Three dollars and 63 cents

I'm trying like hell to find a ticket for the Wilmington show that's not going to cost me $200

I just found out Andrew Bird is playing in my town in October. I'm looking forward to him opening at Tanglewood, but it will be great to see him on his own, too. After all the traveling I've done for shows this year, it will be nice to see one close to home. On a Saturday night, no less

I hope this is better than Buy the Ticket, Take the Ride. I fell asleep watching that one more than once before I finally gave up on it. It was far too stiff and boring to be a proper tribute to HST.

The first time I remember hearing U2 was in my dad's old pickup truck. It was I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For, so I'm guessing it was 1987. The first time I remember really listening to them, though, was years later when I bought my cassette copy of Achtung Baby. My dad had these giant headphones that eventually became mine, and I came home from school one day and plugged them in to my stereo and listened to Achtung Baby. I can't remember if I played the whole album, but I can still remember how that first blaze of guitar in Zoo Station sounded through the headphones. It was the spr

I saw it for $3.95 and $3.99 in central PA yesterday. I'm guessing it's probably up to about $4.25 in my town.

I was at Sam's Club today and was pleasantly surprised by their book selection. I could've bought quite a few more, but settled on these two: I started the Obama book earlier this evening and am enjoying his writing style.

That's really cool!

That much punctuation should be saved for something that's actually going to happen.

Thanks so much for taking the time to write this. I'm going to be back in Chicago in February for a conference, and I'll definitely put this to use when I'm planning my free time. I'll also be sure to look you up when I'm back in town I was at the Art Institute a few weeks ago, and let me reiterate what a mess it is. I was very disappointed. Not only is the modern wing closed, but they've rearranged practically everything else, and quite a few of the pieces I went to see were either in storage or placed at random (like the giant Georgia O'Keeffe painting that used to be have a whole wall to

You're an enabler

Yeah, those shows will definitely be great. I saw an amazing lineup of the Scott Amendola Band in April with Charlie, Nels, and Jenny Scheinman. I could've listened to them for hours.

Knoxville and Asheville seem doable for me. I love that by "doable" I mean "it's only a 9 hour drive to get there, and another 9 back." I'm hopeful they may tack on another date or two after Asheville, though Nels has to be in Alaska with Wilco a few days after that.

Per Nels's website: 07/11 Boulder, CO | Boulder Theater | The Nels Cline Singers (Also: Charlie Hunter Trio) 07/12 Denver, CO | Bluebird Theater | The Nels Cline Singers (Also: Charlie Hunter Trio) 07/16 Columbia, MO | The Blue Note | The Nels Cline Singers 07/17 Nashville, TN | Belcourt Theater | The Nels Cline Singers 07/18 Knoxville, TN | Bijou Theater | The Nels Cline Singers 07/19 Ashville, NC | Orange Peel | The Nels Cline Singers These guys have been fantastic. Check them out if you can. I may even hit the road again

I was a tomboy growing up and collected football cards. I especially loved Joe Montana. I still have all of them, though I haven't checked in years if any of them are actually worth something.

Does it poop rainbows? Then it's a unicorn for sure.

I haven't heard anything off the new Coldplay album except that song on the iTunes commercial. I don't think Chris Martin could've been trying to imitate Bono and the Edge any more in that commercial. It was painful. The "does Coldplay want to be U2?" threads over on the U2 board have been hilarious, though.

That works out great I didn't sign up sooner because I've been traveling for most of the last month. I'll be home at the end of next week, though, so I can go pick up beans to send then. I know just the kind to get, too.

Still Crazy is a pretty good fictional rock and roll movie. I actually liked it more than This Is Spinal Tap.

I'm wearing my Wiilco shirt today. I'm hoping that means something good should happen to me any minute.

One of these years I'll get my act together and get out there for Lolla. Since I've traveled so much this year, I don't think I can swing it, but it looks like it will be a great lineup.

Is it too late for me to sign up?

I love Sweetheart of the Rodeo and have always meant to check out more Gram Parsons. I know he had a profound effect on Emmylou Harris, one of my favorite female singers, and was the inspiration for one of my favorite songs, Boulder to Birmingham.

This was my train reading last week: I'd read all of her collections individually over the years, but it's wonderful that her work is finally back in print. Her poems are brave a beautiful--a bit challenging at times, but always worth the effort. I was really bored today and read this in its entirety: It was a well-written family saga that handles themes of memory, loss, commitment, and identity without being heavy-handed. I enjoyed her novel Crescent more, but this was still very good.

I haven't gotten mine yet. It's not unusual for box offices to wait until closer to the date of the show to mail out tickets. I don't think there's any need to call them yet. If you haven't gotten your tickets by August 1, then I'd call them.

Unfortunately, my Tanglewood ticket is spoken for now, but I'm still desperately looking for one for this show. It kills me to see the cheapest tickets going on Stubhub for $225