After much prodding and pleading, my mom finally said yes to Chicago! This makes me incredibly happy. This means in two weeks there will be Christmas, Peter time in Chicago, then back to Carleton to be reunited with my lovely Lily and Kaitlin-a-tron! I think I can remain relatively sane for the next two weeks. Hopefully I will get more (non-sick?) Aubrey time, Bre bonding, Spanish re-studying, movie watching, and get some reading in.

I realized I never posted about the amazing Decemberists concert, so now, a month or so later, I will do so. My mom drove me, Aubrey, and Javier (the Aubrey boyfriend) to U of M to pick up the Peter. After some waiting…and waiting…Peter finally broke away from his Quizbowl tournament. We ate at the Hard Rock (mmm ribs! I love me some animal carcass!) and then waited in line at First Ave. There were even Carleton people in line near us :) The opening act was Alasdair Roberts, who was very Scottish. He sang Lyke Wake Dirge beautifully. Aubrey and Javier were on a separate side of the venue as Peter and I, so we got some video from different angles. There were tall people in front of us. . .

They opened with Crane Wife 3, and then July, July. And I say your uncle was a crooked French Canadian! Aubrey got most of We Both Go Down Together, which I now forever have in my memory Aubrey and Peter singing, on either side of me, as we walked down Division. Meet me on my vast veranda...my sweet untouched Miranda...

Poor Colin Meloy had the flu or something, so about halfway through the concert he had to take a short, uh, intermission. The band played a lovely rendition of “You are my Sunshine.” It was adorable. That song has a weird assosiation in my head, because my mom used to sing it to me all the time, but also, when I was in Barcelona, there were a bunch of Celtics fans singing in the Hard Rock, drunk off their asses, singing a football chant in the tune of "You are my Sunshine," but instead, the lyrics included "YOU FUCKING WAAANKER!" I miss Spain. Then the band polkaed for a bit until Colin returned.

I got the entire ending of The Island. The amp almost electrocuted Colin. We were happy it didn't. Finally, after a shortened set, they encored with Myla Goldberg. It was an amazing show, despite Colin's illness. I can only imagine a Decemberist's concert when he's not sick and throwing up! They would probably make my head explode.

Winter Break has been a bit dull without anyone to entertain me, but it is looking up, with Christmas approaching. I am going to try to get Bre to take me to see The Holiday tomorrow. I need some female chick flick bonding. I recently went to (yet another) Aerosmith concert. My mother is in love with Stephen Tyler and Joe Perry. It’s kind of creepy, but probably less creepy than my infatuation with David Bowie. What can I say--I inherited my mother’s old man love.



Oh, and what the hell is up with everyone I knew from high school getting engaged/married? Seriously. Stop freaking me out...