my Friday night

so, on Friday i went to a concert - http://www.amyshoemaker.com/ is the website for Amy, who plays bozouki at the session twice a week. she's John Williams' wife, and she has her own band, the Shoemakers. i went to hear them at a club in Skokie, the next town west of Evanston, with my friend James. He is Noe's best friend in town. we had a great time, and the music was awesome. it was a very eclectic set list, with many of Amy's own songs mixed in with Johnny Cash and the Ramones and many other great artists. she was so thrilled to see us there, too. i don't think she'd believed me when i told her i was going, and James she just knows as the guy at the bar who always buys her (usually unwanted/unneeded) shots (she's a lightweight).

so anyway. that's the story. then i got James a book out of the library, and he lent me Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, just as education and adding to my list of classics. On Saturday night, i passed out in a chair at about 9:30, reading. a wild weekend, to be sure.

today, i went to Celtic Fest down at Millennium Park. it was sweet. the weather was awesome, and i hung out in the Harp Tent, the Celtic Voices tent (for storytelling and singing), watched some manly men in kilts throw heavy things around, listened to some pipe bands (and got very nostalgic), and ended up listening to a band called GiveWay, which consists of 4 sisters from Edinborough, Scotland, playing pretty traditional music in a pretty rock way - their drummer plays a full kit, one of them plays keyboard, one plays accordion, and one trades off between fiddle and acoustic guitar. they are awesome musicians, and their accents are awesome.
consequently, i was quite late for the session at Nevins - and, to my delight, much missed. i was the only bodhran player to show up!
now i'm back at home, and ready for bed - with the sun setting at 7, i get tired much earlier.