Saturday, March 19, 2011

Random weekend ramblings...

We just returned from a reconnaissance mission to explore our prospective new neighborhood. We checked out a few condos yesterday, and saw another one we really liked, so we're putting in an offer on it. The view isn't quite as good as the view in the first place we were considering, but it's not bad (still has a view of the Hancock building, AND a great view of Michigan Avenue... and just a few slivers of lake...). It's in a high-rise that was built in 1991, and the condo had barely been updated since 1991... so it needs a little bit of work to bring it into the 21st century. But the good thing about that is that we can redo things in our own style. (And the bad thing is that rehabbing costs more money... :)) The location is great, though -- walking distance to Starbucks, Argo Tea, Ghirardelli (quite important), Whole Foods, Michigan Avenue, tons of restaurants, etc... I actually feel like this place is a better fit for us than the last condo was, so maybe the fact that we backed out of the other place will end up being a good thing...

So last night Rick and I watched what may have been the worst movie either of us has ever seen -- Skyline. I remember it being out in theaters around Christmastime, and I actually considered going to see it, mainly because Donald Faison from Scrubs was in it. I love Scrubs, so I'm always happy to see one of the stars working in something else. But alas -- all the Scrubs alumni in the world couldn't have saved this movie. The premise was simple -- aliens come to earth to abduct all humans and eat their brains. Like zombie aliens... zombie aliens on a quest for brains... delicious braaaains... The zombie aliens simply shine their pretty blue lights in the faces of their human prey, and all of the humans' free will is sucked out through their eyeballs. (At least that's the idea I got from the less-than-stellar special effects.) Once that happens, the humans willingly allow themselves to be beamed up to the mothership, where the zombie aliens feast on their brains. As in most movies of this type, a small, ragtag band of determined humans manages to escape the initial blue-light special, and they hole themselves up in an expensive LA penthouse. Apparently, all they have to do to evade alien notice is keep the blinds closed... but of course they try to make a break for it, at which point Scrubs guy is eaten by a brain-sucking alien. After that it all went downhill... (actually, I think it started at the top of the hill and just kept going down... at least we didn't pay movie-theater prices for this thing...)

Speaking of skylines (you knew this was coming, right? :)):

This was when the sun was setting a couple nights ago... a little cloudy, but I liked the sunlight reflecting off the buildings...

Okay, that's about all I've got tonight... it's been a slow weekend... :)

3 comments:

Jack said...

Good luck on your house hunt. I absolutely could never live in Chicago, even with all of the things to do nearby. We farm folk from small-town Illinois just aren't wired that way.

The skyline and the sights are amazing, but I couldn't hack it.

LL Cool Joe said...

I love that skyline shot. I live in the country, but love urban scenery too.

Good luck with the house hunting!

Lisa said...

Thanks, Bulldog! I've lived in suburbia forever, but I've always wanted to experience city life -- and so far, I'm really loving it. But maybe we'll get tired of it eventually and move someplace quieter, who knows. :)

Thanks, Joe! That skyline view is my favorite thing about this condo we're renting. We won't have a view quite this dramatic when we move into the new place, so I'm taking as many pictures as possible right now. :)