Speaking of Bill...

asian + facial hair = fail

2012-01-05T13:38:00.002-06:00

it's 5 days into the new year and an unplanned resolution has started to emerge. not shaving. it started with falling ill on Friday, December 30th after coming home from work. fever and chills set in immediately. once i started to emerge from my drug induced slumber sometime on new years day, i was confronted with a thicker than usual amount of stubble and a choice. continue to trim the roughly 56 (countable) hairs above my lip and on my chin or let them be. i still had Monday off and no immediate obligations. their stay of execution was granted.

after almost a week of research (blogs, eliciting frank opinions of friends, and internet searches of pai mei) I have come to a sad conclusion. Even if my life depended on it, I will not and cannot ever have a full on beard. in fact, a goatee is looking like a long-shot at this point. with some exceptions, most of the asians I know don't have much facial hair and where it does come in usually isn't connected. I can grow sideburns like nobody's business and only have a sparse grouping of follicles above my lip and on my chin. think fu-man chu and where his wisps of hair start. he certainly didn't choose the mustached equivalent of comb-over, that's all he had to work with.

i read online that i shouldn't shave anything for a couple of weeks before trimming. i don't know if i'll be able to commit to such an itchy and unrefined task but for now i'm all in. thoughts/opinions welcome. pictures and updates to come.

hear ye hear ye

2009-09-08T13:32:00.002-05:00

big announcement. [insert fanfare here] sarah finally embraced firefox at work, and although she doesn't like tabbed browsing yet, we all know she will in time. sarah wanted recognition, in the form of snickerdoodle, so here it is from specialty bakery...in all its freshly baked gigantic cinnamony goodness. i just hope i don't eat it before i get home...

the many sides of winnie (an on going series)

2008-12-09T13:36:00.004-06:00

our dog is funny, she's got some crazy mood swings and definitely has an attitude of sorts. today i introduce to you her "pouncing" face and her "who dere?!" face.

looking for an action shot, i decided to sit on the floor and call her to me. clearly, i didn't think this one through as you can only imagine what the next frame was like. i think it was the zoom at the time, but corgis in the picture are closer than they appear. the camera did not break in the end...

and sarah picked up this gem perfectly capturing winnie's skittish nature. i suppose you couldn't help but hear EVERYTHING with those ears right?

bring it!

2008-12-03T16:42:00.002-06:00

it's supposed to snow tonight. unlike last year where sarah and i got caught off guard with one of the snowiest winters in recent memory, with a long driveway and just shovels, we purchased this beast. so tonight, i say let it snow, let it snow, let it snow...

bridges

2008-11-26T11:51:00.002-06:00

so it appears that i might have to work on the first day of my christmas vacation now. i'll be in florida and that really blows. i guess i'll cross that bridge when i get to it, but for now, grad school is looking pretty good.

happy thanksgiving to everyone. i'm not posting for the rest of november cause i'm considering it one long weekend :)

frise...

2008-11-25T13:51:00.003-06:00

as in carpet. sarah just told me we'll be getting our new carpet delivered and installed on friday. do you know what that means? do you?! by the time this weekend is over, hopefully we'll have all the basement and first floor remodeling done! that just leaves the upstairs bathroom. woot. i would expect pictures soon...

change of pace

2008-11-24T18:14:00.002-06:00

not at work, today was still crazy, but i'm talking the morning routine. sarah started at her new locale this morning which means for the first time in like 4 years, we'll be getting off at different stops in the city. at least we get to ride in together for like 90% of the commute though. it's a little odd and i'll probably develop a new coffee spot to go to, but it was bound to happen as i'll moving locations sometime in 2009 probably.

pork chops for dinner tonight. can't wait!

sprint for the finish

2008-11-21T13:00:00.003-06:00

...let's hope this doesn't turn out to be a marathon as we round the bend.

like most every friday, i had max's today for lunch. a greasy hole in the wall dive with excellent double cheeseburgers. normally this is a guilty pleasure i look forward to after a mostly-healthy week. but the long hours of late have forced me to eat out a bunch already and i think i need a little detox this weekend.

on a happy note, i think i beat sarah to posting today. wahoo.

i brought extra...

2008-11-20T11:08:00.002-06:00

...clothes...to work...

i really hope tonight isn't an all-nighter, but i'm prepared (kinda).

my buddy frank has offered to let me crash at his place if i can't catch my train tonight.

i miss my wife and dog and home and sleep. a little over a day to go and i'll be free - Free!

50 hours

2008-11-19T10:31:00.002-06:00

as sarah's mentioned, i've been a bit busy at work lately with a deadline of this friday. well, i ran into a co-worker on this project and all he said to me initially was "50 hours." he was referring to the number of hours left to go before the report is actually due, but it's a sad day when i thought he was talking about the amount of time worked this week already. glass half full or glass half empty...

beedle the scammer

2008-11-18T09:08:00.004-06:00

i get regular emails from amazon usually pitching items i've already purchased or ones i'd never ever consider using their bad logic. recently, i got a notice about pre-ordering the tales of beedle the bard, from j.k. rowling. sarah and i love the potter series and had no question that we were going to get a copy of this. however, the notice was not for the "standard" edition that costs only $7.59 but rather the "collector's" edition that costs...well, there's no price listed in the email. [cue ominous music] i click through and after the jump find out this version contains some framable prints, extra drawings and an overall more wizard-y feel to it. price? $100.00

one hundred dollars for a kids book? what kind of mass produced collector's edition costs 12 times more than the original? i dunno about you, but i'm seriously disgusted by this...

cage match 2: brian v the oyster

2008-11-17T09:40:00.002-06:00

we hit the Gage for dinner on saturday before seeing the incredibly disappointing quantum of solace (don't ask, i just can't go into it yet). naturally, brian opted to eat deep dish pizza a mere 4 hours before our previously arranged meal time, so he wasn't all that hungry. in lieu of a full meal he ordered two appetizers one lobster dish, the other oysters. he liked the former and could only down one oyster before sending the dish away. he got mussels/clams mixed up with oysters - thus the showdown. after a good laugh, we thought all was said and done until we heard in typical brian fashion, "i can feel that oyster swimmin' around." sigh. what are we going to do with him...

cage match: casual friday v. winnie the weaver

2008-11-14T11:21:00.002-06:00

about a year ago, my firm decided to let us have casual/jean fridays. it's a small but nice concession by the big guys. woohoo. today is a bit brisk so i'm wearing a sweater.

***flash to sometime in the middle of the night***
i imagine at some point after we go to bed, winnie must get out of her crate and tiptoe into our bedroom with her ninja-like skills. i see her pulling out the sweater i'm going to wear in the morning and proceed to weave her loose hairs into it, putting it back nicely and going back to sleep. an impressive feat made even more impressive when we consider her lack of opposable thumbs.

ok, it's almost lunchtime now and as i extract a slew of wavy undercoat, i'm convinced that it's not like i brushed up willy-nilly against some and have a couple on me through the power of static cling. no, winnie was a determined little corgi and really made a display of her mad textile skills. sigh. it's probably a good thing that i can't see my backside...

VB

2008-11-13T11:14:00.002-06:00

tonight is my work league's final intermediate regular season volleyball game. let's hope it goes well...at least better than it has been. we were pretty clumsy in the spring, got 2nd place during summer beach, and now we're dead last this fall. what gives? good thing everyone makes the playoffs :p we're in quite the funk now and have to ditch it fast. my thumb is almost healed and we should have our full squad present. no excuses.

sub-six

2008-11-12T14:01:00.005-06:00

i was gonna spew some more go-see-quantum-of-solace-this-weekend stuff, but a food coma has hijacked anything of interest i had to say. i need a nap. i'm tired. i know a lot of others are too (if facebook statuses are any indicator). what's the deal with our generation being chronically sleep deprived? i'm pretty sure my parents' generation was even more tired on average, but just didn't bitch about it. i've also heard that as you get older you don't need as much sleep. are they serious? being generous, i get around 6 hours a night on average and have a hard time figuring out how i'll function on sub-6. hell, what would one look like on let's say 4 hours of sleep every night? i think the correct term to describe that would be "hot mess," according to urban dictionary. ok, i know people who do it (my old AP chem teacher) and i probably will too one day (read: fatherhood) but for now, i find that such a scary prospect. tonight, i'm going to be in bed before midnight. i'll let you know what happens in the morning.

yes winnie, that's exactly how i feel...

food-ee

2008-11-11T10:40:00.003-06:00

i just had a chat with some co-workers about eating habits - particularly, cooking versus eating out. i absolutely love a good restaurant but i think dumbledore summed it up best with "there will be a time when we must choose what is easy and what is right."

eating healthy is expensive and takes a lot of work. if you do it yourself, access to decent produce and being ok with eating a 9pm are a few requisites. i won't even talk about the cleanup. we're normally pretty consistent and make home cooked meals about 5 times a week (the weekdays) but last night, after a long weekend and longer monday and having to make a lowes run for approximately 500lbs of tile, sarah and i grabbed two pies from papa johns. not that we "settled" on it, we love their pizzas, but they're not good for you. seriously, anything that comes with a only-a-liquid-when-heated-garlic-butter dipping sauce is out for your money with no concern for your well being. and if you truly are what you eat, then sarah and i are in a bit of trouble.

so despite the feeling of being "unhealthy" now, our habits aren't going to change in the near future. next time we're short on time, we won't be short on fast food. anybody have a healthy recipe they'd like to share (that still tastes good)?

i (heart) imdb

2008-11-10T09:37:00.002-06:00

i can't help it...whenever i watch a movie or TV, i start relating characters to other roles they've played. the obscure ones make me the happiest like identifying people "before they were famous." sarah's favorite catch seems to be finding john c. reilly in pretty much anything created since the early 90s. seriously though, the man's been in a LOT of movies. we've also noticed hayden penettiere, aka heroes' save the cheerleader, starred in a lot as a child.

my latest connection was drawn last night while watching a guilty pleasure, trueblood - HBO's vampire mini-series. in it, i saw some scruffy looking secondary character that made me think of none other, but a guy from gilmore girls. that's right, gilmore girls. sarah loves the series, owns it all on DVD and so yeah, i've watched a couple of episodes. uncertainty abound, we turned to imdb and hallelujah, i was right. congrats bill, you're a dork, on so many levels...

----

off topic comments

1. in defense of my national blog posting month record, i didn't post this weekend, because i was working, but mostly because it was the weekend i don't think that should count

2. quantum of solace. out friday. see it.

3. basement work begins wednesday. renovation pics of the "beginning of the end" will come shortly...

schadenfreude

2008-11-07T11:28:00.002-06:00

i'm taking today's post to share with you one of web 2.0's better inventions. it provides a lot of smiles and helps me through most of my days...

world, meet failblog

and failblog's closely related cousin the pundit kitchen

seriously, what's better than to take a moment and laugh at the stupid and silly during a week of complications and headaches. in particular, here are a couple of my favorites.

from failblog:

from pundit kitchen:

see Sarah Palin pictures

change

2008-11-06T11:55:00.002-06:00

it's been a long haitus, but seeing that it's NaBloPoMo, i guess i should try starting this up again. probably nobody is reading this anymore, which means i have very little to lose anyway. now if i don't post again soon and return to hibernation, check out facebook, the de facto micro blog on life events and every little piece of TMI in between. besides, if the election has taught me anything, it's that it's time for change. the president (boo-ya!), the season (just boo), daylight savings (annoying) and house renovations (still...not...finished...) just to name a few.

ok, i'm not gonna push this first post back - i don't wanna strain anything. to leave you on a happy note, here's a pic of winnie on her 1st birthday.
she might not look like it, but she's overcome with joy.

JIN!!!......JJJIIIINNNNNN!!!!!!!!

2008-05-29T21:14:00.002-05:00

NNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You Bastards!

damn damn damn damn DAMN...

you know what time it is...

2008-04-07T09:26:00.002-05:00

the weather this weekend was great - hit the mid 60's, sunny, no rain. and you know what that means - sarah and i had the first grilling of the season! so...happy...

in the words of chris rock...

2008-03-05T09:31:00.004-06:00

"just cause you can do it, don't make it a good f#$%ing idea. i can drive my car with my feet..."

on that note, meet crocs' latest addition to their lineup. a cell phone holder...

::sigh::

chk..chk...chk...

2008-02-25T09:18:00.003-06:00

yup, that's what our home laptop sounds like now. last night sarah was surfing the net when the infamous noise emerged. yeah, our hard drive crashed. last backup - july 2007. i know, i know, but we started working on the house after the vacation, the holidays hit and here we are. i don't know if i'll be able to salvage any data from it but we're hoping that i'll be able to get the music off my ipod efficiently and that the photos will be ok too.

a life dependent on technology surely has its ups and downs. basically, i'm telling you to go back up your computers and data. i mean it. do it. NOW!

although it came to a frustrating (crashing?) end, the weekend was otherwise fub and productive. we managed to clean up the house, get winnie to training, get the car emission tested, bid adieu to val who's going to thailand indefinitely, chill with frank and leejean (bravo for making the long haul), have brian, billy and cullan over for breakfast, then we went to the field museum (free all month!) and had dinner at the weber grill.

ok, now for a nice relaxing week of...work?

Ein

2007-11-07T08:53:00.000-06:00

so me and the mrs. are thinking about getting a dog. in particular, we're thinking about a pembroke welsh corgi. if you're not sure what those look like and happen to be a cowboy bebop fan, then think of ein. he was a corgi. i just hope ours can protect me from the Toys in the Attic as well.

if you're not a cowboy bebop fan, then here are a couple of pics.

our major concern now is our work schedule. we're not exactly sure if we're ready to have another's well being depend on us, and if it's fair to have a dog just to have them alone from 9-5 each weekday. anybody have thoughts on this?

Big Strides

2007-10-25T13:55:00.000-05:00

This past Sunday was a beautiful day. Not only because it was warm with clear skies, but because 2,000 people came out to walk 3 miles in support of the fight against breast cancer.

A big thanks goes out to our generous friends, family and co-workers who helped contribute to our efforts. The first Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in the south suburbs was a huge success as we raised about $225,000! - the original goal was $150k.

good food, fine wine

2007-10-04T16:10:00.000-05:00

on monday we dined at a ritzy, but very authentic italian restaurant Merlo's on Maple. it was a "thank you" dinner for a completed work project and it went really well. excellent food and the pres ordered some great wine for the table. one thing i did notice though is that no matter how much i try to "get into" and appreciate good wine, i'm still so clueless about it all. i know what i like - i have general ideas about what types of wines i find palatable, but despite my best efforts, i cannot recognize a single name off of a wine list at a decent restaurant. if any of you have suggestions out there to get a handle on this or simply have a personal favorite, please share. i'll start with a widely available dinner wine that you can nab for like 9 bucks called "red bicyclette - syrah". 2003 in particular was a good year.

Hippo Birdie two-Ewe

2007-09-21T09:00:00.000-05:00

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!

to celebrate, we have dinner plans tonight

we have lunch plans with my family tomorrow

across the universe and RA sushi in the evening

then a uchicago brunch on sunday at blue water grill

and at some point, we'll have to go get that breadmaker...

I'm finally blogging...and asking for money...

2007-09-19T22:16:00.000-05:00

Sarah and I will be participating in the American Cancer Society's annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk.

The walk is scheduled for October 21st so we have about a month to go. Please support the effort by donating whatever you can or even joining up with us for the walk. You can use the links below to contribute online.

The team page

My Page

Thanks!

whiplash

2007-08-09T15:27:00.000-05:00

i hate being so tired that i'm falling asleep at my desk. even more i hate waking up from my stupor - it's not gentle by any means, rather it's a violent whiplash motion followed up immediately with a kind of "i meant to do that" stretch in case anbody saw me...

oh my word...

2007-08-09T11:56:00.000-05:00

it's late summer already! we had europe in june, so i'm ok with that having flown by, but july? what the hell happened there? it was july 1st for like 5 days straight, i blinked, then BAM it was august.

as i've gotten older, i've definitely felt time move faster. when you're a kid, waiting a week for something to happen felt like an eternity. nowadays the weeks lapse at an unreal pace and i always have a nagging sense that i'm behind. i hate that feeling. it might be different if there were legitimate deadlines approaching, but when i start questioning whether or not i've "wasted" a day simply by relaxing i have to wonder what i'm doing wrong. then there's the big question - how do i fix it?

it's not a quarter life crisis (like i'm really gonna make it to 100) i'm experiencing, but rather a checkup to make sure i'm on the right path, let alone going at the right speed. a few milestones have have probably helped to nudge me to reevaluate. val's on her second kid, leah morgan is due on november, bj is getting married in january, lily and brian both have birthdays this sunday and a large horde of people have returned to school. don't even get me started on the MBA v. PHD debate...not everyone can persue both (faisal). so what should i deal with first? ah, i agree, first things first - time for lunch...

Gotta love the onion...

2007-07-27T09:10:00.000-05:00

Projectile Green Turtle Shell Involved In Controversial IndyCar Race Finish
July 26, 2007 Onion Sports

HP7

2007-07-20T16:45:00.001-05:00

as tired as i am. despite all of the stuff already plugging up my weekend. i will be in line at 12:01am with all of the other crazies, sans the poorly made wizard garb and dumb hats.

i honestly don't know at this point if i'll be getting sleep tonight.

i have a car appointment at 8am (just an odd coincidence with ms. alexakis - i've been a pugi member since 2004...) and we have our block party tomorrow afternoon. so there's no way i'm not gonna be reading this tonight for a bit.

i hope this ends well...

12.3.2007

2007-07-12T13:55:00.000-05:00

...it's official...the US release date...

dark times indeed

2007-07-11T15:05:00.001-05:00

so work permitting, sarah and i are planning on catching the new harry potter tonight. faisal saw the midnight showing last night and gave his nod of approval. as much as i didn't like the book, i'm looking forward to the movie. the longest book, yet the shortest movie thus far makes me a little nervous, but i'm hopeful. the critics have been mumbling about how dark the movie is and lacks the magic of its predecessors. i say hooray - that's the way the book is, why should the movie be any different? harry is supposed to be filled with teenage angst and should be disturbed given the amount of trauma and death he's seen recently.

it could also be the fact that i associate this book with a dark time personally. it came out after everybody graduated in 2003 and left for home...leaving me free to...deal with my f#$%ing stolen car. stuck in hyde park alone, worried sick and with nothing to do but read the brick of a novel that had just been delivered.

ok, let's put this movie behind us...i can't wait for book 7...

back in the fire

2007-06-19T08:41:00.000-05:00

we're back into midwestern swing of things. the house survived, the plants survived and so did the cicadas... we had a great trip and we already miss it. endless food, amazing places to see, no doing dishes, room service...we'll put up pictures on snapfish soon and send out links.

for now, it's back to the grind. i came back to a 13 hour day yesterday so i'm not too thrilled about that, but the positive side is i was too busy to care about jet lag!

on other news, lily named the kittens. the one with the white paws is Scout and the other one is Roxy. they're both doing well and probably 25% bigger than 2 weeks ago! still cute though...

it's cheaper than going yourself

2007-05-31T15:22:00.000-05:00

Sarah and I leave this weekend for Spain, France and Italy. If and when possible, we'll try to post some updates, and maybe some pics, via our vacation blog. keep tabs on us at:

http://www.disneyinthemed.blogspot.com/

and don't forget to read the previous post and give suggestions for lily.

the new arrivals

2007-05-31T10:14:00.000-05:00

so my sister is getting twins on Friday! congrats to her. a co-worker was giving away the pair and lily was the only one at work without any pets. but now, she's unsure of what to name them though - does anybody have suggestions? they're both boys if that helps. allergies be damned, you gotta love em. and for the record, sarah already suggest "tigger" for one.

wii math: robot chicken + mario and luigi = funny

2007-05-24T13:48:00.000-05:00

gotta love the system.

i found this on youtube and it just about killed me...poor italian plumbers...

on a related note, next week tuesday mario party 8 is released. and sometime in the fall we can all look forward to mass mayhem...

wussy

2007-05-22T13:00:00.000-05:00

I'm making my blog comeback by criticizing myself. i figured anybody who cares enough to read this thing, will care enough to be pissed off at me for being MIA for so long. today's theme is bill is a wussy. there. that should make everyone happy. 3 minor events lately have highlighted this fact and i don't know what I can do to fix it.

1. heights. yesterday I found myself maybe 10 feet in the air, finally taking down the christmas wreath above the front door that the previous owners so thoughtfully left up for us. i would have taken it down earlier...had we had a ladder long enough. anyway, while uncoiling the 30 feet of christmas lights binding it to the roof, i realized just how much i like keeping my feet planted on solid ground. i know it wasn't that high, but it still didn't feel right. i think the real test will be going up on the roof to check on things.

2. insects. i suppose i'm not what people would refer to as a "rugged outdoorsman." i don't like insects outdoors or in the house. the emergence of the 17 year brood of cicadas isn't helping either. the crunchy commute to the train station and the empty husk covered trees disturb me.

3. water. the summer conjures images of sun, barbeques and water activities. i'm good with two of the three. as a non-swimmer, i'm sorry, but it's hard for me to get excited about the ocean, swimming pools, and water parks or as i usually refer to them, "not-drowning." here's to hoping the cruise in two weeks is free of any titanic or poseiden-esque events.

wii news

2007-04-27T09:03:00.000-05:00

first off, congrats to frank on finally getting a wii and some controllers.

the next bit of news is good for the wii, but makes me a little sad. the "father of playstation" stepped down today as CEO. the PS3 is just getting crushed by the competition and now sony's predicting that the PS2 might outsell the PS3. how sad is that? i can't wait for tekken 6 to be released.

in wii sports, the AI tennis pros are obnoxiously good at running down a ball and putting crazy spin on it. in bowling, i cannot top my high score of 278.

next wii purchases...
...wii component cable (gotta take advantage of all 480 lines of progressive resolution)

...MK Armageddon (i've always been a tekken fan, but the motion capture looks really promising, and this'll make BJ super happy)

...Super Paper Mario (the first one was great, let's see how the wii version does)

lastly, let me know how i could make the following mii image match better...eyes farther apart, more squinty, increase slack-jawed appearance etc. if you want to create your own mii images to export to a jpeg, hit up: http://www.miieditor.com/

catch up

2007-04-20T09:02:00.000-05:00

ok, i have returned after 2 weeks of back-to-back deadlines (i'm technically still not out of the woods yet) . everything suffers a little when you're working 60+ hours a week and you spend atleast 2 hours (round trip) commuting each day.

today i play catch up with my other cases, i'll be having lunch with the attorney and then dinner at Nine (the place under ghost bar) with the wife.

in no particular order, this is the short list of things to do this weekend...

laundry
play some wii sports
mow and the de-weed the lawn
play some wii zelda for the first time in weeks
somehow take down the Christmas wreath, the previous owners left, hanging way above the front door, just out of reach from me and the half-ladder thingy we own
sleep
finish painting the room
perhaps see blades of glory
more wii
go shopping

To Whom It May Concern: Thanks!

2007-03-29T12:09:00.000-05:00

so yesterday, S came home to find a large package sitting on our stoop. it contained a very nice looking bird feeder with stain glass and a hummingbird design on it. there wasn't any card though and no message on the invoice. our first guess were sarah's parents. my family gives cash in lieu of gifts, S's mom likes stain glass and hummingbirds, and sarah's dad likes bird feeders. it seemed reasonable, but no dice. neither of them sent it and so now we're at a loss.

if you sent us the feeder, lemme know.

and on another home note, last night we finally installed the engraved door knocker that mary gave us for the wedding. home at last...

Groovy

2007-03-28T09:06:00.000-05:00

so the mrs. and i are finally moved into our new place. the move was a little rough, and 90% of our stuff is still in boxes, but overall the outlook looks good. the only thing is that we have to reinvent our everyday routines. things you normally don't think about - like changing and getting ready in the mornings - become insane treasure hunts. when you're trying to catch a train, every second counts. why did we pack some left socks apart from their counterparts? i haven't a clue.

this weekend faisal is in town and we'll head back to our "old 'hood" some food and drinks. if you're in the DG area on saturday night, give me a buzz.

and lastly, a birthday shoutout to S's aunt Maura.

Equity

2007-03-21T12:45:00.000-05:00

we survived it. after three hours of dishing out my john hancock, papers were signed and we got keys to the home. also, the entire closing process was almost 4 grand under the quote. not too shabby. we're still poor now and there's still lots of cleaning and fixing up to do, but it's ours.

next chance i get, i'll install the engraved door knocker mary bought for us years ago and everything will be official.

once we get things under some kind of order, we'll throw a house warming party of sorts. and since we don't have any furniture or a couch, we can all sit on the floor indian style. i bet you guys can't wait...

under the microscope. pt II

2007-03-16T09:01:00.000-05:00

it's not the house this time. it's the brother in-law. brian interviews at my company today. it's out of my hands at this point, so we'll just have to wait and see what the outcome will be.

as a quick summary of life events this past month...

work
sleep (lack of)
a little wii time
closing on the house next tuesday
baby party for cousin
packing
300
fixed car trunk - never going back to that dealership again

under the microscope

2007-02-27T21:12:00.000-06:00

tomorrow we put the home-to-be on the stand and hopefully it won't break down in tears. i'm kinda nervous about the whole process and as much as it would be nice to get some points to negotiate (money-wise), i don't want any surprises. wish us luck...

we'll fill you in on the details later.

auctions and such

2007-02-21T16:11:00.000-06:00

i have to say the home buying process is stressful. this is not a buyers market, it is not a sellers market. it is a patient market and i am not a patient person. in case you haven't heard already, we put a bid in on a small cape cod in the south burbs. we've been waiting for about two days now for a response and it's killing us. we don't want to call as to seem over-eager and at the same time we just want to know if they will accept, counter, or give us the finger.

buying a home is an auction in its simplest terms. a BIG one. the seller has a reserve price and if others are interested, a bidding war ensues. however, unlike ebay, sellers generally don't have a buy-it-now price. i'm pretty sure we'd be willing pay a little more to have the process streamlined. as of now, negotiations, inspections and closing take about a month! how old school is that? i'm just saying, if i can cook a potato in the microwave in 5 minutes, shouldn't i be able to get a damn house in like a week?

sup home-mii?

2007-02-12T14:27:00.000-06:00

yep, that pretty much sums up the weekend. it was cold so when we were hundled indoors, we were either playing wii sports/zelda or i was working. when we went out, it was to check out some homes in the homewood-flossmoor area. the real estate market is in quite the funk now. for buyers and sellers. sure factors are turning in the buyers' favor now, but sellers are hesitant to put existing homes on sale for fear of a loss or worse yet, sitting too long on the market. s and i have limited resources but we're adament about getting a single family home close to the train station.

call us jaded, call us anti-social but we don't want really close neighbors. we're tired of hearing noises, sharing walls/roofs/driveways/air with other people we didn't choose. a little green between me and crazies next door is just what we need.

given those limitations, the market goes something like this. we like the current area we're living in, but a MLS search in our price range for a single-family home in downers grove, lisle, westmont, lagrange, clarendon hills and western springs offers 16 hits within the last month. and they're all shit. next!

let's take a stroll down I-294 to homewood-flossmoor, an older area with a little more "charm" and it still has a train line. we checked out 5 homes this weekend, of which one didn't have a working lock box, one was a friggin joke of a rehab, one was only partially rehabbed (read: ran out of moola), one was decent but too close to the train line and one we're giving some additional consideration. this whole process kinda blows...

2007-01-23T09:29:00.000-06:00

...black...

...black...

...still black...

...Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii...

me and mrs. couldn't help ourselves this wiikend. despite several flats of ps3's laying around, i couldn't part with 750 (for now) for a system where i didn't actually want a game. so for half the cost (with a 12% off coupon), we came home with an extra controller, the new zelda and a 2 yr warranty. shweeet.

i know the tv, dvd player and dvr are all black, but the white wii doesn't really stand out very much because the super small footprint. so far the motion sensing ability has worked really well and i find that most of the motions are fluid and natural - although the precision could use a little work. as soon as i get more controllers and decent party game, we'll through some kind of wii-party going.

on another note(addiction) , we're 2/3rds done with 24 season 2. good god there is still so much to go...

bear down...

2007-01-16T10:15:00.000-06:00

i was fortunate enough to score tickets to last sunday's bears game against the seahawks. there was a great energy flowing throughout the game and everybody seemed to be having fun. let me recap the game... CHICAGO BEARS: 2006 North Division Champions!

Here's a view inside of the soldiers field spaceship...

Here's a view from where we were sitting - not too shabby.

The crowd rushing the field after Robbie Gould's 49yd. winning field goal in OT.

My cousin richard (20 days older than me and a super sports fan) and i - well frozen by this time, but happy that the bears were still in it.

Good luck to the Bears against the Saints this weekend!

phrase/insult of the day...

2007-01-09T22:43:00.000-06:00

Ass-Hat

...heh, gets me every time...

hello and goodbye

2007-01-09T15:44:00.000-06:00

this weekend sarah and i hit up the nearby bestbuy to look at dvds...yes, more dvds.

unexpectedly, as we were perusing the aisles, we came across a stack of boxes neatly arranged in some cross-hatch pattern. it was like jenga for giants. only the pieces were made of 60GB PS3s. and throughout the store there were more - probably 25-30 scattered about willy-nilly. the main stack was closely guarded by several 20 something year old males, hovering and staring and circling with furrowed brows. i think i may have heard one whisper "my precious" as he made another pass. some even dared to pick up a box like it would actually tell them something they didn't already know and hadn't researched daily for the past few months. but most of them put it back down quickly, disgusted at the $600 price tag. $600 for what? It didn't include a second controller, a game, a blu ray DVD or even tax. everyone knew you wouldn't walk out with one dropping at least $750.

still, mezmerized i joined the zombie like stares and found myself more suprised than anything. how could there be so many sitting idly in such a small area? people are still willing to drop-kick their dogs for a wii. i guess in retrospect i shouldn't have. it was january 7th, well after the christmas rush and people simply didn't have the dough. I didn't have the dough. besides, rewind 3 months to when we got Sammy, our 1080p LCD. i made a deal with our budget that if I got the tv, i'd wait till we had a house to get the ps3.

...fuckin' short-sighted impatient and impulsive bill...

that probably should have been the end of that dance but sarah decided to throw a wildcard into the equation. she said we could get one but we'd basically have to eat dirt for the next few months. mmm...dirt. i gave it another moment of consideration, bid the stack adieu and walked away calmly. everybody who knows me knows i'm a loyal playstation consumer so don't think i've walked away for good. i'll get one when the time is right and my wallet is fatter.

i resolve...nothing...

2007-01-05T09:02:00.000-06:00

it's january 5th and i'm pretty tired of hearing people talk about new years resolutions. i'm not one to make any. in fact, i don't like the new years holiday very much in general. i never have. it's a lame excuse for partying (if there is such a thing). turn of the calendar year? so arbitrary. and that's why most resolutions fail. seriously, how long can you exercise with the motivation "it's a new year?!" do something for a genuine reason, don't hide behind the new year. and what's the deal with the new year that makes people forget who they are? if you're going to make a resolution, make it a reasonable one. i know Bill(2006 model)=Bill(2007 model). i know myself and a resolution to not play any more video games won't fly. dane cook would call me a silly bitch for even thinking about it. in fact, i think i'm going to search out a wii this weekend.

move along...

2007-01-03T08:53:00.000-06:00

i've never been one for travelling. call me a boring, but i like the familiar. i like my bed and i like my own stuff. after all, i wouldn't have bought them if i didn't. and it's not so much that i'm drawn towards what's comfortable than i've been pushed away by the hoards of ugly travellers (both figuratively and literally).

but it's 2007 now and something's changed recently. i may have caught a travelling bug. for christmas, sarah got me 1,000 places to see before you die. nice book. well written, well organized, but f#$%ing humbling. after perusing several sections and reminscing about my frugal childhood that lacked any real vacations, i realize that i've got a lot to see. so much that i've had to say screw the masses, we gotta go.

after doing the arizona thing last summer for scott's wedding and sint maartens over christmas, sarah and i are already shoring up our situation to determine what other places we can fit into budget and schedule. speaking of sint maartens, check out sarah's blog for some pics.

Next up on our list:

1. Going across the pond. Mediterranean cruise hitting spain, france and italy. Confirmed for June!

the rest are in no particular order.
- Gotta see the big apple. Scotty and one of Sarah's cousins live there.

- and if possible, it would make the most sense to make a longer trip on the east coast to see faisal in boston and the uchicago crew around D.C.

- phoenix again, to see sarah's mom. probably no grand canyon this time, but sedona is a possibility.

- it's almost time for another vegas binge. this time sarah would come so we could finally catch alana playing a jig or two at the nine fine irishmen.

- and when it's warm again, i need to visit the PK up in minnesota.

i'm not planning on hitting all of these places in '07, but i'll get to em eventually! anybody visiting chi-town in the near future?

count it!

2006-12-20T17:11:00.000-06:00

in an effort to get immmortalized on frank's list of "special" people, i can only hope what gets me listed doesn't make him hate me as well. so happy birthday to frank, one of the biggest sports fanatics i know.

the first bears game i'll ever see live:
Date: January 13th or 14th.
Time: TBD.
Venue: Soldiers Field
The Game: Bears Playoff Game
Predictions: It's going to be cold and crazy...

bad news...

2006-12-19T17:21:00.000-06:00

...for my waistline...

a dunkin donuts just opened up in the lobby downstairs. i smell disaster and fried dough!

mindless meandering

2006-12-18T11:36:00.000-06:00

yeah, i know i've been absent from the blogger scene lately, so i'm gonna ease back into it with a simple random thoughts post. actually, i'm going to turn it into a stream of consciousness post.

-i've never worked 29 out of a 34 hour period before. i don't know how jack bauer can do it year after year. and i don't recommend it as life fades away and you don't have time to eat let alone watch tv.

-ah tv, like everybody loves raymond. he talks funny. in fact, i can't stop seeing the name "sint maartens" and hearing it pronounced all drawn out like ray would.

-it's too bad you can't turn off your hearing. you can choose to not eat/taste, feel and see something and you can at least breathe through your mouth if you don't want to smell something. but hearing, there's not a lot you can do on your own about annoying buzzing at night, people chatting in the mornings on the train and plane noise. so on that note i bought a pair of shure earbuds and they're simply amazing. i can't wait to see how well they work on the plane.

-speaking of our upcoming flight, it runs about 6 hours long and i'm worried my knees will get claustrophobic. you heard me right - just knowing that i won't be able to stretch them for long periods at a time makes them hurt.

-on the subject of hurting, have i told you how i've never worked 29 out of a 34 hour period before?...

i'm delirious with lack of sleep. where will my mind take me next? i just don't know...

at least it's payday...

2006-12-01T09:20:00.000-06:00

as some of you may or may not be aware, chicago got nailed but some crazy snow and ice last night. crazier are the commuters who opted to go into work today instead of playing hookie or simply working from home. call me crazier.

and what a commute it was. i'd say this morning rocketed to a sure spot somewhere in my top 10 worse commutes. let me begin the healing process...

When we first opened up the garage this morning, besides the large amount of unplowed snow, we noticed our friendly neighborhood recycling man. only he wasn't emptying our trash, he was trying to rock the large truck back and forth because he was stuck. and he just happened to be blocking every inch of open driveway. as sarah and i watched the window to catch our first train expire, the truck was able to free himself and he drove off flustered and obviously pissed. missing my train wasn't the part that angered me, it was the fact that he spend a good 20 minutes in our cul-de-sac and the bastard drove off without taking any of our recycling...

now transport yourself to windy nasty downtown. you know what i mean by nasty. dirty streets that simply collect filth are finally given a salt and ice bath by mother nature. thus the streets run black with this ever moving toxic mass people call "slush." keep in mind sarah and i have to navigate through about a mile of sopping crap before getting to work. also keep in mind that i'm a particularly consciencious person who prides himself on being able to notice that standing next to a dry street is good and next to a wet one is bad. well, at jackson and franklin street a series of unfortunate events occured.
1. sarah was able to cross the street but i was cut off by some people and was left behind
2. because i barely missed the light i was the first person right up on the street with people crowded around me
3. i noticed a plow coming pushing not snow but a tsunami of the above mentioned black abyss
4. i managed to avoid the plow's wrath and temporarily let me guard down. whew.
5. and like a 1-2 punch a cabbie hidden from view by the plow sped by and proceeded to splash/pelt/kamahameha several of us in semi-frozen nasty. if it weren't for the small immigrant woman next to me who took the brunt of it, i probably would have turned around and went home. but instead i sit here and write with my cold wet pants that now smell like feet.

is it 5 yet?

christmas came early...

2006-11-26T19:57:00.000-06:00

so thanksgiving, my favorite holiday, came and went. it was a great time and i'll leave the details to sarah...

except for one. the weather. this past week has been wonderful. we're talking 60 in the day and 50 at night. and what better way is there to take advantage of t-shirt weather on November 26th in chicago? you grill of course! so one ribeye later i say goodbye to grilling season again...

No Console-ation...

2006-11-17T09:40:00.000-06:00

whenever a next generation video game system launches, hundreds of thousands of children are made happy while millions are left sad and disappointed. i used to join in the craziness but in my old age i have learned that first generation anythings kinda suck, so it's best to wait a few weeks/months until the next inventory is released with less bugs. but i'm not here to give informed consumer advice, i'm here to talk about greed. i enjoy new shiny things just as much as the next person, some people just take things too far...

1. some people in putnam, connecticut were shot and mugged while waiting in line outside of a wal-mart to buy a ps3. i'm angry at both sides. the muggers for obvious reasons and the victims for not doing the smart thing.

2. there have been reports of people getting trampled during store openings. trampling? really?! i cannot comeprehend what drives a person to literally walk on and crush another being while not giving a damn. people make me sick sometimes.

3. there's a listing on ebay for somebody selling their place in line outside of a target. he was sitting there for 30 hours. as of the store openings this morning, he didn't have any takers. go figure.

4. a ps3 60GB system just sold for $6,100. i don't question why somebody would want to flip the purchase, but why would anybody pay 10 times the face value for it? kids are impulsive and lack the patience, but they're not the ones footing the bill, some spineless parent is paying 6 grand for their child's love.

And if one day of technological insanity a year isn't enough, the nintendo wii launches on the 19th, just two days from now. let's hope things turn out better next time. actually, you can hope, i'll just weep.

end rant.

Chronia Polla!

2006-11-09T09:03:00.000-06:00

...many more years to you connie...

caution: horny commuters

2006-11-02T09:22:00.000-06:00

yeah that's right. you heard what i said. however, unlike you, my mind is not in the gutter. i am not referring to the cold huddled masses of commuters getting their "swerve" on in some massive metra orgy. rather i'm talking about the excessive use (abuse) of car commuters laying on their horn this morning. it started this morning trying to make a left turn into the parking lot. the lady behind me, who i must add ALSO parks in the same lot, began honking me as if to say, "the construction truck blocking the entrance is an illusion. turn now! now now now. turn you son of a b----, turn!" yep, people suck.

then of course, there are more horns on the train itself. the train blares its 200Db foghorns at each stop because enough morons have gotten hit ignoring the 2 dozen blinking lights, bells, and crossing gates. i guess metra decided that if by chance you could not see or hear the warnings, they'd make sure you could feel them in your bones.

then there's the final stretch. the city. i've been so desensitized to cars honking that it's probably bodering on dangerous. i've actually heard most city taxis get dual oversized horns installed in their cars. i was trying to think of a sound that i'd actually respond to in case of an emergency downtown and i could only come up with one. Mr. Entertainer. it's what the ice cream trucks played in my neighborhood and i've was programmed at a very young age to notice that sound. then again, instead of avoiding the danger i'd probably come a running...change in hand...

super dork

2006-10-18T14:55:00.000-05:00

i guess i have to admit it. sarah already knows. i have a thing for "supers." i can't help myself. ever since i was little i wanted to be invincible, be incredibly fast or even have a ring that shot out green s#$%. but of course, i'm not super and reality caught up with me. i left the neon colored tights and secret identities behind.

thenwith the advance of technology, so too came the movies based on comic books. spidey was the first big blockbuster and they don't look like they'll be stopping anytime soon. i suppose there was mystery men...but does "the spleen" truly strike fear into the heart of men? and have i told you that the whole xmen adaptation where everybody wears black leather bothers me? why is it a stretch for wolverine to wear yellow and black duds but it's believable that he has knives that come out of his hands. please.

Anyway, back to the subject. superheroes. about a month ago, NBC decided to debut a show about people in the real world demonstrating supernatural abilities. maybe that was too wordy, lemme paraphrase. heroes = x-men ripoff. but don't get me wrong, the show isn't that bad. it has a lot of promise and is my current guilty pleasure. so it's out of the bag now, super dork has been unleashed.

quite the pickle

2006-10-10T16:04:00.000-05:00

so i'm rather torn on what to do. i don't think we should have gone into iraq in the first place, but since we did, a precendence has been set. now with kim jong il waving enriched plutonium in our face, a decision has to be made. i mean the republicans are royally f---ed on this issue no matter what, but personally, i'm just not sure what the best reponse should be. clearly, the wonely wuler must be kept in check somehow, but simply dismissing their test as a failure is not enough. if they didn't hit it big this time, there's always tomorrow.

there is one thing i am sure about though. and that is CNN needs to get a better source for their pictures than the AP. at 4:05pm CST this is the headline picture that went with the caption: An anti-nuclear North protest in South Korea. i suppose this makes me think that the karaoke-esque protests overseas have to sound a lot better than the ones i hear across the street in the federal plaza - "si se puede! si se puede!"

Open Season

2006-10-10T09:08:00.000-05:00

we're well into october now and visitor season has begun. on saturday, we met up with Physal (as the brother-in-law spells it) to catch the late showing of scorcese's latest flick - The Departed. i'd highly recommend it. good acting, solid plot, clean execution. i also recommend the hollywood blvd theater. with a group of 4 we begrudgingly took a table close to the front. neck-craning or not, the office chairs helped a lot. the you just don't get very many movies of this caliber anymore.

then on sunday, we met up with frank neil and Agent Wang to grab some brunch at a swanky place up in lincoln park. but we passed on a 2 hour wait and took some grub at another diner down the street. hightlights were we all learned about a french toast orgy, we learned the hard way that the switch near neil's kitchen controls the power to the TV (go figure) and that there's a large ohio state bar aptly names mickeys.

next up: brian, christie and mary this friday - sunday. tune in...

weekend wrap-up in 3 pictures

2006-10-02T00:18:00.000-05:00

Picture 1: Our entertainment center is finally done. Besides some cord management and filling up the right side shelf, sammy is officially a part of the family. as a test run, i ran through a few movies with vivid scenes like hero and house of flying daggers. they both looked great. now i wanted to watch a movie that had some darker imaging to test the other end of the spectrum. it was midnight by then and i had just started lord of the rings: the two towers. it was damn late but the battle of helms deep made it all worth while.

Picture 2: despite the laundry list of errands and busy work that riddled our weekend, we found
2 hours to walk around the morton arboretum. nature really makes you question your priorities. check out this little guy. if life were only that simple - just trying to get a nut.

Picture 3: the arbortum as several sections of flora grouped by their native origins. i bring to you the Korea section. notice the narrow eyes of the plants, their affinity for acrobatics and their undying love of video games...

fearless? fear this!

2006-09-26T08:59:00.000-05:00

this weekend, i was able to relax a bit and after an ugly hectic friday, sarah and i caught the late showing of jet li's Fearless. it's a period piece loosely based on a real life "hero" that arose during china's open door policy to bring pride and unity back to the country. in a time where foreigners were dominating all aspects of progress and economy, my ancestors were all "go ahead take the money, just leave the kung-fu." jet li at 42, is still amazing. very little wire wushu and still so goddam fast that the camera has to go into slo-mo just to see the action. anyway, my quick take was the movie was Great, the crowd Sucked. f#$%ing ignorant ass dumb inconsiderate americans almost ruined it for me. let me explain.

The movie is of course, an import from hong kong. that also means it was subbed, not dubbed. that's fine and dandy but it's a pity that americans are illiterate! i have to admit i did laugh at the movie opener though. in order to set-up the time and environment the producers employed the use of a star wars like panel of scrolling text. that was the funny part - it was the pace at which the text scrolled. it would be like reading this post projected on a large screen in about 5 seconds.
and unlike a lot of martial art flicks, between all of the action there was a real story here....and the knuckle-heads watching the show couldn't handle it. everytime the action slowed they started talking up and blissfully ignored the jeers and requests whispered by neighbors to kindly "shut the f$%& up."

it really makes me sad that i cannot go to the movies and enjoy one with a little bit of culture. how people can be so unaware just pains me. it makes me glad i bought Hero, House of Flying Daggers and Ong-bak via eBay to watch at home first.

and speaking of watching movies at home...

welcome the latest addition to our life, meet sammy, our 40" 1080p LCD (home pictures to come)

Happy Birthday Sarah!

2006-09-21T00:20:00.000-05:00

Yes, she was one of the last to turn 21 and still slacking years later, she's one of the last of the group to turn 25.

today we're having lunch with the loop crew to celebrate. and tonight, we're going to the weber grill for the girl-formerly-known-as-weber.

Not that this post is belated, but I know how much she likes the chickens - so here's as good as it gets...

---

And a preemptive shout out to Mitul for his birthday on the 26th.

DQs

2006-09-06T12:46:00.000-05:00

i don't mean dairy queen and i don't mean dis-qualified. i'm talking Day-Quil. i'm home ill today due to an unfortunate combination of sleep deprivation, moving in the rain all weekend, and an office with the thermostat stuck at 55 degrees. i'm trying to get some work done, but i'm fading fast. i haven't posted in a while, so here are a few headlines to catch you up.

---
with the return of the school year, so has our vistor season. this weekend we will be meeting up with E&B who are arriving tonight for medical boards refresher seminar. then mary, brian and christie, and sarah's grandfolks will be visiting in october, with her mom likely to follow in november for thanksgiving. anyone else coming into town?
---
charley horses are evil. pure painful evil.
---
we received our last wedding gift this weekend. a piece of abstract art from S's aunt kara. only a year and a month late...better late than never right? i'll be hanging it in the living room this weekend. i also want to hang our flat panel tv in the living room. too bad we don't own one yet...
---
i haven't seen a movie in the theater for a bit. this weekend we caught little miss sunshine. i wasn't impressed. after countless people enthusiastically suggested i go, i caved and went along. my gut reaction to the trailers was one of indifference. the movie was somewhat entertaining and it did have it's moments, but overall it was dark comedy and i'm not recommending it to anybody. not even for a rental.
---
lastly, a while back i posted that i put up pics of lily's bday weekend. here i go...

here's up with the bean (cloudgate)

here's the bean looking at us

kudos

2006-08-24T09:09:00.000-05:00

bravo to the storm cell that tore through our quiet suburban town early this morning. that was an impressive display of blinding lights and deafening sounds and the capacity for clouds to retain absolutely insane amounts of water.

note to self: in future home, avoid sky lights as they amplify the pitter-patter of rain droplets to something like a stampede of wildebeasts.

it's 930AM but it looks like PM right now. that makes me sad. hopefully this will make things happier...
(brought to you from the book of bunny suicides...)

aiight, you got me...

2006-08-17T09:20:00.000-05:00

-two things that despite long work days, laundry and cleaning that needs to be done, and sleeping, i find time to do...
or rather...i can't help myself.

-we got lily season 1 of the series '24' for her birthday. she started the series on monday night and a day hasn't gone by with at least one episode. hot damn that's a quality show. only 16 hours to go...

-mario kart DS. i think it's better than the original, the red shells still rule and bowser is still being a bitch ...

e-nuff is e-nuff

2006-08-15T14:31:00.000-05:00

this post is probably going to rock your world, or at least your image of me. aptly nicknamed "apple bar" by konna, the resident IT person in my house and the sometimes-resource to people at work, i'd like to think i'm somewhat tech savvy. i'd never consider myself a computer expert but i wouldn't hesitate to label myself a technophile either. i don't deny that from a young age, i've always liked new shiny electronics. that would explain the desktop, 2 laptops, printer and TIVO on a wireless network, 2 digital cameras, cell phones, ipods, nintendo DS's, gamecube, PS2 etc. hell, last night i just purchased a large external hard drive and another DS game (yay Mario Kart!) and you should see our outlets. every damn one of them (or at least the convenient/accessible ones) are spewing power strips, extension cords and plugs. you have to wonder how much juice our house consumes from the power company every day.

the point of all this is that i've been feeling rather oppressed/worn down/stressed/f#$%ing pissed about the very things that are supposed to make life "easier." lately it seems that everytime i fix something, something else fails. The unexpected TIVO-tantrum we're currently experiencing is really pushing my limits. yeah, don't fuck with my TV bitch - that's just not cool. sigh, i guess i'll have to teach it a lesson - a time consuming painful lesson. oh it's on now...

but don't get me wrong, not all electronics are bad. the tried and true ones (read: old school)don't give me any heartache. CD players? alarm clocks? we have no beef. maybe it's just the pervasiveness and dependence that has emerged in the last 10 years that irks me. remember the good old days when a walkman was the only electronics you needed for a trip?

in the end nothing will change though. i'm not ditching any of my precious tech or reducing my use of the internet. every once in a while i just need to take a step back and remember why it is that i spend 50% of my waking hours staring into a pixalated abyss. oh that's right. porn.

leos...

2006-08-14T14:28:00.000-05:00

we celebrated 2 birthdays this saturday. sarah's brother and my sister. funny how that works. sister had her heart set on a couple of things to do in the city, so jumped in the car and drove downtown. here's a short summary with real pictures to come...

-the weather was fantastic and we originally tried to get tickets for the 1.5 hour Chicago Architectural Foundation river boat tour, but were too late. another million people had the same idea and beat us there. next time.

-so off went to corner bakery for some eats

-we headed out to tour around millenium park as none of us have truly seen everything since it's been finished. at first the contemporary designs seemed like an eyesore, but everything has really come together - the bean (cloud gate) was particularly effective on the bright sunny day

-then came lily's real fun. i took her and sarah to romp around the adult-build-a-bear store on the north side known simply as "1154 lill." basically, you pick a purse template and tailor all the fixings and materials as you see fit. expensive and trendy, they both seemed to have a really good time. i was going to design my own man-purse, but chose to pass the next two hours reading in a nearby starbucks. now if only they made an electronics store for men like that...

-dinner. sushi. tsuki's. lounge. trendy. tasty. richard. latha. tina. antara. peter. what more can i say?

- and the final kicker is we got to see all of the navy pier fireworks as we drove back home down LSD

happy birthday indeed.

think of the children!

2006-08-10T14:03:00.000-05:00

as sarah mentioned on her blog, the TIVO has been on the fritz. not that there's anything good to be recording, but it does make me think about the state of TV in general. sarah and i recently finished the first boxset of the animaniacs and have since moved onto the first boxset of pinky and the brain. both quality shows.

today's shows are pathetic. the only good ones aren't even american - they're anime from overseas and dubbed with the same 5 people everytime, every show.

so in an effort to secure the TV watching future of the next generation, we have taken on the burden of collecting all of the old, good cartoons on dvd. i think my master plan is to amass enough shows then when i have kids, i'll be able to make my own virtual cartoon network playing only the good stuff. yeah, i know this is all for me, but it sounds better with a little spin.

i don't get it

2006-08-03T10:43:00.000-05:00

it was still raining this morning. as if the skies could really have any water left after the high pressure house cleaning they gave last night. sarah and i rushed to catch our train, which turned out to be half an hour late, and i have to say, it's always an odd sight to come across the platform in the morning when it's raining or cold out. people/strangers who normally don't like each other huddle together like the penguins in the March of the Penguins. Today's sea of umbrellas was broken up however by an individual i can only describe as the creepy comic book store guy in the simpsons come to life. he has no umbrella. i'm not sure if he doesn't own one or has one, but chooses not to use it. either way, it really weirds me out that anybody would choose sopping wet over holding some nylon over your head. and for those of you who think i'm too quick to pass judgement...that perhaps his umbrella broke or that he forgot it in the morning rush....all i can say is that this wasn't the first time he's broken rank.
____
the stupid ones just make me laugh, the weird ones make me wanna cry.

hypothetical conversations: #1

2006-08-02T14:38:00.000-05:00

-hey...
+hey...

-what's new?
+nothing much, just working and planning anniversary stuff

-gotcha...how's the family?
+mom's doing well, so is the sister. as for dad, let me ask you this...has your dad ever boiled the leaves from a mulberry bush in the backyard in the middle of the night to make tea because he watched it on some china documentary on tv?

-um, nope...why you ask?
+[laughs nervously] no reason, neither has mine, just a question...

-------------------------
i'm talking way more than a simply generation gap here folks...

member of the audience...

2006-07-25T09:28:00.000-05:00

things at work have finally calmed down from a 'roid-rage' frenzy to a simple manageable workload. it's odd when you work that much. you feel like somebody in the audience who's just watching things go by, watching events unfold in your life but never really taking part in them. for those unlucky enough to watch adam sandler's latest crap-movie Click, you'll know exactly what i mean. when you don't have a lot of spare time in the day, you'll be forced to prioritize things. eating (or at least eating healthy) and sleep are the first to go which is really sad because their absence immediately leads to unproductivity, fatigue, coffee dependency (and therefore a bathroom dependency), and a pissed off attitude. moral of the story - don't do it.

now i have to play catch up and get to really important news updates. let's see....

last night i caught a Large black spider roaming free in the kitchen. just googling for the right looking mofo gives me the heebie-jeebies. [*shudder*] and of course, i found a pic, but blogger is having major posting issues at the moment. once i caught it in glass bottle, sarah had some issues with how to dispose of it. they basically boiled down to 1. it cannot remain in the house 2. it cannot be taken in the car and 3. i cannot re-open the jar for fear of an arachnid uprising. do the math. that leaves me with walking this spider to a far away place at 1030 at night. needless to say, i opted for the watery grave and flushed him...twice for good measure.

me and the wife are beginning to look for a home to purchase. we just got pre approved for our moan and guess what? we can afford absolutely nothing in our area! wahoo! seriously, the housing prices are ridiculously high and equally depressing.

lastly, the animaniacs boxset 1 is released today. go forth and buy it and enjoy it...

not painful, just pathetic ;)

2006-07-19T13:51:00.000-05:00

why wookies shouldn't ro-de-o...

Try 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ELHGMhjisc

Try 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ac8hEyD1xRQ

mmm...sleeeeep...

2006-07-17T18:20:00.000-05:00

it's been over 2 weeks since my last blog. these 80+ hour weeks are taking their toll on me. i promise when the craziness is over, i will return with posts that will move you, bring you to tears, and make you sigh with contentment.

wait. what did i just write?! dammit. oh good god i need sleep...

eh, no reason...

2006-06-29T09:06:00.000-05:00

i haven't posted in a while. i'm completely aware...but neither has jed [ahem]. work's been busy, but that's probably not the reason. could it be the weather? the utter lack of sleep? i just can't pinpoint the source of my blogging apathy. oh by the way, sarah and i just got DS lites...

as for the long weekend, sarah and i will be making the long trip out to the land of cleves after work tomorrow. i only have a few things that i need to have happen. i plan to see superman, eat at a Yours Truly restaurant, pick up some fireworks in IN, and probably work on monday. ok, the work i could do without. have a great 4th everyone.

sputter

2006-06-22T01:14:00.000-05:00

well, the unthinkable happened tonight...we ran out of gas...

i had gotten out of work somewhat late tonight, so we were already behind schedule. the wife and i had already hashed out some some plans for dinner, so there was little to think about, just action to take. after a short break at home, we were on our way to eating some tasty steak. things were in motion and i'd say we were about a third of the way there. when it happened. everything just went silent, dead. i tried the ignition several times and even checked some cables behind the grill. then it dawned on me, or rather it came over me, a sense that all was lost and we were out of gas. the thin strands of sunset were almost gone...what were we to do?!

lucky for us we still had a broiler in the kitchen.

so we took the kabobs off the grill and fired up the oven. we were eating dinner no longer than 20 minutes after that. the night was saved. i suppose the only problem now is that i need to refill the tank this weekend. joy. i just wished they had some kinda fuel level to let me know when it was getting low. i wonder how many burgers per gallon our grill gets...

weekend in review

2006-06-19T12:50:00.000-05:00

very low key. it was kinda nice. saw MI:III at the cheapy theater ($3). my review? it kinda sucked. 1.5 maybe 2 stars at best. directed by jj abrams (Alias, Lost) it played out like a long alias episode without the plot continuity or perkiness of jennifer gardner. yep, that doesn't leave much. better than MI:2 but way behind the first one. that's 2 trilogies (MI and xmen) that have ended off on a weak note recently.

on a happy note, i was on the pbs website and came across this picture . nevermind the fundraising banner, but don't we all wish we could be this happy? happy monday people...

what she said...

2006-06-15T09:41:00.000-05:00

ok, so my better half beat me to the punch. you can check out her blog for some scenic pictures of the red rock area and the grand canyon. if you want something to read, here's the skinny on the long weekend...

day 1: had a beautiful drive up to sedona. it was pretty hot, but nothing like the humid chicago heat that can kill you. after dinner at Redstone, we dropped the top on the convertible and just went on a drive. like i said before, if you want a picture, see sarah's blog.

day2: over the hills, through the mountains and off to the grand canyon. the place was a lot greener than originally thought, but the views were just what i was expecting...simply jaw-dropping. dawoodi referred to it as simply "a big hole" and lily called them upside down mountains. both correct, but they really don't do it justice. this was sunset at yavapai point...

day 3: phoenix. 106 degrees. convertible top...up.

we went to the desert botanical gardens before our hotel room was ready. i never knew cacti were so different and numerous. this was my favorite type...devil cactus (horns, tail and all, he's only about a foot tall).

the fairmont princess. this place was ridiculous. i've never stayed at a 5 star resort and although it costs an arm and a leg, they will wait on you hand and foot. if and when sarah's mom moves down to phoenix, i have a feeling we won't be staying with her...

We also had an opportunity to visit some of my cousins living just outside of the city. everybody seems to be doing really well and ivan grilled some fantastic steaks and shrimp for us.

Finally, we ended the night by driving to tempe, AZ to give scott a final hurrah at a piano bar at the U of A.

day 4: the wedding. everybody had a wonderful time. i've never been to jewish wedding, but it was a lot of fun. there was drinking, dancing, chairs lifted up overhead, jump roping (?), whiskey shots (*shudder*), midnight swimming, and yes, glass breaking. Mazel-Tov! congrats to dr. and mrs. ungar (very weird to hear/say).

day 5: brunch and travelling. overall, a solid trip.

********************************
2 unrelated trip notes to blog about. one sad. one happy.

sad. farewell to mandy. i should have given you more table scraps when i had the chance...

happy. check out the bellagio fountain show in diet coke form... Note to the wise. never drink diet coke and eat mentos at the same time...

more to come...

2006-06-13T12:36:00.000-05:00

we're finally back. red rocks, grand canyon, phoenix, my uncle, scott's wedding. everything was great...and sunny...and hot. but work is kicking my butt now, so i'll have to post pictures and details sometime in the near future.

stay tuned...

as promised...

2006-05-31T21:48:00.000-05:00

in my last post i said i'd post the most racist slot machine i've ever seen. we were all walking through caesar's palace in vegas when this fugly thing caught my eye. the quality of the camera phone pic doesn't really do this thing justice...

c'mon big money...

2006-05-29T22:00:00.000-05:00

of course that never happened, but a good time was had by all. i can't devulge any details, but i've attached a couple pictures below. the drive in with jed from san diego was fun, we had a lot of good laughs and meant some great people. ok, here's the picture recap...

people driving cars like this annoyed us...F-U-H2

seriously. i didn't know they could ever name streets like this...

oh darn, the picture of the 8 of us having fun in vegas didn't load up...
i guess it just wasn't meant to be...

the ATMs in vegas were bullies as you can see...
i'm not a fan of being broken...

random was finding out that erin and brad were living it up in vegas all weekend as well.
i met up with them at aladdins for a short while...

jed, if you can post or send me the picture of the most racist slot machine ever. please do so.
now it's back to 2 weeks of hellish work then sarah and i are off to phoenix to wrap up scott's wedding. i simply can't wait.

got my blinders on...

2006-05-19T13:23:00.000-05:00

i know. i haven't posted in a while. sue me. now jed, take my name off that damn "i once had a blog" listing. last week was one of those 80+ hour work weeks and so i feel for connie and her latest encounter with sleep deprivation. but that's all in the past...

...i'm looking forward now...

and that means i'll be in sunny sunny vegas by this time next week. hells yea. as frank would say: HOLY CRAP - LASVEGAS! WITH ITS INCREDIBLY HOT WEATHER! HOLY CRAP! i just can't wait. i suppose that means i should brush up on my blackjack and craps strategy though.

also on the horizon is arizona. seeing the grand canyon, visiting with some relatives, staying in sedona and going to scott's wedding.

i'm going to try and change my outlook now and what motivates me. rather than trying to escape the chaos of the present, i'm going to move towards the future. too saccharine for you? perhaps. but i've been way too caught up in things lately and i've lost sight of what's important and why i'm doing all this to begin with.

on that note, i'd also like to join some kind of charitable organization. does anyone have any suggestions?

yo yo...

2006-05-11T14:24:00.000-05:00

this is a birthday shout out to my ness playing-grappling hook throwing-anime watching-saturday morning cartoon watching/cereal eating-mame emulating-rice eating-water balloon slingshooting-aspiring writer and former roommate.

happy birthday jed. see you in 2 weeks.

total chick magnet...

2006-05-10T15:28:00.000-05:00

this morning i was looking out the window to see what the weather was like (ugly) when a bird ricocheted off the window. it flew away, so i know it wasn't hurt, but still, it scared the crap out of me.

so i work in cube-world. i am thus not privy to a window. on gloomy days such as this, when work is particulary crazy, i like to take a moment and go by window to escape. today's glimpse of the outside world included a kamikaze bird that grazed the window i was at then immediately perched itself on the window sill. needless to say i jumped back in a fit of fear and have resigned myself from ever trying to see the light of day again.

goddamit i don't what these birds want from me, but i'm attracting them somehow. perhaps it's this new cologne i've been wearing, eau de f#$%ing birdseed.

stalling simply...

2006-05-08T23:46:00.000-05:00

it's almost midnight and i'm extremely tired. haven't gone to bed before 1am in a while. not everybody can be like frank, so yes, the lack of sleep is beginning to take its toll on me...dozing off, zoning out and being clumsy. so why you may ask am i not going to bed now? simple, because i'm actually up doing work for a deadline tomorrow. and if i'm supposed to be working then why am i blogging? 'cause i'm just stalling. you've all been here and know exactly what i mean...

i just have to keep telling myself that i'm doing this for a good cause (making money). vegas in 18 days baby! memorial day 2 years in a row? i believe a tradition has been started...

new toys

2006-05-03T13:53:00.000-05:00

yesterday sarah and i finally upgraded our kyocera sliders to motorola razrs. mine's gray and sarah got pink. no surprise there. we're still getting used to the phones, but i have to vent...verizon has crippled these great phones. the bastards have made a lot of things un-customizable and have disabled certain features which ultimately result in having to purchase things via their own service. is it wrong to think if i pay for a phone, i should be allowed to utilize all of its features? i think verizon owes me some serious coinage in return.

still i can't get over the slim form-factor and of course, there are always hacks to get around these issues...i just rather not be bothered it.

on a tangent...i realize that if i'm to possibly maintain the coveted spot of jed's blog of the week, i had better say something remotely funny...ok...oh crap...choking...drawing a complete blank...umm....."sndng txt msgs on my razr makes me typ dum"

ants marching...

2006-05-01T12:51:00.000-05:00

right now huge pro-immigrant rallies are going on in all of the major cities. chicago is no exception and there are about 300-500,000 marching outside of sarah's building at the moment. now i haven't thought through my take on every facet of this super-touchy-highly-politicized-debate, but do i have a couple of points to make. and for those of you out there randomly reading this blog and know nothing about me, let me preface my comments with fact that i, myself, am the product of first-generation immigrants.

#1. i don't understand why the children are skipping school. yes, the protests are dubbed "a day without immigrants" but seriously, the targets here are the business men and the policy makers. will they still feel a financial pinch if the children stay in class? of course. to be fair, i understand the kids wanting to support their parents and country but again, the solidarity would still be present in their absence.

#2. this protest is 99% hispanic and the issue here is NOT U.S. immigration policy but U.S.-Mexico immigration policy. i just like a little truth in protesting. cut the crap. every morning i get up and listen to NPR and if there's an interview going on about immigration reform, it WILL be concerning border relations. i don't have a solution to this problem, but i am curious as to why immigration reform has grown so large recently. it's not a new issue, people just haven't cared. just look at our pathetic us-mexico border. we can put teams of people on the moon and harness nuclear energy but we can't build a better border than an unguarded and unmonitored cheap ass barbed wire fence that isn't even continuous? i don't buy it. as we can all see by the iraq war now, if america wants something done, it'll do it no matter what the costs.

let me break down the demographics here. 500,000 immigrants. from sarah's birds-eye view she counted a group of 50 irish, 50 gay people waiving rainbow flags (don't ask me why they're there) , several hundred eastern europe descendents and about 7 southeast asians, of which 5 were on food delivery runs. you think i'm kidding? hit up chinatown and i can guarantee you that there will be no shortage or BBQ pork buns, dim sum or wanton soup. if you go by a local chinese take-out place and it is closed, that's simply because it's monday and that's what chinese take-out places do.

am i off base with my rant? lemme know.

Holy Crap!

2006-04-26T10:00:00.000-05:00

so Jesus emailed me this morning. silly gmail placed it immediately into my spam folder, but it's a good thing i check that from time to time. HE called me "Thor" and asked me if I need help with my "energy levels being at an all time low." Sounds like I got an errant email right? But how could this email not be for me?

- Jesus wouldn't make a mistake sending out an email
- Perhaps my god given name is Thor and my folks' english translation simply came out as Bill
- The subject line was "Yo" and I readily respond to that word on a daily basis

There was also an embedded link to someplace, but i haven't clicked on it yet. i figure i'm not baptized and so who know's what'll happen if i clicked it. i bet anyone that my computer would start acting crazy spewing porn windows like the girl from the exorcist. Let it be known that I do not normally click on spam, as I have no need for cialis or the likes...holy crap indeed...

bang-bang

2006-04-23T20:47:00.000-05:00

the other night lily, sarah and i watched several episodes of scrubs, season 1. it's a great show that's still going strong. it reminds me of a real-life family guy sitcom in the sense that it peppers reality with stream-of-consciousness thougts and tangents. we still have another disc for season 1 and season 2 is on deck. hey, does anybody have any suggestions on programs to rip dvds onto your computer?

---
spamalot was fantastic this afternoon. they really kept the essence of what is monty and what is python. even the playbill had spoofs and jokes built into it.

---

tomorrow is April 24th, you know what that means...yep...monday. and so i have one thing running through my mind right now - "i don't want to work, i just want to bang on the drums all day!"....over and over and over again...is it friday yet?!

---

alternate title considered for this post: "don't want no scrubs..."

my new hobby...

2006-04-18T14:30:00.000-05:00

so i guess my new hobby is to cannibalize other people's posts. today's winner is connie and her post about new hobbies. i found her post amusing and wondered how does My Heritage break down a person's image - skin tone? features? proportions? simple and pure racism? i uploaded my pic and let me know if you can pick the winner...

Me
A.
B.
C.

answer: .ouy etah i .ouy etah i .ouy etah i ... neht ,evoba seciohc eht fo yna ot "seY" dias uoy fI

special thanks in advance to connie for being a good sport about this. and in support, i also have 100Gs here waiting for you.

manual labor...

2006-04-12T09:27:00.000-05:00

be warned, this post concerns the weekend. yeah, i know i'm late but let's be honest...nothing eventful ever happens to me during the work week.

so this weekend was fairly productive for me. i took the car in for routine maintainence, helped lily replace her bathroom faucet, replaced the burnt out light bulbs on the vaulted ceiling (by standing on my tip toes on the top of a ladder - not a fan of that), and the biggie...i dug up some earth and laid some foundation to extend lily's patio for the ginormous grill sarah's brothers bought us last year.

now that everything is said and done, i have to say...i'm just not cut out for manual labor. the easiest part was clearly taking the car in to have somebody else look at it. i used to think i was somewhat "handy" having grown up shadowing my father in his million and one tasks around the house. i thought i had a clue, but no, it's just not meant to be. we hit up home depot a couple of times in one day. what's more out of place in home depot than a semi-clueless asian guy heaving 30 pound patio blocks and 50 pound bags of limestone, levelling sand and top soil? ...an asian guy doing it in a polo shirt, khakis and dress shoes. next time, we'll stop home after church regardless of whether or not it's "more efficient" to go directly there.

the bandage on my right thumb is a constant reminder of how much i should stick to computers and the digital world. oh, what happened to my thumb? well, let's just say hammer+thumb+wood = F$#% ME! i don't know what hurts more, the blood blister that formed immediately or the blow to my ego.

i suppose the real lesson here is that "advance asian" does not mean capable of home-improvement. they're sold "as is" and i don't think they come with a warranty. i wonder if sarah knows...i wonder if she cares?

another year, another notch in the belt...

2006-04-02T00:07:00.000-06:00

Well, it happened – I turned a quarter of a century. I don’t feel any older and I don’t have any sage advice to pass on…but I did eat well. me sarah lily faisal connie neil frank and leejean joined up for a night of brazilian meat at brazzaz. here are some highlights of the evening...

-ran into my cousin stanley outside of the restaurant (what are the chances of that?)

-mitul forgot completely about the meal - his loss. this isn't so much a highlight as it was "vintage" mitul and i have to point it out

-connie gets the personal phone number of the sausage gaucho. i could say something dirty about meat on a stick but i'll refrain

-my vote for favorites goes to the grilled pineapple and the bacon wrapped chicken. i also won't be able to eat another sausage for a very very long time

- i ate an unhealthy amount of protein tonight. i had better go for a run tomorrow. speaking of running, good luck to faisal on the shamrock shuffle tomorrow

- it's 1:54 in the morning now and i think i've let enough time elapse that if i go to bed now, i won't die from meat related reasons

-i think most of the guys finished off enough food to make the evening somewhat worth the money. a bummer goes out to leejean who managed to down about $1.50 in salad greens. i don't think anybody is surprised by that, but all it means is that i appreciate her coming more, since she still came knowing full well that this wasn't her kinda joint

this is some of us before the feeding...

after the meatsweats have kicked in...

more of the aftermath...

highly efficient (and thoughtful) neil gave me this birthday card with an integrated gift certificate for the restaurant – money well spent!

some other titles considered for this post...

- lots of gauchos, but no gauchas

- memiors of a gaucho

- meatsweats unleashed

- i feel a little gross

gotta love the raw fish...

2006-03-19T10:28:00.000-06:00

i don't know what it is about sushi that i love so much. i really don't like any other meats completely raw. hell, it's taken me a while to get used to asking for steaks medium as opposed to medium-well. so why raw fish? i don't even know but i'm not going to stop that's for sure. last night leah and i hit up logan square's Hachi's Kitchen. it's a spinoff from another fine sushi joint that lily really enjoys, the sai cafe. anyway, i'd highly recommend it. the service was prompt, the chef came around, the presentation was nice and the sushi was top-notch. In particular, i'll recommend the "halloween roll" - a maki roll with tuna salmon and black tobiko with a tempura green bean in the middle.

----
In sad news when i was up at logan square i passed by a mexican restaurant jed introduced me to, Abril. Unfortunately, the windows were boarded up at odd places and it looks like it's been closed for a while :(

----
And in big news, kingdom hearts II is released on March 28!

it's your smell!

2006-03-18T12:36:00.000-06:00

aiight, so lily joined me in watching v for vendetta last night. it was entertaining on face value and i have no qualms about recommending it. the parallels to present day political issues are plentiful and they make no effort to hide them in the shadows. the whole down-with-the-totalitarian-government plot has been given a lot of attention (and fake blood) lately with Aeon Flux and UltraViolet. if you're not familiar with totalitarian governments and their methods, read this. i find it funny how all of these movies have been based on graphic novels? perhaps there is something about revolution that only pictures can capture (hot chicks kickin' ass in pleather?). granted none of these movies are oscar worthy but i don't care. i'll always enjoy seeing a hero (or heroine) rise to the occasion - especially given their absence in the real world.

---

and this will probably make some of you out there sick, but portman even looks good with a shaved head.

---

V, or agent smith, or lord elron, or whatever you want to call him is superb. the mask is hard and the lips don't move, so any emotion or subtlety is completely carried by the inflections in his voice. you can imagine.

things to get excited about...

2006-03-17T10:36:00.000-06:00

- the snow skipped the south burbs last night. score!
- i haven't been anticipating any good movies for a while now...but i kinda forgot about the next x-men flick. check out the trailer for this may.
- i'm not sure what to think about the new superman movie coming out this summer, but i'd like to give it the benefit of the doubt.
- it's friday and st. patricks day!
- i'm getting L&F pizza tonight. best damn thin crust around...
- and i'm still a little mixed on this transition...eh, no i'm not...i just want to know why...WHY?!
i simply don't approve...