Remembering Mr. K

My neighbor died this morning. He is the father of one of my best friends and I lived next door to him for my entire life growing up. I saw him almost every time I returned home and on almost every holiday. He was not like an uncle, but he was a constant in my life.

When I was growing up I used to think he hated me. When I turned into my teens I became more of a smart ass and he and I actually had some funny bantering going on. He wasn't very nice. But I liked him well enough because that is just how he was.

None of my memories are all that enduring. I used to steal his cigarettes. One time we used his car to go see Sting at Milwaukee Fest and the car got towed. He let us sit in the police station all night and he came to pick us up and get the car out of the tow yard the next morning. He would smoke in the car with all the windows rolled up and his car got these brown nicotine spots on the roof where the glue held the upholstery on. He used to yell at me sometimes to go home or whatever when I was loafing around their house for too long - but that was his way.

When I got older, he came to my wedding. He came to most of our backyard BBQs or parties. He used to sit on the front stoop of the house smoking his cigarettes and he'd corner you into a conversation. I'd feel obliged to talk to him, but always had a hard time getting away. More recently he was hooked up to some portable IV or something like that and he could barely shuffle down the drive-way.

He has been sick for some time. It is almost a blessing that he has finally died. He had a heart attack this morning after his wife left for work. All the kids are coming back in town to make plans for his funeral. I think the family will be more in peace after this is all done with because his sickness was so hard on everyone.

At least we have some stories about him. You know those ones we tell and roll our eyes about but really we know they hold a place in our heart.

Goodbye Mr. K.

What I'm Watching: Band of Brothers

I know this is so 2001, but I just started watching Band of Brothers, the HBO mini-series done by Steven Spielberg and Tom Hanks. One of my co-workers lent me the box set a few weeks ago and I finally got around to it.

Since it was made 6 years ago, I recognize a lot of the people starring in it. One guy, Matthew Settle who plays Captain Ronald Speirs, is the dad on Gossip Girl. One guy, Ron Livingston who plays Captain Lewis Nixon, was the lead in Standoff. And one guy, Damian Lewis who plays Major Richard D. Winters, is just hot and was on Life which I think got cancelled earlier this year. There are others I recognize too but they are not as much fun.

I was hooked after the first 10 minutes! I watched the first two episodes in one night. Only 8 more left and I can't wait to see them all.

New Addiction: Guitar Hero III

Those of you who know me know that I just can't help myself. I get "absorbed" into things. My latest obsession is Guitar Hero III. I know it is an obsession because (even though my sister gave me the game as my birthday present on Monday) I played it for the first time last night and today I can't wait to get home and conquer some more songs.

At first I didn't get it. I set the settings on easy, put my Wiimote into the guitar, and attempted the first song. Of course I didn't bother to read the instructions so my wiimote kept making these wierd sounds. It ends up that those sounds were because I was missing notes and the Wiimote makes the sound of guitar strings breaking. I didn't understand why I was missing the notes because I was pressing the green, red and yellow buttons (frets). But it ends up that you have to hold down the proper colored fret and then click to strum the guitar at the same time. I figured all of this out by the third song. So after all three songs I realized that I suck at this game just as badly as I do at many others.

However, the damn game sucked me back it. I got ready for bed, brushed my teeth and everything. But there was the guitar just sitting there. So I picked it up again. TWO HOURS later I felt much more accomplished! I had a character in the color that I wanted. I had a band with a name. I realized that if I play sitting down my hands will cramp so I should stand up and it ends up I play better that way anyways. I even did so well at my first gig that I got a bonus song: Kiss' "Rock 'n' Roll All Night". By that time it was midnight and I had to pry the guitar out of my fingers so that I could go to bed.

Of course I'm impatient so today I feel like looking up the cheats to unlock all the characters and songs so I can just casually play as much as I want to. Hopefully I'll last until I get through all the songs in easy mode first! But I am weak . . .

Time Out Chicago: April Fool's

Yesterday, I received my weekly issue of Time Out Chicago (March 27 - April 2 Edition) and noticed that Donald Trump is on the cover. I saw something on there that mentioned Trump was the new owner or something like that so I grabbed it to read on the train. The letter from the editor in the beginning of the issue mentions that Donald Trump has become the majority owner in the Chicago version of Time Out Magazine. My heart kind of sank when reading this because I love the edgy and honest existing magazine. I wasn't looking for any changes. There is also a letter from Donald Trump himself but upon reading that I became a bit suspicious - the letter was a bit silly. What was going on? Was this an April Fools Joke?

As I turned to page 14, I noticed a review of the restaurant Sixteen. This is the new restaurant which just opened in Trump Tower which I am dying to check out. It got an 11 star review - but wait, Time Out usually grades on a six-star sale. It was at this point that I decided to search online to see what was going on. It ends up that this was indeed an April Fool's joke on the city and the subscribers from the magazine and even Crain's Chicago Business got fooled! Now that I know it is a joke I feel better - the rest of the magazine is funnier too.

Will Ferrell and Dave Grohl sing "Leather and Lace"

This is friggin' hysterical! Dave Grohl and Will Ferrell sing the classic "Leather and Lace" originally recorded by Don Henley and Stevie Nicks. My sides hurt from laughing! This is one of my favorite songs and they did a great job of ruining it for me.

Happy Easter (2008)

Today we celebrated Easter by going to Brasserie Jo's for Brunch. They had a limited menu but it was fully of yummy things. My mom and I each had the smoked pork chop which came with some type of French potato cake and fried eggs. Dick and Adam both had the crab benedict and while it was rich, they both said it was really good. Margie had the Steak Frittes which is her favorite.

We all got yummy desserts too. Mom and Dick spit this banana carmel ice cream thing and Margie and Adam spit some type of chocolate espresso ice cream thing. I had a creme brulee all to myself.

While we were leaving and waiting for the valet, I noticed we were standing right next to Rick Bayless! Apparently he took his family out to brunch too! That was kind of fun.

After brunch we went home and I took a nap. For dinner my mom made ham and her grandma's recipe for German potato salad (which was amazing). We were so stuffed from a day's worth of eating but it was a nice and relaxing holiday.

Basic needs are fulfilled (according to Buddah)

Read this interesting article today and made me think . . .
Notes from The Seven Things Everyone Wants: What Freud and Buddha Understood (and We're Forgetting) about Online Outreach

Twitter in Plain English

I'm posting this for my friends and family who don't understand what I do when I say "I'm twittering". You can follow me on twitter if you are interested in my twittering.

Overcome by Web 2.0

I got sucked into the web again today. It always happens the same way. Someone blogs or twitters about a new social network site (or an update to an old one) and I go to check it out and next thing I know I'm signing up and configuring and adding in all my links. . . . It's a drain! I don't know why I do it but I can't help myself - what if I miss out on something?

The word for the day is LIFESTREAM. I have at least 3 lifestreams set up: mashable, plaxo pulse and friendfeed. They are all the same and if I sign up for a new site I have to go to all three and update them. I must just be nuts. It's too hard to stay current with the internet and web 2.0 stuff in this day and age. Too much is happening too fast.

Seriously, I do it to myself but there is so much out there. At any given moment I am on the computer I have Firefox open to at least 5 tabs, signed into Meebo to be able to chat across IMs, have Bloglines open so I can get the lastest RSS feeds on the 208 feeds I subscrib to, have Twitteroo open so I can get all my tweets, and of course there is also email and whatever work I am actually doing. That's alot of noise! And if I'm at home I am almost always playing music on iTunes and updating my accounts with Microsoft Money. I spend so much time keeping up with these basics I run out of time to blog or play with MySpace and Facebook. No wonder I need to take computer breaks sometimes.

Obama's Speech on Race

Wow, Obama gave a hell of a good speech this morning. I find it interesting because it touches on all the discussions a close (black) friend and I have recently had going back and forth - honestly - about our different perceptions on race in this country.

The black perspective:

. . . As William Faulkner once wrote, "The past isn't dead and buried. In fact, it isn't even past." We do not need to recite here the history of racial injustice in this country. But we do need to remind ourselves that so many of the disparities that exist in the African-American community today can be directly traced to inequalities passed on from an earlier generation that suffered under the brutal legacy of slavery and Jim Crow.

Segregated schools were, and are, inferior schools; we still haven't fixed them, fifty years after Brown v. Board of Education, and the inferior education they provided, then and now, helps explain the pervasive achievement gap between today's black and white students.

Legalized discrimination - where blacks were prevented, often through violence, from owning property, or loans were not granted to African-American business owners, or black homeowners could not access FHA mortgages, or blacks were excluded from unions, or the police force, or fire departments -- meant that black families could not amass any meaningful wealth to bequeath to future generations. That history helps explain the wealth and income gap between black and white, and the concentrated pockets of poverty that persists in so many of today's urban and rural communities.

A lack of economic opportunity among black men, and the shame and frustration that came from not being able to provide for one's family, contributed to the erosion of black families -- a problem that welfare policies for many years may have worsened. And the lack of basic services in so many urban black neighborhoods -- parks for kids to play in, police walking the beat, regular garbage pick-up and building code enforcement -- all helped create a cycle of violence, blight and neglect that continue to haunt us.

The white perspective:

. . . In fact, a similar anger exists within segments of the white community. Most working- and middle-class white Americans don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race. Their experience is the immigrant experience -- as far as they're concerned, no one's handed them anything, they've built it from scratch. They've worked hard all their lives, many times only to see their jobs shipped overseas or their pension dumped after a lifetime of labor. They are anxious about their futures, and feel their dreams slipping away; in an era of stagnant wages and global competition, opportunity comes to be seen as a zero sum game, in which your dreams come at my expense. So when they are told to bus their children to a school across town; when they hear that an African American is getting an advantage in landing a good job or a spot in a good college because of an injustice that they themselves never committed; when they're told that their fears about crime in urban neighborhoods are somehow prejudiced, resentment builds over time.

Like the anger within the black community, these resentments aren't always expressed in polite company. But they have helped shape the political landscape for at least a generation. Anger over welfare and affirmative action helped forge the Reagan Coalition. Politicians routinely exploited fears of crime for their own electoral ends. Talk show hosts and conservative commentators built entire careers unmasking bogus claims of racism while dismissing legitimate discussions of racial injustice and inequality as mere political correctness or reverse racism.

Just as black anger often proved counterproductive, so have these white resentments distracted attention from the real culprits of the middle class squeeze -- a corporate culture rife with inside dealing, questionable accounting practices, and short-term greed; a Washington dominated by lobbyists and special interests; economic policies that favor the few over the many. And yet, to wish away the resentments of white Americans, to label them as misguided or even racist, without recognizing they are grounded in legitimate concerns -- this too widens the racial divide, and blocks the path to understanding.

His speech is EXACTLY what we discussed. He brought up the same points each of us did. I don't know why I am so moved by this speech, but it seems that he really nailed it exactly by articulating what a lot of people are thinking. Not sure if this will help or hurt him in his election. Not sure how much race really is an important part of it all. I don't really care - I'm just glad that somebody said these things. There is a lot of discussion on the blogs and political websites already. It will be interesting to see where this goes.

Black is the New President, Bitch!

From Saturday Night Live. Oh snap!

Top Chef Chicago

I have been so psyched for Season 4 of Top Chef to begin. Not only do I love this show, but this season is being filmed in MY HOME TOWN! I didn't have to wait long for some Chicago stuff to show up. All the contestant's met at Uno's and had some deep dish pizza. Then on to the quick fire challenge where they had to make a deep dish pizza that reflected their personalities. It was so painful to watch! So many of them butchered the pizzas. Peaches and grapes on pizza? Half of them had no idea how much crust to use - it was kind of funny.

Anthony Bourdain was a guest judge tonight! I hope he shows up alot more this season. I always love when he's on the show. Rocco Dispiritu was also a guest judge but I think I read that he is going to be on the show more and that he will be blogging about the show.

I'm excited to see which chefs/restaurants get highlighted here in Chicago. There are so many good ones. It was hard for me to tell on the season highlight reel at the end what they would be doing, but it looked a bit like there might be some Bear's tailgating. There are so many ethnic neighborhoods here I hope they take advantage of it. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait and see!

The Saw Doctors

Tonight Tiffany and I saw The Saw Doctors at The Vic. I had never heard of them before, but Tiffany saw them several years while in New York. They are an Irish band who is doing a Spring tour in the US before St. Patrick's Day. I wanted to go to check out some new music and I'm so glad I did. They are so much fun! We went late so we got peanut seats up on top of the balcony. After half of the show we went down and squeezed through the crown to the main floor but we couldn't see anything. For their really long encore we went back up top but got seats in the front of the balcony and it was a really great place to see the show. We both ended up buying t-shirts and I got a cd. It was a great show.

1st of the Lollapalooza Rumors . . .

Radiohead AND Nine Inch Nails!

What a bummer day! SXSW is starting and I'm not there. One of my co-workers is going but I am not. My sister lives nearby but I'm still not going. In addition to my sulking about SXSW, the Golden Tickets went on sale for Lollapalooza today. Those are 3-day passes for only $60 - regularly $180. Even though I spent ALL DAY YESTERDAY hitting the refresh button waiting for the secret link to reveal itself, they went on sale today while I was in a 15-minute meeting. Of course I missed out on them. Like I said - bummer day.

But here I am getting ready for bed when I spy a rumor that Radiohead AND Nine Inch Nails will both be at Lolla this year. I have been holding my breath that Radiohead would be there . . . in fact I'd bet on it. I'd be REALLY disappointed if they did not. I have been burning copies of "In Rainbows" for the friends I am going to sucker in going with me so that they become familiar with some of the music.

Just this past weekend I noticed that Nine Inch Nails released a new album that you could download for free. I did download it but have not checked it out yet. It would be a trip if they came to Lolla. The whole festival would then take me back to my college days circa 1992!!!

Thao Nguyen's "Bag of Hammers"

I don't know what it is about Thao Nguyen but I always love her music. Her second album "We Brave the Bee Stings and All" came out in January. The new single is "Bag of Hammers" and I just saw this video today. The song is so damn catchy and the video features some Mr. Bill-like clay animation. Now, "Shake, shake, shake the frame of this house, distress the wood, make it shout"

Ladies 80's Night

I thought the boys were way better than the girls this week on American Idol. Amanda Overmyer's performance of Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself For Loving You" was the only one that got me excited.

Amanda Overmyer


Brook White is one of my favs. She ALSO did Pat Benetar this week. She couldn't rock it out and she turned the song into a folky version. It's got good lyrics so she did a good job, but no where near as good as Amanda. One question about Brook: last week they told her to drop the guitar . . . so even though she didn't play her guitar this week, she just sat still on stage while SOMEONE ELSE played the guitar. There were no other instruments!

Brook White

Hello & Hallelujah

Okay, I can't stand it! David Cook's version of "Hello" by Lionel Ritchie and Jason Castro's version of "Hallelujah" by Leonard Cohen rocked my world tonight! I haven't really gotten excited about American Idol yet this season but now I am. I think those will be the first two songs I actually pay for and download. They were so amazing!

David Cook


Jason Castro


Well, tonight they drop it down and we will lose 2 more guys. Next week will be the final 12. My top 6 guys that I am rooting for are David Archulata, Danny Noriega, Michael Johns, David Cook, Jason Castro and Chikezie. I know, it's changed a bit since my first picks, but these are the guys I want to see more of.

A New Earth: My Thoughts on Chapter 1

As I mentioned yesterday I wasn't able to listen the the entire class on Monday night so I listened to it this morning. I also found my "personal workbook for A New Earth" online at Oprah.com which has questions and places to answer them in my personal profile. When I decided I wanted to participate in this class and read the book I didn't really know I'd be spending as much time as I'm going to spend. I'm reading the book SLOWLY. I feel that I have to read and read sentences over and over. Both Oprah and Tolle say that is okay and the best way to read this book. But I will also listen to the 90-minute discussions weekly AND take the time to fill out the workbook online. There are only 6 questions for the first chapter but they are kind of hard. Not HARD I guess, but they require alot of though. Many quotes are listed and then we are asked to reflect on them. Normally I wouldn't spend so much time thinking about what I am reading, but I want to take this opportunity while it is there. I figure it is a good thing :)
fter listening to the class I have a few thoughts:

A New Earth wants to help us to discover what our purpose is here on earth. Is it weird that I don't care what my purpose is? I'm not mystified or curious about it. Right now I am pretty content and don't think about those other questions. Am I being selfish or ignorant because I don't think of those things? Or maybe I thought about it a long ago and I came to the conclusion that for me to be happy I should just try to be a good person, be kind to others and have grace. I have been living like this for several years so maybe that is why I feel content. I'm not saying that I am already enlightened! I think life will be a continuous time of "awakening" (to user Tolle's term). Page 13 has a quote "you don't become good by trying to be good, but by finding the goodness that is already within you". I feel that I can relate to that and have been doing so for sometime.

One of the ideas that Oprah brought up in the class is the concept of letting go and not naming things. What happens if you go into a place of nature (like a park or your backyard) and forget all the references of the names of things. Like forget that an oak is an oak. Or the names of different trees or flowers. The concept is to stop labeling things. Oprah said that the first time she did that she had an amazing experience and she felt at one with everything that was surrounding her. You are supposed to just see things through the background of stillness. Just be in the space (or in the present). Get rid of all the mental noise we have when our brains continuouslly identify things.

To me this idea is kind of like meditating. It is a very similar effect when you focus on quiting your mind in any way. It seems that this concept of not naming things is really focusing your mind to be clear and to kind of that way as much as you can throughout life. After I got divorced I went to conseling for awhile because I was quite anxious. One of the things I learned that is that most anxiety is caused by either fretting about the past or worring about the future. You can cease your anxiety if you just concentrate on (and appreciate) "the now". It seems that Eckhard Tolle is saying the same thing. And one of the best ways to "be present" is what I call meditating and Tolle calls "being still".

The timing of this class is interesting for me. I have been attempting to practice meditation for the past few years. So I already feel that I am past some of the challenges others are dealing with. I can pretty much quite my mind and breathing in any situation. But I don't do it that often. So for me I understand what Tolle is suggesting and it is a good application of what I already know. He has a different perspective on things that helps connect the dots for me.

A New Earth Web Event: Week One

Okay, I'm participating in "A New Earth Web Event" for two reasons: 1) I want to read the book and see what it's about; 2) I want to see how Oprah handles "world's largest classroom". I love finding out the latest of what is going on online so it's fun that someone as big as Oprah is using this medium for something so big.

Tonight there are people from 139 countries participating! That's WAY MORE than I expected. During the class we watch a live interview between Oprah and Eckhart Tolle, the author of "A New Earth". We can type in questions which get sent to a bunch of people working at Oprah.com who farm though all the questions. Skype is also involved and if you have a skype account you can participate in live video calling to ask questions. So all of the above is very fascinating to me and I think the people who put this together did a really great job. And it's a good thing too because this class runs for 10 weeks. Every Monday night at 8pm a new chapter will be discussed.

Now on the the subject matter . . . The first chapter is the subject of tonight's class. This is really an introduction to "awakening". The full title of the book is "A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose". I bought it just because Oprah recommended it, knowing it was a self-help book but not knowing what kind of self-help it was. I read about 15 pages on the flight home last night and it's pretty interesting so far. I'm not sure, but I think the book is going to be about living in the now and letting go of your ego to become a happier person. And of course the book is going to explain what all that means!

I was getting into the online class and it was getting me psyched to read more of the book, but after about 15 minutes the video feed started lagging. I'm not sure if this is from my wireless network or because the site is so swamped. But I found out that they are releasing free podcasts of the "class" tomorrow morning so I just signed up for that at iTunes. I guess I will read a bit more and then listen to the class tomorrow or later in the week.

Oh well, I guess there are glitches but it will all come in time. It still is fascinating to me that Oprah is even undertaking something this big!

Shadia's Bachelorette - Vegas: Day Three

Today was our last day in Vegas :( Lucky for us were taking the red-eye home so we got in another full day. Unfortunately, half the girls were sick today. They think they might have gotten food poisoning because there were throwing up so violently. Poor Susan had to drive home over 4-hours and she was so sick. Erin had to get on a plane and it ended up that once she was at the airport her flight was delayed. They must have been miserable. And Shadia was a bit sick too. Luckily we were able to extend our check-out until 2pm so the girls could lay down while the rest of us nursed our hangovers.

We got checked out by around 3pm and then headed over to The Venetian. Shadia and I played blackjack for a while and each lost about $100. We headed up to the shops but we were all so damn tired that we just wanted to sit down. So we ended up having an early dinner at Mario Batalli's restaurant Enoteca San Marco. I really enjoyed it and went to town when ordering. We got a frommage course and let them pick three cheeses for us. They served it with condiments like honey with black truffle, candied oranges and cherries in a syrupy sauce. It was fun to mix and match the cheeses with them. We also got some of Mario's father's Salumi, an artichoke salad and one other kind of salad. We probably could have been done with dinner at that time but of course we all ordered pasta too. And then we just HAD to have dessert.

After dinner we headed of to The Mirage to see The Beatles "LOVE". It was SO AWESOME! When the show was over I didn't want to get out of my seat because I wanted to stay and see it over again at the second show of the night.



I think it's the best show I have ever seen - maybe because I love the music so much or maybe because I like Cirque du Soliel so much. Or maybe because I watched a TV show on the making of LOVE and knew all the extra secrets of how Cirque worked with The Beatles and their original master tapes to create the music. It's neat because we know the songs but they are all different versions than have ever been heard before. And the quality of the music was AMAZING! I bought the CD and a t-shirt of course so I think I will now become addicted to this soundtrack for a while.




After the show it was back to The Signature to pick up our bags and then over to the airport for our red-eyes. We were all so damn tired. Shadia and I had a very turbulent flight home so we didn't sleep. We watched Margot at the Wedding and talked the whole way home.

It was SUCH a fun trip! Even though I didn't get to play roulette and I lost money with any of the gambling I did do, we got to do every that makes Vegas awesome: spas, shows, good food, nightclubs . . . I am exhausted but I realize that I need to make sure I go back at least once a year because I always have so much fun when I do.

Shadia's Bachelorette - Vegas: Day Two

Today was THE DAY we all came to Vegas for. We got up around 9am and Shadia made eggs for everyone. We all ate breakfast and Tina, Lauren and Erin went down by the pool. Susan, Shadia and I went to the Fashion Show Mall for a bit of shopping and to look for wedding dresses because of Shadia's dress disaster. I got a cute Michael Kors top on sale at Dillards and spent way too much on a pair of sunglasses. After shopping we went back to the condo and napped for about an hour. Then we all got ready and started the pre-party!

Erin and Susan bought Shadia a bunch of fun bachelorette presents. We had a few drinks while she opened the presents and we took funny pictures. Then we were off to dinner at Fix. Somehow I had been in Vegas over 24 hours and hadn't gambled yet, so before dinner I lost $40 on the slot machines.

Dinner was very interesting because there was so much random, yet good food. I think we got about 8 different kinds of appetizers. There was yellowtail, salad, mini-burgers, french fries, blintzes, salmon with caviar on these little forks . . . then we got our main course (I had the sea bass) and served with that was mashed potatoes and deep-fried mac and cheese! It was all a weird mix. Oh, and for dessert we got donuts with two different sauces: chocolate & banana or peanut butter.

We had to rush out of dinner and make it over to Rio to catch the Chippendale's show. While we were getting drinks before the show Shadia met up with a reporter and she is going to have an article written up about her in the Denver Post - how funny is that!?! The show was alot better than I was expecting. There was good music - I had to sing out loud and dance for at least 3 songs. It was all pretty classy. We can't figure out if the guys are all gay or what, but it was fun.

After Chippendale's we met up with Kris, a guy that worked there and he told us to check out Voodoo Lounge at the Rio. We were going to head back to some clubs we had VIP access to at Bellagio, but the night was young so we decided to check out Voodoo Lounge. Kris was able to get is in to Voodoo Lounge without paying a cover (which we found out later was $50!) AND he got us into the VIP section. However the guy we were sitting with was really crazy so we ended up on the dance floor for most of the night. Shadia's friend Steve and his new fiance happened to be in town and they paid the cover to get in and meet up with us so we decided to stay the night.

We had a ton of fun there and danced alot. The music was good but the dance floor was really small. We met a whole bunch of interesting people. There is an outside rooftop section too but it was REALLY cold and windy so we couldn't stay outside. I'm surprised no one blew off the building.

I ended up calling it a night around 2am and some left before me and other stayed out until 5am. I must be getting old! But I had alot of fun and still got in a decent amount of sleep so all was good.