visitors

i haven't had the internet in several days so this is a bit of a belated post.

last weekend, not this past weekend, but the one before, katie and eiko took the megabus down for a few days. for those unfamiliar with megabus it's basically a cheaper option than driving if you were to go from, say, minneapolis to chicago and back. (hint hint for you minnesotans! come visit me!!) katie and eiko reported that it wasn't scummy at all, in fact is a double decker (!) which they even got the top front seats for a portion of the trip...that would be super fun to see the ride from that angle. so, when i end up taking it i'm going to plan to get in line early in hopes of snagging the hot seat.

katie, joe


eiko


anyways it was so refreshing to have some visitors here! friday night, joe ended up having to work (boo.) but us ladies hung out in the neighborhood, went to a good italian restaurant and hit up a couple of neighborhood bars, danny's and the charleston. both about 2-3 blocks from my house. both cool in different ways. that was fun. had a few too many gin n tonics however. haven't really drank much at all since i've been here so that played a role.

next day, went to brunch at vella's cafe, also in the neighborhood, tucked under the el stop. had a really good crepe. then we trained it to chinatown, ate some pastries, got some mystery gifts for katie and eiko. for some reason i love the idea of buying something pre-wrapped so it's a surprise when you open it to see what it is. yesss! even though they turned out to be fairly crappy things (chinese bird whistles, some unidentifiable toy, a chicago-themed magnetic clip) it's all about the anticipation!

chinatown


uhh yeah. so we then headed over to lincoln park for some boutique shopping, i myself being priced out of the market however interesting to see nonetheless. back to bucktown for some chinese food, then we took a cab downtown to go to joe's restaurant, blackbird, for some serious dessert. we had five different desserts, all damn good and very unconventional. joe also ordered me a 'pimm's cup' which is a drink that he thinks is hilarious. just because of the name i guess. it was really cool to see where he works & i look forward to checking out avec next time, which is the sister restaurant that he also works at, next door to blackbird. went home and henna'ed (is that a verb? or is it 'did' henna ? or what?) i am quite proud of the peacock i drew for katie, it was my first attempt at henna and it was super fun to do.

check out my handiwork


next day they headed home pretty early. it is awesome that we are close enough to minneapple that people can pop over for a weekend and do so relatively cheaply (hint again).

in other news, my computer and ipod touch hath arrived. good god the ipod touch is cool. not to brag or anything but that thing is so...hip. perhaps i have turned a blind eye to the blackberry phenomenon wherein people check their email and the internet in a tiny device but it's really thrilling to be able to do such a thing now!! plus photos and music and videos galore! dependent of course on wifi access but still! so freaking cool. ooo yeah.

not much new the recent weekend, watched the debates of course friday night (with joe, he was actually at home on a friday night!) then went shopping on saturday, had to do a return plus get a case for the aforementioned ipod, got falafel with joe & aaron, watched the coen brothers' 'miller's crossing' (good) uhm, went grocery shopping, was lazy, etc etc. fiddled with the new computer (the novelty has not faded).

that is about it for now. heard that the stock market had an epic tank today altho haven't had time to investigate. i guess it this would be a bad time to open that roth IRA i've been thinking about for a few years. i have zero investments but i do worry about my mom's retirement. o what a tangled web...

I'm sorry, but...

I am trying, really trying, to resist the urge and not blog politics, but I can't help myself.


COURIC: Why isn’t it better, Governor Palin, to spend $700 billion helping middle-class families struggling with health care, housing, gas and groceries? Allow them to spend more and put more money into the economy? Instead of helping these big financial institutions that played a role in creating this mess?

PALIN: That’s why I say, I like every American I’m speaking with we're ill about this position that we have been put in where it is the tax payers looking to bailout.

But ultimately, what the bailout does is help those who are concerned about the health care reform that is needed to help shore up the economy– Helping the — Oh, it’s got to be about job creation too. Shoring up our economy and putting it back on the right track. So health care reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions and tax relief for Americans.

And trade we’ve got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive scary thing. But 1 in 5 jobs being created in the trade sector today. We’ve got to look at that as more opportunity. All those things under the umbrella of job creation.

what what what?

here it is:

what did i just do?

...ahhhh ! i just dropped lots of moolah on a new computer. this is intense. i have a hard time spending. and i've spent tons lately what with the move and the job-less summer.

HOWEVER, the transition is over. i have a new job. i'll still have some savings leftover, but i'll just have to cross my fingers that no major financial crisis comes my way soon. i'll be fine (here's hoping).

one perk i am fortunate enough to capitalize on is the apple for education discounts. since i work at a school, i qualify (o-o-oh yeaaah).

okay, putting the worry aside, it in no way eclipses the sheer excitement of it all! i do in fact have to wait up to five business days for the components to arrive. are you in the least bit interested in exactly what i've purchased? probably not, but i shall elaborate anyway.

so i got me a new macbook with 4GB memory and 120GB HD. I didn't spring for the 'black' but i considered it (the verdict: they are way too cool for me). and there's more: the requisite MS office, but also adobe creative suite design premium which has pretty much all the software I will ever need to persue digital photography/graphic/web/design until i explode. i am super excited by this, because i want to get serious (as in serious hobbyist) with photography and especially on the digital manipulation side of things. the education discount really helped me on that one, since it's about $1800 worth of software right there at a steep price reduction. so you should look forward to seeing some evidence of my new toys soon.

furthermore, the other cool part about the education deal is that i get a free ipod touch. plus the usual free printer/copier thingamajig. i also got an adaptor to plug the whole shebang into our new fancy television so that i can see my photos in giant. yes!!!!

so, there you have it. it's on its way. i spend a large chunk of my savings, then i hop over to the nytimes site to see that today america has a financial meltdown of sorts. great.

anyhoo, today has been a leisurely day of cooking & crafting for me. it has been raining non-stop which blew my weekend plans bigtime. that is, i have been looking forward to the renegade craft fair for quite some time now, and it was right near my house, but the downpour squashed my dreams of going to that. blah!

last night i accidentally locked myself out of the apartment, with nothing but my cell phone and the cat. i panicked for a bit (joe was working until way late), but we were eventually let in by the neighbor after about 20 minutes. mind you it was rainy cold & dark. today i had to train downtown to bring joe some keys since he had locked the keys in the jeep. jeesh.

Alaskan women stand up against Palin

"We begin in Anchorage, Alaska, where a group of average women decided to hold a small rally to let it be known that their Governor, Sarah Palin, does not represent their views on many of the issues that are important in their lives.

They put together a press release and sent it to the Anchorage media outlets. A local right-wing talk show host broadcast the names and phone numbers of the two organizers over the air. They began receiving a series of harassing phone calls for the remainder of that afternoon. The leading TV station picked up the story on Thursday. Alaska Public Radio Network put up some audio.

An anonymous caller contacted the local media on Friday afternoon and told them they were one of the organizers, and the rally had been cancelled. Someone even faxed forged a document saying the Secret Service had cancelled the permit for the rally, even though no permit is required. Some people were putting an awful lot of effort in to making sure no dissent would be heard from Alaska." link

tax breaks compared

who can argue with this? want to know what your tax cut under obama will be? check it here.

what i'm up to.

in an effort to stop alienating my republican readership, here's a non-partisan post!

listening to:
beach house
bon iver
the olivia tremor control
m83
david bowie 'diamond dogs'
portishead 'third'

reading:
the gay talese reader (update!)
the jungle
to educate the human potential by maria montessori

watching:
wall-e
when the levees broke
short cuts
the constant gardener


the temperature has dropped in the past week. i'm chilly. it rained a bunch. is it really fall? now i'm trying to adjust to real seasons again. and realizing that i have a shortage of socks since i rarely needed them in new mexico.

i really want to buy a new laptop but it's hard for me to work up the nerve to spend that kind of money. it's a struggle. i am cheap. or maybe thrifty is a better word for it.

last night i bought tickets to see broken social scene in october. yeeesss.

i went to the downtown branch of the chicago public library on saturday to get my library card. it is the largest public library in the nation. it looks like it's straight out of gotham city. it has a 'winter garden' on the top floor altho i didn't have time to use it but hope to go back soon to snap some photos.

nothing much is new. it's funny how quickly i have established the everyday routine. am i really a routinized person? a: yes.

neighborhood pic:

bridge to nowhere

what's with the repeated, pathological lying?

sarah palin continues to reiterate:

"I told Congress: 'Thanks but no thanks for that Bridge to Nowhere up in Alaska,' " Palin told the crowds at the "McCain Street USA" rallies. "If we wanted a bridge, we'll build it ourselves."

it is a FACT that she supported the bridge until it became a symbol of pork barrel spending, specifically what mccain loves crusading against. in fact, in a speech mccain had blamed the bridge to nowhere & projects like it for the 35w bridge collapse.

from wikipedia:

In September 2006, during her campaign for Governor, Sarah Palin visited Ketchikan to express her support for the Gravina Island Bridge project. At a public forum, Palin held up a pro-bridge t-shirt designed by a Ketchikan artist, Mary Ida Henrikson. The legend on the shirt was "Nowhere Alaska 99901", referencing the buzzword of "Bridge to Nowhere" and the primary zip code of Ketchikan. In her public comments, referring to her own residence in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley, she said: "OK, you’ve got Valley trash standing here in the middle of nowhere. I think we’re going to make a good team as we progress that bridge project."

In October, when asked, "Would you continue state funding for the proposed Knik Arm and Gravina Island bridges?", she answered: "Yes. I would like to see Alaska's infrastructure projects built sooner rather than later. The window is now - while our congressional delegation is in a strong position to assist." Later that month, at a Chamber of Commerce meeting in Wasilla, Alaska, Democratic candidate Tony Knowles criticized Palin for supporting the Knik Arm Bridge, the Gravina Island Bridge, and a road north out of Juneau instead of rebuilding the Parks Highway. The Ketchikan Daily News noted that, of the gubernatorial candidates, "Only Palin is consistent in support all of the projects..."



why on earth, when it has been publicly proven otherwise, does palin continue to lie over & over again? the answer must be that republicans bet on the stupidity of the american people. they don't have to tell the truth, they can just say what they want and hope that american voters don't care enough to check facts.

from the washington post:


John Feehery, a Republican strategist, said the campaign is entering a stage in which skirmishes over the facts are less important than the dominant themes that are forming voters' opinions of the candidates.

"The more the New York Times and The Washington Post go after Sarah Palin, the better off she is, because there's a bigger truth out there and the bigger truths are she's new, she's popular in Alaska and she is an insurgent," Feehery said. "As long as those are out there, these little facts don't really matter."

For now, there appears to be little political reason to back down. A Washington Post-ABC News poll taken Sept. 5 to Sept. 7 found that 51 percent of voters think Obama would raise their taxes, even though his plan would actually cut taxes for the overwhelming majority of Americans. Obama has proposed eliminating income taxes on seniors making less than $50,000 a year, but 41 percent of those seniors say their income taxes would go up in an Obama administration.

facts are no longer important, because lying works better. this is vomit inducing. and every day new lies emerge; this is just one example. how dare they keep feeding us this garbage??? how stupid do they think we are?

hypocrisy !

politics

before the big palin speech tonight, here's some food for thought:

Senator John McCain defended his choice of Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate in an interview with ABC News, predicting that her speech tonight would win over skeptics and persuade Americans of her abilities. link

to define the word "her" in this case :

"Sitting around a dining room table, the McCain team has talked to her about Iraq, energy and the economy, but has focused on what she should say in her speech, struggling almost as hard as she has to prepare for what will be, along with a debate in October, her main opportunity to shape the way she is viewed by voters. Not anticipating that McCain would choose a woman as his running mate, the speech that was prepared in advance was "very masculine," according to campaign manager Rick Davis, and "we had to start from scratch."link

Here's McCain's own campaign manager confirming that Palin was a last minute choice, and that the original speech was written for someone else. Right now, they're sitting at that table with the diced up remains of a speech that was originally written for Romney or Pawlenty and putting a dress on it. link

aren't politics funny? and gross. I also heard that schwarzenegger was slated to give the EXACT speech that fred thompson ended up giving last night, but skipped it to focus on california's budget.

mccain refused to appear as scheduled on larry king live, citing this interview as his reason:


speaking of larry king, here's a fun one: