Tag Archives: Chicago

Visiting States

Posted on February 5, 2005 | 2 comments

So I was just listening to Today’s Podcast and they were talking about the word cover with Brian from Coverville. The part I’m thinking of is as they were talking they start digressed to talking about visiting states and what counts as a visit. We disscussed this among friends before so I thought this was interesting (Brian wasn’t to visit all 50 by the time he is 40). A layover in an airport doesn’t count, you must leave the airport and do something, he said getting a meal was enough. I liked the meal concept as counting as a visit.

Here’s a question though — I’ve ridden the train from the State of Washington to Chicago, do I get to count all the states I’ve ridden through? I may have seen a lot through the window, we even got off the train to run and get some munchies (from a store, not the train station), but I probably slept through most of a state at night. The states I saw sure seem like they’d count more than just getting a meal in some other state just to check off your checklist…

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All over town

Posted on October 17, 2004 | Leave a comment

So I Roller-bladed all over “downtown” Evanston today and got some good breakfast McThingy to eat at Einstein Bros.

Then I went up towards Northwestern and bladed around campus and they were having a huge run for breast cancer awareness month. It was chaos there! It was fun to watch and I got to sit down by Lake Michigan and see the water, hear the waves and see Chicago to the south. I love the campus there and the view is always so nice, I just wish it had been warmer out…

All that and I was done by noon.

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I’m leavin on a jet plane train… – 3x Thursday

Posted on October 14, 2004 | 1 comment
1. When’s the last time you went on vacation? Where’d you go?
London, England. Short vacation – Chicago/Evanston, IL (which I’m currently en route to).
2. What’s your favorite mode of transportation to get to/from/go on vacation? Plane? Train? Boat?
I love the train! It’s a mile from my house. Today I left my house at 5:25 for the 5:34 train. Parked 100 yards from the train. And guess what? We left at 5:34!!!
3. How important are vacations for the human spirit? Do you think it’s healthy for someone to go 20 years without a vacation? Why/why not?
I need them. I think that some people don’t, it just depends.
Bonus Question for Comments: What’s your ideal vacation/time off from real life?
I really liked my last trip to Costa Rica. Mostly staying in one place not running around crazy from place to place. It might have to happen again this winter.

From 3x Thursday

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Celebration…

Posted on August 22, 2004 | Leave a comment

So yesterday we got everyone together after Heather’s Ordination. Back at Mom’s (hers) to get everyone together, and I mean everyone. Heather knows people from all over and there were people from everywhere in the state, nearby states and even some really far ones. A few kids running around and a ten-month old baby, LaLa (short for Lavender), that I adopted for the weekend.

Then today she did the service at 8am and 10am (most of us went to the 10) and she was wonderful. Then a dozen of us went out to eat and we started our way home…

Heather is off to Evanston, IL to work for Northwestern as a campus minister. She’ll probably be living no farther than a block or three from where she lived when she went to seminary at Seabury. Evanston is one of my favorite towns, I almost always include it in my visits to Chicago (and I don’t always include Chicago into my Evanston visits). And I can take the train most of the way there!

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Movies and oil – saturday-8

Posted on May 15, 2004 | Leave a comment

These questions are from Laura at the saturday-8.

1. today i am going to see the movie “troy,” as it stars my favourite actor of all time, the british sex god sean bean (says laura). are you planning on seeing it? why or why not?
Not really. It looks really long. I’d like to see the Trojan Horse scene though (duh!).
2. the other day i purchased gas for $2.07 per gallon. i about threw up. what is the current gas price in your area? (please specify grade)
I put in 87 octane. It’s just gone over the $2.00 mark, which just kills me. I’m thinking I was seeing $2.03 and $2.07, this was the Deaborn (Detroit, MI) area.
3. sean bean is my lust, and the german actor thomas kretschmann comes in at a close second. who are your first and second actor/actress “loves”?
Liv Tyler: ever since Stealing Beauty and Mary Louise Parker: ever since Fried Green Tomatoes. I’ll add Julia Stiles (but I don’t know what I first saw her in) to that list too, since #5 just made me think of her too…
4. i am going to canada via syracuse, ny in july, and had to purchase my tickets WAAAAAAY early because we’re afraid the ticket prices will go up dramatically due to the rising oil prices. are you travelling this summer on a vacation?
I keep thinking I need to make some plans. Chicago? Toranto? London?
5. is there any movie this summer that you’re looking to see this summer, or any books you want to read that are going to be printed & released this summer? tell us about them…
I’m looking forward to Spiderman 2, which is funny since I wasn’t looking that forward to the first and it wasn’t that incredible. I’ve been liking Will Smith’s movies so maybe I, Robot will be good. I just saw a preview for The Borne Identity sequel (Borne Supremacy?) looks fun too.
6. what is your favourite vacation destination, and why?
Costa Rica! It’s warm, relaxed and it’s got two oceans! It’s really enjoyable, the not knowing Spanish is a little troublesome sometimes but dealable. The people are friendly and it’s warm.
7. have you heard about netflix.com? if so, have you joined/are you planning to join, and why/why not?
I’ve tried it a few times before. It’s excellent if you watch a lot of movies, I should give it a try again, it’s been a while. I liked it better when it was just individual rentals. (For those who don’t know what it is: $20 a month gets you three DVD rentals as soon as you return one, they send out the next on your list. Postage is included).
8. are you a good flier? i have problems on takeoff, but landing and flying are no problem.
Flying is generally no problem (a little air sick, but rarely). It’s dealing with the airports and security that makes me crazy, showing up two hours early for a ninety minute flight is counter-productive. I love the train, just show up a few minutes before, no parking problems, lots of room, very relaxinf.

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Indigo Girls!!

Posted on April 23, 2004 | 1 comment

Guess who’s playing in Chicago this weekend?!?

Guess where I’m going this weekend?!?

I think the last time I saw them it was via Evanston also. Heather and I are going, we’ve seen them quite a few times: East Lansing, MI (twice); Rochester, MI; Philadelpia, PA; Ypsilanti, MI; Milwaukee, WI and I’m sure a time or two other than that. (Heather, can you think of any others?)

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Butterfly Effect!

Posted on April 4, 2004 | Leave a comment

I wish I hadn’t gone to see this. I wish I had waited for the DVD. Why? buterflyeffect Because if I had waited for the DVD I could replay the few scenes I had questions about over and over again. And more importantly I could see the deleted scenes; I’m certain there are at least two and they would answer my other few questions. Why? Becuase the movie takes care of all the little details and I’m sure they didn’t forget these few, I figure they were editied out and I have to know the rest because I enjoyed this movie so much. BUT it’s not even out on DVD yet! This was a great flick.

You need to understand two things: Chaos Theory and Time Travel (both relativly simple concepts, not).

  1. Time travel – If you travel into the past don’t interfere with anything you may screw up the future. I.E. don’t go to watch your parents meet for the first time since just being there to observe you may do something to influence the outcome. (Almost a Heisenberg/Schroding dilemma which is you will influence the outcome).
  2. Chaos Theory – It is said that the flapping of a butterfly’s wings in Chicago can create a hurricane in Peking. I.E. If you stop and buy gum on the way to watch your parents meet, it may be the last pack of gum that your mother-to-be can’t buy and now when she meets your dad-to-be she has bad breath and he doesn’t ask her out and you vanish in a puff of smoke.

It’s a great movie, it’s my favorite movie concept, time-travel, and as such it offers many what ifs. The only downside, it was kind of violent and I almost want to say it was in an unnecessary way, but I’m sure that without it, it might have changed how I viewed the movie.

I have to also say I laughed the absolute hardest I’ve ever laughed in a movie in my life. One scene was so ironic it hit me all the way to my funny bone. I hope I used ironic correctly (I think it’s ironic that most people use the word ironic incorrectly, I hope I used it right the third time too).

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Extra Busy…

Posted on March 14, 2004 | Leave a comment

I don’t know where the time has gone… I’ve been working on a few projects and things but not my blog (actually a little, just not stuff you’ve seen yet. I’ve been at one of my favorite conferences MACUL did a presentation (that I’ve never done before) that went well. Missed two Liz Phair concerts (wasn’t feeling well so I couldn’t do to the drive to Chicago and back), she did a regular concert and played at the Apple Store the next day.

So since I didn’t go there I didn’t get to see Heather either… But she’s in England with Nan for the so she might have some extra interesting posts this week. Finally bought an Xbox to play / hack around with, trying to install Linux, no success yet, but it’s been fun (anyone in the Detroit/Dearborn area who can offer me some help…?). Reading some books which I never seem to remember to comment on. The EXTRA nice part is it’s been sunny the last few days and that’s always nice in the winter!

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