Hey kids!
I know it's been a while since I dropped in, but I've been busy conquering the castle and taming the natives. It's been (Seriously) Un (freakin) believably cold here in Chicago, yet none of the natives seem to be deeply affected. I am cold. All. The. Time.
I've figured out a whole bunch of things since we last sat down for a beer and some Portillo's Hot Dogs and my back is killing me.
So, here's a little deal about Geography: Chicago is, indeed, North of Wichita. And, when I say "North" here, I don't mean like, Kansas-City-North, I mean like Canada. Like the Arctic. Like I can relate to my cousins in Alaska a whole lot better now North. For real. Are you kidding me here? This is my second winter here in as many years, and I have to tell you: THIS is ridiculous.
If you live here you have to have good boots and you have to wear them.
(In KS our boots were a whole lot more Fashion Statement and a whole lot less Frostbite Prevention).
The Full Moons and the days of sunshine are coordinated.
(Not a whole lot of sunshine so far this year).
Temperatures below freezing are tolerated and not discussed in social situations for weeks on end.
I'm just saying. Thasssallllll....
And - planning a train trip is more fun than rustlin' kitties, I'm tellin'ya.
I'm going to KS for a spot here soon.
Thinking about hobos and how they do it.
Don't feel like jumpin freight these days, nor do I feel like surfing CraigsList and gambling on goodness.
Discovered that some people must simply have fresh air (or they'll slowly die inside....) I'm genetically predisposed to needing fresh air on an hourly basis, as was my father. I clearly remeber thinking he was completely whacked for keeping a window by his head open just a bit all winter.
I thought it only fair to tell you. Before we commit. Oh yea.... And, I was raised Catholic, so I'm all conflicted and whatnot...

Social Networks: The Skinny

The other day I was watching morning television and they had this special segment called something like, "OMG. My MOM is on Facebook!" It was a couple of tweens who had recently found their mother on their social network. They were initially shocked and embarrased, but claimed to be fine with it after a couple nights' sleep
For me, it was the day one of my aunts sent me a friend request.
Yea. My Aunt. She's, like, 20 years older than me AND she's on Facebook.
Truth be told, it's a pretty cool deal. I'm a voyeur at heart and I thoroughly enjoy being able to kinda snoop through everybody's drawers and rifle through their pictures.
I remember my kids getting on Facebook a million years ago (ok. Probably more like 10 years ago) and checking it out and thinking it was great for kids in college. I think that's what the founding fathers were thinking too, but it has taken on a life of it's own now and everybody (and their aunts) are on there now.... Myself included.
But, it has piqued my curiousity about the whole Social Networking world.
My kids tell me that "MySpace is SOOOO yesterday" and they only keep their spaces up there because they don't really want to mess with taking them down. But, they've been saying that for a couple years now, and they still show up on MySpace every so often.
These are the things I have learned recently:
1. MySpace sucks. Why? Because it has all these bells and whistles and music just starts playing on most of the sites you visit. It's come to remind me of those dingle-balls that you see on the front windshields of low-riders. It's like a house packed full of kitschy stuff that nobody really wants (pet rocks, chia heads and the like) but they keep it all anyways... Complaining the whole time about having to dust all this stuff.
2. Facebook USED to be the coolest thing since sliced bread (or so they tell me). Having not really ventured there until about a year ago, I don't know what was so cool and supposedly isn't now. But, from what I gather, it's totally uncool to have so many apps available. It's like flair and e-swag: Everybody has some, but few will admit to it.
3. Tagged (I think it's called) and MyYearbook are officially the bottom feeders of the Social Network strata. I only say this because they are almost exclusively populated by people who claim to be "In a relationship" who are looking for "Fun and realationships" and basically Hooking Up. But, they're IN a relationship. Yea, you do the math. Not totally cool. These sites also come with an unGODly number of add-ons that can make you have the coolest site in your trailer park.
AND, this phenomenon definately deserves mention: Almost every profile I've bounced through has a self portrait that was either taken in a bathroom mirror (What?!?! You don't live with somebody that can take your picture?!?!) and/or are at the very least, suggestive and usually just bordering on pornographic. More crotch shots than you can shake a stick at.
In case I wasn't clear about this: Don't Go There. Seriously.
Or, Do Go There, if you want to feel like you need to take a shower after a few views.
Then there's Twitter.
My daughter turned me on to this and I've become a fan. Twitter is a little feed where you can post updates as often as you want. I've got some people that I follow who post about every half hour with everything from the most mundane ("Woke up. Got out of bed.") to locals posting traffic and weather updates. I like it and it allows me to be a Hover-Mom without a guilty conscience. It's also become a pretty valuable resource for finding things and people and whatnot.
So, if you want to mortify your children, or simply find everybody that you went to high school with - get yourself a Facebook page. You just may find your grandparents there.

Gladness. Cubed.

I could burst with all this goodness. I really love the people that my family has married into. And, 2008 had all kinds of high-points. These are just a few that I'm remembering tonight...

This is Chelsea and Jonathan and Olive. This is their 10th Christmas together. I love that they are such a cool couple and have been one for so long.
Some swell documentaries that made me think... or made me mad... or made me more curious:

- Stupidity
(I may have to write a Thesis on this and get a Masters)
- Young At Heart (Geriatrics singing contemporary songs a capella)
- Meth (aka; How I Lost My Brother)
- Fall From Grace. The Phelps (Topeka's Shame)
- 7 Up
(I wouldn't wanna be those people, but I love watching them grow up)
- Shut Up and Sing (Never been a big fan of Country Music, but the Dixie Chix deserve kudos for not sucking up)
- Everything I watched that was Anti-Bush and WTF: A War?!?! Seriously?!?
- Hours of study re; Fascism and Consumerism
- Jesus Camp
- Who Killed The Electric Car?

OTHER GREAT STOPS ALONG THE WAY:
Music and Art.
Blogspot
Twitter
Google Maps
Weather
Craigs List
Free Cycle
New friends and old friends
Cute babies
Indoor Plumbing
Target
Social Networking
Sturdy shoes and good socks
Ace Bandages
Free WiFi
Limewire
Photoshop
Hitch Hiking
Train Hopping
Thrift Stores
Busking
Ex-Husbands
Catholics, Athiests and Agnostics
Home Brews
Justin Thomas and Chelsea Maureen
NORML
Obama-Rama (Change Can Happen)
Lou Reed
My Grandson (wow. I'm THAT old)
Helvetica (I once married a Font Freak. Can't Go Back.)
Ipods and Itunes
Sony Digital Cameras
The Pacific and The Atlantic
Trains
Planes and 18-Wheelers
Pepper Spray
Downtown Chicago
I-70 from KS to CO
North Carolina
Seattle
Idaho
My sister's home
My step-mother the nun
And, what are you grateful for?

Gratitude Monday: The Internet

Pandora.com has become my most favorite place to go for all day music of whatever I'm in the mood for. You can choose artists or bands or songs or genres. It's the bomb and I've gotten to find a whole bunch of music that I wouldn't have otherwise found.

Freecycle.org is probably one of the coolest utilities around these days. It's kind of like a never-ending garage sale that allows you to feel good about being a consumer AND lets you meet new people and learn new towns. And, best part: It's all free.
If you haven't tried it out yet, y'oughta.

The Metra Map online is yet another in a long list of amazing and totally necessary maps that I've found online. Google maps and Map Quest are equally cool, but I had to choose only one image to illustrate this - and, well... The Metra Map was by far the most colorful.

Oh Craigslist - what a fortuitous bucket of luck that I found you. This site has allowed me to see a huge part of America and get to airports and train stations on time (ride-share), Laugh out loud at least once a week (Best Of), find jobs, sell stuff, find stuff and give stuff away.

It was here that my true nature as a voyeur was most completely defined. If you haven't been here yet, you really ought to just go check it out. I'm not going to bore you with the details here that you can find there. But, do go find it there - it's just a good way to start your Sundays.

There was a time when I thought the whole Internet thing was just further evidence that we're destroying our innate ability to interact with humans. I'm glad that time has passed. I'm glad for every "conversation" that I get to have with my kids ... with my extended family and many of my friends. I'm glad I can jump over to Twitter and see just what it is that my people are doing for dinner.

I'm thankful for the pictures of my nephews, children, extended family, all my real-life friends and my grandson. My Space and Facebook aren't really the work of the devil and I don't like one over the other. They have both allowed me to find people I've lost and stay connected with the ones I didn't.

I think this Internet thing might catch on.

Gratitude v.2//Gatherings

I think it has always been and will always be that I am most grateful for gatherings of different people for different reasons. I cherish meals that last too long and end with too many people in the kitchen. My Super Power probably involves creative reasoning for parties. I think we should all just get together and sit down for a spell. These are just a few of the collections I got to be a part of. Except for the boots. I just put that in there because I love it and Hoot did such a good job shooting it.

Gratitude.

As this year draws to a close, I have cause to pause and consider all the things that have been so great about 2008.
Truth be told, I really need to just think happy thoughts, so I'm doing this as an exercise in gratitude.
What follows are just a few of the people and things and memories I'm grateful for this year.
Oh.
And, this could go on Ad Naseum, so just know that much....
This is Lauren Grace Vitiello and Luke Townsend. I'm pretty sure they were sent to me for a reason. They are full of love and acceptance and they are pretty much normal people. Without them I could not fully appreciate my mastery of the Egg Sandwich (Samich) or my ability to be 47.

This would be Justin Thomas and Chelsea Maureen. Halloween in the 80s. I think of this picture a lot and it makes me happy for both Halloween AND Christmas.

These are The Littlest Monkeys. My nephews with a TOTALLY non-soluble ink pad. It makes me remember how dangerous it is to be on the phone, with toddlers in the house, and have it go all quiet. Non-soluble is the key word here. But, they will grow new skin.

Aaahhhhh.... And this would be Felix. My Grandson (aka: The Child Capable of NO Wrong) I think he'll vote Democratic...maybe Libertarian. I can tell from that smile that he's got my back and nothing bad will happen. He won't watch TV and he's going to read Keroac before he's 10.

These are just my TOP 5 REASONS to be grateful for this past year.

My photo files are FAT with more reasons. Stay tuned. Film at eleven.

Fourth Grade Class Rocks the Adler

Yesterday I got to go with Storm's class to the Adler Planetarium in downtown Chicago. It is right on Lake Michigan nestled on this little peninsula that appears to house a few good places (mostly the Shedd Aquarium and The Field Museum) and made me appreciate how land-locked Kansas is.
I know that Lake Michigan is just a lake, but...seriously, it's huge. It felt more like being near an ocean.
We got on a big ol school bus with, like, 60 fourth grade students and spent an action-packed 5 hours (or so) burning calories and learning about planetary phenomena.
What follows are my Top Four Favorite Pictures of the Day.