Disaster strikes

I never, ever leave home without my iPod. I must have music with me at all times. It allows me to be in my own little world. To block things out. Such as annoying people on the train.

Today, I left my iPod at home, and I didn't realize it until I was on the L platform. If I hadn't already paid my fare I would have turned around and gone home to get it. But, alas, I was on the platform, and the little announcement which says, "Attention customers, and inbound train, toward the Loop, will be arriving shortly," was playing, so I had to stay.

At first it wasn't too bad. I live toward the end of the line, so there aren't many people on the train yet. And to be fair, there weren't a whole lot of annoying people I needed to block out on my trip to work.

Except for one. I had one of the single seats at the back of the car, the ones that face the aisle. The dude sitting across from me not only had his headphones on and the volume jacked way up (making me insanely jealous as I had no musical accompaniment for my trip downtown), but to rub his music in my face he was playing air guitar. It would have been much easier to ignore him if I would have had my own music. But no.

Tidbits

--Sunday we had a late lunch at Moody's Pub. We sat in the beer garden, which has to be one of my favorite places to hang out. It's so laid back and peaceful. The Anchor Steam beer was pretty good, too.

--It is so hot and steamy and sticky and gross outside. Yet yesterday there was a cool breeze coming off the lake near my home. It felt so weird to be really hot, then feel a cool gust. I almost felt like I do when I'm sick and have a fever, hot and cold at the same time.

--I really wish Flight of the Conchords were going to be at Lollapalooza. That would make me happy. Oh well.

Chicago Blackhawks draft party

It's much more fun watching the NHL entry draft surrounded by people who actually care than watching it by myself or with my indifferent boyfriend.

Last night my friend Angela and I went to the United Center for the Blackhawks draft party. The broadcasting team, as well as Denis Savard, Mark Hardy, and Jack Skille were there. The entry draft was shown on the Jumbotron. There were interviews via satellite with their first pick, Patrick Kane, and Dale Tallon.

I wonder if they will do this every year, or if this year was special because the Blackhawks had the first pick.

See, this is bad. Stuff like this gets me excited for a hockey season that's still several months away. It raises my hopes, which are ultimately dashed within the first two months of that season. Oh well, I'm a Blackhawks and Cubs fan, I'm used to disappointment.

A new level of CTA grossness

I am posting this from my seat on the Red Line. Apparently whoever had this seat before me was practicing some personal hygiene because there are some toenail clippings on the floor.

No problem when there's a problem

Do people in other major cities have trouble when they call 911? I've seen in movies, I've read horror stories. Someone calls 911. They get put on hold. The ambulance/fire truck/police car takes forever to arrive and it's too late.

Are these occurrences common? Because every time I've had to call 911 I've never had a problem. The phone doesn't even ring, they just pick up. I have *never* been put on hold. I've never called 911 for the police so I can't speak to that, but the fire department has always arrived in mere minutes. They always show up way sooner than I have anticipated. They have always been courteous. They've always done a good job.

I hope that is the norm.

Say Cheese!

If Tim and I lived in Oak Park, we would spend a lot of money at the Marion Street Cheese Market. They have interesting cheeses, wines, and beers, as well as crackers and condiments. It's not the biggest store in the world with the hugest selection, but we were allowed to try the cheeses before we bought them, so that was cool. We thought that, after having a really big lunch, that having some cheese and a light white wine would be a nice evening snack instead of having a heavy dinner.

I spent the weekend at the home of my father and stepmother, and I avoided going outside at all costs. Cicadas everywhere. It was gross. Dead ones all over the sidewalk. Ick.

I generally want to keep this blog positive, but...

...sometimes living in the city means dealing with dumb people. And since this blog is about my life in Chicago, well, sometimes the stuff about dumb people has to be included.

I have already gone off about how I feel about some tourists. Today I will talk about some people who I think are Chicago natives, though I guess I could be wrong about that.

On Wednesday afternoon I was walking west on Chicago Ave., from the Red Line stop towards work. As I finished crossing Rush Street, I saw a woman on a bike coming around the corner from Rush onto Chicago. On the sidewalk. It was a regular bike with one of those tandem bike attachments on which sat a little girl, who I assume was her daughter. On the sidewalk. Following closely behind her was a little boy on another bike, who I assume was her son. He was on a much smaller bike, one that I think still had training wheels.

The turn onto Chicago Ave., still on the sidewalk. Mom manages to easily get through all of the people on that block and race over the Michigan Ave., where she was stopped by a red light. Her son, however, was trying not to get in pedestrians' way and not cut them off. And there were a lot of pedestrians. American Girl Place is on that block, and there is always a crowd of people in front of that place (it really deserves its own post), and so is the Ralph Lauren store and restaurant. The restaurant has outdoor seating, which narrows the sidewalk right there.

I'm sorry, but there shouldn't be bicycles on the sidewalk on that block. It's against the law, isn't it? I'm glad a mother wants to go bike riding with her children, but that is not the apporpriate place for it. Walking down the sidewalk on that block is difficult enough when there aren't cyclists.

Now I have to be the decider

The Lollapalooza schedule is now out. I have just under two months to decide who I want to see. This is going to be tough!

First thing's first. My greatest fear was that Muse and Iggy and the Stooges would be on stage at the same time. Outside of Pearl Jam, these are the two bands I'm most excited about seeing. There was no way I was going to be able to pick between them, and now I don't have to because Muse plays on Saturday and Iggy and the Stooges play on Sunday. Hooray!!! I was looking foward to seeing Interpol, but not enough to choose them over Muse. There are a few tough calls for me, however.

MIA or Silversun Pickups? They only overlap by a half hour, so I could catch the first half of MIA's set and the second half of Silversun Pickups' set. Hmmm.

G. Love & Special Sauce or Blonde Redhead?

Pete Yorn or Tapes 'n Tapes?

Paolo Nutini or Blue October?

!!! or Peter Bjorn and John? I'm leaning toward Peter Bjorn and John, but so far only by a hair.

My Morning Jacket or Modest Mouse? I'm leaning toward Modest Mouse, but again, I could go either way.

I think that if Tim feels strongly about seeing one of these bands I will use that to break the tie. Or maybe I just need to spend a whole weekend only listening to the artists I can't decide between.

I'm so excited though. EEEeeeeeeeeeee!

Edited to add: Apparently I missed the only true "Oh my gosh who do I choose?" scenario that may actually cause me disappointment. Snow Patrol or Yeah Yeah Yeahs? Ugh.

A day at the park

I've decided that Millennium Park is one of my favorite places in Chicago. I don't go there very often, but every time I go I love it more and more.

On Saturday I went to the park to participate in World Wide Knit In Public Day. It was great to see so many people sitting in the park knitting. And from our vantage point, the people watching was fantastic!

We were above the Crown fountain area, and it is so fun watching the children play in it. It really seems like the happiest place on earth. All sorts of people were walking past us. Old and young, families and friends, people of all ethnicities. There were so many different people all congregating in the same place. Everyone looked happy.

Oh, and the ice cream was great!

Do you knit?

This Saturday, June 9, is World Wide Knit In Public Day. The Chicago gathering is in Millennium Park (if it rains it will move to the Chicago Cultural Center). I plan to be there.

I've got nothing to say but it's okay

Taken 5/2/07 in the park next to my apartment.

And of course Henry the Horse dances the waltz!

This morning I listened to a podcast from All Songs Considered in which the host discussed the recent 40th anniversary of the release of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. He talked about hearing the album for the first time as a kid and what the album has meant through the years. He also described putting the album on in his car, and driving around to see where he would end up when the final chord of "A Day In the Life" was hit.

I thought that sounded like a good idea, so I got in my car and randomly drove around. I hit Diversey and decided to take it further west than I normally do, then turned south on Naragansett, and then headed back east on Fullerton. I discovered a Pollo Campero restaurant, which I have decided I must try one of these days. Sometimes it's fun to get out and check out neighborhoods you normally have no reason to see.

In case you were wondering, the final chord of "A Day In the Life" hit when I was passing Riis Park.

Random sight: Northwest corner of Michigan Ave. and Pearson

Tony and Tina were handing out invitations to their wedding, decked out in their wedding clothes.

Isn't it bad luck for the groom to see the bride in her wedding dress before the wedding?

Grease is the word

Last night my friends and I went to the Music Box Theatre to see Sing-Along Grease. I have to admit that I have loved the movie Grease since I was a little girl, so I knew I would love it. The host got us warmed up by singing a little, the organist was dressed in drag, and there was a costume contest where the winner was a woman dressed as Kenicke with a bun in the oven! We were given little bags when we entered the theater with things we were supposed to use during the film (I won't say what they were in case someone is going and doesn't want to know yet).

I wondered how the film would be subtitled. It didn't have the dancing ball that bounced over the words, which I had expected. Nor was it like karaoke. The subtitles just looked like any other subtitles in a foreign language film. Any possible thing that could be sung was subtitled, including "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" after the race at Thunder Road.

My friends and I had a great time. If you like Grease I highly recommend going. It's only showing until June 3.