kapgar

But the fire is so delightful...

And now, the final day of our Christmas celebration.

I noted at the end of my last post that it was a very long night and a very early morning.  I did forget to mention one little detail... we were trying like heck on Christmas Eve night, after returning from McHenry, to find any store that might be open.  Yeah, the odds were pretty slim, granted.  It was 12:30 at night on what was now, technically, Christmas Day.  But we figured something had to be open that carried groceries.

Why?  We had no sweet potatoes.  We just completely forgot to buy some when we had gone shopping earlier in the week.  Now we were paying for it. 

Sadly, all grocery stores had shut their doors at 6 p.m. for the next 36 hours or so.

And this baffles me.

With all the bitching that some people do about how many Americans celebrate a Christian holiday, I'm shocked and dismayed that all those who complain seem to have no problem taking the day of Christ's birth as a holiday of their own.  Were any of these people doing the responsible thing and keeping stores open and working?  No.  I think that if you're going to bitch about celebrating Christmas, you should at least be productive whilst doing so.  I have to work during holidays that other people have off. 

Besides, I think grocery stores would make a killing on Christmas Day from all the people (I'd raise my hand, but I'm typing) who forgot some necessary element of their meal.

Well, we actually managed to find a Walgreen's and it was open and, lo and behold, they had sweet potatoes.  I doubt this was something they carry on a regular basis as it was sitting out on a cart and didn't have any shelf space. 

God bless agnostics at Walgreen's for remaining open.

The next morning (or, later that same morning depending on how you choose to look at it), we woke up at 8 or so and got ready to go to my brother's place where Katie would be prepping Christmas dinner for the two of us as well as my brother, Brian, and his fiancee, Jen; our parents; and Jen's parents who were in town from California. 

For the next several hours, she was cooking with a little help from the rest of us and it just never seemed to end.  She was bouncing back and forth from one mixing bowl to another and in between the stove and the turkey roaster.  I feel so bad for her and I tried to help, but there was only so much I could do and only so much control she was willing to relinquish (when she starts cooking, she gets in a zone and, sometimes, it's best to just step back).

But everything was incredible.  The meal was delicious; even the dishes Katie had never made before. 

We also opened a bunch of gifts that night and got some great stuff.

It was a good night despite how busy it was and how hot it got in that kitchen.

I think we might skip hosting holiday parties this coming year.  Sounds like a good plan.

Okay, I'm done with the posts about Christmas... I swear.

Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland...

On Saturday, Katie and I woke up from what was not the world's greatest sleep at the Wyndham (we found out from Dave that the reason we slept so well at Westin as opposed to the Wyndham is because they have something known as the "Heavenly Bed" and he often goes out of the way to stay at Westins for this very reason).

We noticed, as we left the hotel, that it had warmed up significantly outside.  Much of the muck snow that was collecting on the sides of the streets in Chicago was melting away and it wasn't looking like it would be much of a White Christmas.  I made a mental note to purchase another Christmas song from iTMS.  Unfortunately, when the time came, I forgot to actually buy it.  Dangit!

We then hiked the mile or so from our hotel to The Pancake House near Rush Street a bit northwest of the end of the Magnificent Mile.  Considering we walked what we did both to and from, we didn't feel so guilty about our meal: Georgia pecan pancake for me and a baked apple pancake for Katie.  Damn, they were good.  And huge!  And not that bad a price either.

As we ambled our way back to the hotel, we made a few stopoffs at Ann Taylor, Eddie Bauer, and the Apple Store.  Guess what?  I bought absolutely nothing at my Mecca.  I had a $50 gift certificate and I didn't spend it.  Well, primarily because I couldn't think of anything to buy.  Weird, eh?

We got back up to our room, showered, changed into our Christmas party clothes, and checked out.  There was, however, an unfortunate difference between the time by which we had to check out and the time when we needed to be at our next destination.  Somewhere in the vicinity of four hours.

Since we were heading to Arlington Heights (we were supposed to go to McHenry to open gifts with Katie's family; but they changed the schedule so we would open gifts after eating at her aunt and uncle's house -- makes much more sense as one is on the way to the other so we wouldn't have to backtrack), we continued on a little bit to the AMC in Barrington and watched The Family Stone.  I would highly recommend this film.  Very good, but horribly mismarketed.  All the ads make it out to be a comedy, but it is, in fact, a very powerful drama that has its comedic moments.  Check it out.

Even after watching the film, we still had time so we went to Woodfield Mall and Katie got a new sweater set for that night.  Considering this was supposed to be the busiest shopping day of the year (Christmas Eve), the mall was surprisingly sedate.  We even got parking only about five spaces out.  I was in shock; but happy at the same time.

We then made our way to Katie's Aunt and Uncle's house and had a good meal and opened up some really nice gifts.  We really had a good time and her Aunt and Uncle have a nice house (they just moved back from the St. Louis 'burbs this year).

Finally, we hopped in the car and made the trek back to McHenry for the big family gift opening.  Katie and I made out like bandits.  It was quite nice.  And, no, I'm not going to brag about what I got suffice it to say that I've got a lot to read in the coming months.  That's a good thing.

I think we finally made it back to Geneva around midnight and still stayed up for another couple of hours preparing some items for the Christmas meal we were making at my brother's house the next day.

It was a long day ...

... and a late night ...

... and an early next morning.

But the wind blew me back via Chicago...

I knew when I published both the December 23 and December 24 posts that things would never quite work out the way I had envisioned them. 

Why do I even bother?

I would've been better off posting some fluff links to Christmas sites to get everyone in the mood and just said "we're going to Chicago, see you in a few" and let it at that.

What I'm trying to say is that our visit to Chicago was only remotely like how I posted it might be.

I knew, as soon as we went to check in at our first hotel on Thursday night that my entire post was already blown to hell in a handbasket.

So, here's what all really happened.  And it's actually a bit more interesting than the false reality I created before...

We arrived at the Wyndham Hotel (conveniently located one block behind the Apple Store. Score!) at about 11 p.m. on Thursday night to check in.  We were really late because we went to Katie's parent's house for several hours and had dinner with them.  Then we went to Best Buy because we were trying to make an exchange on a Christmas gift for one of her brothers that didn't quite work out as planned. 

When we tried to check in, the guy at the counter (David the Hotel Checker Dude, or as I shall refer to him, "DtHCD") looked at us and said, "I have good news, bad news, and a proposition.  Which would you like to hear first?"

We chose "good news."

DtHCD - "The good news is that the Wyndham is a very nice hotel." 

Nice hotel, but a bad sign for things to come.

DtHCD - "The bad news is that we overbooked our very nice hotel.  We have a room if you absolutely are not in the mood for our proposition, but you two look like nice people who are in a good mood, so we hope you are willing to accept our proposition."

Here it comes...

DtHCD - "We would like to move you to another hotel for tonight and we will then have a room for you tomorrow."

Aye aye aye...

DtHCD - "But we will pay for your room tonight and upgrade you to one of our living room suites tomorrow night."

Come again...

Us - "Ummm... where would we be relocated?"

DtHCD - "The Westin Chicago River North near the House of Blues.  It's a nice hotel as well and they have one of their corner suites reserved for you."

Us - "Well, okay."

We got our car back from the valet service and drove our way over to the Westin.  I wasn't sure what to expect as I didn't have a chance to look up the hotel online or see any photos or have any prior experience with the hotel whatsoever.  But when we got there... woah, mama!  It was a beautiful room.  One, we decided almost immediately, we would rather stay in regardless of what they were offering us at the Wyndham.  We couldn't possibly imagine a nicer room than what we were now staying in... and for free, to boot!

That night, we stayed in bed and drank some champagne and ate some chocolate covered strawberries I picked up from a place we love in Geneva.  We watched something on TV while we ate and drank, but I'll be damned if I remember what it was.

We slept in until about 9 the next morning and headed out to Marshall Field's in hopes of having breakfast under the tree.  Yeah, no.  If we waited, it would have been for dinner by the time we got through line.  Well, not literally, but close.  There was a two-hour wait once you got your pager for seating.  However, there was a two-hour wait simply to get a pager.

We looked around the store a bit to see what was available and then went back to Harry Caray's restaurant for an early lunch.  Much easier in and out and probably a lot cheaper.  The food was incredible as well.  Katie got boneless chicken vesuvio and I had baked lasagna.  Tasty.

After doing a bit more shopping in and around the State Street area, we went to Millennium Park and walked around a bit.  Hey, I saw several Segways!  Go figure that it takes me posting about it to actually start seeing them.  Of course, they were only being used by cops and, ironically enough, one of them must've been broken down because the cop was walking it instead of riding it.  Funny.

And, even though we were discussing nixing it, we did go to the Art Institute.  We didn't spend a lot of time there, but we saw the Japanese, Chinese, and Korean displays; the Impressionist and Post-Impressionist exhibits; and the photography exhibits.  They were stunning and, in the photography exhibit, I found out about some new Chicago photographers that were incredible and I will probably try digging up some more information on.  Quite impressive work.

Next, we headed back to the Westin to grab our stuff and move back to the Wyndham.  Yes, the room we received was huge and we were not upcharged at all for the upgrade; but, when compared to the impressive beauty of the Westin, it just paled.  Maybe if we didn't have the Westin as a point of comparison, we would have liked it that much better.  But, it just seemed so impersonal.  Huge and vacant.

So we left and did some walking around on the Mag Mile.  First, we found Ethel's Chocolate Lounge in the North Bridge Shopping Center on Michigan Avenue.  Katie had discovered the Naperville Ethel's a few days prior and wanted to take me to this one.  It was wonderful.  Pricey, yes; but damn good chocolate.  Of course, while in North Bridge, we hit the Lego store.  As I've said before, once a geek...

After walking around for a while, Katie's feet and calves were getting a bit worn out, so we went to an AMC and sat for a bit and watched Fun With Dick and Jane.  Not a fantastic movie, but still enjoyable.  And, you must watch the end credits.  The beginning of them had Katie and I rolling with laughter.  If you know anything about the travails of modern business, you will love them, too.

Now that we were a bit more rested and relaxed, we hiked over to Ben Pao's Chinese restaurant.  Wow!  It blew me away.  Katie was here a few months ago while I was in Florida for Nano's birthday and she's been raving about it ever since.  We finally had a chance to go and I would recommend that you do the same when you're in town.

A flower on the table at Ben Pao

By this time, it was pretty late and we were dog tired.  We went back to the hotel and pretty much crashed.  Hey it had been a long day.  Yes, this was all just Friday.  Wait until Saturday.

More photos are available at Flickr. (ed. note... whoops, forgot to make this a link.  Sorry.)

Have a holly, jolly Christmas

Just a quick note to all of you to say Merry Christmas, Happy Chanukah (Hannukah, et al), Happy Kwanzaa... whatever you celebrate.

Enjoy your celebrations.  Enjoy your families.  Enjoy your gifts.  Enjoy your food.

Katie and I will be doing all this.  And more.

I will be back tomorrow with a more comprehensive post and a Chicago update (severe update... not much worked out as planned). 

See ya then.

And in case you've no place to go...

I really wish that we could stay in Chicago another day.  However, we have one heckuva schedule ahead of us today.

First, we leave Chicago and head to McHenry to open gifts with her parents and her brothers. I'm not sure what the traffic will be like trying to get out of the city on the major highways on Christmas Eve.  I guess we'll find out the hard way.  If conditions were ideal, the trip would only take us about an hour and a half.  But this is Chicago, using Chicago tollways, in Chicago weather, during the holidays.

Nope, we're in for a major pooch screw.

But it doesn't end there. 

After McHenry, we're heading out with Katie's family to a holiday dinner with Katie's mom's side of the family (sorry, I typically hate to use a double possessive; but I couldn't think of a lyrically sound way to avoid it).  This will take place in Arlington Heights which, ironically enough, we will be driving by to get to McHenry.  Hmm...

Finally, after we leave Arlington Heights and go back to McHenry, we will, I think, head back home to Geneva.  That's a lot of miles and a lot of gas and, well, a lot of driving.  Will it be doPi or the radio?  I think doPi's gonna win this one.

If sleep doesn't prevail first.

Back in that same ol' place, Sweet Home Chicago...

Katie and I are now in Chicago.  And we've got some mighty big plans for what we intend to do today. 

Here's the sneak preview...

Breakfast under the Christmas tree at Marshall Field's
Since this is the last year we will ever be able to do this before Marshall Field's becomes a *gulp* Macy's, we figured it's time to go.  She's done this many times in the past with her family.  But I don't think I've ever done this.  If I did, I don't remember it at all. 

Oh, and for the record, I will never call this place Macy's.  I don't care.  Just like I will always use the names Comiskey Park, Rosemont Horizon, and World Music Theater as opposed to the new names.  No, this is not some corporate sellout like the other three; but it's still just as despicable. This place has too much history in this town.

The Art Institute
We are both art junkies yet we've never been to the Art Institute together.  Heck, it's been years since either of us have been there on our own even.

Shopping on State Street and Michigan Avenue
Of course, we will likely hit the Apple Store amongst others.  I've still got a gift certificate from last Christmas to spend (I didn't have it with me on Black Friday because I didn't think we'd actually be buying anything).  Once a geek...

Lunch and Dinner Someplace
We haven't really decided where just yet.  We may walk around and just see what sounds good or appeals to our appetites at the time.  No, there won't be any Giordano's (sorry, Dave).  We had that last night!

Drinks in the Signature Room
If we can get in, we'd like to go up to the Signature Room on the 95th floor of the John Hancock Center and have drinks in their famous restaurant/bar.  Neither of us have ever been there, so why not?  We're not looking to eat there, so we hope we won't need reservations.  I think they do have just a bar, don't they?  Yes, yes they do.

Will we actually get around to doing all this?  I can't quite say for sure.  That'll be a whole other post sometime after this weekend.  I'll let you know.  And post the pictures.

Elephant Walk.

One of the most interesting things about the holiday season is the inevitable "white elephant" gift exchange.  To the person who conceived of the idea of unloading your old, tacky junk on a fellow human being as a viable gift-giving format, my heartfelt thanks and envy.  There's nothing quite like sifting through crap and wrapping it up to give to someone else.  Wish I'd thought of it.

But, what makes this exchange infinitely cooler is all the stuff you uncover in your place when you're searching around for an item to get rid of.

I figured the best place to start would be our office.  The desk and shelves in the closet are so loaded with stuff that we rarely ever access, that there had to be something white-elephant worthy in there.

I was right... but I also found a bunch of other cool stuff that I'd completely forgotten about.  Check this list out...

A roll of duct tape.  Sweet!  I was going to buy a roll because I didn't think we owned any.  Now we do!  Everyone can use a roll of duct tape.  It's the universal fix-all.

A box containing about 50-75 comic books.  The list includes Roman Dirge's The Monsters in My Tummy; Sock Monkey #1 & 2; Marvel Knight's Kevin Smith Daredevil arc including an alternate cover of issue 1 signed by Kev (I met him way back when); Daredevil #200 - the near-death of Bullseye (or one of many, actually); Amazing Spider-Man special wedding issue with the people on the cover (as opposed to the more common cover with the bad guys in the background and Peter dressed as Spidey), #238 - the birth of Hobgoblin, #240 - "The Kid Who Loved Spider-Man" (one of only two comic books that has reduced me to a blubbering puddle of tears), and #400 - the death of Aunt May (the other one that did; one of the most beautiful speeches I've ever read by Peter to his Aunt); Spawn #1; Frank Miller's 300 miniseries about the Persian-Greco wars; Miller's Sin City - "Just Another Saturday Night"; G.I. Joe #26 & 27 - "The Origin of Snake Eyes"; and Superman - his death at the hands of Doomsday still sealed in the black bag.  I know I still have two long boxes of comics in my parents' crawl space.  But these were considered by me to be some of my most valuable, both in terms of nostalgic appeal and monetary value.

But, mixed in with this box was a killer find in Neil Gaiman's Guest of Honor... a self-published collection of two-page vignettes from some pretty major comic artists including Todd McFarlane and Eddie Campbell, among many others.  This piece is hand numbered 336/2500 (or, at least, it looks hand numbered) and is signed by Neil in silver paint pen.  I forgot I had this.  Wow.  Nice find.

Also mixed in this comic box was "Atari Force" #5.  C'mon!  You gotta remember back in the days of the Atari 2600 and 7200 when they released mini comic books with some of the games, don't you?  Well, I still have one of them and it's in nearly perfect condition.  I read it.  Complete cheese.

Lastly, in this comic box was a series of about 19 old National Geographic maps.  I loved those.  They were my favorite thing about having a subscription to that mag (aside from some killer pictures).  I wish I had a place to hang all these maps.  Framing is completely out of the question as it would be far too costly, but they are certainly frame worthy.

A case of 15 antique audio recordings -- they were recorded on what I believe they once called "audio cassettes."  There is some classic stuff here, too.  A deuce of Bob Rivers & Twisted Christmas albums, some Van Halen and AC/DC, Denis Leary's "No Cure For Cancer," and an old album from a band featuring two guys I went to high school with. The band was called Midian and it was classic heavy metal that broke on the cusp of the grunge revolution.  This was good stuff that I loved listening to when I actually owned a tape player (in my case, a Sony Sport Walkman).  However, I no longer own a tape deck and am looking for a way to transfer this tape to MP3 so I can put it on my iPod.  Any ideas?

Oh, and if you're interested, I wound up with an old DIY stress-relief set including a book, bath oil and salts, and a massage sponge.  I was so close to having a Magic 8 Ball, but someone took it from me with the last pick.  Dangit!  And I gave away a year's subscription to Wired magazine.  No, not a year in the future, but, a year's worth of back issues.  I wasn't going to read them again anytime soon.

My kind of town...

I know it may not sound like much of a vacation, but from December 22-24, Katie and I are "getting away from it all" by heading into Chicago and getting a hotel.  The hope is that we'll be done with Christmas shopping by that time (we're almost there!) so that we can just relax and walk around, get some food and drinks, hit up a couple of museums, etc.

Well, we booked the hotel a couple weeks ago and, this morning, I received an itinerary e-mail from Travelocity regarding our stay.  For the most part, it was your standard e-mail (if you've ever booked travel through Travelocity, Expedia, et al) and contained several ads for complementary services as well as ideas for activities.

But then I saw the coolest damn thing in the world... it was what Travelocity termed their "Travel Goody Bag" and contained a link to "Tunes For Chicago."

Being the music nut I am, I just had to click on it, regardless of the spam potential inherent in clicking on random e-mail links.  Thankfully, the resulting page is actually hosted by Travelocity, so I needn't worry about additional e-mails at least.

Here is a screen cap of part of what I saw on the site...

This was just too cool!  I love the idea that you can download songs about a place to which you are traveling, but having the travel company actually give you ideas!?!  That's awesome!  And the list has some standards plus a few others to consider.  I never would have thought about Wilco or Groove Armada when developing a list of "songs about Chicago."  Would you?

And it's fully iTunes compliant.  Even bigger props.

Okay, so it doesn't take much to please me.

If you think that's bad, wait till you see what else was on the page...

C'mon, everyone loves the gnome!

I've got the power!

I think Papa Nicholas and the Lord Almighty both really want to make sure that I'm in the mood this season.

It's no secret that Christmas is not my favorite holiday (that honor goes to Halloween); but I don't particularly dislike it, either.

However, these past few years, I have found it increasingly difficult to enjoy the winter holiday season.  It just doesn't "do it" for me anymore.  Know what I mean?  Sometimes it's just the fact that you're getting older and the mystique is gone.  Or it could be how sick we all get of dealing with crowds both in stores and on any road within a two-mile radius of these stores.  There are so many reasons why this time of year can easily be relegated to "bah humbug" status.

Last year was the worst, until the actual day of Christmas, that is.  Katie and I were in midst of moving and were so caught up in all that hubbub that we were never able to decorate.  Hard to get in the mood when all you see in your home are cardboard boxes everywhere and not a single decoration.

Of course, much of this was made up for by the fact that I woke up on Christmas morning to snow on the ground.  According to Katie, I was acting like a little kid in a candy store.  Too bad these sentiments weren't with me the entire season.

This year, on the other hand, is already turning out different.

We've had several small snowfalls already which do more than their fair share to get me in the mood.

Plus, we had that perfectly timed snowstorm on Black Friday down in Chicago as we awaited the lighting of the tree in Daley Plaza.  I was singing Christmas carols for two days after that happened.

Now it seems as though Santa and Jesus are endowing me with the power to control the weather.

Yep, you read that right... I'm a proxy Mother Nature.

Allow me to explain...

I woke up this morning to a little bit of snow on the ground.  Nothing too big, but enough to coat the grass in white.  But the snow had stopped entirely by the time I woke up.

After my shower and getting everything ready to go for work, I jumped on the iMac (much more figurative than literal, thank you very much) and went to the iTunes Music Store to download Depeche Mode's "Just Can't Get Enough," which, quite surprisingly, I didn't already have. 

While there, I checked out the iTMS Top 25 and saw that Mariah Carey's "All I Want For Christmas" was #2 on the chart.  It had been quickly rising up the list since Thanksgiving and it was amazing to me that a song that was more than a decade old was doing so well.  That, and I couldn't help but wonder why she was singing that stupid song from my childhood about the toothless kid who has nothing better to ask for as a gift.

I clicked on the name of the song to listen to the 30-second sample and realized it's not about teeth, but it's the same song that little girl sings in the talent show scene of Love Actually.  I love that song, actually (sorry, just hadda).  So I clicked the "purchase" button.

As soon as I clicked it, the snow started to fall in a torrent that lasted several minutes and served to make driving completely unbearable.  I was skidding everywhere on my way to work, but was oh-so-happy to do so. 

So, you see, I can create snow by purchasing Christmas songs on iTMS!!  That is Santa and Jesus' dirty little secret!! 

And, I'm assuming that the severity of the snowstorm is controlled by how fast the beat of the song is or maybe how much it rocks. 

Using that rationale, if I want a snowday off from work, I need only purchase something from the Trans-Siberian Orchestra or, maybe, "Last Christmas" from Jimmy Eat World.  The possibilities are limitless.

Time to play with nature...

Muahahahahahahahahaha!!!!

Happy birthday to you (one day late)...

I must first apologize to my brother for not wishing him a happy birthday yesterday.  Well, so far as this blog goes.  I did call him and wish him a happy birthday, but I just never posted it here.  Not that he reads this anyway.

But, Happy B-day, bro!  You're 27.  How does it feel?

Will I post a picture of him here so that you all can razz him should you come across him in public?  No.  That would be two pictures featuring him in one week's time.  That's nearly tantamount to a hostile takeover of my blog and I will have none of that.

No, this site will not become bapgar (his name is Brian).  And, come to think of it, there is not a single other name in my family that works with the abbreviated naming structure that I use on this site as well as my own or Katie's (with whom it would still be "kapgar").  Let's see... my brother's fiance, Jen = japgar (definitely not culturally correct); my mom, Sue = sapgar (hmmm... no); my dad, Wayne = wapgar (again... no, although not as bad as 'japgar").

Sorry for the tangent.

Happy birthday again, bro.

Oh, and my review of the Depeche Mode concert with Dave and Katie last night will be coming later today.

It's the most wonderful time...

Today could not have been more perfect in oh so many ways.

Today was our day with Katie's family for our annual Black Friday Chicago trip.  Each year, we dare the crowds and shop on our own with no real agenda.  If we're actually good and have our shopping finished for Christmas, we go downtown and laugh at all the other shoppers.  Unfortunately, Katie and I are not done with our shopping, so laughing was not an option.

But, Katie and I began the day much nicer than we usually do.  Instead of waking up for the Black Friday early morning sales at Best Buy, et al, we slept in.  Yep, we decided to say "screw it" to the lines and the headaches and the early morning crap and just sleep in.  There really wasn't anything of interest to us in these sales.  Well, that's not entirely true.  If all goes well, my brother will have picked up seasons 1-3 of The Shield for me on DVD at Best Buy.  He was going in to buy Jen one of the Motorola RAZR phones that were on sale for $39.99 and I told him that, since he was already going to be there, he could buy me those as my birthday gift.  Saved us some headaches.  And, each season was priced at only $19.99.  We'll find out if he actually did it.

We then went to Kohl's and bought me a new winter coat.  I do have one nice thick winter coat, but I've been wanting to replace the black car coat I had a couple years ago.  So she helped me pick out a slate grey driving jacket that is just sweet.  Afterwards, we headed downtown.

Traffic was pretty easy, which is a severe rarity.  We found where Katie's family was at and got some parking.  Then we hit a few stores.  Including, of course, The Apple Store on Michigan Avenue.  This is one of the "flagship" stores, or so I've read.  And, every time I enter the place, I want to drop to my knees in hushed worship.  I drool.  Well, not literally; that would just be embarrassing.  More on this visit to My Personal Mecca tomorrow.

After hitting some more of the stores on upper Michigan Avenue, we headed to lower Michigan Avenue (south of the Chicago River) for places like Marshall Fields, Old Navy, etc.  Katie and I got our picture taken in front of the soon-to-be defunct Marshall Field's (they were purchased by Macy's parent company and will be changing their name soon) and I think that picture may be used for our holiday cards.

We met up with Katie's aunt, uncle, and cousins and hung out a bit for lunch and some shopping.  Then we went our separate ways with plans to meet later that night for chili at the condo of Dana, one of Katie's cousins.

However, our meeting time was several hours ahead and we didn't know what to do to fill the time.  So we wandered to the Germanfest that is sponsored annually around this time near Daley Plaza.  Little did we know that today is the day they light the big Christmas tree in Daley Plaza.  Great way to fill the time and we did.  You want to make it even better?  As we stood there waiting by the tree, it started snowing.  Not just a little bit of snow, either.  It built up consistently until it became a pretty strong snowstorm and was actually sticking to the ground. 

How much better can it get than to witness the lighting of Chicago's official Christmas tree in the middle of a mini snowstorm?  In my humble opinion, it would be hard to top that.  There is no better way that I can think of to fire up the Christmas spirit and Katie and I were both feeling it after that.

We then went to Dana's condo and ate chili and played games.  Doesn't sound like much, but we had fun.  An excruciating game of Taboo pitting the men against the women and I still say they cheated.  There were seven of them against five of us.  How is that fair?

Yes, I have pictures from today and I will post them, likely, tomorrow.  But it's pretty late right now and I think I'm going to bed.  I just wanted to get some of this information up today so you don't think I'm bailing on you.

Hide and seek; cloak and find...

Writing about Katie's hunt for her Christmas gift yesterday made me start reminiscing about the days when my brother and I conducted gift hunts of our own.

The good old days... the days of yore... ancient history...

I lie.  These times have happened as recently as 12 years ago.  Maybe even more recent, but that was the last Christmas in which I was living at home full time before leaving for college.

The first time was when I was about seven or eight years old and living in Lexington, KY.  We lived in a split-level ranch house... the type where you walk in the front door and are presented with the ultimate quandary of our time... "do I go up or do I go down?  Oh the possibilities."

Well, if you went downstairs, at the bottom, underneath what would be the half-flight of stairs that go up, was a big closet.  And I loved that closet.  As a kid at the age that I was, it seemed to continue forever.  And it was a great place to hide during a game of hide and seek.  Such a good hiding place, in fact, that my parents never knew I used it.  Or so it would seem they didn't know or they might not have done what I'm about to describe.

One time, my brother and I were playing hide and seek and I hid in the "closet under the stairs" (creepy sounding, eh?) with a flashlight.  I figured that since I was playing against my four-years-younger brother, I would be hiding for quite some time and pure blackness didn't quite appeal to me.

I flicked on the flashlight and looked around.

There, before me in all its boxed glory, sat Mecca.  Every child's obsession in the early 80s... Castle Greyskull from The Masters of the Universe (read: "He-Man").  I couldn't believe it.  There it was.  Something I had been wanting for months and it was just sitting there waiting to be wrapped and then swallowed up into my greedy Christmas-morning paws.

I don't recall exactly how long before the holiday this game actually occurred, but, somehow, I managed to maintain my composure and not tell my parents I had uncovered their stash.  I think there were some other gifts in there, but nothing stood out quite like Castle Greyskull.

But I did tell my brother.  I dragged him back there and showed him.  He was almost as excited as I was.  And, somehow, I think he managed to keep the secret as well.

Thus marked the start of an annual obsession for Brian and me.

Parents=0; Kids=1

You would think that this sort of discovery would have ruined Christmas for me.  But it didn't.  I found that I actually enjoyed the hunt more than opening the gifts on Christmas morning.  No, that doesn't mean that I ceased wanting them or using them once I actually received them.  But I still preferred taking the risk and searching for my gifts whenever the opportunity was afforded me.

Years later, I told my parents that I had pretty much found nearly every gift that was to be given to me on Christmas each year.  My mom was a bit dumbstruck.  She couldn't believe that, 1) I found either all the gifts or the shopping list for the gifts, and, 2) that I was able to keep it secret so well.

I wasn't that old when I revealed this secret to her.  In fact, I still had plenty of Christmases left and the challenge for my parents became finding new methods to thwart my hunt.  And my challenge was finding ways to overcome their "efforts."

They started to employ the use of neighborhood friends and their houses to hide our gifts.  But I knew my parents' friends and recruited their kids to help me.  I was a resourceful little shit.  I talked these kids into participating by informing them that, by finding my gifts at their place, they would likely find their own gifts at my place.  They were soon wound up in my twisted little scheme hook, line, and sinker.  We found 'em.

Parents=0; Kids=2

Actually, I think the only time my parents won was when they hid the gifts at a friend's house well outside our subdivision.  Like, several miles outside.  And I was too young to drive.  I'll give them that one... and that would be about it.  Why they didn't do this more often is beyond me.  You would think, if it ain't broke, why fix it?

Parents=1; Kids=2

Another year, my parents decided to not worry so much about hiding the gifts from us as they were with trying to use misdirection.  They bought the gifts early, wrapped them immediately, and placed them in a rather obvious hiding place.  But they put my brother's name on my gifts and vice versa.  While, admittedly, it did cause some confusion initially, we wisened up to their ploy and figured out what was what.  Hunt successful.

Parents=1; Kids=3

I can see this being a problem.  I worry how I'm going to deal with my own kids when Christmas comes around.  How should we hide them?  Will I have learned enough lessons from my own days of playing Yuletide Indiana Jones to know what works and what does not?  We shall see.

No, no, no, we're not pregnant and actively concerned about this.  It's a concern for the future. 

But I guess I do have to worry about this now, as well, with Katie around.  Hmm...

I'm on the hunt...

And the Great American Gift Hunt begins...

Yesterday, I purchased one of Katie's Christmas gifts. 

Being the moron and slacker that I am, I didn't hide it immediately upon returning home (she was at work).  I just kinda left the gift bag out on the floor near a chair and my briefcase and didn't realize it.  Then she came home and we talked and whatever else you do when you're both finally home from work.  Then I look over and see the gift bag and think, "Holy dear sweet mother!  Has she seen it?  Has she not?  Gah!"  So I slowly and, hopefully, innocently make my way over to where it is and do a bit of defensive standing -- yeah, I actually try standing in front of it hoping Katie wouldn't notice what I was doing.

When she looked away, I threw my briefcase (actually a messenger bag; but I'll toot my horn as much as possible) over it to cover it.  And, several minutes later, when Katie is throwing some dishes in the dishwasher, I put the gift inside my bag.

On the way upstairs, she tells me, out the corner of her mouth, "I will find out what's inside your bag."

"What are you talking about?"

"There's something in that bag and I will find out."

"No, there isn't.  What are you talking about?"

"Oh yeah?  Then let me look inside."

As she turns to head back downstairs toward my bag, I jump in her way and she proceeds to try to fight her way through my roadblock.

This happened several more times before going to bed as she was suddenly more than willing to: 1) make sure the downstairs lights were shut off; 2) get us a glass of juice; and 3) get her some food to nibble on.  I've never seen a girl so willing to trek 14 stairs in my life.

This morning, hoping that she didn't look while I was taking my shower (she looked like she was asleep), I rehid her gift.  I think this place is much more secure.  I hope.

Oh where, oh where has Katie's gift gone?
Oh where, oh where could it be?

Yes, I'm taunting her.  I'm evil.  I admit it readily.

Post-script:
While searching for that gift bag image above, I did a Google Image Search for "christmas gifts."  Can somebody please repeat this search and tell me if I saw what I think I saw on the far right of the first row of results?

Tell me no lies...

Overheard from Trick or Treaters...

[in response to my noting that it was rather wet outside] "Ah, who cares.  It's Halloween."
'Nuff said.

[in reaction to my neighbor's door being answered by her dog] "That's a big dog." 
Rather Sandlot-ish, wouldn't you say?

[as one TnT'er tripped over a pumpkin] "Wooooaaahhhh!"
Followed by *kerthunk*

"Thank you"
Who says teenagers can't have manners?

"Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat; if you don't, I don't care, I'll pull down your underwear."
Ah, the classics endure.  I wonder if she realizes how awkward it is for a 30-year-old man to hear a 6-year-old girl threaten to pull down his underwear?

Interesting Observations Made...

Even though teenagers may want to still trick or treat, I think they realize that they are beyond their candy-grubbing prime.  Evidenced by two teenagers who came to my door dressed in goth rock clothes (not a costume - probably what they wear to school any given day) with some make up and hair dye (I hope these parts were solely costume in nature) who had shame-ridden grins on their faces as they sheepishly proclaimed "trick or treat" and actually said "thank you."

Telemarketers don't even take a break for Pagan holidays.  You would think being the spawns of Satan that they are, they would worship appropriately.  Bastards.  (yes, I know "Pagan" doesn't necessarily equate to "Satanic"... deal with it).

TnT'ing ends way too early in the evening.  25 of 28 of the TnT'ers that came by did so before 7:00 p.m.  What fun is that?

Even when TnT'ing ends, there will still be stragglers.  Three of them came by after 9:00 p.m.  Nobody in between.  I can hear The Voice from Field of Dreams... "Turn on your porchlight, they will come."

Regardless of how cliche Edvard Munch's "The Scream" may have become in its use as a Halloween costume (damn you Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven), it can still be pretty freaky seeing that mask stare back at you through a glass stormdoor at a little after 9:00 p.m.

Best Costumes...

Little kid dressed as Jango Fett (Star Wars coolness).

Kid who couldn't decide which Chicago team he liked and wore bits and pieces of several uniforms.

KGB assassin dressed as a milkman (oops... sorry... I was watching The Living Daylights as TnT'ers came by).

Overall...

28 Trick or Treaters total.  Woo hoo!!!  I can now put to rest the specter of failed Halloweens past and look forward to the new homeowner era of Trick or Treating!!!  I'm a happy camper.

We'll do the Mash; we'll do the Monster Mash...

My lunch du jour...

Fried Body Parts
Shrunken Head in Brain Sauce

Remember the good old days in grade school when they gave your food special names to reflect Halloween?  Oh, how I miss those days.  Yeah, at the time, it was cheesy.  But, looking back now, I realize they were just trying to make the dining hall experience as pleasant as possible.

This is what they did here where I work.  They renamed the menu for today and this is what I ate.

Unfortunately, it only really translates to hamburger, mac and cheese, and baked potato with chili (I opted out of the brain sau... er... chili part).  Not nearly as exotic as the thought of crunching into a batter-friend femur, but, I guess it'll do.

Now, if only I was around for dinner, I could be dining on Ground Hog Stew (beef stroganoff over egg noodles).  Again, the fantasy is much tastier than the reality.

So, officially... Happy Halloween!!!!

I am soooooo looking forward to tonight.  We've purchased a couple of bags of candy in anticipation of kids coming around.  And I hope they do.  It'll be nice to actually have trick or treaters this year.  I know I've harped about this before, but we never got them in four Halloweens at our old apartment.  And that really puts a damper on my favorite holiday.

So now I expect the kids out in full force.  I'll probably be so excited that I'll actually count how many kids come by and take photos of some of the cooler costumes.  Here's hoping the parents don't womp my ass as though I'm some sort of pervert posting pictures of little kids on the Internet. 

I'll let you know what the total tally -- of both the trick or treaters and the teeth remaining in my mouth -- is tomorrow.

Would it be inappropriate to show up at the door in a blood-covered flannel shirt whilst gunning my reciprocating saw?

I just hope I don't run out of candy or I'll have to resort to bottles of beer and shots of tequila (still have plenty of that Sam's Club uberbottle left).

Some will win, some will lose...

I find it funny how closely current events and movie/music sales are tied together.

I was surfing around the top 100 song list on iTunes Music Store when I discovered that Eminem's song "Lose Yourself" which was released on CD on October 29, 2002, and has been out of regular radio rotation since about the summer of 2003, is now listed at #17.  The only thing I can come up with are the Lugz-boots "inspired" ads for the new iPod featuring Marshall Mathers singing the track in the now-infamous pseudo-silhouette style associated with almost all iPod and iTunes ads.

And, Halloween season is upon us or so it would seem based on the fact that Ray Parker, Jr's, "Ghostbusters" theme song (#28), Boris Pickett's "Monster Mash" (#32), Warren Zevon's "Werewolves of London" (#43), John Carpenter's "Halloween" theme song (#44) are all in the top 100.  The Halloween package is lead by Michael Jackson's "Thriller" at #20 overall.  Or maybe it has to do with his announcement that he will make his permanent residence in Bahrain.  Six of one...

But the one I found the funniest was Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" now at #31 (it peaked at #25).  This is obviously because the song was the unofficial theme song for the Chicago White Sox in their 2005 championship season.  I can't fathom any other reason why this song would be so popular right now.  Yes, it's a good song and one I love listening to, but for it to be on the charts?  And to compound my confusion, this World Series is officially the lowest-rated televised Series in history.  So how does the song bounce up that high if so few cared about the games?  Weird.  According to the story I linked, it peaked at #3 on the iTMS rock charts.  This song came out back in 1980.

Am I missing any potential explanations for this phenomenon?  Will we all come crashing back down to reality sometime soon?

I'd like to say, have a happy holiday...

Ooohhhhh... two posts in one day!  Hey, can't help that I've got lots of cool stuff to discuss.  Actually, it's a bunch of smallish items I wanted to mention.

Of course, this just means that I won't have jack to talk about tomorrow.

However, this first bit is somewhat time sensitive and must be mentioned today, lest it be too late.

International Something For You Day:
Tonya at Adventure Journalist has declared today a new holiday.  Specifically, International Something For You Day.  Your task, should you choose to accept it (and I see no reason why you wouldn't want to) is to spend $25 on yourself.  Be like Tonya and buy something off your Amazon Wish List, go get a manicure/pedicure, get a very inexpensive lap dance (Johnny?), or fuel up your truck like I am for a cruise around the area taking autumn photos.  Whatever you choose, make it something for you.  And make sure to mark your calendars for next year.  This one's definitely worthy of inclusion in the annual holiday rotation.  Heck, as far as I'm concerned, it trumps quite of a few of the standards.

iBelieve:
If you own an iPod Shuffle, might I suggest spending half that amount on a new accessory?  iBelieve is a lanyard and replacement cap for your Shuffle that converts it into a rather large, white plastic crucifix to hang around your neck.  I find this thing to be absolutely hilarious.  And, yes, it's legit.  The order function really does work.  No, I did not order one as I do not own a Shuffle.  But, this accessory alone almost makes me want to buy one.

Google Moon:
First it was the entertainingly interactive yet completely worthwhile and utilitarian Google Maps.  Then, we all had fun watching the camera zoom into our homes and whip around the planet with Google Earth.  Now, you can view the lunar landing sites of the late 60s/early 70s with Google Moon.  Just promise me one thing, you will zoom in to the landing sites as far as the map will let you go.  The detail is amazing!

Ted Allen:
I dunno how many of you are fans of Queen Eye for the Straight Guy, but their resident food and wine expert, Ted Allen, was in Naperville, Illinois, last night signing copies of his new cookbook, Food You Want To Eat: 100 Smart, Simple Recipes, at Anderson's Bookshop.  Being the cookbook junkie that Katie is, she really wanted to be there.  Alas, she was working until 9:00 p.m.  So I went in to the signing for her.  He and Kyan were always my two faves on the show, so it was cool being able to meet Ted and have him sign the book as well. He really is a damn funny guy.  I've got a couple photos of him at the event up in Flickr (Photo 1 | Photo 2).

The First Four Years.

First things first... happy fourth anniversary, Kate!

Yep, four years ago, today, Katie and I were married.  I know I say this each year, but how she continually puts up with my antics year after year is beyond me.  I'm certain that living with me is an exercise in patience, grace, and love.

Since Katie and I are going to see Wicked tonight, we decided to not spend a lot on gifts for each other.  Her gift to me, aside from the tickets to the show, is my ticket to go see the Chicago Bears take on the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday with my friends.  No, she's not paying for each of them as well.  Just me. 

I do feel bad about going since this is our anniversary weekend.  But she said to go.  The other reason I feel bad is because this is the weekend of the Adams Family Octoberfest (Katie's family).  I love Octoberfest and was banking on it being on the 22nd, which is when it was originally planned.  Then my friend, Brian, invited me to the game and Katie said to go.  It was only after I agreed to go, and Brian banked on me buying my ticket, that we discovered that Octoberfest had been moved up a weekend.  In the immortal words of Rex (Wallace Shawn) from Toy Story, "Great!  Now I have guilt!"

Note to readers: I am a big fan of Wallace Shawn and find him to be one of the most easily quotable actors ever.  Therefore, whenever the opportunity arises, I do (quote him, that is).

I gave my gift to Katie last night because I wanted to be able to gauge her reaction at a time when she wasn't rushed getting ready for work.  My gift to her was a sterling silver, heart-shaped locket.  I even managed to put photos in it.  I love the locket and Katie says she does, too.  Now that I know she likes it, I'm going to take it back to the store and have it engraved.  Nothing like having it engraved and then find out she doesn't like it.  That would be just my luck. 

I also want to take the photos in to a fotomat to have them printed.  I used a color laserjet printer and some glossy Kodak printer paper.  But it's still just that... paper.  When you try to get it inside the grooves of the locket, the edges fray a bit and it looks somewhat cheap.  I figure if I can get the pictures printed on good photo stock, the edges should hold up better when I put it in the locket.  Thankfully, the maker of the locket included a handy dandy little template that allows you to cut out your photos to the proper size.  No guesswork needed.  Yay!

Here are the photos I chose...

My other gift to Katie was to have roses delivered to her at work yesterday.  I chose yesterday because we are leaving straight from work to go see Wicked and I didn't want her to have to stop at home to drop them off.  Good thinking, right?  Well, guess what?  She never received them.  I had completely forgotten about it until we were laying in bed last night and I asked her if anything happened at work today.  She said, "no."  So, this morning, while she was on her way to work, I called her boss and confirmed that nothing was delivered.  Her boss even called the front counter to see if any had come in yesterday.  Nada.

I called up the customer service department at FTD.com and complained.  They said they'd look into it and call me back.  A couple hours later, Katie calls and tells me that they found the flowers in the cooler at work.  They were delivered nearly two hours earlier and not to the pharmacy as I had requested when I ordered them.  Nobody left a note that flowers were delivered and nobody remembered anything at all about the actual delivery.  So she got them... finally.  A day later than I had planned, but still in time for our anniversary, which is a good thing.

Guess I owe FTD a follow-up call, eh?

Photograph... all I've got is your photograph.

... and a heckuva lot of them to boot.

It took me a little over two hours to sift through, select, resize, upload, title, caption, and organize them into an album, but all my Florida vacation shots are now up on Flickr for your perusal and, hopefully, enjoyment as well.

Well, the ones I wanted to share, that is.

In all, there are 46 shots in total in the album although I took nearly 100.  These are the "best of the best," per se, and even some of those were pared out.

Some of them are your standard touristy shots, but I did get a bit creative with a few.  Particularly the ones involving champagne.  No, not because I'm some kind of lush, but just because I really liked the shot composition on them.  I really like how my "Still Life With Champagne" pictures turned out and I received quite a few compliments from people about them when I showed them on my digicam's display screen.

   

Now I've just gotta find a way to upload a video I took using my digicam while on the airboat.  Nothing exciting like an alligator chomping at us or whatnot.  Just the boat flying around.  I should look into uploading that one.  Be kinda cool just to see it live and online.

Oh, and this post title was just for you, SJ.

Misty water-color memories, of the way we were.

Now that I'm back in Illinois and have had my not-quite-as-theatric-as-I-had-hoped-for reunion with Katie (she was also picking up my parents at the same time and, in this post 9/11 era, cops don't like you to sit with your car for too long in the arrivals area), I suppose it's time for the vacation recap...

(drum roll)

The Positives:

• Seeing Nano and my Aunt and Uncle - I never really get to see them nearly as often as I would hope.  Damn this whole out-of-state living situation.
• Hanging out with almost all of my family all at the same time (we missed you, Kate).
• Surprising Nano with all of her neighbors at what she believed would just be a family dinner.
• Getting somewhat of a tan.  Some would argue it's a burn, but I'm trying to be the "cup half full" kinda guy right now.
• Discovering a new swimming pool game with my dad that we call "Pool Disc" which involves throwing a golf disc upside down in the pool so it either skims across the water like a speedboat or hops like a skipping stone.  For the sake of your face, you should try to stick to skimming.
• Going to the beach in Clearwater.
• Eating some great food at Nano's place.
• Having a killer calzone at a Greek restaurant in Tarpon Springs.
• Laughing my arse off when I mentally mixed the words Tarpon Springs and Tampa, both of which cohabitated a mileage sign, and came up with "Tampon Springs."
• My dad and I doing our worst "Superfans" impersonation every time we passed the exit for Bearss Avenue in Tampa by constantly saying "Da Bearss!"
• Having Katie tell me that the sea glass sun catcher I bought her was the best gift she received from the vacation even though I thought it was just a kitschy little thing that I would wind up liking more than she did.
• The airboat tour that Brian, Jen, and I took.  Lots of fun and lots of gators.
• Discovering that Lamborghini Diablos are just as cool in person as they are in magazines and in the movies.
• Playing games of 31 well into the night on our last night there.
• Encountering my first live armadillo at a rest stop along I-75.
• Lying through my teeth to my brother that both my Dad and I waded out into a swampy part of a lake inlet down the street from Nano's place which is notoriously infested with gators.  I said I did it to get a photo I wanted and didn't stay in long... all in the name of art.  My B.S. reason for my Dad going out there was that he just wanted to.  My brother was convinced and the lie has perpetuated until this instant.  Of course, if he doesn't read this entry, he'll still never know.  Muahahahahahaha.
• Finding a really cool sporting goods shop in the Tampa Airport where I bought a Buccaneers hat that was actually marked down in price.
• Seeing Katie again after nearly a week.

The Negatives:

• No Katie.
• The heat... it was in the 90s for most of the time we were there.
• The sunburn... yeah, I said I was trying to be "glass half full" and all that jazz, but my inner cynic always triumphs.
• No Katie.
• The humidity... did I mention it has hot?  Well it was humid, too.
• Driving four round trips to the Tampa area from Wildwood.  That's a brutal drive after a while especially with gas prices these days.  And I-75 is boring as sin.
• Being charged by an armadillo that obviously doesn't like having his picture taken and is much faster than I originally anticipated.
• No Katie.
• Being told that in-flight snacks cost money.  What a load of crap.  Thank you, Katie, for the travel bags.
• Discovering that this sporting goods shop in Tampa Airport actually carries more Yankees swag than any of the local teams from throughout the state of Florida; possibly even combined.  If I was still a Yanks whore, I'd be in Heaven.  Alas, I am not so much anymore.  Although, Don Mattingly is still my God.
• Needing to wear a shirt, hat, and sunglasses in the sparkling water at Clearwater Beach.  I felt like a schmuck.  Damn tan/burn.
• No Katie.
• Leaving the rest of my calzone behind.  Nano has them in the freezer.  That was one fine calzone.  I hope she enjoys the leftovers.  Ah, the little things.
• Hanging that Ibanez EX160 back on the rack and leaving the pawn shop.
• Leaving Nano and my Aunt and Uncle to come home.  As much as I missed Katie, I'm going to miss them as well.  And it's never easy leaving any of them.  I want to see them all again so badly.

That does a pretty good job of summing up my trip to Florida.  Soon, I will find time to transfer the photos off my digicam and post them on Flickr.  I promise.  Likely tomorrow.

I'm on my way... home sweet home.

Since I never got the chance to say it yesterday, I want to wish a happy 80th birthday to Nano (my grandmother).  Yesterday was the official day of her birthday although we had the big party on Saturday.  At least I think it was Saturday.  I lose all sense of date and time when I'm on vacation.  It's both a blessing and a curse.

One thing I've been noticing over the last couple of days is that Floridians love expensive sports and luxury cars.  It must be the truth... I've seen more of them in the last couple of days here than I've ever seen over the course of the other 30.85 years of my life. 

The day before yesterday, I saw my first-ever on-the-street Lamborghini Diablo.  Oh, it was sweet.  I enjoyed it immensely.  And the driver knew he was being ogled.  He didn't have to pull any theatrics with his driving.  He stuck around long enough to let his fine piece of machinery be viewed from nearly all angles before speeding up just enough to move within sight of a new bunch of droolers.  I think he also knew that driving a foreign sports car that is racing yellow in hue makes him an automatic target for local and state police.  So no excessive peeling out for him.  And I thank him.  His care and caution afforded me the opportunity to snap a couple of shots.

The two cars I saw yesterday marked another pair of "firsts" for me; although far less impressive than the Yellow Devil.  One was a Maserati and the other was a Bentley.  For two vehicles that cost well north of $100 grand, I was not moved as I felt I should have been.  Even my dad and uncle felt the Maserati looked like nothing more than a Nissan Maxima.  That's a great thing for Maxima drivers, but I'll bet it deflates the egos of the drivers of this particular Maserati.  I'm not sure what model it was nor do I really care enough about it to find out.  I did snap shots, though.  Especially since the Maserati was being towed.  Breakdown?  Who really knows.  But we were laughing all the same.

Well, today is the day that we head home.  My brother and his girlfriend left yesterday.  My aunt and uncle will be leaving on Wednesday.  I'm going to miss Nano.  I love visiting her and hope to do it again soon.  She's so much fun to be around.

But I am also missing Katie terribly right now.  This is the longest that I've been away from her and it is really killing me inside.  Yes, I realize that I sound like a complete dope right about now.  But I don't care.  Being away from her and only in contact via cell and blog comment (yes, that comment is from the Katie) is not my preferred method for relationship maintenance.  I know we both had family commitments that required us to be in different places (heck, different states) at the same time, but I still wish she was here.  Now, I'm going home to her and I hope it's one of those big, sappy homecomings with the big hug where I pick her up and spin her around.  I want to kiss her and tell her how much I missed her.  And, hopefully I will achieve all these goals before the Chicago Police Department tells us we have to move the car or we get honked at by the car behind us. 

Next time, Katie is coming here with me.  There is so much I want to do together with her here especially since we hit so much rain the last time we visited.  Nano, we hope you don't mind having some visitors come knocking on your door.

They knock me out when I'm down there.

Even though it may be a rather inane movie, I really enjoy EuroTrip when it's on TV.  It's about four friends (three guys and a girl) who are traveling across Europe in a trek to help one of the guys (standing in top middles of poster) meet his internet dream girl (blonde at left in poster) who lives in Germany.  Basic plot and whatnot, but I still laugh.

However, I'm discovering that the film does espouse one gospel truth.  While in I want to say Belgium, they visit one of the world's most notorious nude beaches.  Upon arrival there, they discover, much to their horror, that it's populated only by nasty old nekkid men. 

According to a travel guide that is the bible to one of the characters (the one in the green checkered shirt in the poster), the women are only there at certain times because they realize that they become the ogle targets of these men and have, hence, moved themselves to another beach.

I think this is the truth here in the States as well (save for the nude beach part of it all).  Beaches are made out in pop culture to be a place to go to find all the "beautiful" people in the world. 

But this is far from the truth.  In Clearwater Beach, the place was packed with the following percentages:

• 2% beautiful people (that could be women or men who deserve to be dubbed "beautiful")
• 58% beautiful people watchers because they are not beautiful themselves.
• 30% people who think they are beautiful and need to be smacked upside the head until they realize they are not.
• 10% people who don't give a rat's ass and are just there to be there.  No people watching and no attempts at ego self-inflation.

Before you all start to think I'm a raving egotist myself, I realize that I am part of the immoral majority.  Yes, I people watch.  Not ogle, just watch.  I think I was born a sociologist.  I like to see what people do and how they react in given situations.  Yes, I do know that I'm anything but beautiful.  That's a fact of life I've long accepted.

But it's this 30% that really bug me.  They either walk around in bikinis or Speedos and hang over the sides or they are walking around with their chests puffed out and stomachs sucked in (you can always tell the latter because their faces, despite all the tanning lotions, still roughly resemble the color of the water they are standing against).

People, just accept who you are.  I know you strive to be better.  Heck, I strive to be better; that's why I work out at my gym.  But the first step in realizing what a great person you can be is to accept who you already are.  It will make achieving your self-beautification goals that much easier.  If you can't accept who you are now, you will never accept yourself down the line no matter what steps you take.  It's a mad, vicious cycle. 

I'm not even entirely there, yet, but I'm damn sure trying.  Unlike when I was a kid, I can actually take my shirt off at the beach now.  If people want to laugh, they can laugh.  But beware... over my 30 years of life on this planet, I have developed a whip-smart and biting sense of humor that can leave you with tear-stained streaks of Banana Boat running down your cheeks... and I'm not afraid to use it.  Taunt at your own risk.

Why am I having visions of the French taunter from Monty Python and the Holy Grail right now?

Oh, and because of my burns, I was actually wearing a T-shirt today as well as a hat and sunglasses while in the water and on the beach.  The T-shirt, despite my previous declaration that I am comfortable enough to be topless at the beach, was more an attempt at self preservation than a stab at ego massaging.

I still felt like a tool, though.

It was a... rock lobster.

That would probably be the most appropriate way to describe my current skin coloration. 

After two consecutive days at the pool (in it, not beside it) with two visits today alone, as well as going on a 2.8 mile walk this morning and just generally spending time outside, I'm beyond barbecued.

My lower arms, upper arms, shoulders, upper back, upper chest, cheeks, forehead, and ears... well, suffice it to say, they are cooked.  Well done to be a bit more specific.

It's not a particularly uncomfortable experience at the moment.  Just a little tightness across my back and that's really about it.  For now, I'm sure.  Probably get worse as time goes on. 

Just give me sheared off horns and a fist of solid rock and I could pass as Hellboy.  Okay, so throw in some pecs and a washboard stomach for good measure.  Not everyone can look like Ron Perlman naturally.  Maybe not even Ron Perlman.

But the key is, this white boy finally has some color to him.  Now, if I can only get enough chemicals on my skin to make it turn into a tan before it peels so I can actually stay some decent shade for the trip home to make it all look worthwhile, I'd be happy. 

Not likely, though.  I've got that "just enough" bit of Irish ancestry in me to dictate that I am either white or burned.  Those are really my only two options... cave dweller or crispy critter. 

I wish I could be nice and browned and have skin that says "I work 40 hours a week as a snorkel instructor" instead of a milky pallor that bemoans "I sit behind two computers all day."  It would be a nice touch.

And we're going to Clearwater Beach tomorrow.  This should be interesting.

While my guitar gently weeps.

This morning, instead of getting up for a walk/run like I had hoped, I went for a golf cart trek around my grandmother's country club with my dad.  We went around everywhere and even down this wonderfully creepy dirt road that bisects some swamp land.  The sort of stereotypical swampy area with the floating green moss and trees growing right out of the middle of the water.  Standard Scooby Doo mystery sort of locale.  As freaky looking as it was, I find myself able, as I usually do, to suppress my internal fears and brave it out for the sake of photography.  Amazing what I can do under the protective shield of photography.  Kinda like my own little Superman cape.  More photos that will be posted on Flickr, I'm sure.

We jumped in the rented minivan and, for whatever reason, made our way into a Beall's Outlet Store.  While there and looking at the discount store equivalent of a CD selection, we met this girl who was also looking at the CDs and asked if I saw any good rock discs.  I pulled out a copy of Black Sabbath's Master of Reality and handed it to her.  She said she was the singer/guitarist in a local band that, like any other band, was trying to break through to the "big time."  Well, she may not have actually used those two words in tandem like that, but you get the point.  She started explaining that her band was a mix of Metallica and Slipknot meets Evanescence.  I think it impressed her when I was able to ask "but do you have pipes like Amy Lee?" (the lead singer of Evanescence).  Confidently, she said, "yeah!"  This acknowledgment that I wasn't too old to not know who these bands were resulted in a pretty good conversation about music. 

She started explaining her band's history (they all played in their high school band together); where the band name, And More, came from (they were watching a commercial for a Now music CD and, at the end of the list of artists featured on the CD, it said "and more" and they liked it); that her cousin is the former bass player for Papa Roach; and that the Leesburg Wal-Mart had copies of her band's demo disc.  She had none on her so I actually made a concerted effort to find this Wal-Mart because I was pretty intrigued at the idea of being able to listen to a band that was just getting started. 

I haven't had the opportunity to listen to an "up-and-coming" band since buying a couple albums from a high school buddy's band, Midian, and seeing them play live both at our high school, in a local music hall later in high school, and again at the college we both attended where they opened for Local H.  Pretty cool to watch the evolution, but they broke up soon after that.  A shame as they were pretty good.

Unfortunately, after traipsing around greater Leesburg and finding the Wal-Mart, I discovered that nobody in either the audio/video section nor up at customer service had ever heard about carrying demo discs for a local band named And More.  Dangit!  I was looking forward to hearing their music.

I don't know your name, girl, but don't go sending me on some wild goose chase.  I was willing to plug your band for free here if the music was good.  Now I've got nothing to go on nor any way to really recommend you.  Heck, I can't even link to a Website for you as "And More" brings up a heckuva lot of possibilities in Web search engines.  Not a good way to start building a fan base.  If you happen across this site while Googling your band's name and would like to rectify the situation by sending me the demos, e-mail me and I'll send you my address (the link is near the top left of any page on this blog).

Somewhere in the mix of going to Bealls and finding Wal-Mart, my dad and I visited a local pawn shop.  Nothing too spectacular.  Actually, a bit of a letdown.  I've never been to a pawn shop before and I may have built my expectations for a selection of cool things up a bit too high in my mind. 

However, I did find one spectacular thing... an old Ibanez EX160 electric guitar. 

This was one of the first guitars I ever owned in my high school and college playing days.  The only problem was, being a college student, I needed money.  Since I never really had the time to play in college like I had hoped I would, I found my guitars expendable.  Most of my instruments (three electric guitars, one acoustic guitar, and one electric bass) were not that big a deal to sell.  But my Ibanez was gorgeous and I regret selling it to this day.  It's not an easy instrument to find either.  Ibanez doesn't run the EX series anymore and, from what I've heard, Ibanez's quality of craftsmanship went downhill in the mid 1990s.  My old 160 dates back to the latter half of the 80s or maybe even 1990, at the latest.  Not even eBay has had any of them that meet my mental specs for this particular axe.  I just now found a site that sold one for $90, but, according to them, it needed "some work."

But the one at this pawn shop was almost my old guitar to a T.  The only differences were some superficial scratches and a missing pick guard.  Otherwise... perfection.  And it was only $135.  Well, I shouldn't say "only" as I can't currently afford that price.  After playing around with it a bit and realizing that it had the same smooth action as my old Ibanez, I hung it back up, wept internally, and left the store.

Yet another of those painful "so close, and yet so far" moments that occur in your life.  I wanted it soooo badly, but could not justify spending the money.  I know I will be kicking myself for years to come.  $135 for a guitar is not a bad price, really.  But I just couldn't do it.

I want to play again so badly.  And I want to play my old Ibanez.

Leavin' on a jet plane...

I was under the impression, from the day that my mom ordered our plane tickets to come down here to Florida, that we would be flying United... Chicago's all-but-defunct aeronautical pride and joy.

However, on the way in to O'Hare, she revealed to me that she just found out we were actually flying Ted, United's low-fare solution.  I wasn't quite sure what to make of that.  This is the first time I have flown one of the new breed of low-cost carriers since they became en vogue.  I have been on some of the old school cheap-o flights and they've all had their ups and downs.  No more so than flying the "ritzy" airlines.  So I was apprehensively curious.

I was right to be apprehensive.  First off, we were stuck in a waiting area at a gate that felt like it was an afterthought on Terminal 2 at ORD.  It was branched off one of the main hallways and was this tiny little excuse of a gate.  Actually, there were three gates there in a space that normally would have served one or two gates well.

Then we got on the plane.  Nothing too terribly worth noting.  Until the flight attendants came around, that is.  The woman in the seat next to me, Cindy, had been trying to get an attendant's attention for several minutes because the already nearly drunk off his keister bonehead in the seat in front of her had already reclined his seat.  We weren't even in the air.  But the attendants never responded to her waving.  No matter how hard she shook her hand, they never came by. 

Oh, and by the time we landed, the guy in front of Cindy was legitimately drunk.  So was the girl in the seat next to him.  You know it's bad when the flight attendant is keeping track of what they're drinking and calling them on it.

A little later, they came by with food and drinks.  For a "snack box" we would have had to pay $5.  Then, the drinks you do get for free are just a small plastic cup that is already 1/3 to 1/2 ice.  And they don't come around for a second serving.  Usually I am able to talk a flight attendant into leaving me the entire can of soda or whatever I'm drinking.  Not on Ted.  Nope.  No way.  Nuh uh.  When they say "no frills," they are not mincing words.  They mean it.

But there were some positive aspects to the flight.  Cindy was really cool and we were talking a bit.  After takeoff, she noted how beautiful some of the clouds below us were and that she wished she had her digital camera.  I told her I had one and she replied by saying that my camera doesn't do her too much good.  I said that if she took some shots with my camera out the window, I would e-mail them to her.  She did.  And I did, too.  And I've got a few pretty cool pictures as a result that I will post on Flickr when I get home (I don't have my USB interface cable with me at the moment... damn).

Another good thing is my lovely new Insignia portable DVD player.  After Cindy and I were done talking, we both broke out our portaplayers.  She watched Austin Powers in Goldmember while I finally got around to watching Friday Night Lights.  A damn fine movie, I might add.  This little player is awesome.  It's a 9" widescreen display and works quite nicely.  I never really wanted a portaplayer before, but I'm glad Katie and I did buy it.  It will definitely come in handy.

And another positive about the whole thing is that we were on time both for take off and landing.  Even flying through some of Hurricane Rita's tailwinds didn't slow us down.

But I am now here in Florida at my grandmother's house typing to you all in the wee hours from her PC listening to either my mom or my dad, or both, clear cutting a forest in the next room.

You best believe it that I got to get away...

From time to time, you run in to those days that you really want to go to work.  Sometimes it's because of some great new project you are looking forward to working on or because of some recognition you are about to receive.  Not me.  Nope.  I'm looking forward to it because I am only going in for part of the day.

How terrible does that sound?  I want to go to work only because I'm there for a half day.

Why, you may ask?

Because I am heading out to Florida tonight with my parents. 

My grandmother's 80th birthday is this coming weekend and I've been looking forward to celebrating it with her.  My parents will be there as will my brother and his girlfriend and my aunt and uncle.

The only problem is that Katie can't be there and I'm going to miss her terribly.  There are a couple reasons that Katie can't go.  1) She doesn't quite have the required vacation days to go, and, 2) her cousin is getting married this weekend and one of us needs to be there.

I really wish she could go and, even though I know there's nothing that can be done, I just keep looking for ways to make it happen. Or, in the immortal words of Captain Jean-Luc Picard, "Make it so."

I'm sure it will still be fun going despite her not being there, but I'm just afraid that I'm going to feel guilty if I have fun.  Weird how that works out.  Either you don't have fun and you look like a frump or you have fun and then feel guilty about it.  Sick, sad Catch-22.

Now I just have to hope that some new hurricane doesn't develop while we're there.  You gotta admit, it seems as though Florida has been pretty lucky this hurricane season, eh?  Usually you always hear about that state getting hammered.  This year, it's been every state except Florida.  Yeah, there's been some damage done, but nothing like what happened in Louisiana and Mississippi by Katrina or what's about to occur in Texas courtesy of Rita.

I hope you pull through, Lone Star Staters.  Stay strong.