When I became a criminal defense attorney four and a half years ago I was in the best shape of my life. Between yoga and the gym I was a lean muscular 170 pounds. Eventually as the stress of my job continued to grow (and it did as I advanced in my career to more challenging positions) so did my waistline. It was easier to come home, have a beer and eat like crap to cope with the stress of dealing with cops, judges, murderers and rapists all day, than to go to the gym. Six months ago I decided enough was enough and began the long hard road back to getting in shape again. Some weeks were better than others and for every step forward I took, I eventually took a step back. Then came the premier of "The Walking Dead"...

As I lay there on the couch a commercial came on for this: http://runforyourlives.com/ I suddenly sat up and had an epiphany: managing my work stress may not be motivation enough for me to get back into shape, but surviving the inevitable zombie apocalypse sure as hell is. I don't want to be that guy that gets winded and overcome by the horde, or whose dexterity is so weighted down that when I dodge a flesh eating walker, I twist my ankle and end up as zombie food. So I signed up for this dry run of the real thing and began going to the gym the very next day. Two weeks later I am happy to report that I've gone 12 times since and not only do I feel like it's actually going to take as daily habit again, but that my work stress has miraculously become more manageable. Of course none of this is as important as preparing my body and mind for what we all know is coming sooner or later - the mutherfuckin' zombie apocalypse. A few more months of this and I'll be ready to say 'bring it.'

I don't know about the rest of you, but 2011 has been a harsh mistress. Death has touched many people that I know, I myself had to fight off a life threatening illness this spring, and within so many people's lives there has been stagnation and frustration. At the same time, I received the promotion I have been working toward for the past four years and am exactly where I want to be professionally. I am writing this because this weekend is the annual Pitchfork Music Festival in Chicago, an event that has become like a mini-vacation from life for me over the past few years. I feel like this year's is somehow more important than any before only because life has turned so weird lately (even if it will be hard to beat last year's musically, because can't really compete against Pavement, Modest Mouse, Best Coast, Big Boi, Raekwon and LCD Soundsystem). Every year I have gone it has been an oasis of great music, food and people that revitalizes me and feels like home (minus the porto potties). This year, though, I feel like it is something more, a sort of "this is what it is all about and everything else is just bullshit that doesn't matter anyway" moment.

2011 has been a roller coaster, with a lot more downs than ups, but the next three days remind me that the music and community which have sustained me for so many years is still there, going strong, and I can lean on them the most when I need to.

If you are happen to be at the festival this year, look for me. I'll be the guy with two full sleeves, one of which has a big smiling starfish on it, and I will be smiling even bigger knowing that no matter what life throws at me and everyone else, there will always be moments like this that make it all worthwhile.

This is a post about my daughters, who are 8 and 9....

Alyia brought home a book today called "Cities Of Blood" about the Aztecs. I asked her what the book was about and she said "I don't know I just liked the title," so I asked to see it while muttering sarcastically under my breath "I've done such a good job as a parent." Alyia immediately declared "You have!" to which I said, somewhat flaberggasted, "but you are reading books called 'Cities Of Blood!"

Sidney, somehow understanding what I was implying, chimed in and said "Daddy, it's in your blood not to raise us to like ponies, but to raise us to be like you." Alyia followed up by saying, "yeah, and I don't want to like ponies, I want to like things like "Cities of Blood.'"
I turned to Sidney and said, "what about you, do you want to like ponies?" To which she answered with certainty, "No. Ponies are creepy. Hopping about in their pretty little fields - that's spooky."

At this point I just kind of gave up and shook my head, realizing that I had indeed raised the children that I had always wanted, but when faced with the fact that they really had turned out like I always wished I was a little freaked out, thinking that maybe I had robbed some sort of Disney princess fantasy from them at too early an age...then I remembered something that Sidney had said this morning:

"Can you make me a mix cd with some Johnny Cash songs that I haven't heard, and maybe some Slayer?" I couldn't help but smile, realizing that my kids fucking rule.

What I did over my summer vacation:

Seriously, It feels like I haven't been here in so long, and I miss it. I miss the beautiful women, the like minded people and at home everytime I am here. I am resolving to not stay away this long again.

So what has been up? Summer, summer and more summer. I traveled far and wide for concerts throughout the season - the highlight was Pitchfork in Chicago. Best year yet for that festival, not only did I get the religious experience of watching Pavement again for the first time in, what? A decade, but I found myself in the middle of the best dance party I've ever been a part of during the LCD Soundsystem show.

When I wasn't traveling I was writing record reviews for http://lunamusicfreshness.blogspot.com/...and then when I wasn't doing that I was working, which bares only a passing mention since work, as we all know, sucks. Oh yeah, there was a lot of margarita and gin & tonic drinking too while Best Coast played on the stereo...and lots of great times with friends. All and all a pretty great summer, but now I feel it slipping away, which is alright, cause fall is near and Halloween will give me an excuse to watch too many horror films, and it will be time for bonfires and bourbon, which is not too bad of a trade off.

Hope everyone has had as good a summer as I did. Here are some photos of me relaxing throughout the season...well, relaxing and wearing sunglasses apparently non-stop.

Nothing better than spontaneity at a tattoo parlor, especially when your artist pushes back his appointments because he wants to do your totally unscheduled, unplanned idea, and when all is said and done that same artist of 13 years declares to everyone in the shop "this is my favorite tattoo that I have ever done." He might have been caught up in the moment just a bit, but regardless It is pretty damn awesome. Oh yeah, arm is officially done now too. Sorry for the immediate kind of raw pics, but you know how it is when you just got it done...

I sat through 12 hours of a painful jury today that ended up getting hung (meaning the douchebags we elect as jurors couldn't decide if my client was guilty or innocent...which means to me that reasonable doubt exists so they should have found her not guilty, but whatever, we live in America, where reasonable doubt means anything but)...anyway I would love to bitch up a storm about what happened today and how race was a factor because my client was black, but instead I will post this awesome video of a cat kicking ass and not even worrying about taking names...I wish I could be this cat.

Wish I could be at Hell City. Maybe next year. Wish everyone who is going the best of time. In the meantime, I'm going to begin what appears to be the epic journey of Red Dead Redemption and groove on the new Black Tusk and Harvey Milk, both of which are kicking my ass right now.

So my six-year old daughter Sidney is kicking it in her booster seat with the window rolled down looking at the spring bloom and she says "Life is pretty." Keep in mind that only moments before she was playing rock, paper, scissors by herself, so take that insight with a grain of salt.

I've been a member here for some time, but I don't feel like I have done anything to be a part of the great community that is here. I have come to realize that SG is more than just beautiful women with tattoos, but a great community as well. I would rather have discussions with the members of SG than wade through Facebook and what people I barely knew in high school are doing today, especially since it is about as exciting as watching paint dry.

Anyway, I hope to become more of the SG community over time, since this places feels like home, or at least as much of a home as you can have in cyberspace...

Also I wanted to celebrate that I just finished the sleeve on my right arm. The majority was completed by Jeff Foti at Metamorphosis in Indianapolis, with one of the primary pieces being done by Matt at Old Town Tatu in Chicago. I couldn't be happier with the work, nor could I be more proud to join the ranks of the sleeved! Now I am going to focus on my legs, which have been mostly ignored over the past couple of years, with only three pieces adorning them. Time to step up my game down there.

When I get a good pic of the sleeve I'll post it.