Hotter Than a Pepper Sprout

Tonight Chad and I got to hear one of our favorite musicians, Craig Finn, talk about his new album at a "listening party" at the Bryant Lake Bowl. It was a real thrill, even though there wasn't a convenient opportunity to take photos or schmooze with Craig. (In other words, we were too shy or polite or Midwestern to do these things, but then again, no one else really seemed to be chatting or taking photos, either.) Only the contest winners got to bowl with Craig. That was both disappointing and a relief (I would have been SOO nervous!) Craig Finn's new album (release date: September 11) Some observations/insights/takeaways from the evening: It was cool that we were brave enough to sit in the front row, VERY close to the stage, and also a little awkward. The whole evening was a little awkward. As Craig said, for him, it was awkward listening to his music in front of other people. Even host Jill Riley (from the Current) said she didn't know what to do with...

I'm supposed to be tapering. Yes, this could mean many interesting things, but there is a specific context. It's one week until I'm running/jogging/staggering my first ever half marathon (13.1 miles). According to conventional training wisdom, the week (or even two) before the big race you should cut back on how much you exercise. The goal is to give your body a chance to rest up and recover from all your previous training madness, and give you more energy for the big event. Tapering also reduces your chances of injuring yourself in a training run. Makes sense, but that still leaves me with the danger of tripping over Oscar, who no longer has any sense of personal space, or one of the cats, who love sleeping at the top of the stairs. (Apparently Olive is our only pet not trying to kill us by such stealth.) So tapering sounds simple, right? But how much tapering is too much? Dig a little deeper, and the advice on tapering gets a little conflicted and complicated. ...

At our last Twin Town Guitars recital, I stepped out of my proverbial comfort zone for our Pretenders tribute band and traded in my drumsticks for the keyboards and a stab at lead vocals on a couple of songs. Why?  I'd been kicking around this idea for a while...I actually started playing the piano before I started drumming, and was fairly good at it way back in junior high. And of course, I always have delusions of singing grandeur (who doesn't?)  My interest in the keyboards was rekindled when I played them on  "I'm So Lonesome I Could Cry" with our Hank Williams band. And this opportunity was hard to pass up. We had another amazing drummer willing to take over the percussionist duties (and no, I'm not at all threatened by his awesomeness) and I didn't have to go drumming cold turkey, as I still got to play drums for the other band we were in (Howlin' Wolf).  So, some observations, musings and reflections: My "comfort zone" isn...