Land o' Lincoln

February 12 was Abraham Lincoln's 200th birthday. To celebrate, Disc0 and I took the train from Chicago down to Lincoln's home town and our state capitol, Springfield (on the way down, we kept singing the song from the Simpsons when Bart and Milhouse go crazy Broadway style...look, you already know we're nerds...we went on a Historical Daycation.)

It was a very enjoyable History Daycation. In the 7 or so hours we spent in Springfield, we saw the old state capitol (where we witnessed re-enactors and listened to some gospel music in the old house of representatives):



visited the outside of the new state capital (very impressive building, even grander than Georgia's gold dome if I do say so myself):



took a tour of Lincoln's home and neighborhood (a well-preserved national park):




(check out his wallpaper!):


took a tour of Lincoln's law office, and watched some edutaining little movies about Lincoln's life and times.

I knew a decent amount about Lincoln and obviously understand what an inspiring figure he was in his time and still is. But it was very satisfying to learn a lot of little details about his life, and in a setting where he got the hero's treatment. In Virginia, in the 80's and 90's, I was taught a lot about the "war heros" Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee. I was taught that the war was "about economics, more than it was about slavery." Uh huh...Ah, crazy ol' Virginny. It was nice to go someplace where I know school children take field trips and learn the Union side of the story. The one that WON. The one that did result in the abolition of slavery. That story.

And it was sobering to get the details about what a trial-laden life the man led. In school, I was also taught that Abe and especially Mary Todd Lincoln were emotionally unstable, depressive, and a bit crazy. Well, 75% of their kids DIED in childhood. Mary Todd lost two sons, her husband, and then another son. That sounds pretty crazy-making to me. He still managed to get some nice policy work done, right?

Anyway, I am now a huge proponent of the Historical Daycation. Especially if you can take the train down and back. Ah yes: at the end of the day, we got some ice cream and some popcorn for the trip back. Illinois is a magical place for popcorn. At Del's, we got "charmel corn" upon which both caramel sauce and cheese...substance are heaped. DELICIOUS!

The Dells Tradition Continues!

For 4th of July 2008, disc0 and I decided to head back up to the Wisconsin Dells (this is our third year running), but this time we made it a real family vacation. My sister ("SB") and her girlfriend ("T-shirt C") came along. We had some FUN TIMES!!! Those times are probably best explained in pictures, but first I'll give a little synopsis. On the way to the Dells, we stopped at a place called Mars' Cheese Castle in Kenosha; the MCC is an extremely amazing and overwhelming place where one can buy all sorts of Wisconsin based (and also European imported) food products. As you can plainly see, their logo seems to indicate that some non-Martian, ringed planet is also involved in their business (thanks to flickr.com usuer "romkey" for this sharable image):

While in the Dells, we spent most of our time and money at the various Old Timey Portrait studios that pepper the Dells boardwalk. We also took a duck tour to look at the actual dells and the effects of the major flood a couple weeks ago that destroyed Lake Delton, went to a really terrible water park (I won't name names, but it has a really poorly executed ancient theme, which can't decide if it is Roman, Greek, or Mayan) and a really wonderful teppanyaki dinner at Ginza of Tokyo. Neither Disc0 nor T-shirt C had ever been to a teppanyaki restaurant before, so SB and I had to show them the ropes. The delicious, iron griddle ropes. There was an onion volcano.

But I know what you really want to see is pictures of our time traveling exploits.

We started from the earliest time period that made any logical sense. Meaning of course, that we went back to pirate times. Luckily we brought a camaarrrrra (ha!). For the pictures, I'm going to point you to this album, because blogger isn't necessarily the most cooperative when it comes to amazing photographic compilations:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58643578@N00/sets/72157606061620086/

So, modeling for old-timey photography studios took up much of our time. While SB and T-shirt C were here in the Midwest, we also made cupcakes and cupcake toppers which were tiny imitation cheeseburgers made of icing and mini cookies, ate a Uncommon Ground twice, watched a few episodes of All-American Girl and generally had a great time together like always! Yay for sisters!

I have always loved you, Weezer

I hadn't seen this video yet - I found it on another blog. Ya know Ultragrrrl, from Spin? Her blog: http://ultragrrrl.blogspot.com/


If you have even an iota of internet dorkiness, you will probably love this as much as I do. Or if you just like Weezer, this will allow you to listen to the sweet sound of Rivers Cuomo. He's the reason I love horned-rim glasses, and sweaters.

Washing Machine on the Fritz? No Worries in Northern Illinois.

I am, right now, sitting at the World's Largest Laundromat. In case you were wondering, the World's Largest Laundromat is in Berwyn, Illinois. It is rather large. About the size of one of your larger Value Villages, for my Atlanta peops. They have many miraculous machines, including a "bill breaker." If, like me, you have a $10 bill but only need $5 in quarters: you're in luck. Go to the bill breaker, my friend, and get 2 $5s for your $10. Wonderful!

The World's Largest Laundromat uses solar power to heat its laundry water! That, and the free wi-fi, is the reason I decided to drive over to Berwyn instead of going to the combination laundromat/bar that's only about 0.5 miles from my house. Also I am more in the mood for free coffee/donuts 9:30 am, which I can get at the World's Largest Laundromat. At the laundromat/bar they offer more in the way of pub grub and beer. SUPER COOL, but in a evening-laundry kind of way.

Also, I really wanted to drive my laundry wherever I was going. I have enough to fill two triple loader machines at the World's Largest Laundromat, but I would still feel a little chumpish driving only 0.5 miles and then trying to find a parking space on Southport. Ecologically, my drive to Berwyn probably cancels out my patronage of a solar powered laundromat, but here's what you DIDN'T know: the World's Largest Laundromat also has an aviary! And I'm sitting right in front of it on what I believe is a discarded dorm couch! And one of the doves who lives in the aviary in the Worl'ds Largest Laundromat has recently had BABY DOVES and she's sitting on them right now. So you can see that my decision, ultimately, was the right one.

Hippies are hippies everywhere! Yay.

Today I went to the opening day of Chicago's Green City Market. It's a famous (?) farmer's market where you can get produce, bread, lunch, coffee, meat, and (obviously) a shitload of cheese (hi, welcome to the midwest).

Unfortunately, since today was the opening day, there wasn't all that much produce to be had. Fortunately, this seems to indicate that the GCM is true to its mission of selling local food in season. If my local farmers don't have cucumbers in season right now, that is fine and dandy and I'll wait until they do to make the cucumber-yogurt sauce to go with the falafel I've been wanting to make.*

Even though I didn't obtain all the produce on my list, I did really enjoy walking around the market. I can be sort of a bougie liberal hippie, and I used to love seeing other BLHs at the farmers markets in Charlottesville and Atlanta. Now I know where to find them in Chicago - the Green City Market. In addition to this sense of homey familiarity, I picked up a (really tasty) baguette from the Bleeding Heart Bakery tent, some delicious Wisconsin horseradish/cheddar spread, and some fresh chipotle-tomatillo salsa. I hope in later weeks to be getting more fresh fruit and veggies, but I was happy with my first foray.

In other news, I love volunteering at the DV legal services clinic. And I really love my improvisation classes. This is true even though I am not all that good at it yet, and I'm not usually a big fan of things of that nature. I'm already learning alot, and didn't realize how much I missed acting classes. Fun and challenging. Being a part-time housewife, part-time voluntorney** and part-time improv student rules.

Finally, this weekend I went to the Yahootie Wedding!!!!!! Holy shit - they got hitched. And it was the most gorgeous wedding I've ever attended. I love so many people down in the dirty dirty, and was so happy to spend time with them. And of course, Beck and Gar are two of the most wonderful people in the world, and seeing them so elated to tie the knot was just beautiful. And furthermore, I got to dress up sexy with a bunch of other sexy bridesmaids in our red shoes and fancy fishnets, and spend the day with women I love as we primped and preened and got our hair did and our makeup applied and focused on our friendships with the amazing bride and with each other. Gush!
* * * *
*This might be a lie. I might go to Whole Foods and get a cucumber this weekend. I will try to make it a domestic cucumber so as to reduce the carbon footprint of my homemade Mediterranean dinner.

**volunteer attorney

The Showgirl Must Go On

Getting ready for a BIG St. Patrick's weekend with our friends pinknupin and a WHOLE WEEK OF VACATION back home - yay!

There have been a few good Chicago and non-Chicago activities mixed in with all the preparations for leaving town...

• Went to Vegas to see Bette Midler at Caeser's Palace with the extended fam!



• Ate more delicious meals at Uncommon Ground, Fiddlehead, and Home Bistro



• Saw the Pogues perform at the Riviera in Uptown




I love the music alot, but to be honest his level of intoxication went from fun n' crazy to depressing pretty fast. This video is 20 years old, and from his appearance at the concert I believe he has been ingesting only alcohol from that night until today. I guess he's living his dream.


• We are planning to attend an amazing vegetarian Indo-Pakistani feast at Bhabi's Kitchen later this week (YUM!)

* * *

Also, I try not to be too horribly divisive on here w/r/t politics, so if you really love Hillary Clinton and also really love me, you don't have to read any further because I really love you but I do not really love Hillary Clinton.

COME ON - DON'T BE RIDICULOUS:

Just kidding, Obama's NOT cut out to be VP - unless it helps me get elected - please do not pay attention to the figure behind the curtain

Look - the level of sexism that the media and just generally the country have injected into this nomination contest is revolting. Just read a few comments to the linked article and you'll see more of the same: appalling stereotyping and ludicrous expectations of women in general and women in politics in particular.
But that doesn't mean that Hillary is a good candidate - it doesn't even mean that she is OK.

I really don't think she's OK. If she wins the nomination, I know that I am going to have to talk myself out of staying in the house on November whateveritis, and that it's going to take all of my strength and ALL of my disgust with and fear of McCain to get me to drag my beautiful buns to the polling place and vote for her. Her campaign has irritated me, aggravated me, and at times (almost every time she or Bill brought up race, and when she full on mocked the idea that Americans should have hope for a better future) infuriated me, but now I am out and out disturbed by it. It just doesn't make sense, y'all.

And not to rub it in, but I liked Obama's response to all the "dream ticket" nonsense. In fact his response seems to have triggered the incomprehensible 'counterpoint' from the Clinton campaign in my first link. Clinton and her people seem to be constantly stymied by measured and reasonable statements.

Is not Chicago; is a pointless entry

This entry doesn't have much to do with how awesome Chicago is (it's still awesome, don't worry) but I have a microphone and you will listen to every damn word I have to say.

Last night, disc0f and I played Rock Band for the first time. Our friends the Saunderseses had us over for a DELICIOUS dinner and then invited us down to their really cool Rec Room (it is in every way a rec room, and that rocks) to play the game. I was the singer. I totally started off humble and by the end of the night I was throwing bottles of Jack Daniels at the bass player's head from a half-prone position on a groupie's lap.

It's the best game ever! I can't wait to get it--there are great songs on the game but you can also DOWNLOAD songs, including Radiohead, Weezer, and a whole Bowie Pack. This might turn me in to a "gamer."

I'm also almost done buying my outfit for Yahootie!'s wedding! This is essential since it's only four months away. It has made me a little bit nostalgic because it reminds me that I used to have the Most Perfect and Fabulous Dress of All Time. It was a black, pull-on, stretch silk, sleeveless, cowlneck number that I bought on Girlshop (R.I.P, Girlshop.com). (FYI, note that Mindy Kaling's shopping blog is now on my links page. I just found out about it last night, and I adore it. Even though it reminds my of my glory days of really out of control consumerism. R.I.P., Tubesy's really out of control consumerism.)

So the Most Perfect and Fabulous Dress of All Time would have been absolutely effing perfect for B & G's wedding. But I realized in law school (during a musical fashion montage) that it doesn't technically fit over my ass anymore. I'm not going to mourn my old 100-lb frame, because that wasn't the best look, but I will mourn the dress and the way I looked and felt in it the 18,000 times I wore it. Despite my growing out of it I was keeping the MPAFDOAT around because, with strategic placement of my Vintage Leopord Print Half Slip of Awesomeness, I could fashion a pretty fun look. Not wedding wear mind you, but I liked having it around. Now the MPAFDOAT is missing. It may not have made it all the way to Chicago, and perhaps I should take this as a portent of maturity - because I found a Grown Up Version (e.g., it has a lining and a zipper, and it covers my ass) of the MPAFDOAT, and it is the Grown Up Version that I'll wear to the wedding. Grown up versions things are great, but I still miss the original. The fact that I found some Christian Louboutin knock-offs on Zappos helps a little:



All I know is I am NOT letting my kick ass camo-lined combat boots slip away. Disc0 loves them, and that's a great sign, because I do too even though certain friends and hangers-on have been trying to make me get rid of them since I was 23.

Ahh memories...memories of clothes.

ruh roh

There are now outtakes from "The Landlord" on http://www.funnyordie.com. This is my favorite internet video content of the year. Why yes, I am having an attack of baby hormones, why do you ask?

Here is the original:



And here are the outtakes:



Well now that you're done watching that, I write a little...

I spent last weekend in sunny Atlanta, at the bridal shower of one of my best and dearest friends, Becky of Yahootie! It was so, so good to see Beck and many of the other fabulous women I know and love from the Dirty Dirty South. And I got to MEET a bunch of new friends too! Now all I have to do is convince them all to move to Chicago, and the circle will be complete...

Seriously though, I really miss having my closest friends CLOSE to me. From Charlottesville to Indiana to Atlanta and back to Charlottesville, I have always had amazing women around me who inspire me and make me feel at home. I know that they will be around forever, and I love that so much and am so lucky to have them, and I cherish the opportunities to see my girls when I can. BUT I know that I need to meet some fabulous, progressive, feminist girlfriends here in my new home. I know they are out there and I'm trying to make some changes so I can find them easier. I need my friends from afar and I need some here, too!

(and then, when my friends from afar move to Chicago, I will introduce you all and it will be a hell of a party.)

For now, there are a number of high-spirited (AKA drunk) men in my living room and I have to escort them to Sheffield's before they get deep-dish pizza all over my good couch!

QUICKFIRE CHALLENGE

Disc0 and I had a wonderful time in Boston this weekend. We met a baby we've heard about for months and hung out with my AWESOME SISTER and her whole Big Rock Candy crew.

We got in really late and going to work wasn't all that much fun as a result. Then this evening, disc0 had to go to a talk by one of our old Profs from law school, and I had to go to the grocery store. Well wouldn't you know it, I was plum cheered up by the fact that they were filming Top Chef at my local Whole Foods!!!



There they were, the new class, running around politely, yelling politely to their teammates, and getting lots of friendly service from the Whole Foods Family. I just tried to play it cool, until I finally broke down to the super sweet gal bagging my groceries and was all "Is Padma Lakshmi here right now because if she is I might flip my stuff a little bit?! She wasn't, but that's OK. I didn't need some embarrassing fangirl experience.
As it is, I might be featured as background fodder on an episode of Top Chef, in full frizzy bang, Ugg-wearing, muffin-topped form. I didn't know they would be filming one of the few reality shows everyone can get behind, so I didn't really put on my face, or my jeans that fit. And that...is OK.

In conclusion, it was really, really cool. And inspired me to whip up a rather delicious mushroom soup when I got home. I'm assuming Top Chef will be filming all over my neighborhood from now on, because it is the coolest.

oh boy

I didn't watch the Dem. debates, even though they were at Dartmouth. Bad me.

I am relieved that Mychal Bell was released on bond and will be dealt with in juvenile court like most juveniles who get into fights in school. And all it took was a national media spotlight and thousands of brave and caring people marching in the streets...yep, that's all it takes to get justice for young black men in some parts of this country. Oh, I'm sorry--the chance for justice.

In terms of Chicago, the weather is absolutely perfect right now. low 50s, high 70s. And it's almost October! Who knew?! Fall in Chicago is as fantastic as summer!

And on a totally different note, I have to introduce you to http://lolsecretz.blogspot.com/.

I don't read post-secret but the concept is that people, well, post their secrets on the internet. Anonymously. I like the cat version better. Don't tell me LOLcats were over before they started, because I don't care. They are cats and they make me LOL.

My parents paid 30,000 leptons to send me here, and I expect an education

Yes, kids: that subject line is a little shout out to all the Libel Show fans. Keep the dream alive.

Anyhoo, I feel that I should talk about Greece a little bit even though, as a I mentioned before, it is not technically in Chicago or the Midwest at all. Therefore, I'll try to keep it mostly to bullet points. Convenient, because basically I think in bullet points.

I loved about Greece:

+ The food: so most of what we ate and drank in Greece was local. Feta cheese, which I didn't even think I LIKED, was amazing on salads and in cheese pies. The most delicious cucumbers of all time. The green PEPPERS were good (another thing I'm not a big fan of state-side). The tomatoes looked and sounded delicious, but even in Greece I wouldn't go down that road (I do not like them in a car, I do not like them near or far, etcetera). If fish is frozen rather than fresh, the restaurants are REQUIRED to note it on the menu. The food was fresh and good with very few exceptions. The yogurt is about a million times better than anything I've had in the US. Don't even get me started on the baklava.

+The wine: Also all local. Apparently they don't put sulfites in their wine. All I know is it was inexpensive, yummy, and I could drink a shiz-ton of it without getting a headache. Yay!

+The religious parades: Extremely short and to the point. They don't prissy-fizz around with a bunch of oversized balloons
or little kids who passed their bike safety class or floats sponsored by radio stations and paid for by beer companies. They get in, their military band plays some serious music, they burn some frankincense, hoist the icon, and get out. We appreciated this at the Feast of the Assumption on Paros. Very beautiful and cool.

+The dogs: there are stray (or just extremely outdoors) dogs all over Greece. The best one is named Air Bud, which appellation was administered after some mighty wine had flowed. But the thing about Air Bud is that we made friends with him one day on Santorini, and later that night following the wine,
we ran into him and he walked us all the way home (usually leading the way, then checking to make sure we were with him). This may not sound like a big deal, but from Fira (the major city on our side of Santorini where we met A.B.) and Firostefani (the location of our hotel) is basically 150,000,072 stairs up a mountain. So he was in it for the long haul. He became best friends with one of our group (Mambles). We gave him a lot of cheese as a token of gratitude when he delivered us safely to our door. This is not a picture of Air Bud, but of another good guy we saw around. There are also donkeys on Santorini (it's great).

+The beauty: The islands really are stunningly beautiful. The sunsets, the churches, the beaches, the cobblestone streets, even the monstrous hills--amazing views. That place is lousy with views.




+The history stuff": The Acropolis is quite a sight, even though we were very disappointed that the Acropolis museum was closed. The archaeological museum was really interesting, though. My favorite part was how much the early marble Cycladic sculpture reminded me of early African sculpture.

+Energy conservation: in most hotels, you had to stick your room key in a little slot when you entered in order to turn on the electricity. Smart.

+The Ellinon Thea Hotel in Santorini was absolutely fantastic.

What I didn't love about Greece:

-the toilet paper issue: you aren't supposed to flush your toilet paper AT ALL. There are teeny tiny trash cans provided for it instead. Sometimes, the same trash can you are also supposed to open up to discard, for example, your dental floss and q-tips. The toilets are normal euro toilets, but no paper allowed, according to the signs on every loo. I am not sorry to say that I think it's grody. I don't particularly see the environmental benefit of poopy (excuse my french) paper all up in landfills, nor do I understand why a modern plumbing system would be built that can't handle paper. And no, I never saw a bidet. And no--NONE OF the guide books mentioned this!

-Money: The ATMs distribute almost exclusively 50 Euro notes, and almost no shopkeeper wanted to take anything bigger than a five. We always felt like we were extremely rude when offering to pay with anything other than coins, and it's upsetting to feel rude for a reason that seems so mystifying.

-Lines/Queues: are not part of society. It's every man, woman, child, and little old person for herself and throwing 'bows doesn't seem to be out of the question.

-it's really hot: but I knew that going in.

All in all it was a wonderful trip, SO good to see friends we had been missing and get closer to new friends. The complaints were mostly dumb American culture shock (except for the toilet paper thing, and for that I will not apologize). Back to regularly scheduled Chicago, soon...

Uff Da!

This weekend, disc0, J, A, and I went to the Wisconsin Dells for a little vacay before bar studying gets really rough (i.e. July 5). It was, as expected, wonderful.



Last 4th of July, disc0 and I wanted to take a cheesy weekend trip, and decided on the Dells, the Waterpark Capital of the World; our impression was that if Disney World is Vegas for kids, The Wisconsin Dells is Branson, Missouri for kids. We were right in alot of ways, but along the way, we also discovered the Thunder Valley Inn, and have been talking about it ever since. You see, before it was the Water Park Capital of the World, the Wisconsin Dells was famous for beautiful rock formations along the Wisconsin River (those are the actual "Dells"), so there are some attractions aside from the water parks.
We knew last year that we had to make Thunder Valley and the Dells a family tradition so we went back, and this time brought some friends along.

The best thing about the Thunder Valley Inn is the food; and the best thing about the Thunder Valley Inn is the people who run it; and the best thing about the Thunder Valley Inn is the atmosphere, which is a combination of the two. The Thunder Valley Inn is...the best.

It's run by the Nelson family, and they are, in a word, incredible. They are some of the sweetest and most earnest people I've ever met in my life--about farming, about food, about hospitality, and about being Norwegian. In fact they identify with Scandinavian-ness in general, including Swedes, so again I felt among my chosen people. At the Saturday "threshing dinner" show, they feed you the best freaking pot roast (grass-fed, no hormones, no antibiotics, from a local friend's farm), mashed potatoes, carrots, onions and peas (from their garden) and bread (the matriarch bakes 40 loaves every day, and makes fresh strawberry-rhubarb jam to go with. OMFG, I at a loaf this weekend). And THEN they get on the piano and the violin and play and sing some Norwegian ballads, with slight yodeling, and then they make eVERYone in the dining room stand up, and hold hands, and sing Good Night Irene. Oh and there's a man named Sven who bursts in during all of this to play the accordion and tell some "Ole and Lena" jokes (a few of which, at the end of his act, were a bit ribald for my taste! Uff da!)

It would take up too much of your time to read about the awesomeness of the breakfast, but let me just say that their fresh eggs and handmade cinnamon rolls are out of this world. I think Chicago is the big city with the best food, and the Thunder Valley Inn is the farm with the best food. disc0 and I stayed in Swedish House portion of the B&B, specifically the Carl Larsson Room, named after Scandinavia's most famous painter, while J & A were in the "Wee Hus" (which is just as precious as it sounds). There are also sheep, goats, a peacock, bunnies, and a KITTY HOUSE, which houses adoptable foster kittens with whom guests are invited to play. The vibe is wholesome, Lutheran, environmentalist, liberal, Feingoldian, Wellstone-ian deliciousness. We want to go there as much as possible.

The rest of the trip, aside from where we ate and slept, was also a blast. Saturday was spent at Noah's Ark, the country's largest water park. A and I left the boys a little early and got massages at a nearby monstrosity/resort called the "Kalahari," which I believe houses the country's largest INDOOR water park. It also houses a very nice spa were the massages were fab. On our way out of the lobby, A and I noticed that there was a group of 10 or so people around a glass enclosure the size of a small gazebo, so we thought it might be a neat snake or something. No, it was two BABY LION CUBS snoozin' away. WHAT?! I was really nervous that this was some sort of fancy, Vegas/Branson looking backyard zoo situation, but then some trainers came to transport the little tykes out of the glass cage and presumably somewhere else more habitable. Though they didn't seem to mind being looked at too much, I was glad that it wasn't their permanent home (or even one they seem to stay in for more than a couple of hours). So we were allowed to be excited that we got to see baby lions up close!!!!!!




Today, after checking out of Thunder Valley, we took an amphibious Original Wisconsin Duck Tour, which took us first through some beautiful forest that contained creepily awesome gargoyles and bas-relief thingies from the old Chicago Board of Trade building (when it was demolished, a woman bought them to decorate the grounds of her estate and now they are by the Duck Boat Road).

Then we went into and down the Wisconsin River with minimal splashage.



There was a moment of excitement when we came across another Duck Boat being evacuated because it got stuck trying to get out of the river back on land--but our driver made it (phew! Uff da!). Then it was through some more pretty forest, and finally more amphibiousness onto Lake Delton before the tour ended. We get to see some of the actual dells (rock formations), which are quite beautiful.

We also had an extremely earnest college student tour guide who made some pretty exciting puns along the way, winning us over completely.
It's actually a really gorgeous tour and we were very glad to see some nature and feel wholesome after Noah's Ark and before coming back to the city. And then the guys did Go-Kart on our way out of town. What can ya do?! Good times are good times.