Josh Ritter Can't Stop Cheesin'

Thursday night, we (along with Kerns, Heidi, and Bop) went to the Music Mill to see Josh Ritter perform. I'd seen Josh Ritter once before in Seattle several months ago, and it was a pretty special show. It was a sold out show at the Showbox, which he clearly had not expected to sell out. Plus, because he is from Idaho, he had a lot of family there, including his mom. To top it all off, it was his birthday. So that show had a lot going for it, and it was an amazing performance. I had talked up how good he was, but I didn't really expect it to be the same on a Thursday in Indianapolis. But shockingly, it was almost as good.

Ritter has a whole lot of really good songs, so that always helps. He also has a pretty kick-ass band, including a bass player with an old-timey mustache. But what really sells the performance is that about 75% of the time he's on stage, he is grinning from ear to ear, as if whatever is happening at that moment is the most awesome thing he's ever experienced. Such enthusiasm really translates to the audience well, and makes for a great show. So the bottom line is, if you ever have the chance to see Josh Ritter, you should definitely do it. Below is a video of them playing Letterman.

Bundle of Joy

I want to give a belated shout out to our good friends Doug and Becky, who on May 2, increased the size of their household by 50%. Ava Marie Watson is an adorable looking little girl, and we hope to get down to Green County to meet her in person soon. Congratulations Doug and Becky! Click here for pictures. And check out that hair! I'm so jealous.

Snazzy New Website!

I wanted to take a moment to brag about my aunt's Italy travel blog (amoretravelguides.com). She's made some major updates to it. It has tons of reviews and is really easy to use. If you are traveling to Italy soon or just want to, I suggest you take a look. If you've been to Italy before, please join and review some restaurants, tourist spots, etc! Haven't been to Italy? No problem, Jackie is hoping to expand to other countries soon (I'm waiting for the U.S. version since we've been all over this country lately!).

Demodog to the Rescue!

This weekend, Ramona received a fantastic gift from our friends Graham and John (otherwise known as Bert and Ernie). She is super happy to show off her brown dog democrat pride in this fetching t shirt. With Ramona's support, there will definitely be a big change in November!

In other news, Andy and I attended a play at the Indiana Repertory Theater this weekend. The play, Iron Kisses, was written by their playwright in residence, James Still (who actually lives in California!?!). The play had two actors playing multiple roles and examines the idea that siblings can have very different relationships with the same parents (which is something I've actually thought about a lot). The play also very effectively captures parents (from a small midwestern town) coming to terms with having a gay child. To sum up, huzzah for good theater in Naptown!

King Dork

Thanks to a tip from Shawn, I just finished reading the Young Adult fiction novel King Dork by Frank Portman. As an English teacher, I try somewhat regularly to read YA titles, and this one was a nice treat. First of all, Frank Portman is more commonly known as Dr. Frank, the leader of the San Francisco band The Mr. T Experience. I've heard of this band, but the only song I've actually heard them perform is a pretty rockin' cover of "Unpack Your Adjectives" from Schoolhouse Rock. It is pretty cool. The book itself was a pleasure to read, though I did initially have trouble with its treatment of my all-time favorite book Catcher in the Rye. It largely makes fun of people who claim this as their all time favorite book, but ultimately you realize that a.) it needs to be made fun of some, and b.) in spite of making fun of it, King Dork acknowledges that Catcher is a pretty important and influential and meaningful novel.

My biggest problem with the book is the insanely harsh characterization of high school girls. It's almost bad enough that I would not recommend the book to a high school kid. But the book is entertaining and well written enough that I would still recommend it most adults that I know...well at least the ones that are a little hipster-ish. Check it out!

Mini Good Returns

Thanks to a big assist from Christopher Smith, I ran in the Indianapolis Mini-Marathon on Saturday. I was actually running as Chris, as he was a late scratch due to back problems. Thanks Chris! My goal was to run the entire 13.1 miles without walking and to finish somewhere between 2:15-2:30. I did manage the whole race without walking (though I did stop for a bathroom break just before the 5 mile point), and my time ended up being 2 hours and 2 minutes! That was good for 8,952nd place out of around 36,000. I was pretty happy with the results.

I was also very happy with the event itself. It is an amazingly well organized event considering the number of people involved. There are hundreds of volunteers visible to the racers and no doubt hundreds more behind the scenes. They were all energetic, positive, and very encouraging. Also, there is a bunch of entertainment along the race route for the runners to enjoy. I probably saw ten local bands performing (including an indie rock band in front of the zoo), people line dancing to horrible top-40 country, people square dancing, some dude rapping, and on and on. The middle of the race takes a lap around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, which was very cool, and there were several cheerleading squads in the track doing running themed cheers.

So now three days have passed and my body is almost back to normal. It was a great time, and I'll definitely do it next year. Probably even under my own name. Now the question...do I go ahead and finish out the second half of the training and do a full marathon? Time will tell...

And speaking of good returns...here's hoping Obama pulls out an unlikely win in Indiana tonight and ends the nonsense. End the drama, vote Obama!

Vote your hopes not your fears

We just got back from an Obama rally downtown. After a musical introduction by Stevie Wonder (who finds Obama's name particularly lyrical), Obama gave an inspirational speech to thousands (according to this blog: 21,000!). We left filled with hope and excitement! Hopefully my Hoosiers and my Tar Heels will both vote their hopes tomorrow.