Learning the verbs 'go' and 'do'

I'm sitting in front of the computer on a beautiful day, typing this column. Lucy Pearl is on the headphones, kicking my ass.\n In the background the slinky whisper of Dawn Robinson, late of En Vogue, is telling me not to mess with her man. I don't intend to, sister. \n If you were glad to hear Billie Day filtered through late century electronica and funk when Macy Gray wondered why you didn't call, you'd love Lucy Pearl. It's the mind of George Clinton played in the body of The Gap Band. Even at 40, you'll want to put your hands on your knees and shake out a la Wrecks-n-Effects.\n Even I get tired of lecturing responsibility and getting weepy over the positive wonders of life. It's like living at both ends of poetess Hilda Doolittle's emotional candle. Today, the propaganda shack is closed (more cheap ways to achieve decadent emotional self satisfaction will be detailed in the future, don't worry).\n No, this is about living in the moment, where I do it, why I love doing it, a kind of travel guide to Bloomington for those who love small pleasures.\n In no particular order, no indication of good versus better:\n 1. Taking the dog for a cone at Chocolate Moose\n The dog knows that his evening walk will often involve a kid's cone in a cup. I get to re-experience my thrill when the parents announced a Dairy Queen visit.\n 2. Daydreaming\n I just won a Pulitzer and the Pope is on the other line, waiting to apologize for calling homosexuality "objectively disordered". Later, I go through my time machine just in time for revels at Hatfield with Elizabeth I.\n 3. Laughing Planet\n Who knew bean burritos were supposed to taste this good?\n 4. The Coffee Place with the stupid name\n In Dunnkirk Square, Cafe Expresso Royale? is that what they call it? I walk in there and transport to my favorite coffee shop in NYC. The roast there is just better, but I don't know how. I've filled up so many coffee cards and gotten so many free drinks that even I'm embarassed, but not enough to keep me away.\n 5. The Bloomington Bagel Company\n They are still not New York bagels, but they couldn't be--I think NY bagels have to be boiled in NYC water. Bad thing: not the cheapest place if your appetite is big. A bagel with schmear is reasonable, and they hit their quality mark consistently.\n 6. The trees by the mighty Jordan\n As you walk on the sidewalk going through Dunn Meadow, you pass this group of trees--it can make a Druid or a Wiccan out of you.\n 7. The woods behind Swain Hall West\n Find the rocks, sit down on a relatively calm afternoon. Took a date there once--good kisser. The karma here has got to be good.\n 8. Lennie's\n House salad, house dressing, pizza--go ahead and have a beer, one of theirs--Chuck, me, a couple of good friends. You know I love you if I eat with you here. \n 9. White Mountain\n I've recently developed a problem with eating ice cream. I swear I'll take more acid blockers just for the pleasure of a waffle cone. Really, I will. \n 10. Early Music\n Where do these people come from who can make a theroboe sing? The delicate colaratura diva-ettes of the School of Music crank my brain hard. Pro Arte Singers? One word, ohmygod.\n You'll notice that a lot of my favorites cluster in downtown Bloomington, that place you've recently thought of as a construction zone. I've had so many interesting experiences on Kirkwood that I have to give an honorable mention to two more places down there--go forth, children, and spend your money!\n Honorable Mention--Urban Outfitters\n Some of the store employees have attitude, but that's only because they are standing around in the midst of flagrant design mistake for the Midwest. Not to worry, it's fun to peruse.\n Honorable Mention--Discount Den\n Attitude on a beer budget, home of the snappy one-liner incorporated as customer service policy. You hear the music, now dance to it. Closest cigarettes to fully one quarter of the on-campus population at any given moment.\n Now Lucy Pearl wants to dance tonight: "I wanna dance tonight/I wanna toast tonight/I'll spend my money tonight/I want to get freaky tonight..." I heard that--I've got the urge to crash in on Axis with fifty of my best straight friends, bump hard, drink hard, sweat, dance, and cab home. \n Or grab Judy and make her do gay Indianapolis. At least I'd have things to look at. \n Take this chance to put some club kid in your life, wear your hip huggers and polyester or put down the newspaper and have White Mountain as early as they open for the day. It goes well with a latte, and you can have a cigarette with me, if you're of legal age. Feel like walking? Dunn Meadow to Swain West, some trips are made of things less wonderful.\n It's a beautiful day on Kirkwood and South Washington where I'm typing. Enjoy enjoying it--we'll let Lucy Pearl take us out: "Look what the cat hauled in/me and a couple friends/no need to settle down/my body don't know how/...This place is so damn wild/Go ahead and floss your ice/Go ahead and do what you like/I'm feeling just as right/Do your thing it's on tonight..." and a big "Shanti" out to all my kids.