Odds 'n' ends...

... a.k.a. "random thoughts." :) Not much time to write today, since I'm getting ready for our trip down to Austin tomorrow. I'm sort of half-packed (which means I've created a pile of clothes in the closet that I WANT to pack... but nothing has actually made its way into a suitcase yet), but I still have a lot to do before tomorrow. I must not forget to pack a swimsuit, as it's about fifteen thousand degrees in Austin right now, and mom and dad have a pool...

Speaking of the heat in Austin -- Texas SERIOUSLY needs some rain. A few days ago, a grass fire broke out in a little town north of Austin -- about 20 mobile homes were either damaged or destroyed. Some people lost everything they owned. And I can't help but think that the fire was started by some idiot who threw a cigarette butt out a window... that seems to be the cause of about 90 percent of those grass fires in Texas... (Hint: if it's a million degrees outside and it hasn't rained in fourteen years, do NOT toss any kind of burning object into the grass... I make the assumption that this is common sense, but perhaps not...)

I saw someone walking down the street holding a clipboard earlier today, and it reminded me of one of the things I REALLY like about living in a condo -- no solicitors! I used to HATE it when my doorbell would ring at random times during the day if I wasn't expecting anyone... because I always had to make the decision to either take a chance and open the door, or hide in my closet until the person left. (And I wasn't literally hiding in the closet -- our closet had a window that overlooked the front porch, so I could see who was standing there... I would check to see who it was, and then wait to make sure they eventually walked away. This, of course, makes me sound like some kind of creepy reverse-voyeur -- yeah, I don't walk around looking into unsuspecting people's houses, but I DO look out of my OWN house to watch unsuspecting doorbell-ringers...) When I DID take a chance and answer the door, nine times out of ten it was someone trying to sell me something. And if they happened to have a really good story (like the single mom who was selling magazines to make ends meet...), I was always too nice to turn them away or say no. Which means I ended up with far too many candy bars for charity and magazines for single moms...

I'm getting a little freaked out by the maneuvers of several military jets which have been flying over the city for the last twenty minutes. I'm not sure what they're doing, but they're making a lot of noise and there doesn't seem to be much rhyme or reason to their flight... (They've also obviously disrupted the commercial flights in the area, since no one else can fly when these things are zipping around the airspace...)

We're meeting up with Eric for dinner tonight, so I can give him our keys and he can take care of these crazies while we're gone:

And no, I did NOT just say that so I could put more pictures of my cats on the blog...

Okay, maybe I did...
 

Werewolf and Jungle Girl...

My awesome friend Faisal bestowed upon me another Indian music playlist -- 25 songs of a ridiculously addictive nature, which I have been compelled to listen to more than I care to admit over the last few days. The weird thing is, the first listen-through of each song is always the same -- sort of a, "okay, yeah, this is pretty good... not bad..." And then the SECOND listen-through is more like, "oh my gosh, I LOVE this song!! This is the best song EVER! No, wait -- THIS is the best song ever!!" What the heck?? It's like music infused with heroin or something... (Is that possible? Heroin music?? Is there a market on the street for this stuff?)

But I'll get back to Indian music in a minute... first, I must ask: if I think that teenagers are idiots, does that mean I'm getting old? (In my defense, I thought that teenagers were idiots when I WAS a teenager. It's pretty much been my opinion for most of my life...) I ask because over the last two days, I've had a bizarre text message exchange with a girl (who, I'll admit, I'm assuming is a teenager) named Faith, who mistakenly punched in MY phone number when she was attempting to reach a guy named Jacob. I actually ignored the messages last night, which were something along the lines of, "hey jacob this faith kayla gave me ur #." After a couple messages, Faith decided to go ahead and CALL the number, at which point I thought, "okay, as soon as she hears my voicemail and realizes this number belongs to a girl named Lisa, she'll give up..."

But nooooooo... of course not. Around midnight I got "goodnight faithy out." Well, at least she was done for the night. I figured she'd wake up today, meet Kayla and Jacob at Starbucks, and ask Jacob why he kept ignoring her last night. At which point Jacob would explain that he'd never gotten her messages, they would double-check the number, and Faith would realize that she'd been texting the wrong person. The little trio would laugh over their frappuccinos and lament the rapidly approaching school year and gossip about unpopular kids.

So you can imagine my frustration when I got another message around noon today, that once again said something like, "you there jacob this faith." (And by the way, EVERY time this girl said who she was, it was "this faith." I'll let the lack of capitalization slide, because depending on the phone, it can be a pain to capitalize words in mid-sentence. But the lack of "is" was seriously annoying. This Faith?? Who is she, some sort of jungle kid? Like "me Tarzan, you Jane"??) At this point, I figured I should go ahead and tell this girl that she had the wrong number, so I sent a message back to that effect. She then sent one to me that said, "wht?" (You can't even be bothered to throw the "a" in there???) So I replied with a very clear, "you have the wrong phone number -- I don't know you." That seemed to do the trick...

And then two hours later, once again -- "ae u jacob? this faith." (I'm guessing "ae" is Jungle Girl shorthand for "are.") The reply sent: Nope, sorry, you still have the wrong number. I then received a strange message which said, "rhen which jacob are." That's it. Rhen which jacob are. WHAT?? Is that even English? (Remember how I said I'd get back to the Indian music? Here ya go -- the Hindi lyrics I've been listening to the last few days make more sense to me than that message did.) 

After considering it for a while, I thought perhaps what she was TRYING to say was something like, "then which jacob are you." Because perhaps she was absolutely convinced that she was talking to someone named Jacob, but it was not the correct Jacob. Wow. I didn't bother to reply again -- I'm just hoping that eventually the light bulb came on and her Jungle Girl brain was able to process the concept of a "wrong number." C'mon Faith... I have... well, I have YOU in you...

Is THIS who you were looking for??

Up in the air...

For the first time in -- uh... since I can remember? -- I wore a jacket on an August afternoon when I was walking outside. (Have I EVER needed a jacket in August? Maybe when I was a kid and lived in Buffalo...) It was about 70 when we went out for lunch today -- which wouldn't have been jacket-worthy if it had been sunny and calm, but it was cloudy and very windy, so I threw one on just in case I got too chilly. Granted, I WAS a bit warm by the time I got back home, but I was glad I had it at first...

I'm also glad we're heading to Austin at the end of the week, where the temperatures are still hovering around 100 every day -- because I really want a good dose of Super Summer Overkill before settling in for autumn in Chicago. Spending a week in oven-like temperatures will remind me of how nice the changing of the seasons can be... :)

I can't even remember the last time we were in Austin -- it's a been a while. In fact, it's been a while since I've flown anywhere. (Rick, on the other hand, has been jetting off to exotic locales like Kansas City and Fargo on a weekly basis...) We actually drove past the airport last night on our way to dinner with some friends out in the 'burbs (I also haven't been out in the 'burbs in a while... and why do I keep saying "burbs"?? It's a really weird word). And I did what I always do when we're near the airport -- stared in fascination at the low-flying planes overhead, simultaneously wondering how they stay aloft and where they've been or happen to be going. I especially like to see something big, like a 747, just after it takes off or right before it touches down -- I'm amazed by those things. They defy all logic... they should NOT be able to float in the air the way they do. In fact, the one time I traveled on a 747, I was slightly disconcerted by the amount of time our plane stayed in contact with the runway before lifting off... I had time to read an entire chapter of a book before that thing was airborne (that may be a slight exaggeration... :)).

I'm also just, in general, fascinated with airports. Or rather, not the AIRPORT itself, but the idea that everyone inside the airport is traveling somewhere. I walk through the terminal, reading every destination on every board at every gate, jealous of the cool places ("aw, why can't I be on that plane to Milan??") and curious about the not-so-cool places ("I wonder why all those people are headed to Fargo..."). I'm amazed, when I get to my own gate, that so many OTHER people have reasons to travel to the SAME place I'm going, at the SAME time that I'm going. I guess airports, for some reason, bring out some sort of naturally curious streak in me... there are so many stories in an airport. Would it be weird for me to go from person to person and ask them where they're going and why? Yeah, that would probably be weird...

But at least I know where I'M going this week... which reminds me, I really should start thinking about what to pack for Super Summer Overkill weather...

You'll never guess what this post is about...

Did you say cats?? Ha! You're wrong! (If, however, you went with the second most obvious answer and were thinking "random stuff," you are absolutely correct...)

So Rick is off to the thriving metropolis of Fargo, North Dakota today. My guess is he'll absolutely love the place, come home, and announce that we're moving. (Okay, maybe that's the OPPOSITE of what I imagine will happen...) I've been to Fargo once, years and years ago when I was a teenager (okay, maybe not THAT many years ago... ;)) when we were taking a family road trip across the country and stopped to visit some friends from New Jersey who had moved there. Apparently there wasn't much to do in Fargo, because we hopped over the border into Minnesota to visit a Swedish heritage museum. I remember there were huge Viking ships in that museum... I actually recommended it to Rick, since he has some time to kill tonight, but I guess he's not all that enamored by the idea of Viking ships and Swedish heritage...

I stumbled upon an episode of Fraggle Rock earlier today, and, since I am apparently an eight-year-old, I watched the whole episode. (The sad thing is, I think I actually remembered the episode from back when I was a kid...) The show was obviously on a channel aimed at kids, with commercials aimed at their moms... so it wasn't a surprise when I saw an ad for a little mini blender designed to make baby food. It was a cousin of the popular "magic bullet" blender, which is a small, compact blender that doesn't take up much kitchen space. But I WAS a bit taken aback by the name of the baby food blender -- am I the only one who thinks that "Baby Bullet" sounds a bit disturbing?? Maybe it's just me...

I'm watching a show about jellyfish on the National Geographic channel. It's sort of freaking me out. I'm not sure I ever want to swim in the ocean again. (Not that I was particularly fond of it to begin with... I prefer to just lay on the beach and listen to the waves...)

I'm slightly disappointed that someone has finally decided to change the color of the lights on the top of the Hancock Building from red, white and blue to just plain white. Not that I'm über-patriotic and expect them to keep the colors of the flag up there at all times -- but plain white is just... boring. Now it's just like a bunch of really bright office lights. A little color adds a bit of interest to the skyline... (but why is there never any purple?? Just sayin'...)

Well, it's probably close to my bedtime... I will no doubt have nightmares about giant jellyfish tonight. Perhaps I should read for a while before bed... (And on a side note: Do you suppose my brain will ever be organized enough that I can write an entire, coherent post again? All these random thoughts are so... random.) Good night!

Sorry...

... but it appears we have more cat pictures...

As you can see, Riff REALLY likes the new carpet we just bought for the living room. (Actually, we bought it several weeks ago... but it was finally delivered yesterday.)

It does look rather comfy...

I really did just want to get some pictures of the new carpet, but Riff pretty much camped out on it as soon as it was on the floor. But hey, he's such a photogenic little guy. Plus, I know Faisal is slightly freaked out by him, which I find amusing. Not that I can totally blame him... Riff can be a bit disconcerting. Like when I wake up in the middle of the night and see him on my nightstand, sitting patiently, staring at me. (Why does he DO that??) And when he shoots lasers from his eyes:

And when he sleeps in THIS bizarre position:

(How is that comfortable???)

But really, Riff has much more to fear from Faisal than vice versa... I mean, Riff has never threatened to EAT Faisal... (or HAS he? Mwahahahahaha... :))

Anyway... I like the new carpet except for one thing: the "new carpet" chemical smell. It started bothering me last night, to the point that I actually sort of felt a bit nauseous. And this morning I woke up with a huge headache, which has, so far, failed to disappear... I've decided to blame the carpet (although I suppose it COULD be a weather-related headache). I've opened the door of our balcony and turned on the ceiling fan, hoping I can air out the condo and convince the odoriferous carpet to be a good little accent piece and stop making me (almost literally) sick. The funny thing is, Rick can't smell anything at all -- and he usually has a much more sensitive nose. And Riff obviously doesn't care, either...

But I believe I'll find some excuses to leave the house today so I can get away from this new carpet smell and immerse myself into the fresh air of downtown Chicago... hey, it's not ALL car exhaust and sewer drains... :)

Discombobulated post...

I seem to have about a million different topics running through my head today, yet none of them are sure they want to be full-fledged blog posts. You know what that means -- randomness! (I know, it's much too exciting for words... :))

We got more thunderstorms last night... lots and lots of lightning. A bit TOO much, in my opinion. Actually, sometimes I wonder if I'm more afraid of the lightning, or the sudden claps of thunder that follow. I've never been a fan of sudden loud noises. And when you see that lightning flash, you never know if what follows will be a low rumble, or a sharp crack. In fact, after a particularly bright flash of lightning, I tend to instinctively cover my ears in preparation for what I assume will be a sudden loud noise. (Don't EVER sneak up on me and make a loud noise -- I WILL hit you in the face... fair warning.)

Rick and Faisal and I went to see Captain America over the weekend. It was pretty good, but I feel like I need to see it again because I was distracted by the people in the row we happened to be sitting in. There was a couple with a little girl -- I'd say no older than two? -- who, for some reason, thought it would be perfectly acceptable to bring a toddler to a 10:45 pm showing of a PG-13 movie. Sure, why not?? Just because kids should be in bed at that hour and a PG-13 movie probably has some scary-for-a-two-year-old stuff in it doesn't mean a family outing isn't in order. But here's the best part: this couple FELL ASLEEP for the ENTIRE movie, while their wide-awake, two-year-old child sat on her mother's lap and watched the whole thing. We were sitting in the front row of the second section of seats, which meant there were railings and a little ledge drop-off to the floor in front of us. At one point, this little girl dropped something on the floor, and, while her oblivious parents slept, looked as if she might attempt to crawl over the railings to get down to the floor. I'm not usually one to meddle in the affairs of strangers -- or one to even TALK to strangers -- but if that girl made a move for the railings, I was ready to jump up and start yelling at those people. (And don't think I can't yell at people when I need to -- remember Rick's encounter with a possible pickpocket in Naples? Rick told his mom he'd never heard me talk so loudly...) Fortunately, the girl settled down for the second half of the movie... her parents literally did not wake up until the lights came on after the movie. It was strange... very, very strange...

I just heard a girl from India say that the chai tea lattes at Starbucks are better than any chai tea lattes she's ever had in India. Wow, for some reason, I never would've expected that from Starbucks. I've never tried a chai tea latte at Starbucks. Not because I don't like tea -- I love tea, but usually when I'm at Starbucks I'm looking for a caffeine fix... and tea never has enough caffeine for someone who's addicted to coffee like I am. When I drink tea, it's usually at night when I'm winding down and wanting to get sleepy anyway. So perhaps some evening when I'm not worried about staying awake I'll try a Starbucks chai tea latte...

We've actually made some decent progress with our unpacking/getting settled endeavors this week. Still a few things that need to be taken care of... and we're waiting for a carpet that we ordered a zillion years ago to show up (I think it's finally been shipped, so hopefully it'll show up this week), and two of the chairs we ordered for our dining table have been on backorder (hoping those will show up within the next couple weeks, too). But I'm starting to think that MAYBE this place will be organized soon. I wasn't sure for a while there... And then I can actually do things like invite people over without feeling like the world's most horrible housekeeper...

And now I'm off to fend for myself in my search for lunch, as Rick is walking someplace downtown for a "business" lunch. (I put "business" in quotes because I think it's really just a reason for people to go out to lunch and charge someone else for it... :)) Hope everyone is having a good week...

Friday random thoughts...

Must not post cat pictures today... do not want to turn into Crazy Cat Lady. (Actually, I'm fairly certain I passed the "crazy" part of that equation about ten years ago... are the cats inevitable now?? Perhaps I should get another dog sometime soon to even things out...)

So the last two or three nights in a row, we've had pop-up thunderstorms that roll into the city and stick around for half the night. Rick has been LOVING this, by the way, because we've seen some pretty serious lightning strikes from our condo living room. Never mind the fact that I've been cowering in fear in a little ball of nerves on the couch... okay, that's probably an exaggeration. I've only gathered myself up into a little ball of nerves two or three times over the last few days. I actually find the storms here less threatening than the storms in Texas, maybe because I know there are so many tall buildings around to act as lightning rods. In Texas, the tallest thing around is usually your house... or possibly the trees next to your house. And don't get me started on hail and tornadoes... I wish we could send some of our rain to Texas, because they need it so badly...

Some contractors came to sand and paint our balcony today -- so now it looks like we have a brand new balcony on our who-knows-how-old-it-is condo. (How old IS this building?? I'm not even sure...)

How is it already almost August? I'm just now starting to get used to the summery weather here. We're planning a trip to Austin at the end of August, so fortunately (UNfortunately??) we'll get an extra dose of crazy-hot summer weather before September comes along. This year is going by too quickly... (I probably say that EVERY year. :))

Apparently I am extremely lacking in creativity today, because that's about all I've got... hope everyone has a great weekend!

NOT a cat... totally random Istanbul picture...

Because there aren't enough cat pictures on this blog...

Here are a few more:

Hey, in my defense, there's also a butterfly in these pictures -- it landed on the windowsill this morning...

Riff then spent the next half hour attempting to devise a way to reach the butterfly through the magical, unfairly transparent-yet-impenetrable force field...

(I thought his head was going to spin around like that girl in the Exorcist...)

And a bonus random picture from this morning, when a storm passed by us (although never quite made it into the city...):

Yes, I DO have a great view of the Office Depot... jealous?? :)

Around the world in one post...

My blogging efforts were thwarted yesterday by a failed laptop power source. For some reason, every power cord I've had for this laptop ends up fraying over time, until little wires are poking out, threatening to shock me. Rick wrapped my latest frayed cord in electrical tape, which at least prevented an inadvertent shock... but it did not prevent the power source from ultimately failing, prompting my laptop to yell at me about not having the right cord. (I HAD the right cord -- it just looked like invisible mice had been gnawing on it. And apparently once your power cord reaches the "gnawed by invisible mice" stage, it no longer works...) Fortunately, Rick has random power cords lying all over the place, and he managed to find a suitable temporary replacement. But hopefully I can order a new power source for this computer (and try to keep it away from the invisible mice...).

Anyway... not that I'm trying to turn this into a food blog, but I think I'll talk about food again. (Sure, why not? Invisible mice eat power cords... some people eat cat brains... I eat other stuff... :)) So we met Faisal for dinner Saturday night at a Japanese place near his building... Faisal and I thought it was really good. (Rick, on the other hand... well... let's just say we must never again speak of Rick and the Japanese restaurant...) It was one of those places that makes the assumption that its diners are comfortable using chopsticks -- personally, I love such an assumption. But again, let's not talk about Rick... (He is SO gonna get mad at me for this post... :)) I was trying to remember when I first learned how to use chopsticks... I think it may have been at Omei's, which was the BEST Chinese restaurant in New Jersey when I was a teenager. (Granted, I didn't try ALL the Chinese restaurants in New Jersey... but of the ones I did try, Omei's was far superior...) I used to love their stir-fried chicken with mushrooms, and I would use their pre-packaged, disposable wooden chopsticks just for the fun of it. (Wooden chopsticks always worry me slightly -- I wonder how many people get tongue splinters??)

And yesterday, since we weren't finished with our culinary tour of the world, Rick and I ate lunch at Reza's, which is right down the block from us. It's a Middle Eastern/Persian/Mediterranean place, and when we sat down, I was encouraged by the fact that there were so many Middle Eastern/Persian/Mediterranean people eating there. Although I'll admit this was an assumption based on appearances and an observation of languages other than English -- I know I should never assume... :) (It was kind of like the time we went to a little Italian place on Grand, and it was full of Italian people speaking Italian... I figure if the ITALIAN people are eating at the Italian restaurant, it must be good, right??)

However, unlike Indian food (which is like awesomeness on a plate), I've decided that Persian food is just so-so... It's not BAD, it's just not... awesomeness on a plate. There's not enough spice... and occasionally there are some strange flavor combinations. But I did pretty much eat my weight in falafel... (Which, in retrospect, may not have been the best idea. I wasn't hungry AT ALL for the rest of the day. Apparently it takes falafel about 24 hours to completely digest...) I do always enjoy trying new foods (as long as there's no cat brain on my plate, of course), even if it ends up not being a favorite...

At the Japanese place the other night (where I, Fish-Hater, avoided sushi like the plague), Rick wondered why I, as a descendent of a "name-that-ends-in-strom" from Sweden, did not inherit Scandinavian taste buds. In fact, I find most Scandinavian food rather unappetizing. It's not just the copious amounts of fish -- it's the strange, random side dishes that go along with entrees. Piles of onions and capers and pickles and weird herbs... what the heck goes on in Swedish kitchens??? And then there's this:

Really, Sweden?? Even your CHOCOLATE is weird? You expect me to eat something with the unfortunate, onomatopoeic moniker "Plopp"? That's just unappetizing in any language...

But I suppose I shouldn't be so hard on Sweden -- after all, in some roundabout way, I appeared on this planet thanks in part to the existence of Sweden. But I didn't inherit Swedish taste buds... and I certainly didn't inherit tall, blond, Swedish bikini model genes, either (okay, now I'm mad at Sweden again... :)). Maybe you have to eat a lot of fish to be a tall blond bikini model???

And, because I haven't quite gone around the entire world in this post, we bought some Costa Rican coffee on our way back from lunch. There. I think that pretty much covers everything. :)

To myself, on my 73rd birthday... *

* Eric wished me a happy 73rd birthday this morning... and while I'm inclined to believe his assessment of my age was an exaggeration, there is the remote possibility that I'm too old to remember my exact age...

It's been a quiet birthday here in Chicago... I was HOPING to maybe head out and see the new Harry Potter movie tonight, but my fellow Chicago-based Potter fans had other plans tonight (they probably didn't want to hang out with a 73-year-old anyway). Ah well, on to plan b -- Rick and I had been wanting to try a restaurant not too far from here called Vermilion, which is billed as an "Indian-Latin fusion" establishment. And I'm a sucker for anything Indian, so I figured my birthday was a great excuse to give the place a try. (Side note: Never walk a half mile in heels you've never worn before, no matter how "surprisingly comfortable" they feel when you first put them on...)

So I did my best to make myself look presentable, and we headed out in the 98-degree heat to walk to the restaurant. Seriously, you'd think those of us who lived in Texas for years would think nothing of 98-degree heat, but it is BRUTAL out there this week. And by the time we got to the restaurant, I'm fairly certain all my work to look decent was tossed by the wayside... I probably needed another shower... (such is the price of a July birthday... :))

The restaurant was really good -- I'd say it was about 85 percent Indian with about 15 percent "Latin" thrown in. We started with some artichoke pakoras, which were like battered, fried, slightly spicy artichoke hearts with some kind of dipping sauce. My horrible phone picture probably doesn't do it justice:

For dinner, I perused the menu and decided to go with something from the "dhaba fare" section. (I guess a dhaba is an Indian truck stop -- because when I think about good food, I inevitably think about truck stops in India. Or really, truck stops ANYwhere.) I got the pindi butter chicken, which was REALLY good (another bad camera phone picture):

The only thing that would've made it better was if it had been all white meat, since I'm not big on dark meat chicken, but it tasted great... I may have considered bringing home the leftover sauce just so I could pour it over rice or something, but I refrained from asking... Rick had the lamb shank gassi, which I tried and can honestly say was the BEST lamb I've ever tasted. Lamb isn't usually my favorite meat, but this stuff is apparently cooked for six hours until it just falls apart like short ribs. It was, however, more spicy than anything on the face of the planet. At least that's the idea I got from the way Rick was reacting to it... our server even brought over some kind of cucumber-yogurt sauce to help cut down on the heat, but by the end of dinner, Rick's stomach had eroded away... and then he said he'd probably order it again if we ever came back. (So either it was really good, or Rick is really reckless...) We also tried their chocolate cake for dessert, and even the DESSERT was spicy -- it came with a little scoop of blueberry sorbet on the side, which was useful for tempering the heat of the chili-chocolate sauce on the cake... yuuuuuum.

So all-in-all, a very good birthday dinner... although I just realized that even though I had that chocolate cake for dessert, I didn't get a big birthday cake that will last me the rest of the week... I should've made one for myself. But it's probably best that I didn't... we 73-year-olds needs to watch what we eat... :)

Not TOO bad for a septuagenarian, right?? 

Walk on...

Yesterday was one of those bright, sunny, blue-skied, seemingly perfect summer days. So, since it appeared so nice and perfect, we thought we'd take advantage of our newly acquired opportunity to walk everywhere. After a lifetime of living in the suburbs, where a car is a requirement for just about everything from a cup of coffee to a trip to a movie theater, I am loving my ability to walk to so many different locations...

And yesterday started innocently enough -- we decided we'd walk toward mom and dad's place and try a deli down the block for lunch. Halfway there, I remarked on the heat -- the temperatures were climbing toward the mid-90s, and the heat index was somewhere near 100. I hadn't realized this when we started walking... but c'mon, I thought to myself. I'm from Texas! 95 degrees? Ha! I laugh at your 95 degrees and raise you another 10! Rick and I used to walk around our neighborhood in Austin in the middle of summer in 90-degree temperatures all the time. No problem.

But apparently 95 degrees in Chicago (after months of acclimating to cooler temperatures) isn't quite the same as 95 degrees in Texas. "We've become wusses," I said at one point, as we frantically searched for a shady street to shield us from the unrelenting rays of the sun. But once we reached our lunch destination, and the reprieve of sustenance and air conditioning, I forgot all about my comment...

So after lunch, we decided to walk to Argo Tea -- and for some reason, we decided to take "the long way" instead of the more direct route. Where are all the shady streets?? Why is there so much sun??? But again, once I was inside the air conditioned building and had a cold, fruity, blended tea drink in my hand, I felt totally revived and ready to keep walking...

And instead of simply heading back home, we decided to walk out toward the lake. This, at least, provided a nice breeze and plenty of trees, as well as some awesome views of the city toward Michigan Avenue. And then, as long as we'd made it that far, we figured we'd just take a short jaunt over to Faisal's building. It was so close -- mirage-like, shimmering in the hot sun, taunting us with its proximity to the cool water of the lake... at least it SEEMED so close. The more we walked, the more I realized the heat was messing with my mind... perhaps it really WAS a mirage, that tower on the lake... why else would it be out there on the pier, all alone??

Fortunately, my heat-addled mind was able to realize that walking around Navy Pier would be a bit TOO much, and once we'd circled Faisal's building (which I'm still not convinced actually exists...), we headed back toward home. This was the point that I realized my choice of footwear had been a big mistake. While my shoes were fine for a bit of walking -- even a couple miles wouldn't have fazed me -- by the time we were closing in on FIVE miles, my feet were vehemently protesting. Because of this, the walk from that point on seemed longer than the rest of the walk combined...

But we finally made it (and I immediately took what can only be described as the best. shower. ever.), and probably burned off breakfast, lunch AND dinner... plus today's breakfast and at least my morning cup of coffee. My feet are still slightly annoyed by the fact that I took them on such a long journey, but I'm sure they'll forgive me eventually. In the meantime, I'll just sit here in the air conditioning and pretend I'm back in nice, cool Texas... :)

Regarding food, etc...

One of the things I've missed about having my "own" kitchen is the ability to experiment with food to create new meals. When we were in the rental condo, I stuck to a pretty boring repertoire, not only because that kitchen was tiny, but because I never really felt quite "settled" into that place. My new kitchen is still pretty tiny (at least compared to what I got used to in Austin), but at least I feel like I can settle in for a while. Tonight I made some honey-glazed chicken and a summer vegetable pasta salad, both of which could be described as "winging it" (i.e. I just started throwing stuff together and hoped it tasted good). And yes, it DID end up tasting good...

Somehow, the other night, Rick and Faisal got into a discussion about "strange food," and Faisal mentioned that his grandmother doesn't mind eating brain now and then -- goat brain, mostly (and a quick Google search will bring up recipes that include such)... but he also mentioned that it's not unheard of for people to eat cat brain in Pakistan. This, of course, elicits an immediate American response along the lines of, "What?!? Cats?? Adorable little kitties?? Cute, cuddly kitties?!? Partaking of such cuteness must not be tolerated!!"

And yet a more thoughtful reflection on the topic makes me wonder -- why? Why do we not bat an eyelash at the idea of eating a cow or a chicken, but a cat or a dog as "food" is like culinary blasphemy? Yes, cats and dogs are generally "cuter" than most of the animals we eat... but it has to be more than that. I mean, I think rabbits are pretty darned adorable -- all fluffy and cute with their big ears and little twitchy noses. But even I managed to eat rabbit once -- it wasn't bad. Tasted like chicken. So perhaps it's the fact that cats and dogs are such a huge part of our pet population -- we bring them into our homes, and buy them toys, and feed them treats, and teach them tricks -- maybe our culture of "American pet owner" causes a visceral aversion to the idea of eating these animals. In fact, when Faisal first mentioned the "cats as food" fact, the first thing I asked was whether cats are a common pet in Pakistan -- and it turns out, no one keeps them as pets. It's much harder to eat something that you raise to be a part of your family -- if you've never had a cat as a pet or even KNOWN anyone who's had a cat as a pet, it's probably not as difficult to think of them as a food source... And I know some people keep rabbits as pets, but I've never had one myself... maybe if I had, I wouldn't have been able to try that rabbit stew...

Of course, that doesn't explain why we (and by "we" I mean Americans in general -- not ME, as I have a serious fish aversion) have no problem eating salmon, while at the same time we'll keep tanks full of goldfish in our living rooms. Are fish just really difficult to bond with, even as pets? (Honestly, I can't imagine ever bonding with a fish... and yet I can't imagine eating one, either... :))

It's just strange how we always jump to conclusions about what's "wrong" or "disgusting," based only upon our OWN experiences. If someone half a world away grows up thinking that their mom's goat brain roast is the best dinner ever, who's to say they wouldn't think WE were weird for eating twinkies or nachos or hot dogs?? (Honestly, at least you KNOW what's in a goat brain -- it's a goat brain. A hot dog could be goat brain, hyena lung, armadillo tail, lead paint chips and rat droppings all rolled into one...)

This is not to say that I, personally, would ever eat a cat brain... actually, I wouldn't eat ANY kind of brain. But that's more because I have weird food issues, not because I find fault with anyone's idea of a delicacy... or even anyone's idea of a plain old Saturday night dinner. Tonight, mine just happened to be chicken and pasta salad... :)

Riff under the sheet when I was attempting to make the bed this afternoon. I've titled this picture, "Please don't eat me, Faisal..." Hahahaha! Kidding... just kidding... Faisal is highly allergic to cats -- if he ever ate one, he'd probably blow up like that blueberry girl in the Willy Wonka movie...

Middle of the week randomness...

Lest I keep anyone in suspense (as I know you've all been waiting with bated breath for the conclusion of this story), I DID finally find my white-noise machine. It was in the very last place I looked -- and yes, I know it's ALWAYS in the last place you look, because once you find something you stop looking... but in this case, it was literally the LAST place I COULD look. I had rummaged through every other box, bag, crate, suitcase and storage container in the condo. And then I spotted my laptop bag sitting on the floor near the fireplace. I hadn't bothered to search through it, since I removed my laptop from the bag the day I brought it over... I had assumed it was empty. Never assume. Because apparently, the same day I brought over my laptop, I also brought over the white-noise machine, which was nestled into a front pocket. I can now once again pretend I'm falling asleep on the beach in Hawaii...

Speaking of the beach in Hawaii... I wish I was on a beach in Hawaii. Just sayin'...

Does anyone ever watch that show Ghost Hunters? It's like the dumbest show ever... these people take night-vision cameras into creepy locations like abandoned prisons and dilapidated psychiatric hospitals, and then film with all the lights off while they act really scared. And then the cameraman will drop a pen, or someone stumbles over an unnoticed chair (because all the lights are off, so how can these people really see where they're going??), and everyone freaks out and starts asking, "what was that? Did you hear that??" Like it's not obvious that someone just tripped over a chair. They never actually FIND any ghosts in their "hunt." How does that show even stay on the air (she asked, even as she realized that "Jersey Shore" is still on the air...)??

I never thought I'd say, "I'm so glad that I get to do laundry whenever I want," but I really AM glad that I can do laundry whenever I want in my new condo. (That is so sad... :))

FYI, everyone needs to watch The First 48: Missing Persons this Thursday night on A&E -- in fact, you should all set it up to Tivo. Do it now. I'll wait. (This show follows Chicago detectives on missing persons cases in the city... and Thursday is going to be Eric's big television debut. I suspect it will be the most riveting two or three minutes of television that has aired on any channel anywhere ever. And Eric has promised me explosions and shootouts and possibly ninja babies with grenades. I'm actually not sure about any of that, but I would definitely record the show, just in case...)

I can't believe the National League won the All-Star game last night... but I CAN believe the U.S. women's team beat France in the World Cup finals... that's kinda cool, and it makes me wish I liked soccer more...

Okay, that's all I've got today, and I'm starving so I should go find something to eat...   

There's always something...

I'm waiting for my lunch to finish roasting -- lately, my go-to lunch when Rick's not around is chickpeas roasted with olive oil, salt, pepper, cayenne and curry powder. The chickpeas dry up in the oven until they're almost crunchy... they turn into yummy, addictive little legumes. I may or may not have eaten an entire can of chickpeas in this manner in the past. (That's only 400 calories -- I checked... :))

I've spent the morning attempting to clean parts of the condo and unpack a few more boxes. My efforts were temporarily side-tracked when I decided to move a tool case that's been sitting on the couch for the last week -- unbeknownst to me, the case (which is filled with 137 wrenches, ratchets, sockets and screwdriver bits) was open. This resulted in 137 wrenches, ratchets, sockets and screwdriver bits scattered on the couch and throughout the case. I then spent the next 45 minutes painstakingly replacing every piece in its respective home within the case. I was tempted to just dump the whole mess into an empty cardboard box, but finally took a deep breath and dove into the metal carnage. I should obviously stay away from tools. I should stick with girly things like... uh... what are girls supposed to do? Cook? And, like, make curtains or something?? Yeah... fewer tools, more curtains... (That's a total joke, by the way -- I would screw up curtains, too... :))

The reason for today's unpacking venture (I mean, besides the fact that it needs to be done anyway) is that I'm searching for a much-needed item: the white-noise machine my mom gave me for Christmas several years ago, which becomes my best friend when Rick is away overnight. Since we started the moving process, Rick put much of his travel on-hold... but he has an upcoming trip to some podunk town in Kansas... I actually think it's called Podunk, Kansas. (My apologies to anyone who lives in or is from Kansas... I'm sure you have a lovely -- albeit remotely situated -- state.) Which means I'll soon have to spend a night by myself, and I'd much prefer to listen to the calming sound of crashing waves or falling rain when I'm trying to sleep...

(Side note: Have I mentioned that I'm fairly certain our new condo is haunted?? Okay, not really -- however, when the bedroom fan is turned on (and I'm one of those people who likes a fan when I'm sleeping), the bedroom light has the very disconcerting habit of turning itself on at random times. Which means that several times, I've woken up in the middle of the night to a room flooded with light. It's a little bit creepy, but my dad has assured me that the culprit is more likely electrical than poltergeist-related.)

But after all of today's searching, I have been UNABLE to find my white-noise machine. Even though I have a finite number of boxes here, most of which we moved over from the old condo (where I did, in fact, have the white-noise machine on my dresser). You'd think it would be simple to figure out where I stashed that thing when I moved it over here. Where did I put it???

I'm just hoping it's hiding here somewhere in a place I haven't looked yet. Because I don't want this to become another New Jersey Cutting Board Incident. (To recap: I had a great Williams-Sonoma wooden cutting board when I lived in New Jersey, which I vividly remember packing into a box when we were getting ready to move back to Texas. But when we got to Texas, I never found the cutting board. I STILL haven't found the cutting board. I KNOW I packed it, but it apparently disappeared into thin air...) But doesn't it seem like there's always something that disappears in a move? Hopefully this time it'll just be a pair of socks or a tupperware container and NOT my white-noise machine...

And FYI, this is what Riff has been doing while I've been cleaning and unpacking all day:

It is SO hard to be a cat...

Independently random...

As I previously mentioned, I forgot to take a camera with me on July 4th and I was unable to document the fireworks display. But dad gave me a CD with all of the pictures from his camera and mom's camera, so now I have proof that we saw fireworks. Well, I have proof that mom and dad saw fireworks, at least. So in lieu of a "Derek Jeter is awesome" post (which I'll have to work on for next time), here are a few pictures:

This is the horrible view that mom and dad have from their place when you're sitting on the balcony. (Obviously dad took this picture -- hence the Starbucks coffee cup)...

Faisal's building, the site of our fireworks-watching vantage point...

And Faisal has THIS horrible view to contend with outside his window... honestly, I would just move. Maybe to a place with a nice view of an alley or a subway station...

When the fireworks started, we noticed that this blimp, wrapped in a Farmer's Insurance logo, was hanging out in the "fireworks display" area. And it STAYED there even with flammable things exploding around it. I realize blimps no longer use hydrogen, but we were still pretty sure we were seeing Hindenburg 2 in the making... (And, strangely, we all switched over to Farmer's Insurance on July 5th...)

And since this post is much too theme-oriented and not nearly random enough, here's a picture of me reflected in the cabinet where all our TV equipment is:

Plus, an extra-special bonus random picture:

Uhhh... yeah... I have no idea either...

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

The new view...

And of course, more of this:

Bow to me, human peons. (He's so demanding...)

I wonder what he does when we're not home...

The unpacking continues, slowly but steadily. I managed to empty about four boxes yesterday -- a couple of them were stacked in the guest bathroom, and were rather in the way of anyone who may have been in there. So now that I've emptied the boxes, broken them down, and readied them for the recycling bin, I have at least ONE room that is completely organized, neat and clean. Everyone is invited to my place to use the bathroom...

One of the fun things about a loft is that everything is open -- even though we have two bedrooms, they're divided from the rest of the space by walls that stop several feet from the ceiling. Apparently, these walls make a great cat perch:

It took us a while to figure out how he got up there -- that bookcase (that cursed IKEA bookcase with the innumerable wooden dowels... :)), is too high for him to jump on top of it. But Rick's study is on the OTHER side of that open wall, where a short cabinet is standing next to a higher set of shelves... and that set of shelves is situated right next to the wall. So a jump up to the cabinet, followed by a jump up to the top shelf, followed by a jump up on the wall, and you've got a smug, much-too-pleased-with-himself cat:

I am fairly certain he is looking down upon us as if we were his lowly subjects... his minions, perhaps.

Anyway... I hope everyone had a great 4th of July. We were invited to Faisal's place to watch the fireworks at Navy Pier... and stupid me forgot my camera. I'm so used to seeing those Navy Pier fireworks from my own living room -- I usually just grab the camera off the shelf and start shooting. No more fireworks from my living room... sigh... :) (Although I did notice, after Saturday's fireworks, that the residual firework smoke eventually made its way down Grand Ave. to our place. So I can't see the fireworks anymore, but I CAN see the smoke. Wait... that's nowhere near as cool... :))

Well, I suppose I should stop blogging and start unpacking again, lest I live in a cardboard-box fort for the next two years. (Hey, cardboard box forts were super cool when I was a kid! :))

Goodbye, skyline...

I took these the morning the movers showed up -- which was, of course, a perfect, sunny, cloudless day, so I was quite aware of the great view I was leaving behind. :)

But hey, now I'm much closer to the Hancock Building:

Unfortunately, I lose my view of the Sears Tower and Trump Tower. Oh well -- if I REALLY want to see them, I'll just head over to mom and dad's place...

We are officially 100 percent out of our rental condo. (I won't say we're 100 percent moved in here, because we still have things in storage that we might bring over... and I don't FEEL like I'm totally moved in, since half our stuff is still in boxes and a lot of it is just strewn randomly all over the living room...)

Funny story -- the realtor for the family who's renting the old condo asked if we would mind if they moved a few of their things over on the 28th (even though their lease didn't start until today), which was the day the movers showed up to move our furniture out of the condo. And we said sure, that would be fine. But the movers ONLY moved our heavy furniture -- we moved our clothes, dishes, etc. ourselves. So even though the condo was about 95 percent empty after the movers left on Tuesday, we still planned to use Wednesday and Thursday to finish the rest of our move. We went over Wednesday morning to pack some things up, and were surprised by how much the new tenants had already moved into the condo.

At dinner Wednesday night, Rick got a strange call from the realtor, who said something like, "the new renters say they're uncomfortable spending the night at the condo, because some of your things are still there." To which he responded, "um, yeah, that's because it's still OUR condo -- they should NOT be 'spending the night' when we still have two days left on our lease." We assumed the matter was cleared up, and then after dinner we headed back to the old condo to pack up a few more things.

So imagine our surprise when we turned the key, opened the door, and an entire family was sitting in the living room eating dinner. Uhhhh... ooooookay. After we all awkwardly introduced ourselves, they claimed that the realtor told them they could MOVE IN on the 28th. Even though we clearly told the realtor that we needed the next two days to finish moving out, and all we said was that it was fine if they moved some of their possessions into the condo. Somewhere, somehow, the wires got crossed. Needless to say, we packed our stuff up as quickly as we could (much of it piled freely in a precarious mountain of "stuff," simply because we only had two boxes with us...), trying to avoid the occasional stares of the strangers who were now occupying the condo (still rightfully ours). And the worst part? They had the blinds DOWN -- completely cutting off the great view AND the Wednesday night fireworks at Navy Pier... (who WERE those people??? :))

But at least the moving part is over, and the unpacking part can begin. (Because that's the fun part, right? Right???) No pictures of the condo yet, because it's a complete disaster area at the moment. But here's a picture of some creepy, ominous storm clouds that were outside this morning:

And Rick wanted me to mention that this blog was brought to you today by the failure of the hard drive that was powering our Windows television -- he bought a new hard drive this afternoon to get everything up and running again, but at the moment, we have no TV. If we did, it's possible I would be watching something right now, instead of writing a blog post... but I really WAS planning to post something today anyway... honestly! :)