Face down in the gutter, won't admit defeat though his clothes are soiled and black
Dropkick Murphys in the morning. I feel much better about facing this ten hour day now.

Man, I sure did have the best weekend of my life. I haven't been in a bad mood since it ended. It's going to be hard to document the entire three days of goodness because I'm at work right about now, but I'm going to try in fear of forgetting it later.

-Friday-

Not much happened on friday. I worked and got off at about 7 at night. I was going to hook up with this girl, Carrie, from work right after I got off, but as I was walking out the front door to give her a call she was walking in to play tennis. She said she'd be at least another hour and a half before she could hang out again. Well, I didn't want to be at work anymore and since I didn't have headquarters down in that area other than that I told her I'd give her a call later and I might come back down. When I got back, all I did was listen to records and play bass in my room. I called Carrie to let her know I wouldn't be back and just passed out kinda early.

-Saturday-

I had plans to hook up with Natalie. She was already down in the city visiting her boyfriend from the night before and he was off to work in the middle of the day so I told her I'd be down there soon after I was done sleeping in to hang out. She gets stuck sitting at his house if he goes to work. I drove down there at about 3 or 4 in the afternoon. Natalie met me at the starbucks on Irving and took me to this sweet mexican joint. I'm going to call this place a 'shack' and do not take it as an exaggeration. It was a brick shack between two driveways that I will never be able to find again on my own. The joint was packed when we got in there. 15 people including us tried to pack into this joint. None of those larries speak english there so I'm glad that I had Natalie with me. My Spanish is a little crappy, but I might've been able to make it through ordering.

These were the very best tacos I've ever had. I can only imagine if I had actually gotten cheese on them. All it consisted of were tortillas, steak, and parsley. Oh, I also washed them down with the best horchata I've ever had in my life as well. I bought four tacos thinking that they were kinda small, but they were filling. I still ate them all cause they were too good not to eat hot. I was stuffed though. That was good cause I sure did have a rock concert to go to. Anthrax!!! With Joey!!!

I hung out a bit more with Natalie. She was griping about her boyfriend not having any ambition and the usual bullshit. She always makes me laugh with this stuff because of how angry she gets about her situation. Not that I'm laughing at her misfortune. It's just the way she handles herself with said misfortune that makes me laugh. We walked around Buckingham Fountain talking a few times and she dropped me off at the House of Blues for the rock and roll show of my life.

I got down at the HOB a little early and I met up with my brother, Shane, Steve, Stix, and Rey. Having Ryan, Shane, and Steve there was a lot like all the old metal shows we used to go to together. I was about to find out that the entire night was going to be a fucking time warp to '92.

We were waiting on Rey out front for a little while after I met up with everyone and we encountered some sweet fat metal kids that were so high from the fact that they're seeing Anthrax that they had little to no regard for their own well being when trekking towards the venue. Imagine 300+ pound guys with sleeveless rock shirts and shades on taking smooth, confident strides while holding up their hand as if traffic should stop because Anthrax playing live takes precedence over all other events...in anyone's life...EVER. Fucking awesome.

We got inside and I have to say that it was oddly comfortable for a sold out show. I thought it would be shoulder to shoulder rock doods with no shirts and sweating before they even did anything. Not the case. Plenty of room to move. We saw Grimes, Clint, and some other cats that I didn't know so well and hung out a bit before the opening band went on. Steve and Shane checked out the beer stand while I checked out the merch. I sure did get out of the way. There was this sweet tour shirt that had the cover of Among The Living on the front and the tour business on the back. I haven't been able to wear it yet for reasons I have yet to disclose, but I look forward to it.

The opening band was garbage. Shane and Ryan both made separate comments on the fact that we could go up there on stage and pull off a better set than these guys were trying to do right now. It was just some weak mosh metal and no one felt like dealing with it because it just seemed to make it a longer wait for what we were really there for. I don't know how they landed that job, and I don't understand why you'd take that job. I would say it's good advertising, but for a show like this no one cares about you. I mean, I can't remember their fucking name now. So, if I liked them I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. Anthrax destroyed all and I can't understand how you would expect to be remembered after such an ass kicking. I mean, it sounded as though they stole old Roundhouse and Payback demos and made the breakdowns shittier. Nice band/head.

Anthrax didn't go on right when the lights went out. They brought this screen down and went through a short history of the band which was a bit long. For one, the whole video had to be at least twenty minutes long. For two - The first time through the video it started to skip and stutter, then they had to start it from the beginning again. For the most part, it was funny. They showed the band when they were starting out and they all had ridiculous hair and looked very filthy. They showed some of the bits from their 'Behind The Music' thing. One of which made me laugh because Danny Spitz, the guitarist, was talking. That dood just looks funny. First of all, he's googly and talks with a lisp. Second of all, he was trying to be completely serious. I couldn't take it. There was another part where they were showing videos of them recording 'Persistence of Time'. Half of them had tour beard/hair and were doing the singing parts for the record which are kind funny to hear by themselves. It was long, but entertaining.

So, the screen went up, the lights came on, and Anthrax walked out with a skinny Joey Belladonna walking out with a big smile on his face. Scott Ian still had the ridiculous getup with the filthy beard he's had for the last decade or so. Frank Bello still looks tough as shit and rocks the hardest in the band by far. Charlie Benante still looks like a failed New Kids On The Block member forced to be in a rock band. Danny Spitz continues to look ridiculous. He had orthopedic glasses that had this super shiny rimmed glasses that made him look like he was going skiing after the show. His hair looked like a bad wig, but I don't think he's balding. I think he felt the short man complex towards the middle of the set cause he decided it was time to take off his shirt and flex. That dood is a fucking hilarious googly.

So all I remember at the beginning of the set was that they played three great songs to start off and then Joey said hi. Joey was so on that night. I couldn't believe how good he sounded even after being out of the band for 13 years. I mean, I know he has his own project, but it doesn't seem like it keeps him so busy that he would be in practice as far as his voice goes. I was impressed. Oh yeah, Joey sure did bring his half stick to rock out with. They played I'm The Man, which was hilarious as well, but a lot of fun. Man, that was a great set.

Anthrax was only the better half of the best show ever. That thing I said about being warped back to '92? Yeah, well, it sure did rear its head once the mosh got started. If a kid fell, then four people crowded him to pull him back up just to make sure he didn't get hurt. If someone needed to tie their shoes, then there were people making a fence around them so no one from the mosh fell on them. If you don't know, this kind of shit just doesn't happen anymore. I was fucking loving this. I stayed in the mosh the entire time. I know this may sound retarded, but it felt like home.

So, here I am, moshing away, singing along, and soaking the insides of my clothes with my sweat. Suddenly, I notice some dood in a two-piece suit wearing a t-shirt underneath it and he just doesn't look like he should be there. The vibe is very positive there so I didn't think he was going to get his ass kicked or anything, but he did look out of place. He ventured across to my side of the rim and started pushing cats around in front of me and that's when I realized...

It was fucking Keanu Reeves moshing for Anthrax in a two-piece.

Since seeing a lot of his movies ended up giving me this feeling that we were familiar for some reason - and the fact that everyone was in such a good mood from rocking out with Anthrax, including me - I gave the guy a huge hug and told him that it was great to see him there. I guess Keanu's friends with Anthrax and since he was shooting a movie in Chicago he stopped by to pay respect. Stix attempted to make friends with him. Actually, they were good buddies for that night at least. They had their arms around each other and were singing N.F.L. together. Stix asked him to hang out with us after the show, but Keanu pulled old styles and said he had to work in the morning. Towards the end of the show, when it was dying down, we looked over to the left of us and we see Brian Posehn from Mr. Show. We motioned for him to come into the mosh pit, but he just gave us bangface and metal horns which was awesome as well. I went over to him after the show ended and shook his hand. We found out that the dood actually flew all the way out from Cali just to check out the show. Both these cats were much cooler in my book. Did I mention that Keanu was in the mosh with us for the entire set? I think he was sauced up, but it was hilarious.

All four of us were glowing after this show. Stix was yelling "NFL!!" at people as we walked back to the parking garage. We couldn't shut the hell up about how awesome the show was. We all agreed that it had to be in the top five shows we've ever seen if it's not #1. Definitely the highlight of the weekend.

We drove back to Pine Grove in Rosemont and I hooked up with some sweet pancakes and a cheese and mushroom omelette. We continued to reflect on how incredible the show was. We went over to Shane's new place and hung out a bit longer, but there wasn't very much room yet since they just finished moving in that day. Stix came by my house for a little while and then I drove him home.

Either I was too excited or I just didn't feel like sleeping yet, but I ended up staying awake pretty late and calling people I thought might be up. I called Amy, whom is my ex as of 7 years ago and I just started talking to again and this is whole new post that I should probably take care of, and I talked to her for a little while. The conversation went into the gutter at some point, and I invited her over. This part kind of travels into...

-Sunday-

Amy came over, we hung out and talked for a while. We listened to music. Just relaxing. She asked me to rub her neck. I rubbed her neck. She rubbed mine. She started kissing it. Then, as they say, one thing led to another. Let's just say she put me in a very comfortable sleep and has a great way of waking me up. It was a great time. I felt a little bad later on. I completely avoided the 'what does this mean' conversation with her on the morning after. It sounds a little selfish, but things were going too good and I didn't want to break the streak I had with a potentially grumpy conversation. I knew I'd take care of it, I just didn't want to do it right then.

Playing with Amy made me late to call Frank. I was supposed to get tattooed on Sunday at 1 and 2pm is about when I called him. Frank seemed to be in good spirits all day. The only time he started to get even a little bit grumpy was when we started talking about politics. I think he just let himself get too into it. He didn't even get upset when I was like 3 hours later than when I meant to be at his place.

I sat down and got tattooed for about 3 1/2 hours. He laid some paper towels down on the kitchen table and sat me in one of the chairs. There were a couple breaks. It wasn't that bad. It's itchy and painful when I sleep now, but the actual tattooing wasn't as bad as Frank normally is. That dood can kick my ass if he feels like it. I got to watch Saving Silverman while getting tattooed in his living room. I also got to watch Vivian lose her mind playing with her family. It was hilarious. She wasn't phased by the tattooing one bit and Frank said she never has been. Fucking hilarious kid. Frank and I were both planning on going to yet another show that evening so we had to bolt out at a certain time.

There was a local hardcore show at the Abbey Pub on sunday. I've never been to that venue before I don't think. If I had, it was like once before. It was pretty cool as far as the area goes, but the sound was pretty bad. It was Undo Tomorrow, Fran from The Fireside's rock band, Over & Over, Blood In Blood Out, and The Killer. All the bands played well despite the hindering sound system. Stix started air-banging his guitar like it was a fertile young lass. Gross.

The great things about this show is that a lot of my peoples came out for it and it was great to see everyone. I got to hang with R. Rogers for a bit. He told me that he might work back at our old job, the Wingate. They're going to match his pay and give him the weekends off if the Dani makes it so. Good for him. I talked with Grace about getting a cleaning so I'll be stopping by her work sometime soon too. There's was plenty o' mosh and good times to be had.

We had to duck out a bit early cause my brother promised to meet up with Ed Satan at around 12:30 back at our house to watch Family guy. Hooked up with Ed, watched a fantastic comeback episode of Family Guy (I'm so glad it's back!). They finished up the episode with the greased-up deaf guy screaming 'Good to be back Amawica!'. I went to bed at a decent hour (by my standards).

-Monday- THREE DAY WEEKEND!!!

So, I agreed to go out with this girl from MySpace named Jillian. This date made me realize how much of a cynic I am. I didn't think anything of this situation. I thought it was going to be a crap date and didn't expect much at all. So, I went in there all relaxed because I thought the date was going to start and end within a couple hours. In fact, I planned on it. I made plans to hook up with this other girl and her friend to play hi-ball with me and my brother. That's another story.

So, Jillian lives on the south side of Chicago at like 95th and Damen. That's far. It took me about an hour to get down that way, but it was a smooth ride. Not much traffic at all. I pulled up to her house and no one answered. I went back to my car to get my phone, called her, and walked back up as she was walking out.

Wow, this girl was beautiful. She was a very tall model-type girl. With her heels, she was taller than I was. That was kinda hot to me cause there aren't many girls that are taller than I am. I immediately got nervous. The great part about it was she was nervous too. That helped. Whenever I encounter a girl this cute I have to assume she's an asshole. Not so.

I held off on eating so we could go somewhere together. I asked what she was in the mood for and she said we should definitely go to Top Notch. I'm pretty easy going and I've never tried that before so we went there. I thought it was going to be like a sit-down restaurant or something. This girl led me to a greasy burger place. How cool is that? Let me explain why I think this is so cool. The girl comes out of her house looking like a million bucks, but it only takes 7 bucks to feed the both of us. She had passes to the Field Museum so we went there. The most expensive thing for the whole date was the parking there. We walked around all nervous and talking about different things. We were checking out all the Egyptian stuff. I bought her a plastic mold of a T-Rex. I got myself a Stegasaurus. I had a first date, I had fun, we're going out again, alert the press.

After I dropped her off I was driving back at around 5:30 on a monday so I thought I was going to hit an ass load of traffic, but I actually made it home faster than I made it to her place. I got a text message just before I got back on 290 asking me what I thought and also that she meant to kiss me when I walked her to her door. Kickass!! I told her to just attack me next time and that I had a great time. We're getting together again this saturday me thinks. This should be a real date this time.

I had to rush back to my house because my brother was waiting on me to play hi-ball, and I was hooking up with Melanie. Melanie's another girl I have a crush on, but that's potentially more dangerous because she's dated a friend of mine in the past. I'm just having a great time hanging out with her now though. She rules and we have the same sense of humor so it's always a good time. She's always down for doing stuff too. Everyone's always into drinking or whatever and she always wants to just hang. The chick's cool.

Anyway, we got together and Melanie brought her friend, Bri. We had a foursome so off we were to Do It All Sports. We paid our ten bucks. Bri and Melanie didn't believe that it was going to be that rough so they came in their jeans. Me and my brother came all prepared and were wearing basketball shorts and t-shirts. Everyone was pretty out of shape. I felt good that I lasted so long. At least I'm not that bad. It was only about a half hour before we retired to the free video games to relax.

When the hour was up we went back to my house to watch Family Guy yet again, and to play Mario Party since we had four people. Hilarity ensued. The girls left cause they're responsible. My brother and I went out to Meijer to do my grocery shopping while I had a load in the washer. I'm trying to buy more vegetables, but I just don't know how to cook so well. I got me some portabello mushrooms that I actually did a great job on yesterday. I put some garlic on it and some provolone over that on toasted bread. I think I just needed to cook it a little longer, but it was great.

Yesterday was a good day too, but I was working so there wasn't much to tell about that. Mushroom sandwich was good. I stayed up late and I'm paying for it today.

I have three PB&J's in the fridge right now and I've been writing this all morning. I sure hope that this computer doesn't erase this post. I need to remember this weekend. Too fucking cool. If you've read this far, this is why I love you. I'm in a great mood so if you ever wanted anything from me, now is the time to ask me.