A small tour of Chicago

I don't usually take pictures of the city during my trips home. For one thing I have a lot of photos that I took back in the day when I lived there. They're film of course and maybe one of these days I'll scan them and share them here but yeah probably not, mostly because I'm not so sure there's anybody interested in them. Anyway, I took a few photos this time around with the point and shoot. I can't go very far from my grandmother's suburban house these days because the main point of my trip is to visit her. But I did manage a trip into the city to my favorite Mexican restaurant, Tecalitlan. It's on Chicago Ave. between Ashland and Damen and if you're ever visiting Chicago or you live there then you should go. But shhh, don't tell my grandmother I parked her car in that neighborhood. It's not exactly the 'hood, well o.k., maybe a little bit of a dumpy area but it's not that bad and I've never had a problem except for that one time and really nothing bad happened in the end. And if you happen to do a google search and see the thing about the health inspection closure do not fear, they passed their inspection a couple weeks later. Now it is probably even safer to eat there. At least that's what I tell myself. You can look up at the ceiling and enjoy these views while you're stuffing your face with the world's largest, bestest avocado burrito.  The iconic Alcala's Western Wear is across the street and down the block a bit. I'm not sure who wears Western Wear in Chicago but if you're in need of a cowboy hat and chaps this is your place. O.k., maybe I have seen guys in Chicago wearing a cowboy hat and chaps but that's a different neighborhood. It was dark for the photos, thank you Daylight Savings Time. The lakefront path in Evanston/Northwestern University is only 15 minutes or so away so I go there often on my trips to Wilmette. It's a great place to walk and clear my head and maybe stop at the dog beach for some doggy therapy. Chicago skyline from the south point at Northwestern University. Sometimes it's hard to explain the vastness of Lake Michigan to people who've never been there. It may as well be an ocean. Grosse Point Lighthouse. I'm sure I've been in it and you can go in it too if that kind of thing floats your boat. I like this shot because to the right you can see the top of the Baha'i Temple in Wilmette peeking up above the trees and the lighthouse to the left. There are only 7 Baha'i Temples in the world and they're all different. Kind of weird that one of them is in my hometown. It's a beautiful, amazing place, one of these days I'll post some pictures of it. Here's a link to a video showing some nice shots of it in the meantime. What did we ever do before Youtube? That's all I got for now. Maybe one of these years I'll post some of my old photos or even go into the city and take some new ones. I'm home now, so so happy to be home. You should have seen the greeting I got, especially from Strummer. I thought the poor guy's brain was going to explode.

Murder in da hood and Hotel for Dogs

As if I don't have enough weirdness to deal with at the moment, there was a murder down my street last night, less than 2 blocks away. Click on that link and do you see the yellowish house behind the cop cars in the first photo? That is my house. I'm pretty sure it's not a good thing when your house is in the photo of a murder scene. Somebody shot somebody in the street! I do not live in the 'Hood, it's a comatose rural/suburban neighborhood, lots of rich folks with big houses. Police haven't identified the victim or shooter or determined whether or not they're connected with the neighborhood. The shooter is still at large. I swear I've had more incidents with people shooting guns since I've moved to Boulder than I ever had when I lived in Chicago. When I first moved to Boulder one of my neighbors started shooting down the hall one night right outside my apartment door. Best part is that I tried to send Jonny outside last night. I called him about 20-30 minutes after the shooting and he told me the street was blocked off, cops everywhere etc. and at the time he didn't know what was going on. I was amazed he hadn't gone outside to see what was up and told him he'd better go check in case it was a blown gas main or something and he might need to evacuate. He had even heard the gunshots but didn't think they were actual gunshots and certainly didn't assume they were from down the street and someone was getting shot. Strummer freaked out at them as well but Strummer's always freaking out about something so he didn't think much of it. It looks like 2009 is going to be the year of 'Never a Dull Moment'. While my neighborhood was getting shot up I was at the movies at an actual movie theater for the first time in forever watching 'Hotel for Dogs'. I would give it a rating of 4 steaming, stinking piles of dog poop and yes, duh, I figured it would be bad but wow it was even worse than I suspected it could possibly be. I realize it's a kids' movie but man even the kids in the theater didn't seem entertained. Does Hollywood think kids are that stupid? I don't know, the kids sitting next to me were making fun of it and I hardly could blame them. The only time I heard the theater laughing was for the obligatory 'guy gets kicked in the groin' scene. Doesn't matter the age group or audience, Hollywood seems incapable of letting us leave the theater without witnessing a kick to the groin. Regardless of age group the theater always erupts in riotous laughter so they must know what they're doing. There was plenty of product placement for Pedigree dog food and they even showed part of one of their commercials for their shelter dog campaign. Am I the only one that tears up at those stupid commercials? Drives me crazy that I do that, I feel so played but I can't help myself. And sure enough despite myself I'm on the verge of bawling when they show it during the movie. I'm such an ass. The only other interesting/bizarre part of the movie was a montage with the dogs with a Tim Armstrong song playing in the background. Even after all these years of punk rock having gone commercial I still find it slightly unnerving when I hear it in a mainstream setting. Especially when it's from someone like Tim Armstrong. I still have an Operation Ivy t-shirt that I bought from him back in the 80's when he was called 'Lint' and had a bad drug problem. He came through the other side though and now is a bazillionaire and apparently hawking his brilliance to crappy movies. In any case the thoughts and memories of all this were a welcome distraction from the movie. There were some cute dogs in it to be sure but they weren't enough to make up for the rest of it and by the end I was ready to claw my eyeballs out. I don't normally go to kid movies or hokey dog movies or any combination thereof but my friend really wanted to go and couldn't get anyone to go with him, not even his younger nieces who said it was way too uncool to be caught at that flick. He got SO excited when I told him I'd go with him and I was feeling guilty about dragging him to the X-Files movie last time I was in town. This is someone who hates violence of all kinds and likes Disney movies and old classic movies. Because of the violence he walked out of Slumdog Millionaire which is what I really would have liked to have seen but that will wait for another day. And my friend loved Hotel for Dogs so it was worth it. Tonight we're meeting up with another of my friends for burritos at my favorite Mexican restaurant. It'll mean an annoying drive into the city but it'll be good to get out of the 'burbs for an evening and to get together with my old friends. One more day and then I'm on my way home. Can't wait to see what happens next. Or maybe I can.

Paper AND Plastic

Paper or plastic? My grandmother has solved this age old problem by insisting on both. This makes carrying the grocery bags nigh on impossible since the paper bag gets in the way of the handles of the plastic bag. At first I'm not sure if this is some sort of weird store policy. Maybe the store manager has an intense hatred of Al Gore and is bound and determined to prove that global warming is a myth? But the bagger woman tells me she's known my grandmother for 12 years and this is what she insists on. I can't even begin to fathom the logic but I've long ago given up trying. Often my trips home are like something out of a 'Seinfeld' episode except maybe not so amusing when it's happening to you.

I had to make 2 trips to the Skokie Jewel yesterday, one with my grandmother and another when my aunt realized there was no real food in the house and sent me back with the real list. Many of the items on this new list were still baffling to me but I did what I was told and hopefully no one will go hungry. Plus it is always an interesting cultural experience going to the Skokie Jewel, a great place to people watch if you're into that sort of thing. The afternoon crowd consisted of lots of slow moving little old Jewish ladies sporting garish but probably very expensive full length fur coats. One such woman decided to befriend me at the deli counter and it's a good thing since I needed help. One of the items on my new and improved list was sliced turkey and chicken. The pre-packaged stuff looked particularly vile so I decided to get some 'freshly' sliced stuff from the deli. Probably just as vile but somehow it looked better. I had no idea how much meat to get so I randomly chose a 1/2 lb of each and when I saw how much it was, well, it looked like a lot. Just as I was wondering if it could be frozen a fur clad woman shuffled over and informed me that boy was I going to enjoy this meat, it's most excellent. She insisted that I keep a bit in the fridge at a time and freeze the rest, it will be delicious and fresh. I thanked her and told her I was grateful for the info. because I'm a vegetarian and have no idea about freezing meat or what is good meat or anything about meat for that matter. Well, this was absolutely the wrong thing to say because that generation in this part of the world still considers vegetarians to be communist freaks. I'm not in Boulder anymore, Toto. She scrunched up her nose and gave me a disdainful look but continued to chat away to me because old ladies at the Jewel on a Thursday afternoon love to give you advice even if you're a communist freak. Maybe even especially if you're a communist freak.

Did you know that eggplants can sweat and that making them do so supposedly makes them taste better? It must be true because the internets told me so. I decided to make Eggplant Parmesan for my grandmother which yes I know is not super uber healthy but is better than the crackers and Chex Mix she has been eating and I found a recipe that seemed healthier than the stuff you get in restaurants. Instead of frying the eggplant in a heavy batter I used a light egg/breadcrumb coating and pre-baked them instead. I also cheated and used tomato sauce out of a jar instead of making it from scratch but I figured this venture was already iffy enough, no need to make it harder just for the sake of it. I did go to the bother of sweating the eggplants though, it seemed worth it if it would guarantee they would not be bitter. In the end there were no fires (I'm much better with the oven than I am with the stove), a minmum of mess and my cooking was a big hit with my grandmother. She loves eggplant parmesan but for some reason never prepares it for herself so I knew it would be a nice treat for her. I thought it was good too, maybe there's hope for me after all. Now if anybody has any helpful hints from Heloise on how to get charred oatmeal off the top of a smooth topped electric stove I'm all ears.

I can haz Eggplant Parmesan??!!


No? Fine. Be that way.

Sheecawgo

I missed the inauguration speech yesterday darn it. I've never before had the slightest interest in listening to the speech so I didn't realize it would be mid-morning. I could have at least watched or listened from work. A coworker was listening and by the time I realized what it was it was nearly over. I know I can watch it on the net somewhere but I wanted to see history in the making. Oh well. I know I'm probably being naive but for the first time in like ever I'm starting to sort of kind of maybe have a teensy bit of faith in a president. At the very least he's articulate and smart and has a sense of diplomacy and maybe for the first time in forever the rest of the world will not be laughing at us or fearing us or hating us so much that they want to crash airplanes into our buildings. In any case yesterday felt like the light at the end of a horrible, long, dark, rank tunnel full of sewer rats and cholera. And judging by the incomprehensible size of the crowds in DC I'm guessing I'm not alone in that sentiment.

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I made it to Chicago today with one of the most hassle free travel experiences I've ever had. Bus to the airport was on time, plane left on time, landed 5 minutes early, waited maybe 2 minutes for my friend to pick me up, no traffic between the airport and my granparent's house-crazy! No turbulence on the plane, no screaming kids, no one hacking up a lung, I had a window seat with no one next to me and the guy on the aisle slept almost the whole way. He woke up long enough to tell me that if I needed out just let him know, no need for me to feel trapped. How nice is that? If travel was like that all the time I might do more of it or at least not dread it when I have to do it.

My grandfather is in a hospice just now and for a 92 year old Alzheimer's patient who's just had 2 heart attacks in the space of a week he's not looking half bad. He was awake when I came in the room and knew who I was. He would have a short conversation then close his eyes and fade out then bam he'd blink awake and talk to me again. They're sending him home on Friday, something I thought would never happen. Nobody really knows how long he'll go. He'll be bedridden and won't have much quality of life but thankfully he doesn't appear to be in pain.

My grandmother was pretty happy to see me and I thought the nurse was going to burst into tears when she saw how happy my grandmother got. Yeah, the mega-expensive plane ticket was worth it.

I'm having a hard time figuring out everyone's schedules, when I'm supposed to take my grandmother to the hospice and bring her home (sounds simple but somehow my family has made it into a confusing logic problem) plus other complications I won't bore you all with. A simple trip to the grocery store tomorrow is turning into a major expedition. When you work full time and juggle several hobbies you learn to be very efficient with time. I squeeze grocery shopping in before work or at night on my way home from swim practice, it's certainly not the centerpiece of my day and I don't put a whole lot of thought into it. I could not understand the big fuss or why my grandmother needed to go with me since I could probably get it done in half the time myself until I realized that for her it's something to look forward to, something to get her out of the house and the hospice and give her a sense of normalcy. I now feel bad telling her she couldn't go and now that I've realized what's going on I'll certainly take her with me tomorrow but as you can see I'm a little slow with fitting into the rhythm of what's going on around here and switching gears from my own way of doing things. It'll be a bit chaotic at first when they move my grandfather home but so much better and easier for everybody.

Despite my grandmother's protests I think I'm going to try cooking her something tomorrow. Dinner for her seems to be another crazy overblown problem so when we were at the hospice I told her I'd make her dinner tomorrow. She can hardly hear at all but boy she heard that and protested loudly, 'Oh no you won't!' Then she turned to the nurses and said, 'Her husband, now he can cook'. Yeah, I know I suck at cooking and the insurance company would prefer that I wouldn't but I sort of kind of want to learn and now I finally have the time and a reason to do it so why not try? If it's a disaster then there's always take-out. And she has an electric stove so the potential for fires is reduced I think. Plus the food she has on her shopping list! Half of it is crackers or snack food of some kind. She never used to be like this and I'm determined to make her something somewhat healthy.

It's weird being in a house with no dogs. My grandmother always had a dog but when the last one died maybe 8 years ago she never got another because it was too much work with them in their 80's. The house felt so empty in the years that I came home after the dog died and now that I have a houseful of my own dogs it feels even weirder. Tomorrow or Friday I'll visit my friend who just adopted a second dog that I haven't met yet so I'll get a little doggy fix.

Now if someone could please do something about the weather. It was 71 in Boulder today and, uh, 20 something here. Why ever did I move away?

Hairdresser On Fire

I'm in Chicago at the moment, trying to maintain my sanity but also having fun in between bouts of family craziness. I also managed not to have a nervous breakdown at Denver International Airport, hurrah. I even got some cool photos of a rainbow and funky clouds from the plane.



One of the things I like to do when I'm in Chicago is to treat myself to a haircut and some highlights/lowlights. It's an indulgence but I only do it once a year and it helps take away some of the stress of the trip. The 'salon' is a run down, dumpy place run by a gangstery looking guy and frequented by little nine million year old Jewish ladies. I'm not kidding, you have to dodge the walkers in that place to get from the hair washing sink to the hair cutting chair. It's a cultural experience to be sure. Plus, I feel so young for once. But my man Robert is a genius with the hair coloring and he's one of the only hairdressers who's ever succeeded in sending me home happy and not in tears. Plus he does it all for a super price, way less than what it would cost me at the foo foo places. He inherited a boatload of money and doesn't have to work but works 2 days a week anyway because he likes it. He is an artiste. He's also a really nice guy and a bit of a character. For a while he was going to my aunt's house and doing her hair in the comfort of her own home for a fraction of his already reasonable rates but she had to put a stop to it because he would come to do her hair and then not leave for like 7 hours. He's also a bit high strung and is always in a tizzy about something. This year the trauma was a double booking, namely me and some other woman also wanting a dye job. For some reason the salon is trying to drive him out and so double booking him all the time to make him look bad. I'm not sure why they want rid of him but my aunt confirmed his story. I'm not sure why he doesn't leave, I'm sure he could work somewhere nicer.

On top of the stress of a double booking he's limping around in a leg brace with his leg swollen up to 4 times its normal size. He's got a torn ligament plus put a nail through his leg doing some home remodelling project, was in the hospital with an infection in the leg and fell down the stairs there injuring it further. He's not supposed to be on his leg at all let alone running back and forth across the salon between 2 customers. I tell him a million times that I'm in no hurry don't worry about it, but he's worked himself up into a state.

In the meantime the woman sitting next to me decides I'm her new best friend and starts chatting and chatting and chatting. Usually people like that drive me crazy but I'm sitting there with a head full of bleach & tinfoil looking superfreaky and what else do I have to do so I chat with her, or rather I listen to her chatting. She was diagnosed with diabetes 3 months ago and learning to cope with her new dietary restrictions. She's also given up smoking, lost 9 pounds and taken up exercising. To keep her exercise regime interesting she's signed up for some program that sounds like a combination bootcamp/exercise/self-defense with the Israeli commandos. She says that on the bright side she'll be able to defend herself if anyone attacks her. 'Don't mess with a woman who can't have ice cream anymore' is her new motto on life.

For some reason the highlight dye is taking forever to develop so he has to keep coming over to check on me, puts me under the dryers, checks a bunch more times, and I'm feeling terrible about his leg and guilty about all my whining and self pity about my own knee. Finally he finishes the cutting and blow drying and somehow manages to tame my rats nest into something respectable looking. Total elapsed time: 2 hours. But wait, he's not satisfied with the highlights. There's not enough light tones and even though I tell him I think it's fine he's not happy with it and decides I need more. So he puts more dye & tinfoil on my head and sends me back under the dryers. Do you know what it's like sitting under a hot hairdryer with tinfoil on your head looking like you're waiting for the UFO's to come? If you are a boy, probably not. Then we have to go through the washing, conditioning, drying and styling again. But by the time he's done my hair looks fabulous and I'm good for another year.

The other thing I like to do while in Chicago is go to the Evanston dog beach with my friend and his dog Annie.




When my friend told me she was a border collie mix I was skeptical from just seeing photos of her but after seeing her in person I'm convinced she's part BC maybe mixed with Golden Retriever. Whatever she is, she's an absolute sweetie. Lovely temperament, greets you like you're her best friend when you come to the door but doesn't bark, isn't at all destructive, doesn't eat your pockets out of your pants or eat every unattended plastic bag or steal food off the counter or or... We've been threatening to swap her out for Strummer but my friend is having none of it.





I was playing around with my new camera lens but didn't have a whole lot of luck. Seems like all they had at the park were tan dogs blending into sand or black dogs who are challenging enough if you know what you're doing but downright vexing if you spent the plane trip doing Sudoku puzzles instead of reading instruction manuals like you were supposed to. These guys were having a good time though and I couldn't help taking a few photos.





Maybe I'll have some better luck tomorrow. Walking in the sand feels like fabulous therapy for my foot, an added bonus of the dog beach.

I managed to convince my other friend to go to my favorite Mexican restaurant instead of a kayak trip on the Chicago river. We did see his fancypants new condo that backs onto the river and it is really nice. He's a ways above the river so you get to enjoy the nice view of it without having to worry about getting any of it on you. I'll admit though it looked so nice I was almost tempted but then his wife admitted to falling out of the boat into the river and feeling absolutely disgusting covered in the mucky water. Plus we would have had to climb down a rope ladder for nearly 2 stories to get down to the river and there's no WAY Jonny was going to do that. I wasn't thrilled about the idea either what with the prospect of a misstep sending you tumbling into the river. We stuffed ourselves with burritos instead.

Now to see if I can last 2 more days without having a nervous breakdown.