...In which our heroine returns.

Home again, home again. It gets stranger every time, I swear. Everything is so oddly familiar, yet so foreign. This isn't my life anymore, but it still doesn't feel weird to settle back into old routines.

Before coming home, the family was in town for the weekend. The big deal was to go to a Reds game at Wrigley Field, which also happened to be my first Cubs game. Honestly - and maybe this comes because I walk by it so often - to me it was just another stadium, just another baseball game. This is a sacrilegious statement I realize, but I just wasn't enthralled anymore then I would have been at a Reds game. I used to love sporting events, but the older I get the less interest I have. Who knows why...

I also had probably the best meal of my life, in the hotel restaurant. Osteria via Stato stresses family style Italian dining, but we opted for individual plates. I had a caprese salad, sea bass with green beans in a sweet corn broth, lots of bread, and chocolate/hazelnut gelato. It was absolutely outstanding and not too much of anything. We all tried everyone's dishes - pesto pasta, ricotta gnocchi, and zucchini risotto - and nothing about the entire meal was anything less than awesome. Even my mom's coffee with amaretto, which is nothing remarkable, was better than usual.

I have no big plans for the week - just to enjoy being home. I always find it hard to spend as much time with everyone as I want to, because there's just never enough time, but I'll do my best.  It's so much warmer here than Chicago and I have no warm weather clothing anymore, quite the conundrum. It can gladly stay in the 80s for Lollapalooza.

The Pixies are karmically in tune with me - they'll be in Chicago during my birthday week, on November 20-21, with the former date being the 2 year anniversary of Frank, my tattoo.

...In which our heroine gives back.

So before Pitchfork, I spent the week with some wonderful kids. Bright, fun, varied, and talented kids. I was their mentor, and they were my mentees, which sounds ridiculous, but it was a clearly set out relationship.

The organization I worked for is called ArtUp, and is part of Columbia's outreach program to help encourage Chicago public high school students to pursue college, especially in the arts fields. The organizers of the program - Mecca, Joanna, Rob, Avery, Cecil - are all truly wonderful, giving people. Seeing their devotion to improve the lives of children makes me want to be better than I am.

What we actually did was make a book based on the concept of change, filled with work - prose and photographs - created by the mentors, the students, and the two teaching artists. We began with writing a stream of consciousness about what change means to us, then shot photographs inspired by that writing. From there, we did a process called essentialization - something I found to be most beneficial - where we chose 24 words from the stream of consciousness that represented change. Then we went down to 12, 6, and finally 3 words that meant change. Everyone got "change =" and mine finished with "creation of possibility."

At first I was unsure what to do with the kids - what do I, a Midwestern white girl going to an expensive arts college, have in common with a bunch of black kids from the south and west sides that have some pretty crappy lives? As it turns out, a lot. The kids were wonderful, smart and opinionated and full of ideas. I cannot even explain how great it felt to see them take an idea and put it into action. Lunch was provided for us everyday and us we all sat around - six mentors and eight students - and talked about everything from tattoos to big stuff like women's rights. They amazed me with their willingness to be engaged, and what they contributed.

It was an inspiring experience and one I'll never forget. I'm hoping that when school starts I can continue working with ArtUp. I've seen so much potential in these kids and I want to help foster it. It was great to work and feel like you were doing something beneficial. This summer has made me realize I need to give more and take less, which I'm trying to do. I need to stop wallowing in personal bullshit because it isn't really important. I can only improve myself, so anything else is pointless right now. I'm letting go of everyone else's bullshit and attempting to be more positive.

In semi-related news, I finished draft #2 of the screenplay which is currently titled Sharp as a Razor, Soft as a Prayer. There's one scene that needs added and another that needs to be cut, but so far, I'm really happy with all 134 pages of it. I'm really understanding that writing is what I do best and what makes me happiest. All I can do is be productive, absorb art and experiences, and try and fix personal issues.

Oh! And I met the ever-fabulous Chuck Klosterman yesterday. He read and signed his new book which I have purchased and not yet read. He was kind, hilarious, and gracious enough to sign all five of my books. And he told me to choose Depeche Mode over Kings of Leon, who he apparently does not like.

Double Oh! I completely neglected to mention Charlyne Yi and the adorableness of Paper Heart. First, the movie is really cute and an honest exploration of relationships. Way better than (500) Days of Summer, the other indie romance everyone (including every third fucking commercial on TV) because it's more real and less quirky. Yi is hilarious and meek in person, but was very honest - I found out from her that Judd Apatow improvises most of his dialogue on set. We saw her again at Pitchfork, and I fought the temptation to ask for my future husband Seth Rogen's phone number.

I love having the apartment to myself - Kristen is home until Lollapalooza - and the family is in town tomorrow.  I'm going to my first Cubs game at Wrigley this weekend! While this summer has been far from what I planned, in a lot of ways it's been the most eye-opening and introspective ever. Back in the nasty next week...

"Reckoner" is one of my favorite songs off of one of my favorite albums. It makes me think of nights in my bedroom, spend hovered around my laptop with an ever-revolving cast of wonderful characters.

...In which our heroine Pitchfork-s.

I have survived another music festival, no worse for the wear. Each one that I go to, it becomes easier to tolerate the drunk fools, the lackluster food, and the heat. But Pitchfork was very different, for lots of reasons. The crowd was decidedly older and hipper, and less intoxicated. It was downright chilly all weekend which was frustrating, but still better than 90 degree heat. The food and vendors were way better than Lollapalooza - I got some awesome pot stickers and a black bean burger, and the shops had awesome vinyl. 

And there was some music to be heard too. All together I think the list goes something like this: Fucked Up, The Pains of Being Pure at Heart, Women, Wavves, Beirut, M83, Pharoah Monch, Japandroids, The National, Ponytail, Grizzly Bear, The Thermals, and The Flaming Lips. I'm not even going to pretend to be hip enough to have known all of those bands going in to the festival, and to be honest, most of their sets were throughly lackluster. I think the issue was the music was too subdued for the setting.

Beirut and M83 did really fun sets, but there was no question that The Flaming Lips owned it. I've always read about their live show, but oh my dear lord. Aside from Daft Punk, definitely the most fun concert I've ever been to. Decider says it better than I can:

Perhaps the most anticipated gig of the entire weekend kicked off with what might have been the oddest band entrance ever: A door opened in the middle of a stage-sized screen, which at the time was showing video of a woman's bright white vagina, and out popped the Lips; oh, except for frontman Wayne Coyne, who was in a plastic bubble that rose from the stage floor and made its way out to the crowd. The rest of the set was punctuated with orange and yellow balloons, hordes of dancing fans in animal costumes, and (a rumored $5,000 worth of) confetti. That's not to say the spectacle distracted from the music—which hit the band's all-time audience favorites, including "She Don't Use Jelly", "Fight Test", and closer "Do You Realize??"—but rather it gave longtime fans, tired from standing for nearly eight hours straight, an invitation to marvel.

Yeah, it was pretty fucking rad. I will say that it was not show meant to be seen without being under the influence of something - the lights looked way cooler through the cloud of smoke hovering above the crowd. We were about fifteen rows back from the stage and that familiar crush was present, but not as bad as Modest Mouse or Rage Against the Machine. It was a good weekend with good company.

Adam Yauch has cancer, so I guess I'll be seeing Tool at Lollapalooza now, which is a good consolation prize. A Beastie Boy should not get cancer. 

I have lots to talk about in terms of the ArtUp intensive I mentored for, but that's another day.

Today we end with "Never Let Me Down Again," my favorite Depeche Mode song.

...In which our heroine re-visits.

It's been a good week for nostalgia: A friend who I hadn't talked to in a year have chatted twice this week, I've been watching copious amounts of Roseanne on TV Land, the Pixies are bringing Doolittle back for a US tour, the joys of hangovers and working coupled together. But most importantly, there's been LISA FRANK.

If you were a female child in the 90s, you know what I'm talking about. It's all so exquisite:

That rainbow vomit artwork is so glorious! Unicorns and hip-hop teddy bears, yes please. It so reminds me of grades one through four. I really wish I still had all my stationery, stickers, folders, paper, pencils, erasers, and various other trash. The colors and the artwork are so heinously awesome.

This on the other hand is just plain awesome. I'm going to start posting a song per entry.

Today is Bon Iver's "Skinny Love." It's a song that marks a significant relationship, and it breaks my heart with its beauty.

...In which our heroine goes 50/50.

I keep waiting for summer to come to Chicago and it hasn't. We had a couple sunny days in the 90s, but mostly there's just rain and the miserable muggy heat that follows. It can stay cool for Pitchfork and Lollapalooza though.

Job training was very cool. I'm by far the youngest person there - all the other mentors are seniors or have just graduated - and then it's a bunch of educators from the Chicago Public school system. The training is for next week, when I'll get two CPS high school students to mentor. All week, we'll be working on finding text and images that represent where they are from and where they are going to culminate in a book at the end. Pretty cool. I'm happy that I've found a job that can have a positive impact on another person.

Putting the final nail in the coffin, Emily and Lane broke up. It makes me quite sad not only for them, but now the chances of the fabulous five I spent the year with ever even being in the same room again are slim. One split couple could work, but not two. I realized yesterday that every couple I know, with the exception of one, is now finished, which is really odd. An era ends, but at the same time, I've also realized that this is the first time in a couple years that I haven't been wrapped up in a boy. It's a nice feeling.

(500) Days of Summer review: Really good for the first hour or so. Zooey and Joseph are adorable, have great chemistry and provide a lot of laughs. But as their relationship breaks down, the movie kind of implodes. It stops feeling realistic and the ending really ruined it for me. Better than the average rom-com, but not better than the hype.

Speaking of that, I'm getting really hard to impress film-wise. In the couple weeks, I've watched (500) Days of Summer, Cemetery Man, Role Models, Amateur, Chinatown, Away We Go, and Public Enemies. All of them were "fine," which has become my de facto word. The only thing I've watched lately that's impressive was Dr. Strangelove, which I knew I'd like going in. Film school is making me snooty, and I wonder if it's better that I know what's behind the curtain now,.

Work all week, Thursday means Paper Heart with Charlyene Yi in person, who stars and was the stoner chick in Knocked Up, and the weekend means AshleyAnn and Pitchfork!

And here's some Saturday Jenny Lewis to put a smile on your face:

...In which our heroine goes three by three.

The new Gossip album, Music for Men, is out. Beth Ditto has my favorite female voice in rock at present, and she's just generally awesome. I'm declaring the first single, "Heavy Cross" the anthem for summer 2009, but the whole album is excellent.

The onstage camraderie between Neil Young and my least favorite Beatle in this performance of my favorite Beatles song from London makes my heart happy.

I can't get enough of Neutral Milk Hotel. It upsets me that Jeff Mangum can't perform anymore because of mental issues (and night terrors which someone else I know gets). But despite the shitty quality of this, the only live thing I've ever found by them, there's still something lovely about it.

Jennifer's Body looks disappointing. I still enjoy Juno quite a bit, although reading the script made me want to vomit. Diablo Cody appreciates the horror genre and all, but the red-band trailer is full of all kinds of nonsense. Megan Fox is hot, but her delivery is nearly unbelievable. I guess I just dislike how contrived the trailer is - "Cherry Bomb" in the background, the lesbian tease, the faux-scandalous dialogue.

On the other hand, the directorial debut of Robert Siegel, who wrote one of my favorites from last year, The Wrestler, looks really interesting. Big Fan got quite a lot of festival buzz, and looks to be a nice little dark comedy with one of my favorite comedians, Patton Oswalt.

So this is a remake of a Danish movie. Brothers seems like a typical fare kind of tear-jerker but Jim Sheridan is behind the camera, and he still made one of my favorite films with In America. We'll see.

Mad Men is the best thing on television right now. I'm about halfway through season two now, and I have a major girl crush on Joan Holloway, as played by Christina Hendricks. I've mentioned before how awesome her body is, so we might as well get right to it.

Am I the only one who hates Weeds so far this season? They're making Nancy as unlikable as possible. Last week's episode was an improvement, but there aren't any real stakes, or at least not enough is happening to make the stakes seem that scary. This was one of my favorite parts from last week.

Daria was such a badass show when I was watching it, not supposed to be, in my childhood. Emily brought to my attention it isn't on DVD, and that made me quite upset. I especially remember this assaulting my young ears. Now I just wanna watch some episodes...

Busy rest of the week. (500) Days of Summer tomorrow, training Wednesday and Thursday, dinner with the recently back in town Kris, then work next week leading up to Pitchfork!

...In which our heroine tastes Chicago.

Although it isn't over yet, I've gone to the Taste of Chicago three times this week. The weather has been lovely, and I like the people watching as much as the food. The organization of the booths helped cut down on the crowd, which was never as bad as I anticipated. I didn't go see the Counting Crows or the Barenaked Ladies for free, but I may still hit up Buddy Guy tomorrow.

So what did I eat? Lots, and for a total of $24 spent. Granted, I shared a lot and took advantage of smaller, cheaper "taste" portions, but I still feel that I totally got my money's worth. 

From best to worst:

Steak Jibarito - a Puerto Rican sandwich I'd never tried before. The bread, which was actually fried plantains, was crispy and really flavorful. Add to that chargrilled steak, lettuce, and amazing garlic sauce and it was a great dish. Too bad the restaurant it's from is in the worst neighborhood in the city.

Lemon/Mango/Blue Raspberry Italian Ice - so fresh, and the texture was smooth but not ice cream-y at all. Lemon was my favorite of the three. 

Panna Cotta with cherry balsamic sauce and caramelized almonds - This was definitely outside of my comfort zone, I'd never tried panna cotta, but it sounded good and it was. The portion was HUGE, too much for a festival, especially for a rich dessert. Panna cotta is cooked cream made into a kind of custard, and the tartness of the cherries balanced well.

Orange Chicken - This was Emily's, but we shared. I'm wary of chinese food, especially from a festival, but the chicken was not yucky like it can be in Asian cuisine. The sauce was a really nice blend of sweet and spicy.

Prime Rib Quesadilla - The meat was tasty as was the added cilantro, but an acid would have elevated the dish, especially lime. 

Crab Cake Bites - Pretty mediocre. I don't think there was really crab, and if it was, it wasn't the lump kind, which makes for the best crab cakes. The sweet chili sauce however, was really yummy. 

BBQ Rib Tips - Spicy/sweet sauce was a good blend of both, but not enough meat and one of the pieces was all bone.

Lamington - This was Kristen's. Essentially dry, yellow cake dipped in Hershey's syrup and coconut. Not bad, but boring. 

Sweet Potato Hash Browns - I love sweet potatoes. I do not however love them when they've been made into the consistency of rice and not seasoned well. One bite was sweet, one was salty, but not in a good way. I threw most of this away.

I wish there would have been some more exotic food choices. I can appreciate hot dogs and deep dish pizza, but not ten booths of them. Overall, way more good than bad food and I was impressed with how clean and well-portioned everything was. 

...In which our heroine dials M for...

Not murder, silly! Instead, for Mad Men, which I've previously mentioned and am now throughly addicted to after only a few episodes. The thing that stands out to me most about the series, to continue with alliteration to make Beth Harding proud, is the masculinity. Weeds and True Blood both feature female protagonists and are in spite of all the goings-on with each, pretty feminine shows. Strong and feminine, but feminine nonetheless. 

Mad Men on the other hand, is very dude-centric, and I love the way the male characters are portrayed as complicated, often very unlikable chauvinists. But it's authentic to the decade in which the series is set, the early 1960s, and the industry of advertising it follows. I'm glad it doesn't shy away from having every male character openly talk about conquering women, with a cigarette in one hand and a scotch in the other. From stories my grandmother has told me about being a housewives in the 1950s and 1960s, it seems to hit the mark.

But of course, what would the men be without the women behind them? We get all sorts of women of the era too: dissatisfied housewives, complacent housewives, the rogue single mother, high society newlyweds, mistresses, secretaries who rule the office roost. And because of these characters - January Jones as Betty Draper and Elisabeth Moss as Peggy Olson really stand out - the show's primary focus of the Sterling/Cooper ad agency becomes much more interesting when you learn what, or rather who, makes its employees tick.

Compared to my two other summer loves, Weeds and True Blood, Mad Men is pretty low key and sometimes a tad slow in pacing. But so far, it has been worth it for the character development and atmosphere. And Jon Hamm and Christina Hendricks are just as gorgeous as I hoped they'd be. Worth a watch while you wait for Sundays to come around...