Music Done Wrong, Music Done Right

Sorry about the lack of updates! This disaster has happened for a few reasons, including:
- my (Lisa's) internet does not work. I had been stealing it, but when the neighbors caught on, my fun ended really fast. After a month, I finally called the internet place... which I had been avoiding, because I knew it would involve a lot of "try this. no? try this. no?" from some rando who assumes I'm an idiot. And that IS what happened, although in reality, the end of this phone call still shocked me. After about 45 minutes and numerous troubleshooting tips, my homeboy Rashid just straight up goes "Okay. I've tried everything. Sorry. I can't do anything more. Bye!"... and that's why technology/outsourcing/telephones/Dells SUCK. But it's okay, because in one of my genius moments, I realized that I could hook up the ethernet cord up to my computer.

- other reasons: I've been super busy.

But! Last week I finally had the opportunity to fulfill one of my year-long dreams: GOING TO THE PIANO BAR 'HOWL AT THE MOON.' Now, if you've ever been to Howl at the Moon, you may be thinking, "Why the hell does she dream of going to Howl at the Moon?" But I had never been there so I was living in ignorance. All I knew is that last year, when I went to LA for Family Feud, all the other kids on my Family Feud team went to Howl at the Moon with the Texas team and, in their words, "HAD THE BEST TIME EVERRRR!!!!" And I love pianos. It's a piano bar. And no one would ever go to Dueling Pianos night at Legends with me. But lucky for me, my friend Maggie somehow won a private party at HOWL AT THE MOON on Thursday, October 21, so I knew that destiny was within my reach.

My anticipation for this night was immense. I even turned down a babysitting job to embrace it, which is telling because, newsflash, I STILL DO NOT HAVE A STEADY JOB (but things are looking brighter and I am no longer psychotic about it). Then again, since I STILL DO NOT HAVE A STEADY JOB, I was all about taking advantage of the free cover charge at HOWL AT THE MOON before 7:00pm, the two $1 drinks before 8pm, and the drink specials all night long. I forced Brandy and Kevin Wilson to come with me, and when it looked like we weren't going to make the 7pm cutoff time, I made them run. Damnit, I made them run. Through the pouring rain. Because it was that important.

Somehow, somehow we made it to Howl at the Moon just before the free cover charge turned back into a metaphorical expensive pumpkin. I proudly told the host lady that I was there for Maggie Culhane's party, and she mumbled something about Maggie already having a table in the back. So we went in.

I saw no one that I knew. Which was weird. But whatever, we sat down, in a corner, by ourselves. Got some margaritas. I texted Maggie to tell her I was the first one at her party.

Pretty soon she texted me back to tell me that HER PARTY WAS CHANGED TO THE NEXT DAY.

After all of that. After all of the labor, the running, the possible pneumonia, the hope, the anticipation -- nothing. Just me, Brandy, Kevin Wilson, and some really really crappy drinks that were so bad, Brandy asked the waitress if they were non-alcoholic.

And then. There was. The. Music.

When I think of piano bar, I like to imagine some creativity. Some variations on Billy Joel, but also just some branching out. I like to imagine piano artists doing what they love, with flair. I like to imagine that these people do not hate their lives, that these people are not judgmental, that these people will play our requests for Britney Spears and Lady Gaga, and that these people will not creepily make eyes at my friend Kevin so intensely that I fear he will be killed and stuffed into a garbage bag before the night is over. These are just thinks that I like to think about piano bars. These things are things that did not happen at Howl at the Moon.

The only request we got in was Bob Seger's "We've Got Tonight," and I'm pretty sure they only chose it because, oh yeah, Thursday is official 'Cougar Night' at Howl at the Moon. I personally requested it in honor of my friend MK, who thinks it is the most awkward song to play at closing time at a bar, and I agree. In hindsight, I probably should have gone with Nightmoves, because no one seemed to appreciate "We've Got Tonight," except for this chick in sequins that the piano player kept flirting with. I decided that I might be her for Halloween. I'd just wear sequins and flirt with piano players and be annoying, it would be the best costume ever.

We left Howl at the Moon, and I don't know if I will ever go back.

LUCKILY, that bar experience was completely redeemed by a good music experience on Friday night! We went to a bar in Wicker Park for a Variety Night, where MATT THOMAS! was playing with his friend JASON! and some OTHER PEOPLE! and they were doing covers of old soul songs. YES. YES. YES. Interspersed between their jam sessions, random people dressed as nurses came on stage and did mime routines, and one guy told stories under the guise of some sort of sexual predator-vampire-Jason Schwartzmann character. And then the mountain people came! I don't know how to describe them other than saying they were a band of mountain people! At the end of the night, one of them gave me a light up visor. I didn't know they had that kind of electricity in the mountain lands!


Other things that have happened in our Chicago lives lately:
- Our cat murdered a mouse and then ate everything except its spine, which it left on the kitchen floor for us in the morning.
- Sasha, Mallory, and I got trapped in an elevator with a bunch of hipsters after seeing Where the Wild Things Are. When you are trapped in an elevator with a bunch of hipsters, you might not be saved, but you will at least be surrounded by many witty references to Speed, Keanu Reeves, and Fandango.
- I might be dancing at a Bat Mitzvah! My first Bat Mitzvah. YES.
- NBC Comedy Thursdays!
- I found a picture of Audrey Hepburn in a dumpster and stole it.
- Oh yeah, I went to a career fair. Mostly what happened was that weird recruiters invaded my space and I decided I didn't want to work in insurance. Woop!