Human.

On Sunday, I marched along with my church, Holy Covenant, in the Chicago Gay Pride Parade. Our church includes and invites everyone, no matter their sexual orientation. We feel like there's a lot of people out there shouting and hollering about how God judges. What could it hurt to have a dozen folks from Chicago yell right back that God Loves! We even got Shirley up on the float to ride along! (Shirley is probably over 80 years old.)

About halfway through the parade two women asked if they could march along with us. Of course, we said! So they hopped on the float and rode the entire way with us. It felt really good that strangers felt welcome to join us.

We got a pretty good rain on late Sunday afternoon and we all got soaked. Luckily a man offered me his coat because my sun dress was not keeping me warm, at all. And thankfully, Chris offered to pick me up at church with towels and a warm car. It's July and I had those heaters blasting!

On a personal note, I got to meet about 6 new people from my church and that was just wonderful. I'm finally making good friends there and they're all really nice people.

Jove and Meg love music too and I think it's funny how many of the same shows we've been to and yet we've never met before! We're definitely going to hit up some shows later this summer! I wish I was going to the Feist show with them, but Chris and I will be in NC at that time. (which is a pretty good trade off, if you ask me)

I got a chance to speak with Timothy more, another cool guy who wore a Minus the Bear t-shirt to church a few weeks back. When I saw that t-shirt, I just knew he and I would be good friends. We got to talking about film and I think he's coming along with a group of us to see All About Eve, in Grant Park (yay for movies in the park!).

I also got a chance to meet David, Steve, and Jonas. All were very nice and so much fun! And now I'm excited for next Sunday's service cause I get a chance to say hello to all of them!

The Gay Pride Parade is a time to not only show support for humankind but it's also a time to bring people together. It was quite a successful day, in my opinion.

CSA Pick-Up

I went to the Logan Square farmers' market this morning to pick up this week's goodies. In my produce box I got: a head of cabbage, garlic scapes, a bunch of beets, fennel, mizuna and new potatoes. I will eat it all except the fennel. I don't like the taste of black licorice so this particular veggie will be donated out to someone at my office who does like the taste of black licorice.

For the cabbage I am going to make cabbage rolls and cole slaw. I will cook up the beets (yum!) and saute the potatoes with some olive oil and maybe some garlic scapes. The mizuna will be made into a salad with dried cranberries and a raspberry vinaigrette.

I also just cooked up a ham steak I got from my meat CSA program. Lunch tomorrow is going to be delicious!

Yay for summer and the healthy eating it brings!

Most Adorable Photo EVER

In this pic is a cat, a new puppy and a wild coyote that is being raised by a woman in Wyoming.
My heart just melted into one giant puddle beneath my desk.

We Opted for the Pitcher

At about 4:10pm today I received an email from Michi with the subject header of "I need a drink". I must say, that email made my 4:15 meeting so much better!

So Michi came over tonight and I cooked us up a dinner of Italian sausage patties with mozzarella cheese and ice cold lemonade to drink. Afterwards, we walked a few blocks down to Que Rico! where we took all of 4 seconds to agree upon getting a pitcher of margaritas instead of 2 glasses.

Best decision we've made in a long time. :)

It's always great hanging out with a girlfriend but doing it on a warm summer night makes it even better. We sat at a table next to a wall that had been moved aside to open up the room to the sidewalk. There were twinkle lights woven through the branches of the trees outside on the patio, lightning bugs buzzed and dotted the air while the warm breeze flowed through the restaurant. It was the perfect evening. Thanks for the email, Michi. :)

Jaden

Tuesday night I hung out with Amy and Jaden. I hadn't seen Jaden since he was 4 months old! He's getting so big and he loves to grin and show off those teeth!! He definitely will have Jimmy's height; that child is like a bean pole! :)

It was great playing with the baby and all night he kept giving me kisses, which was just adorable.

And it was nice catching up with my friend, Amy. We both agreed, it had been too long.

Chaco

I went to REI today during lunch to buy myself some new summer, walking sandals. I can't fool myself any longer, thinking that flip flops are enough support for my wacky feet. For as often as Chris and I walk Fred, I need a summer shoe that doesn't leave my feet throbbing in pain.

So I bought some Chacos! I thought I would end up getting Tevas but the salesman sold me on this brand instead. I guess Chacos last a lot longer than Tevas do and you can re-sole them if you want.

I think I'll know whether I chose wisely after my next walk to the bark park.

The Business of Being Born

I watched part of the documentary The Business of Being Born last night. And even though I'm not expecting a child anytime soon, it really got me thinking about the birthing system in the US and how "off" it seems.

Personally, I am not sure I would feel comfortable giving birth in my home, just in case problems arose. But now I think it would be nice to have both a midwife and a doctor. Like if the midwife could help me through most of the labor but the doctor step in for the delivery or something.

And I never knew Pitossin (sp?) was so freaking scary!

You're Welcome for Almost 31 Years of Me!

I believe it's quite obvious that I'm awesome. Hell, I'm the one who founded National Arrogance Day! Of course I'm awesome! Think about it; how many of you can say you founded a holiday? None. Only the truly supreme, like myself and Jesus...for example, can make such a statement.

But this year, my friends, even I have surpassed my own perfection! How is that possible, you ask? Well, I'm immortal, bitches!!! In the past 6 months I have faced death twice and beat it!

Flumonia tried to lessen my incredible life but my immune system is stronger than any other it had encountered. Come to find out, I am actually the CURE for Flumonia. Without you, my readers, even knowing it, there is a great chance you had the Flumonia but because of your affiliation with me, I saved you from it.

You're welcome. I'm glad I could save all of your lives.

Shortly after Flumonia, the Claritin D thought it could squash my life by closing up my esophagus but Hell No! No one can diminish my incredible life! Nothing can stop me! My body is a gift to humankind and the powers That Be will not let me be harmed or damaged in anyway. The powers That Be prefer me right where I am...more powerful than they are.

So on this blessed day of National Arrogance Day, instead of stating the obvious of how smart I am, how funny my jokes are, and how incredibly generous I am, I will just say this: I'm Immortal. My awesomeness knows no timeline. I will rock for eternity.

Untraceable

Sean came over last night to hang out. We ordered and cooked up a Meisan pizza from the Homemade Pizza Company and we watched Untraceable.

We both were horrified by the types of torture used throughout the film (who thinks up that sorta twisted crap?) and we both guessed the ending about 20 minutes into the film. This is a perfect Netflix film. And it was great catching up with Sean last night. :)

National Arrogance Day is Tomorrow!

If you don't know what National Arrogance Day is, please read here.
Tomorrow is the 6th anniversary of Poetry Man and so it's time to start thinking about what makes YOU so awesome.

I'll post emails on the blog. But more importantly, the day is about celebrating yourself. So please take some time tomorrow to tell the people around you how much you rock and how blessed they are to be in your presence. :)

DCFC

Sarah just forwarded me some pics from the Death Cab for Cutie show, from June 3rd. The show was at Millennium Park and it was foggy and damp the whole time. Which made for a chilly show but it made the city skyline look really cool!

Lolita

A big thanks goes out to my boyfriend, Chris, for researching the closest branch of the Chicago Public Library, in relation to my house. I found out there is a location only 5 blocks from my home, at the end of a dead-end street! So I walked there last night and registered for a library card.

My commute has been brutal lately and I thought listening to books on tape might help ease the torture of driving during rush hour traffic. So I checked out the book Lolita.
Has anyone else read this before?

I've never read Russian literature before and I wasn't sure if I would like the style of writing. I was pleasantly surprised this morning when I wished my drive was just a little bit longer so I could finish listening to the chapter.

The story is about an older man who develops a sexual obsession with little girls. His interest begins when he is a teenager and continues on into his adult life. He eventually falls in "love" with an eleven-year-old girl named Lolita.

The book is hauntingly beautiful and repulsive and yet I find myself eager to continue on with the story. The narrarator talks about dressing up prostitutes in little girl outfits and how he enjoys lingering at playgrounds in order to feel surrounded by little girls. It's quite disturbing. But his descriptions of landscape, people, thoughts, etc. are so poetic there were times, this morning, when I forgot what he was describing. I forgot that the beautiful cotton dress he was describing in such great detail is up against the skin of a nine-year-old girl.

Anyway, I'm enjoying the book in all it's grotesqueness. And I'm glad my commute feels a bit more productive.

Thanks, Babe. :)

*I just re-read this post and realized I switched from past to present to past tense like a billion times. I tried to clean it up but please don't judge my writing skills based on this blog's postings. I type this stuff out so fast I barely even have my thoughts together when I blog.*

Scooby-Do!

Here are some pics of Max's 3rd birthday party. It was Scooby-Do themed. The kids pulled on the strings of a pinata until all the candy fell out. Then Max opened his gifts, which I believe took all of 30 seconds. Then it was time for cake and ice cream.

I would like to point out that my very talented sister, Angie, baked and decorated that Scooby cake herself. Isn't that amazing?

RIP Tim Russert

One of the best journalists on television,Tim Russert, passed away today. I've always enjoyed watching his show Meet the Press and I'm saddened at his early departure.

He would have enjoyed covering our current history-making presidential race.

Envious Arnold Palmer

Last Sunday, before church, I stopped into Stabucks looking for something to drink but it was extremely hot out and my church isn't air-conditioned so I knew coffee was not an option. I decided to try their new Shaken Green Tea and Lemonade and to my great surprise it was delicious!

It was also $3.10.

So yesterday I went to the grocery store and bought a jug of Arizona green tea and some Minute Maid lemonade (which was buy 1 get 1 free). Woot! I love saving money! And now I can make this drink for myself every morning without sucking my bank account dry!

Now Starbucks has opted to call their version of this drink a Shaken Green Tea and Lemonade. I have decided to name mine an Envious Arnold Palmer.

Get it. It's "green" with envy. :)

Chris, Fred and I

Here are some pics of Chris and I at random points in the past couple of weeks. And I threw in a couple of pics of his puppy, Fred, for good measure. Everything in the world is made better when a puppy is around.

ps) I rule at Rock Band!

Arrested Development

I've become addicted to the show Arrested Development. I started Netflixing season 1 per the suggestion of my friend Cindy. Then Sarah K. loaned me her copy of season 2 and I swear I've watched more television in the past 3 weeks than I have in the past 3 months! This show is HILARIOUS!

I seriously will walk down the street, remember a scene and crack myself up for like 5 minutes. Everyone on the street gives me a funny look but I don't care!!

"Watch out for the loose seal!"

Avenue Q

Chris and I saw Avenue Q on Saturday night and it is, hands down, the funniest musical I have ever seen. It's a smart, inappropriate twist off of Seasame Street that stars Gary Coleman, features a 10 minute puppet sex scene, and lots of talk about porn. Chris and I both had such a great time at this musical and I'm so glad that we were able to catch it on it's last night in Chicago.
Here's a little song I pulled from youtube called "It Sucks to be Me":

Here's the sountrack titles for the show. I think this will give you a good idea of what this musical is about:
1. What do you do with a BA in English?
2. It Sucks to be Me
3. If You Were Gay
4. Mixed Tape
5. The Internet is for Porn
6. I'm Not Wearing Underwear Today
7. I Wish I could Go Back to College
8. Everyone's a Little Bit Racist

I Believe in Love but it Don't Believe in Me

Last night I met up with Murry backstage before rocking out to his Old 97s show. It was so great seeing him! And he pulled out his Iphone so I could see the latest pics of his son, Texas. What a cutie!
And it was a nice surprise when during the second song into the show, Murry saw me in the crowd and said hello to me from the stage! :)

And the Old 97s worked out a deal yesterday with XRT where they are going to play The Taste of Chicago over the July 4th weekend! So I get to see my friend again in 1 month! Yay!

I decided that when I travel to L.A. over Labor Day weekend, that Chris should come along with. I want him to meet my friends out in California and I want them to meet him, as well. :)

Northern Exposure

My parents just got back from a week long cruise through Alaska. While away, Jerry ate escargot and reindeer. I'm trying to figure out the best way to tell Gavin that Grampie ate Rudolph. :)