I'm flying high over some part of the Midwest, and I'm glowing in the realization that my life is more spectacular than it probably should be. This realization didn't come to me as I head back on a Tuesday night from San Francisco to a Chicago that is forecasted to be blanketed in snow. The realization came to me as I sat next to one of my closest friends, enjoying our the last spectacular meal of my much needed vacation to San Francisco. There were a lot of spectacular meals that trip, including Spinnerty's always on point tapas order and the tasty sangria at Cha Cha Cha. And there was also a lot of spectacular music both heard and performed (that you can read about in another of my writeups).

But as I sat yesterday eating this out of this world ravioli-type dish that I cannot remember the name of (mostly because I couldn't properly pronounce it the three times I tried), drinking champagne, wine and a tasty beer, snacking on cheese, I paused to wonder just how my life got like this. And I didn't have any clue. And I still don't.

I certainly haven't been doing anything in my life, or least I don't think I have, that has entitled me to take in the sheer bliss of a great meal with great friends. Sure, it helped that Jess's roommate was the bartender and hooking us up, but there was something at first unsettling about having a good life. But then just embracing that my life is what it is -- that I have a very nice roof over my head, that I am healthy, that I often get to share music with people, that I can travel across the globe to experience new things, that I have friends that care about me, that I have so many things in my life that make me smile and laugh on a daily basis, -- accepting, appreciating and not feeling guilty about this life, made me feel incredible.

Granted, floating through life oblivious to problems and areas for personal improvement is foolhardy and shallow. Talking constantly about one's own good fortune is downright annoying. But for a few days, I felt content to not worry about world problems, death, and the fact the free world is led by a moron.

I promise that this blog won't just turn into a bragging thing. But instead of trying to recreate what has happened in the month since I last posted, I felt like encapsulating in words the strange and unexpected euphoria I felt yesterday.

A few random notes before I end the thought portion of this post:

- I have a new MacBook coming to me that will have more than enough hard drive space for me to hold my massive music library, which means I will be posting a lot more. I'm never short on thoughts, but sometimes I can't get easily get to the music I want to post up.

- I discovered mead while I was in the Bay. Irish coffee is now a distant second for drinks I want to drink on cold winter nights. And yes, there will be plenty of mead at my upcoming Christmas Party.

- While only getting to hang with him one night (we did jager shots and decided what songs to play on the jukebox from 36 Chambers) I still have to conclude that Justin Martin is one of the coolest people on the planet.

- Insight of the trip comes from good ol Captain Mar Mar, "Champaign has the most opportunities per capita." Damn straight. And you all just watch out for my winter push for this town.

- The ocean is a beautiful thing.

- SFMOMA is awesome and Joseph Cornell is one of my new favorite artists.

- The last thing I did my last night in San Fran was to go to a bar that had a great setup, but terrible drinks and even worse music. It was advertised as a downtempo night, and when we came in, the DJ was playing a house set that wouldn't cut it at even the most lame of Champaign house parties. Which, after being surrounded by musicians way out of my league all weekend, made me realize that I can definitely get something going out there. I won't name the bar, because I specifically want to get things going there. Maybe a year from now I'll link back to this. ;-)


I will write the song portion of tonight's post once I get back from my potentially brutal drive from O'Hare to Champaign through the wintry snow.

Yeeesh what a snow storm! Not able to post this until Wednesday. Grrr.

Those Sappy Songs That Rock

I easily could have gone for the standard cliche declaration of loving being alive, such as Louis Armstrong's "What A Wonderful World" or some hook-laden rock singalong. And I guess in a way I am giving in by posting this version of "Over The Rainbow." But there was a bit of digging involved to find a clean recording of an a capella group called The Blanks. If you're a Scrubs watcher, you'll know them as Ted's Band, The Worthless Peons. But instead of hilariously jamming out the Chili's Baby Back Ribs song or some TV themes, their version of this classic is quite poignant and touching. I first heard it at the end of the Wizard Of Oz episode on Scrubs and here is the video of the song in the context of the show:



The Blanks are a real band, with real recordings under their belt, but every version of "Over The Rainbow" that I came across on the fileshare networks had the Scrubs dialogue over the top. So to go the extra mile for myself and for my loyal readers, I've stripped away the iTunes DRM crap and let the world enjoy this gem unfettered. If you like it as much as I do, you should head over to the iTunes store and pick up some other songs by The Blanks.

I've listened to this about 15 times in a row since I've gotten home and even though the weather sucks here, even though life in Champaign is tangibly more drab than San Francisco, even though I miss my friends, this song makes me feel as warm and floating as I did enjoying that Italian dish I still can't pronounce.

The Blanks - Over The Rainbow