i am sick.

sick. sick. sick.

yesterday, i went over to kara dean's in the afternoon to make soup. we chopped a bit, sauteed our veggies and poured in our tomatoes. deanie and dyl finished the rest of the pot and about ten minutes after i sat down, i found it difficult to move off of the couch. no good.

i slept for three hours at their place and then managed to drive home and watch bad tv. still today, my joints ache...from my neck to my wrists to my ankles. i go from burning hot to shivering in minutes. my stomach hurts in waves that trickle down from around my chest area to my belly button. my hair even hurts when i try to put on or take off my sweatshirt (which i feel like i have been doing every five minutes).

the biscuit has yet to leave my side, though. bless him.

bdub is on a little tour with my brightest diamond this week. they are en route to louisville from chicago, and he will be playing in new york on saturday! not long now. i had seriously considered making the trek to pittsburgh for their show at the warhol museum this wednesday, but since brushing my teeth seems like a major accomplishment today, i can't imagine making a seven hour car ride. who knows? maybe i'll feel lots better in a day, and i do love my pittsburgh peeps, like this girl and this girl. the best.

and look at these cute photos of the sweet divines! this is the girl group with the retro style that i mentioned way back in this post. aren't they cute? see if you can spot the wolfe in there!

catchin' up

to get caught up a bit:

the zurich show was at a little rock club. very smoky, but real nice peeps and a good time was had by all.

i tried desperately to get a photo of a crazy little dancing man who was getting DOOOOOOWWWN in the front row. his moves seemed to be a combo of burning man-esque hippie dips and waves, with the occasional tai-chi thrown in just to mix it up. a couple of times he twirled around on one foot.

shara had her own personal smoker in the front row. throughout the gig, he continually puffed a pouf of smoke right into her face as she sang. i counted his little pile of butts at his feet, and there were eight of them by the end of the hour.



shara believes that when they were in stonehenge, merlin put a hex on her and tried to turn her into a frog. it is quite possible, because despite a visit to a swiss hospital (which was free and during which she received the most thorough exam of her vocal chords ever) she has not fully recovered.

(aside: this is what came up when i looked up "merlin frog" on google images:)



from zurich we drove to geneva....an absolutely, incredibly, breath-takingly BEAUTIFUL city...all curves and archways and opulent wedding cake facades. i may have left my heart there...i've been longing for it ever since we left.





the band played in a traditional concert hall type of setting--this place. probably a bit of a departure (velvet seats, old fogeys, etc.), but i thought it was an amazing show regardless.



after geneva was a long ride through switzerland and france to belgium. we twisted and turned up and down the mountains, through foggy countryside of green. i peered through the window with tears rolling down my face. as a child, i loved the grimm's fairytales--really any children's book with beautiful illustrations of the french countryside: thatched roofs of heaps of straw, mossy stone walls, rolling hills


....i felt like i had awoken to a dream. even writing about it makes me misty and warms the cockles of my heart.

it looked a bit like this:







in a complete juxtaposition, we arrived at trix, a very modern dance club-ish type of place in antwerp.




antwerp seemed to me to be a very modern city...we were in more of an industrial area and we "bedded down," as bdub is wont to say, in a (lovely) backstage area from the time of our arrival until after the show. i think we were far from the city center, so exploring was not so much of an option. luckily, there was rooftop access, which was fun.

moon from the rooftop:



three words for the opening band, soy un caballo: "cute band alert".

they were like a lovely bit of stereolab mixed with camera obscura. good stuff.

rock over zurich! rock over amsterdam!

have i mentioned here that i am joining le dub on his next european tour?

bdub will be playing yet again with the fabulous my brightest diamond. words cannot express how much i love MBD. not only is shara worden, like, the most amazing singer i think i have ever heard in my entire life, but her beauty truly touches me. she is the kind of lady who can very much be an observer, a portrait of quietness, serenity, and solitude, yet moments later talk a blue streak to you about any number of things and, simply put, crack you up. i adore her.

i will be joining them in zurich on september 26, and then will be hopping along in the van for the following dates:

9/27: Geneva
9/28: Antwerpen
9/29: Hamburg
9/30: Berlin
10/1: Schorndorf
10/2: Paris
10/3: Amsterdam

bdub leaves on friday....it's a little bit too early for me to describe my emotions as "excitement"....right now i am waffling between "nervous", "overwhelmed" and "hoping to avert disaster at every turn". i will feel a lot better, for sure, when my renewed passport is in my hand (it is currently being processed--yikes) and when i know for sure that all my ducks are in a row re. the dog, the cat, the car, and the apartment.

i would also like to revamp the ole wardrobe. i am open to any and all suggestions re. this adventure, from must-sees in these various cities to what the hell i should pack.

here's a little bit of my brightest diamond (seriously, ain't she the most?):