The Visible Man

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
Going to read @CKlosterman's new book #Visible Man today in a day. Waiting for @magersandquinn to open at 10. Will live tweet w/ pg. #s.

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
And, yes, I will spoiler alert everything. I know you're all waiting to read it yourselves.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
Leaving the house to pick up coffee (prepared), coffee (unprepared) and #VisibleMan.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 1 I'm starting the novel with no previous notions of what it is about other than it's a @CKlosterman book.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 2 Fiction v. Non-fiction. Veracity. Truth?
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 5 Unreliable narrator?
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 9 Has anyone tried e-mailing thevickster@gmail.com? Trying. Didn't immed. bounce back.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 13 George Harrison "Be Here Now" youtube.com/watch?v=He2yrz…
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 20 "his pseudologia fantastica [footnote: This is more commonly referred to a pathological lying.]"
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 21 Book misuses Heisenberg Uncertainty in the usual way. Can't know bc of a mechanical reason, not theoretical.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 22 Guilt vs sensation of guilt. Objective vs. subjective.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert This book so far prompted me to look up and listen to The Jayhawks' "Blue" online.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 31 "Tall people are naturally confident. History has proven this- Alexander, Wilt Chamberlain, Gisele."
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 46 Not trusting that the type of people who read his books would also be able to hang w/ theoretical ideas?
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 57 Ha! Ha, ha, ha. Small admission; I'd totally do that.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 59 Another small admission; I do that too.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 62 I've actually watched that Yao Ming documentary and have a hilarious & heart-touching story about it.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 83 "He wasn't there, and then he wasn't there."
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 87 Now the book can start for real. Everything before this has been pretext, scene-setting. Now comes the book.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 88 The narrative seems H.G. Wells until I thought about it. Its actually Henry James "Turn Of The Screw"-esque.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 92 I find the word "she-wolf" funny.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 100 Had an experience like this recently w/ my GF. Well, all the details are different. But it's close feeling.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 101 Daniel Johnston - The Beatles youtube.com/watch?v=YbBXkF…
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 103 "agency"
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 105 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Deck…
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 105 Also, Mary Decker iconicphotos.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/davidb…
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 114 I wonder what McLuhan would think of "The process was always the problem."
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 121 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarahumara
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 146 Only kind of aware of what's going on. But this feels like the peak of the book coming up.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 131 "It's like trying to using math to figure out history." I wonder what Bill James would think of that.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 147 A little "There Will Be Blood" love has me turning on the soundtrack.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 134 Made me think of edped.tumblr.com/post/753554181…
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#NowPlaying There Will Be Blood – Prospectors Arrive open.spotify.com/track/5gHu56UX…
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 160 "agency"
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 161 Jooky MaGoo is a real band. myspace.com/pistolwhipoffi…
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 167 Oh, hell no.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 169 Reading this book thinking of WIM's book "Faking It". Chuck and I must read the same books. #humblebrag
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 179 This is like the personal propaganda from "I heart Huckabees".
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 191 I could've thought this up vs. I did think this new
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 203 Recondite is the perfect word there. merriam-webster.com/dictionary/rec…
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 224 The temptation must've been to leave things vague. To never resolve it. But this is fiction.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 230 Finished. I liked it a lot. Looking at the book as a whole, it feels like a book about US involvement in...
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 230 ...torture and rendition. Reading too much into it? Yes, probably. But it feels like it.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
#VisibleMan #spoileralert pg 230 Also, 1st thing I learned on 1st day of college in Shakespeare class: Appearances can be deceiving.
4 Oct

MichaelRHerman Michael R Herman
An excellent book. Feel like I'll be thinking of it for a while. #VisibleMan
4 Oct

CKlosterman Chuck Klosterman
@MichaelRHerman Thanks, man. Really glad you liked the book & did this experiment. It was extremely, extremely flattering.
4 Oct

Five Texts You Receive On Vacation

I was on vacation this weekend and had my phone turned off from about 6 o'clock Friday until I plugged it in just a few hours ago. During that time I received five text messages.

I will use this space to respond to those text messages.

Fri July 23rd 5:54 pm from Todd Turner "Hello sir"

Todd, You just missed me before I went up north for the weekend. How was your weekend? Let's get together sometime this week. Maybe go swimming if the weather is nice.

Sat July 24th 3:09 am from Twitter KingJames: I swear I love my bro @oneandonlycp3!! Nuff said

Noone was questioning it, LeBron. Or should we?

Sat July 24th 11:50 am from Facebook Dan Herman to you and 7 others:

Hey all,

I found out yesterday that Four Peaks' Pumpkin Porter is going to be released on...(reply "n" for next)

Oh, fuck this is one of those cliffhangers. When does it get released? WHEN DOES IT GET RELEASED?! click

Sat July 24th 12:44 pm from Stensby Your voice mail sucks.

I hardly ever use it. What sucks about it? [Ed note. Stensby didn't even leave me a voice mail.]

Sat July 24th 7:50 pm from Hayley Doyle What route do ppl use to bike to dan's?

I'm sorry I didn't get this message until it was way too late. I like the way that takes you through Kenwood and along the bike path to Penn Ave. Link

A Week At Home - Last Weekend

(Sorry about the delay getting this last Minnesota trip post up. Returning to your everyday life will do that.)

Friday morning I woke up early as a man on a mission. Involved in the bumming around the city I did on Thursday was searching for an apartment. Specifically I was searching in the Loring Park area. I felt like I'd lived in Uptown for three years and I wanted to not simply return there. Loring Park is, like Uptown, very close to the city and populated by my peers. It seemed like the logical place to live when I moved back.

The place I found is a beautiful studio apartment on the east side of Loring Park on Spruce Place. Pete was nice enough to drive me there on Thursday night after we had pizza and upon seeing the place I was sold. Here are some of the photos from the Craig's List ad.



Bedroom and living room



Living room close-up



Kitchen



Bathroom

There was another girl who had taken an application too and so my mission was to be the first to get the application in. I got up really early to be at the rental office first thing in the morning and arrived just after they had opened which meant I was the first person to apply. I spent the rest of the day looking at other apartments in the area too just to make sure I was making the right choice and also to have some options in case things didn't work out. It was all unnecessary hedging though since I did get the apartment and just signed my lease this Friday.

I spent a lot of time in coffee shops during the day and after work Brian Bell came over to the Dunn Brothers where I was sitting and we went for a walk to chat. After we parted I went downtown to the Block E movie theater and saw two movies I'd previously missed back-to-back.

The first was "Hancock" and I thought it was alright for what it was, a "smart" summer blockbuster. You'll notice smart is in quotes. "Step Brothers" was not as great as "Anchorman" but also didn't feel as stilted as "Talladega Nights." It had a loose energy that worked at times and didn't at others. I did love Adam Scott who is always great at playing smarmy.

That evening I met up with an old family friend Nick and his new wife Lauren at their apartment in Loring Park. Nick's parents were in kindergarten together with my dad so you can imagine how far back our families go. They showed me photos of their wedding at the Grand Canyon, I told them about my reasons for moving back to Minnesota and we finished a bottle of wine. Later Dan and Hillary came over to hang out and then they took me home.

On Saturday morning Dan and I watched the USA-Spain with our step-cousin Nick. Well, it was more like Nick and I watched the US treat Spain like a red-headed stepchild while Dan checked out the back of his eyelids.

After the game I went to hang out with Will, Gerry and Emily. Will normally lives in San Francisco but was home to visit his parents. Gerry and Emily decided that just having him in the same time-zone was reason enough to drive to the Twin Cities. They came to pick me up and we went to St. Paul to have a barbeque with some of Will's high school friends. The rest of the night was spent kicking back beverages, bullshitting and watching videos on YouTube.

I was flying home on Sunday evening. So after we spent the morning like we had the day before with Dan catching some Zs and me watching the Olympics, he and I went for brunch at Zumbro Cafe with Hillary and then went to the pool until it was time to go to the airport.

The week home was energizing. It was both blissful because I got to see people I hadn't seen in a while and reassuring to know I was coming home to an entire network of friends. It's just two short weeks from today until I'll be home and I'm looking forward to enjoying the time here in Chicago as best I can and then enjoying being back home for keeps.

A Week At Home - Midweek Report

(I had this all typed up on Wednesday but the Internetz ated it. Take two.)

After the stick throwing and all of Saturday, Sunday was my first day to settle in here. Our original plan was to get up, have some breakfast and go watch the USA Mens Basketball team play China. Well, after getting up once the game was already over, the plan changed a bit. What was still on was some breakfast and we went to Victor's 1959.

Victor's 1959 Cuban Cafe is south of Uptown at 38th and Grand. They serve traditional breakfast food which is fine if you're not feeling adventurous. But the reason to go to Victor's is because they do Cuban breakfast. My bro had mango pancakes for example. I had the dia y noche (day and night) which is black beans in white rice with a side of roasted plantains and toast with guava jelly. There's a word for what it is and it's yum.

Afterwards we went to Dreamhaven Comics which is closing at its current location in Uptown. Thus there are a lot of deals and I wasn't prepared at all. I could've easily gone inside and left giggling madly with an arm full of comics. Restraint was the name of the game and I was able to practice it. I left with only five comics and a wedding gift for some friends. I'd say what the gift is except I know they read my blog. (Hi CJ and Elaine!) Then we went back to Dan's place to read our recently acquired material.

We ended the night with dinner at my dad's place. He was grilling out and made us burgers. My dad also gave my brother, my step-cousin and I all watches. It's a really nice watch and I'll be able to wear it with work clothes. Normally I just use my cell phone as a clock. But in this case, it really is the thought that counts.

The rest of the week has been a lot more straight-forward. Just about everybody I know has work so I've been taking it easy. That doesn't mean I've been bored. The order of the day for Monday through Thursday was catching up with friends and going to Twins games.

On Monday I hung out with Nicky. I met her new pomeranian, we went to Plan B Coffee and then went to Cheapo for a massive CD purchase. I bought six CDs including Massive Attack "Blue Lines", Murs "3:16" and the Jarvis Cocker solo album. She dropped me back at my bro's place, I watched a little "Lost" and waited for Todd to pick me up for the Twins game.

The Twins game itself was excellent. Todd and I sat in the left field bleachers with his friends Rob and Anthony, Adam Everett hit a "Really? Adam Everett?" homerun into the stands in front of us and Glen Perkins pitched eight innings of shutout baseball. Even better, because the White Sox lost, the Twins took a small half game lead in the division.

Tuesday was similar but doubled. I got up in the morning, took a bus out to Longfellow and had brunch with SayRock. We went to the Longfellow Grill for breakfast and catching up. The best quote of the day (and I'm paraphrasing) was "I exude a certain granola-ness. But you look like the sort of person who does eat beef." After brunch I immediately ran back to the light-rail and took the train downtown to have lunch with Brian. We had Thai food from the Sawatdee Express and got a chance to catch up.

On Tuesday night, a large group including my brother, my cousin and my step-cousin and I went to the Twins game and sat in the upper deck in front of the Hrbek banner. Mike Mussina pitched a good game for the Yankees and the Twins were down three runs when we left in the middle of the eighth inning. The new rule of thumb is that we aren't leaving any game early if it's a save situation and the Twins are coming to bat. Mike Redmond started the inning with a double, Randy Ruiz hit a one out single and we were turning on the radio in the car in time to hear the fans who stayed cheering for Delmon Young's three-run homer. The Yankees did win in the 13th inning but it would've been thrilling to be there when Delmon hit a homer.

I know because he hit another three-run homer on Wednesday. Todd came by early and we drove out to the Twins Pro Shop at Ridgedale for another splurge purchase. I got a 2006 Division Champs shirt on sale, a home Santana jersey also on sale, a Morneau t-shirt jersey and a Mauer alternate home jersey if for no other reason than he's dreamy. We were on a rocket to get back down to the Dome in time to meet Ellen O who procured excellent seats behind home plate on the Twins dugout side and twenty rows up in Section 127. Kevin Slowey gave up only one run in six innings, Brian "I'll Get You A Hit Only With Runners In Scoring Position" Buscher hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Mauer and Delmon hit the aforementioned three-run homer to send us home having witnessed another Twins victory.

Wednesday night I went to Galactic Pizza with Patrick, Don and SayRock. We had the Paul Bunyan which is made of all local Minnesota ingredients on top of being very yummy. I didn't have a hemp brownie this time around though they really are worth it. We instead went for Sonny's ice cream at Crema Cafe.

Yesterday, without a Twins game to attend, I slept in and then bummed around the city. My high school friend Pete came to pick me up from my brother's and we went to my home-away-from-home, Leaning Tower of Pizza. I may be exagerating a bit. But I do want it noted that they stopped carding me five years ago even when they card everyone else at the table.

Today I'm again bumming around the city and may end up at the Twins game tonight. Francisco Liriano IS pitching. Six days down, Three to go.

A Week At Home - Day 1

Yesterday was my first day back home for nine days in Minnesota and, since my ten year high school reunion next weekend was cancelled for lack of interest, the motivating factor in coming home right now. My friends Don and Sarah lived in Boston until recently and they got married there this March. The three people in attendance were Don, Sarah and the priest. So they decided to have the reception today in a park in St. Paul. Thus I was in a cab and on my way to O'Hare at 8:00 am yesterday morning for my 10:50 flight.

The actual reception was very chilled out. It was just a summer barbeque except at one point two of the people cut a cake together. I saw Don and Sarah for the first time in two years or so and I also saw other people I hadn't seen in almost as long like Holly, Marcos and Jamie. It was also good to get a little time with Patrick and Morgan Mae as we were riding in the car to the park. It's good to get back on radar back here in Minneapolis.

The highlight of the day was The Viking game. No, I'm not talking about the professional football team who play their home games at the Metrodome. This game involved sticks, blocks and a metaphorical viking. If your interest is piqued, here are the rules.

Set four posts to set the boundaries of the field. You can set the posts wide or close together based upon your skill level. These posts were about ten feet apart at the ends and fifteen to twenty feet apart lengthwise.

Along the end lines set five to seven woodblocks again based upon your level of skill. It will be your goal to knock down these woodblocks from the opposite end line. To knock them down you use six closet dowel rod sections about six inches long.

Finally set a much more sturdy wood block in the middle. This is The Viking and in the game I played it was an old coffee table leg. This serves as the metaphorical eight ball in that once you've knocked down the rest of the wood blocks your objective is to knock over The Viking. The catch is you have to do it facing backwards and through your legs.

You start by throwing the dowels at the blocks from your end line. All the throws have to be underhand and end-over-end. No overhand, no sidearm, no bowling it, etc. I was accused of (and may've done) a few of those manuevers so I know they're out. Once you knock over a block, the other team throws it to your side on their next turn. They then have to knock over that block as well as the rest of your original blocks.

Here's the catch. If they don't knock over the newly set block, you can advance as far forward as that block to make your throws. So there is a mix of strategy between throwing it close enough that they can hit it easily on their turn throwing dowels (which follows the block tossing) and not so close that you're too close throwing dowels at their blocks. The extra wrinkle is that if you throw a block and it strikes another block, those two blocks are stacked and easier to tip over.

So it's a game a little like bocce ball except more complex. We played a whole game and it took us an hour. But unlike bocce ball there were teams and therefore it wasn't every man for himself.

There were two times that I was the person lined up to knock down The Viking and both times I missed. The first time I was the last person in our rotation and just missed it high. The second time I was the next to last person, I overcompensated, skipped it about two or three feet behind me and missed even more egregiously.

Up stepped Holly. Despite wearing a skirt and having to throw between her legs, she was a dead aim on her first try. She clipped the top of The Viking and our team won the game. Everyone cheered. I was kind of bummed because I'd had two chances to win the game and blown it each time.

Sarah's mom Karen had the best words of consolation. I told her, "Man, I could've won the game twice and I missed both times." She told me, "And wasn't it gracious of you to leave that honor for Holly." Touche, Karen. Touche.

After the sun went down all of the kids went to Merlin's Rest in the Longfellow neighborhood where we had drinks outside and enjoyed the wonderful night air. My brother, Hillary and Charlie all came by and joined the party too. After the 11:00 curfew on outdoor food and beverages, Dan, Hillary and I came back here to Dan's place and played a quick game of Scrabble. I may've scored the least points but I'd like to think I also did the best work for expanding the board.

Day 1 down, 8 more to go.

Update: My friend Kate says The Viking game is also called Kubb. Here's the Wikipedia link.

Lollapalooza 2008

Since Lollapalooza starts midday tomorrow (Half Day At Work!) and goes into the night I won't have time to update until maybe Monday. But if I do, it will be right here on this post.

For those of you going to the show, look for me at these band's sets which I will not miss for the world.

Friday
2:15-3:15 - The Go Team
4:15-5:15 - Gogol Bordello
5:15-6:15 - Mates of State
7:15-8:00 - Stephen Malkmus and The Jicks (Sorry CSS)
8:00-10:00 - Radiohead

Saturday
1:30-2:30 - Mason Jennings
3:30-4:30 - DeVotchKa
4:30-5:30 - Explosions In the Sky
6:30-7:30 - Broken Social Scene
8:30-10:00 - Wilco (Sorry reunited Rage Against the Machine)
11:00-??? - Broken Social Scene - Afterparty at The Metro

Sunday
3:00pm - Roll out of bed
5:15-6:15 - Flogging Molly
6:30-7:30 - Girl Talk (Sorry Gnarls Barkley)
8:15-10:00 - Nine Inch Nails unless I really want to see Kanye West

Otherwise I'll be bouncing around from set-to-set trying to catch as much as possible.

Update (12:22 am Saturday): I knew the moment of the night was probably going to come during the Radiohead set and it did. The band was playing at the southmost stage with the backdrop of the South Loop and the Field Museum behind them. There was a glow from Soldier's Field where, I know now, the Bears were holding a fan family night and I commented on it between songs.

At the end of the family night, there was a fireworks display. Radiohead kicked into "Fake Plastic Trees" from The Bends and I watched as the colors exploded in the sky and how they reflected off the building. It wasn't intentional and you'd have to be several degrees beyond stoned to believe the song and display synced up. Still it was a really beautiful moment and one which I'll treasure forever.

Alright, I'm too tired from the sweltering heat to stay awake much longer. Tomorrow is going to be a long day including an afterparty. I'll update at the end of the day if I'm still awake enough to be coherent.

Update (9:10 am Sunday) Sometimes in life you have to take the good with the bad, the better with the bitter. So when you take a frisbee to the face at Lollapalooza, try to remember it was at Lollapalooza that you blocked a frisbee with your face. Call the guy a fucking asshole and move one with it.

There are too many bands to see to waste your time on some piece of human trash (Seriously, this guy was a total dick. No "Sorry"s, just laughing.) and you were on your way to see Broken Social Scene. Which Dan and I did see. For the first of two times. As the sun was setting behind the Chicago skyline. Which was awesome.

The second time was later that evening at the Metro. After an ordeal with the doors not opening until when the opening band Yeasayer was supposed to be on stage, BSS hit the stage around 12:30 in the morning and played straight until 2:15. There wasn't a lot of duplication between their set earlier in the day and they actually played my favorite song, "Lovers Spit." Dan and I caught a cab home after the show and climbed into bed at 3 am.

Update (10:39 am Monday)

I'm back at work today and, despite having the worst dry-mouth ever last night, I woke this morning without Lil Wayne voice. I'll have to try even harder next year.

My brother wasn't able to stay for yesterday's festivities. All of the bands he wanted to see started after 5:00 and he had a 7 hour drive back to Minnesota to tackle. We went to brunch out in Bucktown with one of his friends, we said our goodbyes (all the way until this upcoming Saturday) and he drove home.

He does get a million points at life though because he figured out a way to take off his wrist band and get it onto my other friend's wrist. Since he has a big wrist and her wrist is small, he cut his band close to the clasp and then she and I stitched it onto her wrist with a needle and thread. We tightened the clasp so it covered the stitches and it looked like it had been on her wrist all along.

While there we saw three different acts and all three were an absolute jam. Flogging Molly is always great, Girl Talk was off-the-hook and then Mr. Kanye West brought his manic energy to the people. Overall Lollapalooza was great and I'm glad my bro was there to share it with me.

P.S. The new Ghostface and Raekwon?

I Have A Day Off Today

Since today is, y'know, Good Friday, I took the day off from work. I've worked really hard of late as one might expect from someone whose job includes filing tax reports. Pair that with not taking all of my vacation last year and I'm going to space my personal days out a little better this year. So when my friend Dave suggested taking a half-day yesterday and the full day today, I was onboard.

Then the weirdest thing happened this morning. I slept my usual five to six hours and then got out of bed. I'm just used to sleeping that long and then going about my day. The weird part is it was 5:30 am when I woke up. Eventhough I would've liked to sleep more and get 8 hours of sleep, apparently I was rested enough. Normally when I've been up for six hours it's 1:00 in the afternoon. Today it will only be 11:00.

So I'm sitting here on the couch, typing this entry and waiting for the first set of games to come on. The game I'm most interested in won't be on regular broadcast TV here in Chicago. I'll probably chill for a bit, watch the game that's going to be on instead and then take the train into the city after halftime to watch basketball the rest of the day. Not a bad plan for a day off.