This story hit a little close to home. Not the ending of the story . . . I'm feeling stronger now. But all of the prior symptoms and struggles of that lawyer feel just like my struggles. That he felt that way even when he had a great wife and kids and supportive friends makes me realize the power of these feelings, that they can overwhelm all rational thought and behavior. I'm sad for him and for his friends and family who survive him.

I spend a lot of time thinking about things I could do with my time that would feel more rewarding. There is the smallest nugget of an idea developing . . . something about thinking of a way to find people like me and help them before it's too late. I'll keep pondering . . .

Random Monday Thoughts

I'm confused about why my dog K wasn't wearing a collar when I returned home from work last night.

"Bittersweet" is, by definition, the feeling one has when one returns home after a long Sunday at the office to find a message a friend left much earlier that day on her home answering machine, offering her tickets to the Dallas Mavericks playoff game that just ended minutes earlier, and which the Mavericks lost.

I believe perfectionism is the single largest impediment to my productivity. Overcoming perfectionism is not easy, as it is a "skill" I have honed over the course of many years. But in the last two days, I have managed to get past it and just get things done by deciding it is more important to accomplish something than to accomplish it in the way I would do it if I had all the time in the world, to infinity, in which to work on it. Surprisingly, it felt just as satisfying to finish in that way as it would have in the other.

It isn't very fun to search, barefoot in one's robe, at 7:00 am on a Monday morning, for a missing dog collar.

I hope you have this kind of week:



(Taken by me, Dallas Arboretum)

Jon Stewart

is my hero.

Sunday was

Take Your Dog to Work Day:



At least, it was for me.

My favorite movies set in Chicago

I played Chicago tour guide recently and am planning to do it again in early August. This makes me think about all the Chicago places I love and, in turn, all the Chicago-set movies I love.

Here are my top five movies set in Chicago:

1. Ferris Bueller's Day Off
2. About Last Night
3. Kissing a Fool
4. The Blues Brothers
5. High Fidelity

Honorable Mention:

1. Adventures in Babysitting
   
2. The Breakup

Check them out, then visit my wonderful city!

With all credit to the author, my friend Jim,

I bring you this story about our weekend:

April 12th – April 15^th , 2008

Texas

The Texas 2 Step

Roadtrip Brings A Doubleshot Of Bruce

Landing at DFW Airport around 12:30 PM, Lisa’s convertible comes to pick Barbra and me up. As Lisa rolls up to the curb, the new Bruce CD is blasting out the open top. Here’s our Texas welcome!

From the initial Chicken Chilaquiles, to the final Shiner Bock beers was a very memorable trip. Interspersed wasThe Grassy Knoll, The Dallas Botanic Garden, the beautiful drive to Houston (you heard right!), and of course…B-r-r-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-c-e. Yeee-Haw! Major props to Lisa, you were the best Hostess and Planner. Thanks Lisa!

So the trip begins with a lunch stop at one of Lisa’s favorites. The Chicken Chilaquiles were AWESOME! And that special Bloody Mary was so dang citrus-y. On to Lisa’s house in a very cool neighborhood called, are you ready?, Hollywood – Santa Monica. Then It’s the 6th Floor Museum in the actual School Book Depository. Time to chill back at Lisa’s with some chilled wine on her huge second story, covered balcony. With all the mature trees in her neighborhood it was like a big tree house. Is it dinner time already? On to a fantastic Oaxacan restaurant, Mi Cocina, with some Oh So Good chicken mole. 38 ingredients in that mole.

Sunday has a trip to the Dallas Botanic Garden. Several hours of really beautiful grounds. I was IMPRESSED! 1.2 million bulbs, many – and very large – azaleas, interesting bronze sculptures, long tree tunnels of Lagerstoemia, fountains, a very large (remember we are in Texas) lake. Very well done! Nap time after, then time for the Dallas show, Sunday night.

Monday has us road tripping Thelma and Louise style to Houston, a 3 hour drive. There were beautiful stretches of large green trees, some slightly rolling hills, and beautiful wildflowers along the freeway. Really quite nice, and nothing as I expected. Apparently Lady Bird Johnson made sure plenty of Texas sized money was put into freeway beautification.

Rolling into Houston brought warm weather, a different plant palette with some tropicals (Queen Palms? Crotons? Shell Ginger?), and a large bucket of spicy crawdads at The Ragin' Cajun. Hotel time. We pull up to the large Hilton Convention Hotel and check in. Very nice. A quick walk outside and we could almost touch the arena Bruce was playing in that night. Literally across a small access street. 3 minutes from hotel to arena on foot. Too Cool!

Another Bruce show Monday night, a follow up Shiner Bock at the hotel bar, and it was way past bedtime...again. Breakfast on Tuesday, then a flight back to Los Angeles.

A Texas Tornado of a trip.

The Shows:

Dallas, Sunday April 13

This was a good show. Not a great show, that will come in Houston. Solid. Not bad for Lisa's intro. Lisa was in observation mode, soaking it in, knowing another opportunity was coming.

The crowd was a little spotty. Some people were determined to just sit, many people seemed unfamiliar with the new CD, and to me it kinda seemed that the crowd was waiting for a repeat of a 1985 show from the peak of Bruce's popularity. They weren't rude, and they were rather loud, but I kinda got this feeling...well either the song choices were too new, or too old. Most weren't "just right" for them.

The show itself had several highlights:

Barbra got to complete hearing every song on the "Born To Run Album", a coveted milestone in Bruce land. After only 5 shows, are you kidding me? It took me 27 years!

Bruce again played "Meeting Across The River". I'm convinced that most of the crowd had no idea what this meant. No "gasp", no anticipation. That doesn't make it a bad performance by any means...I got to enjoy it on a different level from the "Oh My God!" moment in Anaheim. The setlist was actually quite good.

The finale brought out "Dancing In The Dark", and Bruce brought up 10, ten year old girls, that were near the stage. Cute.

After the show, at The Old Monk, I avoided asking Lisa “The Question.” She offered an answer anyway, “it rocked,” she said kinda flatly. I could tell from how she said it that the show seemed OK. I thought the same. There is a type of Bruce show where different aspects come together to create that Special Bruce Experience. The crowd. The venue. The performance. The song selection. The changes in song selection. It is actually palpable. “The Church Of Bruce” in LA was one. “The School Of Rock.” Anaheim #2, “The Mythic Show.” Dallas was not one of these. Doesn’t mean it was bad, but Lisa, without knowing it, kinda summed it up.

Houston, Monday April 14th

Part of Lisa’s genius was to road trip to Houston. This would give her an opportunity to scout out a first show, and then possibly really appreciate the next one.

The Houston Show starts with the hotel location. Wow, right next door. So at 5:30 we head to the downstairs bar that is already 2 people deep. Somehow we find a table. People kept filtering in, and before we know it the crowd is into the lobby and almost to the revolving door entrance. Lots of Bruce T shirts. At 7:00 we go back to our rooms, take a shower, and get dressed for the show. We walk into the arena at 7:35, how easy was that!

Now time to find our seats. I knew where they were, but Barbra and Lisa didn’t. Side of stage, but still in front. 15^th row. Yeah Baby! Both Lisa and Barbra said they were the best tickets they have ever had for any show. So far so good.

This concert was a blaster, and started like a fast firing revolver. Plenty of highlights, but there was this one….

On the CD “Magic” there is a song, “Terry’s Song.” It is not listed. It doesn’t show up on Bruce’s official website. It is an afterthought. This song is a eulogy to a best friend who passed away last year, just before the CD was released. When I was going through my recent health issues, when I heard this song I would start streaming tears uncontrollably. The song is extremely personal, and there is NO WAY it is EVER going to be performed. I even told Lisa and Barbra this during our drive down.

Well…two thirds of the way through the show, Bruce comes out of the shadows with a guitar and the harmonica around his neck. Strange. A chair and a microphone get set up for him. Strange. He then proceeds to tell us that his friend would have been 68 years old today, and this was for him. I almost started crying right there. Are you kidding me? He proceeds to play “Terry’s Song.” I’m not exaggerating when I tell you I’m tearing up as I type this.

Terry's song... http://youtube.com/watch?v=Avi4ucNc4FY

What I didn’t know until days later, was that Lisa was crying during this song. Whew, powerful stuff.

The show picks back up, and the main set ends with that mountaintop ender, “Thunder Road.” The flag is planted. An excellent encore set including Texas legend Joe Ely, and we are done. An excellent, excellent show. A tip of the Stetson to Houston.

After the show, Lisa again summed it up. “This show seemed a lot better, didn’t it? Bruce is like a mastermind pitcher in baseball. He knows just how to change songs, and just how to change the order of songs. He seems to always be calculating how to create the best show.” Only later would I learn that for Houston Bruce changed his set list at the last minute (setlist pulled from the stage and replaced), and then during the show changed again. There were 6 or 7 times he had to tell the band what to play next. This was seamless.

You might say that Lisa “gets it”. She has a pretty good right handed fist pump to boot.

Bartender, give me another Double Shot. Anytime!

Reported By

Jim

Initial Bruce Report

The concert was great! Slightly more mellow than I expected, but that applies to the audience, not Bruce. This was definitely the oldest audience, on average, of any concert I have attended, and includes seeing Chicago back in the 80's. Additionally, my friend Jim observed that we were sitting next to a section of surprisingly sitting-oriented people, which may have skewed my view in this regard, as most people throughout the audience were standing more often than not.

I understand now why people love Bruce's shows . . . it's because he loves his audience and the music and thoroughly enjoys what he does, feeding off the energy of the people who have come to see him. He gives you your money's worth, and then some: the concert lasted about 2 1/2 hours, with only a very short break before his encore. He latched onto a gaggle of wild 10-year old girls whose mother was introducing them to Bruce . . . those girls, along with their preteen brother, ended up "Dancing in the Dark" onstage with The Legend, something I am sure they will never forget.

The music is great, of course, but it really feels more like an anthem or a voice for the discontent that so many of us have developed in the last eight years. I was curious to see how people in Dallas would respond to what was predicted to be a mini-rant by the artist. Jim says some booed, but I didn't hear it. This may have been because I was cheering loudly. I admire Bruce for not changing this theme just because he's in Dallas.

Great show . . . I highly recommend it. Badlands was my favorite of the tunes, but there were many good ones. Oh yes, and Jon Bon Jovi, in town for a concert tonight, assisted with the lead on Glory Days. Cool!

I always find myself being introspective at a concert or performance of any kind, really. This one was no different. The question I kept asking myself is, "What are you afraid of?" This is something I plan to explore in-depth in the weeks to come!

On to Houston for show number two!

How does a person end up seeing Bruce Springsteen twice in two days in two different cities?

One might legitimately ask this. And one might ask this of me, because I will be seeing Bruce Sunday night in Dallas and Monday night in Houston.

I do not own any Bruce Springsteen albums or singles. I have never before been to a Bruce Springsteen concert. I am not even a regular concertgoer . . . I believe the last one I saw was Bright Eyes, about a year ago.

So, how does this happen? Well, it starts with having a friend who is so in love with Springsteen that he sends out summaries like this when he attends a Springsteen concert:

Bruce Springsteen

Anaheim, Show #2

April 8, 2008

Anaheim Show #2.

So where to begin?

Context is important. Bruce is almost 60, and his sax man is almost 70.

First thing first, I have to break down the “Third Person” narrative, and report as myself. I, me, my.

To start, I have been disappointed by Bruce Springsteen in the past. In the 90’s he toured with a Non- E Street Band group, and then there was The Reunion Tour where The E Street Band got back together. Both Tours were disappointments to me. They were OK, but nothing more.

So here comes the 3 shows that I have really liked prior to Tuesday. The E Street Band and Bruce seem to really be playing fantastic together.

Then comes Anaheim Night #2. Tuesday night.

There is a legendary Bruce song from the album “Born To Run” called “Thunder Road”. “Thunder Road” is the invitation. A welcome in. The introduction. It builds to an anthem ending where a shout from the rooftops declares, “It’s a town full of losers, I’m pulling out of here to wiiiiiiiiiiiin!!!!!” This song, in concert, is reserved for the finale. It is the slow concert climb to the mountaintop, the crescendo, the place where Bruce plants the flag, stands with arms outstretched, and admires his work.

See it here from 1978. Seven minutes long, and worth it. It is important to watch it before continuing. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf61K6ZKu_4 I have had this exact song on cassette for 25 years, played it at least hundreds of times, and always imagined myself there. So click that link.

OK, yeah…Tuesday night.

Calliope plays, stage is dark. The first song starts, a quiet piano intro. At NOTE # 2 of the quiet intro, there is a collective gasp from 15,000 people. No joke, no exaggeration. The collective gasp collectively exhales. OH MY GOD!!! It can’t be! Queue Bruce’s harmonica, and there is a roar from the crowd that sounds like a 747 taking off. Thunder Road to start the show???!!!!! It just can’t be!!

This is gonna sound so stupid…but I don’t care. I turn to hug Barbra and I think my eyes are watering. Then I get to do something I have imagined so many times. With 15,000 others I scream, “Show a little faith there’s magic in the night. You ain’t a beauty but Hey you’re alright.”

WOW!

This is the start of the show??!! Where the heck can this go, and what kind of ride are we going on??!!

Forget “The Message” from Night #1 “School Of Rock”. Out the window. This show was Mythic. Played on Olympus, for the Gods to see. Urgency? Damn right. Power? Plenty. A little taste of “The Message” too. The song selection? Maybe the best I’ve seen since 1980.

I could provide the Set List, but who cares? What I can say is that Barbra and I saw a legendary Bruce, a legendary E Street. Yeah they’re old, so the context of my “legendary” comment goes with it. They are not in their 20’s.

You won’t understand what I’m about to say because you aren’t familiar with it. But in the encore, when Bruce started with Meeting Across The River, and transitioned that into Jungleland we were in rarified air. The kind of combo that gets whispered about, and “I-was-there”ed about. A kind of “only rarely in New Jersey maybe” kind of performance that keeps Visions Of Sugar Plumbs dancing through the heads of fans.

Again from 1978. Again, I’ve played this song hundreds of times hoping, maybe someday…

“Meeting” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ7kTxHLJss&feature=related

“Jungleland” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH_NvYPBDY0&feature=related

When I heard the first strains of “Meeting” another collective inhale from the crowd. Myth was becoming reality for all of us. On the West Coast we couldn’t POSSIBLY hope for Meeting / Jungleland. I told Barbra what it was, and what she was experiencing. How if he transitioned to Jungleland she was experiencing a legendary show. And damned if Jungleland didn’t follow.

I couldn’t sleep last night. Too excited. Too Bruce Juiced.

Barbra e-mailed me this morning. She has been to 4 shows on this tour. Important term “this tour”. Guess how many different songs she has heard? Guess. Same tour, same shows right? Same songs, right?. 2 back to back shows late last year, 2 back to back shows this year. Can’t be that different, right?

Barbra e-mails me that she has seen 41 DIFFERENT songs.

What a night. What a show. What a performer.

On to Dallas, where our friend Lisa . . . . will be seeing her first Bruce show. She doesn’t know from Bruce, she just knows my passion. Heck, you might even get bored at the show, right Lisa? We don’t know. We will see how the “Eight Years of mismanagement” message goes over in Texas. I think Bruce might reserve a special comment or two. Barbra and I can't wait to see you Lisa!

Report from Texas will follow.

B-r-r-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-c-c-e.

I’m spent! Just writing this review has exhausted me.

Reported By

Jim

Then, the friend (i.e., me) who reads that kind of review (for a concert on a different tour, years ago) thinks, "What kind of phenomenon leads a person to write that way about a concert experience?" So she invites Jim and his girlfriend to come to Texas so they can experience Bruce together in Dallas. Then, because everything is bigger in Texas, she says, "Heck, why not double the experience and road trip together to Houston to see him the next night, too?"

What she does not know when her friends say, "Great! Let's do it!" is that they already have tickets for two back-to-back Bruce shows in Anaheim the week before, which means they will be seeing Bruce four times in eight days. (If she had known this, she might have thought the problem was pathological in nature).

So, now she waits with baited breath for the arrival of her friends on Saturday morning, so she can show them some things she loves about the state where she has spent the last 20 years, and so she can learn a little about the musician her friend Jim has loved for even longer than that.

Have a great weekend, people!

Hanging in there . . .

I haven't had a chance to write yet and am leaving for Chicago tomorrow. But I wanted to let you know I am holding steady. Feeling a bit crazed at times, but steady. I have reached deep and found my core, which says things to me like, "This, too, shall pass" and "You are strong enough to handle anything life throws your way." Oh, and "Eat another Snickers bar."

Also, things like this put into perspective any fleeting bit of difficulty I may be having. Via Kottke.



I hope you are having a fabulous week and are headed for an even better weekend!