I think we're both crazy

The zoo was exhausting, but oh so fun. There are these two polar bears there and one of them was playing with a bright orange cone, dunking it and then pushing it back down with it's giant paws. Up and down, each splash bigger than the next. My daughter and her friend had their faces pressed to the glass and one time that enormous bear came up and just stared them straight in the eye, for a good 1-2-3 count, before dipping back down and resuming his game. The girls were stunned still, I don't think they took a breath for more than that 3-count. It was awesome. One time, at Sea World, the polar bear ate a duck in front of us... well I changed the subject and pushed me daughter in the opposite direction so she didn't see, but um, ick.

Something different since I didn't prepare anything and I'm truly tired. Wilco, yes my most favorite band, were on Conan earlier this week and they did a new song. It's such a great ode to the everyday perils of marriage and coupling. The small jealousies, the little insignificant fights that add up, the occasional nasty look.

Is that the thanks I get for loving you?
Is that the thanks we get for falling in love?

Most of us, even those of us who are in lovely relationships with lovely people who are truly partners in every sense of the word, feel this way sometimes.

Pitchfork I think it was, said something like this about the song: "Jeff Tweedy's still writing notes he can't hit," or something like that and you know what, they're right and thank goodness he does that because it makes this light soul-pop song shiver with personality and poignancy that it may not otherwise have if he had that golden voice other (lesser - ha ha) people strive for.

The whole thing ends with the sing-a-long refrain, "We can make it better." Damn straight.

Wilco, "Is ThatThe Thanks I Get?" (Live on Conan)

Back to the kid stuff tomorrow.

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