Day 2
Second day of work complete! I'm glad to say that I got assigned my old school and also a charter school one day a week. Charter schools are a little of a mystery to me and this one didn't download any of their caseload information onto the school-wide system that we access, so I have no clue what my caseload there looks like. I think I'm just going to show up tomorrow and see what's what. It was good to be at the old school again today, though, see some familiar faces and scrape the cobb webs off of my materials.

Yesterday was an all day meeting for SLPs which was pretty laid back, but sadly was located in the Southside of Chicago (I believe the Bronzeville area, or at least close to it) so I took the main highway, 90/94, to get to it and that experience so blew. It took me over an hour to get there because of congestion and construction and all of that. Blech.

Today I took the main highway again to head south to pick up my shiny new laptop for work. I assumed picking it up would be a breeze since all of the specialized services people (OTs, Psychologists, Social workers and SLPs) were assigned windows within which to show up, check in the old laptop, and then tote off the new one. How much time could it take? Ah, silly me. Three different lines were involved and two hours of waiting all together. The SLP behind me was getting more and more pissed off and was getting ready to maul anyone she suspected of cutting. She was getting ready to blow. It would have been funny if I didn't have to wait in the first line for over an hour. The new laptop is pretty neat, though, so I suppose it was worth it.

Afterwards I had to zoom (or, "zoom," since the highway was crawling with traffic again--at 2:35pm!) all the way to the north to get to my dentist appointment. Seeing as scheduling with my dentist involves a month's notice, I was desperate to get there in time since I needed to get these two cavities taken care of. I got there ten minutes late and ended up having to wait another 20 minutes, but I realized I was so tense from trying to get there in time I had to stretch out, take some deep breaths, and decompress with a couple of quality People Magazines. But, bottom line is that cavities are filled (hurrah!), it didn't cost me hardly anything, and I no longer fear that my teeth are going to fall out from neglect.

Tonight is supper club (Moody's Burgers with the best beer garden ever!) and then tomorrow Todd and I hit the road to head to Lake of the Ozarks to visit his parents at their lakehouse and do some boating and whatnot. It's only for two days, but I'll suck the marrow out of those 48 hours as needed.

Why does this crack me up so much?
So lol-cats tend to be kind of lame, and this is kind of lame too, but I seriously crack up every single time I see this picture. I was trying to figure out what it is, and I think it's the walrus tongue and the walrus expression and the absurdity of it all.

Seriously, every single time I see it, I start laughing.

Betting and Racing
So, I've got two more days till work starts. It's kind of surreal, but as Sarah described in her blog, the first week should be pretty laid back what with meetings and setting up rooms and stuff and it's only three days long! And then next week is only four days long!

This past Saturday I accompanied Todd to his company's party at the horse races. I'd never been and I found it amazingly large with manicured lawns and a huge track. I also learned that jockeys are extraordinarily tiny: besides being of smaller stature they are slender as young beanstalks. We went to look at the horses closeup along with the jockeys and I gawked. Besides the free food, cocktails, and guidebooks, the company also allotted each couple with $20 to gamble. That was good because girlfriend is too cheap to be betting her own money, and good thing too since we ended up losing about $10 of those dollars on $2 bets (and coming out $10 ahead since we got the rest in cash). We did end up winning a couple of times and once we won 10 cents. 10 cents! Others we talked to came out with $40 in winnings and then we talked to someone who had lost $400 of their own money.

The rest of the weekend was fun with a surprise birthday party on Friday night, a Life and Times show on Saturday night, and then the Bucktown Arts Festival on Sunday with a trip to the best bar in the world, The Map Room, afterward. The weather was amazing all weekend, especially after the monsoons that descended this past week.

And that's all I've got!

Fatty!
Neatorama posted about the Michelin Baby Syndrome.
The blog also links to an article about the syndrome of which I was too lazy to muddle, but you can find it here.
The picture came from here originally.

During the closing of a conversation with my mom today:

If you're bored, remember that you should keep calling your parents.

That was so awesome, I had to blog it (with my mom's permission, of course).

Wow.
David Simon, writer of Homicide, the man behind the eponymous tv series, also "The Wire" is a hero of mine, and apparently he's very salty.

There's an interview of Simon by Nick Hornby (TWO of my favorite authors in one enclosed piece) in The Believer Magazine, and here's the first part.

NICK HORNBY: Every time I think, Man, I’d love to write for The Wire, I quickly realize that I wouldn’t know my True dats from my narcos. Did you know all that before you started? Do you get input from those who might be more familiar with the idiom?

DAVID SIMON: My standard for verisimilitude is simple and I came to it when I started to write prose narrative: fuck the average reader. I was always told to write for the average reader in my newspaper life. The average reader, as they meant it, was some suburban white subscriber with two-point-whatever kids and three-point-whatever cars and a dog and a cat and lawn furniture. He knows nothing and he needs everything explained to him right away, so that exposition becomes this incredible, story-killing burden. Fuck him. Fuck him to hell.

I found this from this link. And I've never heard of The Believer, but I see that it's a branch of McSweeneys. Now girlfriend needs a subscription (gift idea for those who don't know what to do!)

The Life of Leisure
So it appears that the temping gig that I was set up for to start today fell through. To be specific, the contact person for the company never returned my temping guy's calls, according to him. I found that out yesterday afternoon. The plan now is to go for a week and a half long gig in the week before I start my regular job again.

So my vacation is extended again, which makes me half happy (more free time!) and half sad (dipping into money in the bank that I thought I could leave alone). My last paycheck of deferred pay from my regular job comes Friday: dunh dunh DUNH. Basically, I'm trying not to spend money that I don't need to in the meantime, which means LOTS of reading of books from the library, playing on the Internets, lolling in front of bad TV, and working out.

Oh, and there's ever standing talk of a Chicago Teachers Union strike in case the next contract doesn't get settled. If there's a strike that means no pay for those days, so...yeah, got to be conservative with the monies. [Actually, I'm pretty confident that they'll work it out, since the other unions--like the ones for the janitors, custodians, food service workers--settled with the Board of Education earlier this week. And I doubt that Mayor Daley wants all of these kids running around unoccupied and the bad rap the city might receive when Chicago is vying to be an Olympic host]. We'll see how it turns out.

I just checked out a book from the library called An Incomplete Education: 3,684 Things You Should Have Learned But Probably Didn't. This is important, because while a lot of things were passed onto to me throughout my education, the amount that has actually *stuck* with me is pretty pathetic. I'm going to try to post a new fact that I've learned every day while I have this book, so get ready, people. Because daytime TV is definitely not keeping me sharp.

Speaking of books, we had another book club meeting last night and it was a funny one since NONE of us who attended had read the book (or even looked at a copy). Only four of us attended, and we were all ones who work in the schools and have been home all day. I guess we couldn't find it in us to track down the book, but it was still a good time.

I Have Never Seen So Many Hot Dogs
So, on Saturday Todd and I decided to tag along with Rich when he went on the first official Hot Dog Crawl that was organized by the guy who owns Sick Room Records (which sponsors, or whatever record labels do, Bear Claw). The guy, Ryan, decided that it would be fun to visit hot dog places all around the city and pay homage to the Chicago hot dog by eating a hot dog at each place. He planned an itinerary, he rented a 15-passenger van, he named a starting point and it was all set.

I wanted to go because watching people perform acts of gluttony for kicks cracks me up. Plus, it was a fun little tour of various points of the city since Ryan planned it so each part of the city represented. And this is not something someone sees every day.

We arrived at Hot Doug's at 10:20 (10 minutes before opening time), got into the line that had already formed and met up with the rest of the group. Thus began our day, and it ended around 7pm after visiting nine other places. Curious about the places we stopped by? Here's the list:

1. Hot Doug's: Really, the best. I temporarily departed from the SBD to have a sausage here. Don't worry, I'm back on the wagon.
2. Super Dawg: Todd and I had visited this place before and while it was kitschy with the giant male and female sausages on the roof, it's kind of expensive. Others in the group really seemed to like the hot dogs, though.
3. Wolfies: This place had a giant fork spearing a hot dog outside. You can't miss it.
4. Hueys: This was in Andersonville. I actually ran into Jenny on the street while we were at this stop. Small world, indeed.
5. Byron's: This was a small stand in Irving Park. It was also where I got pooped on by birds TWICE. I couldn't see it since both shots were on my back, but Todd helped me clean it up and since I couldn't see it, I didn't get too caught up in it. Plus, it's supposed to be lucky, right? I did have crusted bird poop on me the rest of the day, though.
6. Weiner Circle: This is a popular place in Lincoln Park where drunken people and a cranky staff come together late in the evening to yell at eachother. There was only mild yelling on this visit since it was about 4pm. Rich picked up someone else's hot dog, though, and was chastised for being rude. People seemed to really like these hot dogs.
7. Jim's Original Hot Dog Stand: This is a huge, cheap stand and I think it was the lone southside representation, close to Univ. of IL-Chicago. There was a another huge hot dog stand right next door, but I think that Jim's was there first. It should be noted that Gold Coast Dogs was supposed to be number seven, but we wandered up and down Clark to realize that the shop that the Internet said was around no longer existed.
8. Duk's: I don't know where this falls in terms of geographic location, but it had character. And by "character," I mean scary painted Donald Ducks on the wall, hot and dark quarters, and ladies working who work hard for their money. Rich said that the hot dogs tasted like they were cooked in dishwater which seriously still makes me want to vomit just a little.
9. Jimmy's Red Hots: This was on the West side of the city. This place also had a lot of "character." The hot dogs and fries were thrown into a big mass of waxed paper. Others in the group reported that the fries offered here are some of the best.
10. Sam's Red Hots: This tiny shack is very close to Todd's place and we have passed by countless times. Apparently, it's a neighborhood favorite. The lady who worked the counter was really nice ("Too bad you didn't come here first because then you didn't need to go to the other places"). Reports on the dogs were so-so.

It should be noted that while others skipped stops or shared dogs, Rich and Ryan had a hot dog at every single stop. They looked like they were struggling a little at stop number 10. I think that Rich stretched out his stomach from all this, though, because he ate ice cream later that evening and then polished off an entire french toast meal at the Bongo Room the next day.

Interestingly, one of the places was serving their food in Burger King bags. This was the same place where this dude with a blue tooth headset was manning a whole store of bootleg dvds on the counter of the place.

The entire trip was a lot of fun, mainly because the other people on the crawl (a slightly changing group of about 8-15) were hilarious and down for a good time. I also want to note that my Chicago screen print poster hero, Jay Ryan, was there for the first three stops and he was super nice and gracious even when I gushed to him about how I have plastered my apartment walls with his works. So, I got to meet one of my Chicago idols. I even heard that he's going to design a t-shirt for next year's crawl.

So, I don't want to be near hot dogs anytime soon, but it was worth it.

I'm Baaack
Briefly, I just got back into Chicago after another uneventful 12 hour drive. This time I listened to this really awful audio book of the crime novel genre. It was terrible, but I was in no room to choose since radio choices were lacking so I faithfully listened to 12 of 14 hours of this crap.

But I had to blog one of the actual lines from the book before I forget. I heard it, and my eyes started rolling uncontrollably so much that the car may have swerved on Rte. 90 East. Are you ready for it? I may paraphrase here, but this is 98% it:

She was like Miss Marple, except with a great set of breasts.

I'm so not even kidding you.

Um, I am stoopid sometimes
Correction:

Happy birthday TODAY, Annie!

Birthdays!

Happy Birthday yesterday, Dad!

Happy Birthday today, Annie!

Visitin'
I road tripped yesterday and it was a fun, little package of a day. First, I drove a couple of hours to the rolling green hills of Charlottesville to visit Madeline. Madeline, having finished up her residency at UVA, is getting ready to pack up and move herself to Chapel Hill. It was great to see her and we spent a couple of hours catching up in person and munching on pumpkin seeds. I also learned a lesson about Yahoo Maps: don't trust them completely. Madeline owns a little townhouse in a relatively new development and while Yahoo Maps purported to recognizing the address, they left out a few relevant details in terms of getting there.

Then I climbed back into my wee Civic and zoomed along 64 to Richmond to visit Emily. Emily is my old roommate, a compadre from my college job at Baskin Robbins (the 3rd busiest in the nation, people!), and one of my dearest and most erstwhile friends. I hadn't seen her in over two and half years and we picked up as if we hadn't seen each other for a few minutes. Except we had a lot more to catch up on. She and her husband bought the sweetest little fixer upper in Richmond's Southside, and from the look of their almost finished kitchen and their totally finished pantry, by the time they get done with everything I'm totally packing my bags and moving in. She even started a little vegetable garden in the backyard complete with her own baby pumpkins and fledgling green peppers. It was great to re-connect and I left feeling sated and with mental resolutions to stay in more regular touch.

I've also managed to see DC-area friends too and it's been wonderful. Dinner and a DC-monuments walk with Annie, brunch with Des and Bryan, and dinner with Anne and Nate (who I finally met, and it every bit as great as I've heard).

I also climbed on the scale at Em's house after eating a big salad for lunch and it read a number down three and half pounds since last Wednesday! Hooray! I needed that reinforcement since I was tempted many times this past week (especially walking into Lost Dog Cafe with Anne and managing not to grab one of their fresh baked pizzas or sandwiches and cramming it into my gaping maw).

The Little Brother Can Cook
So, my baby brother cooked tonight and he made lamb chops served along side a red pepper sauce as well as a fresh mint sauce. In addition, he served fresh stuffed tomatoes overflowing with parmesan cheese and garlic. It was pretty awesome. So good in fact, that it warrants its own blogpost.

This cracks me up
Todd wrote me this today describing a crazy guy that he and his friends met when he ate at a neighborhood place we'd always passed by:

Hey! Oh man, what a story. The crazy dude, whose name is king david, walked up to us saying "I'm gonna go get my .38 and kill all those motherfuckers! Some guy hit my car and i told them (pointing to police station) and they do nothing! Man, it was a hummer, just crashed into me then took off!" So we told him that it was a bad idea to kill all of them with his .38, and he was easily convinced, because jesus wouldn"t do it either. Luckily, all he really needed to get was a "couple of bucks" for the bus so Mark gave him about a buck in change and he was our best friend for a couple minutes before he took off. Here are some things he has on the hopper:

- He can get us guns and knives if we need them.
- He's the head of the latin kings, and if we need any protection, we just need to ask him.
- He's going to start up a new restaurant on Milwaukee and Kedzie that is cheaper than Pancho.
- He can hook our car up with hydraulics if we want
- He can build condos.
- He's going to start up a football team, and on the back of the helmet will be a big JC for Jesus Christ.
- His mom named him King David.

Then he took off, just after asking us again if he should kill them all, and saying "oh yeah, I shouldn't, because of Jesus. Thanks guys!" It was a pretty weird scene, with the backdrop of those neon palm trees outside Pancho and all.

SBD Update
One week down! One more week of Phase I to go! It's been challenging at points and continues to be. But, at last check I'm down four pounds and my pants by which I measure progress fit *an iota* better. Progress is progress, and I'll take it.

My observations that I end up saving money on this diet because I don't drink when I go out and I can't partake in some (delicious) tortilla-chip and cheese laden appetizer. So that's cool, and that money went to my tolls coming home yesterday.

The diet isn't very fun, though. I mean, I like the foods that I make but they can be time-consuming to prepare and I no longer just dig in and have that handful of chips that tastes like heaven and is such a fast snack. I saw Kevin the other night and he held up a quesadilla in one hand and a beer in the other and was like: "So, you don't eat these?" And I fixed my saddened, bovine eyes on him and and shook my head no. And then I sipped my ice water.

So, sticking with it and feeling good. I no longer feel uncomfortably full, which is nice. I'm about to head to the grocery store to stock up on food for my parents' place.

Reading Report
I discovered the graphic novel area of the nice regional library near me and it was all over. I cleaned that place out. I really, really, really love graphic novels and if I had lots of cash I would stock my library full. In the meantime, the library is a nice option. And while graphic novels bring me absolute joy, it's a little bittersweet because more often than not, one goes through them very quickly.

So since Wednesday, I've read three (I got like seven). Here's the run-down:

• Pyongyang: A Journey in North Korea by Guy Delisle. Delisle worked as an animator in North Korea for three months in early 2001 and drew an account of his experiences there. It's all charcoal and observant and funny and really goddamn great. In comparison to someone like Joe Sacco, though, Delisle is less about trying to get find out the true story (less of a journalist) and more about quick observations and impressions. Still, really good and highly recommended. He wrote one about working on Shenzhen and I totally want to read it!
  
• Mom's Cancer by Briend Fies. When his mother was diagnosed with lung cancer, he started a comic strip about it and this little book is the finished product. It's fast, but honest and powerful. And the ending is kind of happy.
  
• Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi. It's a quick little read about an afternoon tea among her family of Iranian women where conversation is funny, juicy, and pretty progressive. A totally fun book.
• Blankets by Craig Thompson. This one is more of a novel form (it's a brick!), but it's still a fast read. Thompson writes autobiographically about his childhood a teen years, his struggles to fit into his rural Wisconsin background, his inner debates regarding religion and finally his teenage first love. It's good and smart and honest, but Thompson's character was kind of a fox, let's be honest. Not sure if he meant to draw himself that way, but that's the way it turned out, so it's harder to really get that he was terrorized in high school. I had also read Ariel Shrag's illustrated novels about her high school years (one for each year) and her junior year novel is mainly about her first love. While she doesn't tackle as many issues at Thompson, I think that her description of a first love gone awry can't be beat.
  

Back to da East Coast
I drove back home yesterday to visit the family and see friends (and to meet a certain friend's BF). It was an almost 12 hour drive, and I didn't hit any traffic to speak off but I got home and I was wiped out. I ate dinner and then went to bed. At 9pm. Eastern time. It was worth it, though, because while it's good to be home, it's much better to be home when I have my own transportation.

The night before I left, I went to meet Todd downtown to see one of the free concerts held in the Pritker Pavillion (the crazy Gehry-designed bandshell that looks out onto the expansive green lawn in Grant Park). The city holds various free concerts over the summers in its parks. I had joined Jenny and Pam for one last year and I was so impressed: everyone is allowed to bring in picnics and wines and it's free. It's even more impressive to sit in the Pritzker Pavillion because you're looking up at all of the impressive Chicago architecture looming over you. Plus, the night we went last year, the weather was perfect, and we got to watch the free fireworks over Navy Pier. I really wanted to come again this year.

So we did. We came to see the Decemberists play with the Grant Park Orchestra. I had never heard them, but it sounded good to me. Me and about fifteen billion other people because that place was packed. Rich ended up coming with and then we ran into my grad school mate, Jennifer, and her sister, so we all walked over together. We found some free lawn outside the actual pavillion and kind of beside/behind the bandshell, but none of us really cared about getting all up in there. so we sat. I had brought a thin little sheet on which to sit, which was an outrageously poor decision since I didn't take into account that it had *poured* that morning so the ground was akin to a water-saturated sponge. Needless to say, our bottoms were all soaked within about 0.3 seconds of sitting. Then it started to sprinkle...and then full-out rain. We opened up umbrellas and sat talking while nibbling on crudites. I was proud of us because we stuck it through and waited out the rain, ears soaking in some escaping music from the Decemberists (the bandshell does a nice job of keeping the sound enclosed, and since we were outside that enclosure...it was a little muted).

We ended up leaving toward the end of the set in order to beat the el crowds (successfully!). Good thing too because as soon as we got home the sky cracked open and the full-fledged pouring commenced. Glad that we didn't end up waiting for the fireworks. I would definitely do it again, but will choose a less popular evening and will check the weather forecast.

I have a new love
It's the OXO salad spinner. Now, rather than tediously drying out all of my romaine and spinach leaves, I just press and watch the water collect at the bottom of the bowl.

Seriously, it is one of my all-time favorite purchases.

Happy 18th, Little Brother!
Now you can vote!

Days Blend
That's what happens when summer school ends and I'm on vacation of sorts. It's kind of great.

Friday brought in a slight relief from the heat and it made for perfect weather for going to the Pitchfork Festival that evening. We saw Slint and Sonic Youth play and it was cool and crisp and pretty goddamn awesome outside. Todd drove and I was happy because I cannot describe the lines of people we saw who were waiting to walk up the steps to the el platform. We only went on Friday this time, as compared to Sat and Sun last year. I had been struck by how orderly and peaceful the festival was for the past couple of years (no lines to the portapotties! no snaking queues for beer and food! water for $1! no crazy and obnoxious drunkenness!). It was still pretty orderly this year, but the lines were insane for the beer and food and I definitely observed some obnoxiousness in comparison to no obnoxiousness from last year. I thought that Todd was going to pop one of the dudes with popped collars who talked very loudly and raucously to one another during the entirety of Sonic Youth's set and who were standing directly in front of us. I'm no Nazi when it comes to talking during live music, but even I know that if you want to chat then don't stand there up front by the music.

Saturday was lazy and I seriously can't remember what I did.

Sunday we went to the Oldtown School of Music's Folk and Roots Festival which was in the park by my house. It was a super-duper cute festival teeming with fat toddlers waddling under your feet. We sat and watched the fiddling contest and I got a slight burn, but it was worth it.

SBD Update: I managed to avoid MAJOR temptation this weekend and I am immensely proud of myself. I was starving Friday night during Pitchfork and the almonds that I had brought along weren't doing a lot for me. I didn't buy the delicious looking flatbreads and spinach pies that were at the food stands, though and I am glad.

Yesterday at the Folk and Roots festival was tough too because: festival food smells good. I really, really wanted to get some of the seafood quesadillas on sale. I also really, really wanted some of the sangria that they had. I balked at both.

And I'm happy to say that my weigh in this morning reads a three pound loss since Thursday. I know it's water weight, but it's encouraging at least.

Getting back into it: Day 2 of 14
I decided to enter Phase I of the South Beach Diet again in hopes of getting back into fighting shape by Fall. I did it a couple of years ago and really like the eating plan since it's pretty delicious while still being healthy. The first phase is the one where you cut out sugars for a couple of weeks altogether. After the first couple of weeks, whole grains and wine are allowed back in.

So I started yesterday and forgot just how much prep it is. I eat a lot of produce as it is, but when your diet is only proteins and produce, I go through it even more quickly. I went to the store again today to load up on fresh vegetables, and then spent about 20 minutes chopping and prepping for lunch. It's a lot of work, but you end up eating a lot less processed foods. I just had some turkey rolled up in crunchy romaine and red peppers and a spinach salad for lunch, so I know officially I am in the land of SBD. It's really not bad, though.

I'm blogging about it to add more accountability for myself, so I'll check in later on my progress.

Klazy
Has anyone else watched the show "Hey Paula" on Bravo? I think that she has approval of it or something, but still she comes off as a shrieking harpy. Watching it, you really perceive her as a truly a wretched human being. You get the feeling that she okayed having the reality show in the hopes that she would come off as a little loopy but more lovable than anything else, when in actuality she comes off as a hellish employer and a stoopid lady.

I'm totally watching the rest of the season too.

Doooone..
..with summer school. It went by quickly and there was a flurry of paperwork by the end, but it was outstandingly easy work and I will definitely sign on to do it again next year. It's kind of like being on vacation, but having an excuse to wake up in the morning. I was done every day by 11 a.m., people. Just in time to listen to Fresh Air on NPR on the way home.

I finished Courtroom 302, which was great. Really, really interesting and I learned lots about the criminal court system (for instance, I hadn't realized what a teeny-tiny percentage of cases end up going to a bench or jury trial). It was written in the late 90s, so there were historically significant cases going on. I was sad when I turned the last page and need to find some more non-fiction like it stat. Bogira, the author, delved in the background of the people in the cases as well and it was downright fascinating.

Speaking of "fascinating," my Mom told me the other day that my blog entries have been on the drier side of late, so I commit to try to inject more zest.

So, I'll share a description of my totally favorite kid on my caseload this summer. He is five, short, and has a body like a round rubber ball. He sports a loud, hammy personality which is communicated through his deep, almost guttural voice. He is crack at recognizing the slightest trace of a voice. If I happen step in the room and whisper to his teacher, he stops what he's doing and yells out in a staccato manner: "Ms. M_! You there?! Ms. M_!" One day I was working with him, and while usually a bit lazy he was working like a maniac because his teacher promised him potato chips afterwards (or, "putatah ships," according to him).

I was describing him to Todd, who was like "Is this kid Redd Foxx?" And it hit me like a message from the heavens, because he nailed it. This five year totally is Redd Foxx re-incarnated. I was treating language (while verbose, he can't answer wh-questions well) but this kid is also vision impaired. Our friend is going to start work as a vision teacher with the school district, and I *pray* that this student ends up on his caseload because I wan to hear about him for years to come.

Williams Syndrome
This week, The New York Times Magazine has a long article about Williams Syndrome, which while I hesitate to call it "my favorite," definitely stands out as one of the most interesting to me.

People with Williams Syndrome tend to be cognitively low and are characterized by love, love, loving social interaction but having nary a clue as how to read social signs or dynamics. Really interesting stuff, so read the article to find out more.

Book hangover
I've been reading like crazy. I finished Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven this past weekend. It was pretty engrossing and he has an easy, informal manner of writing that makes it easy to dive into the subject matter. It was enjoyable and I learned more about Mormonism than I knew before (which was not much). After reading it, I feel like everything is about Mormonism now: HBO's Big Love, NPR pieces I've been hearing recently, Mitt Romney.

This morning I finished wolfing down Alex Kotlowitz's There Are No Children Here, which was really powerful. He followed two young boys in the Chicago projects for a couple of years in the mid-80s and there's a lot of heartbreaking stuff in there. Your heart yearns for good things to happen for the boys, but there's a lot of emotional beat down. I tried to google the boys' names to see if I could find out what's happened to them since, but nothing. The epilogue does say that the profits from the book was used to set up trust funds for the boys after they finished high school. They've got to be in their 30s now.

I started Courtroom 302 today, about a year in a courtroom in Chicago's Cook County Criminal Courts (alliteration, anyone?). I love hard-nosed social issues reporting, and so far this is in that vein. So far, so good. In fact, I'm about to take a shower right now and then head out and read in the sun now.

Further books on my list: In Cold Blood, Helter Skelter, and Ordinary Resurrections.

p.s. Funnily enough, as I was scanning the channels this afternoon, the 1993 TV version of "There are no children here" is on Oxygen, starring Ms. Winfrey herself. I hadn't even realized that they made one! I've been watching for it for the past three minutes, and it's definitely drama-ed up. Meh.

Wolf dude.
(via NG)

You must watch this:
A Man Among Wolves, which I watched this past weekend on National Geographic. It's crazy.

Brief synopsis is that this guy raised a pack of wolf cubs for the past few years and basically spent all of his time with them apart from a couple of hours here and there. Interestingly, there's some sort of nature preserve in the UK that lets him roll around with them, feed with them, and the public watches. He didn't have any prior scientific training, but knew enough to teach his wolf cubs different kinds of howls and different wolf behavior.

One highlight is that when we first meet him, he is the alpha male in the pack so is entitled to the heart, lungs, and liver in the kills. So, since he can't digest the raw meat of these organs in the various dead animals he hauls in, he goes in beforehand and cuts out those organs, goes home and fries them up a bit, and then inserts them back in to the guts of the dead animal. Only then does he bring in the feast for the pack and he gets down in there and rips out those organs on gnaw on. You have to see this.

The other highlights is footage of him with the cubs when he first adopts them teaching them to howl. Baby wolf cubs learning to howl = ultimate in cuteness.

Passive Aggressive Jerkiness
I love this new-ish web site: passiveaggressivenotes. com
There is so, so much awesome passive aggressiveness to be read.

(side note: charles emailed me about this site too. My friends know me well).

Gluttony
I went to the library today and found three books that I've been scrounging around for for the past few months as well as five others. I have EIGHT books to read. I feel that glowing feeling one gets after one has a good workout or if one finally completed a coveted purchase.

Notes:
Supper club rocks
In our attempt to hit all of the ethnic backgrounds from everyone in the club, we went to Lao Sze Chuan tonight and it was delicious and fun. Next month: bbq!

Half Birthdays rock
Todd treated me to a sumptuous meal at Nacional 27 for my half birthday (which is officially today, actually). Yummy.

Movies rock
We saw "Knocked Up" and it was hands-down great. I was saying beforehand that I was afraid of being disappointed because I had read so many gleaming reviews. But it was really, really funny and really, really sweet. But, it was a little hard to believe that the leading female character ever got with the Seth Rogan character in the first place. But still: great. Go and see it.

Street festivals rock
We went on Sunday evening to the Belmont Music and Arts festival to see Say Hi to Your Mom and the Wrens play. It was lovely and cool last night and perfect music-viewing weather. It felt like vacation.

Swamped.
Things are busy this week. Mainly I'm sad right now because I'm studying/cramming for my geology final for tomorrow (my online course that was meant to be *easy* but has taken me over nine awful months to get through). Enough of that, though. 24 hours from now it will be done.

But lots to catch up on. The family zoomed into town last weekend to attend my belated graduation from grad school. My parents, brothers, and uncles descended upon Chicago and our brood ate our way through the city. Truly, we were a sight to behold. I counted on Monday evening, and it looks like I ate at 12 different eating places with them in the four days they were here, and they hit like 14. I won't bore you with details, but let me just say: on Sunday morning we started with dim sum in Argyle and then walked directly across the street to wolf down some pho. My uncle wanted to taste the Chinese/Vietnamese offerings in Chicago and let me just say that he and my mom loved the hell out of Furama. They both said that their dim sum was better than anything in Maryland and Virginia. Furama gets an enthusiastic thumbsup from the family, which is an honor indeed. Go to Furama, people. Sunday was far from done, since the rest of the day held promises of bao from Wow Bao, drinks at the John Hancock and then an enormous prime rib dinner from Lawrys from fathers day.

Their visit was fun and graduation was all right, but a little underwhelming and a tad bit disorganized. It was actually kind of funny what a clusterfuck it turned into behind the scenes: they actually forgot to announce me! Skipped over my name entirely, so that someone had to rush quietly to the announcer and tell him to announce me before they started with the undergrads. It was okay, though, since I ended up sitting with the end of the alphabet and they were fun.

My school year officially ended but I've started doing extended school year for four weeks. I've been assigned four schools which are located in areas I've never ever been to, so I'm discovering just how large Chicago is. I liken my experience as an itinerant SLP split among four schools to the classic, The Little Prince and how the prince visits all of these different little planets in his travels. Each planet offers its own cultures and experiences and personalities. I will say this: I like two of my schools very much, am relatively okay with one of my schools, and the remaining school is less than impressive. That particular school is where I encountered the rudest classroom teacher I've yet to meet (granted, I haven't met that many). She was pissed off that I was there, and when I told her that one of her kids was on my caseload, she sighed dramatically and loudly and exclaimed: "Well, that's counter-productive!" I kind of wanted to sock her, especially since the kid was sitting there at a table doing NOTHING when I walked in. No paper in front of her...nada. I was gracious though, swallowed my annoyance, and calmly informed the charming instructor of the times that she could expect me every week. After encountering her I realized for real how lucky I've been with my teachers at my present school--the majority of them like having an extra set of hands in the classroom.

Summer school is pretty awesome, though, since it's 3.5 hours a day and four days a week. My kind of schedule!

Creepy.
I love two-year olds the most, but not this scary giant robot they created in Japan to emulate a 2-year old. It would have helped if they had made it short and fat and prone to toddling rather than grown-man sized. To capture how truly chilling it is, make sure you watch the YouTube video. Yikes.
(via neatorama)

Aww
15 reasons that Mr. Rogers was the best neighbor ever

My favorite is the one about Koko.

(via neatorama)

Families and their meals
Two of my favorite things. TIME has this cool photo essay on families around the world, their meals for a week, and the costs. I couldn't decide which one was my favorite. Can you?

Mayfest report
So we did go to Mayfest this past Saturday and it was a lot of fun. Jenny, Todd and I met up first and after getting our giant steins of beer, we hit the fair games. Todd and Jenny shot darts at little balloons and won some klassy pictures. I'm including a shot of our bounty.

Impromptu Joy
I got off the phone tonight with Anne and I noticed that music was reverberating through my courtyard. Sounding like it was a band playing in the park across the street, I slipped on a sweatshirt and my flip flops and wandered outside. Turns out there was a live band, and they were played lively and catchy Irish drinking song type songs. In fact, as I checked out a single flyer posted by the gazebo where the band played, Welles Park has a regular Tuesday night outside concert. Kind of like Wolf Trap/Ravinia for free and right across the street. Not too well advertised, though, because there were like four families scattered on the lawn, but they did come prepared with blankets, snacks, and drinks.

Everyone else there was kind of like me, they stumbled upon it and stuck around. It was lovely and cool out and the sun was setting and the music was upbeat and fun, so I stood there for about forty minutes watching them. And that was great, but not the "impromptu joy" that was first referred to in the blog title. By that, I was referring to one of the other viewers of the band. There was a dad and his teenage son who walked up to watch the same time as I did. The dad stood back and observed with reserve, and the son was the one who displayed tried and true blessed joy. I would guess that he had a more severe form of autism, but more importantly he fricking loved the music and was not afraid to show it. He hopped. He did jumping jacks. He swung his arms. He clapped with outstretched arms. He raised his arms to the sky. During the slower numbers, he stood up close and swayed slowly. I understood where he was coming from because the music made me want to dance too, and it was cool that he could so readily display his enthusiasm.

Psychedelic!
It's Mayfest in Lincoln Square this weekend, which is a little festival full of music, the maypole, and giant steins of beers. It officially started this evening, so I walked through on my way back from my jog to check it out. I'm going again and spending time on Saturday, and I am excited. The first excellent thing about it is that it's FREE.

The second excellent thing about it is that there's music all weekend. When I walked through tonight, it was pretty empty since it just recently finished pouring. A class from the Old Town School of Music (which has a building in the Square) was up on the stage playing. They were a Beatles cover class, so it was an assortment of like 12 people of all ages and all sizes playing various instruments and singing. They were pretty good actually. I stood around and watched them for awhile enjoying the cooler weather post-rain.

There was one dude sitting alone at one table listening and nursing one of the aforementioned giant steins of beer. At one point when the group wrapped up a song, he yelled out: "Play some real classics! Crosby Stills and Nash! Crosby Stills and Nash!"

A lady turned around and informed him that they were strictly Beatles (which the group had announced two minutes ago) and he sheepishly mumbled: "oh."

His sheepishness must have lit a fire under his appreciation, because after that when they wrapped up another song, he was all: "Yeah! YEAH! YEAH!" It was pretty awesome, since the tent was pretty empty still and all you could hear was this guy's verbal support. Then one of the group mentioned that they were going to do another "psychedelic number." The dude got *pumped*!

This was him:
"PSYCHEDELIC!"
" YEAH!"
"PSYCHEDELIC!"
"PSYCHEDELIC!"

I really, really sincerely wish that there was someone there with me to observe this because there was something about the whole thing that was beyond great.

I hope that he's there on Saturday.

Wolf! Wolf!
I know that I say this every time I try a new place, but it's for real this time.

I have a new favorite restaurant in the city. It's Puerto Rican food and it's called Papas Cache Sabroso. We went there for our fourth supper club at the suggestion of a friend of Jenny's in the know, and...bliss. And cheap! And a mom and pop owned place that was busting with character! My favorite.

We ordered tostones and yuca for starters and then I personally ordered the jibarito sandwich, which is a steak sandwich with large plantain in place of bread. And the plantain was deliciously crisp rather than soggy and greasy. The sandwich along with rice and beans cost about $6.

This restaurant is also on the stretch of Division by the Puerto Rican flags and still has flavor. Jenny and Dave on their way there told us that they:
1.) saw a guy riding a bike in a starter cap while an enormous yellow snake was coiled around his body.
2) Jenny had a skateboarder catch a ride by grabbing onto the trunk of her car.

Hot chick.

"Papa" and his baby.

Chick! Freshly sated with lint that he gobbled off of the carpet.

Nicole and Dave, best tablemates ever at the wedding.

Joe and Pam at their sweetheart table with a loving family member. I kept on trying to take a picture of them all night and this was the least crappy, if you can believe it.

Jenny and Brooke--sorority sistahs forever.

Me and my man, kicking it wedding-guest style.

Weddings and Chicks
We got back from a Memorial Day weekend in DC, and it was a whirlwind weekend. Got into town on Saturday afternoon, had dim sum with the family, and then met up with Anne for dinner that night. Sunday we had pho and got to see Des and Bryan for a bit, and then set off to Vienna (a skip from my parents' place) to see Pam and Joe wed. It was quite a lovely wedding, and while not large, virtually teeming with William and Mary folks.

The most hilarious part of the weekend to me is the new addition to our family: Erik's baby chick. It's a science assignment that the people in his class were assigned one newly hatched baby chick a few weeks before the end of school. I suppose it's a lesson in caring for other living things and not being an asshole. Part of the "test," apparently, is whether your baby chick follows you when you walk. And the other part of the test is whether your baby chick is still breathing after the few weeks, since if your baby chick kicks the bucket there goes a fifth of your entire grade. But the kicker is that it's very, very easy for your baby chick to bite the bullet. It can toddle off of tables. It can drown in its own water dish (hence the need to purchase beautifully colored marbles to fill said dish). It is astonishingly easy to step on when it runs under feet. We watched the baby chick eat lint off the carpet (Erik: "It loves eating lint.")--that can't be good for it. It demands 90 degree temperatures to thrive.

(side note: luckily for the baby chick the 90 degree temperature was in full bloom since the upstairs air conditioner broke before it arrived. Don't worry, Erik was comfortable since he sleeps in the icy cool basement. Todd and I got to sleep upstairs in the moist, warm baby-chick inducive temperatures, though. It was awesome).

The baby chick is damn cute (refer to pictures), but it is also loud. It chirps endlessly, but the chirp is so plaintive and never-ending that it more resembles a bleat. And the bleat is all the more strident when it realizes that it has been left alone in the room. You can seriously hear this pathetic, constant cry ring throughout the whole of my parents' house. I was housed next door to the baby chick, so I was awoken by its cries at 6 a.m. on Sunday morning. Awesome!

I can recognize any road sign you send my way
I ventured to the Northside Chicago DMV today to get my license changed from VA to IL. It was a successful venture, and not as painful as I thought it would be. I had to take the written test which I studied for the night before. Good thing, too, because it might have been touch and go if I hadn't. The grizzled character who scored my test harrumphed with satisfaction when he wrote "-0" on my test (believe it!). I confessed that I spent the previous evening studying for it, and he was like: "That's all we ask." That grizzled guy and me? We shared a moment right then.

It was a little bittersweet to give up my VA license, but so it must be.

Next on my list is to change my plates. I didn't have the forms nor the fortitude to do it today.

Illinois DMV isn't open on the weekends, btw, which is downright odd to me. VA DMV at least pretended to be accommodating by opening for like 45 minutes on Saturday mornings.

Change is good.
I know.
But I changed my blog template on a whim, and I am a little bit rattled! I think I may have lost all of my comments!

Now to figure out how to add comments to this current template.

This is a very sad first hand account of a visiting professor at a small, historically Black university in Alabama. The apathy he describes in many of the students he encounters I believe is a result of the family and social situations in which the students were raised, but sadly I think that some readers of this article will quickly attribute it to race (just read the comments--hooee). It's an interesting read, though, and I recommend that you also link back and read his article about his first year there (I'm linking to the second year's reprisal).

We always talk about the culture of literacy on the job and how it affects academic performance. I was very lucky to be brought up in a family where books are treasured and abounded, newspapers were strewn about, and magazines were stacked up against one another. The world is your oyster, kid. One of my nostalgic favorites is Little Women, which my parents gave me in 1984 (the year I turned 8) in a beautiful hardcover version which I still have somewhere. One of my dad's friends regularly gifted us with Penguin classics he found in the bookstores of Pakistan, where we were at the time. One of them was My Family and Other Animals, by Gerald Durrell, and that book remains one of my beloved classics which I never would have discovered on my own. I constantly realize how lucky I was to have stumbled into a family that reads, when I see so many of my sweet and curious kids have homes starved of books and reading.

The article touches a lot on intellectual curiosity and how it is lacking in so many college students. I admit that I was guilty of phoning it in during some of my classes, and imagine that my professors were...less than impressed. Maybe things felt less pressing or something. I regret that I didn't suck the marrow out of the opportunity more then, but so much of college also revolved around one's social life. With some relief I can say that my intellectual curiosity has been fired up again working in my current field. I find myself reading research in my downtime on child language. I guess because it's interesting, but also because I can put it to USE now. Still not loving my geology course (that is almost over, praise the gods), but at least I'm trying to absorb some of it.

Happy Birthday, Des!

WooHOOO!

Put her in my pocket and run.
I adore one of my non-attending kids that I see who just turned three. She is outrageously, scandalously, knock-yourself-over-the-head cute. I see her every week for 45 minutes and we're totally in love with each other. She's such a good kid: if she gets a knock, she shakes it off and continues on good-naturedly and she always, always helps to clean up at the end. Her speech is pretty unintelligible and she drops final consonants, so when she says "let's clean up!" it comes out "leh klee uh!" It's terrible to say, but it adds to the cuteness.

Her latest thing is that she loves the fish tank in the hallways, but since she can't yet produce the f-sound, it comes out: "Shi-!" when we visit it.

One of her deals is that she substitutes 'sh' for lots of sounds (as seen in the example given above), and today we were playing with animal magnets. One of them was a cat, so when she saw it, she exclaimed... (wait for it)
"SHITTY!"

I also see her brother on another day, and her mom told me that whenever this little one hears mention of him "going to speech" she puts her hands on her hips and says "No! It's L___'s turn for speech!" (she's L__, if it wasn't clear)

I've been lazy
That's why I haven't posted in a while. Nothing bad to report, though, and work is winding down with only five more weeks left to the school year! These months have certainly been zooming by.

What's new?
Well, I went to the best beer garden ever with Laura, Megan, and Lauren. Moody's Pub is nestled in the north-northside of the city and it boasted an absolutely enormous outside area that is overflowing with plants and even had a little waterfall in the corner. We dined on Moody burgers (which won a best-burgers award) and drank cheap beer out of the pitcher and weren't rushed by anyone, even though lines began forming for tables outside on a Monday night. As the evening fell, the little candles on the tables kept the ambiance romantic. Another place I'm taking you people to when you come and visit me in Chicago.

My new neighborhood continues to charm. It's busting with families with round and rosy cheeked toddlers being hauled around in red wagons. Today on my walk home from the grocery store, I had two separate fat bulldog sightings (that's a good thing). The other Saturday, Todd and I sat down and watched a little league game for about half an hour since there are billions going on at all times.

Happy belated Mothers Day, Mom! Since my mom is halfway across the country, I tagged along with Todd to Wilmington and helped celebrate with his family. His dad grilled delicious steaks and Todd and I made baked macaroni and cheese (with breadcrumbs and everything!) and apple cake with fresh cut apples. Afterward we walked around his parents' place in the country and it was pretty awe-inspiring with the afternoon sun warming the farming fields. We had to stay clear of some crazy barking dogs along the way, though. His mom said that she usually brings big stick for that purpose.

Lastly, we celebrated someone's birthday at Guthrie's with a rousing game of Family Feud with this large group of people the other weekend. It was like the game show, except in board game form. I don't know when this game was made or who made it, but it sucked. One of the questions was: "What's another word for nerd?" Now, in my book and in the world of what is right, a "nerd" is based on someone who is book smart but is more lacking in social graces. The answers that the stupid board game included were "idiot" and "moron" and the like. I was all pissed off about it, because that is just not right because nerds are smart. I'm still kind of pissed off about it because I had to use italics twice in that last sentence. I guess that if they surveyed Americans for the answers then I should be angry with my fellow countrymen. Stupid fellow countrymen. Clearly, you are not nerds.

One more notch in the dumpling belt
Kuai Dumpling and Soups gets a mention in a nation-wide article on restaurant news!

Happy Birthday, Laura!

And the birthday streak continues!

Payoff
I can't describe how perfectly perfect the weather in Chicago has been over the last two weekends. So perfectly perfect, I have serious troubles finding the words to communicate this. Suffice it to say, it's been sunny, clear, blue, warm and downright lovely after six months of snow and gray.

How has the perfectly perfect weather been enjoyed?
-Walking extensively throughout Lincoln Square and Ravenswood
-Walking extensively throughout Logan Square and Humboldt Park
-Walking extensively and doing some imitation of jogging along the lakefront (blue, blue, blue)
-Soaking up the sun in Welles Park and gobbling up a novel.

*sigh*

Random Bits
--The other weekend Todd and I spent a couple of hours visiting Bear Claw, who was recording at Steve Albini's studio. On a sidenote, the studio is close to my workplace, and I drive past it daily. So close that the little coffee shop I go to sometimes has a quickly scrawled sign that mentions that Iggy Pop had come in and commented on the place's "coolness." Iggy Pop and the Stooges recorded at the studios at some point in the past year, I guess. I had never been in a recording studio before, and this was the real deal. We sat there and watched Steve Albini wolf down some tamales and then a few days later we saw him play with Shellac at a packed benefit show at Subterranean.

--Tonight was meeting three of Jenny's and my monthly supper club (goal: to conquer every unknown eatery in Chicago). So far, we've done Ethiopian, Mexican (after the Costa Rican place of choice was closed down unexpectedly and temporarily), and tonight was pizza in a liquor store called Marie's Pizza and Liquors. You walk through the liquor store to get to the restaurant, which is complete with plastic wood paneling and a glassy, bronzey Chicago skyline. Inside the liquor store, there's even a little "vineyard" area where you can eat. The neighborhood it's in is very diverse and I've never ventured into it before. On the way there, Todd and I spotted some woman who was walking and pulling her pants up from her thighs to her waist. Yeah, I don't know either.

--Last week we were watching "Cheaters" and after watching a particularly sad case of a gracious middle aged woman being cuckolded by her rude husband I sighed--SANS IRONY--"At least she called 'Cheaters.'"

Happy Birthday to Suzi!
April is the birthday month for many of my favorite people.

Hope that 31 is treating you great already, girl.

Happy Birthday to Todd!

The best boyfriend ever turns 29 today. Live up that last year in your 20s!

Happy 31st to ANNE!

My dear and treasured friend is celebrating her birthday today. I wish that I could have been there with.

This needed to be blogged:
In this week's New Yorker, there is a piece in the "Talk of the Town" section about the whole Imus debacle by Nick Paumgarten (side opinion: I never listened to Imus before, but *how* did he get away with this stuff for so long? I can imagine him being confused for being shot down for a comment that he made in passing when he produced so much ridiculously horrible stuff before for SO long).

Anyway.

Here's part of the article and it's too rich not to be shared:

Snoop Dogg, carefully parsing the application of "ho," distanced himself and his rapper peers from the I-man. "We are not talking about no collegiate basketball girls," he told MTV News. "We're talking about ho's that's in the hood that ain't doing shit, that's trying to get a nigga for his money. These are two separate things."

Busy?
I've been busy for the last week at work or so, which is not the norm since my caseload is pretty low and I'm only at one school. But the past week has been the perfect storm since report cards are due and a couple of evaluations needed to be done and reports needed to be written and I had volunteered to teach a Kindergarten class about "speech helpers" (that would be the lips, tongue, etc). And that meant planning and preparing for said class. The good news is that my supervisor lent me this awesome plastic mouth model called Mr. Mouth (with a tongue that you can manipulate--too cool!). AND, last Friday at our SLP professional development meeting we had this awesome presentation from a SLP from MN about bringing music into treatment. We even got four of her CDs to use. I can't describe to you how adorable these songs are: they're all language-rich and simple and all about stimulation, and often set to oldies. My personal favorite is "The Carbo Chorus" which is a multi-syllabic masterpiece of "spaghetti's" and "potatoes" set to a military march. It makes you want to dance, listening to these songs. Anyway, to make a long, monotonous story short--I found a couple of songs on her CDs that are about using your tongue tip and also about making labial (lip) sounds. Perfect.

I did the class today and it lasted exactly the hour that I promised and the kids loved it. The music SLP presenter suggested bringing in instruments for kids to help them become more engaged, so I accomplished a little low-tech magic. I found some plastic eggs that were sitting around in my old apartment and then filled them with tiny amounts of dried macaroni. Voila--instant percussion instruments. I was pretty proud of myself and it re-affirmed my suspicion that *nothing* must ever be thrown away. I ran into one of the kids from the class today at the end of the day and he called out: "YOU're the one who taught us about tongues!"

So true, young sparrow, so true.


I would estimate that 90% of the time, the kids call me "Mrs. M___." I know it's the kids who are really familiar with me who nail the Ms.

In other news, spring has finally sprung. Today I skipped the gym and opted to go for a nice leisurely jog/walk around my new neighborhood, which I love more every second I inhabit it. It felt nice to finally feel some sunshine on the face.

Oh, and of course I need to give a food update. Todd and I tried out Kuma's Corner on Saturday. It's a pub that is actually a ridiculously tiny hop and jump from my work place. They won an award recently for offering some of the city's best burgers, and it was well deserved. Kuma's has some notoriety for naming their burger options after heavy metal bands. I ordered the Motorhead, and it was delicious, topped with goat cheese, tzatiki, tomato and lettuce. There is also the Mastadon, the Black Sabbath, the Slayer, etc. And despite the glowering heavy metal names, the server was super friendly and the place was popping with a diverse selection of patrons. Plus, nice beer selection. I'm taking you all there when you come and visit me in Chicago.

Kuai Review in the Dallas Morning News!
I was a little late to the door on this, but I just found it. I was searching in the wrong place, apparently. I think it was pretty positive and good!

I've been quiet...so quiet.
No news is good news, right? It was rough getting back to work this past Monday but things are heating up quickly again.

There's old news to catch up on, though. I wanted to share that a couple of weeks ago, we went to go and see Explosions in the Sky play at the Metro. Charles had tried to turn me onto them many years ago (I even backed out of a trip to Baltimore to see them back in 2001 or something). It was only when I came to Chicago and Todd re-introduced me to them that I got hooked. I immediately fell in love with their gloriousness and used it as non-stop study music while in grad school. Needless to say, I was psyched to finally see them play live.

And how was it? They were awesome. I told Todd afterward that although it sounds cheese-ster, there is no other way to say it, but that their music makes my heart soar. Really, it does. There's lots of quiet beauty, and build up, and musical climaxes, and it's completely lovely.

But the concert experience was something else to speak of. It was an all-ages show, and it was packed to the gills. We opted to grab dinner during the opening band, so walked in an hour after the doors opened. I knew that it would be crowded, so was at peace with the fact that we were three layers back on the front balcony (I could peek through and catch sight of one of the band members below). I stood behind three single dudes who I surmised had been waiting there since the beginning, so they deserved their spots right by the rails.

Then I noticed this couple sidle up. It was a girl and her boyfriend, and they got there about half an hour after we got there. The girl did the crappy-but-noone-will-complain trick of ducking under dudes and pushing her way up front. In FRONT of these guys who had put in their time waiting for the best viewing. I was annoyed for them, but the dudes were stoic, so they didn't say anything and bore it with dignity. The girl would occasionally reach back for her boyfriend's hand and look swooningly at him, but he pretty much stayed back where I was. UNTIL, she pulled him up with her, pushing the stoic dude beside me even farther back so he was actually standing farther back than me. And THEN, they proceeded to make out very voraciously. In conclusion, it was gauche and gross, and bad concert etiquette.

Happy, Happy Birthday, Christie!

My favorite German/Costa Rican there ever was.

shiny-Dallas
Dallas was fun. Seeing Robin was great, and hanging out was even greater, and working at the restaurant all day on Monday and half the day on Tuesday wasn't so much great as it was educational and rewarding even (in terms of dumpling payment and spiritually too).

I must report that Kuai, the quick-food dumpling take out place put together by my very awesome brother and his two very awesome business school cadres, was nothing short of phenomenal. As I've told everything whom I've talked to about this, I would have lied to those guys and told them that the dumplings and food was great even if they weren't.

But they were really, really, really great. Plump and tasty and totally filled with quality and fresh ingredients.

So you want to hear about the menu? The dumplings include pork, chicken, and vegetable. They also offer three kinds of soups (hot and sour, egg drop, and won ton). Beyond that, there's also enormous and super fresh Viet garden rolls outfitted with two gargantuan shrimp and delicious, fresh chicken. There's also edamame, seafood salad, and ginger salad. Oh, and they sell boxes of Pocky, those little chocolate-dipped skinny cookie fingers that you see in Asian grocery store (unfortunately, Kuai does not offer Men's Pocky....yet.)

And nothing is fried, so it's super healthy. And cheap. A five-pack of dumplings is less than four bucks. You can get soup and a five-pack which will fill you up and under $6. I wish that they opened their first store near me (like, next door).

Oh, and the wonton soup? The guys make those wontons fresh too. I was thinking that they just bought frozen wontons, but they were just as freshly made as the dumplings. AND they have containers of fried shallots and another of chopped green onions for you to top your soups with.

So the dudes took advantage of my presence there at Kuai this week and worked me. I chopped an entire crate of tofu for the veggie dumplings. I helped peel half a crate of monstrous fingers of ginger (what a pain in the ass that was). I chopped mushrooms, celery, and onions. I helped pour sauces. I did a lot of industrial dish washing. I swept the floors. I helped lay out dumpling boxes. I took a phone order. I also watched them go through the painstaking process of making these dumplings. It was pretty sexy stuff, but all worth it since I got paid in food.

So, bottom line is that I'm really proud of them. And excited for what the future holds for delicious Kuai dumplings.

Beyond that, the rest of the visit was very laid back. The weather was flawless: sunny and in the 70s. On Sunday, I went to brunch with Robin and others where the restaurant offered bottomless bloody mary-s, bellinis, and mimosas for $3.50. BOTTOMLESS. $3.50. And now I see why there is so much drunk driving in Dallas because these people can drink a hell of a lot. The weather was also perfect enough to allow us to laze by the pool in the late afternoon (btw, weather in Chicago right now? Wind-warnings, overcast, and 30 degrees).

Dallas itself is full of shiny windows on its buildings. There is greenery and a lot of highway. Robin and I did exactly one touristy thing when we went to see the site of JFK's assassination. It took us like 15 minutes total to park, walk over, get a gander, snap a couple of shots, and then drive away. Someone marked the actual assassination spot with a medium-sized "x." I was surprised to see where it was since in all of the footage I pictured the spot being surrounded by buildings and a lot more flat. However, the place essentially appeared to be a highway exit. We had to take a few pictures of me pointing at the spot since cars kept on driving over the thing.

Although it was sad to bid Robin farewell, it's good to be home, to get back to my regular workout schedule, and continue tackling the slow unpacking of my place. The cable and Internet got installed today, and it's positively lovely to catch up on my Bravo shows and type here on my couch. I don't head back to work till Monday, so I have four more days free.

The kitchen:

where the magic happens, which includes all of the chopping.

And believe me, there is chopping.

A little taste of what is in the shelves. The vat is labeled "soy sauce."

Robin, Chris and Jeff posing at the counter of Kuai.

The outside of Robin's restaurant. Very professional, eh?

Mature.

A small piece of shiny-Dallas in the horizon, and Robin gazing upon it pensively. As you do.

The grassy knoll.
The barely seen "x" on the road.
A tiny gaggle of tourists across the street.

So lies the Dallas tourist experience.

On Spring break now!
I'm heading off to Dallas this afternoon to visit Robin and will be back next week.

wooo! I plan to eat a lot of dumplings.

All Moved In!
I'm in the new place, finally. It is great. I am currently Internet-less since my Internet doesn't transfer over till the beginning of April, but the good news is that the library is a block away and free wi-fi there! That's where I am right now.

So, the move. It was okay. Todd and Rich helped me, and Rich allowed us to use the Bear Claw van, which was very awesome of him. We moved the big stuff in about four hours and two van trips. The weather was brisk, but sunny, although a few snowy flakes came down. But, the worst planning aspect of it all was that I opted to move in St Patrick's Day. And my old place is in Party Central #2 and a couple of blocks away from Party Central #1. My little side street is usually busy, but people were skulking for spots and double parking as early as 9 a.m. that morning! Because people were getting their drink on at around 8. Fun!

The most hilarious thing was that I got residential moving posters from the alderman's office. They threaten towing in big red letters, but apparently, the only way to have any real towing pull is to get your signs put up by city hall. I decided that I wouldn't really get any car towed anyway, but might as well try to clear a spot for the van. So, I dutifully put up the signs two days beforehand and hoped that people would heed them and clear out on Saturday morning from 8 a.m.-2 p.m. No, they didn't. Not only did they flagrantly ignore the signs, but they were double parking. Lee's boyfriend walked by at 9 a.m., when someone was pulling in to the spot. Needless to say, finding a space for the van was a pain. We did manage to carve out one little corner, but had to pull forward and block a busy driveway whenever we loaded a piece of furniture.

But, the stuff is mostly in the new place now. I love the new place. It's strewn with books and papers at the moment, but slowly everything is being put away. It's light and cozy and my first night there was peaceful, although I'm getting used to the wheezing of the steam heaters. My toilet was running when I moved in and I called the maintenance guy last night. He fixed it today, so I'm pleased with the efficiency of it all.

I'm going to go home and cook dinner right now.

Moving blows.
Saturday is the big move! In the meantime, I've been loading up my car with odds and ends that I don't need help with in the hopes that Saturday's move will be made easier and easier. But, my room has magical abilities to hold large amounts of crap. I haul it out, and it regenerates. Now I'm hugely pooped and it's time for bed.

But, hey, it was 70 degrees in Chicago today! It was, as the newscasters described it, "the best weather in Chicago in 2007 so far." So true. It was sunny and breezy and outrageously lovely. But, tomorrow it's supposed to drop to 30 and there is talk of snow on Thursday.

Happy Birthday, Charles!

31.

We are definitely grown-ups now.

Touting
I found a new hair salon that I love. It's called Twisted Scissors. It is a block from Todd's place, so easy commute, and it's a start up by some renegade hair stylists that used to work at Roscoe Village's Big Hair. Big Hair is always packed and involves a wait, and their hours are short and strict (I think that they stop letting people in at 4). I liked it because it was funky and cheap. But they recently raised their prices. However, Twisted Scissors is funky, the stylists are super nice because they own the place and want regulars, it's roomy and light-filled and more laid back, and lots cheaper than Big Hair. I got a great cut and a blow dry for $20!

Run, don't walk, to Twisted Scissors. I have their number if you need it.

onBeing
Jenn Crandall, who was in Robin's class in Pakistan and who was in Beijing at the same time as me as well, is a photojournalist for Washingtonpost.com. She has started this onBeing project that is hands down great. Really, they're awesome and I'm proud to know their creator.

Check them out here!

Happy Casimir Pulaski Day!
Don't know who he is? I didn't either until this year. He's a Polish war hero who fought in the revolutionary war. It's a holiday here in Chicago, and all of the schools have it off. Ladies and gentlemen, that will make this my fourth Monday off since I started my job almost two months ago. I lerv the school schedule. A little about Pulaski for your edification from the website I've attached:

In 1779, Pulaski was ordered to join General Lincoln in the South to help recapture Savannah. After French General D'Estaing, leader in the attack on the southern capital, fell wounded, Pulaski is reported to have rushed forward to assume command and raise the soldiers' spirits by his example and courage, only to be mortally wounded himself. Pulaski was named the "Father of the American Cavalry", and remains one of the well known figures of the American Revolutionary War.

Are you dying to know what I've been doing with my day? Well, I began the slow move of my things over to my NEW PLACE. My great new place is in Lincoln Square and it's perfect and I love it. It makes packing shite into my car and carrying my millions of text books and papers everywhere a lot less painful.

Three day weekends are awesome. This weekend, I caught up with Northwestern ladies for some tapas at Cafe Iberico (my first time there--cheap tapas!), ventured to make some roast lamb with Todd, saw Russian Circles and Del Ray play at Schubas (thanks for the ticket, Todd), and had dim sum with Lauren at Furama in Uptown. I also showed Todd the new apartment and recruited his help to help me schlep up some bags of aforementioned text books that I had been slowly loading into my trunk.

I also had an adventure with selling things with Craigs list. This apartment came with a giant china cabinet that neither Lee nor I wanted to carry with us once we move out. I figured that I would sell it on Craigs list for some cheapie price and that was the right thing to do because I got like six or seven responses within six hours of posting. Since it was Jenny's old roommate who had left it with her, and she didn't want the cabinet, I'm taking the earnings and taking us out one night. We also have a giant blue rug that we need to get rid of and I'm going to try the same thing.

Congratulations...
to my little brother who got into his first choice school: UT-Austin. We doubted you a bit along the way because, while very smart, you also tended to be a bit lazy with the school work. But you proved us wrong, and I'm super excited for you. I also can't wait to come and visit Austin again.