[Mb-hair] Dauber goes full-circle (VERY long and mostly OT)

Sun Mar 26 04:49:42 PST 2006

Hi, all...sorry to go off-topic here, but I figured I'd update you on what's
going on in my life since eight years ago you were all extremely supportive
of me and helped me get through a very strange and confusing time in my
life. Another one of those times has come again.

I remember in the summer of 1997 we were discussing the Divine Hair / Mass
In F album, and Michael Butler replied to me privately and asked if I could
provide him with a tape of it, as his copy was in storage and not easily
accessible. Of course, I was happy to do it: 1) all I had to do was put in a
tape and hit "record," and 2) it gave me a good reason to listen to the
album! A few days later, Michael thanked me profusely for it and invited me
to hang with him as thanks for it. So one Saturday afternoon I drove to
Chicago and had an enjoyable lunch with him. (Those of you who've met me
know I'm not exactly, well...in healthy shape -- Michael told me he tries to
avoid meat, and I was thinking "Oh, no...vegetarian food coming!!" And you
know what? I was right -- but it was pretty damn good!)

On my way to Michael's place I remember getting severely lost (I had been to
the city a week or two earlier, and I remembered that 55 was undergoing some
construction and could do some nasty things to the tires, so I tried an
alternate route -- which made me late for our meeting time because I had to
pass by the Cog Hill Country Club the day Tiger Woods was in town for the
Western Open!), and he was very patient and understanding and guided me toward the right streets.
But boy, was I having a bad time trying to get there.

And after a very enjoyable afternoon and a surprisingly yummy vegetarian
lunch, I went shopping at some of the record stores I liked to frequent in
the city...and proceeded to lock my keys in my car, and blew forty bucks on
a locksmith. And I let the bad drive up and my key-locking idiocy ruin the
good day I was having...boy, was I pissed...I was cursing Chicago up and
down.

And when I headed back home, I popped in a tape of the not-yet-released
stereo mix of The Beach Boys' _Pet Sounds_, which to this day is one of my
favorite albums ever. As I was heading south on I-55 that sunny day, this
line from "That's Not Me" echoed out of my car speakers:

"I once had a dream so I packed up and split for the city."

And I could see the Chicago skyline in my rear view mirror. For those of you
who've never been there, Chicago has one of the most beautiful skylines
you'd ever want to see. Very colorful, unique architecture, and spread out
very nicely.

I thought about how the bad things that happened to me that day were my own
damn fault, and that I really had a great day having a nice lunch with "the
chief" and then checking out the used record stores I dug. And just overall
what a great place that is. It was then that I knew I had to live in
Chicago.

A year later, I met a wonderful woman from New Jersey. We had a
long-distance romance going for most of 1998, and we decided if we were
going to make it work, one of us had to move. After visiting her in the
summer, I realized a few things: 1) if I moved there, I'd probably move in
with her and live two blocks from the beach; 2) I could finally get out of
my parents' house (hey, when you're 23 years old, that's the number-one
priority!); 3) I could start a new life...so I made the move, and in 1999 we
were married, and to this day you'd swear that Lisa and I are
newly-weds; seriously, we're one of those cute couples that makes everybody
throw up, know what I mean?

The thing is...it turned out that Lisa fell in love with Chicago the first
second she set foot in that town. Thanks to that, we've visited Chicago as
much as we possibly could -- spend a few days with my family, then spend a
few days in the city. In August 2001 we were walking along the river while
waiting for our Amtrak back home, and we both realized hey, we gotta come
here.

A couple of months ago Lisa told me "We need to talk." And we discussed how
for five years we've been talking about moving there so we could be where we
want to be, be closer to my family so that when we start having kids they'll
actually know their relatives (here in Jersey, my mother-in-law is Lisa's
only living relative), etc. She said, "It's time to shit or get off the
pot. We gotta do it somehow." I set a goal for myself that I'd get us to
Chicago by the time 2006 was over. Then she decided to take a year off from
her work on her master's degree, so then I said "Okay, let's make that
2007." And Lisa said still let's try to do it soon, and if need be, she'll
stay behind to finish her master's, then join me in Chicago.

Welllllll....recently an opportunity came up for me...an e-mail went out at
work that our Chicago office was looking to fill a promising position. With
my boss's blessing I went for it. I had a couple of phone interviews, and
this week I WAS OFFERED THE JOB!!! And I nearly shat myself when I saw what
they wanted to pay me -- I didn't think it was possible to make that much
where I work!

So...in late May I start my new job in Chicago! (Woohoo! Big dream #2
fulfilled!) We told my mother-in-law last night, and she was surprisingly
supportive! (We did emphasize that we would like her to join us at some
point so she'd have some family nearby....)

Having said all that, I'm remembering all the cool stuff that happened
during my eight-year stay here:

- watching Brian Wilson, one of my idols (second only to the Beatles!), not
only perform a concert -- something I thought he'd never do in his life --
but perform Pet Sounds in concert....then finishing the Smile album --
something I nearly bet my life-savings that would never, ever happen! -- and
watching him perform it at Carnegie Hall...

- getting married

- last fall's Hair reunion (well...technically it was still summer...)

- getting to meet Jim Rado on a couple of occasions

- meeting a lot of awesome Hair people -- WMH, Tioga Joe (figure THIS one out -- WMH lives
in Seattle, Tioga lives two or three blocks away from me -- yet I only get a
chance to see Tioga as often as I do WMH!), Nina, Corinne, Robin, Bill
Swiggard, Sherwin...I know I'm forgetting many, but trust me, those of you
I'm forgetting now I will always remember having a blast with you at the
reunion!

Anyhoo...I'm thrilled to be starting a new job in my favorite place in the
world, and of course I'm looking forward to meeting some Chicago-area Hair
folk. I'll probably be crashing with my brother or even my parents until I'm
able to get established in Chicago permanently, but when Lisa and I finally
do get settled, we'll all have to get together and have some fun!

--
dauber at banana-and-louie.org
 * ICQ: 28677921 * YIM: dau_ber * AIM: ddaauubbeerr
blog: http://scattered-frog.blogspot.com