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My grandparents live in a close suburb of Chicago
Grandparents house
This is totally indicative of the entire area in which my grandparents live. Little statutes and figurines everywhere. It’s a strangely comforting site. I found this one in it’s own private pagoda three houses down.
This Buddha has been in the hallway inside the house for FOR-EV-ER. My grandparents are catholic.
Below; I have taken pictures of every Elvis in my grandparents house
(yeah, that’s right, Elvis’s picture is tucked into the frame of my grandparents wedding photo)
This is my grandparents wedding picture; Dolores and Valentine. They were 15.
The dreaded Illinois toll system, if you don’t have one of these you pay twice as much. OUT – RAE – GEOUS
My father wheeling and dealing on the phone on the way to my Mom and Dad’s main office.
My parents work. Literally everyone knows me there, and most everyone has known me since I was like seven and my Dad would bring me to work and I would do all his filing.
This dear friend’s is one of the best Chicago style beef places in all of the city. Chicago style beef? you ask. No bar-b-que sauce here people. Just beef in juice on bread with peppers. see definition*
Beef with Giardiniera
Fresh fries
For some inexplicable reason every beef place serves tamales. I love tamales.
*An Italian beef sandwich consists of thin slices of beef served inside Italian bread or some other crusty bread (often soaked), which has been cut lengthwise and into individual portions. (The “Italian Bread” commonly used in Chicago is a white loaf with a high gluten content and little to no sourdough flavor, made to be reminiscent of what many think of as being Italian restaurant bread). Even though it is served on Italian bread sliced lengthwise, this is the only thing it has in common with submarine sandwiches. Italian beef is made using cuts of beef from the sirloin butt (Scala’s) or the top/bottom round wet-roasted in broth with garlic, oregano and spices until medium rare or medium. The roast is then cooled, then sliced very thinly (“shaved”) using a deli slicer, and then served dripping wet after a reintroduction to its reheated beef cooking broth, topped off with sauteed green bell peppers, or hot Chicago-style “giardiniera” peppers (mix of Serrano peppers, carrot, cauliflower, celery, olives, and oil/spices).
I managed to travel to Chicago in one if the worst storm in years, it was intense… here are a few pics from the first day.
My father reading directions…
A self portrait… I hate having my picture taken
My feet against an Iowa landscape… note the rainbows, and my freakishly long toes
Power outage knocked out all the pumps in this ghetto gas station, however there should have still been the ability to close the men’s bathroom door, but the door was left wide open giving a full view of a person using the facilities. I blinked twice (and then rolled my eyes).
My father trying to drive in the torrential rain.
We arrived and found numerous scenes likes this (photo from the tribune)
Decided to take a quick trip to the land of my birth. While I’m there I plan on taking an obscene amount of pictures and I’ll present you all with a travelogue of my favorite places around Chicago. I imagine there will also be several of David totally annoyed (preview pictured below).
Transition. Transitioning. Transitioned. Transitional.
Always moving forward, I suppose that’s a good thing. I mean progression is necessary, it’s good and healthy. But to some extent it means a certain amount of limbo. You know the “already, but not yet.”
I’m surrounded right now by a 3M collage of things to remember, things to do, and numbers to keep. I’ll admit that some of them no longer hold any meaning at all, but I keep them up because they help me look important. I balance out the need to look important with taking out my own trash which helps me look humble and down to earth. All that to say my post it’s mark out my work “transitions” (along with a ridiculously old phone tree).
I guess I’m writing this with the realization that I’ll always be in limbo, in some form or another. Right now, it’s a painful personal limbo, one that I’m grinding forward by shear will at this point. Sometimes transition must be forced and shoved and ground out with everything you possess inside yourself.
I was just mulling about this today as I was walking back and forth from office to office. Just thought I’d share.
I’m obsessed. My latest little love is Etsy.com. It’s basically a shop for all things handmade. Sounds kind of weird? I thought so too, until I logged on. Jewelry, bracelets, paintings, sculpture, clothing… it’s all there and it’s all done by hand.
I recently bought this totally cute key chain…
I am also in love with this card line aptly called Hate Mail…
This line of jewelry is also catching my eye
So check it out, I guarantee you’ll be hooked.
Technorati Tags: etsy, random, things i love
It’s Caroline’s lucky night. I’m finally getting to this topic, despite attempts by Mr. Bohlender trying to vote it off the island. I’m sorry, this post is too great to give up.
So I am totally a reality TV junky, to the point where it is actually ghetto. I think it’s more of a testament to the fact that I find people fascinating and while scripted dramas are great (hello… huge fan of the West Wing, ER, Grey’s Anatomy, and a host of others) I also need some real people with regular eccentricities. Reality TV is to scripted drama’s as the Catcher and the Rye is to Anna Karenina. At least that’s how I view it.
So now that you’re clued into my TV watching habits (which as I re-read this last paragraph seem excessive and possible obsessive compulsive), I want to explain to you why one celebreality show has risen to the top.
VH1 has produced a winner with Scott Baio is 45… and Still Single
So Scott, famous child/young adult actor, finds himself 45 and never been married. Not for lack of options, he’s dated nearly everyone in Hollywood and actually cheated on all of them – Because he can, I mean he is Scott Baio. Growing up in Hollywood obviously puts him in a very unique and difficult position. Not that that’s an excuse… okay now I’m off the topic.
So Scott woke up one morning basically wondering what is he doing and is he going to live the rest of his life going from one meaningless relationship to another? Here, he has an “aha” moment, a moment that should slap you across the face and scream to you, “i need serious help”. I’ve had a moment or two like this, it’s a brutal but refreshing experience.
It is at this place the story begins, as Scott Baio gets himself a life coach. For those of you unfamiliar with the ways of Hollywood or celebreality I have hyperlinked a definition. This life coach directs him through a series of exercises to find the reason why he fears commitment and is still not ready for marriage or children.
So while the premise of the show seemed fascinating from the outset, this was a bit of programming I figured would be easily resisted. I mean come on “why do I even care?” And in truth I don’t but here’s what hooked me. He’s a middle aged man semi-tortured by the cycle he’s lived for essentially 30 years. 30 YEARS!!!!
And I’d like to say that this would be a unique position that he finds himself in, but it’s not and we’re all vulnerable. We’re all capable of staying in the mess we’ve made for ourselves thinking it’s some kind of tea party only to wake up 30 years later and realize we haven’t been moving, we haven’t been healing, we haven’t been progressing.
The life coach often directs him to seek out old girlfriends and have them honestly tell Scott how they’ve been hurt or what they think about him and his relational skills. He gets creamed every time (and is shocked by what they say most of time), and he totally deserves it. To be honest it’s a guy’s worst nightmare. But I guess not just a guy’s worst nightmare, it’s also mine. I think I know myself pretty well, I think I’m pretty honest with myself, but I’ll never be able to see myself as other’s see me. That’s actually pretty scary. I do more of that now then I have before, as in I make it a point of asking certain people how they perceive me in certain situations. It’s eye opening, and it really helps me gain perspective, and it helps me find places to grow.
There are many reason’s why Scott Baio is 45 and still single, but I think the one that we can all learn from is the fact that he didn’t listen to that small voice at the age of 18 that says, “this is all vanity, this is all nothingness.” Instead he drowned out the voice with more of the same; money, power, women. 30 years later he’s finally listening to that voice.
I applaud Scott and his attempt at change; it’s just a bummer it took 30 years. I want to hear that voice now, and I want it to prompt change in my life. I don’t want to look back and say that 30 years of my “internship” on this planet was vanity. You know how Bickle is always saying that 10 years will have gone by in a minute and what will you have accomplished? What will you have lived for? I feel the weight of that reality as I get older, I feel the weight of needing a more focused life.
So that’s part of the reason why I (heart) this show. I think it asks all of us to look at ourselves for the reasons we’re not happy. It’s not “them”, it’s us.
Technorati Tags: scott baio, celebreality
It’s just like my parents said, “adults have to do all sorts of stuff they don’t want to do…”
I just wanted to let you all know. I’m a grown up.
Pre-requisite – must have a staff that you love and that feels like a second family, thoughts of their departure must leave you awake and in a pool of sweat at night, when in a recent status report meeting you declared you have a “stable” staff situation
Losing Cashier A
Step 1 – Have a member of leadership approach you about a member of your staff and smile and nod as they ask you about his skills and availability
Step 2 – Honestly recommend that staff member because they would be excellent for the position
Step 3 – Think foolishly Cashier A wouldn’t be inclined to make a change
Step 4 – Remind yourself that you own no one and everyone has a free will
Cashier A resigns weeks later.
Losing Manager A
Step 1 – Notice Manager A’s been on staff at store for for-ev-er
Step 2 – Realize that thinking that has officially jinxed Manager A’s employment
Manager A resigns 8 seconds later.
Losing Manager C
Step 1 - Feel like staff member is bored
Step 2 - Staff member meets with you and expresses interest in fields not related to their job description
Step 3 – Cringe as manger C walks into your office
Step 4 – Before he says anything say, “Please don’t do this to me”
Manager C resigns with an apology.
“Losing” Cashier B
Step 1 – Promote Manager B to Manger C’s position
Step 2 – Giant hole in Manager B’s old position
Cashier B steps up to Manager B’s position
“Losing” Cashier C
Step 1 – Promote Manger D to Manager A’s position
Step 2 – Giant hole in Manger D’s position
Cashier C steps up to Manger D’s position
Losing Cashier D
Step 1 – Hire cashier to replace cashiers A, B, or C
Step 2 – Think new cashier is great and has a lot of potential
Cashier D quits 12 hours later (but incredibly stays on staff until new hires can be found) – love cashier D
Losing Cashier E
Step 1 – Think to yourself that people are dropping like flies
Step 2 – Dismiss thought
Cashier E goes down to one shift a week to work at other enemy establishment (code named Pam’s Nub)
I love all the people I’ve “lost” recently and am actually really glad for each of them and the really awesome opportunities have come up for them. I am really honored to work with great people and and it’s always sad to see them go.
This post is dedicated to Cashiers A, D, and Mangers A, C. You guys have been great and you’ll be such a blessing to your new areas of interest. You know that you will always have a home with us (que sad but hopeful orchestral number).
