Aluminum tunes and dusty vinyl

So, in case anyone missed it, Saturday was Record Store Day around the nation. I had mentioned it in an earlier posting, hoping it would drum up some excitement about an often-overlooked establishment -- and the true music shopping experience.

A quick link to the event website provided a list of participating stores. Our own suburban location was represented by Geneva's very own Kiss the Sky, located on 3rd Street in the downtown district. I was actually surprised that there had actually been a little press written about the event, too. Granted, no giant billboards or planes circling delivering messages in smoke. But, considering the state of the music world, any kind of recognition is a plus.

I managed to get over to the store late in the afternoon, probably close to 4:00 p.m. To my surprise, the place really was hopping. A wonderful mixture of young and old pouring through merchandise: CDs, old and new vinyl (yes, new vinyl is on the rise again...), t-shirts, posters, and other assorted items. There were snacks available like sushi, cookies, pastries, and a few plates that were already quite picked through (my punishment for arriving late). There were drawings for t-shirts, goodie bags with purchases, and sales on vinyl.

I managed to come home with a few goodies myself. I arrived carrying my 3-page long "wish" list and was able to cross a couple of the items off, as well as finding a few new releases.

If I had any complaint at all about the event, it was that ONLY the vinyl purchases were celebrated with discounts. And only when reaching a certain total. Now I do understand that vinyl is an important part of past glory -- and is even starting to find an audience with younger fans again. However, the bulk of the store is CDs. And considering that the CDs are already priced higher than any online source, it would seem to have been a great time to pass some savings down. The vinyl available at the store, while pretty tasty, wasn't extensive enough to satisfy the wish list anyway.

I did find one wonderful 3-record vinyl import release by Stereolab (Aluminum Tunes) in pretty good shape. And I picked up 4 CDs as well. But not the stash I was hoping to return with -- especially after saving my pesos for so long in anticipation of the event. And the record I did buy (not cheap by any means) did not produce any discount.

So, overall, I do feel some satisfaction in helping contribute to the bottom line of a local establishment. And I'm very excited to see that so many people came out to take part in the celebration. But I would like to see more done next year to make it worthwhile. There were a lot of folks there buying CDs for $16-$19 that commented on the cost. I can get a far greater selection and price online. So please make it just a TAD easier for me to justify paying out some bucks. I have a budget. And I crave music.

Also, I really wanted the Record Store Day t-shirt. When I asked, I was told it was only something that could be won with the drawing of names later. Employees were wearing this wonderful shirt and it was hanging up on display by the counter. What better way to advertise for next year's event? Sell me (and others) a shirt!

Better start saving now for next year's event.

A little bit of catching up

[Su's cousins, L to R: Joey, Reese, Noah, Su, Holly, Tommy, and Shelby]

I actually don't have much of a post. At least not in terms of providing exciting news. But I figured my long-haired photos of yesteryear were probably sitting at the top of the page long enough and it was time for something a bit more interesting.

Since the last posting, things have been busy in kind of a "quiet" way. Easter came and went. The daytime work schedule has been keeping me more than busy, with too many late trips back home. The construction has resumed on I-88, so now my drive has crept back up to being near unbearable most days. I've been supplementing with a lot of extra freelance work of late, too. A couple of large projects came up near the same time and I've been struggling to keep up. One large design project wrapped up last Thursday. One is in review mode by the client and I'm putting the finishing touches on one last smaller job. Then it's time for a break.

No news on the house. We had quite a bit of activity in the first 3 weeks after listing. About 10 showings to date. But this past week produced only 1. Weather was uncooperative, but I suspect that it's just an overall slowing period. While interest rates remain low and existing home sales aren't totally bottoming out, the pace isn't the same here in Geneva right now. It's pretty much hit-or-miss. A house near ours sold in about 2 weeks. Others sit for months. So we wait and remain a bit frustrated.

Su is doing well. The rapid rise to "girl" status is amazing. And spending a couple of nights with her cousins (Anita's side, not pictured) last month during a sleep-over brought about new additions to her vocabulary like "dude" and "awesome." Her cousins are teens. She's not yet 6. It's pretty strange to hear the words coming out of her mouth. But it's fun. She's doing well in school and her personality is strong and confident. She's also just started up in gymnastics this past week. So the confidence continues to grow.

And she has joined Dad for one more session of Tae Kwon Do at the Geneva Park District. You can read the earlier entry on the success of that program. It should be another 7 weeks of fun for the two of us. And I think Anita enjoys the small break. She continues to handle all in the household without complaint. She keeps everything running near flawlessly. And with so much going on between school, house showings, family events, and fulfilling all of the household needs, that's no small feat.

I don't really have much to add. It's kind of a scattered summary to throw out a few nuggets while hoping for free time to do more with the next entry. Hmmm... Record Store Day is fast approaching. Perhaps an update to the blog will be forthcoming. Plus, more birthdays and even a family trip to the dentist. OK. No dentist details.