9.27.2006

poster idea

comments welcome!
click for larger view...
comments welcome!

my newest source of amusement

9.24.2006

kristy's getting married

and she is so pretty.

beware, men, this is what we do - try on sparkly dresses in rooms covered in mirrors so we can all see each other's reactions.

and sometimes we try on more than we need to because what the hell, the dresses are sparkly and swish ever-so-lovingly around us, as though to whisper sweet nothings to our knees.

9.19.2006

cubs day in the sun

update from last sunday - - went to see a cubs game from some rooftop bleachers with the Lawrence Hall group:

we had some meet & greet time to get to know the boys - some, like myself, only see them once a year at this event. it's always a little awkward at first, of course - like, that "how do i approach people again?" moment. you always worry they won't like you, but they always do.

we had some games set up - baseball bingo and baseball trivia games; every game had, let's be honest, an array of prizes. everyone had a goody bag and we conspired to have each one full.
the seventh inning stretch was led emphatically by the back row
but the boys seemed jazzed to just be there at all :) this guy in particular really liked my camera. this was the deal, that he could use it if i could take his picture.
i'd say the deal worked out in my favor when he took a nice one for me
i struck the same deal with anthony, but i had to catch him first:
he had some good ones too
this photo is titled, "another hot brunette in my family"

so it was an awesome day.
especially when cubs beat the reds 11 to 3.
EIGHT RUNS IN THE FIRST INNING. can't beat that.

and hey - link to Lawrence Hall, click here.

9.16.2006

back to an old topic for me

i'm watching Fidel (the Castro Project) and it's astounding to see this particular perspective - most Cuban retrospectives are focused on Martí or Che. it needs a grain of salt - it even says on the Netflix envelope that it's "a somewhat uneven drama" - but after personally studying the revolution length i'm so impressed by the actors' portrayal both physical and emotional of Fidel and Che.

something is burning in my mind: in the movie they show the Cuban governmental offices when they found out about the withdrawl of Russian missiles during the Cuban Missile Crisis - then they turn on an American TV channel for information, aghast that they were left out of negotiations, and the American channel shows army men being kissed by girls in the streets, the 50s extreme optimism, the propaganda that was too young and sincere to be true propaganda. In Cuba, there was a struggle for the new definition of a humanist republic and we instead show human interest, happy people living well. Nothing in our mass media has changed. i won't bore you with that manifesto, though.

my biggest problem in this film is what they choose to gloss over. this movie is three and a half hours long and they boil down che's commitment to the Central American republic - bringing the Revolution to Bolivia and Chile - to one conversation. they cover the second half of Che's life in three scenes. the scene of Che's assination is pretty wrenching.

oh - oh -- it's ending now and it's unrelentingly cheezy. the end of the film: Fidel addresses the camera directly and calls America hypocrites for punishing those that don't follow the United States' rules, after three hours of watching Fidel jail or otherwise punish those that fell out of line of the Revolution. And thank you Netflix - the last ten minutes of the DVD are warped. Shoot. What a weird ending for a good movie. but at the end, here is my overarching statement about this flick: don't watch it unless you already know a lot about the subject matter. if this is all you know about the Cuban revolution, you're being irresponsible.

that being said, it was interesting and i'm very glad i got to see all but the last ten minutes of it... good acting, good music, questionable storytelling.

9.12.2006

FYI

and just so you know what i'm up against here:
10 to 14 hour days of this:

1. Corte las alas en partes, a la altura de las articulaciones, para poder asarlas más fácilmente. Derrita dos cucharadas de margarina Fleischmann’s a fuego medio en una olla grande. Añada las alas y dórelas durante cinco minutos por lado.

¡find the errors!

needlessly serious

the thunder rumbles on, and my sore ass is still here at the office. taking a minor mental break (fingers flinching, semi-poised over the key command to minimize the window lest boss-man disrupt me) mental break from updating the Spanish recipes on the Butterball site.

typing Spanish, proofreading Spanish as though it were my primiary language and not my tertiary. for those who don't know, that means third.

thunder again. had chipotle for lunch and while it's debatable whether my shoes were made for walkin', it is a solid and unredeeming fact that they are not made to walk in the rain. there is a thin layer of sludge where my heels rest. nasty.

so the shoes, their sparkles and sequins reside under my desk. away from my doting little piggies. my right eye twiches. twice. it's nearly time to go home. until i return tomorrow to solve new problems, overhear new conversations, possibly get more job offers.

that's right. you heard me. maybe more job offers. two more that aren't even from headhunter people. new people that found me on their own.

i will wear better shoes tomorrow.

9.11.2006

lights on the highway

saw something very cool last night.

i jumped off of lake shore drive to get the photo - coming home from Tyler's place in hyde park (south side - 3 exits past the planetarium) and i wish the photos came out of it in the bigger skyline. but because i'm only so talented at taking pictures from my window while driving (i'm such a professional), i turned off at congress and kept driving and turning and driving until i was suddenly right up close to a very quiet, dark, simple memorial. i'm not all up in the 9-11 stuff today, but i'm remembering the memorial gary and i used to hang out by in downtown boston, one of those children's letters lacquered on cement type things. the first night we found it, we just read it for hours in the streetlight glow, taking turns pointing out one letter or another.

usually i'd go on a rant about global politcs and the MDC and third world debt right about here, but it feels really forced. this blog is an exercise in narcissism, but turning 9-11 into any kind of vehicle for my own viewpoints would be totally crossing a line.

also interesting: "Viewpoints: The world since 9/11" (click here). among those interviewed is the executive director of Human Rights Watch.

9.10.2006

hiatus is OVER.

it's been almost two weeks since my last post because the last two weeks have included unheard of hours at the office. and fourteen solid hours a day at my desk without the spare time to get lunch or play with blogger going all XML (if you don't know what that means, it's very cool. if you do know, appreciate it with me: [sigh of relief goes here].

three big things have gone down in that time.
1. i went to michigan over labor day weekend with Betsy and Pam.

stayed at a lovely cabin

jumped in a pool

wandered around South Haven; shopped second-hand stores

came really close to getting some "new" vinyl

2. came back to Chicago and saw Pink Martini at the House of Blues - from an Opera box! and i finally made it to the Foundation Room, which was off the hook, as they say.

these peeps are my dad's favorite band ever. amazing live show

3. this one has no pictures associated to it... just cool news... i've been recruited by a couple of headhunters lately, and it's amazing because i'm in a really good position. i REALLY like my job, so i have the freedom to say things like i'll only leave for more money, or for full benefits, i only apply for full-time positions. it makes me sound all desired and hardball-playing being so frank, and it's really fun.

in that vein, i've also been doing some random work at wunderman for strategic planning. it's been mostly admin stuff, but whenever i find relevant links or articles i forward them around -- and suddenly last week i found out something i can't talk about yet, but there's a possibility of maybe, well, a career shift soon. i'm not getting my hopes up - like, do we remember the Target fiasco last february? my heart's not made to be broken, as the song goes, so i'm not gonna really try to believe in it yet... but it's like for the first time i've met someone whose job i actually want. when i was at Wunderman before and when i returned, both times i saw who i was working under and i didn't necessarily like where i was likely to move up towards. but i see what the Planning people's jobs are like, what they do and what they need to know, and we talk about living in lofts and dinner parties... it's all very attractive. i like the work and i like the team people as role models. so that's kind of a big deal to me... i'm excited. it also brings up the possibility of being hired full-time, which frankly makes me salivate.

9.08.2006

a night without nyquil after three nights with

...i love nyquil.
...today, yesterday, and the day before had twelve hours at the office.
...how can i possibly keep up with the freelancing?
...i stepped down from IdentityTheory. i miss it already.
...there's so much more i want to do with my day.
...but then that saturday comes and i'm sleepy. and have to pay the bills.
...
...after getting out of the shower i asked myself, "what am i looking forward to most?"
...the answer, immediately, was "black tee shirt and a big glass of water."
...i dig simplicity.
...
...part of me is still in love with parts of people. my heart exists of smaller hearts, some murmuring and some whimpering the names of ghosts, fragments of memories. i once said to one man, "you have no idea how hard my heart rattles when you've shaken it." HE HAD NO IDEA WHAT I MEANT and that's a big part of why we don't work. i miss him terribly. but perfect as he was, he's no poet.
...
...my hair has turned curly when my whole life it's been known to be straight. i like it.
...it's time to travel again. but where?
...and with what money? seriously.
...i've been going to the expedia giveaway promotion and clicking every day, but nothing happens. somehow that hasn't damaged my sense of good luck. i feel like i'll win some vacation and i've managed to not be disappointed when it doesn't happen.
...
...design camp is coming up.
...ah, design camp.
...i have one glorious crush at camp. i wonder if he'll be there.
...i wonder if i'll be over him. that would be ironic.
...when will this nyquil kick in?
...oh. wait. didn't have any. meh.
...it's after midnight, it just starts to SOUND late.
...
...
...
...
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