Millennium Park

Happy Birthday to Jew!

Welcome to your 25th year, Brian!

Crossing the Finish Line

"Now you wouldn't believe me if I told you, but I could run like the wind blows. From that day on, if I was ever going someplace, I was running!"

Go Laine!


the following are updated photo's of Laine and Chris, before and after the race. Great job!

TomKat

Katie,

I thought you may want some pointers as you start your trek up The Bridge to Total Freedom.

Fun things to do if you find yourself bored (or stranded) at The Celebrity Center:

1) Announce you have a killer headache and start asking people for Tylenol.
2) Admit that you are gay and want to sleep with Kelly Preston.
3) Look at one of the many portraits of LRH and proclaim, “That’s me!”
4) State that you have lost all control of your hands and must use your feet on the E-meter.
5) Look up swear words in the dictionary, while on Course.
6) Start calling the members of the SeaOrg, Seamen. (You can follow this up by complimenting the women SeaOrg members on their pearl necklaces.)
7) When you watch that freaky movie where the world is blown up, stand up and scream at the top of your lungs.
8) Tell the Course Instructor that you hate children.
9) Walk up to James Mustard and tell him he is in Liability.
10) Start handing out “WWJD” bracelets.

Spare Me the Details

Bowling starts up next month. In preparation, Kimberly, Ashley, Jenn and I bowled a couple of games last night. It’s looking to be a good season.

The Gipsy Kings and The Mamas and The Papas

Brian and I saw The Gipsy Kings at Ravinia last night. I even got Brian to dance a little.

Good news: yesterday I spent the day searching for two people who had decided to ride out hurricane Katrina. My coworker’s parents live in Gulfport, MS, and she hadn't heard from them in a few days. Yesterday, the task was given to me to try and find her mom and dad. So I spent yesterday working with local television stations, newspapers, The Salvation Army, The Red Cross, and FEMA. I heard news this morning that her parents are doing fine. One house on their block is still standing, and they are taking shelter there with some of their neighbors.

I am proud to work for a company that will make finding a mom and dad top priority for the day.

Quit Yer Belly Achin'

With all the problems facing our world today: the evacuation of the Gaza Strip, Hurricane Katrina destroying the South, the rise in gas prices, I think it is important to take a moment and discuss the most important issue of all. My abs hurt. A lot.

Whoever decided that doing a lot of crunches, on a daily basis, was the best way to tone a stomach, should be burned at the stake. It hurts to breathe. It hurts to move. It hurts to laugh.

(Billy, this part is for you…)

And I love working out. I am one of those persons who really enjoys going to the gym. Ten months out of the year I go to the gym, a few times a week, and subject myself to really intense workouts. I don’t feel like I have accomplished anything unless my hair is soaked, I have sweated through my t-shirt, and my muscles burn with a pain so fierce I have trouble walking.

I love lifting weights the most. I love exhausting my muscles and then forcing myself to do another rep of 10. I love when the endorphins kick in and you get that rush of blood that flushes your face. For awhile I was waking up in the middle of the night with severe leg cramps, because I was pushing myself too hard at the gym.

But nothing compares to the pain of crunches. And the worst part is I know I am going to do them again today. And tomorrow. And the next day.

So here is a tribute to all those people who suffer with me.
Laine: who is running a marathon this weekend, as part of her training ran 10 miles on Sunday.
Angie: because of her dedication, my 2-year-old nephew knows how to say “Pilates”.
Mom: she climbs on that bike and watches “So, You Think You Can Dance” in order to ease the pain.
Sarah: your arms look like Madonna's arms. No lie.

Feel the burn.

That's a Wrap!

Film reviews:

1) The Killing Fields – excellent film, worth renting. Malcovich was great as usual, and Sam Waterson, you know him from Law and Order, was very compelling. This one is good.
2) Suspect Zero – do not waste your time. It’s extremely boring (even with Aaron Eckhart and Ben Kingsley). The directing is a mix of Seven and The Ring, so if you have seen either/both of those, then you have already seen this too. Also, it has Tom Cruise’s cousin in it (bad guy from LOST) and so that’s just the icing on the cake.
3) Empire of the Sun – pretty good but also very long (Spielberg likes those epics). The one scene that made me cringe was when the boy, Jamie, is walking through the camp on the first day. Everyone at the camp is wearing white or grey outfits and they are completely covered in a white dust. Then in walks Jamie wearing a red school blazer. It reminded me too much of Schindler’s List, when the little girl wearing red walked through the street, the only color in a black and white scene. Also, keep your eyes open for a small role played by Ben Stiller. He has about 4 lines total.
4) Gia- I don’t even know if this is available to rent. Channel 20 showed this movie like 4 times this weekend. Angelina Jolie before she was Angelina Jolie.

Other events from the weekend:
-chopped all my hair off. It’s really short. I mean really short.
-Nevin’s with Billy and Rife. I left when Billy turned to some guy and said “I think I saw you in Batteries Not Included. You haven’t grown much since then.”
-Early service on Sunday morning was a breath of fresh air. Looks like I may have finally found a church in Chicago.
-Napped most of Sunday day.

Friday Night Checklist

An inventory of Lulu’s birthday party:

-1 Birthday Girl
-1 Piñata filled with candy
-1 cow’s tongue
-A handful of ballet dancers
-1 bag of pork rinds (with ranch dressing)
-1 beaten Piñata
-1 can of Evil Eye
-1 chocolate cake
-1 Adam Ant cd playing in the kitchen
-1 destroyed/mangled Piñata
-A slew of writers from the Fiction Workshop at Columbia
-1 C&B lady
-1 stocked liquor cabinet
-1 Jello mold
-6 or7 improv artists from Second City
-1 game of Pin the Tail on the Donkey
-1 angry lesbian
-2 Yoga instructors
-1 flaming Piñata

My Plan is Working

I spoke with Sadia yesterday. She is contemplating moving from San Francisco to Chicago. We both agree that buying a house is damn near impossible in California, even if a major earthquake were to occur, and Sadia really wants to own a house. So Chicago may be her best bet.

Other benefits to moving here are:
1) her folks live here (which, at times, could also be a negative to moving here)
2) her friends live here
3) Dustin lives here (and after 5 years of flirting, they should just be together already)

It’s my goal to get all of my friends to move to Chicago (or at least the Midwest). Here is how the plan is working so far:

1) Tim turned down a job on Everybody Loves Raymond to join the dual masters program at Northwestern. So he is in Chicago now.
2) Alida stopped recruiting for reality shows and moved to Chicago with her boy, whom she recruited for Amish in the City. She is now in Chicago.
3) Ben stopped editing for Grounded for Life and is now directing television shows in Ohio. He is in the Midwest now.
4) Sadia is on her way, or at least will end up here eventually.
5) Josh’s heart belongs in Chicago, but his job is wherever Will is shooting his films. But it’s just a matter of time before Will starts shooting in Chicago again. And the Starbucks in Chicago also allow you to sit for hours and type out hilarious screenplays.
6) Karla and Aaron are a little more difficult. But I do hope that once Aaron has a little more pull in the film industry, they can live in Minneapolis and he can just fly to shoots from there.
7) Laine – She says she is staying in Houston, but I don’t think she can stay away from the Cubs for that long. And besides, I live here now and it’s about time we live in the same state.

So let’s all keep our fingers crossed that Sadia migrates to Chicago. She is one of my best friends and I would love to live in the same city with her, again

Lance

My brother, Lance, just got a big ol' promotion at Cerner. Although he will continue living in Kansas City, he will be flying down to Orlando, FL every week (Monday through Thursday) to oversee the software implementation at Florida Hospital.

Some notes from Lance's email:
About the client:
Florida Hospital is an acute-care organization (multi-facility) with a little under 3k beds.
This is the largest client (dollars) in the Southeast.
They are implementing 15+ solutions (Cerner products).
The hospital is affiliated with the Adventist religion which is a Christian sect (I was told by the client that if you mix a really good Baptist and a really good Jew then you'll get an Adventist).

Interesting Note: Most of our meetings begin with a prayer and once per day they play music over the loud speakers and we gather together for announcements and prayer requests. - Participation is always optional.


**Now, instead of going to Kansas City to visit Lance, I may meet up with him in Orlando. Hell, he will have a company paid apartment there, along with a shit load of frequent flier miles, and a rental car. Plus all of his food and stuff is paid for by Cerner.

My family rocks.
Way to go, Lance!

We Could Hook Down, Logistically

The Cubs lost, but we're all winners in my book!

Billy said my blog is like the show Laguna Beach. What a jerk.

*As a side note: Josh - Ian Moore is playing the Abbey Pub on 09/19. Yeah!!

Tommy Girl

I spent 90 minutes last night watching “Tommy Lee Goes to College”. It is a stupid show with horrible editing (let’s hope Kevin isn’t working on this reality show). I am completely addicted to it now and will be watching it every Tuesday night.

This is what Tommy and I have in common:

1) We both lived in LA
2) We both love music
3) We both say “this shit's bananas!”
4) We both have brown hair
5) We both were in the marching band
6) We both struggle with Organic Chemistry
7) We both love coffee in the morning
8) We both have a scandalous past
9) We both were on the diving team
10) We both love nature

This is why Tommy and I can never be:

1) Musicians bad. Curfew 1am.

It was Ladies Night

We couldn't resist heading to Tuman's. And we couldn't explain why everything we heard was so freaking hilarious.

Bon Appetite

Leah is in town this week, so we met up last night for dinner. We all sat around for an hour chopping mango, garlic, cilantro, onion, pineapple, and basil. Precious was kind enough to slave over the hot stove while the rest of us focused on finishing the bottle of wine. The dinner was an incredible meal consisting of insalata caprese with chopped garlic, potstickers, grilled shrimp with shitake mushrooms and red peppers, halibut and mahi mahi with a mango/pineapple salsa drizzled over the top.

Please note that Precious was wearing a Transformers t-shirt.

Saturday night: Part 1 and Part Deux

I am going to break Saturday night down into two parts. (And I feel really bad because out of all the photos I took that night, exactly zero of them are of Jake.)

Part 1) I met up with Jake and a whole crew of people at Tuman’s on Saturday for Jake's going away party. It was great chatting it up over $2 PBR pints. I was also really glad to be able to hang with Jake one more time before he set off for Minneapolis. Ashley, Michelle, and Emily popped in for a pint, and it’s always a good time when they are around. I look forward to catching up with Jake this Thanksgiving. This part of the night was so much fun.

Part 2) Jake had left. Ashley and the ladies had left.

Thought things were cool and the friend mode was working but I was terribly wrong. This is what I get for giving people the benefit of the doubt. I am such a sucker for an email apology and a promise for better times to come. 3am rolled around and shit went down, and it went down fast. All so he could hit it up with some random chick. I was cramping his style. And that promised sofa disappeared in a drunken blur and I found myself standing on the sidewalk under the neon sign looking around thinking “now what?” while he actually looked me in the eye and said “we are catching a cab”. And he didn’t mean we in the sense of, “yes I know I said you could sober up in my living room tonight and therefore you went ahead and drank yourself stupid so hop in this cab with me and we’ll laugh about this in the morning.” He meant we in the sense of, “it's 3 o'clock in the morning and you are drunk and can’t drive and have absolutely no place to go, but at this moment I don’t give a shit what happens to you as long as this lady on my arm is willing to put out.”

In the matter of about 30 seconds I became an after school special, all so he could get some.

This part of the night was officially the worst 7 hours of my entire time living in Chicago. So fuck you for telling me that I could crash on your couch. And fuck you for not having the balls to talk to me yourself. And fuck you for walking away knowing full well I had NO PLACE TO GO.