Germanfest!

I spent some time on both Saturday and Sunday at the 85th Annual German-American Festival. I think that a good time was had by all, and a large souvenir stein of German beer always gets the ball rolling for more enjoyment. We consumed delicious bratwurst and kraut and some mediocre German potato salad. The live bands were a good time too, but I wish someone would have been adventurous (or drunk) enough to enjoy some polka dancing with me! I was hoping to hear "Roll Out the Barrel" and fortunately, it was played shortly before I left on Sunday evening. The only bad part was that people were complaining that it was too hot in the tent (well, I guess they had a good point since it was about 90 degrees this weekend) and that it smelled bad. I guess when you mix beer, lots of people, bratwurst, and sauerkraut, you tend to end up with not-so-nice smelling surroundings.

This is the week of Sufjan Stevens coming to Chicago to showcase his newest album, aptly named "Illinois" or "Come On, Feel the Illinoise", depending on who you are speaking to. I'm really looking forward to this. Oh yeah, and I'm really looking forward to the fact that I leave for Austin City Limits in about 10 days as well. I know, I know, I talk about it just about everyday, but I can't contain the excitement!

I have successfully memorized my first banjo tune, "Bile them Cabbage Down". I haven't nailed it down perfectly, because that C chord is still giving me problems, but I suppose it will take a little more time and practice. My friend, Elana, came over yesterday and she used to play bluegrass banjo and she could remember how to play the same song, as it was the first one that she learned as well. It really sounded different when it was played bluegrass style as opposed to clawhammer. I'm still wondering if I would enjoy bluegrass more?

I sent out my first job application for my part-time job on Friday. I'm going to keep my fingers crossed and hope that something comes along soon so I can start saving up some money for my big trip.

Boats + Cranes = ???

Can anyone tell me why a boat would be lifted on a crane that sits on one of the bridges over the Chicago River? I took this picture a few weeks ago while walking into the Loop and really couldn't see the point behind it. I went past again the following week and things were still in the same state. Very interesting...

Anyway, I meant to update sooner, and actually had something written up a few days ago, but then tried doing something and undoing it and then trying to get it all back again only to have everything get erased. So goes blogging life sometimes I supposed. That really put a damper on the party though because I surely was not going to try to reformulate everything that I had just written.

It was a pretty good and relaxing holiday weekend. I didn't do much beside go to Iowa for a family reunion on Saturday. It was cool seeing some people that I hadn't seen for a while and getting to know a few new ones. Oh yeah, and of course, the food was great considering it was all homemade from good old Midwestern farmers. The only problem is that whoever was in charge of bringing the corn forgot it! I was really looking forward to some fresh sweet corn, but what's done is done.

I think I have succeeded in talking my brother into going to be an organic farmer with me in Ireland. We both just need to get a job (him a first job, me a second) so we can save up some money for our gallivanting. I really hope that he can follow through on this because I think it would be an awesome experience, not to mention we could get away from our mundane daily lives for a few months. Who knows, maybe we can find a way to stay for a longer period of time and make some money.

I made the best chicken enchiladas I've ever had for dinner last night. I got the recipe from America's Test Kitchen (http://www.americastestkitchen.com), and it was definitely worth the extra work making homemade enchilada sauce as compared to the canned stuff. I also made some quick bread. I'm trying to bring my lunch more often to support my savings fund for the gallivanting.

Tonight was class #2 for the banjo experiment. I thought I was doing really well, but then when I picked up to practice before class tonight, my fingers just weren't as good as they were the previous night. I don't know what happened. Luckily, I half-recovered in time for class. It's nice having a larger class because you don't stick out so badly when you hit a wrong note. Let's just say that I'm not a perfect clawhammer banjo player yet, and I'm hoping that I'm not the only one in that boat!

I think I might see the new Bill Murray movie, "Broken Flowers", this weekend. Or I might see that new Elijah Wood one about the soccer hooligans. After all, it has been a long-term goal of mine to become a hooligan...