thursday, very cold

seth woke us up at 3:30 this morning, and when he wakes us, he means business. the dog has to be pushed out of bed in the morning, so if he comes nosing us in the dark, he really has to pee.

i took him out to mark the neighbor's bushes, and then i stayed up looking a the internet until about 4:30.

this made it difficult to get up in the morning. di got up and ready for the museum, and after a proper dog walk, i slowly made my way to the shop, picking up sara at the train station on the way.

we got some private news last night which made us decide (after sleeping on it) to cancel the dianogah show in madison this weekend. there is too much risk and stress associated with leaving town, so we regretfully backed out. i spent the first part of the morning asking around for other bands to take our place, but on short notice, i couldn't find anyone.

the mass of the day was spent printing the last two screens on the "big shoulders ball" poster which we've been working on this week. andrew bird, ted leo, tortoise, freakwater, eleventh dream day, and a bunch of other greats are playing at the black cat in DC on monday night, the night before the inauguration. the show was organized by he people who bring us the production side of the pichfork music festival, and the hideout. we had many issues with the screen for the last color, but burning it a third time finally got it right.

sara stayed late to curate and count the prints while i signed them, so i could get them delivered to the hideout tonight. upon leaving the shop, my car would not start (as it is about ten below zero here). the battery was charged, the starter would crank, but the engine wouldn't turn over. i tried to avoid it, but wore down the battery by cranking fruitlessly. i called jason to pick me up, as diana was down eating dinner and going to a movie with X in logan square. i put sara in a cab for home, walked seth again, and we piled into jason's car when he arrived with arthur in tow. arthur sang sufjan stevens' "chicago" to me, and was floored when he realized i knew the words, as well. "i drove to new york in a van with my friend. we slept in parking lots, i don't mind, i don't mind." jason and i admitted to each other that these lines made us each think of a job i got in early 1995 driving a minivan full of high-end antiques to a show in manhattan. jason went with me. we drove straight out there, and slept in the van, in the heavy moving blankets, after we had handed off the hundred thousand dollars' worth of wooden furniture.

upon arriving home tonight, i ran over to the next block to make the alderman's meeting, but found the meeting cancelled. everyone had left just before i arrived, i was told. i returned home and found that i had somehow gotten ink all over my new-ish orange jacket, so i spent some time scrubbing that in the kitchen sink, until john arrived to pick me up and drive me to the hideout to deliver the prints. we sat at the bar for a drink, and upon returning to the van i found a plastic barrel, ideal for being converted to a rain barrel next summer. we drove over to el pacifico for food, on fullerton, near john's house. as we arrived, we saw faces we knew looking out the windows at us - bob weston and carrie weston and mary nisi. we joined them for dinner and margaritas. very nice surprise.

soon diana's movie let out, and she swung by to pick me up. we drove home, and i type this now, as diana climbs the stairs towards bed. i will follow.