AN EMPTY MIND

There hasn’t been much on my mind lately. Tony and I got our TV, which is pretty exciting to us but not so much to the vast majority of the human population. It is getting delivered on Saturday and I have a lot of work to do tomorrow night getting everything ready for it. Tonight I am going to see Avenue Q with Monica and Jamie and that should be wicked awesome. I suppose I’ll have more to say about that tomorrow.

Basically I have been walking around with my head buried deep within Atlas Shrugged and being a total recluse. It’s pretty cool. Atlas Shrugged is basically the same book as The Fountainhead but longer. Although I am only about 400 pages into it I can safely assume that my assumption is correct. There are people motivated by industry and construction, people who punish themselves for having sexual desires contrasted with those who revel in them, Government type folks who just can’t seem to leave those bloody capitalists alone, Sentences dripping with the absolute horror of any remotely socialist ideals, and tons of self-righteous boobs of all sorts running around. It’s wonderful.

1. We’re in the movies/ Watching some people move their mouths/ And a religious figure/ Whose not really a religious figure/ Cause he’s an actor

2. There’s a man I’ve found who could bring us all joy/ There’s a doctor I’ve found could cure the boy. There's a Dr. I've Found, The Who. Identified by, Mom.

3. It never really mattered too much to me/ That I was just too damn old to MC/ All that really mattered is if your rhymes was ill/ Girl that’s all that really mattered to me

4. Tulip Baroo/ Tulip Baroo/ The magnetic roller-skater wears a bonnet of blue/ Bonnet of blue

5. Annie’s twelve years old in two more she’ll be a whore/ Nobody ever told her it’s the wrong way/ Don’t be afraid with the quickness you’ll get laid/ For your family get paid it’s the wrong way. Wrong Way, Sublime. Identified by Mom. Mom, I'm kind of sorry that you know this one. Maybe I can blame it on Sisterhead.

THE BEST THING ABOUT MINNEAPOLIS

I haven’t had much to say lately, which is strange because I feel that I have been very busy. I guess I have enjoyed playing word games on Facebook more than blogging lately. Therefore, during my lunches I sit down to have a quick game of something and then notice an hour has passed and I have no time to write anything. Again, not that anything interesting would be said. Maybe I should change my blog name back to “I Have Nothing Interesting To Say: Read Me”.

I had a wonderful time in Minneapolis, as I always do. It is truly a great city. On Thursday I went out for Thai food with Roxanne, my oldest friend. She isn’t the oldest of my friends but I have known her since I was about 6mo old so she is really more like family than friend. I mean I’ve known her longer than my sister. It is amazing that we still enjoy each others company as much as we do. Anyway, the point of my story was that we went out for Thai food and I got to eat mock duck. I don’t know what it is about Minneapolis that every Thai and Vietnamese place has mock duck on the menu but it is a wonderful thing. Maybe there is a mock duck factory in the twin cities somewhere that I have never heard of. What I wouldn’t do to get some proper mock duck here in Chicago. Sure my family lives in Minneapolis. Sure I love the quiet vibe of an ever more cosmopolitan city. Sure I get to see old friends who mean the world to me. Regardless, mock duck is quite possibly the best thing in Minneapolis.

Of course I have no idea if the mock duck tastes anything like real duck but I do know that it tastes delicious. It’s moist and firm and chewy all at the same time. It has a fantastic flavor and it makes me incredibly happy. I ordered mock duck pad thai at a level five spicy out of five and didn’t even need to put more hot sauce on it, although I could have. It was nice and red with spice when it arrived on my plate. It even had big tofu pieces along with the mock duck! Usually they just put some little crap pieces in there if it isn't your main "meat". I have to do some research and find out where I can get some of this wonderful product and make my own mock ducky dishes. I actually just did a google search for "mock duck chicago" and found a restaurant that serves the stuff. Dharma Garden here I come. I should also mention that the first entry on google was from someone who went to college in Minneapolis and was lamenting the mockducklessness of Chicago.

On Friday the entire family (parents, aunts & uncles, cousins, and grandparents) went for dinner at Cristos, a Greek restaurant. The food there was incredibly delicious as well. I ordered dessert, which I never do, and tasted a little piece of heaven called milopita. This thing was filo dough wrapped around baked apples in a ricotta/cream cheese mixture. There was some kind of sweet wonderful sauce all around it. I won’t want another one for about five years because it was incredibly rich but it was certainly something wonderful to store in the back of my, “delicious things to eat” corner of my mind.

I also saw two movies, Iron Man and Prince Caspian, which is insane because I never go out to the movies. It was great fun even though I took a benadryl, which never make me sleepy but miraculously did that day, before going to see Iron Man and dosed a little bit. Oh well, just gives me more reason to see it again. I now have to reread Prince Caspian because, while I think it was similar to the book, if it didn’t follow the story closely it was a total Two Towers rip off. Then again, the first one was very true to the story so I’m not really sure why it wouldn’t be. If anyone remembers and will let me know so that I can continue to read Atlas Shrugged (which I am enjoying immensely although not as much as The Fountainhead) and not have to bother with minor literary distractions. Then again, literary distractions can be cool as I just read a book called Running With Walker, which was a father’s memoir of taking care of his autistic son and was incredibly glad that I did.

Now for the song reveal

2. Now for all ya’ll who ain’t heard of me/ Mr. M-O-E the Barre Baby/ I’m a South Side living legend/ A third ward /bone hard/ Street veteran. Barre Baby, Big Moe.

5. They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom/ For trying to change the system from within/ I’m coming now I’m coming to reward them. First We Take Manhattan, Leonard Cohen

PACKIN MY BAGS GOING AWAY

Tomorrow I am getting on a plane and flying to Minneapolis. I hate the journey to the airport but I love when the doors to the plane close and we take off. I know I’ll be home soon.

This trip is a pretty big one. Mom is graduating with a Masters degree in something that I don’t understand and took her about three sentences to explain to me and I still don’t get it. I think it has something to do with education and community development. Needless to say, I am incredibly proud of her. If I recall correctly this is actually her first graduation. I could be wrong but I don’t think she walked in High School or for either one of her Bachelor’s degrees. This is a pretty big deal and I am so glad I get to be there.

I love Minneapolis. It’s a great time of year to be there. It would be better in about a month but this will do. The city is beautiful and I can’t help but smile as I drive around and see all the green and the blue. They weren’t kidding when they called Minnesota the land of 10,000 lakes. Even though there is a big old lake on the East side of Chicago I don’t get the same watery satisfaction here that I do at home. It’s a serene place.

I’ll hang with the family, see some friends, and relax as much as possible. It should be a good couple days. Sometimes I wish that Minneapolis was as close as Evanston but most of the time I am glad of where it is because I can truly go away and still feel at home.

1. I know I should get next to you/ You’ve got a look that made me think you’re cool/ But it’s just sexual attraction/ Not something real so I’d rather keep wackin’. Why Bother, Weezer. Identified by Monica

2. Now for all ya’ll who ain’t heard of me/ Mr. M-O-E the Barre Baby/ I’m a South Side living legend/ A third ward /bone hard/ Street veteran

3. Oh Baby Baby how was I supposed to know/ That something wasn’t right here/ Oh Baby Baby I shouldn’t have let you go. Baby One More Time, Britney Spears. Identified by Brooke.

4. Make of our hands one hand/ Make of our hearts one heart/ Make of our vows one last vow/ Only death will part us now. One Hand One Heart, West Side Story. Identified by Mom.

5. They sentenced me to twenty years of boredom/ For trying to change the system from within/ I’m coming now I’m coming to reward them

SHAKING THINGS UP ON A FRIDAY MORNING

So there I am, sitting in my office, and a strange voice comes over the loudspeaker.

“Everything is clear, you may return to the building.”

I was a little flummoxed. I hadn’t left the building. If I was supposed to leave why didn’t anyone tell me? I know I keep to myself somewhat but not to the point that people would forget that I work here. Seconds later the voice spoke again.

“This is a bomb threat.”

“Really,” I said as people started to grab their things and leave the office. I grabbed the iPod, my bag, and a coat and headed outside.

For the last few weeks the University has been talking about their new safety alert system. They did a test last week and I got a voicemail message, a text message, and an email. I left my cell phone at home today so I don’t know if I got the text or voicemail but no one else did so I am guessing no. I certainly didn’t get an email.

We all went outside and pondered why we were evacuated and got no alerts. We also wondered why only five or six people actually heard the announcement. Some people heard garbled mess, others heard nothing. It was clear as a bell in my office so that is good to know. We wondered why so many of the evacuated people were standing directly outside the doors of the building. Our staff was across the street at a parking lot. I suppose that we may not have been far enough away but at least we weren’t directly in front of the doors.

After about ten minutes someone came by and mentioned that it was simply a mistake. Someone must have accidentally hit the “bomb threat” button on the loudspeaker. We were all allowed back inside. The day continued and all is well.

Random song time

1. Been spending most their lives living in a pastime paradise/ Been spending most their lives living in a pastime paradise/ Been wasting most their time glorifying the days long gone behind. Pastime Paradise, Stevie Wonder. Identified by Brooke

2. Snow can wait I’ve forgot my mittens/ Wipe my nose/ Get my new boots on. Winter, Tori Amos. Identified by Brooke

3. I know I should get next to you/ You’ve got a look that made me think you’re cool/ But it’s just sexual attraction/ Not something real so I’d rather keep wackin’

4. Now for all ya’ll who ain’t heard of me/ Mr. M-O-E the Barre Baby/ I’m a South Side living legend/ A third ward /bone hard/ Street veteran

5. I/ hurt myself today/ To see if I still feel/ I/ Focus on the pain/ The only thing that’s real. Hurt, Nine Inch Nails. Identified by Brooke

LOOPTOPIA PART DEUX

On Friday, Monica and I decided to venture to the festivities that are called Looptopia on Friday night. After the debacle that was last year we didn’t hope for much. We scoured the activities and had a rather difficult time finding anything we were incredibly inspired to do. We decided to walk to Daley Plaza and figure it out more from there.

We sat by this sculpture thing that one of the creators described to us an an inefficient system. It was made up of three inflated beach ball type things that were slowly deflating. Atop said balloons sat a city and the whole contraption was hooked up to three stationary bikes. You had to pedal the bikes to keep the balls inflated or the city would fall. It was about cooperation. I think it was a metaphor for the entire evening.

While at the plaza it rained a little but not too much. We decided to head to the cultural center, a place of madness the year before, and check out this sketch comedy thing. One side was locked so we went to the other. Believe it or not there was a line to get in that wrapped around the building. AS IF!!! We decided to walk to some bars and see if old co-workers were hanging out.

We passed some people doing strange performance art type things in the windows of Macy’s and then heard a noise…it sounded like…Assholes! They were obnoxious, they were hollering, they were not the real Obnoxious Hollering Assholes but they were pretty cool. The group was about five people in orange jumpsuits making noise and marching down the street. Monica and I fell in line behind them and did little dances and went Woo! Eventually she busted out her kazoo and played along. I don’t think they even noticed. We followed them for about five blocks or so until they stopped. It was the best time of the evening.

We tried one bar and found no old co-workers. It started to rain a bit so we busted out my umbrella and started walking to the other bar. On the way we made up a new band. Monica is in the Assholes and I am not exactly in the Assholes but sometimes I make appearances. The Assholes do not have lyrics and I prefer bands that do. As the two of us have written awesome songs before, it is only fitting that we have a band that sings actual songs. Look for us, we’re called That One Band Right There. Forthcoming songs include; That One Song, That Rap Song, The Song that Goes Like That, and our soon to be smash hit single Insideoutafied. We thought about selling tapes out the back of our pockets but then realized it would be better to have people send us money and then we would email them mp3s of our songs. As soon as we get a closed door creative type song writing session scheduled it’s on. We may even cover Emo Boy, a wonderful song by our other band that used The Dead Milkmen’s “Punk Rock Girl” as inspiration. That One Band Right There is headed for stardom.

Anyway, our co-workers weren’t at the other bar either and it was raining like crazy so we went home. One of my co-workers said that Looptopia was rumored to be a roaring party and a smashing success. Maybe it was, but I missed it.

1. Horses in my dreams/ Like waves like the sea/ They pull out of here/ They pull they are free. Horses in my Dreams, PJ Harvey

2. Oh here we go again/ It’s time for the same arguments about/ About that and a little bit of this. ShadowBox, The Ponys

3. What about the time/ You were rolling over/ Fell on your face/ You must be having fun. Slippery People, Talking Heads

4. Unexplainable things will happen when we really see into each others eyes/ Right/ So why is it we rarely find the time to see each other in the eyes. Eyes, Apollo Sunshine