It’s been a great week for me in many regards, but especially for food and music. It started on Monday when the lovely lethal Linda and I hit up The Meatball Shop for delicious sliders and ice cream sandwiches (heavenly) before heading over to Pianos to see our friends Mancie (delightful). A pleasant way to kick off the week.

Then on Wednesday I got to try out ABC Kitchen, which I had never been to despite its proximity to my place of employment. It’s a bit out of my normal lunch price range, but a birthday is the perfect excuse to spend a little more, and it was completely worth it. I tried the apple pear salad and ricotta ravioli. Both were great, but I think I’ll be dreaming of that salad for weeks to come. Mmm.

On Friday, my partner in crime and I headed to the east village to get delicious Ukranian foods at Veselka and see two of our friends perform in Accidental #5 at Danspace, which we thoroughly enjoyed. It was a nice change of pace for us, since our outings usually revolve around concerts or gaming, and it was the perfect way to end the work week.

I’d been planning to head out to Jersey on Saturday evening to catch my favorite Protomen in Somerset, but the beginnings of a sore throat that appeared on Friday night and Saturday morning convinced me that perhaps it would be wiser to take a break and catch up on my sleep. I was sick for PAX last year, and while it didn’t keep me from having fun, I’d really prefer to be more or less healthy this time around. So I indulged in multiple multi-hour naps, and caught up on my Netflix instant queue, and prepared my apartment to receive its current houseguests instead.

The main event of Sunday, without question, was of course the Protomen show in Brooklyn at Glasslands Gallery, home of strange faux-taxidermy and perfect little balcony. We ordered up some dinner from Pies n Thighs and settled in for an evening of robot rock. I’m really not sure how else to convey my fondness for the Protomen live show at this point - last night was my eleventh show in twelve months, so I figure that by this time I’ve either convinced you that this is a thing you need to experience, or that I may be a little crazy. I’m OK with either result.

This morning I’m running on three hours of sleep and plenty of coffee. I leave for Massachusetts the day after tomorrow, so there’s quite a bit of scurrying around to be done between now and then, but I’m looking forward to it for sure.