Prangster in Chicago

These are from across the street

Top things I like about living in America:

1. Hulu.com
2. This little boutique down the road called the Gap that's always on sale
3. Drive-thru ATMs because it seems necessary, but also unnecessary
4. Potbelly chicken salad salad
5. Potbelly chocolate oatmeal cookies
6. Online stores with free shipping and free return shipping
7. The fact that there are two places I can buy great fries on my block until 10pm at night
8. Trader Joe's fresh mozzarella cheese
9. Cheap magazine subscriptions (even if I only read my mags at Borders now)
10. Mmm, that's all

It's macro time

Yesterday was Memorial Day -- the first public holiday my company has observed since the start of 2008 -- and it was the best Monday of 2008 so far. If Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt gave birth to a public holiday, trust me, it would look like yesterday. The weather was amazing. It was sunny. It was warm. I wore a sleeveless shirt and sunglasses. The temperature was 83F, which is maybe 26 or 27 Celcius, I'm not really sure. But it doesn't matter, because all you need to know is this: it was perfect.

I spent the better part of the afternoon at a grassy park near the lake. I was lying down under a tree. I read GQ. I think I fell asleep at one point. I also took some photos with the macro setting. Have a look.

This is me holding a stick. While I was at the grassy park, this was my stick. To point at things with. To wave around. I took a photo of this stick with the macro setting, which is why it's all clear and the leaves behind it (above it, actually) are all blurry. Macro setting rules. (That's right. I'm pretending to give you a photography lesson right now. Just play along, please.)


Macro setting is so awesome, it even makes random trash -- like this peanut packet from Southwest Airlines -- look amazing. Oh, my hand. It's so white! And the scary thing is it was that white before I even did the auto contrast thing in Photoshop!


So here it is. The ultimate: my hand using macro setting. Okay, class dismissed.

1. I haven't once used the microwave or oven in my kitchen since I moved in.

2. I threw out a bag of recyclables last weekend. And my head has already been lowered in shame. I threw that stuff out because my new building management has replaced the recycling bins with regular bins, and I recently heard that Chicago is stopping the "blue bag" system. (Is this true?) I thought about taking them to the office to throw into the recycling bins there, but I'm not sure how professional it is to lug a bag of very clinky Miller High Life glass bottles to work. I guess the bottom-line excuse is the recycling stuff started to smell. And that's not good in a small studio like mine.

3. Jessi and I are working together on freelance projects for this company. Actually this isn't a confession. It's just news. Maybe I'll write more about it later.

4. I've complained about my pro bono Taproot team. Or really, it's just one person. Everyone else knows their stuff but this one person is an idiot of Homer Simpson proportions.

FYI, the non-profit client I'm working with is an organization called Communities in Schools of Chicago. They're a really worthwhile group who are helping Chicago kids stay in school. I hope the end result of our work helps them get more press, more donations, more support, and ultimately, helps them reach more schools and students.

5. It's Saturday. It's a long weekend (Memorial Day is on Monday). And I haven't yet left the house or even changed out of my pajamas...

6. Last night I watched an episode of "Party of Five" on Hulu.com.

The girls...with our Sapporo Lights at Oysy on Michigan Ave.

Left to right: Elizabeth, Brinky, me, Jessi and Katie.

On Friday, Jessi, Elizabeth and I went out for impromptu post-work margaritas at Zapatista. The weather was way too nice not to. Here they are, looking so curious and thoughtful. Is it just me, or is the pointed finger pose the white people equivalent of the Asian peace sign?

I keep thinking today's Monday because I've been away from the office for two days and that usually happens because it's the weekend, but no, today is only Thursday. However it's not any boring old Thursday because one year ago today -- on May 15, 2007 -- I arrived in Chicago! Yep, I landed at O'Hare with my 7 suitcases (or was it 8?) exactly twelve months ago. And I have to say, it's pretty nice here. I like you, Chicago. You like me too, right?

Anniversaries aside, I want to write a little about my work trip.

On Monday, our client at work asked me to fly out to her company's corporate campus in upstate New York and sit in on this leadership conference they put together every year. It's a one-and-a-half day conference for pretty high-up female executives and their pretty high-up female customers. And they get a bunch of amazing speakers together. It's really very cool. So I got to go over there and basically listen in, be a fly on the wall.

To summarize the experience: three quarters was like watching an issue of Fortune Magazine come to life; one quarter like an episode of Oprah. (I reference Oprah because during the Q&A time for one speaker, one of the conference attendees started to cry, and another time, there was a breast cancer bonding moment.)

The networking side of it though, was really painful. In the words of the company's CEO who said this in response to the media backlash about their Q1 earnings: "It's like food poisoning. It's 3am. It's over when it's over." So no, I didn't enjoy it at all. It was the social equivalent of being in a room with over a hundred 16-year-olds at a cheerleading camp. Not much common ground. No one who would've wanted to talk about Iron Man. Lucky for me, Jess and Ray drove up from Manhattan to have dinner with me on Tuesday night. And we had so...much...fun.

I haven't posted in about two weeks, which is possibly the longest stretch I've gone without throwing up at least a photo or two. Thing is, the weather suddenly got cold again this week and it was painful -- so painful -- to think about having to put on my stupid black puffy jacket. So I didn't, and I've been cold. And I've been in no mood to post. Forgive me, blog.

Today I went to get yum cha (dim sum) in Chinatown for lunch. It was my first time having yum cha in Chicago, if you can believe it. I went with Randy, Chris (who's in town visiting from Cleveland) and their Northwestern friend, Vilas. We ate at Shiu Wah (at the recommendation of my coworker Katie) and ordered a lot of food. Really a lot. For some odd reason, I kept up with the guys and ate my share of the portions so by the end of the meal, I'd completely shut down. My body needed to mobilize all of its resources and energy to my stomach to break down and process all the delicious food. It was so delicious I now feel dumb for not having gone sooner. And between the four of us, the entire meal only cost $40 plus tip. After lunch, we all had to immediately disband to go home and take naps.

I got back at 3:30 and woke up four hours later. Right now, it's 9:15 and I'm still not hungry. That's the magic of late yum cha.

Before I go, I need to write about my ridiculous dream last night. I went to a deli and bought two items. One of them was some prosciutto, I remember. And the store charged me $3000 for the two things! I was like, "What! Are you kidding me?" but they were serious. And because they'd already packaged it up, they wouldn't let me not pay. The only alternative was to have $3000 in store credit at this deli. Jess was working behind the counter and she said it happened to her once too. Then I ran into my cousin Christine, who had just paid $2000 for some PASTA. I asked her, "How can you pay $2000 for pasta?!" and she replied, "It's really delicious, cous!" My god, it was a frustrating dream. The only reason it ended was because Randy called about yum cha.

Also, last weekend we went to see Iron Man. I gave it 5 stars. And ate at J Alexander's. I got explosive diarrhea the next day so that's another reason why I haven't posted in so long...

I must confess

1. I haven't once used the microwave or oven in my kitchen since I moved in.

2. I threw out a bag of recyclables last weekend. And my head has already been lowered in shame. I threw that stuff out because my new building management has replaced the recycling bins with regular bins, and I recently heard that Chicago is stopping the "blue bag" system. (Is this true?) I thought about taking them to the office to throw into the recycling bins there, but I'm not sure how professional it is to lug a bag of very clinky Miller High Life glass bottles to work. I guess the bottom-line excuse is the recycling stuff started to smell. And that's not good in a small studio like mine.

3. Jessi and I are working together on freelance projects for this company. Actually this isn't a confession. It's just news. Maybe I'll write more about it later.

4. I've complained about my pro bono Taproot team. Or really, it's just one person. Everyone else knows their stuff but this one person is an idiot of Homer Simpson proportions.

FYI, the non-profit client I'm working with is an organization called Communities in Schools of Chicago. They're a really worthwhile group who are helping Chicago kids stay in school. I hope the end result of our work helps them get more press, more donations, more support, and ultimately, helps them reach more schools and students.

5. It's Saturday. It's a long weekend (Memorial Day is on Monday). And I haven't yet left the house or even changed out of my pajamas...

6. Last night I watched an episode of "Party of Five" on Hulu.com.

Lunch with Jessi on her second last Friday

The girls...with our Sapporo Lights at Oysy on Michigan Ave.

Left to right: Elizabeth, Brinky, me, Jessi and Katie.

My umbrella went on vacation. Can you guess where?

Keep 'em coming

On Friday, Jessi, Elizabeth and I went out for impromptu post-work margaritas at Zapatista. The weather was way too nice not to. Here they are, looking so curious and thoughtful. Is it just me, or is the pointed finger pose the white people equivalent of the Asian peace sign?

Sleeping city

One year down

I keep thinking today's Monday because I've been away from the office for two days and that usually happens because it's the weekend, but no, today is only Thursday. However it's not any boring old Thursday because one year ago today -- on May 15, 2007 -- I arrived in Chicago! Yep, I landed at O'Hare with my 7 suitcases (or was it 8?) exactly twelve months ago. And I have to say, it's pretty nice here. I like you, Chicago. You like me too, right?

Anniversaries aside, I want to write a little about my work trip.

On Monday, our client at work asked me to fly out to her company's corporate campus in upstate New York and sit in on this leadership conference they put together every year. It's a one-and-a-half day conference for pretty high-up female executives and their pretty high-up female customers. And they get a bunch of amazing speakers together. It's really very cool. So I got to go over there and basically listen in, be a fly on the wall.

To summarize the experience: three quarters was like watching an issue of Fortune Magazine come to life; one quarter like an episode of Oprah. (I reference Oprah because during the Q&A time for one speaker, one of the conference attendees started to cry, and another time, there was a breast cancer bonding moment.)

The networking side of it though, was really painful. In the words of the company's CEO who said this in response to the media backlash about their Q1 earnings: "It's like food poisoning. It's 3am. It's over when it's over." So no, I didn't enjoy it at all. It was the social equivalent of being in a room with over a hundred 16-year-olds at a cheerleading camp. Not much common ground. No one who would've wanted to talk about Iron Man. Lucky for me, Jess and Ray drove up from Manhattan to have dinner with me on Tuesday night. And we had so...much...fun.

Dear blog, how are you?

I haven't posted in about two weeks, which is possibly the longest stretch I've gone without throwing up at least a photo or two. Thing is, the weather suddenly got cold again this week and it was painful -- so painful -- to think about having to put on my stupid black puffy jacket. So I didn't, and I've been cold. And I've been in no mood to post. Forgive me, blog.

Today I went to get yum cha (dim sum) in Chinatown for lunch. It was my first time having yum cha in Chicago, if you can believe it. I went with Randy, Chris (who's in town visiting from Cleveland) and their Northwestern friend, Vilas. We ate at Shiu Wah (at the recommendation of my coworker Katie) and ordered a lot of food. Really a lot. For some odd reason, I kept up with the guys and ate my share of the portions so by the end of the meal, I'd completely shut down. My body needed to mobilize all of its resources and energy to my stomach to break down and process all the delicious food. It was so delicious I now feel dumb for not having gone sooner. And between the four of us, the entire meal only cost $40 plus tip. After lunch, we all had to immediately disband to go home and take naps.

I got back at 3:30 and woke up four hours later. Right now, it's 9:15 and I'm still not hungry. That's the magic of late yum cha.

Before I go, I need to write about my ridiculous dream last night. I went to a deli and bought two items. One of them was some prosciutto, I remember. And the store charged me $3000 for the two things! I was like, "What! Are you kidding me?" but they were serious. And because they'd already packaged it up, they wouldn't let me not pay. The only alternative was to have $3000 in store credit at this deli. Jess was working behind the counter and she said it happened to her once too. Then I ran into my cousin Christine, who had just paid $2000 for some PASTA. I asked her, "How can you pay $2000 for pasta?!" and she replied, "It's really delicious, cous!" My god, it was a frustrating dream. The only reason it ended was because Randy called about yum cha.

Also, last weekend we went to see Iron Man. I gave it 5 stars. And ate at J Alexander's. I got explosive diarrhea the next day so that's another reason why I haven't posted in so long...