last weekend in chicago

Yes, this is my last weekend in Chicago before I leave for the summer.  I think I've done a pretty good job of making the post of it though:

Friday (as mentioned earlier): Korean BBQ and Kellogg party

Saturday: Laundry in the morning, then I headed up to Evanston to check out Dillo Day.  I caught the tail end of Ted Leo, as well as the start of Broken Social Scene's set.  They had a huge mud pit set up in front of the stage, so I decided to lie out on the lacrosse field's artificial turf, take a nap and read Midnight's Children.  Then after my Clif Bar dinner, it was time for Kellogg's Casino Night, capped off with BK.

Sunday: After a quick swim and workout, I continued to clear out my refrigerator by having 20+ potstickers and more for lunch.  After lunch, I headed up to Wicker Park for the Do Division Street Fest.  It would have been another solitary Chicago day of exploration, but I ran into some law school friends, and I ended up having a great day - three new t-shirts (from Renegade Handmade and Penelope's) and I got to try a new pizza place (Crust)!

As supposedly the "Midwest's first certified organic restaraunt," the pizza was just OK.  The Wild Herb and Cheese was my favorite, as we also tried the Shroom and Margherita.

this weekend

Friday started off great, with Korean BBQ at Hae Woon Dae, and then a party at Vida Lounge thrown by the Latin American and Hispanic Management Association (LAHIMA).

For today, I'm spending the morning and early afternoon cleaning up and doing laundry.  There are a couple of big events going on in Chicago, but Kellogg's last formal of the year, Casino Night, is tonight, so I've got to head up to Evanston.  Therefore, it's likely that I'll try to check out Dillo Day 2008 - I'm hoping to make it up there in time to see Broken Social Scene.

Not sure what tomorrow's gonna look like, but I'm thinking of checking out the Do Division Street Fest.

memorial day weekend

Here are a few pictures from my brief trip to California:

Dolores Park - my favorite park in the city.

Bi-Rite Creamery - This place actually has a shot at displacing Mitchell's as my favorite ice cream in SF.  Pictured is the salted caramel (with rocky road underneath).

My nephew Matthew spending some time on his belly.  He's a huge adorable 3-month old getting bigger everytime I see him!

Wyatt lives a few houses south of my grandmother, so I got to drop by a BBQ they were having on Sunday.  They do a good bratwurst.

My dad, Jennifer and my other grandma went to lunch at Sinbala - a Taiwanese Sausage place that supposedly clears $10k net a day!

my aches

After arriving in San Francisco yesterday afternoon to meet my family, my parents and my younger sister made new travel plans and spent the evening driving down to Pasadena.  My grandmother is going through the final stages of cancer, so we decided to spend the rest of the weekend closer to her.

Anyways, today I woke up with a major crick in my neck.  I think it's likely caused from sitting four hours on the flight from Chicago, and then another five hours on the drive down to Los Angeles. Then again, it may be from playing Final Fantasy Tactics in bed before I went to sleep.  In addition to my neck, my knee is also aching.  This one is definitely due to the injury I sustained a month or so ago.  Plus, I have a feeling all of this is also related to just getting old :(

movie or workout?

What should I do?  Work out or go watch The Singing Revolution?

Update: I worked out, then went to ESPN Zone with Jay to watch the Lakers crush the Spurs.  Overall, a very good night.

next weekend: do-division

In addition to a few Kellogg events, next weekend I plan on going to the beach and checking out the Do-Division Street Fest & Sidewalk Sale.  I went last year, and scored some cool stuff.

If you're in town for the summer, one of my favorite events last year was the Pitchfork Music Festival (which included the Flatstock 17 Poster Convention).  Three day passes have sold out, but I think it's still worth it, if only for a day.  I would probably pick Saturday myself, as I've been listening to Vampire Weekend recently, and they sound like they'd be great live.

ribs and cupcakes

Last night I finally made a trip out to Smoque BBQ.  Aziz and I are trying to make the most of these last few weeks in Chicago, and made last minute plans for some good local eats.  The layout and seating arrangements were interesting, given the class on queuing we both had earlier the day (one line people - it's just more fair!).

Here's a blog post about a cupcake place I hope opens up before I leave: More - featuring savory cupcakes (blue cheese and port, corn with bacon and maple)!

am i a total nerd?

I had assumed most people, if not everyone, would know who George Takei is.  How wrong I was.  Anyways, I went to see him speak at an undergrad Northwestern event, and he was really awesome.  I wonder how Jerry Springer did as the law school's commencement speaker.

books

I'm hoping this summer I'll have a lot of free time lounging around in San Francisco to catch up on some reading.  Here's my short list so far:

The Boat

Profiles in Courage

Mysteries of Pittsburgh

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

Barbarians at the Gate: The Fall of RJR Nabisco

blogging

The NYT has an article about blogging, Exposed, that I found really interesting.

Although it's been a long time since I've blogged regularly, I can really relate to many of the feelings of the article's author.  Recently, I've been having a lot of thoughts about how much I miss blogging regularly, like I did in NY, and how I need to start again.  For me, I love the fact that my thoughts are on record, and I can share them with anyone that is interested.

The main conflict for me in regards to blogging is often I think of something that I'd like to blog about, but I don't think it's substantial enough to be interesting so I end up forgetting about it while I am trying to think of more material to add to the potential post.  Therefore, going forward, I will just start posting a bunch of random thoughts as soon as they occur, and break them into smaller posts so that I don't feel pressured into waiting until I have enough content for one big post.