Ari and Happy

So I'm walking north on Clark Street this evening, headed out to the coffee palace to drink something wonderful and fall-like and enjoy my book, when this middle-aged gentleman stops me and struggles to get his question out.

"Excuse me...um...do you know if...are there any...how do you call them...um...I'm looking for a bar. Do you know if there are...um...any bars around here?"

He has a Caribbean accent, if that helps. Go back and read that scintillating dialogue with a Caribbean accent, if you please.

"Well, of course," I reply, in what I hope was a kind tone with a slightly condescending, yer-an-idiot, Midwestern sort-of edge. It is a fine art, this Chicago tone. I'm working on it. "There's bars all over here. What are you looking for?"

"I want a...strip bar. Yes, a strip bar."

"Guys or girls?" was my next query.

"Girls, girls," was his rapid reply.

"Wrong neighborhood, pal."

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I'm going to Portland the first week in November to see my old gal pal Liza. I'm so excited about this. Hopefully I'll get to see the Cam'rons for a spell as well. The Pacific Northwest holds so many wonderful people that I love!

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This is an exciting concert week for me. Sunday night Sofia and I are going to support one of our favorite bank customers at his movie premiere/band show. We actually have really good luck with these things; when our customers invite us to their concerts and restaurants and theatre productions, we generally have a really good time and get to appreciate people that we only associate with balances and casual conversation in a cool new way.

Even more exciting, though, is the three night Lucinda Williams concert extravaganza that I'm going to be partaking in on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. This is her 30th anniversary tour, and she's highlighting music from three different albums on each of the three nights. I'm excited to hear some older and lesser-known, but personal favorite selections.

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I got to go to the opening night of the Chicago International Film Festival this past Thursday night. (Side note: this is because the secret of life - sorry, James Taylor and Oprah - is knowing some well-connected Jews.) It was a fun night, with several celebrities, both actual and local, in attendance. Uma Thurman was there, as was Jacqueline Bisset, Roger Ebert, and Mayor Daley. Uma's new movie Motherhood was the opening film of the festival, and yeah, it was not great. But it doesn't matter that much because I could look at her all day. And since she was there and all, they gave her a Career Achievement award in what had to have been one of the most awesomely awkward ceremonies ever. Seriously, it might have been David Brent giving the award, it was that bad. Michael Kutza, the director or creator or whatever of the festival, needs to be put out to pasture, like, stat. He kept correcting people that he was standing beside at the podium, even Uma! And when he went to give her the award, he couldn't find it, even though it was in the podium. Anyway, the whole thing made Chicago's film community look really third-rate, which it probably is, so no big deal.

Currently Listening to:
Ryan Adams and the Cardinals Follow the Lights and
The Format Interventions and Lullabies and
Lucinda Williams World Without Tears