did i tell you about the ferris wheel?

People! The Toys R Us in Times Square has a ferris wheel. Like, inside.

My mind? Totally blown. (And no, I didn't ride on it. But I was tempted.And yes, I am very easily impressed.)

so nice they named it twice...

So, there is a lot of stuff going on for me, personally, I don't really want to get into it right now. But I realize I didn't say ANYTHING about my trip to NYC a few weeks ago, and since thinking New York makes me ridiculously happy, and happy has been hard to come by this past week, I am going to talk about my trip.

I had been nervous to go, because of all of the news out of NYC having to do with the bedbug "epidemic". Because look - suddenly these things weren't just in hotels anymore. They were in stores, in movie theaters, in all kinds of public places. All I do in NYC is eat and sleep and shop and go to shows. Very much risk for picking up unwanted guests with these activities, yes?? I was scared to death of going to a hotel and getting bitten by creepy crawlies when I slept, and I was absolutely TERRIFIED of unknowingly bringing these critters home with me. DISASTER! Being me, my head went into Worst Case Scenario Mode and it made me crazy. No matter that I had been there in June and we'd been FINE (I didn't know. But still). I dithered for ages, trying to make up my mind. But what the hell? I finally decided that I couldn't just sit around and seal myself up over something that might or might not happen. You've gotta live your life, am I right?

So I found myself buying theater tickets. Booking a flight. Reserving a hotel. Canceling said hotel when I saw a Trip Advisor report of the Bugs. Booking another hotel. And then suddenly it was Tuesday, November 16 and I was at O'Hare! Honestly, at that point, I figured that a bout with bed bugs might actually be BETTER than all of the crap I was dealing with at work.

It was the easiest flight I've ever taken - checked my bag curbside, went through security in about 2 seconds (no full body scan) boarded, took off, yada yada yada, landed at LaGuardia, bag was waiting for me when I got to baggage claim, got on a cab, off I went.

I cannot say enough about the hotel I chose - the Hotel Belleclaire (77th and Broadway). I found it online, booked it because it was bedbug free (!) and had a great stay there. Everyone was so warm and friendly, it was ideally located (right across from the Manhattan Diner!) my room was clean and quiet and blessedly bug free (I checked). I hate elevators, so I never took it - I was on the 3rd floor and so it was easy for me to climb them up and down.

I went to the Shake Shack for lunch - I got the New York dog - without reading the menu. I had no idea New Yorkers put sauerkraut on their hot dogs! What's up with that NYC? Shoulda gotten the "Shack-cago" dog. Even though I don't eat them that way either (and I freaking live here!).

And then I walked. I bought an umbrella at Duane Reade, and then I just started walking. I thought that the city might have changed somehow, with all of this bug stuff. I don't know what all I thought I'd see - buildings with Scarlet B's on them? People furtively itching as they made their way down the streets and on the subway trains? But it was exactly the same as it always was - crowded and chaotic and inviting. I love the feel of New York City. Without a whole lot of effort, I can see myself living there.

So I walked to Lincoln Center and visited the Metropolitan Opera. Alas, no opera on this trip, but I paid my respects to the gift shop. It started raining and so I grabbed the train to Times Square. Oy, Times Square. It's one of those places that you totally have to see, but once you've seen it, it just becomes a massive pain in the ass to deal with. I actually try to avoid it as much as possible, which is difficult, since all of the theaters are right in that area. I had a show at 7:00 (Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, for those of you keeping score at home) but until then, the afternoon was mine and I wandered happily. I ended up in Bryant Park - there's a little holiday craft thing there, little kiosks selling ornaments, knit goods, other gifty type things. I didn't buy anything, but it was fun to just look. I continued wandering, and looking for a place to grab dinner. It was WAY early for dinner, but I stopped at a little Italian place (right near the Belasco Theater, which I found accidentally) and had some delicious lentil soup and a caesar salad. There was a tv playing over the bar, where I was sitting, first it was a soccer game. Then the owners (maybe?), gabbing in Italian, changed the channel - so they could watch the Barefoot Contessa. She was doing something holiday related and the owners were joined by the servers in watching the BC prepare a herb sauce for chicken or turkey or something. That? Was hilarious.

I was early (but what else is new?) so I picked up all of my show tickets, trawled Shubert Alley and spent a whole bunch of time hovering outside of BBAJ.

More on the show later....

start spreading the news...

I'm going to New York in about a week in honor of my thirty-something-eth birthday. Huh, that sounds a bit clunky. Let's just call it 29th and be done, yes? Naturally, I have packed my three days full of shows:

- Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown: I have tickets for this and am excited for it, despite the rather disappointing reviews it's been getting.

- A Life in the Theatre: Patrick Stewart + TR Knight + David Mamet = theatrical awesomeness. A no-brainer

- Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson: I still need to get my ticket for this one, but how could I resist a show whose ads blare the slogan "History just got all sexypants"??

Am also debating wedging in a matinee of A Little Night Music but I guess we'll see...

the lady with the torch...

I promise you we did more in NYC than see shows and slurp down delicious chocolatey ice cream confections - bright and early on Tuesday morning, we also took the Staten Island Ferry nearish the Statue of Liberty. It was a beautiful day, and although it was a sticky slog through lower Manhattan, it was nice and cool on the water. After this, we took a walk around Wall Street and then visited another venerable NYC institution - Century 21.

brooklyn!

The last few times I've been in Brooklyn have been completely by accident. Usually I get on the subway, with the intent to go downtown. My problem is that I'm looking for Fulton Street, but the stop is actually called something else and so then I miss it completely and end up staring with dismay out the window as I see water and then coming to the conclusion, "Oh, crap, I'm in Brooklyn!" Twice, I've done this. But no, a week ago today, we went there on purpose via the Brooklyn Bridge. I'd never crossed it before and wanted to. So yeah. We did it!

Except it was kind of disappointing on the Brooklyn side. We'd intended to find a nice water taxi to take us back to Manhattan except you know what? THEY DON'T EXIST ON WEEKDAYS except during rush hour (we were there at 11:30). We'd been looking forward to the famous ice cream they've got over there, but the stand didn't open until 12:00. We had already gotten our exercise (plus we were hungry!) and didn't really want to cross the bridge on foot again. It looked like we were going to have to until I spotted a cab and flagged that sucker down. It took us back over the bridge to city hall which I have to say was the best 6 bucks we spent on the whole trip.

speaking of food...

We had lots of great food while we were in NYC. Just quickly, some of our food stops:

• Shake Shack on the UWS
• Crumbs for cupcakes. Panic attack moment when it appeared the UWS outpost had moved and wouldn't be open until July 1 - fortunately, old store a block or so away was still open and we were able to procure red velvet, vanilla, hostess, and cookie dough 'cakes without incident. Except later, when Heidi was eating her cookie dough cupcake and discovered this weird, chocolatey fudge center. "It's staring at me!!"
  
  
• Pigalle for dinner pre-Mamma Mia! Where the words "raspberry sorbet" escaped my lips completely on their own volition because I had meant to order lemon.


• Nice Matin for the Best Waffle in the Universe (they don't list them that way in the menu, but they should, I tell you. They should.)


• A Salt and Battery for fish and chips (and yes. We went there just for the name.) We had a bit of a Venice flashback here, because the guy behind the counter was so intent on the World Cup match he was watching, we had to wait to place our orders until there was a break in the action. The adorable English guys next door at Tea & Sympathy were also watching the game - but on a Spanish tv station. I guess soccer is a universal language.


• Bagels and lox and shmear at a place on the UWS (79th and Amsterdam, I think) because we thought that they would probably throw us out of Manhattan otherwise. Don't they check your blood-cream cheese levels at the airport now??


• Max Brenner's Chocolate Bar OMG, OMG, OMG. The man has his own chocolate philosophy and his own gift shop. How could I not love this place??
  

My "Eighties Milkshake" including vanilla rum ice cream, and chocolate and probably some other things too, with an artful chocolate shell (a milkshake with a shell!! Squee!) and served in the "Alice" glass (the other side says "Drink Me" Too right I will!) BEST. MILKSHAKE. EVER. I may or may not have purchased an Alice glass of my own to keep forever and ever.

Heidi's treat involved creating her own popsicle using the above shown vanilla ice cream bar and her own little assortment of fixings. We may or may not have used our spoons to just eat the chocolate in that little bowl.

• Dinner at Landmarc in the Time Warner building with Cara, my lovely former college roommate, now a high-powered New York attorney.

this ain't yo mamma's musical, punk

So yes. American Idiot. I had been curious about it, which fueled my desire to see it. It's kind of an interesting idea, marrying punk rock with musical theater. It's been done before, of course, in shows like Rent, Spring Awakening, Hair. What interested me the most though, was the idea that this show is about our own time and our own issues, not about living in America at the end of the millennium, or during the 1960s or 1890s Germany. The concept here is inherently relatable to our lives today since we're living it. Aside from that, I know of and like Green Day, and it sounded like fun in a loud and angsty sort of way (how could someone not love a show that was called "Hair's sullen, cynical grandchild"?)

This is, essentially, how I summed it up to someone a few days after I saw it. It was good. Good, not great. Was it the best thing I've ever seen? No. Would I see it again? Yes. Would I recommend it? Also yes.

Plot? The time is now. The show follows three young men (introduced early on, but names promptly forgotten, at least by me) coming of age in our own turbulent times, confronted by a sea of conflicting messages constantly being blared over the airwaves by the media. And boy, are they PISSED OFF about it. An hour and a half and 21 musical numbers ensue, following Johnny (an excellent, excellent John Gallagher, Jr.) who struck out to the big city to play in band (maybe?), met Mimi (whoops, I mean, well, actually she's called "whatsername") and does some serious drugs doled out by "St. Jimmy". Johnny's friend Tunny goes with him, decides to join the army, goes off to fight and comes back wounded. Their other friend, Will, is all set to go off with them but finds out his girlfriend is pregnant. Time for him to get off the couch and grow up.

All of them do a lot of growing up, actually, in this fast-paced show. Green Day's music is like poetry (no, seriously) and although I went in knowing a handful of songs, I have had several of them in my head since we've returned (damn it). My friend Heidi is well-known in our circle for reading her Entertainment Weekly and therefore knowing her shit, and she told me that the album American Idiot was written sort of like a rock opera, with a theme running throughout. The transition of this music to the stage seemed like a natural progression, and the music actually lends itself to this kind of dramatization and aggressive, physical, non-jazz hands style dancing.

So - what worked for me? The amazing cast and their tremendous energy. Every one of them gave 110% for the entire show- especially the girl in the opening song, who made her entrance upsidedown on a trapeze like thing. She hung there for a good long time, bopping and head banging along with the music. Then she came to the ground, got off and started dancing. Dude. I can barely headbang standing up without getting dizzy, after doing all that, I would have fallen down or something. I also now have a serious crush on John Gallagher Jr. I loved at the end (SPOILER ALERT HERE, people!) the curtain had gone down and came back up on the whole cast holding guitars. They played and sang "Good Riddance (Time of Your Life)" which is one of my absolute favorite songs. Also loved the voice of "Whatsername" Johnny's love interest, played with serious awesomeness by Rebecca Naomi Jones.

So what didn't work for me?? Oh, I don't know. I didn't hate it or anything, I'm just kind of lukewarm about it, I guess. I had issues with the "plot" such as it was. I didn't feel a strong connection with the characters. I remembered "Johnny" but not really any of the others. If you don't know their names, how can you be expected to care about them and what happens to them?

I remember reading somewhere that it was a good idea to listen to the cast album prior to attending the show, to really hear and understand the music and what was happening. I mean, I'm not a dummy and so it wasn't like I didn't understand what they were saying, but there was a lot going on and it was really LOUD. And I think sometimes they could have gone further - this music has strong messages in it, you have tvs all over the set, just go for it. I left with kind of an "oh" feeling, not quite knowing what they wanted me to get out of the show. Although, I have been sitting around pondering it since last Tuesday, so maybe it did something right after all?? I just didn't know though - Is it a call to action? A call to awareness? Am I supposed to leave happy? Sad? Pissed off? Should I go off and start a revolution? Is the answer that maybe there ARE no answers and maybe I'm an American Idiot myself??

Afterwards, we went to Junior's for some post-show discussion and snacks. I had cheesecake (strawberry shortcake cheesecake, in the interest of full disclosure) and Heidi (surprise!) had soup.

NYC or Bust!

Even though I'd been to NYC (many times) before, Heidi had not. I wanted to be sure we did all of the great stuff that one needs to do on a first visit. Fortunately, I had some assistance in planning the itinerary:

"lemme see... first stop, fish market, nom, nom, nom... next stop, stachoo liberty, and den I am finking bwoadway show. Whaddabout Cats? Dat my favwite."

(Oh yeah, he was a big help, all right!)

TOMORROW NIGHT....

Barring all snow-related flight delays, I will be in New York City tomorrow, and seeing the Divine Ms. Renee Fleming in Thais... Oh, I am so very excited. I saw Renee sing this role in Chicago back in 2003, and it is gorgeous. Speaking of gorgeous, check out the Thais photo from the Met.

Wow & wow & wow. So glamorous. They are, it must be said, doing an outstanding job with... pretty much everything. The promotional photos (which started - last year?)are AMAZING, the HD broadcasts, I even got an email reminder for the performance tomorrow night (as if I could forget!). Bravo, Peter Gelb. Bravo.

The Morning After

Notes that I took on Monday, June 16


Today I...

• Ate waffles at Nice Matin (just as good as I remembered!)
• Completely by accident, found the New York Public Library (had planned to just get subway to 42nd Street and walk to 5th, but stop actually let me off right there. Yess! Sometimes, am brilliant!)
• Walked from library down 5th to 57th - just cuz. Stopped by Rockefeller Center, Radio City Music Hall (ahhh!), Carnegie Hall
• Ate at a deli down the street from City Center (not Carnegie Deli - too crowded and was hungry) and had massive piece of cheesecake. I had trouble deciding which to order and waitress said, helpfully "Do you want to look at them?"
• Took N train back to 42nd and wandered around. Shopping.
• Found myself in front of the St. James theater (again, completely by accident) and picked up my ticket for tuesday performance
• Saw "The Happening" - for god's sake, don't see that movie. Was terrible. Should have waited 35 minutes to see the Zohan.
• Went on nighttime bus tour. Still daylight. Got rained on while we came back from Brooklyn. Had to wear unattractive plastic bag style poncho with hood. Tour cut short.
• Bought umbrella, went back to hotel.
• Changed clothes, went to dinner at Ristorante LaGrolla on Amsterdam Avenue.
• Ate (delicious) risotto with salmon, safforn, peas and scallions.
• Lost umbrella (damn)

Notes that I took on Tuesday, June 17th

Today I...

• Ate another waffle (helloooo, lovah...)
• Took the wrong train while attempting to go downtown and ended up in Brooklyn (grrr. Not brilliant.)
• Shopping for birthday present at South Street Seaport, rapidly got tired of touristy kitsch and went (somewhat inexplicably, yes?) back to 42nd Street. More shopping. This is what I do when left to my own devices??
• From there went to Lincoln Center to buy "This Charming Man" by Marian Keyes (had to get something to read on the flight home!)
• Went to the Historical Society. Replica of guillotine worth $6 (student) admission
• Went also to American Museum of Natural History.
• Realized am totally uninterested in Natural History-style exhibits. An hour and a half (and $11 student admission) that I am not getting back.
• Because I am SO.INCREDIBLY.PARANOID about missing curtain, I arrive in midtown ridiculously early. Eat at Junior's (but no cheesecake) and wander around for the hour and a half or so before it is time to head back to the theater.

Time for the show. Ohmygod. I could again go on & on & on & on & on, but then this would be a really long post & you all probably would not like me very much. I think I have said that I could listen to Gypsy every minute of every day of the rest of my life and be happy. I am not kidding here. If I lived in NYC, I would go and see the show a whole lot. I would be happy. Broke, but happy. This marked the 10th time I have seen Patti do Gypsy, and every time, I marvel. I know what's going to happen, I even know some of the inflections they will use, the movements they will make, and yet, I am entranced, enthralled, enchanted, every single time. It was even more special this time around because so many people were there to support the cast after the big Tony wins. It - oh, I can't even describe the thrill I felt. The anticipation beforehand, anxiously bouncing around in my seat when the lights went down, cheering wildly for Patti's first entrance, and then for Boyd's, and then for Laura's.... until the audience was nearly told off for being so vocal... then we all settled down... I have tried to explain the experiences I've had in the theater to people who don't know, who don't go to live theater and have no clue what I am talking about. It was like a spiritual experience. Is that too much to say? It's how I feel.

Afterwards, booked to stage door, and got a fairly decent spot. Got shoved to the front when Patti turned up, which was good, but I always get so overwhelmed, I couldn't rub two brain cells together to form an intelligent sentence. It always seems to me that saying something like "you were great" or similar doesn't really capture everything I'd mean to say to her, doesn't convey the impact, the specialness of the occasion, so I can't even say anything, which is annoying, but ah, maybe next time!). The lady next to me said something to her about knowing a teacher of Patti's - "Which teacher?" Patti asked, while scribbling her name on extended programs and stagebills. The lady said something rather incoherent and Patti clearly had no idea what she was talking about because all she said was, "Huhhh..." and moved on. You either got it, or you ain't.

As for me, it was in a cab and back to the hotel for frantic last minute packing.... The next morning I left for LaGuardia by 8:00. United had canceled my return flight since I had not flown with them on Sunday, and so I spent a little bit of time getting that straightened out. No other problems and back home...

Let me just say this, kids, it's gonna take me a long time to get over this one...

London Calling...

Could this be true?

If so, it would mark the first time I've gone made an international trek for a diva. Although we did try to make plans to get up to Paris to see Renee during the whole summer in Rome thing, it didn't quite work out.

I was in London once - when I was in high school, I think in spring of 1995. The trip kind of rocked, in retrospect, but it was my first trip away from home AND my first trip out of the country, so at the time, I don't think I enjoyed it as much as I could have. I'd really wanted to go, and a friend was going to go with me, but she bailed at the last minute so I went with people mainly from the drama department, who I didn't know very well. As I say though, it kind of rocked, because our "chaperones" despite promises to our parents that we would never be left alone, etc. totally left us alone - a LOT. They were the worst chaperones possibly in the history of anything (Robert Johnson, I am looking at you here. And I am not just saying this because you spent four years calling me "Nicole") I totally got seperated from the group in Windsor and it was ME who found THEM rather than the other way around. I'd probably still be there, speaking with an English accent and walking the Queen's corgis or whatever, if I hadn't located them. A year or two later, when we went on the choir trip - to Minnesota, mind you, our director put tape on our doors so that they could tell if we went from room to room at night. Letting us wander unattended through the Mall of America gave her a minor heart attack.

We stayed in the gloomiest kip of a hotel you'd ever want to stay in (the Enterprise Hotel, right near one of the tube stations, I want to say Earl's Court). The rooms were spread out and in odd locations. There were crazy French people in one of the rooms who would knock on doors and run away. We were nowhere near other members of the group. One night, Mr. Johnson knocked on the door to "check" on us. Here's how it went

Knock knock.
Us: Yeah?
Him: Are you all in there
Us: Yeah
Him: OK! Good night!

And he left! We were all in there, at the time, although we sneaked out later. One night, the chaperones (all teachers, and the head of the fine arts department!) all got totally trashed and so we were up to our own devices. One afternoon, I remember wandering around Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street, completely alone, but totally happy. I was 15 or 16 at the time. I went shopping. I bought Doc Martens. I had high tea. No big deal. We saw two shows She Loves Me and Don't Dress for Dinner - I don't remember much about either. What I do remember was wanting with a fiery passion to go and see a new show called Sunset Boulevard... one of my classmates did sneak out and go see it. I don't know now, if Patti was still in at that point - does anyone know??

So yeah. Gypsy? London? I'm in.

Photos (finally!)

Finally have gotten my shit together to share some photos of my trip to NYC 2 weekends ago. The view from Cara's apartment on Wall St.(but watch out for those killer moths!)

Doesn't this look like a nice little place?

South Street Seaport. This was right near one of those Body World exhibits, y'know, where they have those preserved bodies on display? I didn't catch it when it was in Chicago at MSI, so I toyed briefly with the idea of visiting this one... But admission was like 30 bucks! Too rich for my blood, especially since I recently blew the wad on LuPone (but she's worth every cent!). So I said screw it and went for a lemon Italian ice and a manicure instead.

More from Downtown

I know y'all think that all I did when I was in NYC two weekends ago was eat, sleep and see Gypsy, but that's a lie! I also saw Grey Gardens, AND I ventured downtown to visit my former college roomie, Cara.

Does anybody know what this building is? I think it's on Water Street.

View from the South Street Seaport. I can't explain my fascination with bridges...

And of course....

Gypsy! To see some truly fabulous pictures from 2 weeks ago AND from closing night last night, go and visit Sarah B's Adventures, Litwit and Little Voice (go to the links on the side over there. You know where I mean. My link thing is giving me gyp again, and I can't figure out what I'm doing wrong. So you're gonna have to work for it. But believe me when I tell you that you just totally need to see this stuff. It's good.)

The Gypsy Cab. I wonder if it's weird for Patti to be around town and see part of her own face on cabs and stuff? I was also getting looks when I was wearing my t-shirt (yes, I know. Such a geek!). But I guess it would be kind of alarming to have Patti glaring at you all "whadddre YOU lookin' at"?? from a t-shirt, huh?

My hotel room. I stayed at the Park 79 on 79th and Columbus. It was cute, quiet, clean and I would definitely stay there again. Just take the stairs because the elevator is tiny and it's extremely slow.
I got into the spirit of the thing and bought some roses from a little store on Amsterdam Av. They really brightened up my little room, and allowed me to wander about singing "Everything's Coming Up Roses" to myself. I had to thieve some extra plastic cups from housekeeping to put them all in (very classy, no?) but I think they looked okay. They mainly lived on top of the AC unit, as you see here. But I also put a bunch by the bed (see above, with lovely strategic placement of comb, pen and flyer).

Also have a pic of me sitting in Patti's chair at our own little after party, but it's horrible, horrible (why do I always take such hideous pictures?) so you don't get to see it.

by the way...

I did some other stuff this weekend aside from seeing Gypsy (but not much).
Friday, I headed downtown to do a little shopping at the South Street Seaport and see Cara. I was also really tempted to see the Body World exhibit they had at the Seaport, y'know, those bodies that they do some kind of weird procedure with and then pose them around? But it was SO expensive, and I skipped it. Had a manicure instead. Much less graphic and gross. I have some pictures from downtown, it was SUCH a beautiful day, but you will just have to use your imagination for now, till I can get them up here.

It was fun seeing Cara, my roommate in college for 4 years, now a high-powered attorney living on Wall Street. Seriously. Right on Wall Street. Anyway. We went for sushi near her place and spent the whole afternoon catching up. I went back to the hotel to change before I went back to City Center. Did the stage door afterwards and then went to a little place around the corner to have some food, as I'd only bolted a sandwich and some ring-dings at the hotel before the show. For some reason, I had a hard time getting a cab after that, so I walked to Columbus Circle to try and get one there. Was a little tempted by the Harry Potterpalooza that was going on, and it was almost midnight. I was very close to going to check out the festivities, but I was SO exhausted, I went to the hotel and went to sleep instead.

I DID get the book, the next morning in Lincoln Center. I finished it Sunday on the plane. And, can I just say: I was (SO) right about a certain plot development??? HAHAHA. JK Rowling, you are an evil genius (and since I totally called something, does that make ME an evil genius as well?? I think so!).

Okay, okay, moving on.....

trainspotting

So. I'm a commuter now. It's a whole new world for me. The people I see on public transportation in Chicago are so much less exciting than the people Sarah sees out and about in NYC, but I've already had some great train adventures on my rides to 13.

This week - on 2 separate rides home, I've seen 2 guys sit down, kick back and... open cans of beer. On the train. Is it me, or is that a little weird? You can't wait half an hour before starting happy hour?

Mostly, the commuters are quiet, business types. They are reading newspapers, listening to music, typing on computers. Some are on the phone (don't get me started). But mostly, they keep to themselves, they are polite and they are quiet. Yesterday, I'm on the earlier train home and I decided to sit on the upper level. I must have felt something in my bones.... right where I would have sat were 2 ladies (take note: 2 adults) and a little boy. He was (oh gawd, I'm so bad at this) maybe 4? For a while, he was sitting (not very quietly, but whatever) with his grandmother. I think he was eating something. For the rest of the ride, he ran around the car, up and down the steps, yelling and playing and being a noisy child. All this time, neither adult attempted to make him sit down, be quiet and stop getting in the way of passengers who wanted to get out (one lady hit the kid in the head with her bag - on accident - as she tried to go around him to leave the car). The grandmother asked him a few times to come and sit with her, but he didn't and that was apparently okay with them. I could see my fellow passengers kind of looking and being quietly annoyed. But nobody said anything. If I'd been down there with them, I probably would have done the usual loud sighing, eye rolling and muttering comments under my breath. No worries though, I said not a thing - just vowed to never ever have children.

Why do people think everyone else needs to be entertained by their child? It's not cute okay? All I wanted was a nice quiet relaxing trip home and I ended up with a big headache. What a brat. Thank god that's not my regular train. They got off at my stop, too so there is a chance I can see them around town. Can't wait.

On a happier note. Sometimes, I bring my knitting along and knit on the train. One afternoon, I was working on (what else?) a scarf, and the conductor stopped to chat with me about it. So did another lady as she was getting off. Something about knitting just draws people together. When I was knitting on the way to NYC in February, I made many new friends on the flight, just talking about knitting.

Getting to 13

When I accepted this new position, there are a few things I gave up - namely, a nice, convenient, safe (for the most part) 15 to 20 minute drive to the office, a parking spot in a covered garage, and a 2 block walk to the office.

Because driving downtown every day would just pretty much SUCK, I turned to public transportation. And this is where getting to 13 is not as nice or convenient. I have 2 options.

1. Metra. There is a station in the MG and the train goes straight to Union Station. It takes half an hour to get downtown. From Union Station, I walk about 20 minutes to the office. This is currently the option of choice. It's great now, but in the winter I may go for...

2. CTA. Otherwise known as the 'EL' Yellow line from home to Howard St. Station. Purple line "Express" (hahaha) all the way downtown. Stop about a block and a half from work. This takes forever. Afternoon trains are mucho crowded and noisy. I hardly ever get a seat until we're well out of the Loop. EL trains are S.L.O.W. and are much skeezier than Metra trains. It all kind of balances out though - taking the EL keeps me on the train longer, but lets me off close by. The Metra has a shorter ride, but I am doing all that walking.

Oh well. At least I'm getting my cardio.....

i wasn't done...

Blogger was being cranky. More pics. Enjoy.

Old West street

Goofy self-portraits, the mark of the lone traveler....

my brain is full.....

Wisteria Lane!

Wow, you can trade your child up for a better model at Universal!!

Shrek Stuff!!

Can't think any more. Here are some more pictures from my trip to sunny CA (WAHHH! It is SNOWING here today! Where's spring??) & my day at Universal...

For Your Viewing Pleasure...

Some pics from my LA Trip...