Good morning. Not much in the way of music going out to Jeff today…

FOUNTAINS OF WAYNE: Welcome Interstate Managers (S-Curve 2003)…everyone’s raving about this one in the UK and US press!

WHIRLWIND HEAT: Do Rabbits Wonder? (V2 2003)…read some good things about them in the UK press.

SOCIAL DISTORTION: Somewhere Between Heaven And Hell (1992 Sony)…one of my favorite records of the 90s. Pure R’N’R! Just recently bought the CD at Borders for $10.

CHRIS MARS: Horseshoes And Hand Grenades (1992 Smash)…another favorite of mine from the 90s and from a former Replacement. His first solo record and a rockin’ good time!

It’s overcast here in St. Charles, Illinois today. We’re about 47 miles straight west of downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan, so the weather downtown may be quite different than it is out here amongst the corn and bean fields. My wife, Georgia, and son, Joe, are going to Brookfield Zoo with my best friend Tom’s wife, Meg’n, and their kids Sam and Max. Sam and Max are identical twins and they’re a handful (what kids aren’t?) and a hoot! I’ve yet to distinguish between the two of them and they’re now six years old. I can’t imagine the fun those two boys are going to have in high school with the girls! They’re all off to Brookfield Zoo today, one of the largest in the world. Last year I took Joseph there before his 2nd birthday and it was near 100F that day…just brutal. It was difficult to enjoy the day but fun nevertheless since he’d never seen dolphins, elephants, monkeys, giraffes, and other wild and endangered species.

Today I was supposed to have a doctor’s appointment at 8:00am, which means I’d have to leave home by 5:30am to contend with rush hour traffic into the city. Instead, because I haven’t been sleeping well at night, I woke at 11:30pm, 1:00am, and 3:00am last night and then crashed. I woke at 8:00am and had to call off the appointment. In any case, I’m doing well…just tired and a little sore still. The main reason I needed to go today to the doc was to get the 41 staples removed from my abdomen, but that’ll have to wait until next week now. The staples are cause my skin to itch like mad, so they’re ripe for pullin’ and it means I’m healing just fine.

Now I’m going to read the news on AOL…whoo hoo! I’ll check in later. Until then…

Rave on!

Dave