out we didn't make it up. Ben and I capped off the night with a little dancing at the Handlebar's fifth birthday party. A fraction of Mucca Pazza was there, and when they were done playing the DJ busted out all kinds of stuff, including Ease on Down the Road from The Wiz. Dancing with Ben at the Handlebar with lots of dorky hipsters was so joyful.

Sunday the four of us tried to go to M. Henry for brunch but there was an hour wait, even though it was already 1:30 by the time we made it there. We ate instead at Pannekoeken, the new Dutch pancake place in Lincoln Square. Then we toured the OTS a little bit before dropping Jesse and still-sick Kirsten off to take it easy at home. Ben and I saw the Oscar Shorts and then picked up Soupbox dinner and a movie to watch back at the coach house with J&K. It was a nice cozy night for a disgusting soggy Chicago winter day.

This morning J&K came to see my worms. It was a fun day, especially thanks to the awesome two year old who didn't want to stop running around singing, "Call me!! Call me, anytime... Call me!!" I gotta learn some Blondie for next week's class. Bagel sandwiches at CBA before Kirsten drove outta town, and the Jesse and I did a little shopping and tea before I took him to the bus station. Piano classes, pretty good, but after a fun and tiring weekend I was really happy to come home to have a nice night with my cozy man and cat.

We just watched a trailer online for John Lennon vs. the United States, which is sitting on top of the stereo in Ben's Netflix envelope. At the end of the trailer I had tears in my eyes. He was such a vehicle for hope, and it reminded me of how hopeless I feel about the country I live in. While life has been fun and pretty happy lately, I was suddenly reminded that I spend most of my energy on pleasure and very little of my time and resources on working to make things better in this fucked up world. I haven't been able to really get my optimism back after watching Sicko, which made me feel like I must move to a different country, or perhaps galaxy, if I ever want to bring kids into the world. I am having a hard time envisioning any real change, and when I start to think about wars and food and the environment and education and prejudice and social classes and the media and the corporations, etc etc etc, I am overwhelmed and terrified. I think Barack Obama is incredible and I hope I hope I hope he wins but I'm really nervous that he's not going to.

I didn't know what to do about all this, so I wrote this blog. I also watched Nora the cat play piano, and a little bit of No Reservations and Good Eats with Ben, and then Adeline came to sit with us and decided to make her spot on the blanket over our legs. Between our legs actually, and also between the coffee table and the couch. She was in a little hammock of blanket, staring up at us. All this stuff has made me feel much better, for now at least. I realize it's not at all helpful or productive or good for the world. Maybe tomorrow I'll find something more revolutionary to do. Teaching music to kids is pretty good.

Or maybe I'll hide away with a gallon of 2 percent and some Tanqueray.