I Renege Constantly

Tomorrow/today I will do what I swore never to do again a while back: I will attend Lollapalooza. The weather in Chicago has been remarkably mild all summer, but for some reason it's supposed to be absurdly humid and hot tomorrow, much like it was today. I have no faith in weathermen, though. When I was in California (a nightmare I'd love to erase from my memory, Total Recall-style), I used to laugh at their "reports" and the ridiculously predictable and unvarying five-day forecasts. "Today: Sunny and 72. Tomorrow: Sunny and 72. Tuesday: 72 degrees. Sunny. Wednesday: 20% chance of rain, but that'll probably drop. Otherwise, Sunny and 72 degrees."

Call me crazy, but I like weather. The more inclement the better, as far as I'm concerned. However, with the fucking MS, the volatile weather can wreak havoc on my symptoms. Especially the humidity, which can, and does, exacerbate symptoms to such an extent that I might be mistaken for a late-stage Parkinson's patient: I can be immobile and uncommunicative.

Although I vowed never to go to another outdoor music festival, I want ("want" is a variable word) to go to Lollapalooza and see Lou Reed. It'll be the fourth time I will have seen him perform, I think. Let's see: Town Hall, Crobar, and St. Ann's. All in NYC, and all tremendous. The first was on the The Raven tour, the second was more b-side-heavy, which was nice, and the third was one of the initial dates on the Berlin tour, which ranks up there on both my litany of great concerts as well as that of my top albums.

I expect tomorrow's set to consist mostly of his greatest hits, but I don't care and actually welcome this. I've not seen him do "Coney Island Baby" or something from Magic & Loss, so I'll put myself through hell for the possibility of seeing something new, for me, but tested and reliable standards for him.

Again, though, the heat is going to pose a huge problem. I'm kidnapping LNE, so she'll probably have to endure most of my bitching, but I assume she's used to this. I hope that most spectators will depart at some point so they can get a good spot for the headliners, Jane's Addiction and/or The Killers. (The latter of these, by the way, got snubbed by me at the San Diego Street Scene festival, and instead I watched The White Stripes. I think I made a great decision.)

So, know that I can renege on any of my declarations, if enticed enough. That's one of the reasons I'd be a terrible hostage. That and the relentless, cloying kvetching that my captors would tire of after a few hours. (I'm being generous with the extent of their patience.)

R