Took a whirlwind trip to Chicago this weekend. When I walked into the hostel we had booked, I was happily surprised to see artwork by someone I knew in New York, Bonsky — including a painting of my good pal Andy Gunn! I immediately felt at home. Andy (top left) is selling for $500, which is a little rich for my blood, but part of me thinks it would be cool to have!

On our way to the Art Institute we got off at the wrong stop on the el, but serendipitously ran into critical mass gathering before the ride at about 5:45. We ran into them in a different part of the city at 9, still biking. That’s dedication!

On Saturday we saw the rock art exhibit at the Contemporary Art Museum — loved the room on Destroy All Monsters! Then we headed to Pilsen for the Day of the Dead exhibit at the National Museum of Mexican Art — it was amazing. I hadn’t been to Pilsen since I saw Los Crudos play a show at a community center there in 1997!

On our way out of town on Sunday, we made the pilgrimage to the Haymarket Martyrs monument and Emma Goldman’s grave.

Just so others don’t make this mistake, they are in the GERMAN part of Waldheim Cemetery, not the JEWISH part. That was confusing.

Ran into bad traffic, but I managed to get back just in time for Jay Reatard at 7th St. AND Black Lips at the Triple Rock. Fun night!