Sweet Home Chicago

In what respect, Charlie?

2008-11-06T11:24:00.002-06:00

It always feels nice to be vindicated.

Apparently, Sarah Palin said many, many things off the record during the campaign, which are now starting to be revealed.

Today's gem? Gov. Palin didn't know that Africa is a continent, not a country, and she was unable to name the countries that make up the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA). Scary.

Yes, we did.

2008-11-05T10:08:00.002-06:00

Thanks to millions of donors and hundreds of thousands of volunteers...

Thanks to one amazing candidate and President-elect...

Thanks to the audacity of hope...

And most of all, thanks to millions of Americans who reached out and voted for hope, change, and a better America.

Fine lines

2008-10-27T15:16:00.001-05:00

This just puts it so nicely -

M is for makeup ($5000 worth)
A is for artist ($22,000 for two weeks work)
V is for vetting (epic fail!)
E is for eating crow. Enjoy reputhuglicans! NOM!
R is for going rogue.
I is for I can’t wait for election day.
C is for what McCain is surely muttering every time he hears her name mentioned.
K is for killing the ticket.

Thanks you mavericky mavericks!!!

(via Wonkette's comment section)

Amadeus

2008-10-09T15:15:00.003-05:00

Theater season has started again!

Our first tickets of the year were at the Chicago Shakespeare Theater to see Amadeus. As usual, the theater and its ensemble did not disappoint!

The tale of Salieri's ambition, jealousy, and self-centered obsession with the destruction of Mozart was well-told. The actor playing Salieri was magnificent both in his obsessive rantings as an elder Salieri, and his duplicitous dealings as a contemporary of Mozart. And the actor playing Mozart made him a sympathetic character - not easy to do while also conveying the composer's over-the-top personality flaws.

All in all, an enjoyable evening. We're looking forward to the remaining plays in this season (Twelfth Night and Macbeth) - both scheduled for 2009.

Help Needed

2008-10-06T07:57:00.000-05:00

New Leash on Life is an all-volunteer dog fostering and adoption program here in Chicago. They do some great work (friends of ours have fostered three dogs - and ended up adopting two of them).

Right now, they're in the running to win $10,000 to help keep their good work going. Please take a moment, click on this link, and vote for New Leash on Life Chicago.

You can remain completely anonymous, and it's free! Thanks for helping New Leash on Life!

Ready on Day One?

2008-09-25T10:12:00.002-05:00

All along, Sen. McCain has been insisting that he is the candidate with the experience to be President of this country, that he's the one that will be "ready on Day One."

Oh, really?

Then why is he avoiding the scheduled debate this Friday with Sen. Obama? He claims it is so he can hurry back to Washington to help with solving the economic crisis. Never mind that he hasn't been back to Washington for a single vote in more than 5 months. Or that Congressional leaders have publicly stated that they don't need (or want) either Senator to come back off the campaign trail.

Looks to me like he's just scared that he won't look good in a debate where he has to admit to the American people that he would just continue the policies of the last administration. Especially since the topic of this debate is foreign policy, where he might have to defend his suggestion that we might be in Iraq for another 100 years.

And now the McCain campaign wants to delay Gov. Palin's debate with Sen. Biden, as well. Since there's no plausible connection between Palin and the proposed bailout being debated in Washington, this delay looks even more suspicious.

Coupled with her refusal to answer a single question from reporters, more than three weeks after she was named as the candidate for VP, it simply looks like she's not capable of handling the responsibilities of that office.

Looks more and more like neither of these two are, or would be, "ready on Day One."

Maybe this year?

2008-09-23T09:42:00.002-05:00

Congrats to the Cubs on winning the NL Central and securing home-field advantage throughout the playoffs! Maybe this year will finally be "next year"...

Go Cubs Go!

Timing

2008-09-21T10:52:00.002-05:00

In good comedy, timing is everything...

We get a lot of mail solicitations, especially (I think) because we are both members of the bar. On Friday, I received one that made me laugh out loud when I opened it.

The ad was from AIG's Private Client Group, and the opening text reads:

"Some Insurance Companies Respond to the Financial Consequences of a Disaster. We Help You Avoid Disaster Altogether."

I get the impression that their own marketing department doesn't read the news, let alone talk to the other branches of the company...

Talk to the animals....

2008-09-12T08:39:00.002-05:00

When my parents were here a few weeks ago, we visited the Lincoln Park Zoo. I really like the Zoo, and am always amazed that such a nice, large park/zoo is (1) free and (2) right in the middle of Chicago! It was a cooler day and had rained in the morning, so the animals were fairly active. (A nice change from their usual mid-summer sloth.)

The lions were debating who got to have the high points in their exhibit. I think this is the first we'd seen the male active since he reached adulthood.

The new(ish) gorilla and other primate exhibit is always neat to see. There are a couple of glassed-in areas (not shown) where the question always seems to be who is watching who: the apes, or the zoo visitors?

Even the herd animals were up and about!

You can't make this stuff up

2008-09-08T16:26:00.002-05:00

On the "she did what?" front today: Gov. Palin was mayor of Wasilla - a job which, she reminds us, had many responsibilities - from 1996 until 2002. Surely one of those responsibilities involves ultimate oversight of the police department?

Until they were prohibited from doing so by state law (signed by Gov. Knowles - D), the Wasilla police charged rape victims for the expense of and processing of a rape kit. Up to $1,200.

Ah, the champion of women's rights and family values strikes again...

O.M.G.

2008-09-03T21:43:00.003-05:00

I am watching Sarah Palin's acceptance speech. I believe, and I hope that all of my friends, cousins, relatives, and especially my niece, also believe, that I (or they) do not need to be uneducated, redneck, wingnuts to be successful women (or men, for that matter), whether in politics or otherwise.

The unmitigated gall of this woman is unbelievable, and I, for one, will be doing what I can to make sure she never resides in a larger city than Wasilla, AK.

I strongly encourage you to do the same. Support Barack Obama for our next President.

Schadenfreude

2008-09-01T17:49:00.001-05:00

Sometimes the Germans come up with exactly the right word.
Say, Schadenfreude.

Stunning

2008-08-29T12:17:00.004-05:00

Wow.

There goes McCain's knock that Obama is too inexperienced.

I certainly hope that disappointed Clinton supporters are too savvy to fall for this blatant attempt at pandering. I mean - really - the high school down the street from me would constitute half the population of the town she was mayor of...

Under the sea

2008-08-27T09:07:00.003-05:00

From planes to ships (and even a combine) - the past few weeks have been all about transportation for me!

My folks were in town to visit last weekend, and we made our first trip down to the Museum of Science and Industry. It was pretty cool!

We took the Coal Mine tour (explaining traditional and modern coal mining, particularly in Illinois), explored the Farming exhibits, and visited the massive model train exhibit (based on a "trip" from Chicago to Seattle).

Primarily, though, we toured the German U-505 submarine housed at the Museum. It was the only submarine captured in WWII, and recently the Museum constructed a massive underground hall to house it properly. The surrounding exhibits were informative and fairly cool in their own right.

The train exhibit.

U-505.

U-505 with torpedo.

My folks "driving" the absolutely immense harvester/combine.

Planes

2008-08-15T09:30:00.003-05:00

My three least favorite days to live in Chicago have officially started - the annual Air & Water Show. (The cats, by the way, agree with me.)

If I'm in the Loop, it both looks and sounds like the planes are going to crash into the buildings. The "officials" issue reassurances that the planes are not allowed to "buzz" the skyscrapers, but I don't think the pilots bother to read those. If I'm at home, the planes on several of the routes turn right over our neighborhood - and it sounds like they're about 10 feet over our deck.

At least it's only three days, and the air show times are somewhat limited. I can make it to Sunday evening!

Bandwagon?

2008-08-07T14:32:00.000-05:00

Even our cats are getting behind the Cubbies this year...

Climate change

2008-08-05T08:54:00.002-05:00

Another day, another 238,000 households without power. (We, fortunately, are not among them. As evidenced by the fact that I am posting to this blog.)

Anyone who is skeptical about the on-going climate change should visit Chicago this year (and try to get a good night's sleep...). We have had more thunderstorms - and more dramatic thunderstorms - than I can ever remember having in a single summer, anywhere I've lived. I would be more entertaining if they didn't tend to hit around 1 a.m., and weren't strong enough to blast us awake. I'll still take it over earthquakes, tsunamis, etc., though.

How's the weather in your neck of the woods?

The more things change...

2008-08-01T16:12:00.002-05:00

...the more they stay the same. It somehow feels very right to be rooting for the home team against That Team Up North. :-) And it was very satisfying to watch the Cubbies sweep the Brewers in Milwaukee - and take a 4+ game lead in the NL Central.

Of course, they then came back to Wrigley and promptly dropped one to the Pirates. I guess nothing's perfect!

Spring

2008-07-29T08:37:00.002-05:00

No, not the season. On Friday, we went out for my birthday to a restaurant we've wanted to try for some time (but just never seemed to get around to) - Spring.

Spring did not disappoint, despite the long anticipation! The food was very good - we had braised octopus and short-rib dumplings (appetizers) and skate wing over stuffed pasts and prawns with mushrooms (entrees). All very good, and followed by delicious desserts (dense chocolate mousse with chocolate-chili ice cream, and berry compote). Service was also good (there was a small mix-up with the bill, but it was corrected immediately).

All in all, a good birthday experience!

Reflections

2008-07-25T15:27:00.002-05:00

Birthdays are a good time to stop and reflect a little - where you've been and where you want to be going. Today's mine - and the time to reflect seems especially important this year. (And, no, it's not a "milestone" birthday....)

The coming weeks and months are going to see some significant changes in my personal and professional life - I'm excited, and more than a little nervous at the same time. On the one hand, it's exciting to start something new, to try something you've always wanted to try. On the other, it's somewhat nerve-wracking to take that first step without looking down to see if there really are steps there...

What makes you stop and reflect? Any changes coming up in your life? Drop me a line and let me know!

In passing...

2008-07-24T15:38:00.002-05:00

I absolutely needed to take this picture (and now post it) - even if it is probably only funny to folks who:

1) have seen the European country code stickers, and
2) grew up/spent time in the Tri-Valley area.

(Enlarge the picture if you can't read it...the tiny type at the bottom reads "Pittsburgh")

Return...

2008-07-22T08:41:00.003-05:00

So, it's been a somewhat crazy 6 months. I hope not to disappear like that again!

This past weekend, we spent a couple of hours at our neighborhood's Garden Walk. It's impressive how small City lots can be transformed into beautiful and/or restful garden sites! Here are a couple of our favorite pics from the day:

This first garden is tucked away in a backyard with a high fence. The koi pond is framed by the very tall juniper pictured - it's an amazing use of a very small space.

The second garden is practically underneath a turn of the El tracks. In addition to the pond pictured, there's also a stream that wends through the yard, a substantial vegetable garden, and a patio/gazebo with a built-in firepit. Nice! (and almost enough to counteract the rattling trains passing nearby...)

To arms...!

2008-01-31T07:28:00.000-06:00

One of the great things about living in Chicago is the access to cultural events.

Recently, we had the opportunity to see Saint Joan, performed by the Shaw Festival at the Shakespeare Theatre on Navy Pier.

It was a good production. The theater there is a wonderful setting (although, for this play they struck the thrust stage and had simply the main stage), and the acting, costuming, lighting, etc. were all well done. This was the first Shaw play I had seen, and I really enjoyed the play of words (there is a great deal of back-and-forth banter in his dialogue).

If you get an opportunity to see the play (or the movie - there appear to be a couple of versions), I recommend it!

Fire

2008-01-21T17:21:00.001-06:00

Exciting day on Friday - I wasn't feeling well, so I stayed home from work. About 2:30 or so, I noticed a fire truck outside. (Not that unusual - there's a station nearby, and we see them frequently.) Shortly thereafter, though, the one truck was joined by some of its friends - there really was a fire (across the street and down the block from us)!

That's not ash on the ground - it was just really cold (in the teens - it got down into the single/negative digits that night, and didn't recover until today).

Just a couple of trucks at first...

The mobile command unit was pretty cool. By the time the whole thing was over, there were a LOT of captains/lieutenants/etc. on the scene.

These pictures give a little idea of how much attention this fire got. There were fire trucks (I think we counted 4 ladders, 5 pumpers, and those were just the ones we could see), police cars, EMTs, the service truck for the firefighters and officers, and, of course, the mobile command unit. Our street was blocked off for two blocks to the east and at least 2-3 to the west.

Pretty impressive. Luckily, no injuries in the fire, though it looks like the building may be toast. (And the Trib is saying the fire started through misuse of a "heat gun" - be careful when you're deicing your locks or thawing your pipes!)

Land of Food!

2008-01-16T07:11:00.000-06:00

This was a complete eating-out weekend, at two very different restaurants...

On Saturday, we went to The Snail with Mike and Jenny. Great Thai food, BYOB place (which are just insanely popular here in Chicago - the BYOB part, not the Thai part, though there are lots of those, too).

After dinner, we went back to their place in Hyde Park, and played with their Wii, which was a lot of fun. We both had "Wii-elbow" the next day, though!

On Sunday, we went to Bistro Campagne with Brian and Maya (to celebrate their wedding and Bryan's birthday!). It's a great, semi-formal French restaurant in Lincoln Square. We have had great food and a great experience every time we've gone, but we tend to forget about it because it's a little out of our usual wandering grounds.

Monday was a welcome return to home-food!

How was your weekend?

New Year, Clean Slate

2008-01-10T07:20:00.000-06:00

Happy New Year everyone!

After recovering from both the Cubbies' not-unexpected decline at the end of the season, and the Buckeyes' amazing and certainly unexpected run to the National Championship, I've decided it's once again time to start blogging!

Check back in for updates as to what's going on in our lives and our neighborhood - I'll try to update at least once a week.

Wish me luck!

Believe

2007-10-03T07:36:00.000-05:00

NLDS starts tonight. (At 9pm local, only on cable - thanks, MLB.)

Go, Cubs, Go!

Storm pics

2007-08-31T07:00:00.000-05:00

Ok, we finally have (1) power and (2) Internet connection (though that's a little wonky still). I thought I'd put up some pics of last week's storm fallout. Our neighborhood was one of the harder hit, for some reason - though we got our power back within 48 hours, unlike some folks. Yay ComEd!

I have never been so happy we have a garage... (no, that's not our car!)

This is the street one down from our place. It wasn't cleared off until Monday (the storm was Thursday). There were a LOT of trees and branches down, at least around here.

A common sight as the city began its cleanup.

More photos!

2007-07-29T16:12:00.000-05:00

We also did some hiking while we were in Oregon (although less than we might have liked, since it was VERY hot while we were out there).

This waterfall was the highlight of one hike we took - and also where we stopped to have lunch (and turn around)! It was noticeably cooler near the water, where you could feel the spray and breeze blowing on you.

A beautiful lake surrounded by somewhat marshy fields. Notice how well the "keep out of this area" signs are working on the local populace...

On the waterfall hike, we passed through an area that had been burned in a forest fire a few years back. The dead trees were actually very impressive and, in some ways, beautiful. On many of the trees, the dead trunks had turned a silver-ish shade which was quite striking.

2007-07-27T19:04:00.000-05:00

One of my friend's blogs has a "spirit animal" test on it... an amusing way to pass a few minutes. And, amazingly, a way to look, however superficially, at what's important to you...

Your Score: The Cougar

Here's your results! Your spirit animal has a Nobility ranking of 13 out of 18.

Your spirit animal is the cougar. It is a stealthy and deadly protector. With a cougar as a spirit animal, you have nothing to fear in this world. Your life is blessed and you are on the right path. You will still have hard times, but you will pull through them, always stronger for your travails. Congratulations, few are fotunate enough to have such a spirit animal!

***Wondering how this animal was chosen for you? These questions were carefully thought out to see how important you hold certain virtues such as: humanism, self-knowledge, rationalism, the love of freedom and other somewhat Hellenic ideals. Some of the questions were very subtle. Your score was then matched with an animal of corresponding nobility. However, you shouldn't think this was a right/wrong sort of test, but more of an idealistic values test. It's ok to not hold these values, you'll just get an animal spirit of lower stature if you do!***

Link: The What is Your Spirit Animal Test written by FindingEros on OkCupid Free Online Dating, home of the The Dating Persona Test

Pictures!

2007-07-22T10:38:00.000-05:00

Ok, after much fighting with the wreck of a study closet (to find the photo software), and a bit of struggle with Vista (to install the software), I have photos of the recent trip to Oregon! Here are a couple to start with.

The view from the front yard. Amazing - and unbelievable to two City Kids (tm) that there are views like this from people's houses. :-)

The fish pond - a koi, a catfish, and a whole bunch of middling-to-small goldfish. It's very relaxing to watch the fish swim - and they're "trained" to come to the edge of the pond when they hear/feel feet approaching. Feeding frenzy!

Traveling

2007-07-10T21:35:00.000-05:00

We just got back from four days in central Oregon - lovely weather, if a little too hot for optimal vacation time. :-) We were out to visit Bryan's dad and step-mom, which is always nice. They have a lovely house in the middle of the high desert (which is quite the change from Illinois!).

We did do a little hiking, a little sitting by the pond, and a little wine drinking. I'll post pictures as soon as I manage to get the photo software working on my new computer.

Steamfresh

2007-07-01T20:29:00.000-05:00

If you like veggies - and can't get to the store all the time to get fresh ones - I highly recommend the Steamfresh veggies. I think they're BirdsEye - frozen, and 4 servings cook up in less than 5 minutes in the microwave. Leftovers reheat well, too. :-)

In other news, Cubs took 2 of 3 from the Brewers this weekend. We, of course, saw the one loss. We've decided we can't go see the Cubs again unless they've already clinched a playoff spot - or have been mathematically eliminated.

Have a good week!

Decision!

2007-06-27T07:08:00.000-05:00

I went out and got a new PC, after deciding against a Mac for a couple of reasons (price, ease of interface with work, and games, primarily). So now I'm in the slow process of trying to get the new computer all personalized and up to speed. :-)

I should have photo capability back in a couple of days!

Decisions...

2007-06-17T10:01:00.001-05:00

I'm in the market for a new computer. My current computer is making mysterious signals that probably foreshadow its demise, and I'd like to make the switch before then.

The only question remaining is: PC or Mac? And if Mac, when? (Has anyone heard anything about the rumors of a New and Improved iMac coming out?)

Decisions, decisions...

Visit

2007-06-14T07:06:00.000-05:00

This week is a catching-up week. We traveled back to Ohio this past week/weekend, to attend an amazingly boring and useless seminar (that was mandatory for maintaining my license), and to see family and friends.

The seminar was bad, but seeing people was very good! We got to, among other things, play with my niece and nephew for most of a lovely summer day. It was especially neat since my nephew is just hitting the age where he's developing a real personality - makes him fun to play with! (It was also Bryan's first time meeting him.)

Seeing the rest of the family was good as well, especially as Bryan's folks are off to the East for a combo business/pleasure trip to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. We're looking forward to seeing the pictures from their trip!

I can has cheezburger?

2007-05-14T07:12:00.000-05:00

This site is far more amusing than it really has any right to be. :-) I spent much time this weekend trying to decide what my favorite one was...

Fugue

2007-05-03T18:57:00.000-05:00

So, April is just the lost month.

If the weather holds this weekend, we should have new Chicago photos, though!

In other news, Bryan has moved on to a new assignment (Traffic). No more little darlin's - though given his career trajectory, he may yet see them again... So far, so good. He likes the co-workers, the working conditions, and we get to ride the train in to work together. (Not home, though. He is still a government employee, and I still am not.)

Hope you are all doing well!

If I Should Fall...

2007-03-09T06:34:00.000-06:00

Monday night, we went to see the Pogues in concert!

It was a great, very high energy show. The original band was all together, including Shane. (For those who don't follow the Pogues - Shane was the original lead singer - they had a falling out some years back and he had released a couple of solo albums.)

They performed most of my favorite songs from their albums. The one exception was that they didn't play "Fairytale of New York" - but since they don't seem to have a female member of the band at the moment, that would have been difficult. :-)

Great show - well worth feeling a little groggy at work the next morning!

Internet Freedom

2007-03-04T10:00:00.000-06:00

I've added a link (see the sidebar) to a website dedicated to preserving what is known as Net Neutrality.

There's a movement among Internet providers (such as Time Warner, Comcast, etc.) to charge content providers (such as ESPN, CNN, or me) to have access to the Net. Charges would determine how well a page would load, who might have access to it, or whether it would be part of the Internet at all.

The great utility of the Internet is the democratic access - the low barriers to both accessing and supplying information allow for a broad range of sites and viewpoints. While the current system isn't perfect (obviously excluding those without computers, for example), the proposed changes could dramatically alter the existing dynamic, allowing only the wealthy to have the ability to control what information is available over the Internet.

I encourage everyone reading this message to sign the petition on the linked site, and to encourage others to do the same. Let's keep the Internet open to (nearly) all comers!

Existance Failure

2007-02-22T07:01:00.000-06:00

It's not everyday you find out that you don't really exist...

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

... apparently, neither my first nor my last names are common enough for it to be possible that someone in the U.S. has that name. Ah, statistics!

Local food

2007-02-20T06:56:00.000-06:00

One of my favorite things about living in this neighborhood is all of the great places to eat! (And shop, and take care of almost everything else we need, but especially the eating.)

We're lucky enough to have an excellent restaurant right across the street from us - Turquoise Cafe. Of course, this might not be so lucky, as it means we want to eat there all the time.

Everyone we've taken there has also really liked it - so don't be surprised if we suggest it when you come to visit! :-)

Good read

2007-01-20T19:52:00.000-06:00

Wow - it's been a crazy couple of weeks! I need to make a little more time for blogging, or it will NEVER happen with the spring and summer I have ahead of me! :-)

My good read of the month is Sam Harris' "Letter to a Christian Nation." It's a short book, truly written as a letter, about how irrational thought - specifically, religion - puts modern civilization (democracy, civil rights, science) at danger. Well written, thought provoking - I highly recommend it to both the devout and those who are not.

(His website is at www.samharris.net, for the curious.)

Art!

2007-01-04T07:32:00.000-06:00

One of the things we're doing in our new place is buying some art. (We decided it was past time to do so...)

Something that made it easier is the existance of a cool art store in our new neighborhood, featuring local artists. We've already bought one piece there (pictured below), and intend to go back soon. They're currently closed for renovations, but should be open again soon!

Happy New Year!!

2007-01-02T17:05:00.000-06:00

Ok, so I'm a day late. Blame the New Year's Flu. :-) In any event, Happy New Year from our family to yours!

Merry Christmas!

2006-12-25T08:52:00.000-06:00

Hope you all have a very merry Christmas!

St. Goar

2006-12-14T07:01:00.000-06:00

It's been one of those weeks, so I thought I'd present a few more pictures from Germany. These are from our final stop - a little river town called St. Goar. (And this weekend, if we finish decorating, some more house pictures.)

A path through the woods, climbing up to the castle above the town.

Looking at the Rhine from halfway up the hill.

Two views of some of the castle. There's a portion of the castle that is in very good shape (in fact, it's been renovated into a very nice hotel), but this obviously isn't it. :-) It was fun to climb around in, though!

New school

2006-12-08T07:03:00.000-06:00

Finally, after more than three years in Chicago, we've found an aikido dojo we like! And it's less than a mile from our new place, so we can even walk there. (Although for weeknight classes, I end up going straight from work and walking from the El station.)

I am remembering, however (after a couple classes), how out of shape I am! I have sore spots where I don't even remember moving during class... but I also remember that this, too, shall pass - once I go to class regularly for a couple of weeks.

The dojo has a website if you're interested in seeing it. No pictures of the class space, though - which is a shame, because it's really nice.

Let it snow

2006-12-03T21:25:00.000-06:00

Well, after a week in downstate Illinois for a hearing, I raced the storm back to Chicago. We didn't get nearly the snow the forecasters said we would (of course), but I was still glad I didn't get caught out in it! Some pictures from Friday morning (out our front window):

And we're slowly getting settled in - one thing we've finished (functionally, anyway) is the guest room! Picture below:

Sable is watching for guests to come visit...

We even have a guest bathroom!

2006-11-23T09:02:00.000-06:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hope you all have a wonderful day - try not to let all that turkey put you to sleep!

Cochem

2006-11-22T08:27:00.000-06:00

More pictures of Cochem!

One of a whole flock of swans - it was chilly out, but still nice to walk down by the river.

Some of the many boats that travel the Mosel.

A ghostly look across the river in the morning.

GO BUCKS!

2006-11-19T16:18:00.000-06:00

What a game! It was so close, but there was never a feeling of nervousness at the bar we watched from - In Tressel We Trust! Now, on to Glendale!

And I'm thrilled to see that UM is still #2 in the BCS. A rematch would be amazing.

A few pictures from the new place -

Looking from our living room into a den-area.

Standing in the living room, looking at the steps up to our deck.

The living room.

Our kitchen (from the living room). Obviously, it's all still a work in progress... I'll keep posting pictures from time to time.

Les Beaujolais

2006-11-16T18:53:00.000-06:00

sont arrive! We're off to a friend's house this evening to celebrate the annual release of Beaujolais Nouveau - a French red wine intended to be drunk very young. Last year was fun - here's hoping this year's is as much fun!

In other news, I'm getting a lot of flak for being an OSU grad in a firm with many many more UM grads. I'm just hopeful that I'll be the one laughing come Monday!

Have a good weekend, all!

And GO BUCKS!

New home!

2006-11-14T07:21:00.000-06:00

We're closed (on both places), moved, and starting to get settled. I always forget how long it actually takes to unpack once you've moved...

We hope to have at least a couple of rooms ready for pictures by the weekend. In the meantime, here's some more Germany: After we left Trier, we settled in a little town on the Mosel named Cochem, and did some daytripping from there.

The view out our hotel window.

And down the street in front of our hotel... (the yellow building on the right is our hotel)

And down another street in Cochem. The white sign is in front of a Chinese restaurant, where we had one of the best Chinese meals I've ever had. Yum!

Moving!

2006-11-09T07:17:00.000-06:00

And we're off! The sale of our current place closed yesterday afternoon, and we're closing on our purchase in a couple of hours. Then the movers come (what fun!) and by tonight we should be in our new home!

No Internet for a little while - they sent my modem to my work address, and I won't be going in to get it until at least Saturday (and more likely, Monday).

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

GO BUCKS!

One more...

2006-11-05T20:49:00.000-06:00

... play, that is. Friday, we saw Shakespeare's Two Noble Kinsmen - small production, but nicely done. Yes, this is a lot of theater (even for us) - both of our subscriptions seemed to be front-loaded, but now we don't have tickets until Dec. 29.

In other news, we're moving on Thursday (with just a little luck - keep your fingers crossed for us!). We close on our sale Wednesday evening, and on our purchase Thursday morning - then move, and hand over the keys Thursday afternoon/evening. I'll post more when we know more!

Last day of Trier

2006-11-03T07:02:00.000-06:00

Just a few more random sights around the city of Trier...

An example of the housing in central Trier. Just off to the left of this picture is a wonderful restaurant/wine bar. Great food. They do a "traditional" Roman menu, too, but we didn't get a chance to try that.

A shot of the cathedral in Trier. Nowhere near as big or grand as the one in Koln, but still pretty impressive.

A shot inside the cathedral.

Looking down a lovely lawn (reminded us of Versailles on a smaller scale) toward what looks like a manor house but was actually a government building (Palace of the Elector, I think).

House update

2006-10-29T15:20:00.000-06:00

Well, we're (with any luck) gearing up to move in just under two weeks!

We're in contract both on our current place and on the place we're buying. The only hurdle remaining is having our buyers get the "clear to close" from their mortgage folks. (They called our attorney Friday and said all was well, but said the paperwork was backed up because of the end of the month rush. Aaargh!)

Assuming all goes as planned, we'll be moving on Nov. 9, and then taking the long weekend to try to settle in before heading back to work the following Monday. It'll be a very cool place - but I still hate moving!!

(Sorry no pictures - we were relying on the sellers' brochure, and when I tried to download the pics for this blog, I found out that they're somehow protected. We'll take pics as soon as we're in, though!)

Culture

2006-10-27T19:56:00.000-05:00

It's been a long week. But it had a good start!

Last Friday, we went to go see King Lear at The Goodman Theater. We have season tickets, and really enjoy it!

Stacy Keach (Yes, that one) was King Lear. And he did an amazing job. The King goes insane during the course of the play (and he's not the only one) and he does a believable job. (Not to mention that I think it was the first time I'd seen not one, but two men stark naked on stage. Amazingly tastefully done, though.)

More updates this weekend, I promise!

More Trier

2006-10-19T21:00:00.000-05:00

The Porta Nigra isn't the only Roman ruin in Trier. The city was a major northern Roman city, so there's a huge baths-structure, of which some remains. Here are a couple of pictures:

The city also came across a buried baths-structure when they were attempting to build a new parking structure. (An impromptu guide we picked up - who was helping us find Karl Marx's birth-home - pointed out that the city had then built a "very small" parking garage.)

And, as a result of the extensive Roman ruins, the city also has a lot in the way of Roman decor and statuary - which is housed in a neat museum. The photo below is an example of the Roman mosaics common in Trier (and throughout the Roman Empire) - which was thoroughly explained in the museum.

To be...

2006-10-16T21:51:00.000-05:00

(where did the weekend go?)

...or not to be...

Friday night, we saw a performance of Hamlet at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. Masterfully done - the actor playing Hamlet was one of the better I've seen in the role. The right mix of anger and petulance, as befits a Danish prince.

And the lighting and costumes were well done as well - minimal costumes, minimal sets. And as I've said before, not a bad seat in the house!

First play of the new season, and it was a good one!

Train to Trier

2006-10-11T21:01:00.000-05:00

After a few days relaxation in Koln, we hopped on another train and headed to Trier.

(Trains in Germany are great, by the way. Clean, fast, and affordable. I can't figure out why we can't do that here.)

Trier was a Roman city, and has many remnants of that history. One of the most obvious (and most impressive) is the Porta Nigra, or Black Gate. This huge gate was originally part of the city walls, but time (and opportunistic local rulers who used the walls as a stone quarry) have reduced the structure to just the gate.

Still very impressive! Here are a few picture of the Porta Nigra.

I Don't Like Mondays

2006-10-09T20:43:00.000-05:00

10 points to the first person to get the reference. :-)

We're closing in on both selling our current place and buying a new one. Just a few more kinks to work out - keep your fingers crossed for us! Both inspections went well - I'll post pictures once we're out of attorney review.

I'm too superstitious to do otherwise. :-)

Have a great week!

Koln

2006-10-05T07:20:00.000-05:00

We spent two nights in Koln - the first one largely spent recovering from a little jet lag on the way over. It's pretty easy to recover, though, when you're sitting in the balcony of a restaurant, with a fresh pint of local beer!

Here's the hotel we stayed at:
Das Kleine Stapelhauschen. It was very nice, and had a great little restaurant downstairs (with a good wine list, too).

We were very amused by the enormous pink David in Koln - it's right at the top of a walkway near the old town, next to a lovely outdoor space associated with a couple of museums and the symphony. (They had some kind of fancy reception there the first day we were in Koln.)

And this is Koln's dom, or cathedral. It was enormous - this photo gives you somewhat of an idea, but doesn't even begin to capture the scale of the building. Very impressive - and it's the first thing you see when you round the corner out of the train station.

We climbed up the bell tower in the cathedral - this photo is my proof I actually went all the way up. (Which was a little dicey for me - part of the trip was on open-weave metal stairs. Ick.)

Germany!

2006-10-01T16:26:00.000-05:00

We're back!

After two weeks in Rhineland Germany, we're back to the States and mostly over our jetlag. Not completely, but mostly. :-)

Germany was wonderful - we had great weather, and though we don't speak much German, we speak enough to be polite and most Germans speak at least a little English. (Not everyone, by far, but most.) It really makes you think about the mono-lingual status of most Americans...

Anyway. After flying into Frankfurt, we took the train to Koln/Cologne. Nice city - a fairly big city, but we stayed in the "old town" which was both entertaining and very manageable.

This is the train station we came into from Frankfurt - very nice, very modern, very easy to get around in.

This was taken along Koln's riverfront in the old town. Koln is a very young city, and it shows - lots of people 18-40 spending time walking, jogging, biking, rollerblading along the riverfront. You can occasionally be taking your life into your own hands to walk there!

A little touch of Koln's river traffic - the nostalgic sailing ship across the river, and the modern barge in the foreground. As you'll see in later photos, the rivers in Germany are still very much an active part of the economy - as well as being a great place to have fun!

Next... more Koln!

More running!

2006-09-09T14:43:00.000-05:00

Today was the Lung Run 5K - raising money for lung cancer research. And a nice way to get tired before a long airplane ride. :-)

We both did very well - personal records of 31:31 for me, and 23:35 for Bryan. Our next race is coming up Oct. 8, in our home neighborhood.

Should be a good time!

Less House

2006-08-30T21:36:00.000-05:00

Well, the contract fell through on that place. Too many demands from the sellers, too little willingness to fix, em, safety issues. So off we go again on the looking front!

In other news, we had two showings of our place tonight - it's been on the market since Monday night. :-)

Wish us luck!

More House

2006-08-28T19:32:00.000-05:00

Home inspections. I mean, I know this is why you do them, and no house is perfect. But still... I just keep telling myself - part of the process, part of the process, part of the process....

House!

2006-08-22T20:36:00.000-05:00

Well, we put in an offer on a house - and it was accepted! :-)

No photos yet - but we're going to do a home inspection on Sunday, so we'll take some then.

If all goes well, by Thanksgiving we should be in our new place!

Vent!

2006-08-17T06:36:00.000-05:00

No, no... not that kind of vent. DRYER vents! We had ours cleaned out yesterday - and I strongly advise everyone and anyone who hasn't done this recently to do so. I wasn't home, but Bryan said that the amount of lint the workers pulled out was amazing. (Of course, we have three stories of dryer vent, but still...)

On other fronts, the house search continues. We're headed out to look at about 8 more places this weekend, along with return trips to 2 places we liked from last weekend. I'll try and get some real photos this weekend - stay tuned!

Houses!

2006-08-14T21:16:00.000-05:00

What a great weekend! The weather was lovely, and we saw some great houses (that we can actually afford - wow!).

We're headed back out this weekend, and in the meantime, working like crazy to get this place ready to go on the market.

I'll put up some photos of likely contenders soon, but, well... we're having some technical difficulties at the moment.

Deep Breath

2006-08-10T21:00:00.000-05:00

Ok. So tell us we're not crazy.

We're looking to sell our condo and buy a single-family home in the Lincoln Square/Roscoe Village area. So we'll likely be closed and moved by Thanksgiving.

We're looking at places Sunday - I'll post some promising pictures then.

Wish us luck!

Rain?

2006-08-06T19:46:00.000-05:00

So, I was asking for rain? We got it.

First, Chicago got amazing thunderstorms, that finally broke the heat wave we've been having. Wonderful rain.

Second, our upstairs neighbor's water heater expired on Wednesday. Yep, 10+ gallons of water into our kitchen. It doesn't look like any real damage, thankfully, and she has a new water heater safely installed now.

We're talking to our realtor-friend, though - we're starting to feel cursed in this place!

Finally!

2006-08-01T20:54:00.000-05:00

After a month of busy times at work, and intermittent Internet access (no thanks to the lovely company that provides the service, and shall remain nameless), I'm back online!

The big news of the day is the heat - it's been over 97 everyday for what seems like forever now. (I suppose it's only a week or so, but still...) We are supposed to get thunderstorms sometime tomorrow, and that should break the heat. I can't believe I'm hoping for rain!

Run on!

2006-07-03T09:12:00.000-05:00

The race this weekend went well for both of us. Despite overcast skies (and a brief downpour while we were warming up), we managed to only be rained on a little during the actual race. It was a nice course, too - along Michigan Avenue and back up along the lakefront in the Museum Campus area.

Note for the future: the paint they use to mark the lines on a street is VERY slippery when wet. (Neither of us fell, but we both definitely noticed it!)

New PRs, too: 33:57 for me and 24:37 for Bryan. :-) I'm aiming at under 32 for the rest of this year, and under 30 before next Spring!

Hope you all have a wonderful 4th weekend!

If it's Tuesday...

2006-06-27T20:46:00.000-05:00

...it must be South Bend. :-)

It's been a travel-intensive couple of days. Last Wed/Thursday, downstate for an arbitration. Yesterday/today, as the title suggests, South Bend for a deposition. All in all, over 10 hours of driving in the last 6 days! Yipes! I'm ready for a break - good thing there's a 4-day weekend coming up.

On the road again...

2006-06-21T07:26:00.000-05:00

I'm off this morning to help with an arbitration down in Mattoon, IL. (It's almost an hour south of Champaign.) Should be interesting - the drive less so, but that's the price you pay!

Even better, I'll get to see what kind of fitness room my hotel has - I'm set for a run tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

Blooms!

2006-06-19T07:24:00.000-05:00

I love our Farmer's Market! In addition to a really great fruit stand (where the people know us now), there's also a tiny little florist who sells wonderful flowers. We bought some lilies from her a week ago, and she swore they were "two-week" blooms. And she was right! These pictures were taken yesterday, and the lilies are still going strong.

(Now if I can just keep the cats from nibbling on them....)

Results

2006-06-05T07:23:00.000-05:00

And, sure enough, I didn't have the best possible race, running with a cold. No PR this time, but I finished, which was in doubt around mile 2.5. (Time: 36:41.) Bryan did much better, finishing with a new PR of 24:39. I have confidence that I'll see a MUCH better time at our next race, though! (July 2, Grant Park.)

Tomorrow

2006-06-03T19:32:00.000-05:00

... we run another 5K! I'm still dealing with the dregs of this summer flu (or whatever the hell it is), but I managed a run today. So we picked up our race "goodie" bags and numbers, and I'll give it a try tomorrow. Not expecting a personal record, that's for sure!

Victory!

2006-06-02T07:24:00.000-05:00

No, not with any of my cases (not at the moment, anyway).

My victory of the moment is this: I managed to get an African violet to bloom again! It was one of those $1.99 specials at Home Depot, with pretty flowers when I bought it. I kept it after the blooms died off, because the greenery was pretty. And now, it has bloomed again! Apparently, sporadic fertilization, irregular watering, and plenty of sun are the keys to getting these things to flower again. Here's a picture, although it now has THREE flowers (and yes, I know it's grown to one side of the pot - I'll replant it once it's done flowering):

Culture...

2006-05-31T07:33:00.000-05:00

On the "we live in a great city with loads of opportunities, so let's take advantage of it" front - we had another show in our Goodman season ticket series Friday night. (We had a couple in April that we had to miss because of my work. Which was OK, because apparently the plays weren't very good anyway.)

The play was "The Clean House", and it was good - good acting, well-done sets and lighting (there was a skylight that transformed into a balcony as part of the set - unexpected, but well-done and effective), good story. The first act was stronger than the second, but all in all a well done show.

__

In other news, I'm going on Day 10 of this darn cold/cough thing. I'm really hoping it departs soon, because we have another 5K coming up on Sunday!

Hope you are all well - and avoiding this Springtime Flu that seems to be hitting everyone I know up here...

Memory Lane

2006-05-16T07:44:00.000-05:00

So I was reading through some of the blogs I regularly visit, and got a little trip down Memory Lane... the blogger had linked to the Mr. Yuk entry on Wikipedia. I, of course, had to play the Mr. Yuk theme song (no doubt irritating my cats) when I saw it was linked from the website.

The blogger had asked if anyone else out there remembered Mr. Yuk - I certainly do! I'm not sure if it is more a generational thing or a regional thing (Mr. Yuk originated out of Pittsburgh). Do YOU remember Mr. Yuk?

(On a side note - isn't Wikipedia great? I actually used it at work a few months ago, to explain "open source" to someone.)

Break

2006-05-08T07:29:00.000-05:00

Finally, a break! My insane-case has slowed down a bit, so I took Friday and Monday off for a little R&R - which has really helped! It doesn't hurt that it's been absolutely gorgeous here this weekend... much nicer to have time off when you can get out and enjoy it!

Yesterday, after a run along the lakefront, we spent the afternoon touring Lincoln Park (the neighborhood, not the park itself). One of the best things was seeing an open house for an adorable place - it's got us thinking about single-family homes again. :-) Not for a few years, but the plan is there!

Hope you are all doing well!

Race

2006-04-23T08:17:00.000-05:00

Despite my insane work schedule, we still ran our 5K yesterday. Both of us recorded new best times: I finished in 34:20 and Bryan finished at 24:50. A beautiful morning to run through Lincoln Park, too. We have another race scheduled on the same course June 4, and I at least am hoping (and training) for a much better time!

Of course, the whole experience just gave me even more respect for my cousin, who last week finished the Boston Marathon in 3:20. Congrats, John!!

So...

2006-04-17T07:11:00.000-05:00

So much for a more reasonable pace! :-) At least I got to enjoy some of what was an absolutely lovely weekend here in Chicago.

One of the things that has been taking up my time in the evenings is a new French class. We meet twice a week, and the class is taught entirely in French. I'm probably in too easy of a class right now, but it's giving me a refresher course in what I already know and filling in some small gaps in my basic grammar. (Plus, I've had to miss a couple of classes because of work... ) It should get more challenging in a couple of levels!

The class is a lot of fun, and I can already tell my French is improving. The eventual goal is fluency - that'll keep me busy for, oh, the next several years!

She lives!

2006-04-08T09:47:00.000-05:00

Well, folks, it's been a wild and crazy 4 weeks (and it's not quite over yet).

A little legal background: a Temporary Restraining Order (TRO) in the civil law context is an emergency form of relief, designed to keep a party from doing something to change the status quo while a lawsuit proceeds. We started an already-accelerated lawsuit (for an injunction - slightly longer-term than a TRO), when we realized that, because of circumstances, we needed to protect our client's interests with a TRO. We drafted. We redrafted. We filed. We argued. And we won!

So, the suit marches on to the injunction hearing, but we managed to protect our client for the time being.

And, this explains why I've not posted in so long. I've basically worked, slept, eaten, occasionally worked out, and spent a little bit of time staring at walls. :-) Not much time for blogging in all that.

But the pace should get a little more reasonable now, though still busy busy busy (the hearing is less than a month away).

Hope you've all been doing well!

Goals!

2006-03-19T20:15:00.000-06:00

A new goal - running a 5K on April 22. :-) We ran a local 5K last fall, and had a great deal of fun doing so... and since we can't really do martial arts now, we've taken up running as the best way to stay in shape. It'll take some adjusting - but the 5Ks should help motivate us!

Here's the race info: April 22 Race.

Bunnies!

2006-03-13T07:09:00.000-06:00

So there I was, sitting in a cab on the Expressway, coming home on Friday night after a long day at work. I look over at the grassy expanses that cover the sides of the on/off ramps, and see something moving. I tell myself, probably a rat. (After all, this is the middle of the city, and on the side of the Expressway, no less.)

But I took a closer look (since we were sitting in traffic anyway) - and they were bunnies! There were 6-10 rabbits munching their way along the grass, totally unconcerned with the cars and trucks making their way along beside them.

It was cool. :-)

Little Things

2006-03-08T07:05:00.000-06:00

Ok, so it's been a very busy week-plus since I last blogged... I'm happy because they're giving me more responsibility at work, but that also means more time-demands (at least sometimes).

This weekend was also our firm's annual meeting - interesting to hear how the firm is doing financially, what our goals (financial and otherwise) are for the coming year, and brief overviews of the different practice groups. Some of the more senior attorneys had a panel on business development, too, which was interesting and potentially useful.

Since time-demands are getting higher, we caved in and got a housecleaner. Currently, she's coming every other week, but after seeing what a great job she did this week, I suspect we'll go to every week (things we didn't even realize were dirty are clean now). The company is MaidPro, and based on our experience so far, I can recommend them! (They also do one-time cleanings, if you're just looking for a fresh start or something...)

Peer Pressure

2006-02-28T07:24:00.000-06:00

Ok. We caved.

Our Mr. Bentos are on their way. :-) We're looking forward to having lunches that look at least HALF as good as Jessica's.

Triumph!

2006-02-25T17:02:00.000-06:00

Today was a day of triumphs! We spent most of the day fixing things around the house. Two major projects: replacing the toilet "innards" for the downstairs bathroom and replacing the kitchen faucet (they were both leaking).

It took us about 4 hours to do both projects (and clean up) not including the trip to Home Depot. And only one trip to Home Depot - which is a victory in and of itself!

Next on the list is probably planning a job we won't be doing ourselves - remodeling the downstairs bathroom altogether. But you never know what might come up!

Citizen Me

2006-02-17T16:28:00.000-06:00

Or... "You, the Juror."

Seriously. A 20-minute tape they made us watch at the beginning of our service as Cook County jurors that explained who all the people in the courtroom are, what their roles are, the basic outline of a trial, and what the role of a juror is. Corny as hell.

And totally useless today, since not a single juror-to-be ever even left the room.

It was cool, though. I got to read a whole book. And how many times can you perform your civic duty and do a little off-track-betting? (Well, I didn't actually, but I did have lunch across the road from the courthouse at the OTB/racetrack.)

And now I have a little certificate that says I never have to do that again... well, for a year. Better than nothing!

Moment of Truth

2006-02-16T07:26:00.000-06:00

So, later today I get to find out whether I'll be a juror or not. Cook County has a call-in system if you're designated a "standby" juror (which I have been). I call in tonight and they let me know if I actually have to show up or not. Pretty nice - saves me a car trip if their needs are lower than they anticipated.

If I don't get selected, I'll be off on a work trip Monday-Wednesday of next week (someone else will go if I have jury duty). Further details if it actually happens!

... Or is it Memorex?

2006-02-12T19:53:00.000-06:00

The Onion just couldn't make up stuff like this...

Cheney Shoots Hunting Companion

More Shakespeare...

2006-02-08T07:23:00.000-06:00

One of the other theater subscriptions we got is to the Goodman Theater, and, oddly enough, the first play in the season was another Shakespeare play. (The rest are more modern plays, even at least one brand-new play.)

The play was Pericles - which was unique in that neither of us had read or seen it before. Comedy/drama - I'm not sure why it's not staged more often. There were a couple of touching moments, and a couple of places where I laughed out loud. The costumes, staging, and use of music was great. All in all, a successful experiment.

We're looking forward to the other plays in the season, too

One for the thumb

2006-02-05T21:40:00.000-06:00

What an amazing game.

What an amazing season.

And Jerome? Thanks for an amazing ride.

Go Steelers!

A Little Culture

2006-01-29T09:08:00.000-06:00

One of the things we were looking forward to once we moved to Chicago was the vast array of cultural events available. I mean, if you can think of something you're interested in, arts-wise, there's probably something going on to suit that desire, if not every week, then at least every month.

One thing we did was get season tickets to the Chicago Shakespeare Theater. Last night, we went to see the second of three plays in the season, Much Ado About Nothing. Excellently done - great acting, a beautiful and versatile set, and the lighting and sound were perfect compliments to the acting and set. Even the theater itself is impressive - I don't think there's a bad seat in the house, and it's a very intimate setting for the number of people they can seat.

We've got some other cultural events - I'll make sure to post about them as they come along!

Reminders

2006-01-26T21:22:00.000-06:00

This is my current computer background, at home.

It reminds me that
1) My cats are space aliens.
and
2) They are always watching me.

It's about time...

2006-01-24T07:06:00.000-06:00

Well, I can never again say I've never been called for jury duty. My official Cook County Summons arrived over the weekend, so in mid-February I need to call in and see if they need me to trek out to the suburbs and be a juror. (Mapquest estimates 33 minutes to drive out there - hope it's right!) I'm betting I'll have to go - and that there's no way I'll be seated on an jury. I don't exactly have a "desirable profile." So to speak.

It'll be interesting, though, after two years of watching juries from the outside... the one thing I always wanted was to be able to sit inside the jury room and see what actually happened. It's the remaining great mystery of the legal system!