Foam!

When you pour Harpoon Leviathon into
a small glass, you get a tiny amount of beer and a very large head.

Lasagna

This pirate makes very good lasagna, I guess she is Italian. Yummy.
Too bad we are busy cheering for the Phillies. They are down 6-3 so
far in game 3.

Don't tell pip

But i'm going out for Halloween. Don't tell pip. I'm not sure I'll
make it home tonight.

Inde and Lily

Inde and lily are so into the world series! They also made us lasagna
with red sauce from scratch. Yummy. Now, go phillies!

Hair Net or Hair Cut?

You know you are getting older when you start sleeping in a hair net. Just as they say in those State Farm commercials, I'm so there. Three or four days this week my hair has been totally out of control when I woke up in the morning. I feel like the lead singer from Missing Persons in that, or any other, horrible 1980s MTV video. The way I see it, I can either start wearing a totally sexy hair net or I can get a hair cut. I used to wear my hair a lot shorter, but I grew it out about three years ago. I got tired of being called "sir," and I was also preparing to look for jobs in the less-liberal south, so I thought it was a good move. But now I'm in the midwest in a fairly liberal big city, I still don't have any real hair skills of which to speak, I'm tired of looking like a washed up 80s rock star in the morning, and shorter hair would cut down on the time it takes me to get ready in the morning and be better under the helmet. I'll keep thinking about it, but it might be time for a change.

Where do I put it?

I'm walking Inde after work when she stops to go to the bathroom. Isn't it embarrassing enough that she has to go right out in public with no privacy? Being the law-abiding citizen that I am, I whip out a plastic baggy and scoop it up. I tie the bag and look for someplace to throw it away. Not seeing any convenient bins, I turn to head home. On my way,I see this garbage can in front of a building. I wonder, where am I supposed to put my disease-transmitting pet waste if not in the garbage can? Should I just carry it around until I find some urban compost facility? I'm glad no city officials have been following inde around because I think she usually poops about two to three times day, times 400 days (approximately) that she has lived in Chicago, times the $1,000 penalty equals $1,000,000 in fines for merely picking up after my dog! This all seems crazy, but wait, there's more! Although I have not included a picture here, there are other signs in my neighborhood that say, "Pick up after your dog. $400 fine." Okay, I get it, it's $400 if you don't pick up after your dog, but it's $1,000 if you do and then try to throw it away. In this economy, I'm surprised anyone takes the financial risk of picking up after their dog! Don't even start with the cat ...

Scary

This is the second time I have used a picture from this storefront on my blog. Last time, it was the neon cow. This is the Halloween display. I don't know about you, but to me, this is a little over the top. I'm okay with scary, but this is horrorshow scary. Maybe it's the clown masks. I think we all have some leftover nightmare about clowns from our childhood. There was a two-headed infant chucky-type thing in the window, but they removed it. Good call. Let me know what you think about this window display.

Overheard during the Phillies game

After telling the story about the ghost tour and the boy whose ghost comes out of the Chicago River when a woman who is: (1) pregnant or a mother; and (2) has a birthday in the third week of March walks by, one of my guests (who happens to be pregnant), says that she can't be our ghost tester because her birthday is in January. One of my other guests says, "my birthday is in March, but I'm not gonna get knocked up for this."

Game 1

Game 1! No Tastycakes, but lots of junk food. Go Phillies!

Collar!

Let me introduce KC, killer cat, duchess of fairmount, mouse killer
extraordinaire. You've already met the dog, it's about time you met
the cat. She just had surgery on her tail to remove a tumor. I took
the tape off tonight as instructed by the vet so the wound could heal,
but then she started to lick at the stitches, so she had to put on her
Elizabethan collar. You can't tell, but this is blue velvet and lace.
Pretty kitty. Pretty expensive kitty.

Phillies Phever!

Okay Cubs fans, we didn't struggle through 100 years of frustrating
losses, but we did have over 25 years without a major championship in
Philadelphia. So maybe you can understand my excitement that the
Phillies are back where they belong - in the world series! And against
the evil empire - the NY Yankees! I'm really excited about game 1
tomorrow. A friend in Philly sent some Philadelphia trinkets and
another friend brought Tastycakes (which inde devoured, bad doggy).
I'm expecting some additional love from Philadelphia from another
friend, just in time for the game. Fantastic! Go Phillies! And if you
don't have a horse in this race, cheer for the Phillies!!

Inde loves the Phillies

First, I must give artistic credit for this photo to a former Philly
friend. Not a former friend, just another displaced eastcoaster, sort
of (he's from the south east). Anyway, game 4 of the NLCS is tight!
The Phillies are down 4-2.

. . .

Okay, the game got too exciting and I had to stop right in the middle
of my blog post. For those of you who live under a rock, the Phillies
came back and won on a walk off triple by the much-maligned lead-off
hitter Jimmy Rollins. I apologize to J-Roll for all the times I have
picked on him. (Although some credit must go to inde and barley for
their rally caps!!). One more win. Let's go Phillies!!

Hipster - take 2

Okay, I'm not sure if I'm right about this, but I think hipsters
may also play games such as dirty bingo. Or maybe it's frat boys who
play dirty bingo. I don't know, so I'm looking for input here.

Hipster - take 1

Okay, so I didn't know what a hipster was until I moved to Chicago.
Now I live in this neighborhood full of hipsters. I've learned a few
things about them: (1) male hipsters wear tight jeans, sometimes even
women's jeans; (2) hipsters like to play board games; (3) hipsters
like to take square dancing lessons; and (4) hipsters weigh less than
I do. So, I saw this guy walking around down town and he is either a
lost hipster or a hipster in the loop looking for a real job. Check it
out - white patent leather shoes, super tight low riding dark blue
jeans, a shark skin jacket and that sashay. Oh, and he wasn't gay.

Tick!

This is Inde. She is tired from a long stressful day. She isso tired
that she doesn't know she has a giant tick on her belly. She is also
too tired to watch the third game of the NLCS. In the second inning,
we had a few opportunities to cheer and each time Inde was startled
awake, but not enough to move off the couch. Incidentally, I have a
friend at the game somewhere in the fourth row. I'm still looking for
him! Go Phillies!

Nice pin

Tonight I went on a walking ghost tour of Chicago. A guy in the tour
had this pin on his bag. I thought it was really funny so I spent the
first 20 minutes of the tour trying to get a clear picture of it. All
that time, others in my group were taking pictures near historic
accident sites and capturing small translucent orbs that are said to
be ghosts. All I got was this picture of a funny pin.

Piece!

One nice thing about having guests in from out of town - I can usually
talk them into pizza at Piece, a local pizza and beer joint. This is
New Hampshire style pizza and my favorite is a red pie with extra
sauce and extra cheese. Yummy! When you come visit, I'll take you
there, too! Oh, yeah, and they have good beer there, too.

Wasted opportunities

Just a few words of unsolicited advice - check your cable bill. You
just might find out some disturbing news. For example, my cable bill
went up by $15 this month, so I took a look at the bill details. Lo
and behold, I found out I was charged for Nuevo selecto / playboy (or
the Spanish channels plus the Playboy channel). Outraged, I called
comcast to find out what the deal was. Turns out that the "deal" was
that I had the Spanish channels and the Playboy channel for FREE for
the last 12 months and didn't know it! Are you kidding? Talk about
lost opportunities. In what will go down in my autobiography as one
of the greatest lost opportunities of all time, the Playboy channel
has been cancelled and the charge for the thirteenth month has been
credited to my account. The moral of the story is: channel surf! Make
sure you know the contents of your package or at least scrutinize your bill.

Sometimes it's the little things

Every morning on my way to work, I pass by the long lines at the
coffee joints and head to the 7-11 to buy a fountain Pepsi. I never
learned to like coffee, but I need my caffeine in the morning. So, I
get a big Pepsi and brace for the day. The other day I went to a new
7-11 and had two pleasant surprises. First, my drink was three pennies
cheaper than at my usual store. Second, the new store had this totally
cool high tech soda machine that looks like it could dispense any
beverage I could want. Awesome. But really, I'm excited about saving
three pennies.

Spider - take 1

So this is the beginning picture of the spider experiment. As you can
see, he is barely bigger than a beer cap. The package promised that he
would double in size. Sure, I think I've heard that before. I figured
it was worth the $3 to see if there is truth in advertising.

The spider - take 2

And this is the spider fully grown! He is now 6" from toe to toe. (Do
spiders have toes? I don't know.) The next step in the experiment is
to take him out of the water and see if he shrinks. According to his
packaging, I should be able to shrink and grow him infinitely. Hmmm ...

Also, I don't know why I'm always using a beer cap for scale. The
spider didn't mind, so you shouldn't either.

10 gallon hat

Sometimes I love the city. I don't think this man is homeless, but I
also don't think he is "all there," if you will. Or, maybe he's onto
something. Some days I'd like to carry my pillow around with me for an
emergency nap when work gets boring. The hat, well that's another
story. I've never personally seen such a big hat. I don't really have
a lot to say about him, but I thought he was enough of a character to
blog about him.

Finally, an acceptable use for this refrain

As seen in the window of the t-shirt deli on damen:

I'm a loser, baby

So, what do three intelligent women with post-graduate degrees do on a
lazy Saturday afternoon? They watch the best B-movie available on
demand for free. Hey, don't knock it until you try it. This movie has
it all: (1) an adult Ralph Macchio (who I think has aged nicely, but
who is not the lead star of the movie); (2) the f word 100 times in
the first five minutes; (3) jokes that violate every rule of political
correctness; (4) jokes about New Jersey that you might not appreciate
to the fullest if you have never lived on the east coast; (5) a number
of great one-liners - none of which can be quoted on my pg-13 blog;
(6) a sympathetic protagonist who is 35, unemployed and lives with his
mother, who has a knack for turning up in the wrong place at the most
inopportune time; and (7) gratuitous nakedness. If you have not seen
it, I'd watch it quickly because I think it's only on demand through
the end of the month.

Graffiti

After a lazy Saturday filled with underachieving, I found myself in
need of sustenance. I decided that it was time for me to learn how to
make beans, pico and guacamole. I took a trip to the local
(overpriced) grocery store (with no parking lot - it is the city).
Anyway, on the way down the alley back to the car, I noticed this
graffiti on the dumpster. I thought it was great that someone had
sprayed this dumpster with an inappropriate phrase - in pink.

Elevator safety

Every morning I see this sign before I get into the elevator and I
hope that I make it to my floor! I understand that one of the
elevators frequently gets stuck and that sometimes all of the
elevators are out of service. Fortunately, I don't think I've ever
been in a car with more than 3 people. I'd like to keep it that way!

View from the bottom

This picture was taken from the bottom floor of the Thompson Center. I
thought it was sort of cool. The shiny columns in the lower right are
elevator shafts. The building houses state offices as well as a cta
station and a food court. Anyway, there is a lot of glass.

Wet!

Ok, so the city of Chicago did a little post-Olympic bid rejection
sprucing up. Commendable. Except that they only painted this column as
high as they could reach without a ladder. If you look just above the
fresh paint, you can see the column is covered in pidgeon excrement.
Nice. Don't worry, short people are fooled.

Chicago

From the dunes in Indiana, you can see Chicago if you zoom in. I
understand that it is about 35 miles as the crow flies. Or swims.

No dogs allowed

Doesn't inde look sad? I had promised her that I would take her to the
dunes, but when we got there, dogs were prohibited!! Don't tell
anyone, but I took her on the beach anyway! She loved it!

Something smells fishy

After the disappointment of the shrimpalicious non-experience, we took
inde for a hike in the Indiana state dunes park. We found this cute
little stream that used to be a major pelt trading route. Inde was
very excited because something smelled very good to her, but not to
us. If you can see it in this picture of the stream, there was a dead
bloated fish about 18 inches long - a good size for a Chicago rat! I
tried to get close for a good picture, but considering my recent
experiences wiping out in Arkansas and Starved Rock state park, I
thought I should be careful. The photo is sort of neat because it's
tough to tell that it is a reflection in the water and not a picture
of the sky. Regardless, take my word for it, it smelled bad, bad fishy.

Scariest thing I ever saw

Ok - so being a state employee is a scary thing. This poster is in
the women's (and probably men's but I can't confirm) bathroom. Am I
back in fourth grade? For a little background, in fourth grade one of
my classmates caught some disease from not washing his hands. Then he
ran away at lunch time. We got a long lecture about washing our hands
and singing the alphabet two times through while we washed. No lecture
about running away. Anyway, here I am 30 years later still learning
how to wash my hands. I'm quite relieved, however, because when I was
in private practice nobody washed their hands.

My apologies to Indiana

Sunday, a day for rest. Or not. I started with a 5k run in Bucktown
that went better than I expected. It's time for me to pick another
race to train for -- maybe a 15k or some other distance that I have
not run. I would really like to try to set a pr in the 5k, but it
might be too late in the season. I know I'm not looking forward to
running on the treadmill this winter because I lost one toenail last
year and it took 8 months to grow back!

Anyway, this post probably should relate to the title, so I'll get
back on track. After the race (and some fantastic banana pancakes), I
headed to Indiana to visit some new friends and take the dog to the
dunes. I stopped at this fine eatery to sample the "alicious" fare,
but they were closed for the season. Slightly disappointed, I stopped
at a convenience store to get a soda and watched the man in front of
me - who was wearing waders - buy a 4-pack of red bull energy drink.
Those fish better look out!

That's a croc!

After my nice lunch, I stopped in the Crocs store on the way back to
the parking garage. They had this giant shoe on display. I think it
was made for Shaq, but I'm not sure. For scale, I put a bottle cap
next to the shoe. Wow!

Art?

Saturday morning was the best part of the day and I took advantage by
heading down to Millennium Park to meet up with a friend from out of
town and explore the park. After checking out Cloudgate (often called
the bean), we stumbled upon a new installation of what we used to call
quad art. I'm not sure how to describe this sculpture, but I'll take
a shot. The red crane is coming out of what looks to be the front
trunk of an old vw bug. Hanging from the crane is a wild boar with a
multitude of teats, from which an adult cherub-like figure is dangling
and, finally, there is a headless running man. I don't get the art,
the meaning, the symbolism, or anything. The only thing I get is that
the stuff of my nightmares can make me money, if only someone will
restore funding to the NEA.

Art adventure aside, I had a great time reconnecting with my friend
and meeting some of her family members who were also in town. We spent
the best part of the day walking around outside and then having a nice
lunch outdoors. I think that might be the last time we eat outside
until May.

Obama-man

Even a special plea from Obama-man could not save Chicago 2016 from
the ill will generated by the last administration.

Optimism

Although many people backed the 2016 bid, I'm not sure people here are
ready to throw Chicago's hat in the ring again so quickly. This
creative downtown shop owner thinks otherwise, as you can see.

A sad day for Chicago

In what can only be interpreted as a rebuke from the international
community, Chicago was the first city cut in the voting for the 2016
summer olympics. I walked through the courtyard at the Daley center
about an hour after the crowds dispersed. I was sad to see the
colorful "2016" signs come down. This was perhaps the saddest image of
the day for me. I couldn't help but think that we, as a country, have
a long way to go to regain the respect and friendship of the rest of
the world.

Parking

What a cool idea - dog parking. Or, is it just another way for the
city to make money? I'm not sure, but when I came out of the store to
get Inde, she was chewing some orange envelope. Doggy traffic court,
here I come!