My weekends just got a whole lot more exciting.

My quest to find more local music is going very well -- I went to Cranky Pat's in Neenah on Friday with two of my favorite music snobs: my fiance and a social butterfly, and two other good friends.

We saw two pretty cool local bands: The Blueheels from Neenah, and The Robins (formerly No. 1 Fan) from Appleton -- good, good stuff. The Blueheels sound like nothing I have on my iPod already, but if I had to classify them, I'd stick 'em with "Erin's good stuff." Few bands make it to that playlist. Death Cab. Billy Joel. Postal Service. Bright Eyes. That's about it.

Plus, Cranky Pat's (when they're not having jam bands, cough, cough), reminds me of Mickey Finn's in Toledo, one of the coolest bars you can go to in Northwest Ohio (if you have the money for the stupid $5 cover charge, and if there is a good band playing.) OK, so maybe it's not like Cranky Pat's at all. But ... It felt like Toledo, and that's the most important part.

I don't know if Neenah should feel offended by that or not ... Hmm.

Anyhow. I'm getting to the point where the fiance and I are feeling more at home here. Getting out of the house helped a lot. Seeing live music again, like real 20-somethings, helped even more. Meeting new friends played a large role in that ... Funny what coming out of isolation (quiet isolation) will do to a person. Sigh. That was a good sigh.

(Photo: That's the Blueheels playin' at Cranky Pat's, from the band's site.)