Hasek to the castle

(I know this is of interest to no one other than me but according to my writer’s journal this is my 202nd entry of the year and I’ve written just shy of 160,000 words. I’m now somewhere north of 750 blog posts as well. And the three year anniversary of the blog is coming up in a few weeks and you know what that means. Actually, if you do please let me know. I’d really like to find out.)

There are times in your life where you begin to question just precisely when you lost the plot. Driving to Lawrence on a Wednesday night to see a band from Prague mainly just so you could say that you’ve seen a band from Prague is one of those times. Actually, I owe much thanks to a friend of mine for telling me about Uz Jsme Doma, a rather cool band from my homeland. Though traveling the US to play next to pinball machines at the Replay Lounge seems to be an odd fate.

Now despite the fact that I am Czech and have a last name that is apparently unpronounceable I don’t actually speak the language. I can recognize it when I hear it and it does sound familiar at some level but it is odd to hear people singing in it. Not that I don’t listen to music in foreign languages. I’m a huge fan of the Iguanas and most of their stuff is in Spanish and I don’t know how many Cajun and zydeco discs I have that are in French. But it was comforting in a way to hear the language in the crowd and during the sound check. It is a part of who I am, after all.

(Personally, I just like the fact that when someone asked me today about why I went to Lawrence to see a band I had never heard of I was able to answer “Because I can.” At the end of the day, sometimes you have to do things just because you can do them. It keeps you from being a target market complete with focus groups and fun sized self sealed packages of enjoyment.)

You might have noticed that this makes four shows in Lawrence in eight nights, which I believe is a new record for me. It also is one of the reasons why I’m taking tomorrow off from work. I just cannot run that many late nights and long drives in a row. It didn’t help that one of the long time friends of the blog decided that at 2:15 in the morning it was vitally important that I know that he was currently watching old Beavis and Butthead videos. I’m a bit sleep deprived right now as a result of all of this.

I guess that is a sign that I really am growing old. I swear that a year or two ago I could bounce back from a schedule like this a lot quicker. Not that it was easy, just that I didn’t get home from work and immediately want to lie down and not move for twelve hours. I hate the fact that I’m going to be forced to admit that I’m an adult sooner rather than later. I can hide the gray in my hair but I can’t hide the fact that closing time is getting harder and harder to reach. I read somewhere this week that at 35 you realize that you have become the person you are going to be for the rest of your life. I’m ten months away from turning 35 and that scares the hell out of me. I still need to evolve.

And with that, enjoy the weekend everyone. At least Notre Dame is guaranteed not to lose this time.