today i was overjoyed. we were supposed to be hit with an ice storm that, instead, only sieged the bottom half of illinois. i, on the other hand, was able to work in the mild 18 degree, partly cloudy weather. motorists seemingly get most aggravated when following the horn, i give them the hand sweep, the "yes. you are behind me. go around, duh" motion. after that interaction today, this woman today rolled down her window and in the garbled speak you are only able to barely hear when someone speaks to you from inside a car, said (i only assume) that i was too far in the street for her to safely avoid me. i gleefully did what i haven't been able to do for weeks now, trapped in these silly lobster gloves, and flipped her. i don't normally condone these things, but there was something so absurd about being excited to be able use all five fingers. the weather does funny things to you.

on that same run i delivered these:

there were 500 of them-postcards that cost $225 for this cheesy clothing boutique, for which i'm sure i was payed $5 or something even though it was on armitage and sheffield. the woman called me hon, honey, and sweetie in the two minutes i was inside, classic. anyhow, when i told my dispatcher about my new-to-me front rack i put on my road bike it made her really happy. she's been giving me all the loop "car" runs, (which is actually often a client who doesn't believe a biker can carry anything more than an envelope...but i'm all about the small-ish boxes that pay me twice as much), which is super awesome since it's been pretty slow. due to the slowness, i've been up to update my monday only, to all-week crossword puzzle champion.

maniac randomly called me last week-him and joven had decided four days prior that they were to embark on a cross-country road trip, and that they would be in chicago on friday night. it was super funny to have them just show up-we ate at chicago diner, hung out at a show at jake's, watched mean girls in the morning and checked out some record stores. joven was determined to hate the cold while maniac made it a game to shovel snow. i'm a terrible tour guide, but they were only here for a day, so there wasn't too much showing around to do.

tour da chicago is well underway. the tour is a chicago tradition, i think this is the 8th year running. there are six or so races in the series, all with a slightly different theme. chicagoans apparently don't understand that alleycats should happen at noon though, so i slept through the prologue and and arduously dragged myself out of bed for the 8am start times the past two weeks. it's been fun to race again and have a reason to get people out. luckily it's been cold, pretty bitterly so, way too cold for snow. the dry cold i can deal with, the wet cold is the suck. anyhow, this past weekend was a lot of fun despite flatting out early on. val graciously hosted after, and sunday morning was filled with bagels and hot cider, yum.

my mom also made it out two weeks ago. she somehow came out when it was the coldest its been: hovering in the single to negative digits all week plus wind chill. still, we made it out and about everyday. thrift store shopping and dinners and took her out to bar deville one night to meet some friends. its great having a mom around to make you dinner again too, definitely awesome.

right now i'm loving free coffee mondays at mcdonalds. yes, mcdonalds. its gross, i shouldn't go, but when you want to be inside and mcdonalds is offering you a free warm beverage, i do not decline. this is mostly advertised in corporate elevators. maybe this is why they try to relegate us to freights...anyhow, maybe they don't know who they're really inviting in. (ir)regardless, its an added excuse to hang out in rock and roll mcdonalds. as if i need an excuse. also loving: the public library, pedestrian shields, chi-mix gear parties that turn into "nice-beer-drinking-at-chris'-apartment", new couches, and netflix.

i also felt that i should update because some big other events are coming up-stuporbowl is this weekend and chas and evan are coming in tomorrow evening to squeeze in some chicago time before minneapolis. things are pulling together for the valentine's day race and i'm looking forward to see all my bay area buddies.

crossing fingers for the 10 day weather report to be correct for once and it to be non-snowy and awful this weekend!

i've reached a new low..

i'm updating from the mac store on michigan ave. the ways i've been needing to spend standby is pretty absurd, too bad i find it altogether too entertaining. this morning was actually pretty busy, so i guess its not too bad.

after pining for thai food for weeks, my wants were finally fulfilled-we ate at dharma garden, an all veggie (plus some fish dishes, but you know..) restaurant up north. i order something i thought was going to have deep fried tofu that arrived with deep fried tofu, veggies and all, amazing.

other than that nothing too exciting. i am getting paged right now, byeee!

schadenfreude \SHOD-n-froy-duh\, noun

new years eve was pretty awesome. chris jensen showed up with a bike trailer full of champagne and two dominics worth of sparks (yuck), hilarious. we arrived early to a mellow gathering, which quickly changed as the apartment filled with "ski lodge" dressed friends and only escalated with ruby's nine hour dance mix. most everyone i wanted to see was there, plus lots of dancing and yummy snacks, pretty hard to NOT have a total blast. success indeed.



the following thursday was quite slow and thankfully filled with 2pm brunch and hours of batman the animated series, wrapped up with another movie and winter bike revamping. booyah. friday night was spent at colleen's playing 90s trivial pursuit and eating much pizza, yum. apparently i am not too much of a child of the 90s though, i can't even answer most of those questions, sheesh.

this weekend, i finally went ice skating! emily and simon were my happy accomplices, weaving our way through families and crush-ridden high schoolers. despite sore ankles and questioning my probable involvement in the destruction of a small child, it all ended well (and with no falls!) and was a lot of fun. after watching vh1 top 100 hard rock videos (yes!) at matt's, i attended a reading and screening of a couple shorts by animator jo dery at quimby's. i'm reminded how much i enjoy storytelling too, as it began with a fellow named walker mettling who read aloud from some collaborative 'zines he had compiled, in addition to a couple personally penned short stories. it also ignites the thought i might attempt some writing, something casual such as that is super appealing.

we won our soccer game on sunday! only the second win we've been able to pull off, but its been lighthearted all along. i didn't know many of the other players well before either, and its been a great way to interact, especially grabbing a couple drinks from our "sponsor" so close by makes the whole evening an awesome weekly outing. we only have one more game, followed by playoffs though. i'm feeling a drive to seek out other activities so my life isn't entirely consumed by working and casual hanging out.

sometime last week, jake and i finally made it out too "zoo lights" armed with hot chocolate and a need to view some animals. if it isn't self evident by the name, its the lincoln park zoo open at night and lit up by tons of holiday lights. again, i was surrounded by families and small children, but i was determined. the giraffes were awesome, the polar bear was no where to be found, but the best was the howler monkeys, displaying bizarrely human-like affection. really, all the monkeys ruled.



in other good news, 161 n clark ridded themselves of an extremely annoying messenger center. the security guard told me "the building figured you guys are busy and in a hurry and we might as well just let you guys do your thing." uh, fuck yeah. i only wish this was a group realization.
its been slow at work though, i've been finding better and more absurd ways to fill my standby time. daily crosswords puzzles and the discovery of the loop library's graphic novel section, in addition to elongating the list of spaces you will not be kicked out of.

ALSO, evan and chas are coming to visit at the end of january with plans to travel to mpls for the stupor bowl, which should be totally brutal and absurd. casey and travis and maybe some other sf kids are tentatively planning to make it out too, i'm super excited. mom is coming next week, and i believe gino will be around too. hooray for visitors, i need to begin thinking of all the places i need to take people when they come visit.

we began netflix too! any movie suggestions are welcomed.

as always, i'm bad at being succinct, the rambling comes too easy. and to those of you were luckily not the recipients of a more or less coherent text message, happy new year! if only i could remember to actually write 2009...

and ps. the weather has been fantastic. one 60 degree day last week melted all the snow and now it feels like a dream that the snow ever occurred. i know that'll probably change in two days, but i've been lovinggggg it.

sub zero temperatures, day 1.

my nose hair froze while riding today, seriously. it was between -2 and 1 degree today, unseasonably cold i'm told, figures. i met up with coyote for coffee at 1pm (yes. 1pm, weekends have been lazier than usual) and the inside of the door at swim cafe was frosted. we rode up to REI so i could purchase a full baklava and i was almost blown off my bike from the crosswinds. eek. this is some serious next level shit. just getting practice, really.

yesterday i spent more time at west town fixing up my bike. after friday, it was totally necessary. the worst is really the brown slush that is sprayed all over you when a car passes too fast and too close. ugh. i actually appreciated the "wait. you're riding your bike? today? in this?" question i got about six times. but i most appreciated the receptionist at 130 s jefferson who likes making me hot chocolate. matt mcdonald was right all along-the best part about winter is all the hot chocolate you suddenly have a right to drink, and a lot of it. while i had far too much stand by time, it was sort of well timed and i was able to chat with james about our valentine's day race. get ready!



during soccer tonight, i was hit square in the face with a soccer ball. that was bad enough, and then i realized the small cut i had on the right side was where the right arm had straight snapped off.



some of you may remember this stage of mine (and by stage, i may or may not be referring to a period that lasted around 5 months) a year or two ago where i accidentally stepped on my glasses and refused to get new ones until my insurance covered it again at the beginning of the year, instead opting to "fix" them with varying colors of electrical tape to reattach both arms.



i couldn't help be a little dramatic about it, so i think the girl who kicked it felt at fault. incidentally, by the amazing consideration of the other team, they did a small collection and gave me some money toward purchasing some new glasses. i felt really bad, but accepted at their insistence. hopefully i'll be able to have coyote make me some new ones, phew. i'm amazingly thankful for that gesture too, midwest hospitality i suppose.

we also attended augie's holiday sketch comedy act last night at an awesome little venue in pilsen. it was nothing i expected but a whole lot of fun. i need to continue to seek out different plans that vary from bars and hanging out, plus seeing augie do sketch comedy was hilarious.

it seems that more and more people are keeping blogs these days (which at times simply seems to be renaissance of high school livejournal with a more specific focus, and renamed to add more credibility, but who am i to be down on that...) still, i've been keeping up on a sporadic few. i caught this video tonight off hipster nascar:

VIMBY - Macaframa LA Premiere

c'mon dudes. bring it to chicago, i want to see this so bad. it'll probably make me cry seeing sf without seeing it there. still, i can't believe i haven't been able to catch it yet, sheesh.

and the best news of all, for four days next week, allison and i are the proud caretakers of scout, jason's most adorable dog while he is out of town. OPDs to the max, i can't wait.

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

last week was quite the busy one--trying to get all the fun in before the holidays. and the many inches of snow. i also discovered the worst thing about cycling in chicago winters. it's not the freezing extremities, the rusty chain or the deep snow that doesn't get plowed. oh no, it's a little something weather.com likes to call "wintry mix"--when the temperature hovers around 30, you get a nice mix of everything you could possibly imagine: snow, sleet, rain, hail, all at once yes. yes. luckily we haven't gotten too many of those days, but there's more coming. wednesday we met up at the clipper for jason's birthday, which had quite a good turn out and i got to see some people i can't for a bit. also got to talk about some more reoccurring plans to get me through the winter months. i'm totally going to need it!

lately we've been complaining about our lack of new music, but chi-mix gear jumped in to save us! we met up at simon's on thursday night to exchange cd with some other kids, each choosing a track to play while we drank and lamented the fact we couldn't light simon's fireplace. everyone ended up leaving kind of early so coyote and chris convinced me to accompany them to bar deville (which was fairly simple, as they bought me drinks and it's about 8 blocks from my house) we all got a few more drinks and when i met up with coyote in the morning for coffee, we discussed our bizzare dreams from the night before. we checked out a few new zine/bookstores down in pilsen--i really like that area and need to get down there more.

FRYday. you heard me. we brought it. cait and jason fried it. kiwis, eggplant, melon, asparagus, bananas, wafer cookies. once we paired with cheap beer cait simply said "welcome to the midwest!" i couldn't have said it better. additionally, they also have two rats and the most amazing dog named scout who jumps on laps and spoons you. spoons you! so jealous. we left to check out the loft show jake and augie were at, but the fried food kicked in to full effect and we left shortly after to our warm beds.

so. the freezing temp and the snow isn't condusive to a lot, but it is good for one thing: holiday parties! i went to ira's annual holiday party on saturday night, including party-wide whiskey shots on the hour, decorations, holiday garb (ben wore a tie!) and a snack table. nate was spinning records and made me and ben really strong manhattans. everyone was super friendly and i even met a duo of acrobats. amazing.

sunday was more soccer--at which we lost again but got some new players, scored a few goals and still got our own private booth at the beer bistro. chris also told me he had crazy dreams after going to deville! we deduced the beer was to blame. crazy brooklyn ale. i'm going back for more.

monday dawned clear and sunny--which in my experience means good, warm days. here, no atmosphere means it's going to be bitterly cold and brutal. so i spent it drinking lots of coffee, cooking and buying more shoes, vhs and warm clothes from village discount. once christina got home, we headed out to goldstar for chris dlits photo exhibit. $2 pints and free popcorn along with stories of frozen eyelashes and nostrils freezing shut made for good times. shortly after, we headed over to sprints at the cobra. they tried to give augie a bucket anticipating his imminent vomiting--so naturally, he put it on his head.


tuesday was the real snow day--we got about 3 inches of snow and it was totally nuts out. we decided to stay in for vhs movies and dinner. all my co-workers think i'm totally nuts "you're from california and you're going to ride your bike in this?!?" i totally would have thought all chicagoans would be more accustomed to the weather, but each seems to deal with it totally differently--and are still freaked out by it just as much as i am. i do enjoy christmas carols much more this year though, with actual snow on the ground and christmas so imminent. we're still figuring out what we're doing to celebrate this year, so far from home. that's about it for now. hope everyone's happy, safe and warm!

winter is here to stay

saturday night was a windy city soul night up at heart of gold. i devirginized my chicago bus ridership, i hadn't even realized the stop was so close to my apartment. the djing was fun though and lots of good dancing with claire and molly. we stayed until they started turning lights on and not so discreetly encouraging people to exit. luckily, augie drove us home after. we tried to convince him that pizza was a good idea, but it seems most pizza places aren't still open at 3am. so it goes.

i also received many a phone call/text after the super market street sweep. ah, while i wish i could have been there, i definitely loved just hearing all about it. i fucking love the sf bike community, everyone's a winner with that race.

sunday was the last of the chi-cross series, and for once, was actually held in chicago proper. we headed out to montrose, but i some how ended up spending much more time in the cuttin' cruiser that outside. this 15 degree weather makes feet and fingers cold, real quick, especially when opening a cold-ish beverage on the bus and then venturing out. you find yourself quickly regretting that decision. anyhow, emily, matt, ruby, andrew, and many others showed up-a good time was had drinking cider, heckling, and cheering for all those way more hardcore than i. jake, chris and i wrapped it up before the end to get something warm at atomix before heading home.

my body has suddenly decided to revolt again me. last night i spent two hours at a clinic before i was finally diagnosed with tonsillitis, only after tests for strep and mono since the nurse initially said "oo honey. those are some of the biggest tonsils i've ever seen. how're you still breathing?" as for my knees, the doctor also told me the pain is most likely due to this, a really common issue in women involved in activities that rapidly build thigh muscles, ha. at least, although painful, no long term damage will be accrued by continuing to ride on it. ibprofen party. also, since the freezer isn't working, the peas have been going outside. outside, they more successfully make an ice pack than in my freezer, amazing.

today was some pretty fantastic weather. and by fantastic, i mean...rain on and off until 3pm-ish, when it got cold enough for the rain to turn into driving ice and then slowly into actual snow. brutal. i'm most scared of the pedestrians, i'm totally going to get an eye poked out from an umbrella.

time to get the dryer load and rest up, awesome.

i keep telling myself i'll be updating with some sort of regularity, but so it goes.

monday was the first day where snow really stuck to the ground. we only got a couple inches, but it was a total trip working in it. monday night was also gold IRO sprints at the cobra lounge, a lovely 10 minute walk from our house. it, of course began late giving the many, many attendees ample time to sufficiently get rowdy and take the sprints less than seriously. i had a lot of fun, an while the walk home on icy ground was a bit difficult, i'm certainly looking forward to the next two sessions on the 15th and the 22nd.
chris dilts took a ton of awesome photos that i'm going to co-opt:



(linked to his set from the night. good times)

tuesday, wednesday and thursday were busy busy at work, and i proceeded to totally overlook my slipping seatpost as a minor annoyance instead of realizing it was the reason my knees were beginning to hurt, real bad. so thursday i called it in early, and took friday off. friday, it was also 17 degrees out. sheesh. i'm a little worried, keep my healthy knee in your thoughts so i can work and provide for myself come monday.

tuesday night we traveled up north for another awesome dinner/watch the office party at andrew's house. that show simply rules. despite tempting invites for ice skating on wednesday night, i took it easy and fell asleep watching league of extraordinary gentleman. thursday night, jake drove (!my knee hurts, remember) me down to soul veg, an awesome all veggie place on the south side. afterwards, we checked out doc films, a small volunteer run theater on university of chicago campus. an older warhol film, imitation of christ was playing, and while it was super bizarre, it was still a lot of fun. i wish that theater wasn't so far south though, they have a really great schedule of movies and i've been falling off watching different/good movies without mike rec and mike a/video nasties keeping it interesting. netflix, i'll have to begin you again soon!
after napping through plans to meet at the handlebar, my knee kept me home. so jake, augie, claire came over as allison returned with simon, and ruby to all hang out for a while. it was a nice interruption to the hours of seinfeld i've been happily, but a little disgustingly been passing the time with.

we tried to take advantage of byob at flying saucer this morning and got admonished for bringing in orange juice with us, and additionally, there was a $1/person corkage fee, lame. awesomely tasty brunch though, yum.

a myriad of winter plans are in motion: chi-mixgear should be beginning on thursday in addition to tenative sunday brunch plans, some unscheduled idea of chili + 80s movies night, and hopefully a movie night. winter's coming on in full swing now, so hopefully i can stay occupied with good people to help it pass. more, but i think this comes with the irregularity of updates.

OH YES. and i am planning to be back in sf the weekend of february 14th. plans are in motion for valentine's day alleycat round two. all you sf kids better come, race, and visit with me. this is far away, make plans now.