How cool is this? In just the last week or two, Google updated its satellite images of Chicago, including Grant Park. In doing so, they happened to capture Lollapalooza 2007! I have to say that the festival looks a lot tamer from the sky.
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Satellapalooza
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Yeah, it's cold here; No, I didn't vote for Blago.
This week, Forbes named Chicago #3 on its Most Miserable Cities List. The Windy City, Chitown, Metropolis in the Land of Lincoln, or Obamaland (take your pick) fell short of Stockton, California and Memphis, Tennessee. According to Kurt Badenhausen, Chicago is even more miserable than Flint, Michigan. Has Kurt visited Flint recently? Not surprisingly, everyone is talking about it.
Of course, Kurt and Forbes are schilling—like so many journalists and struggling media enterprises--coming up with arbitrary lists (Remember the 25 most influential liberals in media? Wasn’t that in Forbes just last week?), hoping to stir up reaction from readers, scrounge together some online page views for measly ad dollars, and pretend that money mag Forbes is above everybody else’s miserable money problems. Oh yeah, Chicago has such a high employment rate. Nevermind the fact that Forbes just consolidated all its departments into one and rumors of layoffs have been swirling about its news desks for months.
So, Kurt, what makes Chicago so terrible?
Yes, and the subway smells in New York, there’s smog in L.A., frozen corpses lie scattered in Detroit, Disney laid people off in Orlando, and former President George W. Bush has returned to Crawford, Texas, so let’s throw all those spots on the list too!
Kurt doesn’t bother addressing the flippantly-mentioned commute issue (Yeah, the CTA isn’t the MTA, but it’s not like Chicagoans are taking rickshaws to work.), doesn’t bother pointing out that rising unemployment seems to be a trend outside the Chicagoland area, and makes a weak barb at the weather we had here in January (Seventeen below, har har har!). Instead, he focuses most of his argument against Chicago on our sales tax and corrupt politicians. While they’re legitimate arguments, I don’t think an inflated sales tax and a few crappy governors (Sarah Palin, anyone? Did Wasilla make the list too?) warrant tacking a big fat #3 on Chicago.
But go ahead, Kurt Badenhausen and Forbes Magazine, call us whatever you want. You were bound to leechily suck some measly page views out of your Miserable City Song and Dance Routine (Did I mention they made a slideshow out of the article too? Be sure to click through every single picture of every single city!), so congratulations on all your success. For Chicago, it may be a welcome blow since all that sing-song praise we got last fall, fueled by our continued nomination for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Barack Obama’s golden November. Even another magazine, FastCompany, named Chicago 2008’s City of the Year with a beautiful article penned by my former teacher Alex Kotlowitz. Alex wrote a bit more than a list to pay homage to the soul that is this city—something that Forbes and Kurt might want to consider.
But let’s stick instead with this #3 Most Miserable rating. That’s right, America. Chicago is the pits. We’re worse than Detroit, than Cleveland, and probably than your town too. We’re terrible. Stay away. Don’t move here, and should you have to visit, keep it short. Us Chicagoans will suffer our sales tax, our governors, our bone-chilling winters and soul-lifting summers, our fattening foods and expansive lakefront, our arts scene and music world, our diverse neighborhoods and beautiful architecture, our industrial proud past and our incredible innovative future alone. We’ll bear that burden just fine, and if Forbes can help us continue to weed out the New York lackeys like Kurt who should stay away and keep the general city population down, we’ll appreciate the help.
Of course, Kurt and Forbes are schilling—like so many journalists and struggling media enterprises--coming up with arbitrary lists (Remember the 25 most influential liberals in media? Wasn’t that in Forbes just last week?), hoping to stir up reaction from readers, scrounge together some online page views for measly ad dollars, and pretend that money mag Forbes is above everybody else’s miserable money problems. Oh yeah, Chicago has such a high employment rate. Nevermind the fact that Forbes just consolidated all its departments into one and rumors of layoffs have been swirling about its news desks for months.
So, Kurt, what makes Chicago so terrible?
"Lousy weather, long commutes, rising unemployment and the highest sales tax rate in the country are to blame for the Windy City being near the top of our list. High rates of corruption by public officials didn't help either."
Yes, and the subway smells in New York, there’s smog in L.A., frozen corpses lie scattered in Detroit, Disney laid people off in Orlando, and former President George W. Bush has returned to Crawford, Texas, so let’s throw all those spots on the list too!
Kurt doesn’t bother addressing the flippantly-mentioned commute issue (Yeah, the CTA isn’t the MTA, but it’s not like Chicagoans are taking rickshaws to work.), doesn’t bother pointing out that rising unemployment seems to be a trend outside the Chicagoland area, and makes a weak barb at the weather we had here in January (Seventeen below, har har har!). Instead, he focuses most of his argument against Chicago on our sales tax and corrupt politicians. While they’re legitimate arguments, I don’t think an inflated sales tax and a few crappy governors (Sarah Palin, anyone? Did Wasilla make the list too?) warrant tacking a big fat #3 on Chicago.
But go ahead, Kurt Badenhausen and Forbes Magazine, call us whatever you want. You were bound to leechily suck some measly page views out of your Miserable City Song and Dance Routine (Did I mention they made a slideshow out of the article too? Be sure to click through every single picture of every single city!), so congratulations on all your success. For Chicago, it may be a welcome blow since all that sing-song praise we got last fall, fueled by our continued nomination for the 2016 Summer Olympics and Barack Obama’s golden November. Even another magazine, FastCompany, named Chicago 2008’s City of the Year with a beautiful article penned by my former teacher Alex Kotlowitz. Alex wrote a bit more than a list to pay homage to the soul that is this city—something that Forbes and Kurt might want to consider.
But let’s stick instead with this #3 Most Miserable rating. That’s right, America. Chicago is the pits. We’re worse than Detroit, than Cleveland, and probably than your town too. We’re terrible. Stay away. Don’t move here, and should you have to visit, keep it short. Us Chicagoans will suffer our sales tax, our governors, our bone-chilling winters and soul-lifting summers, our fattening foods and expansive lakefront, our arts scene and music world, our diverse neighborhoods and beautiful architecture, our industrial proud past and our incredible innovative future alone. We’ll bear that burden just fine, and if Forbes can help us continue to weed out the New York lackeys like Kurt who should stay away and keep the general city population down, we’ll appreciate the help.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Free to good home
I don't know if you heard...
...but it's cold here in Chicago. Like, really, really cold. Like, it's all that we're all thinking about cause it's so cold.
How cold, you ask? Well, let's say that for the last twelve hours, it's been below zero without the windchill. The high today is -1 and as of 12:30 PM, it's -5 but feels like -23. Fun!
On the walk to work today (I haven't attempted to move my car from the ice-snow igloo that has formed around it in the last week after we got 15 inches of snow or whatever it is), my eyes kept sticking shut because of the tears forming from the wind and blinking. I may have lost a few eyelashes, but that's only a small casualty.
I know I can't whine too much because there are people who live in places like International Falls and Bismarck. (By the way, why do you people do that? How can you stand it?) They've got it a lot tougher than--
Screw it. I'm going to complain all I want.
(Amazing photo courtesy of the Chicago Tribune, whose current homepage has a ticking clock of how long it's been below zero and a screaming headline: Why DO you live here, anyway?)
Monday, January 5, 2009
Thinkin' on Lincoln
I've been reading a lot about Lincoln lately. Most recently, I'm reading Andrew Ferguson's Land of Lincoln, which is fantastic. Settling into a chapter about Chicago's relationship with Lincoln, I decided to head over to Lincoln Square and park myself down at Potbelly's (where I can sit alone on a Friday night with a book without feeling like some loser). It seemed apt, given that the Square's statue of the man himself is only about a block away.
As I stood in line, one of the young guys working behind the counter struck up a conversation with me.
"Whatchyou reading there?" he asked me, motioning at the book I'd tucked under my arm. I held it up for him. "What's it say? Land... of..."
"Lincoln," I finished the title.
"So it's about Lincoln?" he asked.
"Well, kind of. It's about how the idea of Lincoln kind of lives with us today," I said, feeling extremely self-conscious and nerdy since a few of the other workers had now started staring at my book and I had really hoped just to go through this whole reading-alone-in-a-sandwich-shop-on-a-Friday-night thing unnoticed. "You know," I continued awkwardly, "cause everybody has an idea about Lincoln...at least what they learned in school or something."
"Not me," he said flatly.
I was floored. "You never think about Lincoln?" I asked him, my jaw probably hitting the counter because Lincoln is about all I've thought about for the last few months.
"No, not really," he said, shrugging.
Another girl working there interrupted him, giving me my total so I could pay quickly and seeming about as interested in our conversation about Lincoln as she was in having to work a Friday night shift.
I handed her my card and turned back to the guy. "So you seriously don't think about Lincoln? Not even like, just about him being president?"
"Nah," he said and then paused. "He was gay, right?"
Ah, yes. The Lincoln Was Gay, Right? theory was a pretty hot topic a few years ago with some historians--like C.A. Tripp who published The Intimate World of Abraham Lincoln--to assert that Lincoln had some homoerotic goings-ons with friends like Joshua Speed, with whom he shared a bed for a few years while they both worked. Other historians and sensitive Lincolnphiles are quick to point out that sharing a bed was a common thing in those days and that Lincoln clearly didn't have any sort of "streaks of lavender" in him, as Carl Sandburg once wrote. Of course, this theory picked up enough speed for kicker packages on the nightly news and has ingrained itself as a staple of the modern perception of Lincoln's life.
I considered the delicacies of modern constructions of history, whether the nightly news does more harm than good sometimes, the context of the gay world in both contemporary and antiquated worlds, and how easily (and quickly) one moment in time can become contorted before we no longer know whether Washington ever chopped down a cherry tree or if Dubya approached Guantanamo with the same noble thoughts of the republic as Lincoln did when he suspended habeas corpus.
But I skipped all that. "Uh, I think he was probably not gay, but I guess we don't know."
I sat down with my sandwich and opened my book back up when the starkest irony of the situation struck me: The young guy had just told me he never thinks about Abraham Lincoln wasn't just a kid working in a neighborhood named after Lincoln: He was a black kid working in a neighborhood named after Lincoln.
It just so happened that the next section of my chapter on Lincoln and Chicago dealt with a Thai immigrant who lives one neighborhood west of Lincoln Square. He and his wife moved to the U.S. in 1973 and opened the third Thai restaurant in Chicago. After seeing Lincoln's image and name repeated endlessly, they investigated the president and discovered that he was a pretty important guy. In their opinion, he is THE most important guy. Their family began annual pilgrimages to visit Lincoln's tomb and have created a small shrine to a Lincoln statue in their restaurant where they offer the mini-Abe a full meal each day.
He's just that important to them--Lincoln made it possible for them to come to this country and to live among their friends and peers equally. In other words, Lincoln gave everybody a chance, whether you want to serve sandwiches or Pad Thai or read your book on a Friday night alone. So maybe it's not so much that we don't ever think about Lincoln (or whatever other great figures past have formed our lives today), it's simply that we sometimes take him for granted. It might just take a huge bronze statue in the Square named after him, a small figurine in a Thai restaurant, or even that nerdy girl who ordered the salami and turkey sandwich on Friday night to remind you of it.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Just another day in Chicago
Where snow and ice immobilize the city, da mayor sings rather than salts or plows, our governor is about to be impeached, rats and rodents make the top of the page, and children are allowed to lick fire hydrants in the suburbs. Yup. Seems about right.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
I was there when we made history
I was lucky enough to receive tickets to go to Obama’s Election Night rally in Grant Park last night. The experience for me was surreal and overwhelmingly emotional. I felt lucky—not just to be at the front lines of this historic moment but also to be a part of a country like ours.
I spent the first part of the rally ecstatic, pumping my fist against my chest whenever Ohio’s results were pulled up on the Jumbotron and screaming, “THAT’S MY STATE!!” When CNN finally project Ohio for Obama, though, I felt quieter, calmer. It was as if I finally was allowing myself to believe that this could happen. I had made calls to my hometown in hopes to help Obama win, and while I got hung up on and sneered at a few times, I also talked with undecided voters who were truly concerned about our country and who seemed to lean Democratic by the time we finished talking, with Republicans who were voting for both a black man and a Democrat for the first time in their lives, and with other Democrats who were making calls themselves and who had voted in the early Ohio voting.
Here it was, Ohio’s electoral votes going to Obama, and I felt the pulse of the crowd against me and the rush of screams around me but I was floating outside of myself, completely peaceful.
By the time Obama’s rally was pumping celebratory music and playing a video montage that played on the emotions of a proud American, I was—like everybody else it seems—in tears. I replayed in my mind the last eight years of my life and all that has changed and imagined what changes will happen for me now—hopefully, for better this time.
But it was Obama’s speech, the full text of which is available here, which most resonated with me. In the last few months, I’ve been reading up a lot lately on Lincoln and feeling some strong emotions about our sixteenth president, so when Obama said the following, he truly touched me:
Let us resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long. Let us remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House -- a party founded on the values of self-reliance, individual liberty, and national unity. Those are values we all share, and while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress. As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, "We are not enemies, but friends…though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection." And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn -- I may not have won your vote, but I hear your voices, I need your help, and I will be your President too.
Coming from such a conservative area, I know full well that there will be people who will never accept Barack Obama. That’s fine. But the important thing is that for those of us who believe in him, and those who might come to believe in him too, Obama represents a true shift away from that petty partisanship and negativity that has so sharply pitched liberal against conservative in the last eight years.
It would be disingenous of me if I didn’t mention that I wasn’t always such an Obama supporter, as evidenced even by this blog. But as the other candidates fell away and Obama’s policies took stronger form, I became one of his believers. Standing and cheering among his other supporters last night, I could begin to imagine a better America where our rights and freedoms are not stripped from us and we are given the freedom and benefits we deserve. I am so proud and just wanted to share.
Friday, August 15, 2008
Chicago 2016 to the rescue!!
Things are way too heavy and political here on my blog. Let's lighten things up with this promo for Chicago 2016 that brings a tear to my eye!
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Great Lakes Showdown
While searching easy, cheap ways to get to Duluth from Chicago (there seem to be none, FWIW), I stumbled across this great article from The New York Times, circa June 9, 1888, that details the struggle between Duluth and Chicago to be the great train and shipping center of the Great Lakes. Essentially, they tell us, Duluth is the right choice as its trip will be an easier one to New York.
"The odds are 400 to 150 in favor of Duluth. Chicago and its great railways may as well face the truth first at last. They are handicapped in nature, and Chicago is in a measure sidetracked."
Ah, how I love my city's history. And how I love how New York has always believed itself to be the center of everything.
[The pic, btw, is of the 1888 Chicago White Stockings.]
Monday, August 4, 2008
Cello Song
It’s rainy, I’m tired, Lollapalooza and Chicago wore me out this weekend.
Jumping around on Muxtape this morning brought me back to Nick Drake, which turned out to be just what I needed on this gray day. No matter how long it’s been since the last time I listened to Nick Drake, every time I return to his music, it’s like hearing it for the first time.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Uptown Theatre Sold!
Good news today!
The Uptown Theatre has been sold to Jam Productions. Jam promises that they will renovate this beautiful but decaying theatre.
As some of you know, I have a big spot in my heart for this theatre as I watched John dedicate himself to a documentary on the theatre and its supporters. The people who have fought to keep this theatre alive and well, dedicating tireless and countless hours to its preservation, are inspiring.
I’ve been lucky enough to get the (kinda illegal) personal tour, and it made my heart break to see so many beautiful things sitting in neglect. I hope that the whole city can soon see a renovated gem. If you haven’t seen it yet, check out John’s documentary to see just a peek of the Uptown!
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Funny Girls
I recommend everyone read my friend Kim's piece in Time Out Chicago on women in the Chicago comedy scene, Painful Punchlines. There's been a lot of acutely defensive backlash-- which in my opinion can only be construed as a reaction precipitated from guilt--from some readers and comedians on both TOC's article and The Bastion.
One comedian and commenter suggested that this "divisive" article was the last thing the scene needed right now. Is it better to sweep such "divisive" issues under the rug, should they upset everyone too much?
Personally, I'm glad that this piece brought up some of the issues that have kept me from being truly drawn in by live comedy in the city. Whether or not girl-bashing is offensive, it's not particularly funny or original.
Furthermore, defending the comedians who engage in girl-bashing, like Chicago comedian Carrie Callahan did ("A few of the dudes who have misogynist stage personas are some of the sweetest guys around."), only provides weak excuses for bad comedy by arguably banal, locker room comedians.
Since this piece was published, I've felt like I keep running into more issues of women in comedy. T Magazine did screen tests with comedians, including Anna Faris, who said the following: 'It's harder for a woman to be accepted as funny if there's sexuality involved because sexuality isn't always very humorous.'
I then got sucked into watching Sarah Haskin's "Target Women" series, which I find pretty hilarious (and not to mention tasteful). Sarah happens to live in Chicago too, which is worth mentioning, and was profiled on The Bastion.
Here are a few of my favorites of her videos, but also check out the Suffrage and Botox videos.
Feed Your F---ing Family
Yogurt Edition
Wedding Shows
Friday, July 25, 2008
A Mega-Recap
It’s been one week since my brush with the Megabus, and I’m now privy to that world of tiny seating, efficient driving and bizarre road stops that Megabus encapsulates.
After staying up scrubbing the floors in my apartment until 3 AM on Thursday night, I was looking forward to a good minimum four-hour nap on the bus Friday afternoon. J and I rushed over to the random corner in Chicago where Megabus handles pick-ups, where we were met by throngs of the masses, waiting for various bus routes.
“Is this bus going to Minneapolis?” asked one lady.
“No, Indianapolis, then Cincinnati,” responded a random woman, who seemed to be a representative of Megabus and in charge of the pick-ups and drop-offs.
“Then Minneapolis?” asked the lady hopefully.
“Um, no,” said the random woman. Megabus is such a confusing experience that even we proud Americans forget simple geography.
I handed over my printed-out reservation confirmation, and J and I plowed our way through the narrow aisle to snag the last two seats open next to one another.
(We were ten minutes early to our 3:30 bus and it was packed. Later, around 3:35, a girl who I’d like to refer to as “Northwestern Stupid”—ask me to define that for you another time—arrived with her friend. They wandered the aisle, looking surprised that no paired seats were open five minutes AFTER the bus was scheduled to leave and slamming people with their backpacks as they turned and turned.
Finally, they settled their eyes on one 20-something college student who had clearly arrived early, settling in with his laptop, bag and some chem notes arranged neatly over two seats.
“Ummmmm,” said the girl through her nose. “Can you move over there?” she pointed to an open seat next to a woman who clearly had no interest in sharing her space. “My friend and I are traveling together, and there’s an open seat over there.”
Miraculously, this guy moved for these girls. People like this deserve medals...or the seats they originally chose when they arrived on time. Moving on...)
I was disappointed to realize that, despite my pillow, I wouldn’t likely be falling asleep any time soon, and at least not for any long periods of time. I had heard legends of the double-decker Megabus, but we hadn’t been so lucky to land a ride on one of those. The bus was packed tight, and it wasn’t easy to relax, or lean back, or do much else other than ride in a semi-fetal position with my feet resting on my bag and my knees up against my face.
The ride itself was fine, replete with Pride and Prejudice reading, music listening and The Office watching. I might take this opportunity to point out that the albums I listened to (The Beatles, Coldplay, Once) were all UK artists, and I was struck by how much good music that country turns out. It was a British-themed Megabus ride.
When we arrived, John and I to have some extra time downtown in Cincinnati, which could have been really bad if the area was as desolate as it normally is. Instead, a summer music festival was happening in Fountain Square, so we both tried a BL Lime (too lime-y, yet it covered up the tinny taste of Bud Light, soo... kind of a draw) and admired the Square while we waited for my family.
As much as I complained when I lived in Ohio about there not being anything to do there, I have to admit that being in the Square and watching the music was really nice and provided something that busier urban areas don’t have--tranquility. Unlike my experiences in Chicago or New York, where outdoor music and movie nights are jam-packed and the beers are 8 bucks instead of four, this little outdoor concert was relaxing and calm, with space for kids to run freely and people to break out into dance occasionally. It was great.
The rest of the weekend was not so peaceful, with an early Saturday wake-up, a trip to a sketchy warehouse to pick up a Uhaul, and lots and lots of packing. The best part of the weekend was a dip in the pool and a trip with J and family to Dewey’s Pizza. Oh, God—Dewey’s pizza... a miracle upon miracles. MMmmmm Deweeeyyyyss x-pepperonnniiiii pizzzaaaaaaa....
J drove the whole back to Chicago on Sunday, and I cannot thank him enough for it (or all of his other help loading and unloading our truck). We listened to lots of bad music on the Uhaul radio and were forced into conversation (awwkwarrrd!) on the ride back. We also ate Penn Station. Mmmmm... Penn Statioooonnnnnn Clubbbb sandwichhhhhh.
The family stayed a night with me, helping me get stuff together, and slowly, slowly, slowly the apartment comes together. I’ll post pictures, I promise, as soon as I can!
Friday, July 18, 2008
It's here!
It's Megabus day. I'm taking the 3:30 bus from random corner in Chicago to random corner in Cincinnati--with one pit-stop at random corner in Indianapolis. I'm hoping John brought his camera so we can document the journey!
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Sometimes we just need a day off
This morning literally started with me getting my panties in a bunch.
I should learn to take signs like this one as direct messages from God. “Caitlin, this day, it’s not yours, h’okay? Fuhgeddaboudit. Just get back in bed. You can’t win this one. Capice?”
Instead, I spit and swore my way through donning the new underwear that I just bought from Target. (This purchase makes the third Hanes purchase in a row that’s been disappointing. Something about their elastic and cotton material seems different, and I am not a happy camper.)
And I trudged on, pulling on my jeans and moving on with my day, which could only be rectified—naturally—with a pot of coffee. Still bleary-eyed and feeling all sorts of restricted, I got my coffeemaker ready to go… Only to have it literally spew grinds at me (how? I don’t know) and gurgle now coffee ground-ridden, dirty water. I cleaned up, scalded my hand on the kitchen faucet, made a fresh pot that smelled distinctly of an odor best described as cat pee lit afire, and then tossed it down the drain.
Giving up, I decided I’d drive to work and hit up a coffee shop on the way. As I walked out to my car, I noticed that the block was strangely empty. Oh no, street cleaning! I thought. A quick glance up and down the block revealed no street cleaning signs, however. But alas! A ticket! (My second this week!) And indeed, tucked underneath a small tree with low swinging branches was the only sign posted for three-quarters of the block: Street cleaning, Thursday, 9 am to 3 pm.
I took a long look back at my front door. It was like God was standing there in the window, waving the memo he sent me: Fuhgeddaboudit, Caitlin!
Sometimes, I should listen.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Bleepity-Bleep
I must apologize to any of my friends and readers who have come here expecting updates on Bachelorette stuff, life in general, or more on how weird Europe is. I’ve been in the thick of a big move, packing and cleaning like the crazy woman I am. I don’t know how I’ve managed to accumulate so many possessions that happen to be so difficult to pack (fondue pots and pussywillow, for example), but I am learning much about how few books can fit into a box before it finally tears apart in protest.
With John’s family coming in town and a Spanish cake to bake this weekend in celebration of the Euro Cup, a trip to Six Flags for a pseudo-nephew’s birthday and then a two-part move that will wind up on Tuesday evening, I hope to update as frequently as I can and hope you understand! In the meantime, I’ll be here in Chicago in the throes of moving emotion and subsequently collapsing.
Love,
Caitlin
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Mega Questions
Dear Friends,
I am faced with a tough decision in the coming days. In mid-July I’ll need to drive a U-Haul from Cincinnati to Chicago stuffed with furniture. This situation of course means I cannot drive the brave little Beetle to Cincinnati and leaves me all sorts of planes, trains and automobuses to consider taking there. I’ve most recently seriously considered taking the notorious Megabus.
So, my question is this: Do I take a Megabus from Chicago to Cincinnati? I’ve heard mixed things—that the buses arrive heinously late, that it’s efficient, that it’s better to spend the money getting there some other way, and that it’s a great deal. Can anyone offer me advice?
I am,
Gratefully yours J
Friday, June 20, 2008
Edgewater Dinner Crawl
Hey northside Chicago readers,
Wanted to give you a heads-up to a great event happening in Edgewater next week. The Historic Edgewater Dinner Crawl is on Thursday, June 26th and for $25, you’ll get a tasting from fourteen different neighborhood restaurants (listed below). You’ll also get a free subscription to Time Out Chicago included with your ticket purchase. Pretty cool. For tickets, sign up here.
Participating Restaurants:
Apart Pizza
Anna Held
Ben's Noodle & Rice
Bryn Mawr Deli
Cotes du Rhone
Flourish Bakery Cafe
Francesca's Bryn Mawr
Pepitone's
Sabai-Dee
Shinobu Japanese
Starbucks
Sweet Occasions & more
That Little Mexican Cafe
The Little India Restaurant
Participating Businesses:
Salon Echo - hand & chair massages
Holsten Real Estate - tours of historic Bryn Mawr & Belle Shore buildings
Red Bull - roving representatives distributing their product
Event Sponsors:
Francesca's Restaurants
Holsten Real Estate Development Corporation
The New Admiral at the Lake
Bridgeview Bank
BLUEWATER5440 Condominiums
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
The Drive-in Gods Smile Upon Chicagoland
Hallelujah, and thank God Almighty! Sonic is finally arriving to Chicagoland. No more suffering through the bitter irony of Chicagoan TJ Jagodowski telling me how great their shakes are when I couldn’t drive to get one. I KNOW, TJ. STOP TAUNTING ME! Gosh.
If I drove to Wheaton this weekend to get window sashes, I can drive to Aurora to get a limeade. Mmm, limeade… [Trib]
Friday, June 13, 2008
Spider Monkey Attempts to Flee Country
Here’s a great lede from the AP newswire: “A spider monkey used a garden hose to scale the wall of a moat at a Michigan City zoo before being captured at a nearby boat dealership.”
Apparently the monkey was captured while “atop a blue and white speedboat.” I have a theory this monkey was trying to get out of the country and go home. Thoughts? [AP]
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