Ok. I feel bad for not posting about my health on a health based blog so here's the recipe I use to make my breakfast shakes. I swear that it keeps me full from 8am to 1pm every day and gives you three servings of fruit, 9 grams of protein, and 11 grams of very healthy fat:
In a blender, uh, blend:
3-5 strawberries
1 banana chopped
1/4 cup of dry oatmeal
1/2 cup of sugar free, natural orange juice
1 tbsp of peanut butter
You can add protein powder or supplements to this as well. I just make mine minimal as possible. I hear you can also add kale to this and never taste it, if you want your veggie fix.
Ok, now to the main part of this blog.
After a long day of work, I headed out to the United Center to meet up with my sister, bro-in-law, and father for our second concert in the tour I'm calling "OH MY GOD. All of our idols are getting very old and out of shape. Must see them now before they die." In May, we saw Paul Simon (brilliant!) and in July we are seeing Paul McCartney (wanna go with? buy our extra tickets here!). I think Bruce Springsteen should be next on our list if he rolls back around to Chicago for obvious reasons.
RIP
Who was crossed off the bucket list last night? I'll give you a guess:
Except, he now looks like this:
Eeks! When your idols begin to look like Billy Joel, you know it's time to lay down the money for tickets.
Give up? ... Need a sledgehammer?
Wow. When did I become that lame?
It's Peter fucking Gabriel, you fools! Bow down to the Prog Rock King. BOW DOWN.
Except, he's less prog rock now. Last night's show capitalized on one of my favorite albums of last year- Scratch My Back. No drums, no guitars, and covers of other people's tunes. In fact, he started the whole show off with a melodramatic version of David Bowie's (ah! add him to the list!) "Heroes." The best part?
He was backed up by a MO FO' ORCHESTRA of epic proportions:
Eat that Paul Simon and your four man Cajun band.
Prog King played 3 hours. Yes, at his age, 3 hours. His first set were mainly covers, including "My Body is a Cage" by Arcade Fire and a Regina Spektor song. Here's him singing "Hereos" so you can get an idea of what I'm talking about:
Amazing. Right? Wish you could have all been there to share in the joy and beauty of it all. At one point, I was sitting with my jaw opened wide- taking in every note, but consciously thinking about how this was a once in a lifetime thing.
I grew up with Peter Gabriel, or with the help of him. As one of my dad's favorite artists, I can fondly remember him singing every word to "Blood of Eden" or "Kiss the Frog" while we were driven home from softball games or grandma's house. In a crazy time, Peter Gabriel was always there to say goodnight to us. And there to greet us when we got back in our dad's truck. Sharing last night's concert with my dad brought me to tears on several occasions (once being during his first set when Gabriel spoke of his own father and played Father and Son).
I am thankful that I have the memories of singing Dont Give Up with daddy-o and my sister at my side as the orchestra played on in the background. We rocked back and forth, alternating verses. At one moment, my dad reached over to me when the lyrics crooned, "Dont give up. You still have friends." It was in that moment that all the saddness I had carried over the last couple of months disappeared for a second. My dad, Gabriel, and the world were reassuring me that things are going to be alright.
