Chicago: customers are advised to allow extra travel time

I didn't see that in the preview, Nick.

I did notice a couple lines that were in the preview but NOT in the movie, though.

Totally, N.

I don't know if you could say his best buddy is a "nice boy," though he's definitely virginal. He's completely foul-mouthed and obsessed with drawing penises and watching porn.

I guess I should see this now, although a) the thing I said earlier about not liking to watch mainstream comedies in the theater still holds, and b) I'm not sure I can convince Kr to see it (she's mostly interested in documentaries these days).

I never saw the preview.

I knew I was going to love the movie when Seth was explaining how hiss sexual career peaked too early, and Evan says, "You're like Orson Welles."

I was pretty well sheltered from the KIDS-like kids. I had friends who had sex with their boyfriends, but felt sorry for them, thinking they had been tricked into doing something against their better judgement. Then again, most of the kids I knew having sex were also getting pregnant and dropping out of school before 9th grade, which was definitely a deterrant. It was part of the world of rural white trash. You had sex > you got pregnant. You partied > you were involved in that year's horrible drunk driving incident.

I think I just hung out with too many sheltered weirdos and nerds to know too many people who were having sex.

You had sex > you got pregnant.

this is true. Having sex is indeed better than getting pregnant.

:)

Ha ha.
I guess I just mean to say that our sex ed classes were not very informative in the way they should have been.

Also, you can add to that equation the lack of abortion as a possibility in the world of rural conservative politics.

But whatevs. I don't feel like thinking about teen promiscuity any more today.

Instead, we can talk about total debt elimination, or not.

I'm reading My Sister's Keeper. It is pretty good.

Sorry I was so serious this morning.

COOMMMEEE BAAAAAACCCCCKKKKKKK!

I'm reading American Dreams: Lost and Found. Today I got to Arnold Schwarzenegger's part right before I got to work, and it was so stereotypical I cracked up a little on the bus.

I think I just hung out with too many sheltered weirdos and nerds to know too many people who were having sex.

Yeah, it's weird. At the time, I totally thought that what I was doing (which didn't even go as far as intercourse) was totally insane, and while I understood that some other friends were fooling around similarly, just as many hadn't done anything at all, and I certainly couldn't imagine that people I knew were actually HAVING SEX on a regular basis.

Sort of similar to drinking, actually. If I thought about it hard enough, I could've figured out that these big weekend parties at preppie kids' houses (that I wasn't invited to) involved lots of alcohol, but as far as I was concerned, I didn't know anyone who drank. Which is why it was such a big shock during orientation week at college and why it took me still another couple of years to feel OK about it.

My HS was very rural & similar to yours, I think, Sarah.

I read My Sister's Keeper as well per my mom's recommendation. I will refrain from comment until you are done though as I hate it when I'm reading something & people comment on it. Shadows my own reactions, I think!

I'm actually back on my "reading the bible" kick. I just finished genesis a couple of nights ago & am on exodus now.

I'm reading A Bend in the River by V.S. Naipaul, but I think I'm going to stop because I'm having to force myself to pick it up and that generally means I don't want to read it.

I'm reading this, and it has the ability to put me in a weird but not unpleasant headspace. After a few chapters of decay and rebirth, everything else in the world starts to seem much lighter. Or heavier... I can't decide. I curled up with it Saturday and put on The Disintegration Loops... perfect match.

I have a couple of other books out from the library but I don't feel like reading those either ... maybe I just have too much other stuff I feel like doing right now.

There are lots of stories from people who lived through child labor, the Depression, union strife, and the like in the book. Lots of them were living in Chicago, of course. People were hard back in the day! It makes me feel like a waste of space.

I was also reading Barbara Kingsolver's Animal, Vegetable, Miracle which I have been adoring, but I set it down because I got caught up in sewing books & turned to those at night instead of Babs. I should start that again...

Oooh! Leaf ordered me a new laptop today!!! and, since he's a student, I get an ipod nano for free!!!!! I'm so excited!

I have a bunch of her books waiting to be read. (I've only read Poisonwood)

I know, right? I felt the same way when reading that Jon Savage "Teenage" book, about the gangs of orphaned preteens living on the streets of New York during the Depression, or the Hitler Youth, who were basically in the military by the time they were 12. This actually kind of ties in to Superbad because I was talking to Sarah and Ben yesterday about how there are so many movies in our generation, especially over the past five - 10 years that are about how horrible it is to be a teenager (ie Squid and the Whale, Kids, even Fast Times at Ridgemont High). Part of the development of this type of movie is tied to the growing acceptance of portrayals of teenage sexuality/drug use/whatever in movies, as well as the fact that the concept of the "teenager" per se didn't even exist until like 1950. But also I just think that people of our generation are putting more and more emphasis on the importance of their teenage years, which is strange, because as Dan points out, having "teenage years" is a total luxury and a very recent development.

That was a response to dan's post.

I just finished The Little Friend by Donna Tartt and now nothing else sounds good. I normally avoid "quirky Southern family" books like the plague, but this one was worth it and I was able to overlook the "bunch of crazy aunties" theme for the most part.

I tried to read Jeanette Winterson's entry into that myth series, Weight, but I hated it and stopped. Now I am aimless.

In high school I hung out with lots of nerds who were having sex.

(see also, me)

We are learning a lot about life today.

Everyone is different, and that's ... ok.

jordan when u come to chicago?

You can't talk about the increased attention being paid to teenagers without discussing the delayed adulthood issue: the extension of the "teenage years" into college, past college and almost pushing 30 is a pretty strange phenomenon and a luxury most people the world over can't afford.

Very true.

I don't know! Maybe on a weekend in Sept. or Oct., after I'm done moving and stuff.

he extension of the "teenage years" into college, past college and almost pushing 30

I'm shooting for 40, myself. PROGRESS

OMG, I was at Broadway Antique Mart the other day and found an issue of Chicago magazine from April 1979. I spent like 20 minutes just reading the restaurant reviews, which were fascinating. I mean, restaurants in Chicago open and close all the time, so it was interesting to see what was around 30 years ago. There were only a few that I recognized: Geja's, La Creperie, and Nick's Fishmarket, maybe another I'm forgetting. But the rest have been lost to the sands of time. I liked being able to see that where Chicago Ale House now stands (at Lawrence and Leavitt) there was a Serbian place. Also several Japanese restaurants around Belmont and Clark. Unsurprisingly, no reviews at all for restaurants in Wicker Park/Bucktown/Logan Square.

I was actually surprised that there were several Thai and Indian restaurants in 1979 (actually, Gaylord's was another place that's still around), but reading the descriptions made it clear that the cuisines weren't quite known quantities yet. Almost all of the reviews of Indian places highlighted the Mullagatawny soup, which made me wonder if that was one of the only Indian dishes Westerners were familiar with back then. One review mentioned "a thick puffy bread called nan." A review of a Japanese restaurant cautioned diners to "avoid the seaweed, unless you're already familiar with it."

Prices were amusing, too. The prix fixe at Geja's (which nowadays is around $50) was "between $10-$15." Another review, of what looked like a relatively moderate place, noted approvingly that all entrees were "under $4.25."

I'd have bought the magazine, but it was like $15. :(

I just finished The Little Friend by Donna Tartt and now nothing else sounds good. I normally avoid "quirky Southern family" books like the plague, but this one was worth it and I was able to overlook the "bunch of crazy aunties" theme for the most part.

Have you read The Secret History? Because I loooooved The Secret History but have been avoiding The Little Friend because I heard it wasn't as good.

I keep confusing The Secret History with that Diane Ackerman book I loathed. At least, I think I do . . . I'd should see the cover.

JORDAN! Come to Chicago the weekend after labor day! I will buy you a beer!!!

At our party!

I loooooooooved the Secret History and did the same thing with the Little Friend, but then I gave in and am very glad I did. It's not a book about privileged college students, but it has the same engrossing quality and perfect balance of plot and character. I loved it!

that would have been cool to have ... my parents were living in chicago then

xxxps to john's magazine post

currently reading: DFW, <I>Consider the Lobster</I> (the big essay on the politics of dictionary-making is interesting but sloggy)

on deck: Ian McEwan, <I>On Chesil Beach</I> (just loaned to me, looks short)

want to read: the new Samuel Delaney novel (looks like an alternate history autobio?!)

xpost

Where is your party? That is actually a free weekend for me.

so many movies in our generation, especially over the past five - 10 years that are about how horrible it is to be a teenager (ie Squid and the Whale, Kids, even Fast Times at Ridgemont High)

These movies are, respectively, 2, 12, and 25 years old.

You can't talk about the increased attention being paid to teenagers without discussing the delayed adulthood issue: the extension of the "teenage years" into college, past college and almost pushing 30 is a pretty strange phenomenon and a luxury most people the world over can't afford.

This is a very good point, and I wonder if the focus on teenagers comes from adults still trying to live like teens but growing nostalgic for a time when that kind of lifestyle was still fresh and unburdened with actual adult responsibilities. In the past, adults may have been wistful for their teenage years but understood them as a necessary stage on the path to adulthood.

September 8th - a Saturday - and Sarah's birthday is the night before. It could be a GIANT PARTY WEEKEND.

on a totally unrelated aside: wii boxing is a phenomenal workout. I am sore today from kicking ass.

that would have been cool to have ... my parents were living in chicago then

What neighborhood were they in? I'm really fascinated by what Chicago was like 10, 20, 50 years ago. Just thinking about how streets that I walk down every day must have looked totally different not even that long ago.

I send you an evite, I believe (xpost to Jordan)... actually, everyone should have received one so let me know if you didn't.

they lived near belmont, my dad had his work in a gallery right at the belmont el stop