back from lunch

Back at the desk. So it's a beautiful day outside here in Chicago, the temperature is in the low 70s - perfect by my standards. So i'm debating wether I should give alot of back up information or just write what happens. I suppose anybody can just skip ahead if they get bored.

So, moved up to Chicago from Florida right before the turn of the century, in 1999. Came up here for the music scene. I live in a two bedroom apartment south of Chicago avenue with a bass player - Jason Roebke - our roommate situation is pretty decent, we give each other space and are both pretty clean. It's a third floor and has a little view from the back porch - faces an alley so you can see the sky that goes over the great south side of Chicago and to the east you can see the Sears Tower.

Most recent thing to happen is last night - played some improvised music at the Myopic Bookstore, a place on Milwaukee Avenue in Wicker Park that has been having improvised music on monday nights for a long time. I played saxophone and was joined with Amanda Gutierrez receiving radio transmissions on her shortwave & manipulating them and steve hess playing some minimal & soft drums & cymbals. It was the first time we have played together - we played two long improvisations, the first was very quiet and a bit tentative - the radio was coming in very quietly and it was a challenge to match the volume with my loud-ass saxophone. The second improvisation felt better - and everything was heard better. The Myopic space has gone through alot of changes over the years and right now the performance space is pretty tiny - maybe 8' square. It definitely makes things intimate.

After that I went with my girlriend Jen to the Empty bottle for a free show - our friend Jaime plays drums in a band called Stag Party with his brother and some other folk. They're a fun band to watch. Sometimes when I watch bands that are having a good time playing it makes me think about how I need to play in a group which is more fun than serious. I enjoy the music I make, but sometimes I feel that too much of it takes itself way too seriously. Jen & I didn't stay too late as we both had to work today, but it was a good time - ran into a bunch of folk not seen in a long time.

Time to end this one, will probably write way too much in the first few days and then let things drop off, or maybe I'll always write too much.