I think winter has overstayed its welcome. It's like the house guest that just won't leave. And we're not talking just any house guest, we're talking a really messy, annoying, clog your toilet house guest. Now you all know how I really feel.
Last week I had the unfortunate situation of rear-ending someone. I was driving slowly in a long line of traffic down a narrow, icy, snow filled road. A few cars up someone slammed on their brakes and when I tried to stop I just slid right into the person in front of me. It couldn't be helped, it was one of those slow motion things where you know what your gonna do but just can't prevent it. Anyway, I got out of my car and sure enough there was a nice 4 inch black scratch on her brand new white car. No damage to my car-whew! So we called the police and they came out and said that since there was probably less than $500 in damages, we should just settle in amongst ourselves. So she called me this week with the estimate, of course $400. This surely didn't improve my opinion of winter.
Still working on training for the race. After running 2 miles last night, I went into the living room and talked to John. I have no idea how he did a marathon. Aside from the pain of moving for that long, the sheer boredom would drive me nuts. This does not include the actual marathon, seeing the people and running through the city is probably pretty exciting. But the actual training, I don't know how someone does that. Weir I am still waiting for the time when "eventually you'll get to the point where NOT running is actually more painful than running." I'm hanging in there. Next week I bump it up to 3 miles.
Not much else going on in my life... here's a top 5 to keep you entertained.
Top 5 things to do to beat the winter blues
1. crank the heat, put on a bikini, and pretend it's summer
2. plan a vacation to somewhere warm
3. drink
4. drink
5. drink
Sorry I ran out of ideas for 4 and 5, but you can never have too much of a good thing.
Wednesday, February 27, 2008
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Rent? I'd rather own.
Hi all!
Well after a busy weekend, I thought I better post some reviews. John and I celebrated Valentine's Day by having dinner and going to see Chris Rock at the Rosemont Theatre. On the ticket it did not state that there would be an opening act, so we rushed through dinner to make it over for a 7:30 show. Unfortunately there was an opening act, a 25 year old hip hop band- not very good. So Chris did not come on until 9:15, which is pretty close to my bedtime. He was good, I was not offended by any of his jokes, and I felt that he had a nice mix of topics. He was not side splitting hilarious, but he was funny. I would recommend seeing him if the ticket cost is less than $50.
Saturday night we ventured into the city for dinner and a play. I have been wanting to see the musical Rent for a few years now. John was nice enough to get tickets back in December when they went on sale, even though it was something he wasn't looking forward to seeing. We started the evening by having dinner at Rosebud, which is an excellent Italian restaurant. The prices are reasonable, it has nice atmosphere, and the food is good. After dinner we went over to the Cadillac Palace Theatre, which is very nice, and unlike LaSalle Theatre you can actually see the stage from your seats. I was very excited to see the show, unfortunately after the first act I had to lean over to John and apologize.
I knew going into the play that it would not be a feel good; it's about homelessness, AIDS, and drug addicts. However, does that mean that the music and lyrics have to suck? I really felt like each song was painfull to listen to. There was no feeling or emotion in the songs. Here are some characters in a REALLY emotional setting with REALLY emotional topics (death, love, societal struggle) and they can't even sing a song that makes me feel anything toward them.
I have seen quite a few musicals, (Les Miss, Miss Saigon, Sunset Blvd, Phantom, and more) with each musical the songs are what draw you into the story. I have always felt very emotional listening to them, most of the time close to tears. With Rent, I felt nothing. They did a very poor job of helping you to feel what the characters were feeling.
I am sure that many people feel like it is a wonderful play because it addressed many of the issues of the 80s and 90s that were not being talked about. However, that does not make it a good play. That is like saying that Hillary Clinton is a good candidate just because she is a woman. Given all of the good reviews I heard about Rent, I expected a lot more.
After Rent we joined some friends who were celebrating Reed's birthday. We had a good time.
Sunday I went to my parents to have dinner and celebrate Stephanie's birthday. We had a nice visit although it was short, at least I got some of Mom's cooking.
It was a good weekend overall. It went by too fast, but don't they always. Not too much on the agenda for this week. Still working on my training for the Shuffle. It is slow going, and I have to admit I slacked for a few days this weekend. Running is just not fun for me yet, so it's hard to get motivated. I'll get there. Have a good week everyone!
Well after a busy weekend, I thought I better post some reviews. John and I celebrated Valentine's Day by having dinner and going to see Chris Rock at the Rosemont Theatre. On the ticket it did not state that there would be an opening act, so we rushed through dinner to make it over for a 7:30 show. Unfortunately there was an opening act, a 25 year old hip hop band- not very good. So Chris did not come on until 9:15, which is pretty close to my bedtime. He was good, I was not offended by any of his jokes, and I felt that he had a nice mix of topics. He was not side splitting hilarious, but he was funny. I would recommend seeing him if the ticket cost is less than $50.
Saturday night we ventured into the city for dinner and a play. I have been wanting to see the musical Rent for a few years now. John was nice enough to get tickets back in December when they went on sale, even though it was something he wasn't looking forward to seeing. We started the evening by having dinner at Rosebud, which is an excellent Italian restaurant. The prices are reasonable, it has nice atmosphere, and the food is good. After dinner we went over to the Cadillac Palace Theatre, which is very nice, and unlike LaSalle Theatre you can actually see the stage from your seats. I was very excited to see the show, unfortunately after the first act I had to lean over to John and apologize.
I knew going into the play that it would not be a feel good; it's about homelessness, AIDS, and drug addicts. However, does that mean that the music and lyrics have to suck? I really felt like each song was painfull to listen to. There was no feeling or emotion in the songs. Here are some characters in a REALLY emotional setting with REALLY emotional topics (death, love, societal struggle) and they can't even sing a song that makes me feel anything toward them.
I have seen quite a few musicals, (Les Miss, Miss Saigon, Sunset Blvd, Phantom, and more) with each musical the songs are what draw you into the story. I have always felt very emotional listening to them, most of the time close to tears. With Rent, I felt nothing. They did a very poor job of helping you to feel what the characters were feeling.
I am sure that many people feel like it is a wonderful play because it addressed many of the issues of the 80s and 90s that were not being talked about. However, that does not make it a good play. That is like saying that Hillary Clinton is a good candidate just because she is a woman. Given all of the good reviews I heard about Rent, I expected a lot more.
After Rent we joined some friends who were celebrating Reed's birthday. We had a good time.
Sunday I went to my parents to have dinner and celebrate Stephanie's birthday. We had a nice visit although it was short, at least I got some of Mom's cooking.
It was a good weekend overall. It went by too fast, but don't they always. Not too much on the agenda for this week. Still working on my training for the Shuffle. It is slow going, and I have to admit I slacked for a few days this weekend. Running is just not fun for me yet, so it's hard to get motivated. I'll get there. Have a good week everyone!
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Happy Valentine's Day!
Hi guys just a little blog to let you all know I hope you are having a happy valentine's day! In an effort to up my readership I am going to take Weir's suggestions and do a top 5, and I'm blogging with my shirt off too! Just kidding Mom and Dad! So hope you all have a good day. John and I are going to see Chris Rock tonight, hopefully he's funny and not too offensive. And then Saturday we're going to see Rent, which I have been wanting to see for a few years now. So I will have some reviews for you when the weekend is over.
Top 5 Romantic Movies
1. When Harry Met Sally (my all time fav)
2. The Notebook (talk about a good cry, the scene in the rain-the best!)
3. Casablanca (classic)
4. Dirty Dancing (brings back memories of being a teen, love the dance at the end)
5. Chasing Amy (gotta love Kevin Smith)
What are your picks?
Top 5 Romantic Movies
1. When Harry Met Sally (my all time fav)
2. The Notebook (talk about a good cry, the scene in the rain-the best!)
3. Casablanca (classic)
4. Dirty Dancing (brings back memories of being a teen, love the dance at the end)
5. Chasing Amy (gotta love Kevin Smith)
What are your picks?
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Road rage
Ugh! I just spent 10 minutes trying to remember my stupid password so that I could post on my blog. It's pretty sad that it has been so long I don't even remember my own password!
So I spent today doing some fun stuff let me tell you! I took an online driving course; because I was unlucky enough to get a ticket about 2 months ago for driving the wrong way on a one way street (there was no sign where I could possible see it). So to keep it off our insurance I had to take "Defensive Driving". At least now they offer an online version so you don't have to leave the comfort of your own home (especially on a cold day like today!) It is probably the most annoying and boring thing I have done in a while. This little computer animated program talks to you like you are a complete moron, and degenerate who probably is taking this course because you like to mow down small children in your car, while you drink, do drugs, and talk on your cell phone. I took the first two and a half hours today and then because I was experiencing road rage and wasn't even driving had to stop, I'll finish the last hour this week-woohoo!
In other news John signed me up to run the Shamrock Shuffle, an 8k (5 miles). I have never run a race before and to be honest can't even remember running a mile since high school. So this will be good for me, hopefully. Just 49 days till race day. I started my training on Friday, and I haven't died yet! Just doing a mile a day right now, my time is pretty horrendous. I'll get there though. What's the saying? Slow and steady wins the race. Just how slow can I actually go? No really?
So I spent today doing some fun stuff let me tell you! I took an online driving course; because I was unlucky enough to get a ticket about 2 months ago for driving the wrong way on a one way street (there was no sign where I could possible see it). So to keep it off our insurance I had to take "Defensive Driving". At least now they offer an online version so you don't have to leave the comfort of your own home (especially on a cold day like today!) It is probably the most annoying and boring thing I have done in a while. This little computer animated program talks to you like you are a complete moron, and degenerate who probably is taking this course because you like to mow down small children in your car, while you drink, do drugs, and talk on your cell phone. I took the first two and a half hours today and then because I was experiencing road rage and wasn't even driving had to stop, I'll finish the last hour this week-woohoo!
In other news John signed me up to run the Shamrock Shuffle, an 8k (5 miles). I have never run a race before and to be honest can't even remember running a mile since high school. So this will be good for me, hopefully. Just 49 days till race day. I started my training on Friday, and I haven't died yet! Just doing a mile a day right now, my time is pretty horrendous. I'll get there though. What's the saying? Slow and steady wins the race. Just how slow can I actually go? No really?
Tuesday, January 8, 2008
The "joys" of Ikea
Since we moved into the new place we realized that our old furniture is way too crappy for a nice place like ours, so we have been slowly replacing items. Since we are not rich, and we pretty much need new everything, we have given up our hopes of shopping at such luxurious places like Walter E Smithe and have been reduced to shopping at Ikea. Don't get me wrong I love Ikea, it's like a whole nother country when you go there. Their stuff is cute, reasonably priced and very versatile. However whatever you buy you have to assemble when you get home. And when you purchase 6 large pieces of furniture and a closet organizational system in 2 days and then have to assemble them all you can see where the "joy" kinda gets lost. We finally got away from particle board furniture and actually have real wood, wow! I guess it's baby steps, maybe in our next home we'll be able to afford just going to a furniture store, picking out what we like and having it delivered. Of course then we would be missing out on the comedy of watching a very frazzled Christy push 3 carts through Ikea, trying not to knock over any thing or person, while navigating to the check out aisles. They were so afraid of what I would do, that they opened a lane just for me. Then watching 4 men try to puzzle piece everything into our Prius, with just enough room for me to drive home. At the time-not funny, now-hilarious. I'm sure John will post something about his end of the bargain, putting everything together. Everything looks great now, but of course he had his inevitable trials.
Coincidentally today I saw an article about a man who is living in an Ikea for a week. Check out his website www.marklivesinikea.com . Maybe John and I should just move into Ikea!
Coincidentally today I saw an article about a man who is living in an Ikea for a week. Check out his website www.marklivesinikea.com . Maybe John and I should just move into Ikea!
Sunday, January 6, 2008
Help!!!
Okay I know it's been a long time, sorry! But I need help I'm trapped under a pile of boxes. =)Most of you know that John and I just moved into a brand new condo in Evanston. It is fabulous! Moving brings back memories of our wedding, only because it is only a few times in your life that you can experience that kind of exhaustion. We are doing great and I promise to get back to blogging more. For now it's back to unpacking. Just wanted to let you all know I was still alive.
Monday, December 10, 2007
Halloween costumes gone wrong
Having a long commute has lead me to listen to radio stations that I probably never thought I would, I find that I am very lenient now on what I consider “entertaining”. Since Eric and Kathy were getting pretty run of the mill for me, my new morning routine has been to listen to the 103.5 morning show with Drex. It’s trashy and pretty salacious but it gives me a laugh and keeps me awake. This morning they were discussing a story that had just broke and I found it pretty interesting, I am not sure how many of you had heard about this already, so sorry if it’s old news.
At Penn State some college students have recently had some pictures surface on facebook of their Halloween costume from a party earlier this year. They decided to be “controversial” (their words) and dress as the Virginia Tech shooting victims. Their costumes consisted of Virginia Tech t-shirts and fake bullet wounds. It was a small party and someone took pictures of their costume. The pictures got into the hands of someone who was not a friend and that person then posted them on facebook. The result of this has been extreme anger and hurt. The students that dressed up have received lots of attention, most of it negative, they even have received death threats.
Now the part of this story that interested me was that I felt like it could have easily happened to someone I know. Halloween costumes are getting more and more outrageous each year. It has become commonplace to see people dressed as celebrities or current event situations. I can recall a past party that I attended where 2 people dressed as Siegfried and an injured Roy after his attack from a tiger. Now I am not commenting on the tastefulness of such costumes, I am just saying that this could have easily happened in our group of friends.
The radio DJ Drex was very upset about the whole situation and felt that Penn State should expel the students because of their actions. He claimed that since they were enrolled in the university and the pictures were posted using the university’s network (remember that someone else posted the pics without their consent) that the university had an obligation to reprimand these kids. Drex took some calls from listeners. They ranged from outrage that the students weren’t being prosecuted for their actions, to people feeling sad that this was even considered “news”. Several military personnel called in and thought it was absolutely crazy that that these kids were getting away with this. Drex did play a portion of an interview with one of the costumed students, and I have to say he showed no remorse, was very crass in his description of the costume and how it affected others, and felt that he was innocent and covered by freedom of speech.
Well he’s right, much to people’s disappointment Penn State was unable to do anything to these students because of their right to free speech. However now that they are in the public eye and people know who they are, who’s to say they won’t be harmed?
I found it interesting that individuals within the two groups of people I thought would be most pro freedom of speech (a radio DJ, and military personnel) had such a problem with this. What do you think?
At Penn State some college students have recently had some pictures surface on facebook of their Halloween costume from a party earlier this year. They decided to be “controversial” (their words) and dress as the Virginia Tech shooting victims. Their costumes consisted of Virginia Tech t-shirts and fake bullet wounds. It was a small party and someone took pictures of their costume. The pictures got into the hands of someone who was not a friend and that person then posted them on facebook. The result of this has been extreme anger and hurt. The students that dressed up have received lots of attention, most of it negative, they even have received death threats.
Now the part of this story that interested me was that I felt like it could have easily happened to someone I know. Halloween costumes are getting more and more outrageous each year. It has become commonplace to see people dressed as celebrities or current event situations. I can recall a past party that I attended where 2 people dressed as Siegfried and an injured Roy after his attack from a tiger. Now I am not commenting on the tastefulness of such costumes, I am just saying that this could have easily happened in our group of friends.
The radio DJ Drex was very upset about the whole situation and felt that Penn State should expel the students because of their actions. He claimed that since they were enrolled in the university and the pictures were posted using the university’s network (remember that someone else posted the pics without their consent) that the university had an obligation to reprimand these kids. Drex took some calls from listeners. They ranged from outrage that the students weren’t being prosecuted for their actions, to people feeling sad that this was even considered “news”. Several military personnel called in and thought it was absolutely crazy that that these kids were getting away with this. Drex did play a portion of an interview with one of the costumed students, and I have to say he showed no remorse, was very crass in his description of the costume and how it affected others, and felt that he was innocent and covered by freedom of speech.
Well he’s right, much to people’s disappointment Penn State was unable to do anything to these students because of their right to free speech. However now that they are in the public eye and people know who they are, who’s to say they won’t be harmed?
I found it interesting that individuals within the two groups of people I thought would be most pro freedom of speech (a radio DJ, and military personnel) had such a problem with this. What do you think?
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