Andy Out/Homer In

Andy's off to the high seas on the Norwegian Jewel--and left on Thursday morning. Unfortunately, the poor guy also left his cell phone---so that'll be sent to him asap.

And now--Homer's in! We had talked about this such a long time ago--and it's delightful so far.

I'm all packed and ready to go home to see the family in Ohio over Thanksgiving--I'm so excited to see them all. Those little munchkins amuse me to no end--so it's great to bask in their antics for a few days.

At the moment, I'm enjoying a nice little evening, on the couch, having made chili and done every piece of my laundry, moved Homer's boxxes in and so it's nice to just chill out.

I'm watching this movie that's all about the Kennedy woman--or at least Joan, Ethel and Jackie. Apparetnly, Ethel was outspoken and kind of trashy, Joan was a great campaigner when Teddy was paralyzed and Jackie was constantly elegant and a little snotty.

The Bobby is just not that cute...and the real Bobby was such the charming younger brother, so that's a bummer.

Oh! I've also started a new job at Essence magazine that's going swimmingly. I need to get my lazy butt out of bed a bit earlier and to work on time, but other then that, it's a lovely 3/days per week with a great staff.

What else...oh, I got a mani-pedi today and opted for a vamp-y kind of nail polish--it's Lincoln Park after-dark--and my nails looks like goth-talons. I think it was the wrong choice. The toenails look good though--a classic red.

OH no--Bobby was just killed on the tv....yikes. It just doesn't stop for those Kennedys.

THis is the end of this post.

Let's Go D-Day

Hello out there world. I'm about to throw to you a little precious piece of work that Amy and I have been toiling away at for many hours. Please be kind and guiding and good and in return, I'll be brave, collaborative and open to new ideas.

It's still scary to put stuff out there...

Feed the Beast

I'm taking a writing class and we're supposed to engage in a daily discipline of writing. Mine has been very poor/non-existent lately. I have faith in the the theory--and have seen it transform my writing. But, right now, I believe that I am "feeding the beast". I have busted out my old tank of a MANUAL camera (I just do not like digi-pics much right now) and have been taking pics around town, I'm reading my favorite books again and eating really good, sleeping a ton and just, in general, not doing much of anything.

Which is why this blog has been so empty of late-I just haven't felt like doing it.

So, I'm back, at least for now, old blog. It's getting colder and my desire to hole up is getting better.

And after a few months of a job-job, I'm shifting into a more flexible, less hours kind of situation.


I hope it allows me time to eat, do laundry, read, sleep AND write.

Excuses excuses.

Happy Halloween

Friday, September 28

I went to the Trader Joe’s with my roommate, Andy today. It was a fun day of errand-running, that ended in me dropping a substantial amount of cash. While at TJ’s, we were desperately looking for the Mango Lemonade, or Lemonade Crack. This stuff is the world’s best beverage—lovely on it’s own, it is a great mixer with any kind of liquor, and is served cold, no ice, at the Eninger-Eldridge houshold. But it was NOwhere to be found, as was the lack of the fave from 2 years ago---cookie crack, a thin, white-chocolate crisp cookie in a giant bin. Yes, I know it’s not chocolate, but it’s delicious and one of my few sweet treats in a heavily-focused savory treat diet. So, we bought strawberries and tiny tomatoes instead.

Summer in September

I really do believe that shifting my summer chronology has drastically improved my summer attitude. A few years ago, I decided that after years of rainy Memorial Days and crap-tastic weather in the beginning of June, that I was going to remove June entirely from any summer expectations, and give September a shot at being a summer month instead of June.

I know that the summer solstice is June 21 or thereabouts. But, my expectation of summer, for many years, was that the summer weather would fall in June/July/August.

Well, I've know completely bailed on you June--you are, in my mind now, month of June, late Spring. And that opens it up for you, lovely lovely September, a great opportunity to show your sunny way into my heart.

And this weekend was a summer weekend, indeed. In my ongoing quest to embrace Chicago, I took a paddle ride up the Chicago river, starting at Melrose almost all the way to Foster. And a group of friends went, too. Thank you all so much for coming, by the way--so fun. Anywho, we paddled past many duck families, a large flock of geese, a blue heron and a dead animal that was identified by others as either a racoon, a beaver or a rabbit--but was dead and floating in our river path. I was in a single kayak, and I simply refused to look at it so as not to besmirch the trance the Chicago River had cast on me.

Going under the Wilson bridge, I had stumbled into a Chicago movie scene location that if I had seen in the movie theatre I would have wished I could be in, but there I was, in it and watching two el trains fly by on the bridge above.

Stinky onion? Not Friday night.

Highly recommended---5 out of 5 paddles. And moving on forward, I decree September to be my new summer.

Quick hello to my brother Paul, (who I don't think has read this lately) but anyway, thanks for taking me kayaking all those times!
And tell Olivia to call me.

Faire, glorious Faire

What a lovely weekend you've served up, Chicago. First there was Friday, with a day off filled with roofdeck sunshine, stocking up at the grocery store and lovely hot dogs at Huey's. And not just dogs, but Chili Cheese dogs, with the onions, please.

Then, a stroll down to the Playground from Andersonville, filled with NPR nerd gossip and drunken cubs fans from the burbs. Show and drinks after, then late night viewing of Silence of the Lambs.

Saturday was coffee and buckwheat pancakes, a little bit of box moving next door as Lis and Jarrad arrived, laundry and even a little walk to get a cute outfit for dinner. Then, guac, hummus, cheese and beer-graitas on the deck with the sun setting behind us. Thai food at Thai Pastry and then back to the deck for the end of the evening.

Today was the renaissance faire, and it was like a movie set of what a renaissance faire should be---light filtering through the trees as we watched the jugglers and munched on cheese fritters. Sniffers drove the jeep, so summer sun just bled on us the whole way there and home. I even wore a gypsy skirt to try to fit in with the wenches and what-not. Lovely, lovely weekend and there's still one more day off.

Well-played, Chicago, well-played.

Behind the scenes these is a lot going on. I'm carefully crafting plans to enjoy the summer to the fullest, shifting towards a delightful fall and trying to follow good inspiration for future endeavors.

THis all sounds vague: but there's no real update or ironic observation right now to report.

Amy and I are totally cruising on the new play, work is busy but good, and I've been doing some improv, too.
I celebrated both Amy and Lis' birthday this week---it was really fun, including a long night of hanging out at two different beer gardens.

I ready Harry Potter in a day and really liked it. My friend Tim was planning to stretch it out to a chapter a day so it would last longer. I decided to just re-read it a bunch.

It's been hot.

I went to Lollapalooza and saw Modest Mouse, that crazy Amy Winehouse, Iggy Pop, and Pearl Jam. That's quite a festival, that Lolla--they run a super-tight ship.

Andy and I are back in purge mode and our office is almost complete. It's pretty sweet and much less trashy, now that we have matching Ikea birch furniture.

Oh! If you live in Chicago, I can't recommend enough the "Impress these Apes" show on Thursday nights at IO (Formerly Improv Olympic). It's a talent show, among many other things. It's so so great...go see it and see what you think.

Signing off, ironic comment,

Becky