Chestnut Hill and all

So this weekend a bunch of friends and I went up to Chestnut Mountain to ski and snowboard. Fiday night our friend Eli and I got really drunk and made a jacuzzi out of our bathtub. JD took his shirt off, Stephanie did something on her head causing all the boys to take photos of her butt, and Sean stole these snowman statuetts from the bar. Ah, good times. I'll post photos soon, as they're actually pretty entertaining. Oh, Sean ran over a deer. They named the deer "Deer Couger Melloncamp"
Saturday: I went snowboarding for the first time in like 3 years. I went down a few times and I realized i was just not having fun. The slopes were so short and there wasn't much powder, so I asn't willing to try anything really fun. So, I hung out with JD who didn't want to ski or snowboard. I was super tired and everyone commented on how pale I looked.
I love getting away with friends!

Hey Missy

Miss Missy.
I was just wondering what ever happened to the James vs Kelly&Missy basketball game.
My guess is that it was never played. If it was, i hope you girls made him run till he was all tired out, then just out shot him. Though if you'd have won, i'm sure i would've heard about it by now.
Happy super late birthday by the way. How was Vegas?

Keep us posted!

Power & Sensitivity

Power & Sensitivity, that's what one of the posters on the wall here at work says. And then it's got a picture of a mother polar bear surrounding her cub.
Cute. It's like an inspirational poster (you know the one's i'm talkin' 'bout) except that it's really a promo poster from the RT-PCR company. I get it, powerful and sensitive PCR, just like that mother bear. hummmm.
What does (or would) your inspirational work poster say?

Love,
JDM

The Incredible Dating Weekend

Quite a weekend here in Chicago, complete with low, low temperatures, and lots of sunshine! Huang and I had a couple of little 'dates' in an attempt to get out and explore some more of Chicago. Friday night we ran out to the suburbs to hear a stand-up comic that we like. His name is Todd Barry. It was fun seeing him live, and he's pretty damn funny. Unfortunatly, we missed him when he played downtown Chicago, so we had to go out to the 'burbs. There wasn't much to do out there (lots of fodder for a comic), so we saw the show then ended up hitting up our local InnerTown for a nightcap.
We awoke to a chilly 1 deg F morning, and decided it'd be a good day to see a movie. "Why We Fight", the new documentery on the military-industrial complex, posing the question wait wait, get this: "why do we fight?" Anywho, i found it very though provocing, but am not going to review it now. Continuing on our date, we when to this french creperie and had crepes.
Umm, chicken-curry crepe, delicious! Then home for a videogame interlude.
And what better way to end a date, than meeting friends at Gold Star for beers and pool.
Fun weekend. Cheers Huangy!

Do anything fun?
JDM

My favorite books to read are the ones high school students are assigned.

My favorite books to read are the ones high school students are assigned. Last summer I read To Kill a Mocking Bird while lounging on the beach, watching my friends play horseshoes (Go Team Drunk!) and everytime someone saw my book, they said "I read that in high school." Well now I'm reading The Grapes of Wrath and once again I'm thinking, damn, why didn't I read this in high school when I was supposed to?? This is pretty damn good.
I remember once talking to this guy (Chris, what's his name? He's the singer for the Gizzards) who was reading it and I remember I was so facsinated by the fact that 1, someone else reads for the fun of it, and 2 it was some old school book.
Sure I know some people who read for the fun of it, but most people don't. So, my question is "Why do you choose to read?" accompanied with "Do you read for entertainment purposes?"

(I've been watching a lot of Sex and the City lately, hence my thoughts then a question (or two) at the end; just like Carrie does...mmmm... I love Sex and the City...I'm a Miranda...)

Mmmm... Valentines day....

I love Valentines day. But now that it's over, it's business as usual.
The Berghoff is a restraunt that has been open for more than 100 years now here in Chicago. And it's been passed down from generation to generation to run the place. But now, it's been passed down to the next generation, who is closing it and turning it into a night club. (yeah, downtown chicago sure could use ANOTHER nightclub... whatever.) Anyway, what kind of idiot takes family history and then poops all over it? I'm really sad about this news. You can read about it's history at it's website... http://www.berghoff.com/

Conan O

Why is Conan O'Brien listed as a "hero" of mine on myspace page?
Why wouldn't he be? After writing some of the funniest of the Simpsons episodes, he went on to become the funniest guy in late nite. How can you disagree with: Triumph, Walker Texas Ranger Clips, Actual Items, and the Masterbating Bear?

What could possibly be next for him? Well if you haven't been watching him campaign for the female President of Finnland on his show over the last few months (because they happen to look alike- see below), check out this story. And now that she won,he states:
"In my country, when someone is instrumental in helping someone get elected it's customary for the president to give that person a Cabinet or ministerial position,"


Awesome.

Well, another fun weekend over, and another work week to look fwd to.
Huang and I started out our weekend going to a bar out in Wrigleyville (Lincoln Park?, we're not real sure where the boundries are). It seemed to have potential, in that it was a cool looking bar on a corner, with kind of an old-ish flair (old wood bar and such) and a big room in the back with a stage for music. Huang wanted to see a guy in the band playing, so we went to check that out. The problem was that everyone there was going on 40, at least. We were definately the youngest ones there. We had a beer and heard some songs, then took off, as it wasn't doing-it-for us.
Headed back to our old reliable InnerTown to meet the boys and shoot some stick.
Saturday we headed out to the museum at the Art Institute of Chicago again. We like that museum, have been there three times now, and think we've seen almost all of it.
Tried to find a show to see, but there's no good movies out. Ended up at Gold Star playing pool and sipping beers till closing.

I swear, the regulars at Gold Star must think we're the worst pool players. I think we get our share of respect at InnerTown, but whenever we go to Gold Star (this is including our friend Sean) pool just isn't shot well. I guess it's just a good thing that the line there is never too bad.
Anyway, Sat. night was fun. Huang always seems to meet people at Gold Star, which is cool, even if it does end in an armwrestling competition.

Cheers,
JDM

Life is pretty good right now

Ah to quote a smart and beautiful woman, Missy, Life is pretty good right now.
I concur! With no disparaging remarks to be had! Life is good! JD and I are moving in together. It's snowing in Chicago, too! The wonder that is the cold weather is still here and we're still loving it. Yes, it's so warm in our former home, but then we wouldn't get to wear cool scarves and binies and run into warm bars and so on. I love the winter in Chicago! It's freakin' cold!
My dead end job is awesome too! I have a really cool boss and my coworkers are really nice. The work is good too, plus I make enough money to pay bills and have fun! Isn't that helpful.
So cheers everyone! Cheers to making lemonade out of lemons!
If you have time, please reply why you can also say "life is pretty good right now".

Super Bowl Sunday

Superbowl sunday is over. and I ate too much chips and salsa. Too many chips and too much salsa... And who said studying for the GMAT would never pan out for anything! Oh wait, nobody said that... Anyway, Seahawks lost. boo hoo. Chris and I bet a little bit. I won the coin toss, he won the over/under score. Neither of us won the Seahawks to win (mine was between 2-6 points and his was between 7-11).
It was a good time. But now more importantly, when does baseball start?! I'm going to bet at the very beginning of the year that Boston is going to win. They took our best players (the padres) and they have some other good players, I think they've got the winning combination as of now. I'm not sure who's going to do worse though. Padres or Kansas City. It's a toss up. The padres are going to blow. Damn that Kevin Towers. Damn him to hell!

Walk on the left stand on the right.

Chicago life can be really funny at times. Everyone, including myself, busts ass to get to work. Therefore, you see a lot of people powerwalking their way to the tall builings of The Loop. They're wearing scarves, they almost always have gloves on, and a lot of men where wool three quarter length jackets and scarves that are tucked in such a way that they're not wrapped around the neck, it's weird. (They all live in Lincoln park, too.) Anyway, I was just marveling at the quirkiness that is a large city like Chicago. There are a lot of shoulder pads (via the wool coats). Also, when you're going up an escalater, you stand on the right, and walk on the left, and if you don't do this, someone (like what happend today to some poor girl that may have been a tourist from some non-english speaking part of the world) will yell at you to move over. Not me, I don't have the guts, although in my little brain I am screaming "Damn, I'm going to be late and it's all your fault! I hate you!!!"
Anyway, does anyone else notice the way they're commute is always the same?