Chicago: The Big Eye

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4138/4745939931_8928c551c0_z.jpg

Also, another pic of the Toughest Baby on Earth:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4139/4860900000_3fbf7dc190.jpg

I saw the big eye last week and I like it a lot. I saw the toughest baby on earth last night and I like her even more.

I wish that the Big Eye wasn't such a blue eye. I don't know that there's any message intended there, but blue eyes are very rare, especially in the world population. If they were careful to represent every ethnicity on the video fountain, why shouldn't the big eye be a brown one?

hey fuck you, I have blue eyes

also iirc it is a recreation of his son's eye

I don't know that ppl watch my FB updates very carefully, but I should announce that I'm nearly bedridden for a couple of days. I fell off of my bike Saturday night, and that was hurty but nothing big. Monday night, though, I just about killed myself. I landed the same way and on the same places, but much worse, making the bruises from Saturday much much worse, and fucking up my left shoulder and my back in general. My chest is still suffering some secondary trauma, probably just from tensing up as I fell. Anyway, I HURT. This Thanksgiving, I know what I'm thankful for -- no broken bones, and the good sense to have been wearing a helmet. Right now, though, I'm hesitant to lie down, because if I do, getting up is a huge production. My face actually hurt all day yesterday from wincing so much.

hey fuck you, I have blue eyes

And beautiful they are. Endless pools of azure, your eyes. :)

Holy shit, Kenan, I hope you're OK. If I had some left-over Vicodan, I would give it to you for sure.

I have some, but I'm leaving town in the AM.

Also, sorry to hear of your crash, Kenan. Almost sounds worse than mine from weeks past.

I wouldn't go that far. But I may actually be more physically harmed than you were. You had a solid car, yo.

That's what I meant, car > bike as far as protection goes.

Ok, when I went to get my photos off of my camera tonight, I remembered something that I'd forgotten I'd done: I took photos while lying on the pavement. This was useful, actually. I remembered being ON the Ashland bridge when I fell, but the pictures make it clear that I wiped out right BEFORE the bridge. I assumed I had hit the grating of the bridge, but now I'm not sure what it was that I hit.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4116/4862263108_444b86ba03_z.jpg

As I quipped on Facebook, my left hip looks like a Cocteau Twins album cover.

What does it say about me that my first impulse, even before I get up off the ground after a major spill, is to go, "I need pictures!" I'm like Jimmy Stewart in Rear Window.

Kenan, I think that is a wonderful first impulse. Mine would be to post about it here or on FB.

I saw Baby EBA this evening, unexpectedly. She was at Starbucks on Montrose and Wolcott, passed out.

She, or you?

(joeks)

BTW, when I fell, I was on my way home from the bar that Kevin works at sometimes, and I talked/argued for the better part of an hour with a very drunk dude who laid out for me all the ways that I come off as an obnoxious, superior little shit. I didn't contradict his point for long, half because I was afraid he'd break my glasses, and half because the sloppy motherfucker was absolutely right. Soul searching ensued. :/

i'm sorry about the accident! VERY glad you were wearing a helmet. that bar scene sounds like good old times at old timers.

as for the eye, clearly it should be green. his son's eye should be green.

Oh you've got green eye
Oh you've got blue eye
Oh you've got grey eye

there's nothing like having a disturbing, violent nightmare that wakes you up 15 minutes before your alarm is set to go off

I think having a disturbing, violent nightmare that wakes you up 14 minutes before your alarm is set to go off would be sorta similar.

there is no way to know for sure

I forgot that this video starts in London before going to the small town.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JenlsnA9-mE

The small American town.

The above exchange btwn Nick and John is nearly worthy of Lewis Carroll.

Lately my recurring nightmares (I always have them) have progressed from weather events to planetary collisions and falling into the sun and shit like that. The other night something hit the Earth in such a way that I woke up (in my dream) to a sky that was filled with the molten core of the Earth that was spewing into the sky, and it was juuuuust about to rain down on all of us. And then I woke up. Sweating, which is apropos.

I really only dislike nightmares when they're so bad that they wake me up. Otherwise, wild dreams are just wild, and my brain needs to do that, so I hold no grudges.

weird, my boss just had a baby and they named her evelyn. jaymc can tell us if "evelyn" is on an upswing.

the only other evelyn was a girl i dated when i was 14, and i won't talk about that out of respect for n/a and sarah.

Oh you've got green eye
Oh you've got blue eye
Oh you've got grey eye

― no gut busting joke can change history (Jenny), Thursday, August 5, 2010 8:45 AM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

lol <3

Evelyn is on the upswing. Last time the data was published, it wasn't in the top 10 but I think it was in the top 30 and it has gone up every year for the past few years.

Is there that kind of data available also for clothes? I think I do ok, but I feel lost a lot, too.

How's the wife-beater-and-jeans combo doing this year? That's what I'm wearing.

Sitting in a coffee shop in Evanston, watching this group of four 30ish women arguing with the manager. They showed up about 45 minutes ago, took over two of the outdoor tables, piling them with books and highlighters and have yet to purchase a single thing from the coffee shop. They apparently vehemently disagree with the management that they should have to vacate the premises if they aren't going to purchase anything. Entitlement level, off the charts.

oh man, fuck them

Come on, buy something or go to the damn library. 30ish is too old for that kind of hippie freeloading.

They're not even buying bottomless coffee?

It's nice enough outside that you can spend $1.50 on sitting outside, I mean really, ppl. How many times did you see Sex and The City II, fer chrissakes.

Nooooo shit.

They finally left, but made it very clear that it was a "shitty place" anyway. They didn't buy anything, they were all drinking out of water bottles they had brought with them.

Anyway, peace is restored and "Heart of Gold" is playing. Heaven.

<i?f I had some left-over Vicodan, I would give it to you for sure.[/i]

no one ever has left over vicodin. just like there's never any left over cocaine.

whoops.

Point just as well made, though.

Vicodin is a hell of a drug.

i have leftover vicodin from like 6 years ago when it made me vomit all over my office
not even sure what happened to it tbh

vicodin only ever made me feel itchy.

hi dere, jaymc figured out I was from chicago and kindly invited me to post here. I live in andersonville, work in hyde park, and I like that big eye but maybe that's because I have blue eyes.

I have a hand fan that is a picture of the big eye on a stick. I got it from my eye doctor.

Hi, rob.

That's a long commute!

ugh, I know. I do read a lot as a result though...

hello rob

guys i negotiated about my salary today and i'm proud of standing my ground. no more deets than that, but i feel like a real life grown up.

also i think i am organizing birthday karaoke for myself on friday 8/20 if anyone's interested. last time i went to the cove on a friday, it was totally dead and perfect, no wait for songs and no bachelorette parties.

I'm skipping town for a bit, but I'll be back by the 20th.

crap, this is one of those threads I can't bookmark

way to go, la lechera, I am a terrible grown up about that sort of thing

Why can't you bookmark it?

idk. every now and then there are threads that no matter how many times i hit bookmark or from what computer I try to do it it won't stick. the feminist blog thread wouldn't bookmark either

That's weird. I have nothing else to offer on that front.

I can't go to karaoke on 8/20 because I might be having foot surgery. Pfffbt.

Can't you have your foot surgery at the karaoke bar?

I think I may have dinner plans that night. :/

I would love to go to Hidden Cove soon, though. My brother's gf was looking for a good karaoke place in Chicago and seemed interested when I told her about it.

Ha, Eric, the influence of the IV sedation would probably result in a pretty entertaining performance.

poooooooooooooooop
i am very sorry about your foot surgery yenny. rudy will be having her spaying surgery that week, so i'm a little nervous about it. i think i'm going to cancel and reschedule because it's just too busy of a time for me to be worrying about my doggy's well being.

dude karaoke doesn't start til 10 -- you can probably make it if you want (no biggie if you can't though and yes i said 'no biggie' just for you haha)

^^ that was to john

Aw, me n' Rudy going under the knife. High five, li'l pup.

hi 5 yenny
http://www.flickr.com/photos/marshmallowy/4812657888/in/set-72157624544668044/

whoops
i tried to post an image from flickr but it didn't work. what's the deal with posting images from flickr now? everything looks different.

dude karaoke doesn't start til 10 -- you can probably make it if you want (no biggie if you can't though and yes i said 'no biggie' just for you haha)

Totes. But it's actually dinner at a friend's house, so I expect it will turn into more of a hang-out sesh after we eat. If it breaks up early, though, I'll come!

You have to go to Actions and then click email this link or something and then find the image URL in all the code. I think there's another way, but for some reason, Flickr is not responding to my frantic clickity clicking.

PS Make me that chai bourbon drink you posted a picture of????

Ok! It was delicious.

does this work?
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4076/4824988738_fd9bbf31af.jpg

That works.

oh yay that worked

for the record it was

bourbon/vodka (so it's not too strong)
simple syrup flavored with ginger, cardamom, star anise
egg white

shake shake shake

top with sprinkle of garam masala, which is super aromatic when you take a sip, but does not add unnecessary EXTRA INGREDs

i have also added the syrup to iced tea
delicious

haha by strong i mean strongly bourbonny flavored; the drink itself is pretty dang strong

I have all of those ingredients in my house. Well, just ginger simple syrup, not ginger, cardamom, and star anise simple syrup.

I bought some ginger beer the other day so I could make Dark and Stormies, then remembered that the dark rum I have is hazelnut-flavored. It wasn't terrible, but I ended up adding a lot of lime juice to balance everything out.

hazelnut flavored rum?! is that like malibu?

That sounds kind of disgusting, tbh.

haha by strong i mean strongly bourbonny flavored; the drink itself is pretty dang strong

ha, yeah, for a sec I was like "you water down your bourbon w/vodak? that is hardcore!"

vodka

no, i do water down my bourbon with vodka for this particular drink. not like, daily.

it would taste pretty great with vanilla vodka tbh
i made that once (made = put vanilla bean in some vodka, waited)

Hazelnut rum.

It has become very clear that the best motivation for me to be productive, today it meant working on my novel and cleaning the house, is when I'm waiting to hear the follow-up from a job interview and I need to peel myself away from the computer so I don't compulsively look at my inbox every 35 seconds.

You're writing a novel? Cool!

Hi rob.

I could be down w karaoke.

How often do dogs go into estrus? (sp?)

Trying to work up motivation to take the bus to my old apartment to retrieve my bike and ride it back here. But being barefoot and reclined is so sweet.

i think 4x/yr?
rudy will only do hers once

Failed to retrieve bike. The nap was divine. I really want to start biking to work, so I need to get on it.

Rob, how do you get from Andersonville to HP?

I take the red line downtown and then get on the #2. Lollapalooza totally screwed it up today though it was kind of amusing to see the loop flooded with beardo suburbanites (I assume).

i was going to go to MOSI but was reminded there is lollapaloozing going on downtown this weekend. boo.

despite working in HP, I haven't been to MOSI since I was a kid--is it still cool? I've avoided it assuming it would just crush my sweet memories.

I've been there a couple of times since moving here, there's some kind of cool stuff and some stuff that looks like it's been there, unchanged, for 30 years. It also seems expensive (as do most Chicago museums). I like the giant train set and the chick incubator.

I went for a glassblowing show and then saw the rest of the regular museum. The show was cool, and the rest of the place had some interesting stuff, but I am glad that I had the show as the main event.

This might be cool http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/science-storms/

yeah, that looks kind of interesting and the Hubble imax movie could be great too. And at least they're not still showing a Harry Potter exhibit like they were for what felt like a couple of years

oooh hubble imax
that sounds like FUN

Hi elephant rob, we've probably seen each other on the #2.

I had to do a search to find this thread.

We took Ev to RETRO ON ROSCOE yesterday, mainly because we needed to get out of the house. That fest was way bigger than I expected. We saw 1) a shitty generic cover band playing modern rock songs I didn't know, 2) Ralph's World, which is a pretty popular kid's music band, and 3) This Must Be the Band, the Talking Heads cover band, who were pretty great, although their version of "Once in a Lifetime" was oddly lackluster. I give them props for having a female bass player, but although the band wasn't dressed in character, the bass player was particularly off, wearing a long tie-dye dress, which is not very Weymouth-esque.

we also managed to get out to brunch on Saturday. It turns out it's all about timing (ie feeding the baby until she's about to pass out then getting out of the house as fast as possible).

xp
Hi Dan, yeah, I lurked here a long time ago and think I noticed some other Hyde Park commuters.

Fronting a TH cover band is one of my recurring day dreams (at least when I'm listening to them anyway).

Are you calling her "Ev"? If so, how do you pronounce it?

xp

I call her Evvie, which everyone spells differently (Evie, Evvy, Evi, etc) or Evvie B or Evelyn.

it rhymes, unfortunately, with "heavy"

xxp Why would you pronounce it in any other way than as the first syllable of her name?

I don't actually call her Ev, I just wrote that here to avoid the nickname confusion (unsuccessfully)

I don't know, John, it just happens sometimes.

so what did you guys do this weekend?

I Want You (She's so Evvie)

Friday I had bunion surgery on my left foot and then I sat around all weekend with my foot propped up having existential crises about the brutality if surgery and being a little depressed about the voluntary nature of my limited mobility.

we also watched a lot of netflix streaming movies this weekend, most of them not very good:
the end of "the age of innocence," which took us like two weeks to watch because it's boring
"obsessed" starring BEYONCE
"muppets take manhattan"
"the girl with the dragon tattoo" (swedish version)

wow, I hope your foot is a little better now, Jenny.

The last week has been fairly crazy for me:

3 day library conference thing in Grafton, IL (6 hours away)
1 night stopover in Springfield
brief phone interview for a cool job (I kind of bungled the interview, unfortunately)
Wisconsin State Fair on Saturday

Was the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo movie any good? I've been meaning to watch.

It was ok, they made some weird decisions about things to change from the book for no real reason and the actress who plays Salander is way too normal/pretty-looking for the part.

http://bookblog.scandinavianbooks.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/lisbeth-salander-2.jpg

This weekend I spent some time here

http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/4149/sspx0087h.jpg

but it wasn't nearly enough

the end of "the age of innocence," which took us like two weeks to watch because it's boring

i know, right? so boring! everyone on ilx likes this movie btw it makes me crazy.

Weekend!

Went to Wholly Frijoles for dinner on Friday night. Reminded me of Los Nopales or El Tapatio, i.e. better-than-average sit-down taqueria food, but nothing transcendent.

On Saturday, after a failed attempt to meet up with EZ for his birthday at 90 Miles East, I met up with my brother, who was in the city to sign the lease for an apartment in Bucktown. Then we had lunch at Lula, where I had a fantastic strada with eggplant, fontina, green olives, and arugula pesto. Kr wasn't feeling well, so we mostly hung out for the rest of the day on Saturday. Watched The Runaways and a Veronica Mars yesterday.

Yesterday Kr had friends over for brunch, so I went to see Winter's Bone in the afternoon, which was very good. Then Kr and I went to Ethiopian Diamond II for Nabisco's melse -- a traditional Ethiopian ceremony held the day after the wedding that symbolizes the joining of the two families. (The wedding was on Saturday at North Pond, but we didn't go.) Good Ethiopian food and awesome music and dancing.

also, Jenny, i hope you're feeling okay!

I remember my dad loving the Age of Innocence movie, but y'know, lol American lit professor.

Also, I should proofread my posts. Meant to say "we mostly hung out at home for the rest of the day on Saturday. Watched The Runaways and a Veronica Mars episode."

tbf mainly Sarah wanted to watch The Age of Innocence and it was just me moaning and groaning about how boring it is.

it's crazy boring. the novel is not, btw.

also I think Michelle Pfeiffer is weird, and Winona Ryder, while OK in some movies, is totally inappropriate for a period costume drama. She's like Keanu, she's always going to look like 1991 even when she's playing 18__ whatever.

She was nominated for an Oscar for it, too.

(Winona, that is.)

I can't remember if I liked the Age of Innocence or not. Perhaps that's because it was so boring.

weird. she's not in it that much and her part is pretty lightweight.

I also finally saw Inception yesterday and I, for reasons I can't exactly elucidate, did not totally love it.

i kind of love michelle pfeiffer, but winona ryder is absurd in that movie. it's kind of good casting bc she's playing a cipher, but still. ridiculous.

Sat: Ate 1/2 price Sushi, Saw Inception. Saw John and Kr. on the street.
Sun: Napped, puttered around with the apartment, and then canoed from 6 pm - 9:20 pm from Clark Park (near Addison) to Chinatown! Fun, but OMG, harder than expected. Also, more challenging, in that we had to watch out for motorboats (assholes speedboating, making huge wakes!), tour boats, and some weird hazards (water aeration, logs, sea walls).

Okay, apparently I didn't bungle the phone interview as much as I thought I did, because I just got an email about a real, in-person interview!

my weekend: a lot of driving back and forth to my wife's new studio space (she's an artist and has been working out of our apt for years and is kind of ecstatic about this, though now we are deeply poor), picking up a drafting table from a dude we found on craigslist (only $20!), getting our veggie box from our CSA spot, watched Wattstax for the first time (good though not as mind-blowing as ILM had led me to expect).

good job AJ

I am now freaking out quite a bit.

sounds good aj

I spent a bunch of time hanging out with this dude too

http://img828.imageshack.us/img828/9152/sspx0078.jpg

awwwwww

cuet

srsly

he looks a little crosseyed there, but he is even cuter in person

Ethiopian Diamond II for Nabisco's melse -- a traditional Ethiopian ceremony held the day after the wedding that symbolizes the joining of the two families. (The wedding was on Saturday at North Pond, but we didn't go.) Good Ethiopian food and awesome music and dancing.

Wait wait wait Nabisco's wedding party was in Rogers Park? He got married? Sounds like good times.
I am drowning in interviews and work and whatnot, have done nothing interesting at all worth typing about.

nabs wanted the FFs (or at least me and Sarah) to play at his wedding but we had to turn it down due to baby timing :(

Nice, AJ.

I'm hoping the increase in activity is a good sign. Have another interview this afternoon down in the south Loop, my second one in less than a week!

Wait wait wait Nabisco's wedding party was in Rogers Park? He got married? Sounds like good times.

Yes! I was a bit worried at first b/c we didn't know anyone else there, but we were at a table with two of N's college friends, who were nice.

I can't believe nabisco got married and there wasn't a huge thread about it.

We're going to a wedding on Saturday where I will know absolutely nobody and I am a little concerned.

I walked by an Ethiopian wedding reception last night at the restaurant on Clark just south of Howard. I was on the way to the microbrew/sportsbar next door, where there was some kind of gun/rifle-centered trialthalon happening. The gun/rifle-work was a good music-video-like accompaniment to "Love is in the Air" and other 70s music playing. Had a good beer and a good burger.

Many other stories from the weekend. Ended up at a campfire-cum-bootleg-community-garden in Pilsen on Saturday night with some bookish gardening folks (Nick may know one or two of them, such as Stephanie A.).

Previous weekend, I didn't say on here, I went to a giant birthday/wedding party hosted by the man whose charitable foundation I work for. Crazay.

I've met Stephanie a couple of times via the CUL, don't know her real well though.

I think nabs is pretty private about personal life stuff on ILX, which is probably the smart move.

I walked by an Ethiopian wedding reception last night at the restaurant on Clark just south of Howard.

That's where I was!

There's a bit of symmetry there, since I walked by 90 Miles East on Saturday when you were there but I apparently didn't see you.

Wow, that's a crazy coincidence.

Sorry about the mixup with 90 Miles. There's a tent-like room in the back of the place, and that's where the party was, from about 11 to 2.

Ah, no problem. As it happens, I had found out from Mark that he was signing his lease at noon not far from 90 Miles, so I walked and met him there.

Hope you had a good birthday, btw!

You guys were both in Rogers Park and I almost went for a walk right past that area, but I didn't. How about that.

I would also like to congratulate everyone on everything that is going well and offer my sympathies to those who are experiencing times of hardship at the moment. EZ I am very sorry I couldn't make it to your bday party. I can't wait til classes start because that will mean that the hellish nightmare of August is almost over.

Excited to hear that Mark's back in town.

We should do some other night of our own at 90 miles. The food is great, the seating is aplenty, and if you bring a bottle of rum they'll make you a pitcher of mojitos (cue Jordan).

A friend asked me to vote for his cousin in this:
http://www.parkfun.com/Images/logos/schaumburgidol_subpage_rightsidebar.gif

I am pleased to report that I have met the one and only EBA. She's very little!

She has now met more people by accident (Amanda, Jesse, and one of my coworkers) than via scheduled meetings (Jeff & Jenny). If anyone is particularly eager to meet the baby, just let us know and we'll set up a time. We can't have long get-togethers because she gets hungry and fussy but we like seeing people.

I'm better off with an accidental encounter anyway, so everything worked out well for me and the baby with the most attractive nose on the planet. She also had very nice feet from what I could see. It was nice to see you guys too, of course.

I had an accidental encounter with El Lechero yesterday on his way home from the gym, when I had a meeting at the Side Project. Good seeing the dude.

oh man, this weekend was crazy. i moved all weekend (all done now), plus two gigs and a wedding. we moved the cat in late sunday night, and i thought she was doing well...you know, hiding in the closet or in the window, but not too bad (we're keeping her in the bedroom right now, with litter, food, and water).

then at about 6 am this morning she registered her displeasure with the situation by peeing on the bed. like, basically on us. she's never done anything like this before, i couldn't believe it. we spent the rest of the night on the futon, gf is not happy.

LMAO i watched an episode of schaumburg idol on public access

j/v/c, did you end up going to the Fire game?

Jordan, I can't believe your cat peed all over you and the gf. That's hilarious. I mean, terrible. Possibly as hilarible as Schaumburg Idol.

:(

Jordan, Brenda did that to me once, but for no discernible reason - no moving, no upsets, no new pets. She just jumped up on top of my blanket covered back and peed. She never did it before, and she hasn't done it since.

this can't keep happening or else me and the cat are gonna be out on the street. or, more likely, just the cat. i mean, the litter box was IN THE ROOM. i don't know if the cat was too scared to leave the confines of the familiar bed or if it was a deliberate "fuck you" urination.

xp

I miss Chicago. It's great in the summer

My old dog did that once too. He was just in a mood, hopped up on the bed, peed, stared at us, hopped down, and never did it again. Sorry it's causing you problems, though :(

Unrelated: Have any of you ever made your own mustard? I tried to mash some mustard seeds with a mortar and pestle and didn't get very far.

tbh, mustard is way the heck down on the list of things I'm going to try to make. I may make my own bbq sauce this week, though. I'll keep you all posted.

j/v/c, did you end up going to the Fire game?

No, and I'm extremely disappointed about it. We had to go to a close friend's son's 1 year birthday party way out in the burbs and couldn't make it in time.

xp My jambalaya got mixed reviews, if you count two people as "mixed". I ate three bowls of it and could barely move for the rest of the day. Julia seemed not to cotton to andouille sausage much, which leaves me very much shrugging.

Just wondered. I wound up making some salad dressing out of the half-mashed seeds. Not even sure why I tried except that it seemed sort of fun to use a lot of energy mashing something up.

I love andouille -- where did you get it?

Hi Adam

This summer in Chicago is not very nice. It's pretty disgusting. You aren't missing much.

xp Jewel. Don't know if it was authentic, but it shure was porky.

Oh ok. I thought winter in Chicago was almost unbearable (though beautiful to look at). I have never experienced cold like that!

It's so humid out now that you have to accept being really, really, and I mean like, really sweaty as an unavoidable consequence of going outside.

I don't love andouille sausage. I am kind of so so on chorizo, too. They're both too fatty/spicy in a specific way.

Jordan, does your GF have a cat, too?

I don't mind being sweaty if everyone else is. It sort of looks good on some people and not on others (like facial hair!) if they don't smell and you don't have to touch them. Dexter is always sweaty in Dexter but that's Miami so it seems right

Chicago has miserable weather most of the time. It's our thing.

no jenny, there's just the one cat. she does have a roommate (besides me) for another week...things should be easier when it's just us in the house.

No, and I'm extremely disappointed about it. We had to go to a close friend's son's 1 year birthday party way out in the burbs and couldn't make it in time.

Aw, too bad. They're doing a 2-for-1 for the next two games I think, might want to look into it. I know one is a Wednesday night match.

no jenny, there's just the one cat. she does have a roommate (besides me) for another week...things should be easier when it's just us in the house.

Bummer. I was thinking that she would be more tolerant of cat weirdness if she had a cat of her own. In the meantime, just convince her that the problem is the superfluous roommate!

Girlfriend's gotta pee on that cat back or you'll never have peace between them.

otm

And you thought peeing in the woods was no fun.

Re: sweaty -- I have resolved to not waste electricity as much as possible, and not hole up in the bedroom with the AC and sleep or watch movies I've already seen. It's just so... wasteful. I do not have apartment-wide AC, I'm going to sweat a lot, may as well make some ice cubes and settle th' fuck into it. Every three or four hours I'll have a quick "rinse-off" kinda shower, and maybe that's a waste of Lake Michigan, but I've seen Lake Michigan and it's really really big, so I'm at peace with that.

The last couple of nights we have been letting the AC run in the bedroom for a bit before we go to bed, and I have to say, it's kind of awesome and makes me feel like I am living in a hotel.

AC in our bedroom is a lifesaver, though having to keep the door open a bit for the cat probably means we are wasting ludicrous amounts of energy.

I lock the cats in the bedroom at night. The food and litter box are in the hallway* accessible to the bedroom and bathroom, so we hole up there, all three of us on the bed. Brenda always on the bottom left, Eddie on the bottom right.

*hallway-like area that is not a hallway at all. it's complicated.

central air + thermostat = win

Dan is on the monkey. Though I would hate to pay the cooling bill for that house.

That is why you set the thermostat to a reasonable level and use the timer.

In NC I kept window unit running in the downstairs (I had a whole, little elf house to myself) a window unit in the upstairs bedroom, and windows open in the hall, kitchen, and bath. The cool air stayed down and the windows moderate the hellishness of the upstairs. Two separate climates.

xp- that is also OTM, but self-knowledge tells me that I would go nuts with it.

AC in our bedroom is a lifesaver, though having to keep the door open a bit for the cat probably means we are wasting ludicrous amounts of energy.

We do the same thing. We locked them out the first night and none of us slept well.

We've got an "energy saver" dohickey on our AC unit, though, so we can set it to a specific temperature and it will turn on and off to maintain it, which is the most awesome part, since window units without that feature always make it way too cold.

we've had our window unit on basically 24-7 for the past few weeks, our electricity bill was crazy

yesterday I was seriously contemplating dragging our mattress into the living room so we could sleep in front of the a/c. I kind of want to get a second window unit for the bedroom but I am scared of what our bill would be with THAT craziness.

What's weird about this summer is that it's not terrifically hot, it's just... ick. It's not even all that hot out now. It's not the heat, etc etc.

I'm tempted to go jump in the lake, but it hasn't been hot enough this summer to make the lake even remotely swimmable. In Austin there's a swimming hole called Barton Springs. It's spring fed, as the name would imply, and the water is around 70 degrees all year, give or take a couple degrees. It's so cold that you put a toe in and go, "No fucking way," until your friends goad you into jumping in, and it's SHOCKINGLY cold. I couldn't go there anymore after a while, because something about the cold water made my ears ring for days, worse than any rock concert. I don't know what that is.

Anyway, what I'm getting at is that Lake Michigan right now, on the surface and at the shore, is 49 degrees. You ever see the movie Titanic? Yeah, it's kinda like that.

I'm sorry for the summer lovers here, but seriously, fall cannot come fast enough. I started having pangs of Halloween Longing this weekend, and I just keep thinking how awesome it's going to be when the weather breaks and we can have cool breezes flowing through our apartment...

Nick, Jeff did a bunch of research before we bought our window units about square footage and BTUs and all sorts of shit. You should ask him to share links. We have been running two window units (one in the living room/office and one in the bedroom) when we are in those respective rooms and I think it's working out pretty well. We also put up a thermal curtain between the office and the kitchen so we're cooling a much smaller area than we would be if we kept it entirely open.

I had a whole, little elf house to myself

sometimes I do miss the South!

We also sign up for that thing where Com Ed averages out our electric bill so it's more or less the same every month, and then they take a meter reading and pro-rate/add on whatever the difference between what they've been charging and what we've been using. It is a pretty good deal.

I love summer but this one has been pretty awful, I'll admit.

Actually when I got in bed last night it was surprisingly pleasant in the bedroom. I'm not sure how that happened.

I have something in front of me right now that I bet none of you have. A pint of Haagen-Dazs strawberry.

You don't know how I live.

No, but am I wrong?

Nnnnnnnnnnnnno.

this is how I live:

Ice pops

This would be my absolute favorite ice cream of all time, if not for one thing: it has these big chunks of frozen strawberries in it that are totally unnecessary and throw off the otherwise perfectly creamy texture of a lot of spoonfuls. It's as if they're trying to prove that it's real strawberries. Look, give it a rest, I believe you. I believed you the first time I read the ingredients, and there were only five: cream, milk, strawberries, sugar, and egg yolk. Now can you please chop the strawberries? It's the ONLY THING you got wrong!

calm down kenan

What is a "crazy" power bill? At my last place and at the new one, I've run my A/C 24/7 for weeks and weeks, but perhaps b/c they're small, the highest power bill I've had was ~$50. Maybe $60 at the highest ever.

I think that qualifies as a first-world problem.

xpost, strawberry ice cream, not bills!

The ice pops thread is awesome for the many repeating pics of ice pops.

Let's all think chilly, chilly thoughts.

I think our power bill was like $45,000?

Not distant, not remote, not combative, just... chilly.

That's pretty high.

we use the blender a lot too.

lots of smoothies, shakes, etc.

we use the blender a lot too.

as a fan

haha

snortOL

Jenny, Com Ed told me that they thought I should wait a few months to do the bill averaging thing so they could get a better notion of what the average would be.

LOL.

STFU. Tell me: a poll: what: do you think is: a crazy power bill.

$80

I don't know. How much could a banana cost? Ten dollars?

^ I think that every time I buy bananas.

rob, are little elf houses a Southern thing? or do you mean cheaper rents?

I miss having a whole house - weird as it was - in which to stomp around. If it had had a washer and dryer, it would have been unbeatable at $385/month.

You had a sink in your bedroom.

That was one of the weirdest little houses ever, really.

That's how I live.

You had a sink in your bedroom.

I'm imagining that he lived in the little ramshackle room behind the carousel, like Paul Newman in The Sting.

That's not incorrect in spirit, even if the size was off.

d and i lived in a pink elf house in the south and i loved it. 3 br house all to ourselves, right downtown within walking distance from work and entertainment, etc., dogs ok, $700/mo. we each had our own office and shared a bedroom. AWESOME.

I don't know why there was a sink in the bedroom. I mean, there was no room for it in the bathroom, but you know what? They should have built the bathroom bigger. Jesus.

it also had central air and a gardenia bush on the corner and a porch and a porch swing

that sounds so nice

i want a porch

Also, Jesse's address was 1313 Rear Cemetery Lane (but not that number or street, obv) which made it even more hilarious.

That's not incorrect in spirit, even if the size was off.

cannot parse

You know... I've only ever lived in three free-standing houses in my entire life. Two with my parents before they split and one with my mom and stepdad. No wonder I'm so content to rent.

xp me neither. I don't know what the hell I was trying to say.

I changed my address myself. I changed it to Apt. C (Apt. A and Apt. B were in the big house in front) b/c I hated "1001 Rear W. Market St. "

Wait, no, four if you count a trailer, which I would since it's single family.

See, if you tried to pull some address shenanigans like that in Chicago, your mail carrier would shiv you and throw your mail and your dead body into the river.

As many know, my ex-BF from a troubled relationship lived in B, and Courtney's ex-BF lived in the other elf house ("Rear 2"?), and for a while, Courtney and her BF lived in A.

[i]rob, are little elf houses a Southern thing? or do you mean cheaper rents?[i]

yeah, I just meant the ability to rent an entire house. When I lived in Athens my friends had a 3bdr house for like $600/mo. Even in Atlanta I managed to live in a house one summer.

OTOH, renting a whole house in Chicago would feel awfully decadent

I saw a couple of coach houses for rent in our price range when we were looking and a good handful of coach houses a few hundred dollars out of our price range.

Our price range was $45,000/month.

I sort of get tired of Big City Apartment living, but OTOH, fuck the South.

My description of the close quarters of ex-BFs makes it sound like GSO was some cow town. It was no metropolis, but it was still pretty weird how we all lived in places owned by the same guy. The same weird, old, drunky, rich guy. Tom |_up3r.

I agree with your other hand. I wouldn't move back down there for 45,000 elf houses

Data point: Jeff and I lived in an apartment owned by the same lady who owned the apartment Jesse lived in before he moved into Elf House Rear. Also, Greensboro was totally a cow town.

Rob, did you move here from GA? I used to live in Atlanta.

I did! I managed to live in Augusta, Atlanta, and Athens from 1995-2001

I have to go to ATL for work on Friday and I am kind of dreading it.

Its population is 260,000 and the metro-statistical area's is over 700,000, so it's not like a bump in the road. Big enough, and spread out enough that you wouldn't expect that we would all rent from the same two fuckers.

xp re GSO, obv

Were you working your way through the state alphabetically? I lived in Atlanta in 2000/2001 and I pretty much hated it.

I think God just wanted me to keep in mind that Georgia /= classical Greece. Actually, technically I lived in Martinez, not Augusta. Pronounced "mart-ih-nez" not "mar-teen-ehz" btw.

Jebus - so cheap. So green.
http://greensboro.craigslist.org/apa/1890886040.html

Pardon my prying here and also if you already said these things, but are you from GA originally and what do you do for a job in Chicago and how long have you lived here?

Not from GA originally. Moved there halfway thru high school from Libertyville, IL, which isn't that great a place either. I was born in the UK. I've been in Chicago since 2001 and I work in publishing.

Jesse, that is cheap and green but I bet "walking distance from a shopping center" means that you have to risk death walking down the shoulder of Summit Ave. to the Summit Shopping Center to shop at the Spriggly Tiggly or Tarris Heeter or whatever off-brand grocery shithole is serving as an anchor store these days.

Thank you, Rob. I was also born in the UK! We have so much in common. We're sure to be best friends.

Apparently, Jessifer, I am in a mood to counter everything even remotely positive to have to say about Greensboro with something negative. Maybe if you talk about Stamey's I can keep my knee-jerk jerkiness in check.

that's cool! where were you born? is your family British? I was born in Wigan which always brings the lulz when I tell Brits that

Moved there halfway thru high school from Libertyville, IL, which isn't that great a place either.

Heh, my girlfriend grew up in Vernon Hills and went to Libertyville H.S.

"near bus line" made me chuckle aloud.

$595 / 1BR/1BA, 750sq ft floorplan! (The Madison at Adams Farm)
Woodburning fireplace!
Double private patio/balconys!
Washer/Dryer connection!
Walk-in closet!
Full size bathroom with vanity!

xp - Stamey's? The BBQ place?

Wow. I really want some BBQ now.

I'm having sun-belt urban sprawl nostalgia for some reason.

If I get bed bugs, I'm packing up and moving to High Point, NC.

xp
what years?! I was in Libertyville for ten years, so even though I didn't graduate from LHS I do remember lots of people.

Oh, I didn't even bother mentioning that, since she was in high school while you were in Georgia (1997-2001).

Naw, my family is American. My dad was in the air force and stationed in Lakenheath, which is in Suffolk. I don't know what Wigan is, but I'm sure it's hilarious.

JESSE YES Stamey's bbq. I could eat the hell out of some pulled pork/bbq slaw/hush puppies right about now. Also, Jeff and I lived in Adams Farm when we first moved to GSO and it is everything that is awful about Greensboro and nothing that is good. Seriously. I am not just being negative. It's all cookie cutter subdivision/gated community/no sidewalks/worst kind of suburb-looking place plus the closest bar is McPh3rs0n's, which, you know, should tell you what you need to know right there.

CTA bus tracker: C/D?

I remember going by the road to Wigan (no Orwell) on the bus from Lancaster (where I studied abroad) to Manchester.

Btw, the couple we met at Nabisco's wedding thing mentioned that they were interested in moving to North Carolina and had heard good things in particular about Greensboro. However, I think they were laboring under the impression that North Carolina was a) not that hot in the summer, and b) not that Southern.

CTA bus tracker: C/D?

Classic as hell.

Nab's wedding guests are very wrong about both of those things. I hope you dissuaded them.

yeah, it's the Orwell book (the Road to Wigan Pier, detailing the horrific poverty of coal miners in the area) that brings the cynical lulz. I guess kind of like how Cleveland has (had?) that weird hated-on rep. Maybe Newark is a good US equivalent.

Yes, Jenny. Although they did say, "Well, not as hot as Florida," which I guess is probably technically true.

I never lived there, but I was also under the impression that NC was at least less Southern than say Alabama or even GA?

I also love the bus tracker, though I've encountered people with weird hate about it.

Depends where you are in NC.

re: NC and FL - That's like saying that Venus is not as hot as the sun, but you still wouldn't want to move to either place.

I think NC is just southern in a different way than Georgia or gulf states. There are actual native NCers on this thread who can probably address it better, but as far as contemporary culture goes, NC is the epicenter of Nascar racing and it's also home to the town on which Mayberry was based and, historically, it was a plantation/slave state (in the eastern half, anyway) and Greensboro has a shit ton of streets and parks named after Confederate war heroes, all of which are hallmarks of southerness to me. Plus also, southern accents (although flatter than the GA southern drawl).

Bustracker: C, for sure. C+ if used on one's phone.

NC is not Southern like the Deep South, but it is certainly still Southern. And it's plenty hot. GSO is really blah. It's struggling to not be so, but it's failing. It wishes it were some cool mountain or beach town, but it's not. It's just a smaller city stuck in the foothills.

Even so - and Courtney will argue with me to the death about this - GSO beats the pants off Charlotte, which is wishes it was LA and is just a smaller Atlanta. There are (almost) literally ZERO non-chain restaurants and stores, Chads and Trixies as far as the eye can see, and drunk driving for all.

xp

Charlotte is a giant bank.

I don't want to incur Courtney's ire by shit talking Charlotte, but yeah, it sucks.

I work in publishing.

Hyde Park... publishing... I'm guessing we work in the same place.

To put it more positively - at least GSO has some character, maybe as a result of its colleges. And the downtown has a walkable street (Elm) with awesome antiques, a couple restaurants, beautiful historic buildings, including a couple cool hotels, and some decent bars and coffee shops. And there are a few other small areas that feel sort of like communities.

omg I hope Dan and Rob are like four cubicles away from each other right now.

One of you should cough.

i hope they're prairie dogging up above their cubicle walls and seeing each other

Eyes meeting across the room, their cheeks flushed in the glow of the florescent lighting, the whoosh of the air conditioner drowning out their astonished gasps as they realize... they've known each other for years.

easy now

I'll take it to I Slash Everything.

I'm staying at work late so I can watch this develop.

I've only ever lived in three free-standing houses in my entire life.

I'd never thought about it before, and never counted at all. Now that I have, the total is... zero. I have never lived in anything that you'd properly call a house. I know that makes me terrifically lower-class, but I will comfort myself by thinking that this is only because of the rabid and often illogical way that Americans value home ownership.

Has anyone here successfully visited the Museum Of Holography? We stumbled across the signs for it while looking for late night eats on Saturday, but it looked like it had been shut for awhile. Further investigation on the web turned up a lot of mysteriousness on Museum Of Jurassic Technology level.

lol

actually I kind of suspected that when you mentioned the #2, dan; is dan your real name? because then I know you're at least not 4 cubicles away. does it help if I mention I work in book, not journal, publishing?

xp Hm, I'm not even sure I've heard of it!

Btw, this is super-last minute, but it looks like Kr and I are going to do pub quiz at the Globe tonight. If you don't already have plans for the night, you're totally welcome to join us.

First two rounds:

Breaking Bad
United Nations

Dilemma: Study up on Breaking Bad, which I've never seen but would like to, and risk encountering massive spoilers? Or don't study it at all and get a big fat zero on the round?

Take the zero. The show is too good to risk a spoiler just for pub quiz. Sorry we can't make it.

@ Dan

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPA8v06EsIY&feature=related

Yeah, Jenny, I just glanced at the Wiki article for character names and the like, but didn't read anything about story arcs or episodes.

xp Hm, I'm not even sure I've heard of it!

Here's the backstory on the Museum: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/losing-her-museum/Content?oid=1103150

Don't spoil Breaking Bad, you will be nullifying some of the tv thrills of your LIFE

and it was still going as of June 2010 (but you had to call ahead first)

yep, dan is my name, journals

it figures, I'm actually surprised it took this long to find another ucplxor

Oh no! I hope it's not closing! Yelp indicates it was open as of June. The Museum of Holography is something I always noticed on maps before I ever visited Chicago, and I have been taking it for granted. It's on the list.

If anyone wants to go with me, it's on the list.

So we finished 5th, although without the tiebreaker question, we were tied for 3rd. Not bad! I'm sure if even just one of you had been there, we could've been in the medal round.

What were the breaking bad questions?

I think they must've been pretty easy if you watch the show.

1. What network does the show air on?
2. Where does it take place?
3. What are the names of Walter's kids?
4. What are the two chemical symbols that appear in the title of the show?
5. In season 3, what is the name of the apartment complex Walter moves into?
6. Who killed No Doze?
7. Who created the show?
8. What is the chemical composition of methamphetamine?

Hilariously, I got #1 wrong and #8 right.

I could have gotten 2 and 4. I'm blanking out on 1 and 7. I haven't gotten far enough in the show to answer 3 (second kid isn't born yet), 5, or 6.

For #1, I unthinkingly wrote FX, even though I knew it was AMC. That and #2 are the only ones I could've gotten if I hadn't skimmed the Wikipedia page beforehand.

Then we came home and I found an online X-Files quiz, and Kr got 21 of 22 right, lol.

we're watching breaking bad now so i could have gotten those (well, not #8, but sarah could have). great show, although the other night i watched that one where they're stranded in the desert and have to make a car battery and then i woke up the next morning and my own battery was dead. :/

good news though, we didn't get pissed on last night!

and my own battery was dead.

You should have made a robot.

Also, show your cat this as a warning - http://gawker.com/5609931/marinated-cat-rescued-from-car-trunk-before-becoming-owners-meal.

whoa. my ex-gf's boyfriend recently found a kitten hiding under his hood, on the engine block. they're keeping it.

the CPL has had the new Gary Shteyngart novel marked as "In-transit - sent" to me for at least two weeks now. I'm starting to think this is code for "someone who works at the library wanted to read this so they intercepted it instead of putting it on the hold shelf."

I have experienced a month's worth of "in-transit - sent" status in the past. I was at the library and found the book on the shelves and checked it out and then about a week after I returned it, got the notice that the book was ready for pick up.

Also, I read "Shteyngart" as about fifty different permutations of "Shitheart" and "Sheinhardt" before I made myself actually stop and figure out what it actually said.

As in Sheinhardt Wig Company?

Yes!

this is gary shteyngart:

http://cdn.imposemagazine.com/__data/lit-randomness-gary-shteyngart-edition.jpg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EfzuOu4UIOU

hey gary look out a bear x[

lol xp

According to a memo from the staff at the local SPCA, obtained by the Buffalo News, Korkuc said he no longer wanted Navarro because the cat was "possessive, greedy and wasteful."

I'm actually surprised it took this long to find another ucplxor

did you know nabisco used to work here? it's funny, I've never even met him but i'd been hearing about him for years before I even got on ilx. I feel like I'm stalking him without even meaning to! (jaymc's posts on his wedding thing for example)

ha that book preview is amazing

I'm chatting with a Sears rep because after talking about how awesome our AC unit is yesterday, it crapped out last night, and he has the very unlikely all-American name of C0dy Gr33n3. I imagine him wearing a cowboy hat and turquoise jewelry.

Does he sound Indian?

Sorry - internet chatting, not chatting on the phone. He did this thing where every time I would say anything, he would thank me for it. For example:

CG: Check for blockage at the condensing unit
Jennifer: What is the condensing unit?
Jennifer: If there is a diagram in the manual, I can check there, but I don't have it with me.
CG: You could visit www.managemylife.com to locate the condenser coil.
Jennifer: Ha, managemylife.com. Okay. Great URL.
CG: Thank you.

ha that book preview is amazing

An acquaintance of mine is in that video as one of Shteyngart's students.

you know the James Franco on Facebook isn't really James Franco, right?

it's funny, I've never even met him but i'd been hearing about him for years before I even got on ilx.

Ha, makes sense that he would have a reputation.

I first met him in Chicago back in 2001 through one of my coworkers, who used to work with him at the Press. Didn't really become friends with him until later, though.

oh great now I know his birthday is Aug 11 thanks to Ned...

Jordan, please submit a picture of yourself and your pisscat here http://boysandcats.tumblr.com/

http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l6hvgwbi6v1qb2twuo1_500.jpg

Ha - here are "Adam and Spooge"

Here is one that nearly makes me lightheaded every time I see it

http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l68cleffk01qaza14o1_500.jpg

I mean, it's PERFECT: the cat and Brando, of course, but also his shirt, and the couch. Mostly Brando and the cat. <3

That's a pretty good picture.

The composition is great, too. It's worthy of kitty and Brando. I want to move in with them both.

Job interview done. I went in feeling very ambivalent about the job, but I am now super-psyched about the possibility of getting it.

I am also super-psyched about the scott pilgrim movie, but that's probably just me.

Yeah, probably.

Congrats on the interview, though!

thanks jenny!

I realize I am big nerd for liking scott pilgrim, but what can you do

get a new awesome library job and then get me your old library job or get me an awesome library job at the new place where you are working

Haha, I will totally recommend you for my current job if I get a new one!

That is totally the outcome I am rooting for here!

actually you should call the people you just interviewed with and tell them to hire me instead

it'll be easier for everyone

how many of you all are librarians?

really just askance johnson. I have a MLIS but have not yet been gainfully employed as a librarian.

nick, you are a librarian. It is in your soul.

I'm a librarian of life experience.
John's a librarian without shelves or formal training.
Jesse's a librarian of mid-range alto singing.

Oh man, don't encourage him.

Also, I think being a librarian is like being a lawyer - more a matter of education than employment, just minus the licensing requirement.

http://www.theonion.com/articles/illinois-does-a-few-adult-films-to-make-ends-meet,17823/

LOL!

Shut up, Jenny, or I will not sing at your next big event.

Nominee for best line: "the state has played a number of stock adult film roles, including a cheerleader, a nurse, and the State of Ohio."

Shut up, Jenny, or I will not sing at your next big event.

Uh... that's some Brer Rabbit shit right there.

today's conversation topics:

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE67A42M20100811?type=domesticNews

http://gawker.com/5610471/paul-narang-is-americas-most-eligible-man

I don't know much about politics but Rostenkowski seemed like the archetypical Chicago politician of the Daley Sr. era?

Yeah, I don't remember him that well, but that was always my impression, too.

As for Narang, holy smokes. I'm still exploring his website. There's a whole bit on there about how he doesn't believe in time travel. (This is in the "Lessons Learned" section.)

Paul Narang lives in three places at once -- he has to believe in something.

omg there is so much to unpack from this statement: "By stating clearly that I am a 37-year old Christian, Republican, single, American male I was able to regain much, if not all, of my credibility in 2010."

Also, anybody who supports Christ Christie automatically goes on my shit list, so FU Paul Narang.

"Since 2008 I have been the impetus for numerous pieces of legislation" and countless restraining orders.

Jesse, how did you enjoy the White Sox game? I caught most of it on TV, seems like it was a pretty good game. How were your seats?

I can't stop reading this website. He considers Jesus to be his best friend. It must be kind of a bummer when he never shows up at his birthday parties.

"There are no rings --- either engagement or wedding --- on my fingers. You can check! When this changes, and I do become involved with someone, their name and photograph will appear here." WHETHER HE OR SHE* LIKES IT OR NOT.

*He never said he was straight.

But he says that marriage should be between a man and a woman. Though perhaps blowies between two men are cool.....

The game was OK. our seats were pretty good - Row 27 at the end of the 3rd base line. For some reason I was a little bored, probably b/c I stuffed myself with ribs and beer and I was groggy. The field is pretty cool - I like the big screen and the cannons for a home run. I like Wrigley's score board better though.

7. Realize that Christians and Jews do business differently. Know the difference. Respect both, but know the difference.

...

9. Never build a business or client relationships based upon a partner’s ethnic origin, religion, gender or color of skin, for if you are not careful, those factors will overshadow the excellence of your products and services, and your brand will suffer as a result.

there's obviously a story behind the scenes with that guy, he talks about 2008 and 2009 being the two worst years of his life and how he had to make changes to better emphasize his personal brand ... sounds like he's trying really hard to refute rumors of homosexuality or something

Whoa, his life goals are awesome. My life goal was to live in an apartment with a washer/dryer, and now that I've achieved it, I'm kind of twisting in the wind.

1. To protect and defend the United States of America from all enemies, internal and external
2. To ensure that the freedom and security of the nation of Israel be guaranteed forever
3. To ensure that no child in America ever has to go to bed hungry or homeless at night
4. To find and fund a cure for Type-1 and Type-2 diabetes
5. To get an Executive MBA and a PhD in economics
6. To build and own a Financial conglomerate like Morgan Stanley or Goldman Sachs
7. To eliminate extreme poverty in India through the promotion and spread of Christianity there.
8. To help fund programs like Ride2Recovery, DAV and others which help our wounded veterans.
9. To find and fund a cure for autism
10. To add Spanish, German, Greek and Hebrew to the languages I already know well.

Oh dear

I owned a set of domain names at one time called olahou.com, .net and .org which in Hawaiian means “recovery from disaster.” As early as 2007, I had often thought about starting an IT BC/DR consulting practice. A friend thought it had something to do with Islam, which I have never practiced! Needless to say, I let the domain names deregister and expire!!!

But, amazingly, now that he's established that he's an American, Christian male, everything's coming up NARANG! Also, no fat chicks. Or black chicks. Or even black haired chicks.

Nick, you're probably referring at least in part to this gem (emphasis in the original)

20. Do not let others define who you are, or make assumptions about who you are. Define yourself. If needed, set up a web site such as this in order to do it. State clearly what you believe in, and what is important to you. You work hard over a number of years to build up your personal and professional image. Letting others define who you are, is one of the worst things you could ever let happen to your personal and professional image and brand. Do not let others make incorrect assumptions about you, for if you are not careful, it can destroy, ruin and bankrupt you. It nearly destroyed me between 2008 and 2009. People made incorrect and rampant assumptions and speculation about me during those years. Some defined me as Brazilian, some as Chinese, some Hispanic, some Canadian, some Democrat, some Gay, some Pagan, and some even Black! None of these were true!!!Nobody ever speculated that I was Muslim, because they all knew how I felt about some Muslims, especially my vehement and overwhelming dislike towards radical Islamists bent upon destroying western civilization!

Nobody should be allowed to mess with your personal brand and image! By stating clearly that I am a 37-year old Christian, Republican, single, American male I was able to regain much, if not all, of my credibility in 2010. If anyone has any illusions about who I am, they should see the “Core Values” tab on my web site.

yes

What could destroy a man worse than being a Brazilian-Canadian Pagan with ties to the Democrats.

I speculate he's Muslim. There. Now he can't say that no one ever did so.

21. Anyone who tries to make any sort of connection between your personal life and your work life violates the Constitution of the United States of America.

I like the idea of hundreds of people, milling about, theorizing (incorrectly) on the essence of Narang, due to a lack of a website to set them straight.

So basically in 2008 and 2009, people occasionally mistook him for non-white (even Black!!!) person, which RUINED HIS LIFE. I hope I meet him on the train (I'm too fat to get a business card *tear*) so I can speak Spanish to him.

Haha I like that idea, too. Also, look for Essence of Narang in fine drugstores this fall.

Should I connect with him on Linked In? It might be good for my business to network with a fine Islamic Canadian gay Pagan such as Paul Narang.

Sorry, I can't stop quoting this man.....
emphasis mine, b/c WTF?

28. As I was seriously considering a particular course of action, Warren Buffett’s advice to me on April 28, 2010 was “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you'll do things differently...” God Bless him for that timely piece of advice. I got the message loud and clear, and in time to avoid some well deserved egg on my face. Needless to say, I did not pursue that course of action! Good reputations are built over a long time, but can be ruined overnight. God Bless the GEICO gecko!

hahaha that is AWESOME.

As my good friend Scott Walker says [on Scott 3], “don’t spend more than you have.”

OK, so I emailed him.

Rather, a hot blonde 27 year old named Sheila emailed him.

Oh, Sheila.

Did you offer to let him love you 'til the morning comes?

Some defined me as Brazilian

This reminds me of the unconfirmed but very possibly true story of George W. visiting Brazil and being surprised that they had black people there.

I complimented him, flirted, and asked if he was here legally, and requested reassurance that he is NOT Muslim, even though "I'm not racist."

haha Good work.

Speaking of things that are a bit racially awkward, I'm about to watch the movie Dumbo. Inspired by this excellent series of blog posts, which Ebert linked to on the "Ebert club" blog. I'm kind of excited about it. Haven't seen it in a looooong time, and if it's as beautiful to look at and as weird and dark as Pinnochio was when I rewatched it a few months ago, this should be a treat.

Jesse, did you use the Grapenstein email address?

No, I used my Yahoo account, which I never use b/c it is 100% spam.

Grapenstein is one that I use for signing up for stuff online and it automatically forwards to my real address, so I didn't want to pollute it. And I was worried that he might get revenge by publishing my address online.

attn: fans of the National

http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2010/08/09/the_national/

aside: I really like the Current, although my MN friends say they do tend to overplay some stuff

Oh, cool. I was just talking about The National. Did you see my recent post, Dan?

either it's the AIR AND WATER SHOW this weekend or there's some Top Gun-style dogfights going on over my house right now

Oh great. Francie is never, ever going to be normal again.

You're father inland now, you won't get it as bad as at your old place.

You're father inland

hee, getit??1?

Dan, this is Jesse. I don't understand the joke you're making, but I still care for you and wish you only the best.

Jesse

You mistyped "farther" as "father". I thought for a second you were responding to Nick's post about the possibility of the Air & Water show. Nick is a new father.

PS Stop writing your posts that way.

Ah, OK.

Also, for real LOLOL at your request.

(it took a fair amount of self-control to resist typing my reply in the way you asked me not to)

http://chicago.timeout.com/articles/museums-culture/88085/lawsuit-alleges-a-pritzker-heir-was-involved-in-a-hit-and-run

I walked by an Ethiopian wedding reception last night at the restaurant on Clark just south of Howard.

― Bag Smart, Street Stupid (Eazy), Monday, August 9, 2010 1:16 PM (3 days ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Whoah, that's awesome -- I'm not sure what the etiquette is on this, so we're just going to send a thank-you card to be on the safe side.

BTW, if you have time on your hands, I suggest you all re-watch Dumbo. It really is genius, even if it does have a character literally named Jim Crow. The crows, actually, are the only characters apart from Timothy the mouse and his mother that are actually nice to poor Dumbo. They mess with the mouse, making fun of him for thinking an elephant can fly, but never the elephant. If anything, Dumbo is meant to be aligned with the crows in spirit, as evidenced by lines like when one of the gossipy elephants says of Dumbo, "Well frankly, I wouldn't eat at the same bale of hay with him." Or the clowns saying, "Elephants ain't got no feelings. They're made of rubber."

The whole film is drawn in broad strokes, both literally and figuratively, making it not just a surprisingly short feature (64 minutes) but a very efficient one. All the characters and relationships are sketched out exactly as much as they need to be to give the subsequent scenes resonance. Who doesn't get misty during the "Baby of Mine" sequence? And the Pink Elephants sequence is as good or better than anything in Fantasia.

I wonder if this movie is the reason so many people are afraid of clowns.

I love Dumbo. It was one of my favorite record-and-book combos when I was a kid. I still think about the concept of the magic feather all the time.

i think this is the one i had
http://im1.ebidst.com/upload_medium/0/9/9/1235780065-31150-0.jpg

I just edited our article on the movie a couple months ago, which did make me want to rewatch it.

I remember that I thought Dumbo got loopy because he was drinking soap. Drinking soap makes you crazy!

I believe Walt Disney said it was his favorite Disney movie.

And I love that it was made on the fly, on the cheap, as a quick way to recoup losses from Fantasia, incurred by the sudden onset of WWII. Working under hard constraints often brings out the best in people who are brilliant to begin with.

Drinking soap makes you crazy!

In reality, I think it just makes you sick and exceptionally poopy.

I remember watching it as a child and being extremely bored.

I'm sure it's fine, I just preferred more ACTION or marketing in my cartoons.

Oh, you.

Yeah, Disney has like zero marketing. Do they even have a marketing department? Probably not.

I think he wanted marketing IN the cartoons. Like, the whole cartoon as an ad for an action figure.

Maybe if the bottle that fell in the water barrel had said, "Tanqueray".

It was actually a bottle of Tres Equis.

haha

OMG the record-book combos, I had totally forgotten about those.

I had a box of Little Golden Book record/books that I listened to all the damn time. DING Turn the page.

i saved all mine. it's one of the only things i am proud to have hoarded.

I remember I got the record/book combo of the Aristocats, but it had the wrong record in it. I am very familiar with something called "The Little Fat Policeman" now.

did you guys ever hear "little toot"? it's about a tugboat that...loses its mommy? drifts off into the ocean? not sure what happens to little toot, but the song is really tender. "won't you ever grow up, little toot?"

http://blogs.miaminewtimes.com/riptide/toot.jpg

i did see it, but i don't remember the plot either! also, i don't know if i can ever watch dumbo again; it's so sad!

I think he wanted marketing IN the cartoons. Like, the whole cartoon as an ad for an action figure.

correct

My country cousins are coming to the big city and they wanted to ask if I knew of any affordable (~$100) "motels" convenient to the Mag Mile that aren't in "the hood." I directed them to the Best Western in Evanston. They're older and don't use the internet, so I'm happy to try to help because they were asking if Monee, Highland Park, or Joliet fit their needs.

I guess instead of just being snide, I should ask: does anyone have any suggestions?

you did good. Stuff near O'Hare is way cheaper, too, and probably the same kind of train ride into the loop. If they're renting a car, there are hotels all over the freeways just outside the city limits.

There is that Days Inn in Lincoln Park. My family seems to favor the Holiday Inn near Cumberland on the Blue Line, dunno how much it costs.

xp like Kenan says

I guess Hotwire or whatever the kids are using these days is out? You can get good deals on hotels on MI Ave. within their price range. But avoid the Treemont at all costs. It is a decrepit shit heap.

They are old and don't use the internet, Jennifer.

They're driving here from MI, but parking in the Mag Mile would be ridiculous. I thought about hotels by O'Hare, but getting to the Mag Mile from the Blue Line is not something I think they would handle well.

So it sounds like I did the best that can be done.

best western in evanston is very nice and in an area that will make them feel like they are "in the city" even if they are ~1 mi from "the hood"

walkable to the lake, lots of nice restaurants around. good area for turistas.

(my in-laws stay there)

FYI my mother + step-dad stayed at the Red Roof Inn off the Mag Mile and I think it was about 100 bucks a night and it seemed like a perfectly acceptable hotel to me.

But, yeah, parking would be ludicrous.

but getting to the Mag Mile from the Blue Line is not something I think they would handle well

5 blocks? Why are they even bothering to go into the Loop, then?

Sarah added a bunch of Disney movies to our Netflix queue a couple of months ago; the only one we've watched so far was The Little Mermaid, which was ... really bad. I remember liking it as a kid but the animation looks pretty awful now, like way cheaper and half-assed than the old Disney movies and (obviously) the newer computer-animated kids movies. I think we only ended up watching about half of it before mailing it back.

I saw the little mermaid on my first date. The boy I went out with was driving his mom's car and she had a carphone. This was early 1990? Maybe late 1989. Whenever that movie came out.

Right now I am in a laundromat typing on my phone.

The movie came out in '89.

*checks IMDB*

November '89, so probably still in theaters in early '90.

Someone just go ahead and post that to the "posts very much in character" thread already.

Dan, if they're too old for the Internet, they're probably too old to walk five blocks to the Mag Mile, where they will also be walking once they get there. My mom would definitely balk at walking five blocks.

I'm sorry, I was drunk when I typed that.

I will also mention that "part of your world" is kind of mixed up in my head with "somewhere that's green" from LSOH.

Oh and on our second (and final) date that boy gave me a little mermaid figurine from mc donalds, which I cherished and then hid. I think I still have it?

I took my dreadful little cousin (since grown up to be an even dreadfuller adult) to go see The Little Mermaid. It was a very rare moment of self-directed, individualized, extended familial intersection on my part. Probably the last, actually.

it's a very important movie for us both, yenny. very important. thinking about how unbelievably significant everything about my limited interaction with that boy was reminds me of what life seems like to a 14 year old girl. or at least to me at 14.

reminder: i am probably going to the cove for some birthday karaoke one week from today, if anyone wants to join me.

If the internet is TOO LOUD
Then you're TOO OLD

I've pricelined some nice hotel rooms near the mag mile for my folks for under $100. The Omni in the Gold Coast, the Hyatt on Wacker, etc.

Isn't there a Days Inn on Diversey near your new pad, Jesse?

There is, but as one who used to be confused and frightened by buses, I wanted to keep them right by the train, but I guess I didn't think of the Brown Line. Fuck. I will call them tonight.

If I was any kind of good relation, I would have helped them with Priceline.

I'm posting this here instead of the 'too effing hot' thread: Jesse, you should have been a meteorologist.

I do love weather, no joke. And I love maps a lot, too. But there is the *science* thing that I'm pretty bad at.

yes, it's too bad you don't have the scientific genius of an Amy Freeze or an Al Roker

Tbf, I don't think Roker is a meteorologist.

I ended up buying the Gary Shteyngart book that the CPL refuses to get to me. We were at Barnes & Noble and I realized I had an old gift card, thought it maybe had a few bucks on it and I could get a magazine, turned out it had $22 which was pretty much exactly how much that book was so yay a present for me.

xp - or Ginger Zee

wtf have you done to this child, ginger

http://rockfordsquire.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/GingerZee2.jpg

ginger zee invisible orange

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2018/2290355198_e12b5700e1.jpg

I met Amy Freeze at a Fire game once, she's pretty alright. Of course, sideline reporting on MLS matches doesn't speak volumes about one's weather forecasting abilities.

note I am not making a comment on Amy Freeze's looks there, but stating that she was a cordial, nice person

Thank you, Marc Loi.

don't you mean she was a cordial, n"ice" person?

her demeanor was anything but chilly

Man. MAN I wish I could publicly post a list of attorneys who submit shitty fucking briefs. These people should be fucking ashamed of some of this crap.

And I wish that as a result of their appearance on this list, my agency would levy a fine against them which would go into our general operating fund. And also that they had to appear on stage at the next MCLE seminar for public ridicule.

Pantsless.

NO. Wait. Not pantsless. That punishes me. Again.

wearing a pig nose?

snout, pigs have a snout.

Pig snout, yes. Or donkey ears. Or both.

Also, while I'm bitching about things, somebody please come show my coworker how to turn down the volume on her cell phone. This has been going on for two years. She always apologizes and shoves the phone in a drawer, but never turns it down.

maybe hey should wear curly piggie tails

I hate that. I hate it when someone's phone rings and they decide not to answer it, but they just let it ring and ring and ring instead of pressing the "ignore" button or whatever and turning off the damn ringer. xp

ME FUCKING TOO.

Especially in places like a classroom during class.

I had to teach the morning after we moved (after about three hours of sleep due to new house and loud AC unit stress) and I had my phone on my desk so I could keep an eye on the time, forgetting that I had turned the ringer on and UP LOUD the day before so I wouldn't miss calls from the movers. And of course, my mom calls in the middle of class and of course my ring tone is a Booka Shade song, which is cool and all when it's quietly emanating from my purse in a socially acceptable situation but not when it just THUMPS OUT OF MY LITTLE SPEAKERS during a class that I'm supposed to be teaching and so but I was so frazzled by the event that instead of pressing the button to ignore the call, I answered it, and then my mom is all like, "JENNY? JENNY?????" so I hung up on her. And she called back immediately while I was trying to remember how to turn off the ringer (super tired, remember), so it happened twice, and all I could do was look stupidly at my students and say, "It's my mom."

I did turn the ringer off after that, finally.

hahaha that has happened to me in class too (it was my dentist)
usually it's after i've shamed someone for having his/her phone on

I had a crazy teaching stress dream last week that I meant to tell you about, Amanda. It was something about how they moved my classroom to the middle of one of the restaurant-style late-night dining halls at my undergrad institution, and there were half-walls dividing the class into sections, making it impossible for all of my students to see the board at once, and people who were not in my class kept sitting in the middle of my students to eat food.

It's kind of like a server stress dream and a teacher stress dream all rolled into one! YAY BRAIN THANK YOU SO MUCH!

hahaha
i quit my saturday class btw
feeling like one miniature ounce of remorse only because my students were so fun, but not otherwise

Oh, you quit for good? I knew you were gonna go on sabbatical or something, but now it's a done deal? Good for you!

yeah, i just can't take it anymore. it's disproportionately stressful to the financial/professional gain.

this means no more fun stories about old russian men, but i can live with that if it means that i get about 49 friday nights/saturday mornings (and early afternoons) back.

Perhaps I can fill that gap w/ stories about plagiarism.

Good sweet Christ it's soupy out here. Die August! Die!

I have only had one or two work office stress dreams since getting this job, one if which involved waiting tables at my office. I can totally understand teaching nightmares. Maybe bc both are performative and in the moment. I bet train conductors get terrible dreams. Waitering is the only job that gave me regular awful stress dreams. I almost miss them - they are intense and bond servers in an involuntary, unconscious way.

Jesse, based on your Facebook status yesterday, please, please, please title your first book of humorous, autobiographical essays I Did Not Write This and Cannot Erase It.

As long as it's ghost-written by T0mas.

I agree that that is a great title.

Of possible interest to Jeff + Jenny: They're building a Trader Joe's on Diversey and Orchard (right next to the former Barnes and Noble, one block west of Clark). That is going to be super convenient for me.

I lost my fucking wallet and phone, but I don't think they were stolen b/c there has been no activity on my debit card or phone. But where are they? I'm guessing they in a bathroom somewhere. Or in the sewer system.

did you find them yet?

No, daggonit. I am going to purchase insurance on the phone tomorrow and make a claim on it immediately. This seems to be kosher with the insurer.

the insurance company, that is

I have been stuck in the Lima airport for the past 14 hours. If I am lucky, I will make it to Miami this afternoon. Where I will then be stuck until Tuesday morning, due to overbooked and canceled Miami-CHI flights. Stabby, stabby, stabby.

airlines sure make it easy to plan a vacation these days, don't they

If I wasn´t going to get stuck overnight in Miami, I would be much more chipper about the whole thing. I am, however, in the VIP lounge...where there is interwebz, free fruit and coffee and nice couches. Trip was still worth it, but getting progressively crankier.

My dad came through O'Hare yesterday returning from Finland, said it was a madhouse.

Is there a weather thing that I missed or is this just season air travel nonsense? Sorry your stuck, K8s! I hope you make it home a lot faster than anticipated.

I dreamed another song last night. I remember the name and a little bit of the chorus. It's called "(You Changed Your Heart) Why Won't You Change Your Mind" and is sung in the style of the Old 97s.

that's a good country song name!

one of the side benefits of Sarah being pregnant and us now having a tiny baby is it gave me an excuse not to fly anywhere. I do have to go to O'Hare to pick up my parents this afternoon though.

jenny i think you have a calling! it's calling you from your sleep!

i am really living the life this morning, folks. school starts a week from today, so i am trying to treat myself as well as possible this week before school eats my life.

today i woke up, took out dogs, [then d went to work], then i went for a run, showered, made coffee, and scrambled some delicious eggs with spinach, avocado, tomatillo-guajillo salsa (made by me) and now i am futzing around online and listening to the radio and eating my breakfast and it's not even 9am yet.

also the only song i ever tried to write turned out as a country song and it was called "I'm Calling You From Yesterday" and it was about having to pick up one's loved one from jail.

maybe i should try again, but that turned out so poorly that i just think why bother

that sounds delightful. those eggs sound amazing.

they were really really tasty. i'm going into work in a while, then grocery shopping (perhaps i'll see my favorite newborn again at tj's?) then maybe later i will read more of the book i started reading yesterday:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51st4nL5vRL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

(The Salem Witch Trials Reader, by Frances Hill)

Jenny--only LAN and Peruvian madness. Reasons for more than 12 hour delay include technical difficulties, late plane, and holding the plane for 2 other connecting flights that had not yet arrived in Lima. Once I compose myself, I intend to get some miles out of this insanity. Standing in line in an orderly, yet persistent, fashion will get you absolutely nowhere here.

no way, a person has to be very stern in order to talk with airlines. we just booked a trip to nyc using a ticket we were unable to use because of massive snowstorms over christmas last year and not only did we lose at least half of the value of the ticket in the $150 fee to change a ticket, but i had to talk to at least 5 different people (sternly!) to get the money reinstated in the first place.

anyway, at least i get to go to new york in the fall and it's not hot out today.

That sounds terrible, Katie. Maybe you'll be able to find the strength to view this as an adventure? (But it sounds like a situation in which you are done vacationing and you would love to be at home, spending some time getting reacquainted with your own bed.)

I wonder if T0mas got K8's desperate FB entreaty to take care of the dog one more day. Someone should call him. I cannot.

I called him and he was with k8tie's parents & he got the msg.

Ah well, I didn't get the job. they sent me a very nice email though. I probably interview poorly, which is something I need to work on.

Sorry, nick.

sorry AJ

keep at it, duders

Sorry, AJ. Good practice, I suppose.

yeah, and in this environment, getting an interview at all is kind of an achievement, so maybe I should still be hi-fiving myself.

And hey you still have your old job right?

j/v/c, I keep seeing architecture-related jobs listed on this twitterfeed.

Good luck, Askance. (I'd call you AJ, but that makes me think of the Sopranos kid.)

I'm sorry you didn't get that job, askance "Falkor" johnson. I probably put this link up every time the issue arises, but Ask a Manager has some pretty good interview info - http://askamanager.blogspot.com/search/label/interviewing.

misdirected email of the day:

Sorry, you have the wrong Dr. Jordan.

On Tue, Aug 17, 2010 at 1:28 PM, Uvonkia Eller <usel✧✧✧@g✧✧✧.mailcrui✧✧✧.c✧✧> wrote:

Dr. Jordan i was just added back to your lab for bio 166 that is on tues morning, my classes ended being dropped due to conflict of schedule that has been taken care of. So therefore i missed lab today since I wasnt added back to just recently around 1:30pm. So I was wondered would that count me as being absent today and what could I do so that it wont count against me. Thanks for taking time out to read my email.

Haha. Excellent response.

dr jordan phd md dds

kid oughta know that if you're trying to get into a new section you go even if it's not official

dr. jordan, ba

Is it too late to change your DJ nickname?

Dan OTM.

god, the annoying parts of a new academic year never end

maybe i can name my next album "dr jordan, ba".

hey i have an album cover now: http://27.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l7b9lg0rRF1qcjsj0o1_500.jpg

I feel like I'm going under the knife.

Nice DrJ!

pretty.

One thing is, I am a self-deprecating and wishy-washy dude and I'm fine with that but I REALLY need to learn not to be that way in interviews. But it is kind of my default mode.

But, yes, I still have my old job, where I am right now. As long as it affords me time to read ilx, it can't be all bad.

I know that it's not a library job, but there is an editorial assistant for acquisitions position open here.

I feel like I'm going under the knife.

ha, i didn't think about it like that but you're right.

fwiw it's actually a picture that sarah took of a sequined dress, close up and long exposure.

I like that album cover a lot.

thanks guys. we were rushing to get it done today for the digital release, and i thought we got it in under the wire, and then they were like 'so, where's the back cover'? :/

"Just turn the picture over!"

The Blago jury has reached a verdict. But they haven't yet announced what it is.

Awaiting the verdict, Rod Blagojevich sat looking at lawyers, alternately clasping his hands and drumming his fingers. His brother, Robert, leaned over to his wife, Julie, put his hands on hers and whispered something reassuring. She nodded. Somewhere in the distance, a dog barked.

I heard this morning that they had only reached a verdict on 2 of the 20-something counts. Dude's gonna walk.

A federal jury today convicted former Gov. Rod Blagojevich of only one count against him: lying to the FBI. Jurors said they were deadlocked on the other 23 counts against the former governor, and all four counts against his brother Robert.

lol

What a fucking joke.

<3 this state, I'm gonna go steal candy from children now.

"God bless you, God bless you, I didn't let you down," Blago said as he shook hands with admirers. He also high-fived spectators.

"God bless you, God bless you, I didn't let you down," Blago said as he shook hands with admirers. He also high-fived spectators.

xp- well, there's the last part, at least.

unbelievable

all too believable imo

i know :\

But WTF - On Friday they said they had decided 2 (+ hung on 11, and had not even considered the other 11), so they un-decided one of them?

Huh...

Declaring a mistrial on the 23 counts, U.S. District Judge James Zagel gave the prosecution until Aug. 26 to decide whether to retry Blagojevich and his brother.

"We could be here tomorrow (to try him again)," said Assistant U.S. Atty. Reid Schar, indicating the government intends to retry both the former governor and his brother.

After the judge left to the call of "all rise," Patti didn't stand up and looked angry with her head down, staring at her lap.

People with some construction industry experience:

Who puts together bids for jobs? Is it usually the owner of the construction company or would s/he customarily delegate this task to an employee?

With no real experience in the matter beyond very cursory hard-labor packmulery, I would say it depends on the size of the company. Sorry, that probably doesn't help.

No, it actually helps a little. Do you think that the smaller a company is, the more likely the owner would do this kind of work? Whereas in a big company, there might be employee's whose specific job duties include putting together bids?

Yes, I would think so.

Okay, good. This was my inclination as well, but what I don't know about the construction business could fill a (very large dump) truck, so I didn't want to go into a big discussion of how clearly preparing a bid is an executive function that an ordinary employee would not perform only to find out that I was totally wrong.

This at least gives me enough so that I can present that as a possibility, I mean. I'm not like, basing the outcome of some poor bastard's entire case on our collective guesses about how construction companies work.

Civil Eng friends in college mentioned this as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cost_engineering

You could probably find the name of such a position on the DOL's website or somewhere like that?

Related to what Dan said

http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos006.htm (Cost Estimator)

No, it actually helps a little. Do you think that the smaller a company is, the more likely the owner would do this kind of work? Whereas in a big company, there might be employee's whose specific job duties include putting together bids?

From the construction companies I've worked with, the owner very rarely does them himself but s/he is almost always involved in some way or another (i.e. - browbeating subcontractors to get a lower price). There typically is at least one person or division that handles all the bids for a firm, depending on the size. Usually the cost estimator(s) will price things up and then coordinate with someone who has gathered all the bids of the subcontractors for the work that the general contractor won't be doing themselves (in a small company this could be the same person), then a final bid is assembled and signed off on by the management/owner.

Hi all, I'm back. Hooray!

Welcome back!!! I'm glad that you made it!

Welcome back Kathryn. I can't believe you went directly from the airport to work.

i got into the car to go to work (after taking rudy to the vet this morning) and i turned on the radio and what did i hear?

A MAN SELLING ICE CREEEAM
SINGING ITALIAN SOOOOOONGS

I've been waiting such a long time to make a banner for Fire games that reads:

SATURDAYS IN (Toyota) PARK

I've been waiting such a long time
do do do do do deedle doooo
to make a siiiiign
Yeah yeah

I was listening to the Chants stuff again today. I liked "Dayglow" a lot, missed that one the first time around.

I keep wondering if I should do anything with my recent Scare Quotes songs. It's kind of a hodgepodge of styles/sounds and some of them I recorded really fast but also I'm happy with how a lot of them turned out but also the website was kind of a reaction to the futility of trying to make/sell an "album" of songs these days but also I'm thinking of writing/recording a set of songs that actually go together thematically/sonically and putting that up as an album/EP but also that's a lot of work and I'm having trouble focusing on songwriting right now. Also I just want to jam out with some dudes but feel bad leaving Sarah alone with the baby for hours while I go party.

I want to make a video for a Chants song. I don't really know how to make videos and it's always kind of a pain in the ass but it might be a good project because I could just do it from home.

in summary, I need to figure out some kind of creative outlet

nick, that would be amazing! i've been wanting to do a video but my skills only extend as far as silly photo slideshows for fake rap songs. i really like the fake f1ctions videos.

Nick, how soon until EB can hang out without a lactating woman nearby for a couple of hours? Because then you and Sarah can go party while Auntie Jenny watches the baby.

if you decide to give it a shot, could you do it for 'day glow' or 'onlookers'? those seem to be the "hits".

you need a wet nurse

thanks Jenny - the tricky thing is timing. There are times now when she could be left with someone else for a while, but it's hard to figure out exactly when these are going to be.

Jordan, I'd probably do Day Glow. I don't want to commit to something and then flake out but if I have any ideas I might give it a shot. Maybe you could email me an MP3 of the track so I have it handy?

it would also be pretty lo-fi since we have a shitty video camera

visually lo-fi. the audio would be unaffected.

Maybe things will be more predictable in a week or so (plus I'll be back on my feet har de har and you have guests this week anyway, right?). Anyhoodle, the offer stands and we'll figure it out.

will do. visually lo-fi is good.

maybe you could take the best scare quotes songs and make an ep, and it put it on bandcamp or something? even if it's still free, it would feel different to package some up and say "this is a thing".

Finally checking out the Chants songs on the Tumblr, really awesome! Particularly love the guitar on the title track.

yeah, Jordan, or my friend from back in Virginia runs a pretty awesome online distro thing and I could probably put an EP up on there and give it away. I'm just not sure if there's a point in doing that unless I also try to play shows and do publicity and I'm not sure if I have the time/energy to do that ... you know, the typical solo musician quandary. The only other real reason I can think of do an EP/LP is so then I can say, "OK that project is done, now I can start on something new that's maybe more cohesive and planned-out and structured" and take it seriously.

yeah, i think you should do it. i'm not planning on playing many shows myself, and i'm pretty sure "publicity" now consists of sending emails to blogs? which doesn't take too much more time than posting on ilx.

btw who wants to write my bio? i have to do one for the label website and writing your own bio always feels a little weird.

you should have your vacation buddies write it

haha, the skiing accountants? good call.

yeah those guys
they know you well enough to invite you away with them for a weekend, after all

"This guy Jordan, he likes to rip up the slopes on powder days before coolin' it in the chalet with some unattached babes, beers, and maybe a little nose candy. Our trips out to Colorado are the stuff of legend. Now he's making beats and he brings his same carefree 'tude to the mixing board that he does to the resort."

or something

by Fred R. S4d0ff, C.P.A.

Our firm is a full service accounting and consulting firm. We cater to a wide variety of clients ranging from individuals to medium-sized corporations. We specialize in beats, edits, personal financial planning, and more beats. S4doff, R@skin & Ass0ciates, P.A. is committed to providing a complete range of professional sweet jamms and tax services, at affordable fees. We pledge to create an environment that will cause every one of our clients to view us as a trusted uprock advisor. Since our inception, we have grown continuously by providing a wide-array of professional services. Let us know how we can serve you. We're here to help. Our firm has been in business for over 12 years. We have grown steadily and rapidly, and our full complement of employees is able to service a continuously growing clientele. "0nlooker" will be released on September 21st.

seriously, you should have fred write it
just write to him and say, "you have been erroneously sending me emails for years now; it's time you did me a favor" and then you have a noteworthy backstory for how your bio was written.

have him interview you or something

that would be amazing

http://www.snorgtees.com/images/HedgehogsShare_Fullpic_1.gif

Wow.

http://awfullibrarybooks.wordpress.com/2010/08/19/implement-weaponry/

"Plant pot and cactus shoved into groin"

Hold on, attacker, you've got something between your teeth. I can help you with that. Let me just get out my Oral B Mint Waxed.... PSYCH NOW I AM CUTTING YOUR THROAT WITH DENTAL FLOSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

The bra and the coins are the worst ideas.

But think of the awesome action movie lines you can say.

Keep... the... CHANGE!

the picture of the woman throwing coins at the guy's face just makes me think of Gob

also I think the author of that book took Home Alone a little more seriously than the rest of us

Anybody know any good rape jokes?

Oops. Meant to write that to the firm's conflict check email list serve. Sorry.

listserv

It's fraking Friday.

friday finally means the same thing to me as it did to everyone else

you guys we got a new record player and i am so excited about it. playing valley of the dolls sdtk and enjoying the warm tones of ms dionne warwick. at 8am.

also: we had a health emergency with rudy when she went to get spayed, but for the time being she is ok. she still has all her parts though, as they were unable to do the surgery because of her reaction to the drugs.

but most importantly she is ok.

I'm listening to all the Nick Cave/Birthday Party songs I have, on shuffle.

Poor dog. I will send her get well soon motivation.

good luck rudy toot

aw thanks guys
she is taking a nap atm

can't someone invent an iud for dogs? do we really have to operate?

btw my nick cave listening was inspired by dan's facebook status yesterday about preferring nick cave to tom waits. I think that would make a good ILM poll except for it being on ILM. There are similarities between the two but also differences and I spent a while trying to figure out why the comparison isn't really fair but couldn't think of anything specific.

i think i prefer nick cave to tom waits too, but i would not have said that 15 yrs ago
tom waits kinda fell over the "crazy old dude whacking on an aluminum pan and howling about how hard life is" schtick line for me but i don't really know when

Poor Rudy. Are they going to be able to operate later? Male pets are so much easier to fix. My dad and I castrated two cats at home. Quick and easy, using the method he used on the horses and bulls on the farm.

We don't really know; we're waiting to talk to the lady I got her from and see what kind of research the doc can do. Otherwise, I guess we just don't do it.

I think a couple of Dan's friends said Tom Waits has some amazing albums and songs but Nick Cave tends to be more consistent, which I would agree with.

i haven't listened to tw in a long time. maybe i should give him a chance again. i will feel the 90s rushing back at me.

hey does anyone want a couple of helium records? i have other records i am getting rid of too, but that seems like the only thing anyone would want. i mean, unless you're really into some seriously shitty shit (and one bill evans record that is in bad shape)

are they actual records? Sarah might want them.

yeah they are actual records

ACTUAL FACTUAL RECORDS!!??

i'll bring them to TJs next week! (actually factually i will drop them off if you're not at TJs)

you can look through the rest of them too if you want.

tom waits kinda fell over the "crazy old dude whacking on an aluminum pan and howling about how hard life is" schtick line for me but i don't really know when

This is exactly the reason I've never been able to get into him. People say it's genius but I just don't get it, especially the actual music. Nick Cave, on the other hand, has that same sort air of craziness to him, but the music really backs it up well.

I really like a lot of the sad Tom Waits songs, a lot of which are him just singing with piano or maybe a horn section, not as wacky in the arranging as his wilder stuff. Plus Marc Ribot's guitar playing on the classic albums is pretty fantastic, he's got a really unique tone/style.

like I think in this he's basically just singing over a New Orleans funeral jam and it's one of my favorite Waits songs: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FD5PE1Tlm5M

although as I'm sure I've noted a bunch of times before, I also just have a thing for "ugly" voices

ooh i like marc ribot -- he played on those FUN bar kokhba sextet tzadik recordings (had to go look that up to remember what it was called but man is it good!) i always meant to get some of his solo stuff but apparently i have forgotten until now.

I guess the big difference is the background? They've both ended up as kind of oddball sleazy singers, but Cave comes from punk and Waits started out as a jazzbo singer/songwriter.

Anyways I probably like Cave more than Waits too ultimately.

this is off topic but speaking of fun, this song is SO FUN
i am trying to get psyched for bday weekend and this song helps a little

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QNL-gp_47f4

(he is in a cloud because he is surrounded by fantasmas)

marc ribot is the man, his solo stuff is great

what do you recommend?

you would probably like ribot's cubanos postizos band

i really like their first album. and 'requiem for what's his name'.

oh i have one track from that somewhere and i LOVE it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKudBT6WbbE

that sounds like a Randy Newman song