disappointing

i have been a huge disappointment lately, in terms of blog action. i haven’t been reading your blogs and i haven’t been blogging (partly because i have been so busy, partly because my left index finger is still out of commission– you try typing without an index finger. its challenging. hopefully this thing heals so i can continue to blog…and err…not lose my finger)

since there is much catching up to do, i will do it fast an in the form of a weekly update.. you know those weekly updates i used to do that are no longer weekly? tomorrow or maybe later today i will grace your presence with something more profound, for serious.

kanye west continues to make chicago look bad. its a good thing the Prez. still is upstanding*  unless you live under a rock, you’ve heard about Kanye West and his lack of decency. he may be a musical genius, but that does not excused douche-bag-ness. ugh. i hate him. you may have also heard about other rude people. you know the ones that interrupt presidential addresses with unnecessary outbursts. here is what has been running through my head since sunday night. (seriously, it was and then i saw the video on youtube, courtesy of chicagoist.

It’s a Love Story…baby just say yes...Jersey girl Rachel is working on a little project involving love stories from her readers. she is taking submissions. i am working on mine. i just need a new finger to speed up the process or maybe a transcriber. bueller??? CHECK it out.

You Too I went and saw U2 play at soldier field in downtown chicago on sunday. it was a spectacle. a little disappointing, but overall a good time. i was more disappointed by the atmosphere than the actual show. i just don’t think stadium shows are really worth it unless you have dough to shell out for floor seats. i had to see Bono at least once in my lifetime**. i can now check that moment off my list. the stage, was quite impressive, a spaceship. maybe a cartoon spaceship. my roommate believes it resembled the evil machine at the end of the incredibles. i totally see it. the screen itself stretched down to take up a large portion of the space above the band. it also moved up and down and was plastered with a hundred different camera angles of the band, all moving in a 360 degree rotation. quite impressive. if you are headed to see them later on the tour, wait for all three encores. you may get to see a pretty impressive disco ball at the top of that rocketship!

Olympics In a just a few weeks time, it will be announced whether or not Chicago will be the winning bid for the 2016 olympics. it has been on my mind lately, especially after giving a friend of mine a brief tour of the city.  this friend of mine, J, lives in Vancouver and has been watching the city prepare itself for its own Olympics in the upcoming year. He noted the way the city has grown to accommodate such a huge influx of outsiders. he told me how the city seems more alive with pride, determination and identity. While Chicago is not lacking in any of those three things, it would be fair to say that as of late, our image has not been looking so great. Nilsa also has been thinking about it lately. even noting the translation of the proposed slogan to something literally stomach turning. this olympics, as she very well notes, could be a fresh start for a city burned by the likeness of Blago & Co. or it could be a taxpayers nightmare. do the positives outweigh the negatives?

Belated Birthday (wishes)- my birthday came and went a month ago. but the most important part was put off and still has not been fulfilled. the family dinner. every year we have a family dinner for each birthday, like most families. mom makes our favorite food and we gorge for just one night on all things sinful. for me it has always been the exact same meal. BBQ Ribs, cornbread, potato salad, sliced tomatoes, baked beans corn on the cob and strawberry shortcake (or some other equally delectable berry dessert.) last year it was put off, over and over until we all forgot about it and summer was long gone. this year i refuse to let that happen. i was thinking about this earlier today, when i stumbled upon Jenny’s post on her blog The Reckless chef. if i have to do it myself, i will be making these next week on my day off to celebrate, not necessarily my birthday, but the best part of summer, damn good BBQ.

Glamour-us

i am not a fashion magazine reader. i haven’t read a cosmo in years, last month was the first time in a long time i bought Vogue. I don’t want to hear about the “10 best ways to please your man” or “falls fashion misses,” mostly because i don’t have time and also because i am already damn good in bed   when i was in New York, however, i was intrigued by something i saw over someone’s shoulder at the airport. i thought i was seeing a misprint, a huge mistake, or maybe something more honest than anything else on those glossy pages. this photo:

i believe it was the same magazine where i saw a featurette on a new book by a model, Crystal Renn. A model who went from starving herself for the sake of her work to embracing her natural beauty and maintaining a successful career and her real life size- 12. I wish more people who see how important it is to appreciate ourselves for our natural body shapes. we are all made differently and live different lives. we are not all meant to be size zero with Jillian Michaels’ ab. Sure i may be the pot calling the kettle black, as i am not always the most secure, but i love life best when not dieting. i feel my best when i am enjoying each moment and not worrying if i should have stayed on the eliptical ten more minutes or taken a mile longer on my afternoon walk. whats the fun in enjoying that brownie or drinking that cocktail if you think about paying for it later? i think i am putting this book on my to read list

Ididit.

how could i forget? i got an iphone last week. we are in love. i will be mailing my “save the dates” soon enough. hugs and kisses and text messages, of course.

*even though someone caught him name calling, i stand by that statement. and really, the man is just sayin’ what we all are thinkin’

**i expressed this desire to P and his new roommate and they laughed at me. they are of the opinion that U2 is an overrated band and that their fame has allowed Bono to be overbearing in his political and social opinions. they are also of the opinion that Sunday Bloody Sunday is the only worthwhile U2 song. i asked them if they knew what the song was about...they mumbled something incorrectly. i find it ironic that the song they like the most is one of the most politically and socially charged songs and was written long before the so-called-Beast-of Bono’s-Fame took over.  i dont expect everyone to like their music or agree with their politics for that matter, but it goes back to the overall lack of awareness most people have. annoying.