Skip to main content

Get Out of Dodge

It might sound laughable to take a small vacation during a post-layoff period, but that's what I'm taking next weekend. A layoff isn't necessarily a vacation anyway. Alas, when a random invitation for a get-together in Chicago came my way, I decided to go. Finding a good flight and hotel deal, I decided to take the leap.

I've heard of people who drive across the country or backpack all over Europe in hopes of "finding" themselves. I don't look down on that, but it's not something I've considered doing. Getting out of town for a few days is good, but not more than a few days. I can't leave behind a good homelife with plenty of new opportunities brewing.

There are days when I'm climbing the walls at my house. I have plenty of books to read, movies to watch, and albums to listen to, but as plum as that might sound, that's the kind of stuff I can experience any time. When life is going on outside of the walls, I'd be foolish to pass that up.

Leading up to my departure flight on Friday morning, I'm taking in a couple of big shows and hanging out with friends. This will be a full week of activities, and I hope to come back from Chicago with a clearer head. Besides, sometimes we need to step away to understand what's happening next.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Catherine Wheel

Originally posted: Tuesday, August 29th, 2006 Despite managing to release five proper albums, Catherine Wheel was one of those bands that always seemed to slip past the mainstream rock crowd. Yes, they got some nice airplay in their day, but people seem to have forgotten about them. You may hear “Black Metallic” or “Waydown” on a “classic alternative” show on Sirius or XM or maybe even on terrestrial radio, but that’s about it. For me, they were one of most consistent rock bands of the ’90s, meandering through shoegazer, hard rock, space rock and pop rock, all while eluding mainstream pigeonholing. Led by the smooth, warm pipes of vocalist/guitarist Rob Dickinson (cousin of Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson), Catherine Wheel featured Brian Futter on lead guitar, Dave Hawes on bass and Neil Sims on drums. They weren’t a pretty-boy guitar band, but they weren’t a scuzzy bunch of ragamuffins either. Though the band hailed from England, Catherine Wheel found itself more welcome on American air
4 comments
Read more

Best of 2021

  Last year, my attention span was not wide enough to listen to a lot of LPs from start to finish. Too much went on in 2020 to focus on 10-15 albums, so I went with only a couple to spotlight. Well, 2021 was a little better, as I have a list of top four records, and a lot of individual tracks.  (I made a lengthy Spotify playlist ) So, without further ado, here’s my list of favorites of the year: Albums Deafheaven, Infinite Granite (listen) Hands down, my favorite album of the year. I was not sure where Deafheaven would go after another record that brought My Bloody Valentine and death metal fans together, but they beautifully rebooted their sound on Infinite Granite. The divisive goblin vocals are vastly pared-down here, as are the blast beats. Sounding more inspired by Slowdive, the band has discovered a new sonic palette that I hope they explore more of in the future. It’s a welcome revelation. I still love their older material, but this has renewed my love of what these guys do.  J
Post a Comment
Read more