Everyone knows it's windy

So last week it was Portland; this week it's Chicago. The search continues.

Actually we have no real designs on Chicago, just came out here for Thandie's birthday and to visit Daphne's folks (as well as a few other scattered friends from days of yore). Chicago is a fun, somewhat abstract place with a downtown that I adore. I've written elsewhere about the wonders of Millenium Park. And it was eerily enjoyable this afternoon to watch the fog roll in off the lake. And of course there is some great music (and some great music history) here.

But we couldn't live in this town. One of the silliest reasons is that the superabundance of food, fatty fatty food and the culture that surrounds it, would wear on us very quickly. Last week Conan O'Brien joked that he could only do his show in this city for five days because his cholesterol level had already shot up in that time. Sometimes it seems like all people do here is eat, drink, watch sports, and try to run each other off the road (I know that's a bit of a cliche, so my apologies for offending any of youze). Don't get me wrong: some of the eatin' is quite delicious. We had a stupendous soul food breakfast this morning, and I doubt whether there are very many other places in this country where you could top off the first meal of the day with some delicious peach cobbler--at least without someone looking at you askance. But living here would be like dealing with Thanksgiving all the time. I would find that a bit depressing.

In music news: lookit! Lookit! The IJG has its first festival: in Carson City this August. More information on that soon.

Back in LA on Tuesday. All kinds of plans a-bubbling, IJG-related projects to see through, and yes, I'm writing more music (as my friend Joe used to say, "will it ever end?"). Hang on, let's see where this all goes.