Chicago: The Best Lakehouse in Steakview

New thread, just so I can finally get this title out of my head.

Chicago threads always have the best titles imo.

bravo

Glad for this, I was getting tired of "White Glogg" running through my head to the tune of "White Lines" every time I clicked on the thread.

i don't know what this means, but i like it

I think of it as a lake house with big picture windows overlooking a giant steak.

what did you make with the pine nuts, nick? i like them toasted in a light pasta or on a garlic/oo based pizza (rather than tomato based, i mean)

Thread title comes from a video billboard I saw at Clark/Diversey advertising "The Best Steakhouse in Lakeview!"

I was making a bulgar salad that has pinenuts, mint, green olives, feta, and olives, with a lemony dressing. I was making it for a work potluck, but I think it was too exotic. When I signed up to bring it to the potluck, my boss didn't know what bulgar was and she thought it meant Bulgarian and she asked me what made it Bulgarian. Then it turns out my boss hates olives and another coworker is mildly allergic to lemon. So I ate most of it. Which is OK with me.

I was going to ask John if eats pinenuts at all since his case of pinemouth. I was wary about it because of my pinemouth incident but I decided to just get back on that horse.

I still eat pesto, which is often made with pine nuts. I guess I feel a little wary about eating the nuts on their own, but I don't really come across them that often. (I'm not sure I've ever actually bought them other than for making pesto.) Probably wouldn't go out of my way to pick them out of a salad. At any rate, I think my case of pinemouth was fairly mild, and I like to think it was just a bad batch.

mine was mild too, just lasted 2-3 days. but it was unpleasant.

I forget what pinemouth feels like. Can you tell me? And do you (or anyone else) get spinach teeth?

Yeah, I get spinach teeth.

Pinemouth for me was a constant taste like I had just had eaten a zinc cold tablet. Basically a metallic taste that would tinge the flavor of anything else I ate.

Love the title. I want a second home in Steakview one day.

I eat pine nuts on their own kind of a lot I guess and I have never noticed pine mouth. I keep them in the fridge. Would that matter?

i think not everyone is susceptible to pinemouth, like the cilantro-challenged population?

btw i don't think i'm going to move to Steakview, sorry guys

iirc it's just certain batches of pine nuts that cause pinemouth, but they don't really know why? it's a recent phenomenon, just showed up in the past few years. don't know if some people are susceptible and others aren't.

looks like it's totally related to the pinenuts themselves, not who eats them:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_mouth#Risks_of_eating_pine_nuts

i have spent years developing an immunity to fake pine nuts

Hey, The Chicago Code is on Hulu. Some fun location shots, some Chicago actors in there.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/obituaries/ct-met-wuczynski-obit-20110209,0,6738886.story

I know a dude who's doing camera work on that show.

I am sick again, after being sick just two weeks ago, which is weird because I don't get sick that often. There was an annoying woman at the university yesterday applying to be a student who, every five minutes, would come up and tell me something different I need to do to get rid of my cold. Various products, vitamin C, wash my hands, don't touch my eyes. I wanted to be like "lady, I'm 31 years old, I know how colds work."

Obviously she doesn't if she thinks vitamin c is going to help.

Unless you have scurvy, then I stand corrected.

Washing your hands and not touching your eyes would have been fine advice for cold prevention or prevention of spreading it to others, but otherwise she's too late. Same for vitamin C, too. The only thing that is going to help is tying a chain of garlic around your waist.

Ooh, ooh, highs in the 40s next week.

Most good studies conclude that vitamin c is ineffective in the prevention, reduction of duration or severity of colds in the normal population.

:(

When snow falls on Chicago, the charitable spirit of community washes over some of us. Others get a bit more proprietary (dibs, anyone?).

Some get downright grabby -- and sometimes, every once in a while, they get served a cold dish of revenge.

David Welles works for a security company, Tunnel Vision Technology. So when his snow shovel was missing from his front porch, he checked the tapes from the many surveillance cameras around his house, the Chicago Tribune reports.

He spotted a woman swiping the shovel, watched her dig out her car with it, then grabbed his new snow blower and went out for a little payback time.

Watch the WGN video of Welles's vendetta. Wondering if he felt any guilt about it? "It felt really good. I'm not gonna lie, it felt really good," Welles says.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/07/snow-blower-revenge-stole_n_819540.html

That's the youtube I posted upthread. It's sooo dickish but so is stealing someone's shovel.

er, posted in the last thread

That was great. What kind of a MONSTER steals a shovel? And then gets rid of it! Good on him.

still p psycho on both sides imo

I have to say, the recent harsh weather really made people friendlier and chattier. It gives people a topic of conversation and a common enemy, and I have had small conversations with people at my bus stop who I see all the time but have never talked to before. And then there are little connections like when a particularly nasty blast of snow hits two pedestrians and you smile (grimace) and nod to acknowledge each other's common plight. On the day of the storm I made a mini friendship with a lady at a crosswalk who was as disgusted as I was at the guy rollerblading into traffic in the middle of the blizzard.

Hey, The Chicago Code is on Hulu. Some fun location shots, some Chicago actors in there.

No Dennis Farina, no credibility.

I'm interested if you guys have any impressions of the various Chicago suburbs. The only one I think I have the "feel" of is Evanston. But every day I drive out to Elgin, I see the signs for various NW suburbs, and I have no idea what they're like, what their characters are. I wonder what the difference is between living in Arlingon Heights or Carol Stream or Schaumburg.

Having spent most of my life here, I do have impressions of various suburbs, but it's largely about demographics, like affluence or ethnic makeup. Or I guess long the suburb has been around: is the kind of place that has a quaint downtown or is it nothing but new development and strip malls? I can't say I've spent a ton of time outside of the area I grew up in, though.

Straight west from the city, Berwyn, Oak Park, River Forest, Maywood, and Elmhurst all are distinctly different, mostly for the reasons John mentions.

I went to Elmhurst for the first time a few months ago and liked their downtown a lot.

I was reading somewhere that La Grange has a really nice downtown. Anybody know if this is true?

I actually think taking random trips to the suburbs is fun...maybe this weekend...

Naperville, or at least the sections of Naperville I frequented while playing hockey out there, is shitty and stifling.

Yeah, I mean a lot of the areas near where I work are pretty bland and useless...but I'm assuming there are some nice suburbs somewhere (aside from Oak Park and Evanston of course, which barely seem like suburbs). There are occasionally places that look nice on Check Please.

Just got my first paycheck with new IL tax withholdings and I can feel the difference. Crappy.

Interesting: http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/winter-season-snowcard_2011-02-10?page=3

Chicago's standings:

Chicago:

* Seasonal snow-to-date: 53.4" (28" above average-to-date)
* 3rd heaviest snowstorm of record (20.2" on Feb. 1-2). 4th straight season with 50"+ snow.
* Season's snow grade: A+ (Do we even need an explanation here?)

We live in a wasteland. Might as well move to south America.

A guy at work was talking about similar stats (not sure if it was the exact same source) this morning and, I swear to god, followed it up with, "heh heh, so much for global warming" complete with air quotes.

Did you then begin viciously beating him about the face and groin?

If I didn't need and really like my job, I might just have done that. Instead I just mentally filed him under the "never give a shit about anything this guy says ever" box.

South America is a big diverse place, there's something there for everyone imo

throw me in the briar patch

A week from now, Courtney, K8E, her beau, and I will be in New Orleans, Louisiana.

24 hours from right now, I will be a Florist's Assistant. Same for 48 hours from right now.

what? is this some kinda valentine's day thing?

Yes. I have a friend who is a florist at a shop in the Sears tower and he asked me to come help "process" flowers. I probably won't be designing or arranging, just prepping and bleaching buckets. (http://www.rosexpr essions.com/)

A guy just called for representation in a divorce and I thought it telling (and funny) that he didn't know the spelling of his wife's middle name.

We live in a wasteland.

Nah. More of a snow globe.

And who doesn't love a snow globe?

"Rosebud..."

I would smash a snow globe.

No you wouldn't. It'd be a big mess to clean up.

But only somewhere were it would be easy to clean up.

Perhaps on a snowy sidewalk where it would blend in.

Weird thing is, aside from THE GREAT BLIZZARD OF 2011, this winter has not seemed especially bad to me.

The extreme cold of the past few days hasn't seemed so extreme to me. I didn't bundle up any more than usual (hoodie, down coat, scarf, gloves) but it never seemed as cold as the numbers indicated. My internal Real Feel was set very warm.

I don't know, seemed really fucking cold to me, but it was only for a few days

I'm freezing every time outside. Except for when I'm running then it's not nearly as bad. I just need to run everywhere.

When I was out the other night on the beach at below-zero temperatures, I noticed that I was fine for the first 30-ish minutes, and then all of a sudden, like in the space of five minutes, I suddenly started to feel it, and then I was FUCKING FREEZING and had to shiver my ass back home quick-like. It was as if I'd spent all my body heat, and I wasn't able to keep up anymore. "Inadequate funds". It was a weird feeling.

i can't believe that gang of four, the church, and robyn are all playing tonight
that's crazy

I just had probably the longest commute home from the loop I've yet had. Something went wrong around North and Clybourn, and the Red Line apparently bled out to complete brain death. I took the 147 home. I got a seat -- many did not. It was also a long and crowded bus ride.

People, we have a serious public transportation infrastructure problem.

I'm a block away from the Berwyn station, and I'm still hearing them make announcements about how there will be dalys every ten minutes or so. They all amount to: "Have a hot beverage, you might be here for a while." It fucking sucks,

.

this winter = meh

iknowright

Jeans shopping is hard. I might be making a mistake or I might be making the choice that sets me on the path to excellence.

Skinny jeans?

No

I'm well under budget. I gave myself $100 for Serious Jeans.

Anyone know Mavi brand?

Serious is not a brand BTW.

It's annoying that so many big names only do 1 length.

Ask Steve Shasta

State Street is reeeedick.

Jesse, hit the Maxx around the corner from your apt.

(Or wait for an Akira groupon)

I bought a pair. We will see if they are The Ones. I tried Banana Republic, but the one in LP doesn't have their special label (Signature? something like that?) and the regular ones were so soft that they felt like pajamas. I went to Macy's but they were too pricey, so I went to Nordstrom Rack and found Seven7 and Mavi that were good, but the Mavi were $40 cheaper, though I was sacrificing button fly.

If I lost 20 lbs, I could wear my favorite Armani Exchange jeans which are button fly and make ME look fly.

Those are my posts about jeans.

Thank you.

One of my pairs of BR jeans feels sort of like pajamas too.

I like my jeans to be canvasy.

I think I do too. But these are actually nice for around the house lounging.

Hey, look at this:
http://www.lifelinetheatre.com/performances/10-11/moonstone/index.shtml

you guys is it like 65 degrees today? i think i got heat rash when i went for my run. lots of puddles, but HOW GREAT IS THIS?!?! HUH?!

also i am 2 for 2 excellent meals:

breakfast:
his -- french toast and eggs scrambled with a little bit of gruyere
hers -- spinach omelette topped with avocado, salsa verde, and hot sauce

lunch:
2 different super thin pizzas (large thin pitas as crust)
(1) oo/garlic, spinach, grape tomatoes, parmesan + fontina, toasted pine nuts
(2) oo/garlic, sauteed mushrooms, goat cheese, chopped parsley

i kinda burnt the pizzas a little bit (crust was way crispy), but for a couple of meals i didn't really plan, things are p delicious
i really do have a strange rash on my neck :-/ also had a scary dream last night about a zombie apocalypse

pardon my blogging

What was the high? I'm wearing a t shirt and hoodie today.

apparently it's 46! it feels tropical.

I enjoyed being a florist this weekend.

yesterday I left the house to go play music with Ben, and there was an Animal Control van driving the wrong way down our street, turning into alleys, backing back out, etc. obviously looking for something. Three hours later, I was driving home, just down the street from our house, and I swear I saw what could have been a coyote running down our street. I'm no expert on coyotes, it's possible it might have just been a very unique-looking dog, but it didn't really look like a dog to me.

I saw two coyotes yesterday while driving through WI. Did the one you saw have a bushy, black-tipped tail? Pretty much the easiest feature to spot, ime.

you saw a demon dog

I didn't really understand what I was looking at so I didn't get a real close look at it. But there was a lady shoveling her doorway right there too and she gave me a confused look like "did you just see what I saw?" so I don't think it was a dog.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704062604576106433474887082.html

I felt so sorry for that poor little fella on the ice. He looks so cold and scared.

I wonder what lead Nick's coyote so far into the city. Aren't they social animals? Either this one was a freak loner or there are more coyotes in North Center.

I like my jeans to be canvasy.

Picturing canvasy pajamas as well.

ugh eating so many candy hearts but i can't stop

So glad no one brought in any candy to work today.

You're a slave to the candy hearts! BREAK FREE OF THE CHAINS! YOU ARE SPARTACUS!

i ate three chocolates today and enjoyed it a lot

Went out at lunch to get S a V-day card, and I couldn't resist also buying her one from the cat.

I ate a turkey sandwich for vday.

Bus Tracker (specifically Buster) down for anyone else today?

Actually the web site seems to be down too.

Actually.

Down

Yeah, it was down for me this morning too.

I always get on the red line in the morning, and I'm a block away from it, so I never use the bus tracker then. But I use it in the afternoon, since the 147 gets me home faster than the red line if I leave after six. The LSD express is faster after the traffic clears up a bit, right about the same time the train stops giving a shit if they ever get you anywhere. Coincidence? I honestly don't know.

Target coming to old Carson pirire Scott building.

Oh wow.

I just hope it doesn't mess up the planned four story Billabong store that is to go there too!

I hope it is a super target with groceries.

Yes, the Loop could really use a supermarket.

Jeff, our precious Trader Joe's may open in April. They are moving very slowly. Today they were hanging drywall. Slowly.

That's good news.

I wonder if anything will be built in the huge vacant lot across from us. I wish it could be a grocery store or a brewery. Or a combination of both. And a bead shop.

Or a park with a 400 meter track.

Paulina meat market groupon sold out :(

lol bead shop. a 100,000 square foot bead shop.

I wonder if anything is going to go into the old Barnes & Noble next to the new TJ. A construction company put up a sign inside, and there is some new debris inside.

Groupons sell out?

i keep meaning to unsubscribe from the groupon emails

Yes, some deals have a limited number. 2500 in the case of Paulina meat market. Probably good because that place is always packed as it is.

I'm extremely pleased with my current personal email management system. I receive only desirable offers from certain retailers and companies (including Groupon) and they are all filtered and labeled so I can spend about 10 seconds per day cleaning out junk mail.

(Jeff is probably the only person who would care.....)

Looks like Chicago lost 200,000 people in the census, as compared to 2000:
http://2010.census.gov/news/releases/operations/cb11-cn31.html

Whoops!

now this is a hipster sport/nostalgia exercise i can get behind:

http://whistlerchicago.com/special-events/spelling-bee.html

agreed
but sanctimonious folks like that guy who wrote a book about how he changed grammar/spelling on signs across the country can suck it

http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/180474_10150386968935514_500820513_17419782_4856757_n.jpg

now this is a hipster sport/nostalgia exercise i can get behind:

http://whistlerchicago.com/special-events/spelling-bee.html

Oh man. I am in favor of this kind of thing in general, but I did the Book Cellar spelling bee about a year ago and it was kind of wack. Usually you want to keep the words in each round at the same difficulty level, right? In this one, I got served with some heinous word I'd never heard and then the next contestant got something like "motif." Hope the Whistler's bee is better.

Pie area sign is ok, I stand corrected

Also, thanks for that census link, E! Interesting to see the shakeup in the top 10 most populous Illinois cities. I wonder what's driving the growth in Aurora and Joliet. They've always seemed like older working-class cities to me; is it just that they're on the border of the metropolitan area and have more room to expand?

I'm very bad at spelling. I hope it's one of those skills that is eliminated totally by technology in the future.

http://www.texasescapes.com/TexasTowns/EdithTexas/EdithTxClosedSteakhouseSign1209BG.jpg

I know Aurora's huge expansion recently has been to immigrants looking for manufacturing work. I don't have any stats handy, but I know that the growth has been primarily Hispanic.

I'm convinced sometimes that the CTA's main purpose is to just run trains an buses back and forth all day and that serving the patrons that just happen to ride them falls a distant second. For the second night in a row the redline has stood halfway between Jarvis and Howard for upwards of 20 minutes while I sit and watch my connecting bus come and go on bustracker.

we have had LOTS of students from aurora and joliet, incl. a group of women who take care of the children of migrant laborers

j

oops

that j was an accidente

I suspect that Aurora and Joliet's growth is primarily because they have become exurbs. But I'm not really basing that on anything.

Wolcott's has 1/2 price bottles of wine on Tuesdays. Oh my.

spent much of the afternoon eyeballing lincoln square & andersonville apts w/my wife. barring some sort of unforeseen roadblock, moving to chicago in the summer of '12.

awesome. and you guys are having a kid, right? lincoln square is a great family/kids neighborhood, we live just like a mile south and spend a lot of time up there.

popo got they eye on my building :-/
hope this gets resolved soon

things are kind of grim around here
does anyone have any good news for me? anything at all?

whoa, what happened?

Omar coming

someone's getting the pat down right now!

Well, besides the Good News of The Lord, you'll be happy to know that weather is going to be spring-like all week, including a little rain to wash the grime-smirched sidewalks.

How grim are we talking??

xp

they wouldn't tell me
the pat-down guy was let go
they are still out there

ugh
looking forward to spring temps though for sure

Any of you on Comcast? Having really slow internet and up and down connectivity in the last few hours?

I'm not a Chicagoan but can I just say this is my favorite thread title on ILE atm - it makes me giggle every time I see it.

Carry on!

Filmed in Lake Forest, just north of the city:
http://www.movieposterdb.com/posters/06_09/2006/0410297/l_135039_0410297_287e504e.jpg

I am on comcast but had no slowness recently.

Borders closing all but State Street stores in Chicago.

I see a lot of suburban stores on that list too, the Evanston one included. Can't say I'm surprised, the only time I ever stop in there is killing time before seeing a movie across the street and it is almost always deserted except for a few Northwestern students studying upstairs. The Barnes & Noble two blocks away really seems to be thriving.

Anyway, I'm always sad to see bookstores close, even overpriced mega-chains.

i can't believe i've lived through the rise and fall of blockbuster and borders
ah industry

I am not sure how many books my employer sells to Borders, but other publishers are probably going to take a hit on this.

yeah from what i've heard from my book people (person, really) publishing is muy depressed about this

The bigger problem is, I'm quickly running out of places to browse while my wife shops.

i can't believe i've lived through the rise and fall of blockbuster and borders

Ha, yeah. Both of these places were like the future in retail ca. 20 years ago -- my family would make special trips to neighboring suburbs just to go to them.

i'm having dinner w my stepmom (who has an indie bookstore) tomorrow, i'm curious what she thinks.

are you guys following the whole scott walker/public employee unions/protest thing?

Btw, if anyone has a Borders gift card lying around, you should probably use it ASAP.

are you guys following the whole scott walker/public employee unions/protest thing?

First I'd heard of it was through a series of Amateurist FB posts -- still don't know what it's about.

dude sounds like an assclown

I've only seen the brief mention in the rolling politics thread, hope to read more into it after work tonight.

i've seen people posting about it on facebook, but i didn't know why they were so upset about scott walker and his velvety voice.

i just used a borders gift card ... to order something from their website because it was like $7 cheaper than in the store

basically he wants to end collective bargaining rights for public employees, incl. teachers. huge protests here, and all the schools are closed since so many teachers called in sick to join in.

http://www.theawl.com/2011/02/wisconsin-demonstrates-against-scott-walkers-war-on-unions

Oh. I thought you were talking about Scott Walker the singer. But you are not.

yeah i have never heard scott walker the singer

Huge opportunity for some other company (maybe ING Direct) to create those student-union-type places that really work at Clark/Diversey, Uptown, etc.

Maybe this is a good thing to rally people against the Tea Party? I just noticed on FB that two of my aunts that are both teachers are (rightfully) incensed about this, but up to now they had been spouting the Tea Party talking points.

one of my friends who was downtown yesterday did say that there was a group of people protesting who had voted for walker in the first place. smh.

smh II
dang, people are dimwitted

Dead fish tell no tales

It is literally 80 degrees in our office right now.

awesome. and you guys are having a kid, right? lincoln square is a great family/kids neighborhood, we live just like a mile south and spend a lot of time up there.

― congratulations (n/a), Tuesday, February 15, 2011 7:19 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark

the kid is coming in several months. we just don't want to raise him in l.a. tbqh and it's faintly ridiculous at the difference in quality of life w/r/t what one can get for $1300-1400 in nice areas of chicago compared to what the same amount will get you in considerably shittier parts of this city. plus we've got loads of friends there who have kids and surprisingly don't think of it as endtimes like some people we know here do.

I just paid nearly double the price I've ever paid for a haircut, but I'm so glad I did. I was so sick of lousy haircuts and cranky "stylists" at places like Super Cuts or whatever. Haircut, eyebrow trim, paraffin wax for my hands, hand massage, scalp massage, it was so worth it.

Where? Also, if you paid nearly double what you would at Super Cuts, it sounds like you got a really good deal for all that.

Halo on Michigan Avenue in the South Loop. It was a good deal!

it's faintly ridiculous at the difference in quality of life w/r/t what one can get for $1300-1400 in nice areas of chicago compared to what the same amount will get you in considerably shittier parts of this city.
^word.

Anybody want to answer Alex in SF's question over on ILM in the "borders sale" thread?

Why should anyone care about the publishing industry btw?

Sure that wasn't Alex in NYC?

Ha, no, I could see why you'd think that, but it was SF.

I got an email invitation this morning to some kind of info-lunch on the Borders closing and its fallout in the pub industry. Apparently Borders owes publishers and distributors roughly $272 million. Those are unsecured vendors, so after the secured vendors (banks) get their cut of the liquidation money, who knows how much will be left?

Wow, I didn't realize things were that bad.

There's a more in-depth breakdown in the email, of course. If ppl are really interested I could forward or post it.

fuck it, I'll post anyway

this is from Publishers Lunch Nightly

Wednesday, February 16, 2011

The Evening News

So here we are with our third mailing of the day, for the first time in over 10 years. We generally are loathe to overwhelm with you with mail--but given the wealth of details to be parsed in the Borders' bankruptcy, its widespread impact, and the first rulings from the judge this evening, another dispatch seemed warranted. We'll be back tomorrow (and live all the time at PublishersMarketplace.com).

Judge Approves Borders' Financing--But They're Missing A Budget

Chief Judge Arthur Gonzalez approved a number of Borders' initial motions at the end of the day on Wednesday, including one that allows the bookseller to access $400 million of their $505 million in debtor-in-possession financing to fund operations. Borders' attorney David Friedman "said Borders needs the $400 million on an interim basis to cover immediate expenses if it's to keep operating and reorganize," Bloomberg reported--which makes you wonder how they are going to fund anything more than bare subsistence.

A number of attorneys for creditors objected to portions of the loan agreement--particularly distressed that Borders had not submitted a detailed budget showing what it will do with that funding. At first Friedman argued that they wanted to keep the budget confidential. He eventually agreed that they would make if public, and indicated that it may simply not have been ready to present: "I have people who haven't slept in 39 (billable) hours," Friedman told the judge according to Bloomberg's account. "This was the best we could do to get things done." (Speaking of which, newly-named svp, restructuring Ken Hiltz will bill full-time at a rate of $855 an hour.)

In remarks that will not inspire confidence among creditors or vendors, Borders CFO Scott Henry reiterated a series of proposals the company has tried before and failed to execute, saying "Borders aims to stay viable by enhancing its customer rewards program, strengthening its e-book business and expanding more into non-book products."

What Publishers Are Saying, and Whether Business Resumes

So far only the largest publisher, Penguin Group, has commented formally on Borders' bankrupty filing. They said "Penguin hopes that Borders will emerge from this process as a smaller but stronger book retailer, and will work closely with Borders management to support this transition. Penguin has been following developments at Borders very closely for many months and has taken appropriate steps to mitigate the financial impact of the company's bankruptcy on Penguin."

Simon & Schuster's parent company CBS reported fourth quarter (and full-year) earnings after the close of the market today. As we report separately (at our site, and in tomorrow's mail), they took only a small, unspecified "increased provision for doubtful accounts" in the quarter, which closed on December 31. CEO Carolyn Reidy said in a phone call about their quarterly performance "we took into account that Borders had told us they were not going to pay us their December payment and did an analysis before we closed the books and took a reserve against our receivables from Borders." She adds "we intentionally tried to cover ourselves" for all possibilities, and hopes that further writedowns will not be necessary. Even with the reserve, profits rose sharply for Simon & Schuster in the quarter.

Speaking not for direct attribution, multiple publishing companies have echoed the sentiment that we cited in our morning report. No one is prepared to ship new inventory on ordinary terms, as the company had hoped in their morning propaganda, and those we have spoken to do not intend to resume shipping now even on a COD basis. A creditor's meeting has been scheduled for a week from tomorrow, and a number of publishers will not consider new shipments until after that meeting.

Many companies expressed concern that in phone conversations, Borders has said it will be another 30 days before they are ready to present a plan for how they intend to operate and survive. That only reinforces the lack of confidence in the chain's prospects, plans and management that publishers have voiced ever since the company stopped paying its bills. (Borders never really presented a turnaround plan during the six weeks they tried to get publishers to finance their continuing operations, either.) One person we spoke to confessed that they would rather have the company liquidate than continue to operate poorly. If publishers remain skeptical after seeing Borders' new plan, whenever it is presented, it's possible that they would petition the court to convert the bankruptcy filing to a liquidation. More practically, reorganizations generally do not succeed if vendors are not confident and participating.

Ingram, which had been shipping to Borders for a matter of weeks even when publishers had stopped, is expected by others to resume some supply. But the wholesaler could well have to return to the bankruptcy estate the money they received for those recent shipments prior to filing.

So Many Filings, So Much Debt

Borders has filled their bankruptcy web site with a raft of filings and we've been poring through them. We've provided sub-header breakouts to make some of the detail easier for you to follow, below.

The Good News
This morning we noted that the 30 largest unsecured vendor creditors are owed roughly $272 million. Additional documents indicate the bookseller owes vendors a total of just over $303 million. That means smaller, not listed vendors are owed a total of another $31 million--so collateral damage beyond the biggest publishers and distributors could be much more limited than same feared.

That also gives some indication of how much Borders' inventory has dwindled (and less inventory means less liquidation). Historically vendors have financed about half of Borders' active inventories, so if those ratios still apply, their inventory is now down to something like $600 million, or a third less than the $896 million in inventory they held as of the end of October.

When the Liquidation Starts
Borders asked the court to expedite plans to liquidate the 200 stores that they are certain to close, to take advantage of President Day shopping and sales (honestly, they say this). But late Wednesday Chief Judge Arthur Gonzalez avoided an immediate ruling on Borders store-closing procedures, and will hold a hearing tomorrow morning at 10. Dow Jones says "several parties objected to [Borders'] motion, saying Borders' landlords should have sufficient notice about the procedures. Gonzalez, and even a Borders lawyer, called it a '1-in-10' scenario that a judge would approve the closing of 200 stores on the first day of a retailer's bankruptcy."

The current bid from liquidators guarantees 73 percent of the cost value of all merchandise within the stores that they want permission to close, estimated to yield $131 million to $148 million. But that bid gets reduced if the liquidation can't start by February 19. The bookseller says that "closing the stores right away is essential because they are losing approximately $2 million per week at the closing stores."

They want to liquidate the stores--down to the fixtures--in place, without having to move the inventory to other locations.

How Many More Stores Might Close
In their filings, Borders retains a "put option" to close, at their election, "up to 75 of 136 other potential stores" if they cannot achieve sufficient concessions from landlords within 30 days.

Borders insists that they were already planning on closing 260 stores, even without the filing (which only makes you wonder why they are now closing just 200 to start).

Save the Beloved Rewards
For weeks now anonymous employees have complained on a Borders message board about how management's main directive has been to convince customers to pay $20 for Borders Rewards Plus cards. And for years now, as Borders has slowly swirled the rim of the toilet under the watchful gaze of multiple management teams, the Borders Rewards program has forever been hailed as a key turnaround asset. Even though those strategies have failed year after year, the bankruptcy papers specifically seek to preserve their customer reward programs, because they "will facilitate a successful reorganization."

Meanwhile, in another small time bomb, the chain indicated there are $275 million worth of unredeemed gift cards out there. After taking into account the standard amount that never gets used, they still expect $113 million in customer redemptions to come. (Even that figure is almost 20 percent of their remaining, pre-liquidation inventory.)

What the Banks Get
The secured creditors--e.g. the banks--are the ones who get paid first. Court papers indicate that Bank of America is owed $196 million against their revolving credit agreement, and GA Capital is owed another $48.5 million. Over the next 30 days post-filing, Borders predicts that they will take in $230 million in cash receipts against $138 million in cash disbursements, for a $92.4 million net cash gain.

The filings also disclose that the recent sale of the Day By Day Calendar Kiosks business to Calendar Holdings yielded $9.1 million. In addition, confirming our reports from earlier this month, all 416 of the seasonal business kiosks have been shut down.

What Does Borders' Decline Do to Book Sales?

Everyone wants to know the impact of Borders' reduction and potential disappearance on the market for printed books. The conventional wisdom, as one publisher told us, is that a third to half of Borders' market share will be captured by other sellers, while the rest could simply disappear in lost sales.

With Nielsen BookScan updating their weekly data earlier today, which they estimate covers 75 percent of physical retail sales, we thought it would be interesting to look at the last six weeks of sales--covering most of the period since Borders stopped paying vendors.

Of course it's hard to separate out the post-Christmas spike in ebook purchases from any impact of a declining Borders. But with that in mind, the raw unit numbers from Nielsen BookScan show that nearly 15 percent fewer print books have been sold in the first six selling weeks of 2011 than were sold over the same period in 2010. Their tabulation shows total sales of 72.569 million units among reporting outlets this year, compared to 85.334 million units a year ago.

Before they stopped paying publishers and receiving new inventory, Borders was estimated as having roughly 8 percent market share--which would equal about 10.7 percent of what Nielsen BookScan tracks. That said, as we indicated this morning, Borders sales have continued to fall nearly 20 percent, which could put their share at more like 6 percent of market, or 8 percent of Nielsen BookScan.

Without more granular data, the reasonable preliminary conclusion would be twofold: Borders' near-bankruptcy has already registered an impact, and ebook sales have likely jumped considerably since the holiday (and the trade is feeling their secondary impact, as stores like Barnes & Noble reduce book shelf space in favor of other products). It adds up to a year of transformational shifts on the horizon.

When we reported on the year-over-year comparisons at the end of 2010, unit sales measured via Nielsen BookScan had declined 4.4 percent compared to 2009.

super tl;dr but some good info there

gonna go eat some pie this afternoon

Good idea

Going to eat some muffaletta in a minute.

I am absolutely loving life this morning. The weather is beautiful; I'm just caffeinated enough but not overcaffeinated; I slept well last night; I'm designing signage that requires I look at a lot of pictures of Paris, Rome, and Barcelona; and I'm listening to Jeremy Irons read Lolita.

It's all going to be ok.

i am looking forward to getting outside

There aren't a lot of advantages to smoking, but one of them is having an excuse to stand outside for ten minutes on a day like today. (Of course, that cuts both ways -- I also HAVE to stand outside for ten minutes, even when it's zero degrees.)

you HAVE to

It's either that, or I start looking for a rifle and a bell tower. When I do quit, it's going to be very painful for myself and my loved ones, and "cold turkey" is not going to be an option.

it's just funny is all
don't go reaching for yer gat

No, you're absolutely right. It's pretty farcical sometimes how little control I have over my impulses. That's what farce is all about, I think.

I'm wearing shorts an short sleeves and I'm hot. The weather is completely divine here right now.

The wind out there makes it feel about 10 degrees colder than it really is.

Wearing: fashionably faded jeans, plain white v-neck t-shirt, cool-ass leather jacket with lots of zippers but not TOO many, red high-top Chucks. Friday, baby.

that reminds me
i've noticed a resurgence in the men's vneck undershirt as acceptable tshirt
we used to wear those all the time in high school

I didn't wear them in high school, but a lot of the cool kids did.

v sleazy look imo

I agree that it can be on some people, but other people just look like they're wearing a white t-shirt. Depends on how deep the v of the neck is, the person's build, and possibly the amount of back hair they're sporting. (Less is better.)

I have a couple but idk why.

Courtnut and I are about to do something to our bodies! Pics to follow.

i used to dress pretty sleazy in high school

when i didn't look like little lord fauntleroy, that is

guys it is so beautiful out today and i feel blue
did buy plane tickets for summer vacation though!!!

Going where?

España!

Good choice. I wonder if I'll ever go to spain.

Man, you're the third person I know who's going to Spain this year!

We went to Old Town Social tonight and Rahm Emmanuel came in and gave us fist bumps.

I'm wearing shorts an short sleeves and I'm hot. The weather is completely divine here right now.

― also, that Christmas tree has a dildo on its head (Jesse), Friday, February 18, 2011 1:52 PM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

aren't you the guy who constantly complains about heat and talks about how awesome winter is?

i bet spain is fun. i want to go to bhutan and antarctica.

and to a ridiculous hawaii resort where you just sit out by the pool and drink all day

i know, but 74 degrees in february is a novelty

i pressed my mouth to another man's mouth last night. it was sort of gay.

http://i.imgur.com/IdHUy.jpg

too big

We saw a not very good street magician who reacted badly to the small audience's ambivalence. Pretty certain he was not doing an Andy Kaufman thing, but in mid-act he stopped, took the prop away from K8, and said "you know what? I'm not feeling it. None of you are even smiling. Forget it. Screw this." at first we laughed, but then we realized he was not playing, so we wandered off He just he sat down on the curb and griped quietly.

i was hoping he would cry the tears of a clown but no dice apparently

is everyone working today? i have the afternoon off.

now i want to go to los angeles. i am definitely feeling a serious need for a real vacation today. haven't had a real vacation (ie not visiting family in some capacity) since our honeymoon. airplane tickets are expensive.

What's in LA? Besides nicer weather.

I'm going to be traveling a lot for work over the next 2 months. NY and DC at the end of March. LA and SF in the beginning of April. Orlando at the end of April. Then we're going to St Louis in June for a running event/mini vacation.

None of which will be that fun, except St Louis.

that's a lot of traveling.

i'm traveling a lot to chicago next month...my recording thing in at electr1cal audio got postponed, but digdown confirmed a weekend at the green mill for march 18 - 19. then i'll be back in chicago the next week for march 24 at the whistler.

Virgin Airlines is starting up soon, having sale prices, like $200 RT to the west coast. And their flights are supposed to have massages and stuff on them.

Or sign up for Southwest's ding alerts and get a cheap ticket somewhere.

Jor, is the EA session Ch-nts, D-down, or other?

other, just doing some studio drums for a friend who plays violin and sings.

I do love your idea of doing brass-band stuff in that studio. Or do something like Don Caballero, but with sousaphone insted of guitar.

someday! maybe we'll do a kickstarter for the (still in the works) mj tribute album.

We're back. The weather is crappy here.

Yeah, the snow is even starting to accumulate (granted, only in shadowed nooks and crannies) in a few places here in the South Loop.

My delight in winter is pretty much gone after 4 days of t shirt weather. I need to try to revive it.

Jordan, when do you go to NOLA?

We had a stellar little vacation. Lots of walking around seeing pretty things, lots of eating. You should check out Cochon. I ate rabbit liver there, which was a new experience. I wish I had gotten the key lime pie with the crust made of crushed, salted cashews. I was sad that Jacques Imo was closed (again!) - tons of restaurants outside the Quarter were closed on Sunday, but open on Monday, which was weird.

The Krewe de Vieux parade was excellent - the floats were mule-drawn and mostly political satire, many of them racy. I normally think parades are lame, but I loved this one, I guess b/c most parades are overwhelmingly corporate, and also because there were no barriers, and the audience mixed with the paraders.

Our smart phones barely worked the whole time we were there, even when we were on 3G with all bars. That was strange and annoying.

Amanda, K8e's boyfriend bought a tin of octopus based on your recommendation.

You guys, I think I'm going to vote for Rahm tomorrow morning. He knows the city intimately, and while he's often extremely serious about getting what he wants, he also has a record of working with his opposition on certain issues. He's a hard-on, but he's not a prick, if that makes sense.

And I can't seriously imagine anyone who's not willing to be a complete a total asshole running the city of Chicago.

Jordan, when do you go to NOLA?

i thought about going this past weekend, but it didn't happen. glad you had a good time. have you been to meaux bar? it's a really nice restaurant on rampart, a block from donna's (rip). not my usual kind of nola spot, but it was a big hit with my folks.

is that 'flaming meaux'?

Dan, that's what I immediately thought, too.

I didn't go to Meaux. That seems like a strange spot for a nice restaurant, though I haven't been on Rampart St. since 2006, so maybe it's changed?

Amanda, K8e's boyfriend bought a tin of octopus based on your recommendation.
then what happened?

seemed kinda deserted to me, everything i used to go to is closed (incl. all music venues). great restaurant though.

Man, the wordplay involving replacing a long "o" with "-eaux" down there! I didn't realize quite how out of control it is. xp

Amanda - I will inquire. He took them home to Texas with him.

The board of election website doesn't seem to know if I can vote. I don't think I exist anymore.

Please tell me NOLA has a gay bar somewhere named HeauxMeaux.

Meaux' menu is great. I should eat more French food. This sounds wonderful

MOULES FRITES INDOCHINE Mussels Steamed in Red Curry Broth, Coriander & Basil

xp - jvc, they don't, but I don't understand why not.

oooooh curry mussels <3

He is saving the Octopus for a treat. We'll see if it makes it through security. We'll also see if he makes it through security. I was in and out in under 5 minutes. His line snaked the length of the concourse.

You guys it's not THAT good, it's just better than no octopus at all. Tell him to dress it sufficiently (some oo, salt, paprika or chili powder of choice) because it is not really that great straight from the tin.

Last chance to tell your Rahm story before we all vote, LaLe!

Not online! If you call me I will tell you on the phone.

afternoon nap turned into a full 7 hour sleep - not a good thing.

while i was sleeping:

- eddie the cat puked (i know it was him because while i was half-awake, i heard him crying like he does when he pukes)
- brenda sat in it (?????)
- she's too fat to lick her own butt

so i get up and find eddie biting his dried barf off of brenda's butt.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=71DgskSoAtc

aaaaayyyyy it's the Chicago way, you must not be from around here etc etc

apparently no one's voting anyways: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/chicago-mayoral-vote-fails-to-draw-big-crowds-2011-02-22

the polling place behind our house was pretty empty

who would I vote for if I lived there?

(just one or two semi-serious answers)

i am not going to pretend like i can comprehend your mind but my understanding is that miguel del valle is the most liberal of the four candidates on the ballot (also who i voted for).

Probably a stupid reason to do so, but I completely wrote off del valle after two incidents on the redline in which a homeless looking guy that was very obviously strung out on something hopped into the car and proceeded to wave del valle signs literally in people's faces and shouting how del valle is "Chicago's true savior". It was super weird.

i admittedly don't know much about this process but i didn't realize that if the "winner" gets less than 50% of the vote, there's a runoff election. that could make things interesting given the low voter turnout.

Yeah, with this low of a turnout it could get really interesting.

emanuel is still going to win though.

I wish I had paid more attention to aldermanic candidates. I know their names and really vague, general stuff about them - just enough to know who not to vote for, but not a clear choice of who to vote for.

i like the photo caption in this story: http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/22/last-minute-push-by-chicago-mayoral-candidates/?hp

Rahm Emanuel squeezed in some last-minute campaigning on Tuesday in at a commuter train station in Chicago, where voters are choosing the next mayor.

because it makes it sound like voters are choosing the mayor in a commuter train station

they basically are

Voted for Del Valle and aldermanic candidate Ameya Pawar.

Did not vote for city clerk because I didn't know anything about that race.

same as me except i picked a city clerk candidate at random. however, sarah picked the other one so we canceled each other out.

"aldermanic!" really needs that bang at the end.

surely one of the local improv companies must've done an "Aldermania!" revue by now.

Not sure, but that was the title of a feature in last week's Reader.

I forgot that they still haven't even ruled if Emanuel meets the residency requirements

he might as well just appoint himself todopoderoso emperor of earth or whatever he wants

“It’s a big change in Chicago,” said Margaret O’Hara, who cast her vote for Emanuel in a high-rise near Lake Shore Drive. “It’s important that the next mayor understand the importance of keeping the Magnificent Mile nice, with art and flowers.”

Good to see she's focusing on the most important issues.

The IL Supreme Court ruled that he was eligible. Am I misunderstanding something?

I wonder what it feels like to live in such a sheltered world that those are the biggest concerns you can possibly conceive of.

xpost

that quote had to have been chosen for strategic value

gave a big pep talk about middle east, declaration of independence, voting, and recent reader article about segregation in class today

oh also we watched the clip of the freakonomics movie about names and culture

oh i thought the residency thing was still pending.

Nah, the residency thing was overruled, and was bullshit to begin with.

Not if, but when

proceeded to wave del valle signs literally in people's faces and shouting how del valle is "Chicago's true savior".

"Pssst, buddy, take these signs here. Wave 'em around. Make sure you say his name."

we're getting a new vacuum cleaner.

the entire head snapped off of our old vacuum cleaner. i guess the plastic just gave out.

(changed that from "our old one" to "old vacuum cleaner" to avoid ilx out of context)

I have ... never owned a vacuum cleaner?

My voting experience was marred by new information I gathered about Miguel. Decidedly a C- voting day.

The fact that he likes King of Queens?

The fact that he was at my co-worker's polling place GREETING VOTERS AND SHAKING THEIR HANDS WHILE THEY WERE IN THE VOTING BOOTHS. sigh.

how was he allowed into the polling place to campaign?

I did not vote, because of aforementioned issues. However, I would have voted for Rahm.

Could be worse IMO, I mean if we're talking campaign indiscretions.

Voted for Rahm, for purely strategic reasons, which I kind of feel guilty about. But I wanted to do my bit to prevent a Rahm/Gery runoff, and frankly the thought of Mayor Chico terrifies me in ways I can't describe.

Also voted for Ameya Pawar.

this election is so depressing

http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/illustrations/fishermanwife/images/gruellefisherman.jpg

it's 9:30pm geez
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_mayoral_election,_2011

So Mayor Emanuel it is then. Which I can live with, I guess.

We don't have much of a choice at this point.
It feels like we were never really given a choice but whatever. Oh well. Might as well start figuring ways to suck up.

It feels like we were never really given a choice but whatever.

I'm not sure how this is meant to be taken. I mean, taken at face value, of course there was choice of other candidates. But if you mean that it was pretty much determined long ago, true, but if not Rahm it would have been some other well-connected type.

I meant choice B

I chose, but my choice was (apparently) a fart in the wind :(

I guess I'm just really cynical and am pretty much convinced that the Chicago mayor will always be somebody repugnant on one level or another.

http://twitter.com/MayorEmanuel/statuses/40233068778233856

i just had an irl lol singing "farts in the wind"
life is sad in chicago
why do i keep thinking that anything i do makes a difference

Yeah, this is definitely not how I expected this election to go...like, there was no real race, no competition...it was just Rahm and some other people pretending they mattered.

this:

I have ... never owned a vacuum cleaner?

― jaymc, Tuesday, February 22, 2011 5:45 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

reminded me of this:

yeah i need to buy a vacuum cleaner

― Ømår Littel (Jordan), Friday, June 26, 2009 3:54 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

I actually had to take a few deep breaths there.

― she is writing about love (Jenny), Friday, June 26, 2009 3:57 PM (1 year ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

The fact that he was at my co-worker's polling place GREETING VOTERS AND SHAKING THEIR HANDS WHILE THEY WERE IN THE VOTING BOOTHS. sigh.

― sisut, Tuesday, February 22, 2011 6:30 PM (3 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

How does this not violate the "no electioneering" zone?

It's Chicago--I'm guessing that pretty much answers how he ended up in there. He introduced himself to my coworker as she entered her VOTING BOOTH, to which she responded, "It's nice to meet you. You are not supposed to be here." She was getting ready to call in and report him. When asked, he claimed to have papers (and if Miguel, who I have supported, actually lives in Rogers Park, I will eat my hat). The folks working were all, "whaaaaat? Is he not supposed to be in here?"

Ameya (I almost wrote Anwar, but that's the character from Life in Hell) beat the MACHINE!!!

Yeah, because Rahm's victory was so assured, I spent most of last night excited about Pawar's upset.

If I'm not mistaken, he'll be my first elected official who is younger than me.

ok so i just heard on wbez that only 40% turned out at the polls
55% of that 40%
that is hardly carte blanche except now it sort of is

where are the other 60%?!

They didn't change their address in time.

good answer! i'm genuinely curious.

i guess i have a beef with the voting system, which appears to be rigged to favor crazy people who love going out to vote in the middle of winter after enduring like 3-4 months of feeble campaigning from the candidates and who always keep their documents up to date with a little checklist or something. (ie a pretty small number of people in this giant cold city)

what's the alternative?

also there is early voting, people don't have to go out to vote in the middle of winter

the problem mainly seems to be voter apathy, not necessarily anything with the structure of the system

i'm listening to 848 and people are not terribly enthused about these results
do you think they were apathetic because they thought it was wrapped up already? if so, where were these messages coming from? everywhere? why was this message coming from everywhere? it just goes on and on.
i guess i'm just probably just becoming one of those oldish paranoid commies :(

haha guess i live in the right neighborhood already

i understand cynicism with the political system, i just don't understand why this particular election would be more dismaying than any other election

do you think they were apathetic because they thought it was wrapped up already? if so, where were these messages coming from? everywhere? why was this message coming from everywhere? it just goes on and on.

Yeah, I think a lot of people probably thought that. The media treated Rahm as though he was the only candidate in the race, and unfortunately none of the other candidates favorably distinguished themselves enough to reverse that narrative.

That's what I mean about being a paranoid commie -- I keep asking myself why the media repeated that so much. It worked, but it seemed so deliberate. The first name thing and all. I dunno.
On the other hand, I GISed "sad loser" and it's amusing me. I guess I should move on.

There are a few things going on here:

*Even before he announced he was running, the media was fascinated by Rahm as a character (stories about the dead fish, the Hollywood agent brother, etc.), so they focused on him at the expense of others in the race.
*Because of his connections both in and outside Chicago (esp. from having served in two White Houses), he was able to amass an enormous war chest.
*Voters who did seriously consider other candidates didn't find much to like about them. Infighting among the African American contenders led to a single candidate who wasn't particularly popular and basically imploded before she could mobilize enough voters to at least force a run-off.
*Lots of voters genuinely liked Rahm's tough-guy persona and believed that his no-holds-barred tenacity would be an asset as mayor.

Good answer, thank you. You're totally right. It's easy to forget what a confluence of events it is. Honestly, I felt differently about him a couple years ago than I do now.

the war chest still freaks me out a little though
guess it's "our" war chest now?

On the news last night, it was mentioned that Emanuel can siphon funds from his war chest to support aldermanic candidates in run-off elections.

Honestly, Pawar's win is still kind of thrilling to me for managing to do what the mayoral candidates were not able to: defeat someone who was better-funded and machine-anointed. We got at least one (if not two) O'Donnell flyers in our mailbox EVERY SINGLE DAY for the last two weeks. Pawar sent a single flyer at the end of the week.

I'm not sure how I started following her, but a self-professed right-wing Ayn Rand-loving novelist on Twitter had a conspiracy theory I love--that the @MayorEmanuel account was part of the campaign, to take what were seen as his weaknesses and vulnerabilities and turn them into a lovable cartoon that (she wrote) won over even her.

Pawar's win is really exciting.

(By the way, this is full of great unusual photos of famous dudes.)

wow @ awkward adolescent Ben Stiller

omg sean connery

i was just reading a book with that same picture of rick rubin (the big payback)

hbd!

Frustration at lunchtime. I went to H&M because I need some new pants, and all they have is skinny jeans. Seriously, that's ALL they have. I hate skinny jeans.

I did get a cool sripey cardigan, though.

Yeh, I gave up on H&M years ago. Every now and then I go back, but all I ever get are kooky socks or a T shirt. Everything else is either unappealing or a piece of shit. Actually, it's all pieces of shit, and most is unappealing.

I got ONE awesome pair of jeans there like 6 years ago that weren't shit, weren't ugly, and fit really well. Everything else from there that I've ever purchased has not been any of those things.

I really do like their colorful T-shirts, but even those fall apart too quickly.

I just found out that Kurt/Blaine shippers refer to them as "Kurt CoBlaine."

OK wrong thread LOLOLOL!

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3mMJokGKttU/TNa4T0hKRGI/AAAAAAAAEW4/Wir4ZB2pGFs/s400/gleedork.jpg

The fait accompli aspect to Mayor Rahm did kind of freak me out a little. Like, there he is in DC, when he gets the call that Daley is not running. Whoops, gotta go back to Chicago to be mayor! Good thing I've got a house there, for when I'm mayor! I've always wanted to me mayor, and now I get to be mayor!

Though amusingly when I told my wife I was going to vote, she reminded me that I didn't actually live in Chicago. Saved me the trip!

Josh not in Chicago

Josh can see Chicago down the street but am still not in Chicago.

xp - women's clothes are not all that bad at h & m , if you want something cute and cheap to wear out or to work. they've got your business casual blazer/jacket with a cute feminine peplum or other detail or gold sequined tap pants if you need em.

josh in chi -- that is why i posted the img of the fisherman and his wife. i guess he sort of violated my sense of the democratic process, and that's part of what bothers me so much. i'm trying to consider him a frenemy at this point.

whoops i kinda reversed my work and out examples there, but i think my general point was made

that is why i posted the img of the fisherman and his wife.

I don't get this reference.

it's a folk tale -- http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/fishermanwife/index.html

Suddenly I'm going to have to start paying more attention to n/a's parental ancedotes, because they might prove to be very relevant.

!!

congratulations!(?)

Yep! Thanks. We've know for awhile, but after a twelve week appointment today I feel like its okay to tell people. I've been really excited but in this weird zone because all of our families know but we weren't quite ready to tell like coworkers and not-so-close friends, so I've been anxious to tell someone.

You? Anxious? Never.
Congrats!! I know this is sthg you've wanted, and I'm happy for you both. Babiez!

Wow, awesome! I feel like there's a lot of people procreating (or attempting to do so) in my life at the moment. Which makes sense, I guess.
xp

Really guys I'm not a 100% ball of anxiety, I promise.

No, that's my job.

I know, I was just razzing you!

Congrats jon! I'm happy to answer any questions I may be able to. I was fairly anxious about various aspects of pregnancy/birth too but after nine months I was pretty much just ready for the baby to come out, it's a good amount of time to prepare mentally.

when i make oatmeal i really like to put nuts of some kind in it, ideally walnuts or pecans but even almonds are ok. we don't have any nuts right now so i put some toasted pine nuts in my oatmeal today. it doesn't really work.

Thanks! I think I'm still at the point where it seems so abstract and kind of surreal, really.

when i make oatmeal i really like to put nuts of some kind in it, ideally walnuts or pecans but even almonds are ok. we don't have any nuts right now so i put some toasted pine nuts in my oatmeal today. it doesn't really work.

good parental advice

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/164/370165610_face633998.jpg

Trying the Meatyballs food truck today. Not bad.

i thought food trucks were still ILLEGAL in chicago

i had to work on a story this morning about how san francisco pumped all this money into supporting the growth of food trucks, and now restaurant owners are pissed because the food trucks park near the restaurants and attract all their customers

It is here if you are particularly interested.

Do you guys ever think about buying a house or condo in Chicago? It would be love to own a house but have come to accept that it's probably not going to happen as long as we're living in Chicago (due to working in a field that will never be particularly lucrative). I still like to look at real estate listings though. The idea of owning a house or condo is kind of scary though too.

I used to think about owning a house in Chicago, but it seems totally unlikely in the foreseeable future unless I buy it with an S.O., which is also unlikely. My friend Michael is trying to buy - he found some ludicrously cheap places (2 bdr for $95K), but they're in craptown, so that's a no-go.

just buy one in milwaukee and commute

K8E and I have been spending some time on Craigslist looking at property in NOLA. There are some really nice places that are waaaay cheap compared to what you'd pay here. E.g., 2 bedroom home in the Marigny for $140K or 2 bedroom condo in the Garden District (right on Magazine) for $100K. There are also "fixer-uppers" (i.e., you'll probably find bodies from Katrina in them) for $40K for a whole house.

Also, some studios in the French Quarter for $90K. But they are total pied a terre party pads.

Supposedly now is a good time to buy if you have the money. I read that somewhere.

i love not owning a home

Owning is scary, though. I can't imagine owning a house - yard and exterior maintenance seem horribly time consuming.

Our friend J3ss1ca (who we ran into at Midway Airport of all places) has a litany about how if you have the money, you're FUCKING CRAZY!!!!1 not to buy right now. She loves owning so much that now she and her husband own two homes.

I guess I just have all these hang-ups about raising a kid in an apartment, because I lived in houses my whole childhood. Of course we were never living within the limits of a big city like Chicago, or we were living in houses oversees that the US gov't (your tax dollars) paid for. But it still makes me feel inadequate at times. But also living in a house that you can totally spread out in and personalize and make your own is really appealing.

overseas, not oversees. that was a weird typo.

Owning is scary, though. I can't imagine owning a house - yard and exterior maintenance seem horribly time consuming.

Yeah, maintenance and lawn care were the hardest things for me to get used to. I mean, little yard stuff like planting flowers and trying to grow stuff in a small garden is fun but, damn, mowing the lawn is one of my least favorite tasks. Mostly because our lawn is small and odd shaped with all these weird nooks so I spend more time wrestling with getting the push mover into place than actual mowing.

Yes, yard and home improvements sound like fun. I would love to lez out on some light fixtures and doors and windows.

I have a hilarious story about trying to replace one of the doors at our house. Okay, not hilarious as in funny, but about how hilariously inept I was. I thought I could just buy a door, install a new doorknob and latch (which I had done before), slap some hinges on it and, voila!, new door. Not really. First of all, the door wasn't a standard size so I had to buy one and cut it down to size. Also since it had to fit into an existing frame I had to buy one without a hole for the knob, latch, and strike. This is where I failed miserably - trying to align the holes and cut them neatly, it was a disaster. Not to mention all the tools I had to buy or rent to get the job done. In the end I had to pay someone to replace it, which ended up being $100 cheaper than everything I had spent to try it myself. Lesson learned - DIY is cool and all, but some thing are best left to the pros.

But if you want a running toilet fixed, a kitched faucet replaced, new ceiling fixtures installed, I can do all that.

Did you hear about the shooting in River North? The cops arrested a guy who then shot them from inside the police cruiser. That seems like a huge oversight.

Also in the news - we're going to have a mini blizzard tonight.

Uh yeah, a slight one I'd say.

So I just heard this breathless forecast on the news about 9-11 inches of snow coming tonight. But then I looked up more reasonable sources and its actually supposed to be like 6 inches south of 80 and 2-4 in the city.

Speaking of the "joys" of home ownership, I am sick to death of shovelling.

I would go to great lengths to be a renter again.

well I don't think I'd want to own a condo. seems like it would be the bad things about owning a house (the responsibility for repairs and the property, having to sell if you want to move) plus the bad things about owning an apartment (neighbors, about the same amount of space).

sounds like you should rent a house

renting a house is a super idea

that would be nice. i feel like you don't really see many full houses for rent in chicago.

Pretty sure we will never buy. Can't afford where we want to live and don't want to deal with it anyway. I'm ok renting for life. It's the new American dream.

I feel like I haven't seen any of you guys in a long time.

awwww miss u 2

I didn't say I missed you

JUST KIDDING

i would like to do pub quiz sometime but i work on tues. nights now. i might be able to make it over to the globe by like 8:15ish, or we could find somewhere else that has pub quiz on wednesdays

anyone want to hang saturday night somewhere? i was gonna suggest karaoke but i always suggest karaoke. still, would sing if you twisted my arm.

can't really hang out in the evening unfortch. got a baby who starts getting grouchy around 7:30 p.m.

though i might be able to if sarah's ok with staying home with the baby.

ok i might actually be able to hang out on saturday night. don't know if i really want to do karaoke but i'd do it if everyone else wanted to.

I have a skeptic meetup on my calendar, but I really have no idea if I am going or what we are going to do on Saturday night. At the very least, I'll think fondly about everyone.

i would like to do pub quiz sometime but i work on tues. nights now.

Yeah, and Tuesday is Dungeons and Dragons night for me now. No, that's not a joke. My character is bloodied badly and in serious trouble. It's a cliffhanger.

Wednesday might work. I'm very flexible after 5pm most days, but not infinitely so. I do have a girlfriend and stuff. :)

I've never played D&D. I wonder if I would like it. Not a big fantasy person.

I played it twice (different campaigns with different people). It really, really depends on your Dungeonmaster. If you have a bitter, vindictive one then it makes the game really awful and not fun. But if you get someone who is really imaginative and gets into it, it can be pretty fun.

i thought food trucks were still ILLEGAL in chicago

You can have a food truck if the food is already prepared. You can't cook anything on a truck. The meatyball sandwiches were already cooked.

http://www.phillipfoss.net/

I have a skeptic meetup
idk what this means at all, but i feel lucky to have karaoked with you at all

i am not going to force everyone to go to the cove if you don't want to -- really it depends on the weather for me. i was thinking of going to st louis for some reason. i think i just need to get out of here for > 24 hrs.

Hey, can I ask an office-ish e-mail question?

I know that's dull, but I write about fun stuff elsewhere.

Is there some hard-and-fast rule about when to copy bigger bosses/managers on an e-mail?

As in: I'm doing some social-media work for a big organization. In a fit of confidence, I wrote directly to the CEO and it worked out better than any HR-dept interaction ever has.

Anyway, met with the CEO, then met with the Chief Marketing Officer, then started doing some work for them. I just wrote a progress report on what I'm doing--and it's social-media stuff, so it's new to them and I've had to explain the benefits of it at all (and they're listening and excited).

Anyway, I copied the CEO on the progress report. He had written to his partners (the other C-level execs) when I first started as well, so--again, maybe hastily--I copied them on it.

Is it terrible protocol to send the leaders of the company an update they might be interested in, instead of writing just to the CMO?

(I know this is vague, but I tend to have slight anxiety attacks after I do something audacious, even though most of the good things I've accomplished have followed an act of hubris.)

P.S. The progress report was that, after one week, all kinds of good communication with customers was happening that otherwise never would have happened. I'm excited about this but I think it's coming out dull, here.

P.S.S. Nick, try Berwyn. Cool folks buy bungalows there.

P.S.S.S. This would all sound less dull if I were talking here about the actual stuff I'm working with, which is super-elegant and fun.

P.S.S.S.S. I did not end my e-mail to these people with so many P.S.'s.

Seems like it would depend on the CEO. I frequently email our CIO/CFO, but the executive director is usually saved for special occasions. Would probably stick with the CMO if I was you.

Courtney has a lot of experience working directly for C-level folks, so hopefully she'll see your question and respond.

Also, I don't find your question boring at all. I like this kind of question.

Prob varies industry to industry too.

Yeah I think the overall answer is going to be "it depends." I would have no qualms with CCing the president of the company I work for but it's a very small, "flat" company so there isn't really anyone between me and him anyways.

well, it's depend.

In this case, too, I got brought in by the CEO, and I didn't realize there was such a heirarchy of marketing dept. folks at this place. I don't go to their meetings or anything, so the thing I'm dancing with is then whether I'm now in that marketing-dept structure or if I'm a special project outside of that structure. I'm guessing I'll find out today from whoever responds--just hoping it was OK.

And to share one other thing but be vague about--I'm doing something for one niche of this company (the equivalent of if Hermes had some kind of handbag social-media project). And I'm being all Clooney in my writing voice, taking care of the customers in a polite, affable way. But there's a guy who had been assigned the same role for the whole company, and he was late getting started (was a blank page for a while), and now he writes in a way that reads like a text-message version of the Red Eye. So the next tactical question has to do with addressing that--but in the summary of my own work that I sent late last night (with the C-level folks copied, so that's why I was so anxious), I made some reference to it. What the heck, I'm the expert, might as well say what I think, tactfully. Again, I'll see if this was the right choice when I open my gmail...

Other than that, I'm enjoying photos from one of the Black Eyed Peas's iPhone.

http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg619/scaled.php?tn=0&server=619&filename=ejcbq.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640

i emailed this to john but omg look

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5293/5476812216_cbe6137811.jpg

lol

i like to think that the i is a bloated :

: facts gravy

so perfect!

What is the middle word?

Assessing or critiquing or talking about other people's writing is the absolute worst.

xp - oh. That's what I thought it said!

Assessing or critiquing or talking about other people's writing is the absolute worst.
is my job

i've kind of fallen into the role of helping some of the peeps at my school by proofreading their papers and it's pretty hard. especially because they're taking an english class this quarter. i basically just stick to fixing spelling, punctuation, grammar, etc but don't really comment on the content.

So I had to two school inspections, one yesterday and one today. Both public elementary schools in neighborhoods that traditionally have a very bad reputation, one in West Garfield Park and the other in Englewood. It was really an interesting study in how surroundings can influence children. The Garfield Park school is really poorly maintained, sloppy additions and poor quality construction and the school is 100% surrounded by boarded up houses. The school interior was dark and dreary. All of the teachers and administrators I dealt with were bitter and grumbling and not one person seemed to want to be there. The Englewood school was kept spotless and it was obvious that the contractors had done a better job, there was lots of windows and bright light, tons of artwork. Every single person, literally, students and teachers alike, greeted everyone with a smile and "good morning".

It was just interesting to see because the two schools are both public, roughly the same student popualtions, both schools have a uniform dress code, both nearly identical demographics (according to CPS' website); but there was such a huge difference in attitudes between the schools.

hm. that is interesting.

oh god I am trying to edit together a brochure that includes text from like 6 different people and some of it is so fucking bad but the writers don't want to listen or take any suggestions even though they asked me for help and suggestions

sorry for the run-on but FUCK it's frustrating

(Guys, let's pitch in and get John factsgravy.com for his birthday.)

LL: I know it's your job. I'm saying that though I sincerely deeply admire those who teach writing, it is a nightmare job for me. I worked at the writing center in college and I did a decent job, but I did NOT enjoy it at all. (We talked about this extensively when I was in DeP's college writing class.)

If they're students and they are in a position to learn from you it's not as gross as Dan's situation.

jvc - that really is interesting.

Wonder if the difference in the schools is the principal, the neighborhood organizations, or what.

Well, Jon's point, I think, was that the differences in the buildings contributed to the differences in attitude. Which I totally buy.

jvc, from a professional POV, what are some of your thoughts on feng shui?

Yeah, that was pretty much my point. I suppose not just buildings, but "environment" in total. It was just interesting that schools nearly identical on paper were so radically different.

Feng shui? I don't know, I haven't really read a whole lot into that topic, but I do firmly believe that access to sunlight and plants are key to making any space seem warmer and more inviting. Which, yes, DUH, but its amazing how many people ignore this in order to create some dramatic interior lighting effect that looks really cool on first blush, but ends up being an unpleasant space to actually spend time in.

I wonder if some people get hung up on the minutiae of feng shui (no mirrors on doors, furniture facing certain compass directions) and wind up making a space that is no more livable than if they had just followed whatever taste they normally followed. Or wind up with a weird, unappealing space.

Saw a talk at a Pecha Kucha night by one of the designers of Nettlehorst Elementary. Some amazing design there.

Second day eating meatyballs, got BBQ Balls - Pulled Pork Shoulder, Red Cabbage, Apples, Cola-Bourbon BBQ Sauce

i would like to jump into a vat of cola-bourbon bbq sauce

http://www.supanet.com/after-they-were-famous--celebrity-jobs--roger-daltrey-the-who-sell-out--heinz-baked-beans-7749064.jpg

that album rules
i went through this phase where i listened to that and nuggets (i and ii) like nonstop
it was when i first moved to chicago and it always reminds me of riding the blue line

sorry for the boring anecdote
i am so tired

I just got back from the Borders at Clark/Broadway/Diversey. It is still very well stocked - I'd say over 80%. Everything is 20%-40% off. Go get you some cheap books, movies, and CDs! I didn't!

(I bought 1 John Hodgeman book b/c I was there on a mission - for things that they didn't have - not to browse.)

What I want to stock up on are the very nice faux-Moleskine notebooks they always have on clearance for about $4-$5.

How could Borders screw up so badly? How is the economy supposed to survive with no stores at all?

damn, I meant to check out the borders in HP this week but was too busy. stupid work. college students probably picked it over already.

Some good news is that there is some construction going in the building of the former Barnes and Noble on Diversey that has sat empty for so many years.

Of what?

I think it sat empty because it's not near an el stop. How sad.

Jeff, do you mean what are they constructing? I don't know. But they finally took out the bookshelves and they're gutting it. I'm assuming it's being developed by the same guy who is responsible for TJ's next door (Fr3d L@t5k0) b/c it's part of the same strip and it's the same construction company. (BTW, TJ continues to slooooowly grow - some coolers and fixtures are in, and there are tons of light bulbs sitting around.)

u s steel - But it's at a big retail hub (Clark/Diversey/Broadway) where other stores have done well, so who knows.

It sounds like I'm obsessed with the retail in my hood, but it's just that I walk past these places at least twice a day and the state of the businesses around here feels like a bellwether for the state of the economy.

I never know what is going on on the south side of diversey. I almost always run on the north side of the street.

First time I visited Chicago, in about 1994, Broadway/Clark/Diversey was still a little sleazy. Where Cost Plus and TJ Maxx are was a long row of video arcades and peep shows. I talked with a guy once about how the neighborhood used to be in the 1960s-- big pool hall on that corner, hoodlums.

Also, the Century used to be one giant movie theater (like the Chicago theater) before it was turned into the mall. I love that neighborhood.

That's what I've heard. I think you were the one who said that the Golden Nugget's late night crowd was a prostitute and her pimp at each table. I would have loved to have seen this area at that time. I haven't found any pics of it.

This one (GIS) looks like Broadway where the 36 stop is:

http://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.files.wordpress.com/2010/11/photo-chicago-clark-and-diversey-streetcars-stores-signs-people-leaving-streetcar-parkway-theter-in-background-jays-potato-chip-sign-1955.jpg?w=510&h=409

That's cool, but I was talking about this area in the 90s.

But yeh, streetcars!

Yepyep, I was gonna look for the 90s but that caught my eye.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_NtgXlrcvXZA/TMcpBhAZ1dI/AAAAAAAAoxc/db47pHq5lK0/s1600/PHOTO+-+CHICAGO+-+CLARK+AND+WRIGHTWOOD+-+AERIAL+-+STORES+-+STREETCARS+-+PARKED+CARS+-+1955.jpg

are those both from the same site? can you show me where you got them? the URL isn't helping me.

http://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.wordpress.com/

The second one looks like it's at Clark and Wrightwood. Wiener Circle is just to the right of the parked cars on the right, and the store to the right of the closest streetcar is where Affordable Portables is now.

xp - Oh - thanks. The first pic led me there, but the second one had a different sort of URL.

http://chuckmanchicagonostalgia.files.wordpress.com/2010/01/postcard-chicago-lincoln-park-arms-hotel-2738-pine-grove-ave-1940.jpg

I live in between the shrubs on the top right.

Nice!

http://www.chicagoreader.com/images/blogimages/2011/02/20/1298182334-71_11_5.jpg

Jesse, I like that your building looks like its dropped in the middle of a prairie there.

Ha - bell bottoms!

xp - That's from the 30s or 40s, but I still wonder if they didn't edit out some buildings.

Oh - I just noticed "Chicago 14, Ill" - the ZIP here is 60614. They just tacked a Chicago prefix on the postal code to make a ZIP, it looks like.

I <3 my new camera.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5256/5486039206_14a219c9b0_z.jpg

Nice. I'm looking forward to seeing many more.

Kenan, how do you feel about your abilities at portrait sorts of shots? My office might (maybe, nothing is for sure) need a few shots for a website.

Revealing the Man Behind @MayorEmanuel

that's awesome

aw nice

Today is the last day for Earwax

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/21/earwax-cafe-closing_n_826015.html

Sarah and I ate there a lot when we first moved to Chicago and were scared to leave Wicker Park. Their seitan Reuben and sweet potato/black bean quesadilla were delicious. RIP

I always liked the video store. I rented In Cold Blood and Lord Love a Duck there, among others. RIP.

I tried to recreate that quesadilla for Valentine's Day. I think I did a pretty good job. Maybe the best pesto I've ever made: a ton of cilantro and garlic, basically.

So will Earwax be replaced with another bank? Or a Burberry?

Combo Burberry/Pilates studio/bank

btw the other day I taught my students what "gentrification" means (ie that there is a word for the process they were describing)

it felt powerful

haven't been down to the WP in a long time. i think once the weather's nice we'll go down to Division and see what stores are new and what stores have closed and what stores have stuck around

i find myself constantly talking about things i'm going to do "once the weather's nice." maybe i should write them all down so whenever i get bored i can pick one of them to do.

I hadn't been in a long time, but we went to Piece the other night. Not bad, but they were all out of the Cameltoe.

Someone alert Gossip Wolf: I spotted Miss Alex White at O'Hare on Thursday morning.

Something just clicked in my head that had never clicked before, and I have a new insight into the minds of my coworkers. It's critical, too, and I don't know how I missed it before now. What happens is this: I ask for the basic materials for my graphics, emails, web pages, what have you. It's usually text, plus graphics if they have a preference, maybe some headshots of lawyers, etc. It takes them three days to round all this stuff up, and as soon as they hand it over to me, it's already a red-hot emergency, because it has to be done TODAY. What's going on here, I've figured out, is that it takes them time and effort to round up all of the elements needed for me to do my job, and once they have put time and effort into something, they immediately assume that the task should already be finished. "What do you mean, tomorrow? Didn't you get all the graphics I sent to you?" It goes right past them that there's another step, and a time-consuming one at that. They assume that all the *real* work is done once they have done some amount of work, and all I have to do is gather in my arms all the pieces they send to me, tie them up like a bunch of loose sticks, and send the magic bundle back to them. How could I possibly be doing any real work? I'm the graphics guy. That happens by magic. And it's really really easy.

I'm not bitter. :/

The revelatory part of this is that what I have always interpreted as my own inadequacy is actually their condescension. I need to ease up on myself and realize that they have no idea that what I do is a real job, and I need to assert myself, or else they'll have me working 100 hour weeks for no overtime just because they're able to make me feel guilty.

I think that's a valuable realization. What are these co-workers' jobs/titles?

"Lawyer," first and foremost. Also frequently "Dean of" something.

I'll give them all this: it's not as bad as working for real estate agents. Nothing is as bad as that.

I get the same thing both at my job and w/ my soccer communications work. I think it happens everywhere.

Yeah. I suppose if everyone understood what everyone else does, you could just fire everyone and have one genius who doesn't need sleep to run the whole business. We all need to understand that we can't exist without EACH OTHER. It's a massive boulder for many people to get their head around.

Especially if you're a Republican.

wrt the soccer stuff I've found that making a publications calendar w/ deadlines etc helped immensely in getting the message across that I need time to work on things (lol work creeping into personal life)

Though the people (lawyers) that I work for are pretty clueless and entitled in a lot of ways, the ones in the Chicago office are really good about understanding that what I do is actually work that takes time to do. Not always, but if they get too uppity, it's usually easy to get them to calm them down.

The down side is that sometimes they think that some things I do are too difficult for them to do (usually things having to do with the computer) that they never learn to do it themselves. I'm not sure what they will do if they need to e-file with the court on a day I'm on vacation.

Oh - for Dan (and Jenny, if you're out there somewhere): I'm dog sitting for L|66y, and while putting a glass in the sink I saw that her garbage disposal was full to the brim with leaves and stems that she had pruned from one of her house plants.

empathy is still tricky for a lot of people

^^^^

I used to run into issues at my old job very very similar to what kenan described. A developer would call me about a 4500 sf tenant that might want to move into his building and he'd want me to draft up a layout of what that would look like. Fairly simple and straightforward task, but I'd need to get a program list of spaces from the potential tenant first. When the developer would chase that down, he'd always make unreasonable demands about how soon he'd need the layout back (frequently he would call me on his lunch hour and want it for a 2 or 3 meeting). Even after working with him for 6 years or so, he never could quite grasp that me translating that list of spaces into a laid out plan in his building took me time. As much as I would have loved it, AutoCAD has no "Poof! Your plan is done!" button.

http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/183649_672054086130_6901019_38362321_4673044_n.jpg

From a NOLA food truck called The Fry Bar. That's a deep-fried head of garlic.

I saw a tamale food truck drive by my work the other day. Of the more gourmet variety, not the regular ones that you would find around construction sites, etc.

i don't really get the big deal about food trucks tbh. it sounds like a restaurant but more annoying because you don't know where they're going to be when. plus it's not like they're going to go to areas where there are no restaurants to fill a void, they're all going to be down in the loop.

plus it's not like they're going to go to areas where there are no restaurants to fill a void, they're all going to be down in the loop.
i've never seen one since i neither live nor work nor visit these areas very frequently
kinda doesn't really affect my life at all, but i got no problem with them. it's just kind of hard to get excited about them.

Some of the appeal is probably their elusiveness. I have never been to one in Chicago, only the down to earth kind when I was living in NOLA. Those did serve places with no restaurants (Home Depot parking lots, random street corners, construction sites). They were mostly taco and burrito trucks, but some American food, too.

The Fry Bar seems to frequent festivals and markets.

I've seen two of them in the South Loop, but neither looked particularly appetizing.

This sounds good (the gravy in particular)

Thyme,3monthmanchego & garlic andouille-mushroom gravy to top em with!

Some of the appeal is probably their elusiveness.

otm, people like to feel like they're part of a club/in the know

late night food trucks are very useful

I guess it's not a huge deal, just offers some variety. The meatyballs one has a truck in the same place every day, so there is no elusiveness there. The other one roams but it is on a set schedule most of the time.

From the truckers' perspective, I'd guess they like that they get to serve cool food with way less overhead.

i see the appeal of owning a food truck, i just don't think i'll ever see one b/c of my apt/work locations

Which is actually probably more of a reason for their existence than the cachet of being exclusive.

Oops- xp

I saw lots of food trucks in Philly (in all parts, including the seedy area where Brian Z. lived) when I visited in the early 2000s, but they were not fancy.

Everything I Know and Think About Food Trucks

pretty sure the only food i've ever bought from a truck is ice cream

i would like to be a summertime tamale guy with various vietnamese spring roll style roll ups -- wide array of flavor possibilities, easy assembly line construction, lots of meat/seafood/veg options. extra sauce available for $1.

i mean, so not gonna happen because i do not have that kind of initiative/energy, but it would be fun

who wants my under-refrigerated food poisoned dysentery flavored roll ups? anyone?

In Austin there was an awesome food truck called "Midnight Taco," and people would call them and give them tips on where the big house parties were going on. When they rolled by, it was better than the ice cream truck.

botulism roll, $3

it sounds like a restaurant but more annoying because you don't know where they're going to be when

Most of them announce their whereabouts on Twitter. Gaztro-Wagon generally has a schedule for the whole week on their website.

I had a really good late-night torta from a food truck in L.A. on Saturday night.

but we have thousands of restaurants in this city that sell delicious tacos and tamales and spring rolls and you don't have to check on twitter to see where they are

also food trucks make more sense in LA where it's nice out all the time and you can take your food and eat outside year-round

i'm not opposed to food trucks, i just think people are excited about them because they're different and exotic, not because they offer any particular advantage

Well, at least some of the advantage lies with the chefs/owners, not the consumers.

Also, Amanda, have you been to the Gaztro-Wagon storefront? It's not too far away from you!

The novelty is what's interesting for Chicagoans now, but they do offer an advantage that regular restaurants don't. They're like hot dog or gyros carts in other big cities, but maybe more interesting foods. The advantage to the proprietors (convenience in starting up or changing concept without the risks and agonies of a store or restaurant) means that we're more likely to get to see actually new food option in a truck than we would in a store or restaurant.

The absence of hot dog carts is on my "Cons" list for Chicago.

in new orleans i'm always instinctively tempted by the Lucky Dog stands, and i have to remind myself that new orleans is not the place for hot dogs.

i just realized something sad

i have eaten no pizza at all in 2011 so far

You don't like Lucky Dogs?

I had one on this last visit and it was AMAZING. More than others I've had before, for some reason. I wasn't drunk or anything, either.

I think one huge advantage would be for people eating lunch alone. I'd have no problem walking up to a food truck by myself, but at a lot of storefront restaurants the seating is arranged in ways that make you feel uncomfortable or out of place dining alone.

Also, big time saver at lunch over waiting to be seated, waiting for the check, etc etc.

i like lucky dogs, but i feel like i should be eating something that i can't get anywhere else

I like eating Lucky Dogs because they remind me of Confederacy of Dunces.

I think one huge advantage would be for people eating lunch alone. I'd have no problem walking up to a food truck by myself, but at a lot of storefront restaurants the seating is arranged in ways that make you feel uncomfortable or out of place dining alone.

I don't completely understand this. At a food truck, you walk up, buy your food, and then take it elsewhere (or else sit on the curb). How is this different from getting your food to-go from a storefront?

I wish we had food trucks out where I work. I plan on bringing it up at our next tenant's meeting.
Xp

Yeah, sorry I totally didn't mean to type "storefront" there. I was thinking about the food trucks that are run by restaraunts that are typically sit down, eat-in establishments.

Oh, I see.

A (strangely small and spare) NYT slideshow about Logan Square: http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/01/30/travel/0130-surfacing-chicago.html

(I forgot that Longman & Eagle had boarding!)

would anyone be interested in getting together somewhere with good beer and food on like saturday or sunday afternoon to hang out for a couple of hours? like the fountainhead or hopleaf or somewhere equivalent?

I like how the 5th slide in the show is just a google map.

Don't know about going out. Tbd.

Im watching a show about food trucks in San Francisco. They have a food truck meetup. One of them has deep fried intestine tacos, and calf tongue sliders topped with some kind of head cheese and "brain-naise" (creamy sauce made of brains). The other trucks seem also experimental but less offalicious.

Actually it's Bizarre Foods and now they're doing a Chicago episode. I want to eat pig jowls - they look amazing, though not very bizarre.

Mike Sula looks NOTHING like I pictured him at all!

!! Where did you see him? On TV? I can't imagine he allowed anyone to film him.

OK, this I can believe:

This summer I put on a Billy Dec disguise and tooled around a bit with Bizarre Foods host and all-around mensch Andrew Zimmern.

http://www.chicagoreader.com/TheBlog/archives/2011/02/14/bizarre-foods-in-chicago

I know!!! They also showed the Trib's food writer. I never thought they'd let themselves be identified. Sula is maybe mid 30s, white, slender, bearded, aviator sunglasses. Hipstery looking, I guess. Cute.

Xp haha. I wondered about the sunglasses.

Also, gross. He looked NOTHING like Billy Dec.

would anyone be interested in getting together somewhere with good beer and food on like saturday or sunday afternoon to hang out for a couple of hours? like the fountainhead or hopleaf or somewhere equivalent?

I'm almost always all about this. But I'm going out to eat on Friday night and Sunday morning this weekend, so I think I have to be undecided for now.

I'm at the fountainhead right now. Ill buy you a beer if you come in.

Oh my double IPAs.

I'm hosting a baby shower for a friend. I find that I'm about as well-equipped to host baby showers, as I have been with hosting bachelor/ette parties. Thus far, the plan is for scrumptious food, booze and a boylesque dancer.

Has anyone ever eaten at Flaco's Tacos? That's my lunch date today. Debating whether or not to have a margarita.

I'm not much of a cupcake guy, but I love the look of the More truck:
http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4124/5170629192_9c39271a0a_z.jpg

That is a very cool truck.

Mein gott I could go for a cupcake right now! Or regular cake.

I'd never heard of Flaco's (ha - first typed Falco's) Tacos. Let us know.

I could go for a boylesque dancer in my office right now, too. A hot boy with a cupcake would hit the spot.

#horngry

#thongry

#geirhorngry

I ate a muffin and a cookie. That took care of 1/2 of my issue....

Not sure how to make a joke like "There's Greek sausage right around the corner" without it feeling like it's been done already.

You know, the perfect song for horngriness is this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spuzFy33FuQ

i rejoined twitter under a new name. i don't know why. i think i might just use to troll jim derogatis until he blocks me, then quit

What name?

i changed my mind. i think i'm just going to start using my real account for things other than just alerts of when i update my blog. you know, all my pithy insights, excoriating takedowns, and world-changing ideas.

Do it. Twitter is great.

I figured out what confuses me about Twitter: When someone tweets at someone ( for example Nick tweets "@Jeff - that's hilarious!"), how do you find the associated conversation? You just have to go find it on Jeff's page?

And the other thing - I made a hash tag to see if I could search for it, and it never showed up. It was something like #jesuslovedbananas.

who are some good people to follow? i want to be following like a million people so I'm never bored at work anymore

there is one student on the "campus" right now, other than that I'm going to be the only person here until closing at 7:00 pm.

Comedians are good to follow, for obvious reasons. And John Wurster.

who I guess is also a comedian, but I think of him mostly as a drummer

Like 60% of my Twitter feed is comedians. Norm Macdonald's is great.

If anyone can answer my questions, I would appreciate it. I'm not just being thick.

I used the tag #ilovebananas, but when I click it, my tweet doesn't show up, but three other people's do.

Jesse, it depends on which program you use as to how to find the associate conversation.

Not sure about the hashtag question. I don't use them very often.

nick, follow whiney g so you can get into twitbeef

I'm wondering if it's b/c I'm so new? That doesn't seem likely.

I think my only other question is, when I do @Jeff, does it let you know that I did that? I did that to Nick just now, but it's not on his feed when I go to his page.

Thanks, Jeff. Sorry to be a pestilence.

I think it would alert Nick and he would be able to see it, but it wouldn't appear on his public feed unless he re-tweeted it

or Jeff

Thank you.

Love,

Jesse

Jenny & Jeff, it appears a new beer-centric restaurant will be opening in your hood, with Map Room connections: http://chicago.grubstreet.com/2011/03/tapped_two_new_beer_joint_comi.html

Nick, I thought you were joking when you said you couldn't see my posts on Twitter.

I suck at Twitter.

maybe I am?

jesse, who are you on twitter?

http://twitter.com/#!/Khresse

Chants is following me.

the only twitter I am part of is the hivemind that is @Section8Chicago

i tried twitter and it didn't really stick
i only have time to broadcast >1 thought per day when it's an offtime at work
otherwise, i would rather just post here i guess

no one could possibly care about my 1 thought/day so i gave up
the worst was when i posted about rat hoarders and it was my last tweet for like 6 weeks or something

d likes it
you should follow him

It has become part of my job to tweet and post to facebook on a regular basis. it is weird.

Just the other day, I was considering giving up ILX for a while to see if I felt the urge to tweet or post on Facebook more.

There's lots of social media stuff that I feel like I should be into, given my proclivities, but I'm not. I'm forever wondering what the 15-year-old me would've done with all this.

i always have grand plans to create ornately detailed alternate personas but am usually too lazy

I'd imagine that "kids today" see facebook and twitter as a little lame? Because their parents and other lame people are on them? They probably have weird social networking mechanisms that we can only dream of.

Jesse, I get push notifications if someone @'s me.

I was talking to the bartender at the bar last night and we both agreed that the map room was too inconvenient to get to.

from my interactions with "kids today" they have no interest in words, just images with words on them
like a picture of a lonely bear cub with I'M SO BORED written over it so they don't have to actually say "i'm so bored" -- the bear can say it and they just post the bear

I'm always surprised when I see The Map Room. It seems to move around like the island on Lost because I'm usually driving somewhere when I unexpectedly pass by it. That whole area is a great mystery to me. It's cute, though.

I've never even seen it!!! I must be on the other island.

Plus they don't serve food, right? I almost always choose a beer bar with food.

I hadn't been to the Map Room since, like, 2002, and then went there like three times in two weeks last summer. Haven't been back.

xp I think they have pretzels, like Clark St. Ale House.

Has anyone been to the Southern? I'm going there for dinner tomorrow night.

No, never even heard of it.

I thought The Map Room was into food+beer pairings? Why did I think that?

The Map Room is on Armitage, right? I really don't know why I wind up driving in that area.... I have no business there.

Yeah, it's like a block west of Damen on Armitage.

One of our clients just emailed my boss to say that while he was inside our office someone tore the Packers flag off of his car. Ha.

Map Room regularly has free happy hour spreads with stuff like pulled pork, french fries, cheeses, little sausages, wings, and the like. It's a quick walk from the Blue Line. I used to go there quite a bit when I was dating a girl who lived in the vicinity. I still seem to end up there once every couple of months. It's not nearly as inconvenient to get to as, like, the Hopleaf.

I'm going to tweeting sooooooo much from now on. you guys better hold onto your hats.

I like the Map Room because it's easy to get to via the Damen bus and because it opens really early. It's a good place to hang out in the afternoon, drinking beerz and reading. Gets way too packed at night though. Also, I like that they don't have food because that makes me feel like it's okay to just hang out forever, as long as I'm ordering booze.

n/a is pretty good at twitter

thanks. the funny thing is i was using that account for library stuff so i have 40 followers but probably at least half of them are library-related twitter accounts and now i'm just on there being weird.

i'm freakin' out the squares

nick, your dracula tweet made me literally lol at work

Kinda weird b/c I just edited an article on Frankenstein (1931).

it was inspired by the frankenstein thread tbh.

Hey you guys, we should have a tweet up.

i don't know what you're talking about

I really excel at tweet ups.

Me either, but I'm really good at it.

oh, in that case, i'm really good at it too

I'm playing Scrabble in an hour with a girl I've met twice and two of her friends, who I've met never. I'm under the impression they're all "word nerds" (the one I've met is a "freelance lexicographer," whatever that pays.)

wait is this 2005

i just had the weirdest deja vu

In reference to my post?

yeah that was just my weak attempt to be funny/note the passage of time
forget it

speaking of, i realized this morning that i have been using the same broken chopstick to stir my coffee (in the french press) for about 7 years

i use an old plastic spatula that got kind of warped/melted

Wood spoon up in here.

Good yuks, 'mander.

I'm playing songs at Goose Island in the heart of Wrigleyville next week. Five pages into their terms, press contacts, etc., they say something like "Tell us your favorite Goose Island beer and we'll give you a free pitcher." I'm guessing I can't get a pitcher of Matilda, but, in any case, Green Line's on me. As I dive deep into the heart of Wrigleyville.

lol

i think erin mckean lives in ravenswood manor. i once started to write a short story about her, entitled "the lexicographer," but didn't make it past the first paragraph.
― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, July 15, 2005 1:13 PM (5 years ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

Might be up for that show, EZ. What's the date?

My french press broke long ago, but I don't think I ever stirred it.

In NOLA I bought a fairly large Turkish coffee pot to replace my small one and I'm very excited to use it!

xp- Is that offer just kind of buried in the document?

Eric, ask for the Madame Rose.

Yeah, they bury the offer in the document to reward the bands for reading through all the details. (Same idea behind the Van Halen red-M&M's-only story -- putting something wacky deep in there to make ure the venue read the safety precautions, etc. Maybe your lawyers should sneak little surprises into settlement papers. "You pay $100,000 blah blah blah blah free gyro at Artopolis blah blah blah."

So: it looks like I'm booked for next Saturday at 9 p.m. I have to be at a birthday party after that, but hanging out before (and before W-ville gets busy) would be fun. Also, maybe it's not that crazy since it's February and it's a baseball neighborhood.

I'll try the Madame Rose. Sounds like one of those euphamisms--"I would love to go to bed with you, but Madame Rose is hosting her salon this week."

I secretly have jaymc levels of recall power. In fact, I held back my joke about erin mck because i didn't want to be crepey.

Sounds like one of those euphemisms

"Falling to the Communists"

I read the phrase "French press" and thought "Le Monde," which just gave me an idea for a crossword theme.

23. Big Ben
THETIMESOFLONDON

I'm having options paralysis w/r/t lunch.

What should I do?

Jimmy John's
Gyros type stuff
Soup
Hot dog
Pizza
Taco Burrito King

Ugh. I'm really hungry but nothing sounds at all interesting.

la la la
my computer is broken
la la la
3rd time this year
la la la
posting from an empty cube
la la la
dunno if I'll work today
la la laaaaaa

xp I like the turkey/avocado sandwich at jj's

depends on the kind of soup

know what i find totally revolting? broccoli cheese soup. i think my reaction to that is roughly equivalent to jesse's reaction to octopus.

I find very few foods revolting. Seems like I should though, as much as other things bother me.

I don't find octopus totally revolting. I just hate the texture of the suckers and their appearance.

Oh - turkey/avocado.... perhaps

Are you posting on your phone, Dan?

23. Big Ben
THETIMESOFLONDON

Awesome.

I was actually thinking more like...

Le Monde, e.g. = FRENCHPRESS
Herring, e.g. = SWEDISHFISH
1 januari, e.g. = DUTCHDATE

No, I'm posting from an unused desk/computer. I'd work but the software I need isn't installed.

And the cheese broccoli soup I used to make at my old cooking job was top notch. TOP NOTCH, I tell you. Especially with rye croutons.

I love TOP NOTCH broc/chz soup. Lower notches are pretty gross - clumpy and bland.