Okay, it's time for the first of what may be several installments of enumerated, illuminated conclusions from the last couple of days. Not that there will be several installments covering the last couple of days, specifically, but this is another one of things I hope to be a recurring "topic" in this space.

Got it? Me neither.

• The band that eats together, stays together. Thursday night had a post-practice gathering of most of Lindsie's band at Kamahachi for some sushi and sake, which was fun, if not a bit draining on the remainder of my weekday budget.
• If it's too good to be true, it's not. The job that I had characterized as sounding almost note-for-note like my résumé has been filled. I'm still hoping that Eric's friend can come through for me on another prospect, and there are a couple of companies I've talked to in the past that have positions open as well.
• Defense wins championships. I'm back in the Friday night Barnburner Soccer League out in Palatine, and we've got pretty much the only "new" team of the lot. It's amazing how little defensive organization you can have when you haven't played together. We got shellacked, but had a couple of good stretches, so I'm not overly concerned. Yet.
• I know everybody. Dropped by Elbo Room for Marigold Engine after the game on Friday, and ran into five or six people I knew, but wasn't at all expecting to see. That's always good for validating my choice to stay in Chicago.
• Sweat + Beer = Hangover. I didn't feel like I drank all that much on Friday night (or, it may be that I managed to not actually pay for too many drinks, which is something else entirely), but man, did I ever feel useless for most of Saturday.
• Technology is your friend. Got my universal remote, finally, but I'm still working through programming the damn thing. It's a little clunky at times, but so far, so good. The real test will be tonight when it has to run the cable box for taping The Simpsons and Angel on different channels. Amanda couldn't figure it out yesterday, so I got home at 2am to the television being on.
• Little things can throw you off, and don't set up too close to the wall. I bought a used drum kit from my friend Steve last week, and pressed it into action Saturday night on the assumption that it would be a mostly transparent switch from my other kit, which is very similar in configuration. Except that it's not, really. The bass drum being two inches higher probably got me the most, as I didn't really get the toms where I wanted them. The kit wound up "stretching" laterally a bit, but I've got long enough arms that it wasn't a huge issue. More troublesome was the tendency for my right elbow to hit the wall as I moved around the kit, as the stage we were on was not very deep, and I didn't want to take up too much real estate.
• We rock. Even on what could be very generously called an off night, Lindsie and band made a pretty solid impression on the audience at Wise Fools Pub, an audience which included some pretty knowledgeable people from the local scene. I liked the look on the face of Phil, from Strain Busy Sky, when I ripped into the double-bass fill in "Pink Balloons." Clearly, he wasn't expecting that, which is exactly why it's there.
• I know everybody, part two. After we got done, I headed up to The Gramercy for Louisa's going-away party. I sat down at their table, and this attractive blonde German woman confronts me, talking about how wonderful of a time we had together, and how I didn't call. No one from our table had gotten up, so it couldn't have been them who had put her up to this, so I was a bit confused until my friend Jamie, who I hadn't seen in at least six months or so, clapped me on the back and said hi. As it turned out, I also knew one more of the bartenders than I thought I did, both from the brunch days at Jane's.
• In the battle between weekend and discipline, weekend wins. I'm a bit off of my new "routine" over the last day or two, but I'm not sweating it just yet. Monday should see a return to my new regimen of productivity and practice. Hopefully.