Animal Crackers

So, as I said, I went to the zoo yesterday. And took a zoo load of photographs. I thought I would caption them all. But I've decided that I won't...except for when I do.
This meerkat posed his little heart out.
This hippo was one of many dead-seeming animals I saw at the zoo.
This is his 'I'm about to do something incredibly smart and epic' pose.
And then there was the cute mini-meerkat.

I didn't realize until after I got home that there was an alligator in this photograph.

I'm not sure if I buy this whole 'the spiders stay where we tell them to' message.
Another dead one.
This guy may have one foot in the grave as well.
Dead.

These zebras stood like this, without moving, the entire time I watched them. I wondered if they were on strike or something.

I like gibbons.

This tiger didn't move the entire time I was at the zoo. I started with him and an hour and half later he hadn't moved an inch.
There you have it, my trip to the zoo.

So Hip And So Cool

Remember my college chum who visited in August? Well, I do, even if you don't. Well, she, too is going to graduate school, and learning lots of things---like computer languages, and things about circuits and other things that make my head hurt...in fact, she made the piece of clothing this bored looking model is wearing. You can read about why this is better than just fashion here...and remember, always, that I know her...we're like friends and stuff.

Apes!

Yesterday I went to the zoo for a field trip. I took a lot of photographs of a lot of animals...many of which I plan on sharing soon. But right now, I am posting these two videos because White Cheeked Gibbons (apes, not monkeys) are pretty cool. Especially when they have one arm.

Wednesday

On Wednesday the boyfriend and I met up with a slew of somebody or others at the Giardono's (or however you spell it) on Belmont. Most shared a stuffed pizza, I went with baked ziti (though they called it baked mostaccioli). I probably should have had the pizza. But my meal did come with a cute little salad.

Nice People Affect Me

Yesterday I got downtown early on purpose. I wanted to sit at the crappy chain coffeehouse (COSI) and drink overpriced coffee while smoking a cigarette and doing yet another re-reading of the section of the book I was going to teach. I was in the midst of accomplishing all of these goals when a woman stopped right in front of where I was sitting. She was looking down at the sidewalk with a fair amount of concentration. When I looked in the general direction she was looking, all I saw was a wad of old gum. But when I adjusted my position and looked again I saw what she saw: a small bird with a muted yellow belly. I looked up at the lady, she looked at me.

-It didn't move when I walked by. It's so little.
-Yeah. Geez.

The woman took another step towards the bird and the bird, once again, made no attempt at moving away. We were looking at it, wondering what people should do in this circumstance when an older man (late fifties, greying but long/shaggy hair, in suit) came out of COSI. Since he saw the woman and I both staring at something he, too, paused and stared.

-Oh this little guy needs a rest. said the man
-I'm afraid he's gonna get stepped on. said the woman
- said me

Then the man put his bag down and cupped his hands around the bird. The bird made a brief flying flutter and moved closer to the man's bag. The man, again, cupped his hands around the bird and this time had a good grip.

-He's just tired, migrating, he needs a rest.
-Oh.

The man then walked over to the Michigan Avenue curb and threw the bird into oncoming traffic. A bus was right there to smack into the little guy and he got his rest.

Okay, actually, that's not what happened. What happened was that the older gentleman, himself, went into oncoming traffic without injury and reached the middle of Michigan where there are planters of bushes, small trees and the like. Once there he gently put the bird into some bushes and came back.

When he went across the street the woman warned him not to leave his bag. Though it was right by the woman and my feet. The guy gave her a look that said 'seriously, this is going to take a second and I don't think either of you are going to steal my bag', and he was right.

Wasn't that nice? I mean, what are the odds of people stopping to worry about a bird in a city? Not all that high. Now, out of the people who would stop, how many would actually pick the bird up and move him somewhere safer? I'm saying even fewer people than would worry. And that was a nice start to my day...nevermind how it went after that.

Ever Thing Look Better With Pitchers

Last night mousehead came over and watched Inspector Lynley with me (by god I love that show and public television for airing it on Sunday nights). But, more importantly, she helped the boyfriend and me finally get some art on our numerous walls. A week or so back she started asking us where we were going to put things. I think I did a fair amount of shrugging and the boyfriend may not have been, actually, in the room. So she started looking through what we had and suggesting possible arrangements. But it was late and so hammering things into the walls was out (considering the neighbors, dontchaknow), and for about a week or so framed images lay up against walls where mousehead thought they might go ... yesterday they made the big leap to actually being suspended on wallspace. Except for this first one, which is in the kitchen but still without a proper keeper-upper.
Some kitchen art. On the left is a photograph care of me. In the middle, a painting a high school friend and I made together. And on the right a photograph from a girl I was in college with.
A little nook for a little pic.
Another photograph made by a friend from college. This photograph, like many by this friend, really needs to be looked at close up.
Our entry way.
Our bedroom. I realize that you can't actually see what the image of this photograph is, but I made it and at first it just looks like a bunch of bedding but if you look much closer you can see a little snippet of my head...I took that photograph a million years ago and with my feet...I think it was working with the concept of hiding, but now I like to think of it as Find cc.
Our living room mantelpiece with volcano diptych.
Another angle of the living room.
And yet another angle of the living room with images you can't actually see...the images on the far wall are a diptych, kind of. About half a million years ago I lived in a tent for a summer. The image on the left is of the tent at the bottom of a steep hill (believe me it's there) and on the right is a photograph of a video still from a recording I made of the process of decamping. I'm standing next to the deflating tent looking pretty dejected, blonde and skinny.
Boat illustration and mirror. Oh, and of course, our trusty butler holding his head right below...and the flowers the boyfriend brought home the other day on the dining room table.
A mirror above my out-of-control dresser. Orginally the boyfriend hung the mirror so that when I stood in front of it I could only see most of my face (a little of my chin was cut off) but none of my neck or shoulders, mousehead could see even less of herself...but that has been fixed.
More things were hung but the photographs came out blurry or shitty or a lethal combination of the two. The house feels far more housey with stuff up. I have more photographs by people other than me I'd like to put up, but they've been rolled up for a year or two and are 20x24 thus hard to find frames to fit them, but maybe we'll get our frame on and be amazing. What?

Dim Sum c/o Furama Part 28 ... And The Ref

On Sunday the boyfriend and I did our thing at Furama. We even tried a new dish. This new dish was a nice surprise called 'custard rolls'. Mmm, spongey vanilla goodness.
After dim sum we needed to get a few things from the grocery store. Upon entering the building we ran into this guy ... we did not touch him.

Coq Au Vin And A Run Down Of Thingies

So I've been reading things, writing things and looking at things. And now I will quickly tell you about these things. Brick is a good movie, I think. And that guy who used to be in Third Rock From The Sun has become an attractive man who can act. Watch it.
I've discovered Scrubs. I'm watching the first season on dvd as we speak and I think it's funny...because it is funny.
I've also been reading books. Books like The Known World, a very good and interesting book. I don't know why I bother trying to say things about things sometimes because often I never know what to say.
I read East of Eden for the second time. Man, that's a whole book. I am so on right now.
Yesterday I made Coq Au Vin, I'm going to do a post for Chicagoist. But I'll show you the photograph, even if I won't tell you everything it took to make it.

Friday Birthday

Tonguethruster had a birthday party on Friday. There were lots of yummy yummies. Apples and honey. Smoked salmon and cream cheese etc, etc.
And, what kind of party would it be without a jazz handed beer? No party at all is what!

A Blurry Reading

On Thursday the boyfriend and I, and a bunch of other people, went to Powell's North and saw M. Lady, girl who no longer updates her blog and Peter Markus read a little of their work. For whatever reason, perhaps all the literary integrity floating around, all the photographs I took were a little bit blurry. I decided to show you some of the blurriest.

Last WIne Night

On Monday there was wine night and it was good. Cheese and cheese and popcorn and yumminess was everywhere.
There were even cupcakes to celebrate exploded viewer's 42nd birthday.

Spacca Napoli

The other night, a long held (since August) dream of the boyfriend's was finally realized...pizza from Spacca Napoli. All it took to finally get us there was a) two friends getting there before us and b) game night being cancelled.
As for a) exploded viewer and mousehead went there for the former's big 39th birthday dinner.
Game night is a once a week ritual in which the boyfriend leaves the house at night and goes to another house owned by this guy, eats pizza and plays video games with other guys. This is always nice because then I can rot my brain with television without being judged or rudely interrupted. Ah, but game night was cancelled! So it was obviously time to go to Spacca Napoli. We had their antipasto misto (prosciutto, salami, pancetta, cheese and two types of olives) and two pizzas, the pizza margherita and the pizza funghi and [long word that means sausage in Italian]. I also had a glass of wine that was described thusly: 'for people who like Shiraz'...and it was, I like Shiraz and I liked this! The pizzas were thin crusted and well proportioned. The use of extremely fresh mozzarella for the cheese made the entire eating experience different from other pizzas<---lame sentence. The boyfriend and I both found that we liked the Margherita better than the mushroom/sausage, that just tasting the sauce, cheese and basil was enough happy making and that the extra toppings, though excellent, were almost completely unneccessary. If we were to go back I think I would give the four cheese pizza a shot...Emmenthal, Mozzarella, Gorgonzola and, shoot, I forget the last cheese.