MMI (milwaukee messenger invitational) was last weekend and a whole lot of damn fun. the philly kids arrived into chicago on thursday night and we bbq'ed in their-and the 80 degree weather's--honor. friday we left soon after work and arrived at the double door. once proceeding to the uptowner, i feared for a simple repeat of the year before: blatz pitchers, dance parties and too much smoke. yet, we ended up staying at pete's and somehow it turned out all the better. being woken up at 8:30am by a 4 year old dancing around could be an annoyance, but somehow pete's daughter just entertained us all morning, climbing in jeff's lap and telling all sorts of stories. we blew her mind with gender norms after she called nico a girl and tried to tell us what a "boy" was, and what it meant to be a "girl". after pete's wife anna, cooked us all breakfast, we headed to breakaway to register and were some of the first ones there. luckily that meant we had plenty of time to look at the map and plan out our routes. allison and i decided to ride together and once we started the race from the highest point in mke, i realized it was the best decision. we kept having to reference the map, but i think we chose a really good route and kept on the move. first checkpoint: newspaper stacks up and around the hill. 2nd: round trip to the court house to "file". down south to mke bikes over terrible pot holed streets and back up to breakaway to receive four more stops. overall it took us about 2 hours with minimal stops and back tracking. unfortunately our biggest turn around happened right at the end and we were beat by about 5 seconds by a local mke girl. shoot, but 21st and 22nd out of 115 riders isn't bad, neither is 2nd and 3rd girl. after party was at the high hat again and we hung out for "bag beers" until we cleaned them out. back to breakaway, drinking outside, and then headed across the street for coffee. prizes at 10 yielded a wheelset to jake for ultimate DFL--leaving his manifest at base, ha. allison and i won $40 and $50 respectively in addition to some other small prizes. lots of pbr out of hidden bags and convincing others to drink from bendy straws. back at pete's, we made pb and nutella sandwiches and stayed up way too late talking. much mellower than the drunken snow storm of 2009 though! sunday dawned bright and sunny--out to polo, back to a 17 person brunch courtesy of kevin sparrow and back to polo for free pizza and beer. i love that sunday afternoon was drunker than most of saturday night--cream cheese fights and too much yelling. sunday santana killed it. especially on the way home when he held onto my hood after he ordered one of the new KFC monstrosities. oh boy. arrived home to drink more mad dog, eat soy ice cream and watch xfiles to only fall asleep on each other. i love out of town weekends.
i've been real tired lately and spent most of last week trying to catch up on sleep. saw dani scoville while she was in town and took her out to skylark (yay!). girls bonding at ruby's, garden day at thomas street and partying with ira and andrea, baby shower/fundraiser for an awesome new dutch bike. sundays always destroy--biking shape does not equal soccer shape, ow. but, outdoor soccer season started. im playing with magnum again and we won our first game 3-1. the opposition wasn't particularly ept, and i probably need to step up my soccer skills, but it was a lot of fun just to get out in the rain. be active despite the weather. shakespeare night with lots of cookies and onwards to emo night. so much singing and demanding earlier get up kids and kind of like spitting. monday mornings are overrated, but better when monday afternoons are spent in wicker park and wrapped up eating a spagetti dinner with friends. tuesday, i spent with claire watching more xfiles (they're finally on watch it now, what do you want?!) and eating too many girl scout cookies. today, dylan and i cashed in on free food and beer (even free matilda!) at the new blue frog location (apparently dropping adolfo's name gets you places?) after work, so rad.
with the beginning of summer, (but i guess, "summer" it tricks you like that) everything was supposed to become more accessible and attractive. it's always supposed to be easier, right? i realize how often i do this, romanticize things without a clear realistic vision.
but there has been a lot of recognition of my habits lately. my patterns really--how i need to stay busy, because it's really the only way i'll ever maintain the motion to continue. inertia. or seeing that often the things i desires/admire in other people are qualities i have strived to be/assume in the past and not been able to achieve. that for how much whining i've been doing, that it really comes back to being self actualizing. going out and gardening. organizing rides, and inviting other people to come along. brewing, sewing, making mix tapes, and generally being involved in the DIY scene, and generally things that have nothing to do with bikes.
it's funny to how often things my mom told me are suddenly relevant in ways i never realized. like it was great to hear at the time but i never fully realized their import or truthfulness until i've matured enough and now begin to actually understand. she's an amazing fucking lady and i think it's some ways why i never want to be a mom, i don't think i could live up to it. we were talking the other day about the possibility of grad school in my future. suddenly i have been thinking about going back to school, these past two years have given me enough distance that I have come to realize what I would really want to get out of school instead of knowing that I can totally skate by, but getting As and Bs doesn't mean that I'm actually making it worthwhile, or learning skills/information that I will actually continue to maintain outside of a classroom. i voiced a worry that if I didn't return to school until i was 25, and then not out until 27, that i will just feel so old to only finally begin a career then (which i clearly would not be, but planning my life out that far is terrifying. i revel in my youth.) she referenced that in actuality, it might be a better time, since most everyone in our family are late bloomers--that while being together and productive in most manners, we're pretty emotionally immature. only recently have i started to be able to be "adult" and cope with these things on an age appropriate level. it's just puts it in a different perspective for my mom to articulate that, and then realize it in context--that my dad went back to school and then was hired for his "serious" job at 27. my mom went back to school at 35. katie buckled down and went to nursing school. maybe i'm finally at a stage where school and planning for a different lifestyle in the new few years is positive and timely.
i was talking to nico the other day: especially when work becomes super rote, you really have to take a step back and re-evaluate your job and your reactions. in particular, i was referencing how ridiculous it is that i sometimes need to hear jose be a jerk on the radio to truly realize how petty and silly i sound when i brattly object to riding an extra half mile to a pick, taking a route i don't want to with buildings i don't like, or generally being unnecessarily rude. especially when you finally are acting more professionally and reasonable, and your dispatcher hooks it up with totally killer car work that the other bikers have never received. in all, my job is pretty sweet and it's easy to lose sight of that. less so now that the weather is picking up, but its always good to keep it in perspective.
and so on. i've just trying to write more, i think it helps me sort things out in ways i never can otherwise. cathartic or not, i just think providing a semblance of structure to my otherwise larger incoherent thought process is personally productive. maintaining at least a vestige of sanity, ha.
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Sunday, April 11, 2010
i won't if you won't.
he other day i had a friend comment on how i was being broken down by the midwest, that i was letting go of my "PC-ness" (my quotes, not his). while they were kidding, and found this quite amusing, i found it somewhat terrifying. i've always agreed with the off minor quote, "who you are is not a function of where you are" and would like to believe the traveling and moving i've done in the past years is more an exploration than being escapist or some sordid attempt to recreate myself by sheer geography. while i realize, and would hope to not be immune or inflexible to change, i detest the idea of letting go of certain ideals simply because i'm no longer surround by friends with similar to identical ideals as in santa cruz or san francisco. more, the concern that i'm letting go of the good and maintaining the bad. continuing to drink and do little else besides ride my bike and no longer teaching myself and being motivated to try new things, maintain any semblance of community involvement or even maintain intensity about the things i am involved in.
i've been reading a lot more lately, and realized how totally i've fallen out of touch with politics. &how rarely i seriously discuss/debate ideas rather than people and facts. i suppose i knew those topics and discussions wouldn't be as accessible, or givens, once out of college, yet being smacked in the face with that sort of commentary forces me to reevaluate what i expect out of myself. that while i pretend to challenge myself, i've failed to continue learning on my own volition.
and then maybe all of this is more the realization that i can't continue to use my age as an excuse any longer. while 23 isn't old, i do begin to contemplate what it means if i continue to be a bike messenger and reach 25, 26 with no other experience besides riding my bike in a city. that the section in katy otto's article below where she mentions being someone who typically imagines their self as being able to eschew social conventions, i still freak out over what this means for my future. if on the set timeline of expectancy, when will i begin to be a "real grown-up" and will i be satisfied if i never reach that? (i also really liked this below quote)
"i'd always assumed there would be a certain point in time when the transformation from "kid" to "adult" would be complete. one day I would wake up and suddenly understand how interest rates are calculated, know how to properly clean stuffed animals, and throw out everything in my closet that could possibly stand out in anyway. bam! I would have a family, be making wise investment decisions regarding housing and automobiles, start wearing gold jewelry and be capable of making anything from pancakes and casseroles with nary a glance at a cookbook. somehow, this elusive adulthood has managed to make a wide berth around the path of my life. either that or at 26, i am not yet eligible." kim bae
despite being overall content with my life and how free and easy it is, i have been continually thinking about what i want to do next, and where to go from here. maybe i just need a job that more thoroughly occupies my mind, so i can finally get out of my head.
&this has always been one of my favorite articles. cause katy otto is such an articulate, bad-ass. i'll repost it here for posterity's sake, even though i rarely reread these entries:
I am fortunate to have an overwhelming number of driven, high caliber, loving, incredible women in my life (additionally i am surrounded by incredible men, trans, and gender-queer folk). We face challenges that come with living in a culture that is terrified of women who have strong, substantive, impermeable relationships with each other, be they artistic, organizational, familial, or intimate. From a young age, girls are socialized to compete with each other--we are taught to operate from a place of scarcity. If we choose to date men, we are told it's an occasional "necessity" to trample over each other to get the final prize, the jackpot, the pot of gold at the end of the goddamn rainbow-the boyfriend! He'll rush in, bestow his ever-so-unique and vital attention on us, and all our problems will melt away.
We get messages beginning in girlhood that our worth and femininity depend on our abilities to secure an appropriate male partner. He must be stoic, be traditionally masculine, never cheat on us or mistreat us, make money, not be substance riddled, and be in control at all times (as we must). We must have an air tight, perfect, harmonious relationship with great communication, great sex, plans to procreate, a path toward home ownership, satisfying careers, and total equality.
What I wonder is: are people ever able to live up to this? Real life is way messier. As I approach 29, pressure mounts about the future. I have to remind myself that if I claim not to give a fuck about social conventions, why should I suddenly panic when fielding repeated questions about marriage, house and kids? Things are changing and taking different paths is more socially acceptable but I still think we are limited and hurt a lot by this. Sure, I'd love a "perfect" relationship, but I know I don't want to create on giving more than 50% of the effort. No one does.
It is an interesting time in our culture. The US has the highest number of single people it has had at any point in history, proportionally. We focus on quick fixes and instant gratification. It is how we have consumed everything growing up. Why should love or intimacy be any different? In this context, I worry about how competition affects women's friendships with each other. We often destroy the possibility of connecting through jealousy and envy. In punk, where fewer of us are present, we are by no means immune to these trappings. We feel anger, possessiveness, and defensiveness when our corner is threatened. When another girl has the boy or girl we want, gets more attention, is incredibly pretty or smart or funny, we are too scared to fully acknowledge the reality because it is uncomfortable, sticky, and unattractive. it also makes us feel vulnerable.
In my experience, men are often either unaware of or insensitive to their disruption of women's friendships with each other. This ranges from the guy commenting to a girl constantly about her girlfriend that he is interested in, to comparing two women who are close friends to one another when so such comparison has been invited, to making musical/artistic comparisons just because two creators are women. fucking snore. Conversely, I have no patience for girls who seek out social currency by dissing other girls in shitty, catty ways, frequently in front of guys. I am in awe of men with the perception to not only name this bullshit dynamic, but (as I have seen one, and pretty much to date only one man do) to call that shit what it is and not participate in it.
Men who reward such antics are bullshit. Women who participate in such antics are bullshit.
What I am interested in right now is meetings women with the guts to talk about the complex, difficult ways we are put at odds with one another. Talking about it breaks the silence that keeps us from truly accessing support and love from each other.
In this issue, I interviewed one of my favorite humans in the world, Aimee Argote from Des_Ark. We met when we were teenagers in our first bands. We played shows together, connected through a network that existed pre-myspace, and the internet website message board blogosphere frenzy, centered around women and queer punks. We all knew what lady/queer kid booked shows in what town. We knew what her last 'zine or record was like. We would call each other on the phone, eventually for no other reason than to catch up. We created the community and network we envisioned.
While elements of this still exist, that network has largely dissolved. I hunger for similar structures connecting women/queer folks interested in each other's voices within punk. I want to think about how we can provide space for those often relegated to the margins to create theory, tell stories, make art. At the same time, I want a world that embraces men's leadership, ideas, and potential in challenging notions of strength.
A better world can emerge, one where strength in both women and men is embraced, where gender isn't fixed, and where people are too scared to have the difficult conversations and interactions that move us forward. Just when I am despondent about punk's ability to provide any role at all in that personal mission, I remember what I feel like at Des_ark shows, or zegota shows, or shows of any number of bands that give me the fuel to keep fighting for the world I want to live in.
thinking of this struggle always calls to mind the great tattoo a friend of mine has on his knuckles--don't stop. i won't if you won't.
--katy otto.
(column from the 'zine: Give Me Back, volume 3.)
oh boy, but in general, things have been good.
i forgot in romanticizing summer, i neglected to remember the sunburns, the sweaty messenger bag back, the abundant creepy comments about my legs and tattoos, too often being called baby girl. the excessive amount of pedestrians and tourists stumbling off sidewalks at all times. still, ultimately, i'm loving iced mate and iced coffee in the sun, being able to sit anywhere instead of the same 4 buildings. the shortened dressing time and my general uplifted mood.
thursday night pubcrawl: 5 wheels stolen outside the second bar, lots of people stuck behind at cole's (no more cool bars included in the future), but ended up being awesome, wrapping up with a bikini bar, $3 whiskey and lots of french fries, and last at christina's place for $2 guiness. plans of a summer pub crawl definitely in motion.
i left with the team on friday night to drive down to hillsborough with many gas station stops and dominos for dinner. stayed in the crappiest hotel, perched on the edge of the bed so i wouldn't wake up cuddling with bradley. woke up by 7:30 and "fueled up" at this incredibly greasy spoon diner before heading to the course. the women's cat 4 race went off first with a full field of 50 (!) in these semi-winding backroads, littered with sections of gravel. it was awesome though. we only did one loop (30 miles-everyone else completed 2) and it finished up with two decent hills and a loop on cobble stones. i went a little too early and my sprinting muscles were cashed--but came in 4th. just off podium, shoot. hung out the rest of the day, grilling and drinking stag. loooooong bus ride home, comparing our terrible sunburns. finally arrived back in chicago and headed to the downtown shake down after party for a bit.
sunday, i was responsible! had my headset swapped for free, cooked up a bunch of beets and barley for the week, and went downtown to be filmed for a music video! lots of silly riding, but made $160 bucks for my 3 hours of participation. headed straight over to cait's to read as you like it and eat cookies on sticks with liz. as nick would say, "my life definitely isn't totally crappy."
sunny week with the philly kids coming in on thursday and MMI this weekend.
i've been reading a lot more lately, and realized how totally i've fallen out of touch with politics. &how rarely i seriously discuss/debate ideas rather than people and facts. i suppose i knew those topics and discussions wouldn't be as accessible, or givens, once out of college, yet being smacked in the face with that sort of commentary forces me to reevaluate what i expect out of myself. that while i pretend to challenge myself, i've failed to continue learning on my own volition.
and then maybe all of this is more the realization that i can't continue to use my age as an excuse any longer. while 23 isn't old, i do begin to contemplate what it means if i continue to be a bike messenger and reach 25, 26 with no other experience besides riding my bike in a city. that the section in katy otto's article below where she mentions being someone who typically imagines their self as being able to eschew social conventions, i still freak out over what this means for my future. if on the set timeline of expectancy, when will i begin to be a "real grown-up" and will i be satisfied if i never reach that? (i also really liked this below quote)
"i'd always assumed there would be a certain point in time when the transformation from "kid" to "adult" would be complete. one day I would wake up and suddenly understand how interest rates are calculated, know how to properly clean stuffed animals, and throw out everything in my closet that could possibly stand out in anyway. bam! I would have a family, be making wise investment decisions regarding housing and automobiles, start wearing gold jewelry and be capable of making anything from pancakes and casseroles with nary a glance at a cookbook. somehow, this elusive adulthood has managed to make a wide berth around the path of my life. either that or at 26, i am not yet eligible." kim bae
despite being overall content with my life and how free and easy it is, i have been continually thinking about what i want to do next, and where to go from here. maybe i just need a job that more thoroughly occupies my mind, so i can finally get out of my head.
&this has always been one of my favorite articles. cause katy otto is such an articulate, bad-ass. i'll repost it here for posterity's sake, even though i rarely reread these entries:
I am fortunate to have an overwhelming number of driven, high caliber, loving, incredible women in my life (additionally i am surrounded by incredible men, trans, and gender-queer folk). We face challenges that come with living in a culture that is terrified of women who have strong, substantive, impermeable relationships with each other, be they artistic, organizational, familial, or intimate. From a young age, girls are socialized to compete with each other--we are taught to operate from a place of scarcity. If we choose to date men, we are told it's an occasional "necessity" to trample over each other to get the final prize, the jackpot, the pot of gold at the end of the goddamn rainbow-the boyfriend! He'll rush in, bestow his ever-so-unique and vital attention on us, and all our problems will melt away.
We get messages beginning in girlhood that our worth and femininity depend on our abilities to secure an appropriate male partner. He must be stoic, be traditionally masculine, never cheat on us or mistreat us, make money, not be substance riddled, and be in control at all times (as we must). We must have an air tight, perfect, harmonious relationship with great communication, great sex, plans to procreate, a path toward home ownership, satisfying careers, and total equality.
What I wonder is: are people ever able to live up to this? Real life is way messier. As I approach 29, pressure mounts about the future. I have to remind myself that if I claim not to give a fuck about social conventions, why should I suddenly panic when fielding repeated questions about marriage, house and kids? Things are changing and taking different paths is more socially acceptable but I still think we are limited and hurt a lot by this. Sure, I'd love a "perfect" relationship, but I know I don't want to create on giving more than 50% of the effort. No one does.
It is an interesting time in our culture. The US has the highest number of single people it has had at any point in history, proportionally. We focus on quick fixes and instant gratification. It is how we have consumed everything growing up. Why should love or intimacy be any different? In this context, I worry about how competition affects women's friendships with each other. We often destroy the possibility of connecting through jealousy and envy. In punk, where fewer of us are present, we are by no means immune to these trappings. We feel anger, possessiveness, and defensiveness when our corner is threatened. When another girl has the boy or girl we want, gets more attention, is incredibly pretty or smart or funny, we are too scared to fully acknowledge the reality because it is uncomfortable, sticky, and unattractive. it also makes us feel vulnerable.
In my experience, men are often either unaware of or insensitive to their disruption of women's friendships with each other. This ranges from the guy commenting to a girl constantly about her girlfriend that he is interested in, to comparing two women who are close friends to one another when so such comparison has been invited, to making musical/artistic comparisons just because two creators are women. fucking snore. Conversely, I have no patience for girls who seek out social currency by dissing other girls in shitty, catty ways, frequently in front of guys. I am in awe of men with the perception to not only name this bullshit dynamic, but (as I have seen one, and pretty much to date only one man do) to call that shit what it is and not participate in it.
Men who reward such antics are bullshit. Women who participate in such antics are bullshit.
What I am interested in right now is meetings women with the guts to talk about the complex, difficult ways we are put at odds with one another. Talking about it breaks the silence that keeps us from truly accessing support and love from each other.
In this issue, I interviewed one of my favorite humans in the world, Aimee Argote from Des_Ark. We met when we were teenagers in our first bands. We played shows together, connected through a network that existed pre-myspace, and the internet website message board blogosphere frenzy, centered around women and queer punks. We all knew what lady/queer kid booked shows in what town. We knew what her last 'zine or record was like. We would call each other on the phone, eventually for no other reason than to catch up. We created the community and network we envisioned.
While elements of this still exist, that network has largely dissolved. I hunger for similar structures connecting women/queer folks interested in each other's voices within punk. I want to think about how we can provide space for those often relegated to the margins to create theory, tell stories, make art. At the same time, I want a world that embraces men's leadership, ideas, and potential in challenging notions of strength.
A better world can emerge, one where strength in both women and men is embraced, where gender isn't fixed, and where people are too scared to have the difficult conversations and interactions that move us forward. Just when I am despondent about punk's ability to provide any role at all in that personal mission, I remember what I feel like at Des_ark shows, or zegota shows, or shows of any number of bands that give me the fuel to keep fighting for the world I want to live in.
thinking of this struggle always calls to mind the great tattoo a friend of mine has on his knuckles--don't stop. i won't if you won't.
--katy otto.
(column from the 'zine: Give Me Back, volume 3.)
oh boy, but in general, things have been good.
i forgot in romanticizing summer, i neglected to remember the sunburns, the sweaty messenger bag back, the abundant creepy comments about my legs and tattoos, too often being called baby girl. the excessive amount of pedestrians and tourists stumbling off sidewalks at all times. still, ultimately, i'm loving iced mate and iced coffee in the sun, being able to sit anywhere instead of the same 4 buildings. the shortened dressing time and my general uplifted mood.
thursday night pubcrawl: 5 wheels stolen outside the second bar, lots of people stuck behind at cole's (no more cool bars included in the future), but ended up being awesome, wrapping up with a bikini bar, $3 whiskey and lots of french fries, and last at christina's place for $2 guiness. plans of a summer pub crawl definitely in motion.
i left with the team on friday night to drive down to hillsborough with many gas station stops and dominos for dinner. stayed in the crappiest hotel, perched on the edge of the bed so i wouldn't wake up cuddling with bradley. woke up by 7:30 and "fueled up" at this incredibly greasy spoon diner before heading to the course. the women's cat 4 race went off first with a full field of 50 (!) in these semi-winding backroads, littered with sections of gravel. it was awesome though. we only did one loop (30 miles-everyone else completed 2) and it finished up with two decent hills and a loop on cobble stones. i went a little too early and my sprinting muscles were cashed--but came in 4th. just off podium, shoot. hung out the rest of the day, grilling and drinking stag. loooooong bus ride home, comparing our terrible sunburns. finally arrived back in chicago and headed to the downtown shake down after party for a bit.
sunday, i was responsible! had my headset swapped for free, cooked up a bunch of beets and barley for the week, and went downtown to be filmed for a music video! lots of silly riding, but made $160 bucks for my 3 hours of participation. headed straight over to cait's to read as you like it and eat cookies on sticks with liz. as nick would say, "my life definitely isn't totally crappy."
sunny week with the philly kids coming in on thursday and MMI this weekend.
Sunday, April 4, 2010
april showers bring may flowers
so in spite of myself, i'll continue to discuss the weather since it has such ridiculous control over my mental well-being. 70s in late march/april is fucking incredible. even broke the record high on wednesday, 83 degrees at o'hare. oh global warming, YOU'RE. ALRIGHT!
despite trying to eat healthier in general, i was tastee freeze frequenter last week--3 days in a row to be exact. it's just so easy when the whole neighborhood wants to hang out all the time. bbqs and porch time is already in full swing. AND THEN the weekend of birthdays begins. thursday video nasties was an early meet up at TF followed by stone beer drinking at kyle/ali's. and they live is a great movie, or what i was able to follow over the yelling. AND our seedlings are sprouting at ali's!
after work on friday, we bbq'ed and bocci'ed, then headed up to cole's to celebrate claire and chris' birthdays. luckily cole seemed genuinely stoked to have us there--which kind of makes me wonder exactly HOW terrible one would have to be...much mellower than the sheer rowdiness of aug/phil's bdays to be sure though.
despite ample complaining of a potential "colder" weekend, saturday cleared by 1pm. ali, kyle and i rode up to evanston, and caught a late lunch at heartland cafe. i didn't know such a stereotypically hippy cafe could exist in chicago, but it does and reminds me a great deal of dharma's in santa cruz. black bean burgers, yum. after birthday cake with chris' parents, we headed up to the two-way for sean's birthday. bizarre crowd to begin (you can only take so much kenny loggins) but we slowly took it over, with a continual flow of old style pitchers and new faces. we discussed boiler makers at midnight, but once the crowd swelled to 30, we figured it was a lost cause. instead, we put rick astley on the jukebox 3 times in a row. alas, e farrar came to the rescue, and returned to the table with two trays of the worst whisky you've ever tasted. with a countdown to midnight, the music was turned down and the whole bar joined in singing sean happy birthday while we haphazardly assembled our drinks, splashing whisky all over. all our songs started turning up on the juke box, and kim brought out the dance party in all of us with a whole lot of mariah carey. dance parties, whisky, and good friends make any saturday a win.
sunday brunch was a late affair, but filled with vegan cupcakes and lots of potato products, patio hang outs and plenty of sunshine. sundays are always best, always.
despite trying to eat healthier in general, i was tastee freeze frequenter last week--3 days in a row to be exact. it's just so easy when the whole neighborhood wants to hang out all the time. bbqs and porch time is already in full swing. AND THEN the weekend of birthdays begins. thursday video nasties was an early meet up at TF followed by stone beer drinking at kyle/ali's. and they live is a great movie, or what i was able to follow over the yelling. AND our seedlings are sprouting at ali's!
after work on friday, we bbq'ed and bocci'ed, then headed up to cole's to celebrate claire and chris' birthdays. luckily cole seemed genuinely stoked to have us there--which kind of makes me wonder exactly HOW terrible one would have to be...much mellower than the sheer rowdiness of aug/phil's bdays to be sure though.
despite ample complaining of a potential "colder" weekend, saturday cleared by 1pm. ali, kyle and i rode up to evanston, and caught a late lunch at heartland cafe. i didn't know such a stereotypically hippy cafe could exist in chicago, but it does and reminds me a great deal of dharma's in santa cruz. black bean burgers, yum. after birthday cake with chris' parents, we headed up to the two-way for sean's birthday. bizarre crowd to begin (you can only take so much kenny loggins) but we slowly took it over, with a continual flow of old style pitchers and new faces. we discussed boiler makers at midnight, but once the crowd swelled to 30, we figured it was a lost cause. instead, we put rick astley on the jukebox 3 times in a row. alas, e farrar came to the rescue, and returned to the table with two trays of the worst whisky you've ever tasted. with a countdown to midnight, the music was turned down and the whole bar joined in singing sean happy birthday while we haphazardly assembled our drinks, splashing whisky all over. all our songs started turning up on the juke box, and kim brought out the dance party in all of us with a whole lot of mariah carey. dance parties, whisky, and good friends make any saturday a win.
sunday brunch was a late affair, but filled with vegan cupcakes and lots of potato products, patio hang outs and plenty of sunshine. sundays are always best, always.
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