This past weekend was a confusing one in Ann Arbor; ah, the highs and lows of returning to the motherland. Mainly, a pulled muscle in my neck (Source: Epic bike ride #1 to Schiller Park with backward seat post on Monday? Sleeping in the fetal position on the floor that evening? epic bike ride #2 down potholey MLKJr Boulevard to the site of the future Olympic Stadium on Wednesday?) became increasingly more painful over the course of the weekend, and kept me from fulfilling my packing intentions as I'd hoped. That unhappy progression aside, it was simply glorious to blitz through a jungley Arboretum at dusk on Saturday, sit on the porch reading Murakami for the better part of Sunday morning, attend hipster house parties with a nalgene of g&t in hand, see fellow planners, stock up on By The Pound goods, recieve musculoskeletal advice from enCat's visiting dad and sister, and declump/brush/nuzzle large-and-in-charge Maotse (bringing back the hipster spelling for Summer '08) for hours on end.

Finally refreshed after nine hours of bolstered-neck sleeping (yesterday's shockingly early morning car ride, despite layers of Ben Gay, ice, and Patrick Watson blaring through the speakers, paved the way for a pretty uncomfortable day), I am back in Chicags and ready to add to last week's fun., which included hobnobbing with the Mayoral Fellows at the Parthenon, playing wino on the Metra up to see Feist at Ravinia, and cycling to ultimate games all over the city. This week there are movies in the park, Murakami on the porch in lieu of ultimate, and -- this weekend --Sandblast, for which I'll hopefully be able to turn my neck. Holler.