July 14-17, 2005 Chicago

Most of the drive to Chicago took me through the state of Indiana. There's a lot of corn in the state of Indiana. There's some very picturesque farmland, too. Driving North and West.
If you can tell the difference between the first photo and this one I'll give you a dollar.
There were a lot of service roads and frontage roads along the highway. I think that was the motivation behind this snapshot, because I really can't tell why I took it.
Yeah, real artsy, Evan. I liked it better the first time when it was called Tucson/Vegas Summer '04. "A man can get very lonely out on the road alone," is a quote I'll probably use eighty more times throughout these travel photos.
Black and white is the new color.
Yawning? Singing? About to projectile vomit?
If I remember correctly, it rained the morning of the fifteenth, and then didn't rain again until I came back through the country a month or more later.
It's not just a highway. It's an interstate highway!
I don't remember what town/city that denoted, but it was worthy of capturing on film, I guess.
Most symmetrical bridge ever? You decide! By the way, which lane am I driving in? Nice job, Evan... Way to pay attention, no attention!
That's "US Cellular Field" (or as we sports fans call it, Comiskey Park), home of the soon-to-be world champion Chicago White Sox.
"Take Lake Shore Drive," Jet tells me. "Go to the beach or something until I get off work."
The harbor. Boats. Scooners? Is the proper term for those "boat" or "scooner?"
Children at play as I relax in the sun at North Avenue Beach.
That's Lake Michigan. I would've taken more interesting and obscure photographs but Sufjan Stevens used them all up with that horrible new album of his.
Let's see you write a song about a BIRD, Sufjan! Oh, wait, doesn't he also have an album called Seven Swans?
Chicago skyline with some low hanging clouds.
NOOOOOOO! The city fell on it's side! (Have I made that joke somewhere already? It sounds way too familiar)
There was a long pier extending out into the lake, so I walked it and stood at the edge to take some pictures. This is another sideways photo.
I befriended an old man who was throwing tennis balls to his dog, who would jump into the lake, grab the ball, swim back to the shore and then run all the way along the pier back to him. It was one of the coolest tricks I've ever seen. But I'm easily amused, as you can probably tell.
A few hours later, Tim Midgett Called me and we met at Starbucks on N. Clark for a while and talked. The interview went well. We talked about Silkworm and the differences between Seattle and Chicago.	Neither of us knew it at the time, but a few hours before we got together, Tim's friend and bandmate Michael Dahlquit was killed in an automobile accident in Skokie, Illinois. I had no idea the next time I spoke to Tim that the circumstances would be so drastically different... My heart and my deepest condolences go out to all of Michael's family and friends.
The next evening, my hostess Jet and I met Jeff Mueller at Tuman's for drinks. We hung out for three and a half hours having drinks and talking. At the end of the marathon interview (a shade over four hours), we all got up and left, totally forgetting to pay our tab. Oops.
Jeff made me take a second photo because he wanted the yuppies sitting outside at Tuman's to think I was snapping photos of a "real celebrity type." I was laughing a bit too hard from that remark and hence the horrible photo. Sorry, Jeff.
Afterwards, Jet and I drove down Lake Shore Drive with the windows down. The breeze was comforting and it had been a perfect evening.
That's a train racing past. I think the problem with my camera is, it doesn't work at night.
Sometimes I accidentally take some cool pictures. I play it off like I know exactly what I'm doing. "I meant to do that, I swear."
This is Lower Wacker Drive. For some reason, I remember this part of our joyride because Jet was telling me about the time she learned what John Mellencamp's "Jack 'n Diane" was really about. It's funny because it's true. I couldn't make up something that obscure if I tried.
And then I blindly stuck the camera out of my window and took a fucking awesome picture of Navy Pier without even expecting to get a readable image.
Jet was like, "What better way to end such an incredible night than to go wait around with a bunch of three year olds to buy the new Harry Potter book."
Pictures of Pelican and Magnolia Electric Co. from Intonation Festival can be found in the concert photography section of this here website.