Today was my most productive day in almost three weeks. I got a lot done but I still have quite a bit more to do. And I work ten hours tomorrow so it is going to be a long night for me. But I will be so happy on Tuesday evening.
So since I spent most of the day doing homework I don't have all that much exciting stuff to say about today. Except that I watched Malibu's Most Wanted while studying. I believe this was the first time I've ever watched it straight through. And it is a terrible movie. That said, I think there are a lot of interesting things in play here. For all the bad acting, cheesy dialogue, ridiculous plotlines, etc. it actually makes some pretty good points on the phenomenon of rich kids who wish they lived in the hood. I kind of doubt they did this intentionally but they kind of nailed it, albeit in a ridiculous manner. The film also pokes fun at the typical campaign that aims at stopping gang violence using useless methods. Of course, it's still a terrible, terrible movie. And they really don't touch on these issues beyond a really skin deep glance that only someone like me who watches for that kind of shit would pick up on. So basically, it was a pretty good idea for a movie, it just needed different personnel. And for God sakes...give it an R rating next time. I'm not sure there is anything cheesier than PG-13 gangsta movies.
So I guess Obama gave a Father's Day sermon today. I don't really see what the big deal was but I was watching Newsroom and Rick Sanchez was trying to make it out like there is going to be some big controversy because Obama is catering to white voters by saying black men need to be more responsible fathers. If someone gets what this means at all feel free to leave a comment explaining it to me. Then he compared Obama to Bill Cosby which just made me cringe. He says that Obama can expect the same backlash that Cosby received after he called out hip hop. Huh?
Well, I guess I should get some sleep. Almost time for NYC.
Sunday, June 15, 2008
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Day 21
So I just finished spending a ridiculous amount of time playing Dolphin Olympics. Most addictive game ever. And part of another productive evening.
My new church is the Lakeview Seventh-day Adventist Church. I like it very much more than my old church. I think it is just a good group of people. Today we had a picnic at Horner Park after church. Ate lots and lots of food and then sat and chatted with the people. And threw the frisbee around. (Sheesh...frisbee doesn't pass the spell check.) I think what I like is the diversity of the congregation. Racially, age-wise, idealistically, everything. There aren't very many people there and they all get along well. You know...it is much more liberal than most churches, but it is not an arrogant liberalism. People may come to church not too dressed up but they aren't doing it to make a point. Furthermore, the liberal faction of the church does not feel like they need to be secretive about their differing ideals or hide them from the more conservative members. And there are some very conservative members. What I'm saying is that the church works well. I may expand on this another day. That's all I have right now.
Anyway...it turned out to be HOT out today. Pushing 90. And I think there was some kind of Puerto Rican fun day or something because they were all out all along Western Avenue waving flags and honking car horns and such. So it was nice to see them having such a good time.
Just beautiful outside.
After I fed the cats tonight I just drove around. It was about sunset and I listened to the Wrens and Band of Horses, two of my favorite sunset bands.
I think that is actually all I'm going to say about today. It was actually a very nice day. And the picnic was lots of fun and I could say more. But I'm not going to because I want to watch Six Feet Under before I go to bed and I have a marathon day of homework tomorrow.
It's about to get crazy....NEW YORK!
My new church is the Lakeview Seventh-day Adventist Church. I like it very much more than my old church. I think it is just a good group of people. Today we had a picnic at Horner Park after church. Ate lots and lots of food and then sat and chatted with the people. And threw the frisbee around. (Sheesh...frisbee doesn't pass the spell check.) I think what I like is the diversity of the congregation. Racially, age-wise, idealistically, everything. There aren't very many people there and they all get along well. You know...it is much more liberal than most churches, but it is not an arrogant liberalism. People may come to church not too dressed up but they aren't doing it to make a point. Furthermore, the liberal faction of the church does not feel like they need to be secretive about their differing ideals or hide them from the more conservative members. And there are some very conservative members. What I'm saying is that the church works well. I may expand on this another day. That's all I have right now.
Anyway...it turned out to be HOT out today. Pushing 90. And I think there was some kind of Puerto Rican fun day or something because they were all out all along Western Avenue waving flags and honking car horns and such. So it was nice to see them having such a good time.
Just beautiful outside.
After I fed the cats tonight I just drove around. It was about sunset and I listened to the Wrens and Band of Horses, two of my favorite sunset bands.
I think that is actually all I'm going to say about today. It was actually a very nice day. And the picnic was lots of fun and I could say more. But I'm not going to because I want to watch Six Feet Under before I go to bed and I have a marathon day of homework tomorrow.
It's about to get crazy....NEW YORK!
Friday, June 13, 2008
Day 20
Breaking News: I was back at the gas station tonight. Guess who was there asking people for cash? So there you have it.
This brings up a world of questions. One of which...how is it that these people managed to make it 24 hours without getting kicked out of the parking lot? So I am now under the assumption that this family is homeless. Which is sad. But what I don't understand is why dude would make up a story about needing gas money to get home. You would think he would just say, "Shit man...I'm broke and living in my car...can you help me out?"
Of course, the more I think about it the more I don't blame him. The out-of-gas story probably makes a lot of people say, "Oh man, that's rough, he was out on a nice trip with his family and he just ran out of gas. I'll help him out." But I think there is a scarily high percentage of the population that believes that homeless people must be homeless because they are lazy and will refuse to give them a dime. And in many cases this may be true. But what point are we trying to prove when we don't give them money? Are we trying to teach them a lesson about the values of hard work and sobriety? Is it for their own good? Dude may be lazy and strung out but he still needs cash.
So that was that. I hope I see him again. Or I don't because I hope he makes it home. If only for the kid's sake.
The cats were frisky today. And I also saw a whole family of ducks in the backyard just bobbing around. It's like a friggin' forest preserve over at that house. Every day it is some new kind of wildlife up in there. I can't wait to see what is next.
Mostly though it was another slow day. I went to work for a while and did some assessments on one of my kids for a class I am trying to finish up for Tuesday. These last few days have been a little slow and quiet, but very pleasant. And it is nice to rest up because the wild, fun days are coming real soon. And then I'll have lots to talk about before bedtime.
So I rattled on about the Tha Carter 3 the other day, and for good cause because it is truly spectacular. But the other two albums I bought on Tuesday are also incredible. This has been a slow year for music IMO but I really feel like the three I bought on that one day could be the best three of the year so far. The Cool Kids EP just makes me ridiculously happy. I've heard over half the songs before but it is nice to actually own it in album format and be able to blast them in my car. And that new Spiritualized album is just gorgeous.
Which brings me to the part of the post where I talk about a weekend I am REALLY excited about. It isn't New York, Krissy's wedding, or Lollapalooza, though all of those are going to be just as great. It is Pitchfork/Rock the Bells weekend. Friday of Pitchfork will feature Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions. Saturday I will be skipping PoFo in favor of Rock the Bells...one of the sickest hip hop lineups I have ever seen and I will be in the pit, face to face with a who's who of the greatest of all time. So yeah...I should be pretty exhausted after those two days. BUT WAIT! Because Sunday, the day I keep forgetting about after all the other awesomeness, has just a ridiculous lineup back at the Pitchfork Fest. Including the aforementioned Spiritualized, Ghostface/Raekwon, M. Ward, Les Savy Fav, Dino Jr, Spoon, Apples in Stereo, AND MORE! Man, I love this summer.
Sorry to brag. But there is nothing quite like being alive in the summertime in Chicago. Nothing quite like it.
This brings up a world of questions. One of which...how is it that these people managed to make it 24 hours without getting kicked out of the parking lot? So I am now under the assumption that this family is homeless. Which is sad. But what I don't understand is why dude would make up a story about needing gas money to get home. You would think he would just say, "Shit man...I'm broke and living in my car...can you help me out?"
Of course, the more I think about it the more I don't blame him. The out-of-gas story probably makes a lot of people say, "Oh man, that's rough, he was out on a nice trip with his family and he just ran out of gas. I'll help him out." But I think there is a scarily high percentage of the population that believes that homeless people must be homeless because they are lazy and will refuse to give them a dime. And in many cases this may be true. But what point are we trying to prove when we don't give them money? Are we trying to teach them a lesson about the values of hard work and sobriety? Is it for their own good? Dude may be lazy and strung out but he still needs cash.
So that was that. I hope I see him again. Or I don't because I hope he makes it home. If only for the kid's sake.
The cats were frisky today. And I also saw a whole family of ducks in the backyard just bobbing around. It's like a friggin' forest preserve over at that house. Every day it is some new kind of wildlife up in there. I can't wait to see what is next.
Mostly though it was another slow day. I went to work for a while and did some assessments on one of my kids for a class I am trying to finish up for Tuesday. These last few days have been a little slow and quiet, but very pleasant. And it is nice to rest up because the wild, fun days are coming real soon. And then I'll have lots to talk about before bedtime.
So I rattled on about the Tha Carter 3 the other day, and for good cause because it is truly spectacular. But the other two albums I bought on Tuesday are also incredible. This has been a slow year for music IMO but I really feel like the three I bought on that one day could be the best three of the year so far. The Cool Kids EP just makes me ridiculously happy. I've heard over half the songs before but it is nice to actually own it in album format and be able to blast them in my car. And that new Spiritualized album is just gorgeous.
Which brings me to the part of the post where I talk about a weekend I am REALLY excited about. It isn't New York, Krissy's wedding, or Lollapalooza, though all of those are going to be just as great. It is Pitchfork/Rock the Bells weekend. Friday of Pitchfork will feature Public Enemy performing It Takes a Nation of Millions. Saturday I will be skipping PoFo in favor of Rock the Bells...one of the sickest hip hop lineups I have ever seen and I will be in the pit, face to face with a who's who of the greatest of all time. So yeah...I should be pretty exhausted after those two days. BUT WAIT! Because Sunday, the day I keep forgetting about after all the other awesomeness, has just a ridiculous lineup back at the Pitchfork Fest. Including the aforementioned Spiritualized, Ghostface/Raekwon, M. Ward, Les Savy Fav, Dino Jr, Spoon, Apples in Stereo, AND MORE! Man, I love this summer.
Sorry to brag. But there is nothing quite like being alive in the summertime in Chicago. Nothing quite like it.
Day 19
So this is yesterday's entry. Something happened that kept me from blogging last night. And that something was...
A BLACKOUT! Yes, the power went out between the hours of 8 PM and Midnight. That's four hours of no power. So I was unable to blog. Then the power came back on at midnight but I didn't feel like blogging.
The down side of the power being out was that I was unable to finish the things I needed to accomplish. Well, actually I really could have done them anyway. The Bishop cranked up the generator and that was enough to power the lights in the family room and the tv and the refrigerator and freezer and stuff. But, you know, once the tv was on we decided to watch The Office on demand. And eat pie. And freeze pops. So yeah...thanks to the power outage I didn't do any homework last night.
What I did do is play some basketball. I started shooting around and all of a sudden there were about twenty little kids in my driveway shouting PASS IT PASS IT OVER HERE OVER HERE! So I did. I don't even know who all these kids were. There was a kid name Qati who kept slapping everyone on the ass and making obscene gestures. Have to keep an eye on that kid.
Right before the power went out I was at the gas station and a dude asked me for some cash and I gave him ten bucks. Apparently he was stranded with this wife and son (and I did see them in the car.) They ran out of gas and were just trying to get home. Or maybe he was a panhandler. But I took his word for it. I figure even if it is all just a ruse to get some cash he could probably use the money.
So that is what I do now. I give money to strangers when they ask. And I don't say this because I want everyone to pat me on the back or anything. It's just what I've decided I should do and this blog is where I am voicing this type of thing lately so here is where I mention it. Maybe I am too fast to give money away but I think most people are too slow. Giving money to people on the street is one of the few altruistic actions that people actually get PISSED at you about. It produces all kinds of glares and tongue lashings about, "He's just going to buy drugs" or "Now he's always going to be hanging around here", like he's a fucking duck or something. But in all honesty, if he runs off to find his dealer, so be it. Dude said he needed money and I took his word for it. If he is lying, that's on him, but I did my part.
ANYWAY...the rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Ate at Chipotle. Watched the Cubs game. Considered my homework. Went to class. Brought a sub home. Fed the cats. All the usual.
I'll be back later tonight with today.
A BLACKOUT! Yes, the power went out between the hours of 8 PM and Midnight. That's four hours of no power. So I was unable to blog. Then the power came back on at midnight but I didn't feel like blogging.
The down side of the power being out was that I was unable to finish the things I needed to accomplish. Well, actually I really could have done them anyway. The Bishop cranked up the generator and that was enough to power the lights in the family room and the tv and the refrigerator and freezer and stuff. But, you know, once the tv was on we decided to watch The Office on demand. And eat pie. And freeze pops. So yeah...thanks to the power outage I didn't do any homework last night.
What I did do is play some basketball. I started shooting around and all of a sudden there were about twenty little kids in my driveway shouting PASS IT PASS IT OVER HERE OVER HERE! So I did. I don't even know who all these kids were. There was a kid name Qati who kept slapping everyone on the ass and making obscene gestures. Have to keep an eye on that kid.
Right before the power went out I was at the gas station and a dude asked me for some cash and I gave him ten bucks. Apparently he was stranded with this wife and son (and I did see them in the car.) They ran out of gas and were just trying to get home. Or maybe he was a panhandler. But I took his word for it. I figure even if it is all just a ruse to get some cash he could probably use the money.
So that is what I do now. I give money to strangers when they ask. And I don't say this because I want everyone to pat me on the back or anything. It's just what I've decided I should do and this blog is where I am voicing this type of thing lately so here is where I mention it. Maybe I am too fast to give money away but I think most people are too slow. Giving money to people on the street is one of the few altruistic actions that people actually get PISSED at you about. It produces all kinds of glares and tongue lashings about, "He's just going to buy drugs" or "Now he's always going to be hanging around here", like he's a fucking duck or something. But in all honesty, if he runs off to find his dealer, so be it. Dude said he needed money and I took his word for it. If he is lying, that's on him, but I did my part.
ANYWAY...the rest of the day was fairly uneventful. Ate at Chipotle. Watched the Cubs game. Considered my homework. Went to class. Brought a sub home. Fed the cats. All the usual.
I'll be back later tonight with today.
Wednesday, June 11, 2008
Day 18
Well I didn't see the mouse today. I don't know if the cats ate it or what. I do know that the cats seemed dead tired today. Usually they come running to meet me when I get there. Today I had to go find them. So I'm guessing that doesn't bode well for mouse's fate.
My summer Wednesday's are LONG. And today I was missing a kid so they will be even LONGer. Also, one of my kids called me a "fucking idiot" today. Then he apologized and said, "I meant freaking idiot." That was fun.
I wrote a paper tonight. It sucks.
I also designed a roller coaster in my head when I was at work. Check it out. There is no track. Everybody stands on the platform in rows but they are not in a train like normal. They put on these jackets that are connected to a remote control. And then, as a collective group, they go through the typical maneuvers of a roller coaster. So basically they are just flying through the air. In freaking sane.
I am extremely tired and I need to get up in five and a half hours so I don't have much to say tonight.
OHHHHH...but I listened to Tha Carter 3 today. And it is just batshit crazy. I think this first dawned on me towards the end of "Dr. Carter", a song where Lil Wayne embodies some sort of hip hop doctor who fixes up whack MC's or something. Then that song ended and it went right into a song that began with the line, "I am not like you. I am a martian." Not only is this a funny first line....it is actually what the song is about. I think that Lil Wayne is turning into a mainstream Dr. Octagon. And no joke...the last song of the album fades into about a 7 minute outro where a stoned-off-his-ass Weezy explains why he does not respect Al Sharpton or anyone like him. YES! Weezy vs. Sharpton is the new BIG vs. Pac!
More later...
My summer Wednesday's are LONG. And today I was missing a kid so they will be even LONGer. Also, one of my kids called me a "fucking idiot" today. Then he apologized and said, "I meant freaking idiot." That was fun.
I wrote a paper tonight. It sucks.
I also designed a roller coaster in my head when I was at work. Check it out. There is no track. Everybody stands on the platform in rows but they are not in a train like normal. They put on these jackets that are connected to a remote control. And then, as a collective group, they go through the typical maneuvers of a roller coaster. So basically they are just flying through the air. In freaking sane.
I am extremely tired and I need to get up in five and a half hours so I don't have much to say tonight.
OHHHHH...but I listened to Tha Carter 3 today. And it is just batshit crazy. I think this first dawned on me towards the end of "Dr. Carter", a song where Lil Wayne embodies some sort of hip hop doctor who fixes up whack MC's or something. Then that song ended and it went right into a song that began with the line, "I am not like you. I am a martian." Not only is this a funny first line....it is actually what the song is about. I think that Lil Wayne is turning into a mainstream Dr. Octagon. And no joke...the last song of the album fades into about a 7 minute outro where a stoned-off-his-ass Weezy explains why he does not respect Al Sharpton or anyone like him. YES! Weezy vs. Sharpton is the new BIG vs. Pac!
More later...
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Day 17
So a couple hours ago I went over to feed the cats. I fed them and the fish. Then I sat down to watch the last inning of the Cubs game. And then I heard a bunch of curious meowing in the kitchen. Not terribly odd since there are three cats in the house. So I look over and all three of them are congregated together...something I don't think I've ever seen before. And then I realized what it was...
A MOUSE!!!
EEEEEEK!!!
It scurried across the floor and the cats chased it around. And I jumped up onto the wall that divides the family room and the kitchen. Now this may seem funny and all but I had a pretty good reason for this and that is that mice are fucking scary when they are inside. Not when they are outside. If I see a mouse outside I don't think anything of it. Because they belong outside. But a mouse that is inside is out of its element. It is on human (or cat) turf. Everything is kind of twisted with the world when the mouse is inside. It's like frogs. If you see one outside you will probably pick it up and lick it or something. But if you are at the breakfast table and you see a frog on the table you might scream or something.
ANYWAY...the mouse ran under the fridge and I took the opportunity to get down. The cats kept batting at the mouse and I left while they were all occupied. I'm not sure what happens now. Do the cats eat the mouse when they catch him? Or do they just torture him? If Itchy and Scratchy are to be believed it isn't going to be a pretty sight. I sure hope they eat him so there isn't a dead mouse to worry about tomorrow.
So it was a pretty good day. And it has a story. And I went cd shopping after class. I bought three!
Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter 3
Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
Also found out that Isaac is DEFINITELY in for New York so that rocks. And I think I made the decision that I am going to take a taxi to my hotel from the train station. I am not terribly interested in walking the four blocks from the subway to the hotel at night with all my possessions, including my computer. How the hell would I blog every night if my lappy got jacked? And I found a fare finder dealie on the interwebs that said it would cost about sixteen bucks for a cab. I can live with that for the peace of mind.
And I had Noodles and Company for lunch! Wisconsin Mac and Cheese with some tofu in it.
And the Cubs won. Not bad, not bad. Long day of work tomorrow.
I'm Mikey. I Rock.
A MOUSE!!!
EEEEEEK!!!
It scurried across the floor and the cats chased it around. And I jumped up onto the wall that divides the family room and the kitchen. Now this may seem funny and all but I had a pretty good reason for this and that is that mice are fucking scary when they are inside. Not when they are outside. If I see a mouse outside I don't think anything of it. Because they belong outside. But a mouse that is inside is out of its element. It is on human (or cat) turf. Everything is kind of twisted with the world when the mouse is inside. It's like frogs. If you see one outside you will probably pick it up and lick it or something. But if you are at the breakfast table and you see a frog on the table you might scream or something.
ANYWAY...the mouse ran under the fridge and I took the opportunity to get down. The cats kept batting at the mouse and I left while they were all occupied. I'm not sure what happens now. Do the cats eat the mouse when they catch him? Or do they just torture him? If Itchy and Scratchy are to be believed it isn't going to be a pretty sight. I sure hope they eat him so there isn't a dead mouse to worry about tomorrow.
So it was a pretty good day. And it has a story. And I went cd shopping after class. I bought three!
Cool Kids - The Bake Sale
Lil Wayne - Tha Carter 3
Spiritualized - Songs in A&E
Also found out that Isaac is DEFINITELY in for New York so that rocks. And I think I made the decision that I am going to take a taxi to my hotel from the train station. I am not terribly interested in walking the four blocks from the subway to the hotel at night with all my possessions, including my computer. How the hell would I blog every night if my lappy got jacked? And I found a fare finder dealie on the interwebs that said it would cost about sixteen bucks for a cab. I can live with that for the peace of mind.
And I had Noodles and Company for lunch! Wisconsin Mac and Cheese with some tofu in it.
And the Cubs won. Not bad, not bad. Long day of work tomorrow.
I'm Mikey. I Rock.
Monday, June 9, 2008
Day 16
So the first thing that happened today was that I couldn't find the fish that I am fish-sitting. I thought maybe he was dead but it seemed like he would be floating if he were dead and he was not floating. So I dropped some food in and he still didn't come out. And he didn't seem to be under the rocks. So I was kind of worried about that. But when I stopped by on my way back from work, there he was, swimming away. So false alarm that. And all the cats seem to be alive as well. So good day over there.
What else?
Not much. I started summer hours with my kids today. And one of them was missing. Which was kind of cool because I had a little extra time for homework and I also had a chance to read more of Sudhir Venkatesh's book. It just gets better and better. Seriously...go buy this book. You will not regret it.
Hmmm...I had an extremely difficult time sleeping last night. Must have had a lot on my mind. And I have been practically shooting caffeine into my bloodstream the past few weeks. So I'm a little jittery. I should probably cut that shit out.
New York seems to be falling into place nicely. Sadly, my old friend Michael is not going to be able to make the trip. But Isaac may which would be nice. Ten days from right now I will be on an Amtrak train for the first time in my life.
I think that is it for now. I am tired tonight. And I have to get up early. I am mulling over attempts to go to the Cubs game either tomorrow night or Thursday afternoon. If I don't I probably will not get to a game until July. But it probably would be best to save my money for New York.
Peace...
What else?
Not much. I started summer hours with my kids today. And one of them was missing. Which was kind of cool because I had a little extra time for homework and I also had a chance to read more of Sudhir Venkatesh's book. It just gets better and better. Seriously...go buy this book. You will not regret it.
Hmmm...I had an extremely difficult time sleeping last night. Must have had a lot on my mind. And I have been practically shooting caffeine into my bloodstream the past few weeks. So I'm a little jittery. I should probably cut that shit out.
New York seems to be falling into place nicely. Sadly, my old friend Michael is not going to be able to make the trip. But Isaac may which would be nice. Ten days from right now I will be on an Amtrak train for the first time in my life.
I think that is it for now. I am tired tonight. And I have to get up early. I am mulling over attempts to go to the Cubs game either tomorrow night or Thursday afternoon. If I don't I probably will not get to a game until July. But it probably would be best to save my money for New York.
Peace...
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