Wednesday, October 31, 2007

I also love this
This website is Overheard in New York.

Some of my favorites:

Old man to two-year old: Man, talking to you is like fucking talking to a brick wall.

--F train

Overheard by: trieze

Subway performer: Can you guys help me out? I take pennies, I take hundreds, I take business cards... Hell, I take white people's shoes and socks! [To random passenger] Awww, shit, girl -- I take phone numbers, too! ... You like White Castle? Daaamn.

--Downtown 4/5 Train

Overheard by: Bemused Spectator

Nurse to hobo next to her: Aw, hell no! You fucking stink! [She pulls out a can of air freshener and hoses him down.]

--A train
This blog knows what amuses me
I love the use of flagrant and unnecessary quotation marks on public signs, and this blog does as well:

The "Blog" of "Unnecessary" Quotation Marks

Tuesday, October 30, 2007

Things that have brought tears to my eyes in the last 24 hours, no joke.
1. I was watching a stupid Lifetime show about this medium, Lisa something, who communicates with the dead (I know). I even watched two episodes. Yep, I did. And I totally wept like 90% of the time.

2. I just watched a PBS "Nova" about people who trained for the Boston marathon. They were from all walks of life, all ages, but were all pretty much sedentary before training. Something like four of the people crossed the finish line when the race was wrapping up and it totally made me weep! They were so proud of themselves and had worked so hard and many had family members running the final stretch with them to cheer them on, and it was all very heartening.

Sunday, October 28, 2007

Lazy days
So my plan this weekend was to sleep off this cold! Mission almost accomplished since I've pretty much taken it easy all weekend and while the cough is still present, it's less...mucous-y than before (yum!). Yesterday we went shopping for much needed items like socks and underwear and then cooked dinner in. We also watched several episodes of "Freaks and Geeks" again. There are few things that I can watch over and over again, but that DVD set definitely qualifies. Maybe also "Strictly Ballroom," but since I don't own that, I haven't really put it to the test yet.

Today it was a pleasure to see that "The Darjeeling Limited" was showing at the Davis Theater, around the block from me. I love me some Wes Anderson, but I wasn't expecting something amazing since I had read such mixed reviews of the movie. I really liked it though: it was touching, and interesting, and Wes Anderson always picks such sad-faced, clever, perfect-line-delivering cuties to star in his films.

And the week looms ahead: lots of meetings, therapy, and paperwork to look forward to. Yahoo!

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

My Day Kind of Blew
It started out with finding a flat tire on my car in the morning. I walked past the Mustang parked in front of me and its windows were all smashed out and I was all like: "whew! I escaped it!"

Until I started driving and heard the crunching of the tire rim. Not a good sound. So I pulled over and attempted to change the tire myself. I've never unearthed the donut before or examined my tire changing equipment, so it took me a little while to figure out where everything was. And then it took me a long ass time to try to jack up the car (the civic equipment sucks). I was lucky since this nice old Asian dude stumbled upon me and helped me out, especially by loosening the lug nuts because my weak-ass was unable to budge them. So instead of taking me like five hours to change the goddamn tire, it only took about 45 minutes.

Got to work about half an hour late and came upon a whole bevy of emails talking about paperwork issues. Lots of paperwork fixing followed. Annoying.

Left work to go to this tire repair place by Todd's place. It's very small, is always hopping when I've gone by, and it seriously looks like a shack. It is a shack. I walked in expecting to be greeted with some order of how things went down, but it's not like that. You basically wait, and wait, and wait until it's your turn since there are only two guys working and they're in demand to say the least. I finally got someone's attention and he looked at my tire and discovered that some jerk stuck something sharp in the side and now my year-old tire has to be replaced. What jerks who slashed it! I'll remind you that this is almost exactly one year since my car got bashed in by some drunken asshole back in Lakeview, so maybe my car is just cursed in late October.

Anyway, the good news is that they had a replacement tire on hand and once we got going it took like 10 minutes to get the tire replaced. And everything in total cost $30, including the new (used) tire and labor. These guys charge $5 to repair a tire so you can imagine how busy they are and what a wide spectrum of clients they see. I also got to watch them repair tires, which was a learning experience for me.

I'm still pissed about the whole thing, though. The good news is that there's supper club tonight and we're visiting a Vietnamese place in Argyle that features seven courses of beef. It's the little things that keep me going.

Monday, October 22, 2007

Mucus
I got it! I attended a regional SLP meeting this past Friday and everyone was coughing the exact same: rumbling with lots of phlegm. Yum!

Can I tell you about the past weekend, though? It had a lot of fun things attached. They included going out on Friday night and seeing Mirhiya along with NU girls Megan, Lauren, and Katie. Mirhiya moved to San Francisco with her husband and baby girl mid-program, so it was really cool to be able to catch up with her.

The next morning I woke up at 7 a.m. even though I didn't want to and was all turbo productive which included a trip to the grocery store, the post office, and a work out all before I met Jenny for brunch at 11 am. I know! After that, Todd and I met up and we wandered around Ravenswood and enjoyed the fricking phenomenal weather (it was in the 70s all weekend and sunny!). That evening we met up with Steve and Kiley for Thai food before heading over to a Halloween party. And my time at the party lead to me having to spend all of Sunday on the couch. And that was my Sunday.

Hope that your worlds are mucus-free!

Monday, October 15, 2007

I'll shout my love from the rooftops again
for "The Wire." There is a spectacular article about the show and David Simon in this week's New Yorker. I also watched about six episodes this weekend from the first season on Todd's on Demand. I didn't remember most of the details and I found it less stressful viewing it this time around with the knowledge of what happens to the characters you see. Season four, though, stressed me out completely (but stress that I respect!) mainly because there were characters who I loved a lot (Randy, anyone?) and I wouldn't be able to bear if if the story screwed them over (which it did, as it turned out, and I was forced to bear it).

Season five is the last one and it's supposed to come out next year, and I can't effing wait.

Thursday, October 11, 2007

Our Little Corner of the World
Wow. We just got back from the Yo La Tengo show and it was beyond great. The Lakeshore Theater is so comfortable and intimate, first of all, and because it's a real theater, there's zero bar back-talk and no smoke.

Also, run, don't walk, to see this particular Yo La Tengo tour because it was so laid back and more acoustic and organic. They wanted questions from the audience and asked for requests and had no apparent set lists and chatted it up, basically, and saw where the night went. We saw the 7pm show and there was another one at 10:30, and I wished that I could have stayed for that show as well because it would have been a completely different show.

So, the YLT show at the Vic in Chicago was great, but I think that this wins out as the best YLT show I've ever seen (and this one makes five, if you count Pitchfork 2006, which I really shouldn't because I totally wasn't paying attention since they were one of the last bands playing at the tail end of the festival).

Wednesday, October 10, 2007

The Booty Don't Stop
We went and saw the FOUND Magazine tour again last night (the title of this post from one of the best, most hilarious finds mentioned). This time it was at this place called the Heart of Gold. I had never heard of the place, but then found out that my grad school/book club friend, Jennifer, knew the dudes who opened it up (it's their apartment and they wanted to have an art space). Heart of Gold ended up being very impressive for an apartment: it was enormous enough to have both walls for art to hang and a huge open room with a stage. They had even fashioned a fancy bar but since there was no liquor license, they accepted suggested donations. FOUND was great, of course, and a super fun thing to do on a Tuesday night. They're still touring, btw. To my dear brothers (who I know would love it), go and see these FOUND shows:

ERIK:

December 09, 2007
Austin, TX » Alamo Drafthouse, Time TBA, 320 E. 6th St.


ROBIN:

December 10, 2007
Dallas, TX » The Public Trust, 8 pm, 2919-C Commerce St., 214-760-7170

Beyond that, this past one was a long weekend. We had a visitor in town, so did it up. The weekend included:

1. Performing karaoke for the first time ever with Dave at Spynners. This was a major first for me, because while I love seeing karaoke, I have never performed. This experience ended up being lubricated by a warm, accepting crowd, and lots of 80s songs to choose from. I did sing along with Dave both times, though, if that makes a difference.
2. Walking all through downtown on Saturday afternoon. It was hot, but we did get to walk by and see all of the hullabaloo being set up for the marathon the next day (which ended up having to close down early because of the ungodly heat).
3. Watching the Cubs lose in the playoffs.
4. Brunching.
5. Walking along Montrose Street Beach and sitting by the lake and enjoying the view. I'd never been to this beach before and it's HUGE and has large expanses of grass as well as beach, so I'm officially impressed and am going back.
6. Going to see some blues at Blue Chicago which was downtown. The place is nestled within a busy block with a bunch of clubs populated with some soooooper obnoxious, frosted-tipped denizens. But Blue Chicago itself was deserted and, with a $10 door charge, a steal when you consider how fun the band was. The lead singer was a voluptuous, suggestive lady who was a true party catalyst and managed to persuade the paltry crowd to get up and dance.

Work continues to be busy, but I had my second official session with my very first, personal Early Intervention client today. He's two and tow-headed and such a football-loving boy. He's also like 25% intelligible. It's fun, though, and the hour goes by quickly. I'm still at the point were I'm marveling that I get paid for this. It'll probably take me a few more years before I become all callous and cynical.

Ask me why I'm excited about tomorrow, though. We're going to go and see Yo La Tengo play at the Lakeshore Theater!

Also, I'm currently watching Gordon Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares right now, and that shit stresses me out.






Monday, October 01, 2007

The Last Days of Summer
Okay, so it's not officially summer anymore but this weekend sure felt like it was. It was in the 70s both days, sunny, and priceless weather.

Saturday, we went and lunched at this place in Ravenswood called the Over Easy Cafe which was recommended by Jenny and Amie. It was love at first taste and it is in my top 10 brunch places. Maybe not quite at the level of Bongo Room for me, but pretty close. I had eggs and avocado and chorizo (MMMMMMM) and Todd had this apple bake pancake thing with cinnamon butter which was--let's be honest here--like eating fresh baked apple cake. It was the size of apple cake too. So: vote yes to the Over Easy Cafe!

Afterward we walked off our lunches at the Chicago Botanic Gardens. I had never been there before since it's situated not-very-conveniently in the Northern Suburbs. It really was lovely, though. Pretty and easy to get around and not too crowded and really, really peaceful. I liked how many little benches and nooks there are that one can sit down in and just contemplate. If it were easier to get to, I would consider getting an annual membership because they have bike trails and running trails and just over all very serenity-inducing. Plus, the weather was perfect with just the slightest tinge of a breeze fluttering the leaves.

Sunday we had a lazy morning and then joined Sarah at the lake-front park in Evanston to celebrate her 30th (happy belated, Sarah!). She and Mike organized a picnic and it there was a pinata and home-made lasagna and birthday cake, and birthday celebratory leis. Super fun and more picnics need to be had before the weather turns officially unwelcoming.

That's my weekend roundup. I am feeling blah and have the slightest cold and am always blowing my nose. So, be glad that I didn't get you sick like I have Todd!
Cuteness Level: Extreme.

Here's a story about baby orangutans and baby tigers who have befriended eachother in an Indonesian zoo.

Apparently it won't last too long once the tigers start leaning toward chawing on some meat. But it's unbearably cute in the meantime, right?

(via neatorama)