Well thursday was quite the crazy day. To begin with I got to my second big concert of the year! That’s right, this year I decided to treat myself to not just Coldplay but also Ben Folds. So after choir let out at 5:30 Beth and I hit the road for Chicago. We made it in pretty descent time so despite a little traffic arrived at Chicago Theatre at 8:00 pretty much on the dot. Although the concert technically started at 7:30 this ended up being almost perfect timing because we found our seats at the back of the hall and about 30 seconds later The Fray started their opening song. But about that Ben Folds guy. Let’s start out with the awesomeness. That man can play some amazing piano!! My GOODNESS! We were back pretty far to be able to watch his hands closely but I’m always amazed by his music and seeing him live was quite the bonus. The other two guys in the band can definitely hold their own too. I think the thing I admire and enjoy most about Ben is the fact that he can go on stage and just be the artist that he is. He is unapologetic about the music he writes and writes about the things that are important to him. A little way into the show he joked about how his music got so many negative reviews when his label tried it on test audiences and how he "can’t write singles." He even performing a pop-rock re-written version of Jesusland (hilarious). I had a few personal beefs with the performance that have nothing to do with his talent. First, his language (profanity) gets to me and it didn’t help that he covered a song by Dr. Dre either. Also, while I AM "male, middle class and white" I try not to flaunt (or complain about) it quite as much as Ben does. But those few points certainly didn’t keep me from enjoying the music he makes! Especially when it’s just Ben & the piano. Oh yeah, & I got to sing saxophone to The Army, score!

Hannah Bonham (a friend from Hesston) lives in Chicago now & Beth managed to get ahold of her so right after the show (and after paying the insanely expensive parking) we headed to Hannah’s apartment for a real quick tour and chat. Then came the final main event of the evening… the drive home. If only it had been a bit more of a non-event. However, as luck would have it I met a deer at around 2:00 am on US-20 near South Bend. The thing was standing RIGHT on the center line and as I moved the car to avoid it, it turned it’s head into the drivers-side mirror! After some minor swerving I managed to bring the car safely to a stop. Beth was sleeping at the time & was quite freaked out after the rude awakening. So after we both calmed down a bit I went out for a quick survey of damage done and it turns out the only part of the car that was touched was the mirror! So thanks God for keeping us safe, phew. Oh, and if anyone knows of a good place to get parts for a Ford Escort in the Goshen area drop me a line (or comment)