i was there || zola jesus

Show: Zola Jesus

Ryley Walker

Location: Athenaeum Theater 

Date: 2.16.25

Favorite Song: "In Your Nature" is the song that hooked me on this lady but "Dangerous Days" was also exceptional.

Memorable Moment: This tiny woman in massive wedges decides that climbing on top of the speakers + jumping off is a good idea. She landed on her booty a little bit but recovered quite gracefully. Thankfully. The trumpet player was pretty cool too.

Biggest Letdown: Love you, Zola, but your stage presence was quite awkward. That's probably the aspect of a show that matters the least but at times I just wanted to close my eyes.

This Show: Zola Jesus has the voice of a fucking angel. You completely hear her range + slight imperfections that actually end up being pretty perfect + help give the songs character. It's nice to not have someone hide behind auto tune or loud instruments.

judo

Generally speaking, I don't think I have much of an "I'm better than you" attitude...except when it comes to fostering. For the second year in a row I spent part of my two week work holiday vacation welcoming a very loving + very deserving PAWS pup into my home. I feel so good for what I have done for these dogs the last two years + I don't care who knows it. 

This time I was paired with Judo + he was the absolute best. Fostering this year was a different experience for me. I grew less attached to Judo but I also feel more inclined to keep him than Rutherford. I spent more time with Rutherford, he was a lab like the dog I grew up with, + I think he needed me more. Judo was a little smaller than I imagined, he came to my home during a somewhat stressful time for me, but he was so good. He has his occasional moments of mischief + craziness but he is still an adolescent (1.5 years). When he really screwed up (like when he peed on my stairs after I took away his bone. ASSHOLE! But also very smart.) he knew it and went straight to his cage no questions asked. He rarely barked, seemed to get along okay with other dogs, + was totally happy to chill with me on the couch. No dog is easy and all dogs take a lot of work but Judo was an easier amount of work.

Judo hasn't been adopted yet + although he is perfect in my opinion it likely will be some time before he is adopted because unfortunately that is the way life works. I've been seriously thinking about fostering him again and just paying for a dog walker while I work but I will have to wait until after my Mexico trip (more on that later). If he still hasn't been adopted or taken into a foster home after that I might take the little guy back for a few weeks (or probably forever knowing me). 

If that doesn't happen this will likely be the last you hear from me on the topic but I do have one last plea. If you are looking to get a dog or are willing to open your home up to one for a few more weeks please consider Judo. He's so great + could really use a break from shelter life. It seems like PAWS is in pretty desperate need for adopters/fosters at the moment so taking any dog or cat would be a huge help...I'm just clearly biased towards Judo. If you can't adopt or foster than please at least send good vibes to this little dude. I have never met a dog more desiring and more deserving of a good home. 

Sincerely,

The Crazy Dog Lady

nils frahm || says

Despite having a ticket for it I still didn't make it to the Nils Frahm show  at Thalia Hall in November. I have a feeling this might turn out to be one of those misses I really really regret. But maybe not. Perhaps he'll make his was back to Chicago soon.

Stick this song out. It has a bit of a slow build but the last couple of minutes are so beautiful.

it's starting to look a lot like christmas (in january)

The last couple of years I have gotten really good at the post-holiday shopping deals. Specifically, I've developed a pretty decent Christmas decor collection. I'm just one level away from being a grinch so it hasn't been a big deal for me to go without a Christmas tree each year and buying this stuff full price is pretty ridiculous. If you wait until after Christmas everything is essentially half price. Much more reasonable. I think 2015 might be the first year I have a Christmas tree. And as a total shock to exactly no one, it is going to be animal themed.

Most of my ornaments are from West Elm + Anthropologie but I've also got some fabulous, musical ladies coming from Crate + Barrel too.

st. vincent || huey newton

Oh, it was a lonely, lonely winter.

hello, 2015

I was going to start by saying that I'm not really one to make + keep resolutions but after looking at my list for 2014 I actually ended up doing a fairly good job. These are all things I would like to keep up in 2015 too.

As for 2015, four goals come to mind:

Be Less Grumpy

I'll call myself out. Lately I have been a total grump. I am sensitive + I let things get to me. As a result I don't think I'm always the most fun person to be around. And that kind of sucks. 2014 was stressful, yes. But a change of mindset could have made it a little less so. It is definitely a challenge for me but I'm really trying to let go more. I want to make more fun in my life. Work hard, play harder. Or something like that.

Mind My Mobile Manners

Recently I have become much more cognizant of how people use their phones in public + in my presence. I do my fair share of this too but it is still a rude + nasty habit. Not only that but it makes you miss out on so much of what is going around you. This year I'm going to try to be more present.

More Original Content

I want to write more, create more, + do more this year. I felt a bit creatively starved in 2014 because I didn't make enough time to do the things I love. I'm going to try to plan more in 2015 so I make this actually happen.

More Selfies

Well maybe not necessarily selfies, but more photos of myself. I am a bit camera shy + recently have had very few photos taken of me. I think there will one day come a time when I am old + wrinkly that I will wish I had taken more photos of myself in my youthful twenties. Those days are coming to an end soon so I better start saying "cheese". So with that, here is a grainy, sleepy selfie.

Cheers to the new year!