A Parallelogram.

At the Steppenwolf tonight -- saw A Parallelogram, which was either about time travel or agency or free will or determinism or existentialism or psychosis. Or all of the above.

Anyway. It was a good performance, and after intermission we snuck down to the first row. The change in perspective somehow made the female lead seem shrill and obnoxious. But the whole play was about that, sort of: perspective, subjectivity. (The other themes of the play -- the free will shenanigans -- were just a little too passé to be interesting. And the unanswerable "Is she crazy or is she actually time-traveling?" was Inception-esque. I hate it when storytellers don't want there to be answers.)

So went maybe the rest of Sunday too. Changes in perspective. The friend from high school I stayed with in Chicago -- I used to really respect and almost admire her. She was always well-versed in current events, knowledgeable about random trivia, less enslaved to the high school routine of "get good grades, collect leadership positions, repeat" than the rest of us. But last weekend, having both aged two years since we'd spent significant time together, I realized how dissimilar we are in the ways that matter.

I also saw a friend from college on Sunday. We haven't been extremely close the past year, mostly because we stopped agreeing about anything. Somehow as we wandered around the city, though, I realized that all the things we'd argued about -- in the end, really, she'd been a lot more right than I'd given her credit for. It'd just taken me a few months to understand things her way.

I am filthy. And happy.

Actually, I was filthy ten minutes ago. Now that I've washed the smell of Lollapalooza (a pungent mix of sunscreen, sweat, and marijuana) out of my hair, I'm not much less satisfied. A little more tired, maybe. And a little sore.

But worth it. So, so worth it. Performances in order of awesomeness:

1) Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeroes: performed on a minor stage and literally packed the entire grassy area around it. People were climbing in trees to get a better view. Such good energy. And NPR was right -- they're much better live than recorded. Must see again.
2) Phoenix: I wasn't a big fan until today. But wow. I was tired and dehydrated and dizzy from the pot smoke around me, and they still blew me away. Now must listen to "1901" for the rest of my life.
3) The xx: I saw them at Cat's Cradle last spring. Not quite the same vibe in broad daylight, but still contagious and supersensual.
4) Metric: Not much to say. A lot of hair-flailing.
5) Spoon: I'm not their biggest fan. But performance was on point. And gotta love the brass section.
6) Stars: A friend told me that Stars live is a disappointment, and I . . . can't not agree. Amy Millan was onstage in a shiny black dress and heels at least a decade too young for her. And it's just strange to hear her rhyming "ecstasy" and "sex with me" (to steal Pitchfork's observation) alongside a blue-violet-reflective-sunglasses-donning Torq Campbell.
7) Grizzly Bear: Okay, I know these guys can harmonize the shit out of everything, but they were really low-energy. And not interesting. And boring.

I need to make music festivals a habit. Actually, I need to make this summer a habit. Need to reflect on this more. Will be back when it's not 4:00 a.m. EST.

Chicago.

In a friend's room waiting for her to get back from Linear Algebra. Last night we randomly found a friend of a friend's small gathering and got there in time to see him break two wine glasses within an hour of each other. Then ran around looking at apartment renovations, heard everyone discuss Durkheim (more like Jerkheim, apparently) and complain about how many times they'd read Aristotle's Nicomachean Ethics for their Core classes.

Really, really cool to see U of Chicago students going off on random professors and classes, knowing that if we were at Duke we'd do the same. Also made me 2% want to go to school here, but it's definitely a passing thought. More so maybe just made me miss everyone from school more and want late August to get here sooner? (Of course, I'd like school to start without classes starting -- ideal situation #1.)

Sometimes I think that I wouldn't even need to do anything with my life -- I could just wander around and observe other people living out their existences, maybe partake for a day or two before moving on. Maybe I could couchsurf forever. Probably not a sustainable idea. But I do so love a good adventure.

A person I generally despise always says she likes to do things for the story she can later tell (and she tends to tell these stories repeatedly and continuously, with or without your permission). I hate to say that I'm like her, but -- yeah, it's kind of like that.