Chicago's Sister City: France

I heard a story on NPR this morning about smoking bans in France.
A smoking ban exists, but it's not enforced. Hmm.
Smokers complain. They say smoking is part of French character. They smoke anyway.

That sounds sort of like Chicago. Smoking is banned, except on Saturdays. Or it can only occur in the front of the bar. Or the back. Or depending on the bartender's preference. Or the band that is playing. Or if the place has a "smoke filter" in the room.

Essentially, the only places in the world where people will be allowed to smoke are Chicago and France.

The Unconscious Mind's Veterinarian Who Likes Old Skool Michael Jackson

I had a strange dream last night that I was walking around my neighborhood carrying around a 40-lb dog under my arm, when suddenly her belly swelled because she was going to have puppies. I had to put the dog down and deliver the puppies right there on the street. When I had this dream (in the morning) I was lucid enough to feel irritated thinking: "this is the second dream I had in one night where I had to deliver a dog's puppies. WTF?!?"

I woke up and I realized that if I had to deliver puppies twice in one night, I either missed my calling as a veterinarian, or my unconscious mind is trying to tell me something more symbolic. I think it has to do with a project at work that I'm working on, which requires a lot of analyzing other people's thoughts and synthesizing them to create some new ideas. It's hard mental work! Apparently like delivering a dog's puppies????

I also had another dream last night that I was riding around in someone's car. Michael Jackson's song "Rock With You" was playing and I said, "Haaaay. This is my song."

Bluesy Songs Have the Best Lyrics

Here's a great line I heard today in the song, Been Down Too Long by Scott H. Biram:

"All I want in this creation, is a good lovin' woman and a long vacation."

Ha! That sounds pretty good.

R.I.P. U.P.N., The Network That Is Not the Worst

I don't have cable.

While I enjoy watching television, having cable is not mandatory in Chicago if you are an open-minded t.v. watcher and live in an upper floor apartment. You get all the major networks - ABC, NBC, CBS, FOX - and the minor networks - WB, UPN. There is also two public television channels, and several culturally specific channels - two Asian channels, one that plays Bollywood music videos on weekend, one that plays Polish news and Polish music videos in the evening. The variety is certainly entertaining when one is in the mood for channel surfing.

Before this summer, however, I did most of my "whole show watching" on the WB network, followed with a close second by shows on UPN. And UPN shows were not that good. Imagine my dismay when the two networks merged into the CW network, essentially halving my t.v. show watching opportunities.

The CW network has yet to roll out its new fall programming, but in the meantime, channel 50 has dropped into a television abyss. I thought the old shows on U.P.N. were sort of the worst they could be (excepting the fabulous Veronica Mars.) But U.P.N. was a good back-up. Now, "My Channel 50" has the absolute worst bullshit programming that could possibly be imagined.
They pretty much have two shows: "Fashion House" and "Desire," which they play every night in the 7 p.m. - 9 p.m. time slot. Both of these shows suck. "Fashion House" stretches 5 minutes of story and 20 seconds of women joylessly slapping each other into each 1-hour episode. The rest of the time is filled with choppy scenes of people taking shots, black-and-white stills of Bo Derek arching her eyebrow, and self-referential flashbacks to the current episode throughout the episode.

But at least the guys are hot. I can't even watch "Desire."

I didn't think the programming on channel 50 could get any worse, but I was wrong. So I say to you: R.I.P. U.P.N. I'm sorry I took you for granted.

Picasso Street Eye

Have you ever noticed when someone you know has "an eye" for something. I've known people who have had a super-attuned visual attention for art or architecture, fashion, jewelry, purses, cars, hairstyles, furniture, etc., etc. However, these visually-oriented people don't always have an eye for all things visual. It's pretty interesting what different people attend to with their visual senses.

I think I have a pretty good eye for fashion and jewelry, and am able to identify quality items and appreciate them for their exquisiteness. But when it comes to architecture, I just draw a blank. I have no training in architecture so I have no developed visual vocabulary, and no inherent criteria for valuation that I've developed on my own. But more than that, it is almost as if my eye doesn't see it. If I'm walking down a street, I'm more apt to notice the people on the street - what they are wearing, what they are doing, what they are saying. Secondly, I would notice any wayfinding signage on the street - street signs, street lights, storefronts - because I like to know where I'm going. Third, I might notice the natural elements on the street - plants, gardens, trees, fountains, birds. These are the things that interest me, so these are the things I see; then I'm able to judge them by their visual quality and interest.

Nothing Is Any Better Today Than It Always Is (Which Is Pretty Effing Good)

Farmer's Market Purchases Yesterday:
- oblong tomatoes
- a tart, crisp variety of apples
- french petite green beans

"Is there anything else really good today that I am missing?" I ask my
go-to guy at my favorite produce stand.

"Nothing is better today than it always is," he said.

It was cute because that seems to be his attitude about most things in life. This is a guy in his mid to late 20s who lives his life in a three-phase cycle every year. Phase I: semester of college; Phase II: 4 months of traveling abroad, this year in India; Phase III: a spring and summer of farming and farmer's markets. What a life! And he always seems so happy to live it.

Pork Chop ala Experimental

In light of my previous post, and before I knew anything about Julia Child, I have had one of her cookbooks. Far from her "preferred" in-depth style recipes, it's more of a general "fly by the seat of your pants" type cookbook. It has a little overview of many things, and leaves many details unclear for someone who doesn't know much about the basics of cooking. However, last night I used her tips to make an amazing rub for some surprisingly tasty pork chops. The rub consisted of salt, pepper, all-spice, and dried thyme. Wow! It smelled so spicy and delicious when I rubbed it on!

To fully cook the pork chop, the recipe said to brown it on both sides, which I did. However, I was then supposed to stew it in a slight sauce of white wine vermouth, chicken broth, and shallots. Sounded delicious, but whoops! I didn't have any of those things in the kitchen. The pork chops needed some additional cooking, so I put together a liquid, ahem, "sauce" of a little water, white wine vinegar, vegetable oil, and sliced onions. "I hope I don't ruin it!" I said as I poured it in. It did the job of cooking the pork, the onions softened beautifully, and my little sauce didn't ruin the savoriness of the pork rub marinade. It was delicious! As one who almost always follows a recipe, I was impressed with myself, and truly inspired from trying something new -

Inspired by Julia Child

I finished reading "My Life In France," by Julia Child and Alex Prud'homme. It was lovely and romantic in so many ways! The book is mainly about Julia as a newlywed, and the time in her life when she and her husband moved to Paris. He introduced her to French food and wine, and she fell in love with it. While he was working, she began to experiment with learning to cook, shopping at the French market, and eventually taking courses at the Cordon Bleu. Her descriptions of food, the people that she meets, and her joy in life is contageous; and it is so fun to read about someone discovering her passions and pursuing them with such curiosity and determination. I have a love and admiration now for Julia Child, and for her cooking that feels very personal after reading this book.

The Art and Joy of Argument

In my everyday life, I tend to avoid confrontations and arguments. With some people, I work very very hard to be diplomatic, and to not disagree.

It's refreshing, then, to find people who can understand the art of arguing for fun. Not only do you need to find someone who likes to argue, but that likes to argue in a compatible style for your relationship to that person. Recently, I heard a girl friend say, "I got in an argument with a friend. The friend said, 'I hate you so much, I want to kill you.' " Another girl in the our discussion said, "Wow. I wish I could make someone that mad."

To girl #2, that amount of anger emotion is a strange sign of affection, no?

I like to argue and tease, and talk a little bit of shit. For some reason, this seems to go over better with my men friends. They seem to be able to take it more in stride, and get a bit of banter going without emotional consequences. With most of my female friends, it seems more difficult to get the argument rapport and sense of understanding that light arguing is just for fun, for intellectual practice, to sharpen the wit, or just to relieve tension about something else.

The Brooklyn Bridge at night

I love these street food carts

Mustard Greens at Union Square Market

At a pizza place in Brooklyn

Farmer's Market in Union Square

New York City Ethnic Food Tour

I just got back into Chicago from a week in New York City. Despite the rather cloudy and rainy weather, it was a great trip. My good buddy A**** who lives there took me on an ethnic food and neighborhood tour of New York. It was wonderful!

We ate a fresh lunch a sandwich/salad in SoHo, southern Indian food in the "Curry Hill" neighborhood, upscale iced chocolate on the Upper West Side, Moroccan chicken tagine in Bayridge (Brooklyn), yuppie brunch in Park Slope (Brooklyn), gyros in Astoria (Queens), pizza and ice cream in Dumbo (Brooklyn), and peach waffles in New Canaan, Conneticut. We walked a lot, and even went to a few musuems.

It was a wonderful trip, but it's great to be home.
I'll post a few flix soon!