Post-Holiday Post

Just rolled back in from StL, and am happy to report that the visit was a good one, and more relaxing than I could ever have anticipated. This is in spite of 10-person three state caravan with extended family right in the middle. But everyone got along well, we enjoyed our time with said family in Indiana, and, to my pure joy, we even went, en masse, to a movie on Christmas Day. "Marley and Me". Tears. Laughs. Pooches. Good times.

Below are some pics. Most from our visit to my grandfather's farm. A few subjecting my beloved pooch to abject humiliation.

I've been thinking a lot about the New Year. I'm not one normally to set resolutions, although it was about this time last year that I got serious about the Chicago move, and here we are a year and about 300 miles later. Before the holiday, I met Redd and Double B for dinner, and we got to the topic of the New Year. Redd isn't so much into resolutions as she is "themes", for example "Take More Chances", which has thus far been my mantra for this move. It has me thinking, praying even about what next year's theme might be. I'm open to input.

I hope the holidays were peaceful and refreshing to you as well. May the new year bring you generous blessings.

NYTimes.com: In Illinois, a Virtual Expectation of Corruption

I had been looking for something appropriate to post about the whole Blagojevich scandal as it has broken this week.

The most entertaining thing for me is just how relieved most people are to have an excuse to get rid of the guy. I've not heard a sympathetic word in his favor. It turns out that a friend from Second City went to school with the now Mrs. B, and says that the Patty Blagojevich from the transcripts is not too far removed from the teenage version. Some generally nasty pieces of work.

Anyway, below is a link to an article in today's New York Times, which provides a great context for the history and extent of corruption in Illinois politics.

---------------------

December 14, 2008

In Illinois, a Virtual Expectation of Corruption By KATE ZERNIKE

Residents of Illinois have had a tradition of accepting corruption among their politicians, even expecting it

Back At It

I'm sorry that I lost momentum on this blog through the fall. Normally my favorite season, this one was a little rough, with the flood, then some job issues and some other personal stuff. Nothing major, but my mood bottomed out nonetheless and lost the oomph! to do anything above and beyond getting through each day.

Things are little more settled now and I'm feeling better, hence the flurry of updates. They go back to Halloween, so that's worth something, right?

To make up, here's a picture of Jessica Simpson, pop singer and reality TV star. Turns out she has a new perfume (because we all want to smell like desperation?), and was in town doing a personal appearance to promote it. She got more squeals than Santa. No kidding.

Signs of Christmas in Chicago

My Christmas tree. Still digging the white. Looks awesome during the day. This is my only Christmas decoration this year, which is odd for me. After all the craziness of the fall, I wanted as little drama as possible, including that I create for myself. Note that all of my favorite ornaments survived the flood, while my tree skirt was among the losses.

Santa's house at the Christmasmarkt in Daley Plaza downtown. Note the massive tree behind, and, to the left of the left turret on the house, you can see the Picasso sculpture.

The Christmasmarkt was pretty great. It's done in collaboration with the Germany board of tourism, and most of the booths are manned by actual Germans who fly over for the holidays (waaa?). They sell traditional handicrafts and foodstuffs, including roasted chestnuts, bratwursts, and grogg (spiced wine) in commemorative mugs.

One of the main halls at the 8-floor Macy's, formerly Marshall Field's, downtown. Crowded, yes, but the epitome of the Christmas department store experience. If you dig such things, it's worth it for the trip at least once.

For many Chicagoians, it isn't Christmas until you've had lunch under the massive Christmas tree in the Walnut Room of Macy's/Marshall's on the 7th floor. There was a 3-hour wait when I went (and no, I didn't get a table, opting instead for a quick coffee from the nearby food court). I took the elevator up, then the escalators back down, which is when I ran across Jessica Simpson.

Christmas tree lot near Second City, underneath the new seasonal Coca-Cola ads. Christmas! Improv! Coke! Merry Christmas to me!

First Snow!

My first snowfall in Chicago arrived in mid-November, while I was making my way home from a movie ('Slumdog Millionaire'-check it out). It only lasted about two hours, and quickly melted away. We've subsequently had our second and third snowstorms, one of which I drove through on my way home from Thanksgiving.

Poochkin

Between the riot walk, a late start to the evening, and a shared bottle of wine, I was left with a pair of uncarved pumpkins from Halloween. These became a point of fascination for Atlas, who especially enjoyed chewing on the rough stems. I would be watching TV and hear him sneaking over, where he would mount them and gnaw away for a few seconds before jumping off and running away. For months I have been feeding him a spoonful of canned pumpkin with his food each day (for digestive assistance), so maybe he thought he'd hit some sort of smorgasbord.

Halloweeners

It's not much of an overstatement to say that Chicagoians go crazy over Halloween, unlike anything I've ever seen. Almost every building on my block sported some sort of decoration, and many had very extensive yard displays with sound effects, etc. Even downtown, there were two full weekends of Chicagoween celebration, officially sanctioned by the city with performers and food stalls.

I marked the holiday by surviving a riot. Literally. A friend had come over to split a bottle of wine and order some takeout. We decided to walk Lawrence for a few blocks and pick one of the Korean places, but soon after setting out noticed that the streets were unusually hectic. Taxi cabs were honking their horns, and drivers leaning out of their windows yelling. After a few more minutes we noticed that eggs were flying through the air. And on the sidewalks were groups of teenagers, some in costume, some not, and all of them antagonizing anyone who walked by.

I want to take a minute to reiterate that this is very unusal for my neighborhood. I'd not seen anything like it, nor anything since. In an anthropology class I slept through in college, I remember reading an article that posited that Halloween served an important cultural role, as it was the one night of the year when all social norms could be upset, and more importantly, that children became the leaders of that revolt, while in their everyday lives they were expected to be more submissive. Very interesting in theory, a little spooky to experience as an unexpected demographic minority carrying $25 worth of Korean BBQ.