Oh lordy, what an awesome day. So first I worked eight hours in my cube at the Star Tribune, but I got to wrap up assigning a really cool (um, I hope it's cool? or I hope *you* think it's cool?) illustration for our Halloween cover. You'll have to wait to see it, but man, I'm pretty excited.Then? Then I got to head over to St. Paul and watch P.O.S. play a super small show at the local music college and hear a ton of his new music live. Woot! Love hearing the new songs! And you guys? The kids in the crowd were singing along to every word. To the songs on the album that ISN'T EVEN OUT YET. They knew all the words from the internet leaks! And it was so fun!And then I left there, crossed the street, and got to see an incredibly intimate show by Conor Oberst! Yeah, yeah, yeah. I know he's polarizing, but I'm a girl and I love his music. LOVE IT. And he played so many old songs and it was lovelyI mean seriously, how many times do you get to see two of your top five artists play BACK TO BACK across the street from each other in the same town. And hear new music from both? I'm a happy girl, I tell you.And? AND? Besides all of this, my two dear friends Stacy and Carl got engaged today! Seriously happy for those two. So, so happy.To see a few shots from the POS show look here.To see some of Conor, look here.

This is what I see every night when I come home from work. The dogs are so excited to greet me that they are *prying the door open with their noses.* My god, I love that. You might get a lot of dog photos in the next few days because I'm gonna miss them like crazy when I leave town. But it's not like that's such bad news, eh? Puppy pictures can only do so much harm....

Sooo, remember Mark Mallman? He's the local musician who is always coming up with new and crazy ways to perform. A few years ago, I shot his 3 day music marathon, and today he was back with Marathon Four.This year, instead of playing in one venue for three days straight, he has taken his show on the road. Literally. He is strapped into a van and he's playing music for SEVEN days straight as he drives across the country. You can watch it happen hereHe has hooked up machinery to his body to monitor his biorhythms and create music while he sleeps. It's kindof fascinating science, which you can read about in this Wired article here.Anyway! Today he stopped back on his home turf for a few hours and people could stop by and watch him perform. So I couldn't miss that now could I? This shot is him in the van with another local musician. I took a few other images you should check out over here. Honestly? Even if you don't like the music, you have to admire the creativity of it all. I'm personally a tad amazed.

Look at this handsome prince. Yeah, he's still holding a grudge.This weekend we took him to the groomer for the first time since he was one year old. See, that time that we took him, we got a call asking us to please come pick him up because he was barking too muchNow, if you know anything at all about Collies, you know they bark -- it's their nature. That piercing annoying bark that can only be forgotten when you remember their kind loyalty and eagerness to please their owners (and keep you warm in the winter).Anyway, I had never tried to get him groomed again because a) he hates baths b) he hates kennels and c) he hates hair dryers and d) he hates getting his nails clipped. But frankly, I was having a hard time keeping up with his coat lately and a neighbor told me about a groomer that specializes in collies. Someone who knows all about the barking and the fear of dryers and who doesn't charge too much. So I made an appointment.To be honest, he's a little *too* fluffy for my tastes right now, but I'm sure in a day or two, that will mellow out a bit. But the coat! It is so soft and they got all of his undercoat out, and even though he's still glaring at me a little, I can tell he probably feels better. Or that's what I'm going to keep telling myself.I don't know if I could ever do this to him again (I think he was more forgiving when we got him fixed), but it sure is nice this one time.