January 2009 Archives

Take Medication with Food: A Cautionary Tale

January 31, 2009

If the notes on your medication urge you to take it "with food" to prevent nausea, I strongly recommend you take those words as warning rather than instruction. Today, Liz and I had planned on an early start to the day. We were going to visit a vendor for our... (read more)

NFL's Yellow First Down Line: How Does It Work?

January 30, 2009

In light of the upcoming Super Bowl weekend, this seemed like an appropriate post to make. I saw this originally some weeks back, and added it to my "someday" list... and today seems like a timely day to post it up. For a while, I figured the yellow line was... (read more)

News Anchors Dance During Commercial Breaks: WGN's Robert Jordan and Jackie Bange's Two Minute Drill

January 29, 2009

WGN-TV news anchors Robert Jordan and Jackie Bange have a little routine they do, during their first commercial break. What began as a 10 second dance morphed into a fully choreographed 2:40 routine. Apparently, this happens each time they go on air, during the first commercial break. Hysterical. [via Gapers... (read more)

Panaderia La Central

January 28, 2009

It's amazing how how routines just simply lock themselves into place, and the next thing you know... you're doing the same things over and over again. It's been almost two years since I moved to Logan Square, and I've been walking to the California Blue Line stop nearly every... (read more)

Five Things You May or May Not Know About Me

January 27, 2009

Running a bit short on time this AM for the blog stuff. But rather than post up nothing, I figured a quickie post instead. Below are five things that you may or may not know about me: I have a Master's degree in Creative Writing, with a focus on Poetry.... (read more)

Listening to Rilo Kiley, Thinking About Ukeleles

January 26, 2009

Over my vacation, as I was working on the computer... I was listening to a lot of Rilo Kiley (Official Site | Wikipedia). I'm not sure who originally turned me on to them (I think it was either TJ or Masha). But I was looping the crap out of their... (read more)

It's Not Your Beer, It's My Beer

During lunch, I opened up the fridge in the kitchen and spotted this. Related: Spiderman Lunchbox... (read more)

Mini Fudge Cakes

January 25, 2009

Liz worked in the kitchen this evening, baking up some mini-fudge cakes. This is an idea she had for the wedding, as a possible favor for guests... and was trying out the recipe. The process involves using three different molds, and then rolling the fudge in a small plate... (read more)

Grow Tower: Sequence-Based Game by Eyezmaze.com

January 24, 2009

I've been neglecting my RSS reader for a good while this week, and finally caught up. I happened to notice that there was a new Grow game, and literally shouted out my glee (and I was all alone, mind you). SO excited to share this. Haven't played it much... (read more)

Images from the Apartment

January 23, 2009

On the last official day of my vacation, and I haven't really been going out at all, really. Snapped a few photos from around the apartment. I'm seeing double here... four UPS trucks! While doing laundry in the basement, I noticed a ton of icicles all over the place. We... (read more)

Vertical Cities: Limited Edition Letterpress Print by Allison

January 22, 2009

Early last December, Allison brought in prints of her lates project: Vertical Cities. I had heard a bit about this project, as she had started skething things out over a year ago. It was exciting to see it realized, and in the Flesh... and I've been waiting for the chance... (read more)

Inauguration/Housewarming Party at Justin's

January 21, 2009

These photos are from Tuesday, when Justin held a party in honor of our new President, and to officially welcome folks to his new apartment. Nebula, tucked in to her little cave area. Later on in the evening, I was surprised to see her brave the crowds to wander around... (read more)

Barack Hussein Obama, the 44th President of the United States

January 20, 2009

This is more for me, than for you. While I wasn't in DC attending, I wanted to remember the moment. Democrat or Republican, Obama being sworn in as the 44th President was a pretty significant event. The very act of a black man being sworn in as President makes... (read more)

The Remnants: Pilot Starring Ze Frank and Ernie Hudson

January 19, 2009

Interestingly, this is another post-apocalyptic-related post. Seems we have a theme today. From the writer of Go and Big Fish, The Remnants was a pilot that is apparently on hold. The thing that caught my eye was some of the names involved: folks like Ze Frank, Ernie Hudson and Justine... (read more)

Fallout 3

I spent a lot of today just goofing off, playing Fallout 3. I remember a similar game from when I was a kid (entitled Wasteland), and really... who doesn't love a post-apocalypse-fend-for-yourself-shoot-em-up game? I tried playing Morrowind when it came out (also by Bethesda), but couldn't get into it.... (read more)

Frozen Light Bulb

January 18, 2009

On the back porch of the apartment, I spotted this guy. I wonder what will happen when it thaws... and whether it'll work again, or explode.... (read more)

Game Night at Allison's: Ballsdurdash

January 17, 2009

Allison invited a bunch of us Logan Square folks (Chris and Leslie, Ben, Justin, Justin (aka Juicy)) over to her place for an evening of games. On the docket was either Scattegories, Charades, or possibly... Ballsdurdash. We hung out in the kitchen for a while, making drinks and munching... (read more)

Happy (Surprise) Birthday, Darryl!

January 16, 2009

Tonight, Liz and I drove over to Indiana for Darryl's surprise birthday party. We had gotten directions to a nearby school, and someone there was nice enogh to shuttle folks from the parking lot back to the house (it was a fairly cold, sub-zero night out). When we arrived at... (read more)

Lunch at Hot Doug's

One of the great things about being on vacation during the week is the chance to swing by Hot Doug's for lunch. Today, not only was there less of a line than I've ever seen (it's usually out the door, and around the corner with a minimum of 30+... (read more)

There's No "I" in Team

There's this joke that Liz and I have, where if we feel something is one sided, or that one of us isn't considering the other person's feelings... we'll say to one another: "Where's the Team? There's no team here." This morning, as we were talking about the day... I found... (read more)

Vacation 2.0

January 15, 2009

My last email has been sent, my last to-do item of the day has been crossed off the list. Autoreply is on, and I'm off on vacation again for a week plus! Prior to the holidays, I found out that I had some 17 days of vacation remaining. I remembered... (read more)

Images of Snow

January 14, 2009

There was a great deal of snow that came down, last night and this morning. Going to work and coming home, I snapped a few photos. Heading to work, circa 8:20 AM. Heading home, circa 7:35 PM.... (read more)

TJ Downloads Microsoft's Songsmith, A Performance By Chris Ensues

In a move that can only be described as masochism, TJ downloaded a trial version of Microsoft's Songsmith. Apparently, today was "Punish Your Coworkers" day. Next thing that happens, a ton of folks are gathered around TJ's desk, waiting for a demonstration. Naturally, Chris rises to the challenge, and he... (read more)

Police Search Metra Train, Mike Gets a Gun Pointed At Him

Mike always seems to have the most interesting trips in to work. Around 9:30 AM, I walked out of my office to see several folks on the Affiliate side huddled around a few computers. The speakers were up, and I heard Mike's voice talking about how his train was stopped,... (read more)

David Lee Roth Vocals + Songsmith: A Brilliant Idea, A Horrific Sound

January 13, 2009

So it's of a benefit to document how all these pieces first came to be - which thing came at the start, which things followed. To begin it all, an isolated version of David Lee Roth's vocals from Running with the Devil emerged (here's a direct link to the mp3).... (read more)

Goodbye, Ping Pong Table... Hello, New Desks

January 12, 2009

Deep down, we all knew that the ping pong table was a temporary thing... something to fill the open area near the windows until we, eventually, built out the space with more desks. Sadly, that day has arrived. It's a good thing, in that our business is growing and we... (read more)

A Note to Chicago Travellers

This is for the guy I saw sitting sitting on a bench at the Damen Blue Line stop, one hand holding a phone to his ear, another hand holding his forehead, and a pile of puke by his feet. Judging by your backpack, you were like me: on your way... (read more)

New Section Added: Ten Best Days, 2002 - 2008

January 11, 2009

Over the last two weeks in December, one of my side projects was to get caught up on the "Ten Best Days" lists for 2006 and 2007. As I was getting those up to date, I realized that all the lists were scattered in various places, and a little... (read more)

Going Under: Fascinating Article on Drug Addiction Among Anesthesiologists

January 10, 2009

All week, I haven't had many photos to share. The workdays have been pretty busy for me, and my RSS reader has looked more and more like some kind of odometer that won't quit. I got caught up a bit on all the normal surfing/sites I didn't get to, earlier... (read more)

Songsmith: Microsoft's Cringe-Worthy, Singing Video Ad

January 9, 2009

Microsoft recently announced a new product called Songsmith - an application that helps users create music/songs by providing the background music. Users select a musical style, sing into their computer's microphone, and the program detects things like pitch and whatnot... and basically does all the accompaniment. But the real delight... (read more)

History of the Internet - Video Using PICOL Icons

January 8, 2009

This video has been making the rounds lately, and I just got around to watching it this morning. Entitled The History of the Internet, it's a pretty fantastic summary of how we went from Arpanet in the 1950's and arrived at the Internet of today. In addition to the video... (read more)

Article on the NY Times: Its Financial State, Its Future, and the Role of Journalism

January 7, 2009

In an interesting article by Michael Hirschorn entitled End Times, he wonders a bit about the New York Times' current financial state, and projects a bit on the transitional issues the print industry has, in an increasingly digital age. The article opens with a zinger of a question: What if... (read more)

The West Wing: Video of Ainsley Hayes Debating Sam Seaborn

January 6, 2009

Talking with Ben and Allison over lunch, the topic of The West Wing television series came up. Specifically, Ben had mentioned liking one of the characters (named Ainsley Hayes), who served as a Republican voice within a very Democratic office. I did a bit of digging around, and found Ainsley's... (read more)

The Benny Hill-ifier: Add "Yakety Sax" to Any YouTube Clip

January 5, 2009

I set my alarm for 5:30 this morning, as I was hoping to work on getting some additional Ten Best Days lists updated. However, I somehow slept right through my alarm and now I'm scrambling to get back on schedule. Thought I had gotten onto a decent rhythm even after... (read more)

Larry's Bar, Open Since Before Prohibition, Closes in Columbus, OH

January 4, 2009

Found out from Chelsea over the holiday break that Larry's (or more officially, Larry's Bar, Grill and Seminar) has officially closed its doors for good. This is such a blow to me, as I spent a good portion of my grad school career hanging out at Larry's, sitting in... (read more)

Jim Lehrer on Comedy

January 3, 2009

The first time I saw this on PBS, it had me rolling. Great delivery by Jim Lehrer, as he keeps a total straight face throughout. I'll definitely be checking out this documentary when it airs. More info (and clips) on the official PBS site.... (read more)

Merlin Mann + Ze Frank: Inspiration, Brain Crack, and the Execution of Ideas

January 2, 2009

I like Merlin Mann, and his 43 Folders site a lot. Today, in my RSS reader, I saw that he's started a new section on his site called 43 Folders Clips - an area where he posts up interesting tidbits that inspire him, but may not necessarily warrant their own... (read more)

Best Ten Days, 2008

January 1, 2009

I've fallen off this habit the past two years, but I'm hoping to revive the tradition of reviewing the past year and listing off my Ten Best Days. The idea began in 2003, when Alex and I attended the Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown. In discussing my blog, he... (read more)