I’m sitting in my parents’ living room, eating potato chips, doing wrist curls with a 6 lb. weight, reading ‘Death by Black Hole’ by Neil DeGrasse Tyson, and watching ‘Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House’ on their giant television. All at the same time. People say I don’t know how to multi-task.

I spent my last month in Chicago making a desperate attempt to experience everything I possibly could, but there is so much left undone. There are still many parts of the city I am unfamiliar with. Landmarks I never saw. Food I never tasted. And I miss the place. Damn it, I miss that city and that horrid little studio with the bad plumbing and the walls like onion skins.

Last night there, I walked through Wicker Park Fest at 9:45pm and got to see a massive alley brawl. Barbaric, yes, but it’s much more amusing than watching hogs fight over bits of corn.

And I love the noise and chaos. The fest was still very crowded at that point, it being a Saturday night, but I could easily see the stage when I stopped to watch the performances. One band looked and sounded like they were channeling Robert Smith and Siouxie Sioux. They were loud enough that when the L passed overhead, behind the stage, I had no problem hearing the instruments over its roar. Another group, electronica, had a great stage and some freaky pyrotechnics. They had rigged a flaming trash barrel that shot fire several feat in the air, and the stage looked like someone had torn a corner out of a dilapidated tenement and set it in the middle of the street, fully intact, with rough edges of broken siding sticking out.

In a place like that, I can scream and no one is disturbed. I can jump about, flailing my limbs and cursing, and that’s all okay. I can’t even hear myself. That’s what I like about loud live shows, with the speakers booming right next to my head. I can go mad, have a nervous breakdown, and no one notices or cares. It’s screaming quietly because no one can hear you.

Then I went to Brain Frame to watch experimental performative sequential art. It was awesome, as Brain Frame events always are. I came away inspired ­– rejuvenated. It was my trip to the spa.

Minneapolis/St. Paul, do you have another place like this for me? I will be in you soon (heh). Will I be disappointed? How will I find the Twin Cities analog for the Mutiny? Gannon’s? The VFW Post 7975? Friggin’ TGFKA Happy Dog?!

Withdrawal. So much withdrawal. I picked the wrong time to quit smoking.