avoision: October 2005 Archives

October 31, 2005

Steph and Liz invited me to attend a costume party this evening at Subterranean. Liz didn't get home until about 10PM, so I ended up going over there myself ahead of them, and check out the place. I had never been upstairs at Subterranean before. Color me impressed! A pretty... (read more)

Halloween in the Office

Chris, working the Luchador mask. Matt, literally with bells on.... (read more)

This is absolutely delightful

October 30, 2005

Fucking. Awesome. Looking great, Jake!... (read more)

Operation Costume: First Documented Variation

From: Jake To: Felix Subj: Boston version of the Operation Game costume Thanks for the great Idea, it was a huge success. Here are the pictures. My wife dressed up as a surgeon. I made it with a 9 volt, some aluminum foil a dc buzzer and some leds that... (read more)

Meeting between my ass and the couch

October 29, 2005

Very important meeting. Lasted all day. Sorry - I didn't take any notes.... (read more)

Two birthdays at Exit

October 28, 2005

I was heading over to Exit to meet up with Liz and Steph, as it was Liz's 30th birthday. As it turns out, today was also Mingus' birthday, and I was hoping both groups would get together for some celebrating. Hot Donna, looking her meannest. Erin and Matt, doing his... (read more)

Mingus visits Chicago

Mingus, a friend from twelvestone, was going to be in town today. More than that, he was giving a reading at Quimby's, right up the street from me. The reading itself was part of the Perpetual Motion Roadshow. Well, Jeff (aka FlamingoJeff) ended up driving down from Wisconsin to attend... (read more)

White Sox Ticker Tape Parade

This was on my way in to work. Saw the area being set up. As it turns out, the final stopping point of the White Sox parade was Wacker and LaSalle, literally just one block over from where we work. A little before noon, we all take a walk... (read more)

My Company Made a Mistake Today

My friend Andy was let go today. He's a stand-up guy, and though I don't claim to know the inner workings of the Marketing/Promotion department... Andy was the kind of guy who prided himself on a job well done. My company's decision to let him go was an out and... (read more)

The world is making me laugh today

October 27, 2005

... (read more)

Of Pigeons and Men

Spotted this at the Damen/North/Milwaukee trisection, on the way home. There were barricades all around this corner, and everyone walked around. But looking in, I noticed a pigeon had walked across this thing like he owned the joint. I got a good laugh, and had to pull out the... (read more)

Leaving Work

Leaving work today, this stopped both Chris and me in our tracks. I was reminded of how awed I am by where I work, remembering the first time I looked out on downtown Chicago after work. And the first time I saw it at night.... (read more)

pocketmod

October 26, 2005

At first, I thought this was a joke site. But then, I watched the video on how to fold one... and wow! How awesome is this thing? Check out the Pocket Mod. Give it a whirl by clicking on the button on the top right. And on that page,... (read more)

Damen Blue Line Stop

This morning, as I was waiting for the train... I noticed a couple standing across the tracks, on the opposite side. The man looked over and, apparently, saw my train (the one headed downtown) turn the corner. He quickly kissed his wife/girlfriend, and then walked down the stairs and over... (read more)

Sufjan Stevens: Casimir Pulaski Day

Many months back, I mentioned to Ben that I had been looping Sufjan Stevens' Casimir Pulaski Day incessantly. He mentioned to me that the lyrics to that song were quite good, and had moved him on more than one occasion to sadness. At the time, I was only really hearing... (read more)

Long Day

October 25, 2005

Sorry, I don't have anything for today. Worked until a little after 10PM, and just walked in the door. Going to scrounge for some food and then call it a night.... (read more)

Dammit

October 24, 2005

It's about ten til midnight, and all I want to do is pour myself a glass of Scotch and re-read old poems. Right now, I could stay up another 2-3 hours, re-reading stuff. But I know tomorrow is a big work day, and I should head to sleep. Some days,... (read more)

Writing

I was at work late tonight, and so today's entry is kind of brief. Instead of going back over the past few days and doing updates, I'm considering printing out my poems again, and just looking over them. Good god, has it been over a year since I tore down... (read more)

The Hard Drive is The New Bling

Ben started singing this today, after I was geeking out a bit with my new hard drive. Damn you, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies! Your marketing strategy has apparently been lingering in my brain all these weeks.... (read more)

New Portable Drive

A few years ago, I purchased my first LaCie portable drive, so that I could have all my files (both personal and work-related) on my person at any given time. That first drive was great to have around, and I can't imagine not having it with me, at all... (read more)

Hallway: Denied

I'm not quite sure who was in the studio today, but they brought their own sound boards. Justin and I got off the elevator, and were greeted with this. One of the guys asked us to wait while the band finished up their sound check, so we twiddled our... (read more)

Walking in the Piazza San Marco, I Remember Ascension of our Lord Elementary, and Lester Shelton, Who wore the same clothes every day

October 23, 2005

by David Citino To clothe the Creator in robes of gold and dress up Mark's meager bones, which their ships had stolen from Alexandria, the Venetians loaded their church with three miles of mosaics, portraits of gaunt and haloed saints dressed to kill; an enchanted forest of marble columns of... (read more)

Notes

The poem (below) is one that I came across again, on the plane right to Columbus. Though I've read many of David's poems, this one stayed in my mind the whole weekend through.... (read more)

Memorial for David Citino

I was in Columbus this weekend, to attend David Citino's memorial service. We showed up close to when it was scheduled to start, and Matt and Juliet and I found ourselves in the back of the auditorium. The seats had already been filled, and the entire event was standing-room only.... (read more)

"Ring the Bell" party, 2005

October 22, 2005

I've heard of this party, but never really attended - until this year. My friend Mike throws an annual Ring the Bell party, that typically involves a bell, a lot of group/outdoors events, and a general pop culture trivia quiz. Oh, and a crapton of beer, too. In years past,... (read more)

Portrait of a White Sox Superfan

October 21, 2005

br>... (read more)

The Backstory

For those of you unfamiliar with the bet that Chris and Mike made, suffice it to say that some of the biggest results of that bet hinged on either the Red Sox or White Sox sweeping the other team. Well, as fate would have it, the White Sox swept the... (read more)

The Bet, Ammended

October 20, 2005

From: Mike To: WKQX Mailing List, WLUP Mailing List Cc: (Various Sports Reporters at ABC, NBC, FOX, Chicago Trbiune) Subj: A Lunchtime Treat As some of you may know, Chris Stiles - Emmis Interactive Designer - hails from the Northeast and is a Boston Red Sox fan. Considering his allegiance... (read more)

On the way to work

Birds of a feather. Snapped this shot while looking out over a parking lot, at the Damen Blue Line stop. What first caught my eye was that these birds were perched on the wall itself, literally clinging to the brick. I watched them for a good while, fluttering from... (read more)

Chris, performing live at Daley Plaza

I'll be updating photos/videos of the whole thing on Friday, October 21st, circa 1:30 PM. Click here to see all the documentation of Chris, fulfilling his part of the bet (see below).... (read more)

Kent and Stu

October 19, 2005

Kent is in town this week on business, and Stu arrived today (he's shooting the upcoming Third Coast Festival). Tomorrow, I believe that Alex arrives as well. It's like a mini-reunion! Tonight, we hung out at Justin's for a bit, sipping on Margaritas. Then, we headed out to Rodan for... (read more)

Rock, Paper, Scissors, Candy!

I got a nice gift from Justin's folks. These little guys have buttons on the back, that allow you to control whether the hands make a rock, paper, or scissors. Sweet! We used to play this game, a long while back, as a means to determine who got to... (read more)

Post-Game Analysis

Almost everyone (me included) went way too high. I was convinced my bag was as big as Matt's pillowcase, and got my hopes up a little bit. Still - the amount was a good chunk of change, and more than I realized I had in just change. I ended up... (read more)

Coin Guessing Game: The Felix Variation

Brought in my big bag of coins today, for yet another fun-filled coin-guessing game. For those unfamiliar with this game, here's some backstory: 1) The first ever coin-guessing game. 2) Matt's Bag-O-Money Challenge 3) Justin's Quarterless Bag of Money 4) Mike's Water Cooler Jug 5) Matt's Bog-O-Money Challenge 2... (read more)

Crashing Ticketmaster.com

October 18, 2005

... (read more)

On the way to work

Four windows.... (read more)

Homage to the Undertaker

October 17, 2005

by David Citino Even before my first baby clothes, it was measured to fit my adult limbs alone, a serious suit, pressed in front but wrinkled where I'll come to lie. The shoes already are laid out, shined bright enough to return the degree of wonder and grief to each... (read more)

The Last Cricket in Ohio Sings a Song of Wilderness

by David Citino I walk out into dark that feels sacred, even though it's Ohio, it's now. Orion strides above, shattered ice strewn across the vast black, a hint of azure. The year's last crickets are singing their hearts out, slower than yesterday. They know the north wind is serious... (read more)

Clownfish

by David Citino When the female dies, the father of her offspring changes sex and mates with the nearest male. Some grief sweeps us away. We struggle back into a strange new ocean, magic with what we've lost.... (read more)

David's Poems

A few of my friends, Aimee and Jesseca, both have poems by David on their sites. Matt sent me a link to The Last Cricket in Ohio Sings a Song of Wilderness earlier today, and that one really took my breath away. And earlier tonight, I was looking through one... (read more)

Billy Collins Reading

Met up with Karen (who is the concierge at the Merchandise Mart), and the two of us walked over to the Art Institute and met up with Will. Before the reading, I ended up purchasing a copy of Billy Collins' newest book, The Trouble With Poetry and Other Poems.... (read more)

Sad News

I learned from my friend Aimee that David Citino passed away, earlier this morning. David was a professor of mine, back when I was a graduate student at the OSU MFA program. In many ways, David shaped how I viewed poems then... how I view them still. In class, he... (read more)

Not my updates, but...

October 16, 2005

I've been checking almost daily, and I noticed a few days ago that Satan's Laundromat did an update! It seems like forever and a day since I've seen new photos there - go check 'em out!... (read more)

Cleaning Day

I mentioned that my apartment was, like, undergraduate messy, right? Spent a good part of today doing laundry and working on getting the place into shape. Lots of mopping and dusting and whatnot. Sorry for the lack of pics (or anything really interesting here). I've still got the photos from... (read more)

Cleaning Day

October 15, 2005

Well... I putzed around a lot, and thought about cleaning for most of the day. Then, I actually cleaned some. Little to report. Slow news day - sorry.... (read more)

Doom: The merchandise

October 14, 2005

Shortly after seeing yesterday that Q101 was doing a pre-screening of Doom, I emailed Andy asking if he could hook us up with tickets. I swear to god, not more than 3 minutes later... he drops off a ton of passes. And today? He comes back with hats and... (read more)

That Top Salad's Gonna Fall

... (read more)

Window Watching

Every once in a while, whenever one of us decides to take a quick break and needs to step away from the computer... we walk over to the window. As you may know, our window looks out over the Chicago River. But more than that - we can look down... (read more)

Perry's Deli, Revisited

Today for lunch, we decided to go back to Perry's Deli. I'm telling you - they've got some great pastrami sandwiches there. En route, we met up with Ryan (the new Chicago webmaster, taking over for Anthony), who decided to join us for lunch. Back at the office, I snapped... (read more)

Drinks and Dinner

October 13, 2005

Kent's in town this week, doing some freelance. I met up with him for a drink at Pints. We met up with Justin soon after, and headed over to Silver Cloud for a bit of dinner and conversation. Looks like a busy week of visitors next week. I think Stu... (read more)

The ~~wigsphere~~ sunsphere

My good friend Dipti sent me this link today. If you've ever wondered what, exactly, was inside the Knoxville Sunsphere... now's your chance to find out. Simpsons fans... giggle with me as I say Wod Fir.... (read more)

My Operation Costume @ Make

Maybe two days ago, I submitted my costume from last Halloween to Make. Well, looking over my referrer logs this morning, I saw a ton of traffic from Make. Turns out they put a little blurb about my costume on their blog. Sweet! Now all I have to do... (read more)

Updates!

10/08/2005... (read more)

Audioplayer Updated

October 12, 2005

As some of you may know, I attended the MFA program at OSU prior to my arriving in Chicago. While there, I was fortunate enough to attend a week-long workshop headed by Billy Collins. At the end of that week, he gave a reading at the Wexner Center. I got... (read more)

Billy Collins, October 17th

Attention Chicago folks! I'm sure I've already emailed many of you, but this is to let you know that Billy Collins will be giving a reading at the Art Museum on Monday, October 17th. I am a HUGE fan of the man and his work. If you're not into... (read more)

Nightmare Fear Factory

My coworker Jane was talking about this Haunted House during lunch. There's one room where you're walking through (in the pitch black), and from the other end a car appears to be crashing through the wall, headed right towards you. Apparently, at this moment, there's a camera that's set... (read more)

Updates!

10/07/2005... (read more)

Back home

October 11, 2005

Caught an afternoon flight back home, and zonked out on the couch for the evening. The past few days have been a flurry of activity. I've got a mountain of pics to post, which I'll get to as soon as I can catch my breath. In the meanwhile, I've gone... (read more)

Strange Ride Home

October 10, 2005

We ended up calling a cab after everyone cleared out, and waited out front. We spotted a guy with his light on (a rare thing in Columbus, let me tell you) and hopped in his cab. The guy was a bit... strange. He kept talking about having some special wires... (read more)

Post-Reading

After the reading, I ended up ditching out on Matt and Juliet. They were going to have dinner with their families, and part of me felt a little weird going with (and another part of me wanted to run off with my other grad school friends). Since I hadn't seen... (read more)

Columbus Literary Awards Ceremony, James Thurber House

The Thurber House, where the awards ceremony will take place. Guess this is the right place! I peeked inside the room to snap a shot of the podium/seats. Since we were early, I poked around outside a bit. Found a walkway around to the side of the building, along... (read more)

Wallet, Recovered

Matt's parents were kind enough to drive me back out (way out) to the Jo-Ann's Fabric store, to recover my wallet. When I showed up, the woman I spoke to called someone in back, and a guy showed up with my wallet (and this piece of paper tucked in... (read more)

Around Campus

High street, OSU campus. This is what I remember of Columbus, during the fall/winter. Overcast skies, a kind of blanket grey that droops over the rooftops, and the sun nowhere to be found. Today, I walked around OSU a bit with Matt's parents, Jill and Ian. In particular, they... (read more)

Northstar Cafe

October 9, 2005

For dinner, we went to a place in the Short North called Northstar Cafe. On Matt and Juliet's recommendation, I ordered the veggie burger, and HOLY CRAP was it good. I've never had a veggie burger like this before - ever. The comb of beets and beans and rice... (read more)

Errand

After the conservatory, Matt's family went to go take a nap and the three of us headed out on some errands. Big dorkus malorkus that I am, I ended up taking a picture of the Jo-Ann Fabrics we visited. As it turns out, I ended up leaving my wallet... (read more)

Franklin Park Conservatory

After lunch, all of us took our very full selves over to the Franklin Park Conservatory. On walking in to get tickets, the entryway looks down on some beautiful Chihuly pieces. Taking a picture of the "Sausage Tree" made me feel kinda dirty. That's right. I have the mind... (read more)

Columbus, OH: Thurman Cafe, Victorian Village

I'm in town for a few days to help Matt and Juliet celebrate their awesomeness. Both of them have won the Columbus Literary Award; Juliet for Fiction, and Matt for Poetry. I really don't know how much cooler this can get. Seriously. While I was getting my MFA, Juliet was... (read more)

Mucking with DOS

October 8, 2005

When I got back home, I went to go talk to my upstairs neighbor, Lee. He had left me a note, asking if I could help out with a computer he had brought home from work. I got his note maybe two days ago. Yesterday, I was out and about... (read more)

Helping Holly Move

Headed over to Holly's place this morning, a little after 8:30 AM. I met up with her roommate Art, and we proceeded to chat a little while. As we waited for Holly to get back with the truck, I took a quick peek around the apartment, and snapped a... (read more)

The Splat Flats

October 7, 2005

I had forgotten that Rob was participating in an Open House today. After work, I headed over to Justin's, as we planned to meet up with Gretchen, grab a drink, and hang out with Rob in his studio. I stopped by Michelle's to see what she was up to, and... (read more)

Sox vs. Sox: Final Game

After the films, Chris and I headed back to the office to catch the final innings of the White Sox/Red Sox game. We pulled up some chairs in Deb's office, and turned on the TV. Kashif and Justin joined us, as we all broke out some chips and cups... (read more)

Resfest, Part 2

After attending Resfest last night, I was even more excited to attend today's screening. Not only did Rey allow us to take time from the workday to attend, he also sported for the tickets. How fantastic is my job? Jane, checking out the displays. Chris, checking out a short film.... (read more)

The taunting continues

Mike dropped this off on Chris' desk this morning. Tonight's the night where the Red Sox have to win, or be eliminated. A lot of bean-eating is at stake here.... (read more)

A little notebook

I got a nice present from Holly this morning, as a "thank-you" gift for my helping her move out of her apartment tomorrow. Awesome!... (read more)

Resfest

October 6, 2005

Chris and I met up with Will after work at the MCA to attend opening night of Resfest. Shot of the main entrance (which was locked). Sculptures near the front. The three of us were attending two sessions tonight. The first was the keynote address by MK12. The initial... (read more)

One to go...

With yesterday's win, another white sock went up on Mike's cubicle. I got a pretty good laugh in, on seeing that he procured a large dustpan, in anticipation of the sweep. I guess tomorrow is do or die for Boston.... (read more)

Surround Clothing

October 5, 2005

Give it up for Tha.Riddla and Jetskier79, who've collectively started up Surround Clothing - complete with designs from such twelvestone notables as arigato and zip100. Swing on by and check out the shirts.... (read more)

Dinner with Valerie

After work, I met up with Valerie (Kent's sister). She's in town for business, and a few days ago we discussed hanging out post-work. Headed over to her place (she got set up in a swanky, two-bedroom place just East of the Merchandise Mart) and hung out a while.... (read more)

Hello, Josiah

Ben and Laura gave birth to their third baby boy last night. Everyone... say hi to Josiah, and help make him feel welcome. :)... (read more)

One down...

Mike, showing off some White Sox pride. One down...... (read more)

The Winchester Mansion

For those unfamiliar with the Winchester Mansion, this is an absolutely fascinating place. I first learned of it back in grad school, and my friend Ann and I shared a similar fascination with both the building and its rather bizarre history. In fact, Ann was the only other person... (read more)

Dutch

October 4, 2005

by Kay Ryan Much of life is Dutch one-digit operations in which legions of big robust people crouch behind badly cracked dike systems attached by the thumbs their wide balloon-pantsed rumps up-ended to the northern sun while, back in town, little black-suspendered tulip magnates stride around.... (read more)

Phone Call

October 3, 2005

Left a message for Gretchen, who ended up calling me back a bit later. We chatted for a good while, touching on topics ranging from how we spent our weekend, the phrase"hair of the dog that bit ya," Victorian houses, narcolepsy, sleeping versus insomnia, and the lack of blue-coloredfoodstuffs in... (read more)

Surprise!

I walked up to my apartment after work, and what did I see but this huge box waiting for me, right bymy door! One look at the sticker, and I had a pretty good hunch who sent this to me. On closer examination of thepostage stamp... my suspicions were... (read more)

Lunch Break

... (read more)

Flavor Quest: Perry's Deli

I don't know how this started, but once upon a time, Chris declaredthat he was on a "Flavor Quest" for lunch. And since then, this phrase has been invoked when one among us desiressomething a little special, a little out of the ordinary for lunch. Today, the declaration was made... (read more)

Note to self

Watch some baseball this week.... (read more)

A Betting Man Talking

From: Chris To: Mike Cc: Felix Subj: RE: Sox v. Sox Now THATíS a betting man talking. I just hope that YOU really like B&Ms as much as I do. -Chris... (read more)

F it

From: Mike To: Chris Cc: Felix Subj: RE: Sox v. Sox So if they sweep I gotta buy your beans AND eat beans all week (that I buy)? Why do I feel like I'm getting the short end of the deal? Hmmm. F it. White Sox are gonna kill 'em...so... (read more)

I like the idea of bean-eating...

From: Chris To: Mike Cc: Felix Subj: RE: Sox v. Sox Okay - final amendment from this camp. I like the idea of bean-eating, so instead of the $10 on top for the sweep, you have to eat nothing but beans that you have purchased for lunch that week while... (read more)

plus beans only for lunch all week

From: Mike To: Chris Cc: Felix Subj: RE: Sox v. Sox done. but i'd like to amend as well - i like the headband idea. instead of the hat, this for a day: http://www.minorleagues.com/83305.php plus, you also have to buy yourself (1) can of those beans and eat them for... (read more)

A small amendment

From: Chris To: Mike Cc: Felix Subj: RE: Sox v. Sox Alright, let me make a small amendment: instead of the $10 for the win, you have to get a Red Sox headband similar to the one on this page: http://www.minorleagues.com/83302.php and wear it on your head on a day... (read more)

On that day, if I can persuade him, Felix will...

From: Mike To: Chris Cc: Felix Subj: RE: Sox v. Sox Wow. OK. If the White Sox win, you have to purchase yourself a White Sox hat (can be a cheap one or a nice one, doesn't matter - but it has to have their logo and look respectable) and... (read more)

B&M Baked Beans

From: Chris To: Mike Cc: Felix Subj: RE: Sox v. Sox You know Iπm all about it! I was monitoring some of the games onlineyesterday (no cable) and when I found out the bo-sox clinched the wild cardAND were playing the w-sox, I knew weπd have to set something up..... (read more)

So it Begins

From: Mike To: Chris Cc: Felix Subj: sox v. sox I may feel like shit, but I'm always in the mood for a good bet. If you don't know by now, the Red Sox are playing the White Sox in the firstround of the AL Playoffs. Game 1 is tomorrow... (read more)

Our Coffee Tab at Artisan

Me, Justin and Benhave this ongoing thing with the folks at Artisan Cellar. Since we getcoffee there pretty much every day, they've allowed us to keep a "tab" behind the counter. But starting today, they'vere-vamped their system, complete with a whole new tally sheet and all. And of course,... (read more)

Updates!

09/28/2005 09/29/2005 09/30/2005 10/02/2005... (read more)

Call | Storm | Pontiac

October 2, 2005

Got a call from Liz and Steph circa 4 PM. They werewinding down at Pontiac, and invited me out for a few drinks and to hang out. I took one look outside, anddecided I'd risk the downpour and left my house in a burst of speed. Thankfully, I got... (read more)

On the way home

I think I have a habit of taking pictures, going toand leaving brunch at Hilary's. This house is right near my old place. I remember walking by here years ago withChelsea and her dad, and the two ofthem stopping for a picture. I was snapping a shot of them... (read more)

Hilary's Urban Eatery

As a last hurrah, a bunch of us ended up meeting at Hilary's Urban Eatery (HUE) for a nice, big,buffet-style brunch before Kent and Christine left Chicago. It'sbeen over a year since I've been here, but the brunch fareis as satisfying as ever. At the table are Rob, Dave ,Justin,... (read more)

On the way to Brunch

... (read more)

Wasted Day

October 1, 2005

Putzed around all day. Stayed in and did the hermit thing at night. Nothing really much to report here. I've beeen ignoring the blog a lot lately, which is unusual for me. But it feels sort of good - like letting dirty clothes pile up in the corner, and just... (read more)

Wisps, Bucktown - February 8th, 2006

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