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April 2006 Archive
Saturday, April 29, 2006
Biped
I dig the oddity of this shot; my feet propped up while riding the
train.
posted
on 4/29/2006 06:10:00 PM
Thursday, April 20, 2006
Quick
Reading from the Crab-O-Meter
Outlook: improving. I got past my inertia and now I'm looking
around and appreciating the glass half full.
Work: Still nothing for April or May. All web design inquiries.
I'm not doing web design anymore, save one outstanding contract
and my own site.
Cinnamon: Stellar
B: I think I'm allergic to emailing.
C: I have some Benadryl...
B: Oh, man I should take it and then email.
[Hilarity ensues]
Apartment: A slowly improving abyss. I have a very welcomed
houseguest tomorrow night, but she won't feel welcome with the apartment
in the state it is. Cleaning blitzkrieg tonight.
Hands: weak. :(
posted
on 4/20/2006 10:27:00 AM
Monday, April 17, 2006
When
You Figure It Out, Explain It To Me.
My friend Josh
sent me The
Economist's survey of Chicago,
published March 18th. I'm finally reading it during my morning respite
at the coffeeshop. I absolutely adore Chicago so I love to hear
good stuff about my city. I'm reading good stuff on how Chicago
built itself up since The
Economist's last, very bleak survey in 1980.
The section titled "Brawn yields to brains" ends discusses art in
the city and that concludes with:
"For other states less well-endowed,
Chicago can offer hope of a different kind: not so much the example
of its excellent restaurants or its vast convention centre, McCormick
Place, but that of its Navy Pier. This excruciatingly humdrum collection
of attractions is Chicago's strongest magnet. If a ferris wheel
and a putting green on stilts can draw twice as many visitors each
years as the Grand Canyon, the possibilities for Detroit should
be boundless."
[Snort]
Yeah, two tourism facts boggle my mind. One is the popularity of
Navy
Pier. 8.6
million visitors a year! It's completely touristy with
next-to-no Chicago character. You could seal Navy Pier up and send
it into space for space visitors. Imagine the Space Tourism! Build-A-Bear
in space! Get your name
on a piece of rice in space!
Yes, I do go to the Pier if I'm having an Elephant
Ear craving, or I want to see the lake and that nice
view of the city.
The other mindboggling fact, that American
Doll Place welcomes 1.5
million visitors a year. That's roughly the same number
as Art
Institute visitors or Sears
Tower visitors! To buy dolls! One brand of doll! That's
some brilliant marketing on the part of the ADP folks to get so
many parents and daughters visiting Chicago to shop for their dolls.
I really, really hope they tote their apple red shopping bags to
some other sights while they are here.
Yeah, so I'm the type of tourist/traveller that wants to see what
is unique and specific to the place I'm visiting. I'll post a list
of Chicago reco's soon. Stay tuned...
posted
on 4/17/2006 09:54:00 AM
Saturday, April 15, 2006
Happy
Saturday!
I started my day at my favorite coffeehouse. Met up with the unimitable
Anne, who was very punchy and very funny. Puttered around and distracted
her from her work. Jackie, Rose, Jim and Pat were coming to meet
me at the coffeehouse at noon.
Early on, I mentioned to Anne my noon plans. I don't think she heard
me.
Around 11:30, I turn to her and say, "My real
friends are coming to meet me soon."
She belts out a laugh and says, "You are a whackjob." (Whackjob
is one of my favorite descriptors.)
Jackie, Rose, Jim and Pat converge on the coffeehouse, then we go
to the coffeeshop. (i.e. diner) It's a favorite local place where
the decor is very basic diner, lesser folks would think it's shabby.
The waitresses are all no nonsense and jovial at the same time.
The food is perfectly consistent and tasty diner food.
My pancakes were warm and comfy:
I take my simple pleasures anywhere I can.
Well-fed we headed down to Uncle Fun's and Paper Boy. I get $10
worth of great old junk. Yeah, I'm broke, but I venture to Uncle
Fun's every few years. So $3 a year for my great old junk budget
is reasonable.
Jim is looking ever so European with his socks and shoes. Viva la
Jim!
We bask in the beautiful cards at Paper Boy across the street. Jim
sees these angora fedoras. They are $3 or $6 depending on the color.
Wah? I normally don't go for this style, but there was something
about this simple, simple version I really liked. It was more Tirolean
Dork than HipHop Chic. I told Jim we needed matching ones. He scrunched
down to my height for a couple stealth pics:
Jim bought me a red hat and himself a brown one! Hip, hip, hooray!
We all wandered around for awhile. Headed to the Argyle stop and
got Pho. I got Pho. And an ice coffee that was very, very strong
and a little sweet. The kind you want to savor and sip for an hour.
It also had a great spoon:
We all scattered back to our places. Rose, Jackie and I will embark
again for my friend Sandra's art show opening tonight in the West
Loop. I will wear my new fedora and lots and lots and lots of color.
A day of cheap food, cheap thrills and good, good friends will cure
whatever ails you.
posted
on 4/15/2006 07:49:00 PM
Friday, April 14, 2006
A
Crabapple with Friends
Within an hour of my (rare) crabby post yesterday, both Alise and
Billy phoned me and Heather emailed. Even if I'm in a sour mood,
I'll never forget the super friends I have.
posted
on 4/14/2006 09:37:00 PM
Amazing
Woman, Swiffering or Not
Just spreading the good word about my friend Cinnamon's
friend Veronica. Check out this
Alternet post that sums up the situation. Vote for Roni,
please!
posted
on 4/14/2006 11:02:00 AM
Crabapple
I am in a state.
Not a good one.
I'm broke.
I've got no client
work on the calendar.
It's tax season. Taxes are done, money is sent off to the Powers
That Be.
I think the dystopias
class is getting me down.
Any news of politics is freaking me out. (Nuking Iran? Nukes in
Iran? Is the Doomsday
Clock moving?)
Today's politics and the fictious dystopias are overlapping far
too much and eating my brain.
My desktop computer is freaking out. I think
I've fixed it...
My apartment is a pit.
Netflix
is being superslow. Bah! Gimme my MOVIES!
CBS
are numbskulls for moving The
Amazing Race at all, let alone the same timeslot as America's
Next Top Model.
Don't ask my about dating - it's going nowhere.
Blah, blah, blah-dy blah.
So, I'm a crabapple. That's fine, but I'll admit I'm freaking myself
out. More than I need to. I.e. negative thoughts are loitering in
my brain far too much. I'm doing my best to kick those useless dudes
out of my noggin. I'm fight
Good stuff:
I'm working on a super
scrap quilt.
It is Use
What You Have Month. A challenge to not buy any new craft
supplies and use what's on hand. This is pretty easy for me, and
good to follow 100%.
My
hedgehog is delightful.
Overcoming the funk by working out daily. Boy, that does help.
I've got enough food in the freezer and cabinets to keep me fed
for awhile. It's the Ramen days, not the Salad days. *shrug* That's
the way it goes sometimes.
Enough cleaning and art projects to bide my time - if/when I fight
my inertia.
I'm presenting at two conferences coming up (1 in May, 1 in June)
to share my
work (and perhaps get more work).
I've already bought a cheap
ticket to NYC to see my good friend Aaron's
photography one man show opening mid-May (Rock on, Aaron!). Staying
at a hostel. Get to see the Whitney
Biennial and the Andrea
Zittel show to boot!
Doing silly things to feel better like painting toenails and wearing
cute sweaters to the coffeeshop.
I've always got the
library. Hard to feel poor when I'm in a 9 floor building
filled with resources.
I've got my health. Stress gave me a canker sore earlier in the
week, but I healed that sucker quickly.
Great Spring weather. April thinks it's June. It's warm and rainy.
I've got countless great things to work on if I push aside the 2
or 3 worries aside.
Really can't complain. ;)
posted
on 4/14/2006 09:37:00 AM
Tuesday, April 11, 2006
I
try to take one day at a time -- but sometimes several days attack
me at once.
- Jennifer
Yane
posted
on 4/11/2006 11:55:00 AM
Friday, April 07, 2006
Consider:
In the desert, there is no sign
that says thou shalt not eat stones.
- Sufi Proverb
posted
on 4/07/2006 10:20:00 AM
Thursday, April 06, 2006
Rest
in Peace, Gene Pitney. Town Without Pity is one of my
desert island songs.
posted
on 4/06/2006 11:48:00 AM
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