Walk Back

On the walk back from our friends' place we ran into this handsome devil. So very friendly. We petted him and loved him and tried to convince him to follow us home (that way it wouldn't be stealing...or if it was stealing it would be stealing of his (the cat's) own volition). But after about a quarter (probably less) of a block he got sidetracked by an attractive looking fence and forgot us entirely.

The boyfriend I continued to walk home when I stopped a little short at the smell of pot. It's a funny thing in a city to come across the smell. You look at all the apartment buildings around you and just wonder which one the smell is emanating from. The boyfriend also stopped and we turned in maybe two circles trying to find the source. We didn't try too hard and started to walk on when the boyfriend, in a low voice, said something about a guy in a truck. When I looked to the right what would I see but a guy in a big ol' red and white truck smoking a joint with his windows down. He said hello and seemed to have gotten a kick out of us. I apologized (for what I'm not exactly sure) and we continued walking.

It was funny.
And weird.
Maybe not worth the energy to tell that story but too late now.
Gotta go to class.

Your Mom's A Fajita

Last night, after a failed attempt to meet the Chicagoist staff at a bar in the loop (realized once I got there that I didn't know what anybody looked like and it was crowded and so I ran away), I went to the apartment of two friends for lovely fajitas, margaritas and JAWS.
I'd never seen Jaws from beginning to end. However we started the movie a little late and I whined a bit about the time. Sorry.
Marinated chicken and beef along with cilantro, chihuaua (sp?) cheese, refried beans, guacamole and green peppers. Yummy. Thanks!

Hang On Sushi, Sushi Hang On

The boyfriend's former housemate now works for some wild and crazy venture capitalist who is trying to get into art. Part of her job is going around to the major cities and hiring people to hawk her boss' projects. Yesterday was her day in Chicago. We met up with her at the Hilton on S. Michigan and had a pint in one of the two hotel bars. We then brown lined it to Hey Sushi and ate us some, you guessed it, sushi!
Above is the coconut shrimp appetizer the housemate/friend ordered. Below is the sushi I ordered. I didn't understand how large the one roll would be. Whoops. I ordered the special Wasabi roll-smoked salmon, cream cheese, something else in the middle with wasabi mayo then topped off with wasabi tobikko and dried mushrooms...a little salad in the middle. Also a rainbow roll, spicy white tuna roll and an order of wasabi tobikko.
Hey Sushi's space is wacky. It's a large space with high ceilings and low lighting. We had the option of sitting at a table or on couches. We opted for couches. The tables were rather low which made for a certain hunched over posture when it came to actually eating. Their Tuesday drink special was a caraffe of sake for $5.
Their menu is crazy extensive. Their more simple, basic rolls are reasonably priced but they also have these crazy monstrosities that can be up to $15.

I would go back and try some of the more basic stuff.

Mmmr

For lunch on Monday was a cheese and salami plate shared between the boyfriend and myself...we also ate a scrabble board. Mmmm, cardboard.

Rat-Tat-Tat

On Sunday I went on over to M. Lady's soon to be not-house for some grub made by her soon to be yes-roommate. It was Rat-Tat-Too-Eee. I insisted that everyone prounounce it that way at least three times.

It came will dill rice which was good. Though I must admit that I do not like dill so it was better for those who do. Either way a lovely and unexpected home cooked meal.

Weekly Installments

To read my latest installment/piece for Chicagoist click here.

Dim Sum c/o Furama Part 21

We had a dim sum newbie this morning. She seemed to enjoy. I enjoyed. The boyfriend, though sick, probably enjoyed.

Mix It

The boyfriend has been a bit under the weather this weekend...possibly due to allergies...possibly not. Either way his sickness leads to more chicken noodle soup in our house. Yesterday I took a little of the boyfriend's chicken and stars soup and used it to flavor my corn. Did I mention I like corn? I do. I eat a lot of it. Frozen corn, microwaved with a little salt, butter and chipotle tabasco, makes me very happy. The added chicken broth/stars were a nice addition.

Pretty Entertaining Moment

So this guy's mother gave him some new pants and, no joke, they are as spill proof as the ads say they are. This guy did this demonstration twice and both times it was like he never spilled any water on his pants...dry as dry can be. Awesome.

Busy? Let Me Check My Social Calendar

Last night these two hosted a little party in their new digs. There were Tom Collins, homemade guacamole, peanut butter m&ms and the tasty tomato, mozzarella yummies below.
Yesterday the boyfriend got up reals early and helped a friend move from Lincoln Square to Andersonville. I got up regularly and helped in the tail end of that move...the girl we helped was our lunch benefactress at Reza's. After our lunch we went back to our apartment and watched Driving Miss Daisy.
I'd never seen the movie and was glad to finally see it. Though it seemed a bit tame? Or, maybe, dated? No, that's not right, I liked it.

We're Living Off The Refrigerator

Stir fry, oh yeah. Snap peas, broccoli, radishes and venison sausage all mixed up with too many conflicting spices...I made a messy taste stirfry...I put too much ginger in it then tried to counterbalance it with wasabi but it just made everything taste wrong, though without any kick.

Reza's Restaurant Buffet

Mmm, Persian buffet. They had four different salads (Caesar, Persian, Garden and Pasta),three different kinds of rice (white, vegetable and dill), meat galore (the beef was weird but the chicken was phe-nom-enal and even honey drenched pastry for dessert.

Falafel and Persian potatoes too. The falafel was not as super lovely crunch as it can/could be, but the potatoes were nice.
Thanks to the lady who bought us our buffet lunch...you know who you are...oh all of this can be yours for $9.95.

Quesadillas

Yesterday I had a little quesadilla...Trader Joe's Mexican shredded cheese, tomatoes, corn and a little itsy bitsy bit of goat cheese. Microwaved for about thirty five seconds and then flipped around on the skillet for another minute or two.

It was taste-a-licious.

Not Wine Night

A few weeks back some wine nighters and myself went out to the Exchequer and decided we needed to meet more of our writing compatriots in a non-class atmosphere. We decided a party was in order. Then nothing happened. Then we went out to the Exchequer again, this time with non wine nighters as well. We all decided a party was in order. I offered to have a party because I like to feed people and not worry about getting home. I sent out an email and bought chips, crackers and coffee cake and fancied myself prepared. Last night was the all writing student party and we did have some new faces grace our apartment. How do I say this? I had a really great time last night but I was a little disappointed that out of the forty plus people I sent the email to, five people came (thanks you brave five!). Whatever, it was short notice and I didn't include my address. I think everybody had a good time and that's all that matters.
Ooooh. And one member of the party told quite an excellent story. I will try to write it down. Though I'm sure I'll mess it up.

So this friend has a friend. She's in Philadelphia getting her masters in education. Right now she's doing a rotation with the special education kids, of which a few are autistic. For a field trip she took the class to the zoo. The kids got a tour and saw all the new baby animals and such things, generally had a good time etc. Then it was time to go. The friend got all the kids on the bus, counted heads and everything when she suddenly noticed the potent smell of poop. Now this friend is thinking, 'damn, one of these kids pooped in their pants and now I'm going to clean it up', which is, I think, what anyone with any sense would think. Anyways, so she starts going down the bus aisle trying to figure out where exactly the smell is emanating when she notices a boy towards the back. The boy is rocking back and forth a little and once the friend gets closer she hears him repeating over and over again "it's not in my bag, it's not in my bag, it's not in my bag". The friend sighs, because the smell is far more noticeable right by this kid's bag, and takes the bag and opens it.

Inside the bag is a baby penguin.

No joke...it really happened...to a friend of a friend.

I'm Going Craaazy..With Socks

Got some more socks yesterday. I started singing a song about socks. It went like this:

Socks! Socks! Socks! Socks!

There was a dance too, it went like this:
Jump, run in place, jump again, twirl, run in place, jump, run in place.

The boyfriend didn't like my song and dance.

But Meow Cat luuuuurved it. Do you see the excitement in her eyes? Meow Cat couldn't learn my dance, it had too many new moves, but she did do an excellent funky chicken in honor of the socks.

Thanks to my old neighbor for the green socks with a frog on them...and thanks Mom for all the rest...the especially and almost unnaturally soft socks and the Go Bananas! socks and the cute Duck socks.

Din Din, Gunga What?

Above is the salad that accompanied my chicagoist post about duck. Below is the duck.

Socko Numboro Two-o

Second pair of socks, also sent by one of my mother's affiliates, knee socks actually.

Adverbs And Stop Time

I just gave up reading Adverbs by Daniel Handler. I was really excited about reading this book because I am a large fan of Lemony Snicket and, well, he is Lemony Snicket. But somehow the tone and wit of his children's books don't quite do as well in his novel. I feel bad about it...it's been a while since I simply put down a book. But I'm 161 pages into it and I'm really not enjoying it very much or at all...too much swirly recycling of characters' names without any clarification. This book is about love and there are parts that are really great but as a whole not so much.

I also finished Frank Conroys Stop Time. That, on the other hand, was a very good book.

Movies, I Watch Them

In the past weeks I've seen a number of movies. Two of which are above and below these lines of text. Both I would recommend, though both have flaws. History of Violence is, well, violent and the plot is a little hard to swallow. Actually, that's true for Chumscrubber too. Chumscrubber makes up for its nonbelievability with moments of truly wicked humor. Still and all, I would put them on my Netflix queue if I were you.

Duck

You can check out my first official, posted almost all by myself, chicagoist entry here.

Kitten Wars

Fellow MFAWer and Cataneer, frolicker with language, turned me on to the glories of kittenwars...if you have a little time to kill and have no shame check it out.

Dim Sum c/o Furama Part 21

Dim Sum was a party of five...no Bailey present..or Neve Campbell for that matter. We got our 'spinning Jenny' and ate our fair share. There was an "Asian Nail Convention" in the main dining room and because of this the restaurant divided dim sum traffic between their smaller downstairs space an auxilliary dining area. Less carts for everybody and by the time we saw fun noodles we had no room left for the fun.

The boyfriend and I have had houseguests straight from last Monday until about an hour ago. It was a little hard to get things accomplished or, I should say, harder than usual. But it was good to see the faces. And the people the faces were attached to, I guess...no really it was nice.

This week I also was officially invited to become a member of the Chicagoist staff as their 'Eating In' writer. They use movable type and for some reason I'm terrified of the 'platform' but I will perservere and stop being such a big baby about it.

Funky Sock Exchange

A few weeks back I got a funky sock exchange chain letter from my half aunt/aunt. The basic deal, in case you're unfamiliar with the this kind of exchange, is like this...I get the letter and it has two names on it, a person I don't know and then my aunt. I send a pair of 'funky' socks to the lady I don't know, move up my aunt's name and add my name. Then I send the letter out to six people who then send socks to my aunt and then the letter to six more people. So in theory, theoretically, I will begin to receive approximately 36 pairs of socks.

We'll see. This pair came from one of the people my mother sent her letter on to. I had thought they had just been friends way back when, but it seems my mother has quite the rough and tumble past...I'm guessing Altamont may have saved both of these women's lives. This is what her note said (she spelled my name wrong):
Hi cc,
As you no doubt know, your mother and I were Hell's Angels together in Junior High (="middle school").

So this whole thing is rather cheesy and not at all something I would start. But getting packages in the mail is always fun...as are socks with fuzzy baby chickens on them...I sent a pair of socks with monkeys and bananas. The end.

Sushi Buffet Ula

The boyfriend and two friends (and me) went to House of Sushi and Noodles. We did two full rounds of eight rolls...then gave up, came home and took two hour naps.

Two Nights Back

Two nights back the boyfriend and the visiting friend made marbled brownies...then the boyfriend made steak and potatoes. You can see them both here.
In other news, Grey Cat is no longer with us. A classmate of mine, who turns out to live in the neighborhood, said she saw signs for a missing cat...a missing...grey....cat. Ellery looked for signs yesterday but didn't see them...the classmate emailed me the sign's phone and today I walked the block and returned Grey Cat. She wasn't supposed to be outside so I didn't steal her exactly...either way she's back where she started. There was a cute kid and his dad and his dad's friend who called me love. That's the story about the cat.

Laid Back

Catan and China Cafe delivery...their beancurd and vegetables in brown sauce isn't bad...I just need to remember to tell them to leave out all the veggies except broccoli. I still miss the Golden Wok in Red Hook, New York though.

I won in Catan.

Shedd Aquarium

As a human being I am amazed by the wonders of the sea...how evolution has ended up with neon colored fish and crabs roughly the size of Cyprus. Whenever I go to an aquarium I go first as a human being and second as a fish eater...and that second role I play allows me-rather paradoxically-to think about how good many of the fish displayed would be, in my belly. For example these huge crabs.
I don't think I made it clear how big these crabs are...they're really friggin big, like the size of small televisions...with legs and claws and tiny little eyeballs.
Pretty.
These turtles were cute. Here's why. One of these two small turtles kept swimming after one of the larger ones, trying to hug it and love it and say hello (personification obviously) but the big one would have none of it, sweeping its large claw through the water and batting the smaller guy away. Then another small one came up and they started doing this dance, front legs batting each other lightly while their heads bobbed in front of each other. God knows what this was really about but it was cute.

Planetarium

After breakfast we went downtown and a little to Museum Campus. We went to the planetarium and the aquarium. Which is a lot of money, actually. We saw two planetarium shows, one called-shit I forgot exactly what it was called-something like To Infinity or Beyond Infinity or Infinity in Space or Wow Your Mom Is Infinity...which was in their newer facility with an all digital projector. The friend is into/does animation and said he thought a lot of it was subpar...but he was also the guy who majored in astronomy who kept on getting our guide's questions wrong...I'm kidding, he knows his animation and is right about it...he was wrong about the astronomy questions though. We also saw Space In Your Face (that's the real title) and I was pretty let down by it, partly because the graphics paled in comparison and it was all about constellations but without the sky moving a lot...which really is my favorite part.
The boyfriend and friend have gone up to North Chicago-the city not the area-for the night and so I've been trying to catch up on all the reading I should have been doing for classes. Not sure I'm going to be able to. I mean, I'm not all that good a student in general (that's not exactly true...I'm not a bad student but I'm not as complete* about my work habits as my peers) but this week has been pretty bad in terms of getting anything done.

*complete is a filler word for another word I can't remember....it's one part complete, one part thorough and with a little magic something else.

I've Got a Golden Nugget....He's Got A Golden Nugget!

We went to Golden Nugget for breakfast. It was my first time. I had the 1-2-3 Special. The boyfriend had pigs in a blanket. The friend had an ungodly amount of food whose clever name I don't remember but included eggs, bacon and pancakes with a side of homefries.
The 1-2-3 special was two eggs, sausage links and a biscuit with gravy. I asked for over medium eggs but wasn't too suprised to find them over easy...diners don't really do over medium and yet I ask anyways...just for the chance of being surprised and extremely pleased.
We started with one waitress who gave us coffee/tea and water then took our order. Then, midmeal, we had a new waitress who gave us three more cups of water...though the cups we already had were still full...it was weird.

I like Golden Nugget, it's relatively cheap and they have an hourly buzzer that sounds throughout the restaurant to alert their employees to wash their hands. I mean, come on, how can you beat that?

All American

Last night we initially wanted to go bowling but after checking with three different ones, we realized that-even on a Tuesday at six o'clock-getting a lane was going to be impossible until after ten thirty. Instead we went to Charlie's Alehouse and had standard food for a restaurant of that ilk. Toasted ravioli appetizer to share and a chicken pot pie for me...the boyfriend had fried chicken and the friend had the brisket dinner with turkey chowder and apple cobbler. The pot pie was what it was. The pastry makes it appear much larger than it actually was. Didn't like the pastry very much, I ate the insides and rate them 'okay'.
On the walk back the moon was very bright. We forgot to go to the lake and see the partial eclipse. But I heard that you would have needed binoculars to see it...and we don't have any, so either way we wouldn't have seen it so it's probably okay that we didn't go.