Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Don't let them fool you

No alarm will sound. They think they are so tricky.

Friday, June 25, 2010

Tight spot

This should really say - the objects in the rear view camera are closer than they appear. This was one tight parking spot! Think back to the scene in one of the Austin Powers movies where he gets the golf cart stuck sideways in the hallway and drives forward one inch into the wall, then backward one inch into the wall. This was a nice bit of city parking!

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Finally, one good thing about living in a hipster neighborhood

The graffiti is smart and entertaining.

Retro

More retro signs. If old-fashioned signs are in style, are old people
back in style? One can only hope.

Strickly speaking

There are a bunch of these signs around the marina. I kept checking to
see whether any of them were correct. No luck.

Terror

Who would guess that a simple rainstorm turns this sweet dog into a
panting, scratching, shaking Houdini? I thought I might get to bed
early tonight, but then a violent storm blew in - complete with
thunder, lightning and maybe even hail. Inde went beserk. She had not
yet gone out for the final time, and then refused to go out the door
once the rain started. Fortunately, I watched a few episodes of the
Tudors while I waited for the storm to pass, which it eventually did
and now inde has been out and I might actually get some sleep!

Another reason Philadelphia > Chicago

In Philly, they would already have towed my neighbor's car, which has
been sitting inthe street like this for a few days. I'm still not
quite sure whether he took off the wheels himself or whether they were
stolen or whether he even knows. This is crazy.

Saturday, June 19, 2010

WTF?

Nutter Butter cookies are no longer shaped like peanuts. What's up
with that?

Tuesday, June 15, 2010

Wrainbow over Wrigley

Wrain at Wrigley

Glad it's today and not Sunday when the Cup was here!

Love it?

I don't even know what it is, but if it's a giant macaroni noodle, I
do love it!

Monday, June 14, 2010

Uniforms

On the way out of the park, I walked by the equipment managers loading
the White Sox gear into their truck. Normally, this would happen
inside or under the stadium, but Wrigley is too old and too small!

<3

I want one of these onion dispensers at home.

AAGPBL x Bowling

I saw this shirt in the Cubs store at Wrigley. I could not help but
think that it was a cross between a bowling shirt and a uniform from
the Rockford Peaches, if the peaches had been blue instead of maroon.

Crowded!

This is what happens when the Cubs play the Sox and the pitcher has a
no-hitter into the top of the 9th. Oh, and the Blackhawks sing Take
Me Out to the Ballgame during the 7th inning stretch, with the Stanley
Cup.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sunday night game of the week!

I am sitting right behind the espn camera man. He flips to the NBA
finals between every pitch.

Two cups are better than one!

I just can't get enough of the cup!

Stanley Cup

The victorious Blackhawks brought the Stanley Cup to Wrigley for the
cross-town classic. I also brought my Stanley Cup. It came all the way
from Philadelphia, when I used to have season tickets to the Flyers.
And the Phillies.

Fog

Another thing about Chicago - it's very foggy. I've been told these
buildings have tops, but I can't say that I've ever seen them.

Pirates!

You can't see the flags very well, but there are three: a pirate flag,
a rainbow flag and a Blackhawks flag! It was almost the highlight of
today's cruise. The real highlight, the chocolate fountain. At least
until an elderly gentleman stuck his hand in the fountain, four times.
Needless to say, I did not go back for seconds.

Another Chicago tradition

Back in 2008, I was in Chicago to look at houses and I stumbled on a
naked bike ride to raise awareness of the United States's dependence
on foreign oil. Last night, on the way home from the midsummerfest, I
stumbled on the ride again, twice. The first time was accidental and
the second was while deliberately trying to AVOID the ride. Maybe next
year I should just plan to ride.

Chicago festivals

I got a comment that reminded me of why I originally started this blog
- to compare my life in the wasteland that is the Midwest to my life
in the utopia that was the northeast. One thing I like about Chicago,
there are a plethora of neighborhoods here and, in the summer, each
one has a street festival. I went to the Andersonville midsommerfest
(forget the fact that the summer has not officially started)
yesterday. In the middle of the typical booths of jewelry and t-shirt
vendors was this booth offering these fabulous desserts. I didn't have
any. And now I'm sort of wishing I had!

Ice cream frozen while you wait!

Now that 2 of the 3 ice cream places in the hood have closed, I tried
a new place called I cream. Sounds a little weird, I know. It was
pretty cool. All the ice cream starts in a plain flavor and you can
pick your flavors. I picked chocolate and raspberry. They injected the
two flavors into the plain base and then used liquid nitrogen to speed
cool the mixture into ice cream. The texture was different - very
light, sort of like it was whipped. Overall, the experience was better
than the product, but given the lack of other choices, I'd go again.

Atlantic City - gambling = Navy Pier

They both have rides, water, tourists, cheap souvenirs and bad traffic
patterns. If I had to pick, I think I'd take AC.

Friday, June 11, 2010

Chocolate or poop?

Poop. I was examining my blueberry bagel and tryingto determine
whether there was mold or blueberries. I had decided it was just
blueberries and was just abou to take a bite when my colleague walked
in and said, "hey, I think there is mold on your bagel." Sure enough,
the bottom had a moldy spot about the size of a half dollar. I threw
the whole thing away. Now, I'm starving.

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Not appreciated!

I went to get my $1 sandwich and there were about 50 people in line.
Bummer. We bailed and headed over to a more expensive but less crowded
lunch spot.

Where's Waldo?

I was wrong yesterday, there were four personal items on my desk. Now,
there are five - three red, one blue, and one the frickin' Stanley Cup!

I <3 capitalism

Only 9 hours after the Hawks clinched the cup, people were outside the
Thompson center hawking unofficial, unattractive memorabilia at
unheard of prices.

The final countdown

Hawks win!

The Stanley Cup at the five points!

The people spilled out of the bars and onto the streets to celebrate
the Hawks' victory. And my Stanley Cup was there to witness the whole
thing! We walked a mile through big crowds of people and saw only one
other cup.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Saturday, June 5, 2010

My favorite car

I used to own a green truck like this (but a 4-wheel drive version,
not the 2-wheel drive version). I sold it when I moved into
Philadelphia and I have missed it ever since! Every time I go to my
sister's, I go to this store and one of the owner's has this truck! I
talked with him about it today and he raved about it being a great
truck. I was a little sad. I wiped away a tear as I pulled away.

Confession

I confess, I'm a little torn about the Stanley Cup finals. I miss
Philadelphia, but I have committed to the Hawks, sort of like when
Annie commits to Nuke for the season.

Nobody bakes a cake

Like tastykake!

Oh, to be a teenager

I took this photo of one of the kid's rooms this weekend. I had
forgotten what it was like to have a super messy room. Those were the
days. Or were they? And when did I stop being a slob? I guess it was
about the same time I started buying no-iron wrinkle free shirts.

Friday, June 4, 2010

A heart wrenching decision

I arrive at my sister's house. I am being attacked as a traitor. And
this is the beer she offers me? Disgraceful. Go Hawks.

Thursday, June 3, 2010

Book club

I think the theme is time travel, but I made a random assortment of
food, including two loaves of banana bread with chocolate chips and
dried cranberries. If I do say so, it is very good. And I finally
figured out how to get it to come out of the pan without messing up
the bread. But it's a secret. A yummy secret!

Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Harder than it looks

I roasted red peppers for the first time. It sounded so easy. It
looks pretty easy. But not burning them. And then peeling them. Not.
So. Easy! They do taste good, though. And they will taste great in
the hummus that I'm making.

June = new handwashing sign

I don't know how I feel about two males on the handwashing poster in
the women's washroom. And why are these retro posters? I just hope the
fact that the state once again has color posters on a monthly basis
means that they found some extra money in the budget . . . for this
and other things!