july continues on, sometimes stopping by to say hello

I'm realizing that this has been a summer spent looking forward to things- some of which have yet to come true:

1. going home, as I haven't stepped foot in Chicago for eight whole months. That's a premature pregnancy. That's a school year. That's a long fucking time without a drive down lake shore with becky and a bowl with alex and an evening at Jamals and you get the point
2. getting myself out of debt (two more paychecks!)
3. seeing Jack Johnson with James this august.
4. Turning 20, and the nervous breakdown that ensures.

One of the things I was looking forward to has already happened- I saw Ben Harper, the only other musician I am able to love as much as the beatles. If you had asked me that night if I knew I was going to see one of the sexiest beings to ever grace a stage, I would have denied it. I mean, Ben's good looking but it's not like he's going to be doing prettyboy shots for Rolling Stone ala colin oberst. But oh my god. He is a man after my own heart (and if you know me, you know that my heart is a weird, and very unattainable thing) and if he ever wanted to produce little hippie pot smoking spawn, I'd be his girl. Swear to god, I spent the bus ride to Rickshaw Stop (to visit the boys and the Norwegian posse they were rolling with) plotting out how we were going to raise the little bastards.

Alas, only certain dreams come true. And while I am not miss nisi harper-baier, I am very happy that I was able to hear my own personal favorite obscure songs of his and I was also able to smoke up with about 1,000 other people to a fifteen minute rendition of 'burn one down'.


on a completely different note thing number two I'm looking forward to has been reading Half Blood Prince. I bought it Saturday, and I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. I've either been working, or doing errands or just not in the mood. Alas, this is my night! I kinda want to savor it, let the experience last for a good week. But who can read it a chapter at a time? I'm guessing I'll finish it tomorrow, and spend the next year, or two, waiting for and avoiding seven.

So, after I'm done I'm gonna want to talk and rant and trade conspiracy theories. Who else is reading? I'll give you a call or we'll talk on here. I tried relaying the end of Order of the Phoenix to Eric this afternoon and I got a few interested grunts and a few stray wishes for Harry's death. From him, it was an improvement. Maybe he's coming around.