It for requirements I congratulations best.

And now the moment you've all been waiting for (really, you said so in the comments, you need it, you want it): My weekend.

To begin, the subject of this post is simply the first word of each line on this piece of paper at my desk. Make of it what you will.

Second, I've installed Google Analytics on this page, which lets me see all sorts of data about the visitors of this page. Don't worry, it doesn't tell me your secret fantasies or how many oreos you ate last night. Just computer stuff.

And now, the weekend.

Katie came into town Friday, the beginning of her birthday weekend extravaganza. (If you by chance did not wish her a happy birthday, feel free to do so here in the comments and I'll make sure she gets them). The plan was simple: Go see a free concert put on by the fine people at Threadless in celebration of the opening of their new Chicago store. The lineup was Freer, Anathallo, and Hey Mercedes. Now, some of you might be saying, "But Bryan, Hey Mercedes broke up four years ago..." Indeed they did, reader, indeed they did. But HARK, they re-converged for this one time only show. And oh how glorious it was. But let's start at the beginning.

Being a free show, we figured alot of people would show up. The deal was, you go to the Threadless store and they give you two free tickets. They gave away way more tickets than the capacity of the Metro, but added a disclaimer that once you had your tickets, it was first-come-first-serve to get in. We showed up about a half hour early... and had to wait in a line that went over a block down Clark, wrapped around the corner, and went almost an other block back. It was very intimidating, and we worried that we wouldn't get in...

But we did.

Freer was a good band. The guys had good stage presence, and the music was enjoyable. While we were listening, I mentioned to Katie that they sounded kind of like Elton John meets The Police, but obviously not up to that caliber. Stylistically, I think it was pretty accurate, and they put on a good little set.

Anathallo was unexpected. Yes, that is the term I choose to use: Unexpected. They were a 7 piece band with instruments ranging from the traditional, to the..well, untraditional. For a rock band anyway. Lots of extra percussion, some brass, some other things. What resulted was a pretty amazing live show. Unique time signatures permeated most of the songs, and delicate voices rose above them. They played with alot of passion, which made it a pure joy to partake in. Unfortunately, I went to their website, and the recorded stuff didn't strike me as much. Oh well.

Hey Mercedes was amazing. They played everything I wanted them to, with the exception of Oh Penny, but I was ok with that. I'm not sure the exact reason the band had dissolved, but it was obvious that it was on good terms. It was sort of like a reunion for them, all having a good time. They passed around a bottle of Jack and looked like they had a blast playing. Katie and I had taken in the first two bands from upstairs, as there was a bar with no wait, and a really good view. Plus, I'm an old man now, I can't be down in those mosh pits... Well, the old desire to throw some elbows and lick other people's sweat kicked in, and I took off downstairs to thrash about a bit. I later found out that Katie had wanted to join me... and I'm sad she didn't. That brought me back though, I mean, it has probably been over 5 years since I've been in a pit. It really made me want to see more shows.

Anyway, I've probably already put many of your attention spans to the test, so I'll not embark on such elaborate journeys for the rest of the weekend.

After the show, we wanted sushi. And when Katie wants sushi, Katie gets sushi. I knew there was a place down Clark, but it was all the way down by Belmont. We started walking anyway, and stumbled upon some classy looking Chinese place with a sushi bar. It ended up being really good. Like, really good. Typing has no vocal inflection. Like, really good. There, italics = inflection.

Then we went back to the apartment and crashed. Exhausting evening.

Saturday, we headed out to State St pretty early and did some shopping. For once, I walked away without needless purchases, but Katie found some pretty cool stuff. When we got back, Gina and Nick were just about there, so we scarfed down some Taylor St pizza (and salad), then jumped in with Gina and Nick as they drove by and headed to Shred's Inferno.

Katie and Gina both got tattoos, Gina on the back of her neck, and Katie behind her ear. Gina got three stars, shaded all cool, and Katie got a small lily. Both of them turned out really cool, and I was impressed that neither showed much pain.

By the time we got back from that, it was time for dinner at Rosebud with Steve and Kels joining in on the fun. It was delicious, as I knew it would be. Our server was a squat woman with a demeanor to match, which was amusing to say the least.

We topped off the night with Doug Small coming in from Rockford and a night of a little too much booze and alot of fun.

If you're still reading by now, I'm impressed. You can sign your name in the comments and put the words "is a ball licker" after it to prove how loyal of a reader you are.

Sunday, Katie and I embarked on an interesting adventure to find in Chicago. We went kayaking. It turned out to be really cool, and a perfect day for it. We started maybe a mile north of the loop, and leisurely paddled our way down to Wacker, and then out towards Lake Michigan. The city looked gorgeous from on the river, and aside from some choppy water/hangover blues, it was an excellent trip.

That was pretty much it for the weekend, definitely one of the best I've had since moving to Chicago. Lucky for you, I don't have huge plans for another week or so, so you can just read my clever, but brief, updates until then.

Ciao,
Bry

PS. If you're confused by the 'Bry' posting in the comments, that's Poole. I'm not so vain as to comment on my own blog... yet.