Don’t Worry

I miss DPH, too.

The good news is that I went on an amazing trip to Colorado and photographed nearly every minute of it. Then I forgot about 4 gigabytes of photos there. Hence, DPH FAIL.

😦

Luckily my mom-in-law Donna takes just as many photos as I do, and understands how precious they are to me. She has already sent me the priceless drive full of Colorado photos, and it should arrive today or tomorrow!

Then everything will be back to normal.

Early Light

I love the early morning for the same reason that I love spring and fall more than summer and winter. These are all transitional moments, the places in between, the limbo that I have come to love. (Justin has pointed out that I am somewhat crazy, since I simultaneously love and hate being in limbo. He has a good point. I do love the excitement of a transitional period, but am not a fan of the anxiety that can sometimes accompany it.) These moments in time are rich with possibility. Everything is constantly moving and changing into something else. Spring is happy, yet never complacent like its lazy relative, Summer. The early morning sun always seems full of promise, but within even a matter of minutes can dissipate without leaving any clue that it was there at all. If I am able to catch it, I feel lucky. And if you blink during Fall, it will be over. Winter will be more than happy to blindside you in a flash. Especially in Chicago.

Since these bits of time can quickly pass by if I am not paying attention, I’m trying to capture and enjoy these fleeting moments and seasons when they are happening. They are full of anticipation–my drug of choice lately. I am also big on adrenaline apparently; I have to run to the train every morning because I have waited too long to leave my house at an appropriate time. Because I am writing on this thing. I have to go now.

Here is some DPH of early morning light that I managed to capture before the sparkle was gone.

The Anatomy of Meerkat Brawl

If you haven’t been to the Lincoln Park Zoo, then I would certainly like to know why. You can email me the excuse, detailing how you live in a bubble or an iron lung and simply can’t get out of the house. Those are the only acceptable responses.

The zoo is FREE, so needless to say, half of Chicago shows up there on nice summer weekends. I can understand if you have never been there because you are terrified of large groups of people, tube tops, and children wearing nothing but funnel cakes. Even if being rammed in the back of the knees repeatedly by strangers with strollers on a Saturday isn’t your thing, put on some shin guards and go for just 15 minutes to see the Meerkats in the African exhibit. There is no glass between you and these fat little versions of their famous relatives.

The only person I know that is sure to hate them is my friend Maggie. She is not a big fan of  cute things, including this and the cat collage I have posted on the wall just outside my office door.

During your visit to the Meers, you are sure to see a “fight.” It will go something like this:

ASNA Block Party

The ASNA blocks of Andersonville are a great place to live, especially if you are a young family, gay, or have a dog. If you don’t fit into these categories, you are still welcome, but just a bit of a minority. Justin and I are definitely in the minority.

We do want to stay here as long as possible while Justin is still in school. Luckily, he negotiated another year or so on our lease. He was wearing this shirt during last night’s lease conversation with our landlord:

Yep.

I made that for him with a sharpie. Aren’t I the best wife ever?

So last night was also the ASNA block party. The turn-out was much larger than last year, and the amount of children in attendance seemed to have tripled. Andersonville must be an increasingly popular neighborhood to have kids in. I didn’t notice any other #1 Cat Parents in the crowd, so I guess we were on our own.

Horses! There was absolutely no reason for police horses at the block party. I think they were there just for petting.

This is Latte the dog. He wants to pet the horses too.

I think that police horses are one of the most patient animals on earth.

Deliciously Horrifying

Cantaloupe is another summer treat that is no good unless it is eaten in season. There is nothing worse than eating a pale, dry, and tasteless melon in the dead of winter–except maybe eating a pale, mealy, tasteless tomato.

Out-of-season-over-traveled fruit and veggies give their in-season-locally-grown relatives a bad name. Who wouldn’t hate mushy pale peas or tough woodsy green beans?  I swear that kids would be a whole lot more excited about eating fruits and veggies if they were eating them in season. The fact that you can call an irradiated apple that was shipped from another continent in January by the same name as one picked in August from just outside your town is sad. They taste nothing alike. If you had a blind taste test between the two, they would be categorized as different fruits entirely. Same goes for about a million other fruits and vegetables.

That being said, my summer cantaloupe is fantastic right now. Just as a fresh summer tomato should be eaten with salt while listening to Janis Joplin’s Summertime, a cantaloupe should be eaten without a fork with while listening to Miles Davis.

Delicious. Sweet. Juicy. Smells amazing.

Want to make an enticing piece of fruit instantly horrifying? Probably not. That is the grossest mouth ever. Sorry.

To ensure that you don't have any nightmares about Cantamouth, I will leave you with some pretty photos of my latest Dr. Seuss arrangement.

I Spy Geese

This is from Friday’s crispy blue commute along Wacker Drive. The geese were on their way somewhere as well.

It was such a gorgeous morning that I was tempted to play hooky. Luckily I decided against it, because a team of ominous clouds rolled in shortly after I settled into my office. Good thing I was at work, because someone needs to help the world SAVE (AHORA) up to $1 on NEW PRODUCTS! Now Formulated with 200% more MAGIC!! You want to buy these products now, don’t you? No? Would it help if I made it bold and red?

Now please excuse me while I go line the floor of the liter box closet with circular ads.

I Can Die Happy Now

The tomatoes have arrived at the farmer’s market. I have been waiting since the end of last year’s tomato season for this day. They aren’t in full take-over mode yet—filling every booth with mounds of ripe red mountains of plump summery goodness—but they have definitely made their grand entrance.

I went to the market with my office mate, Jess. We were ecstatic when the bustling crowds parted to reveal a red-and-white checkered table full of the red gems or summer that we have been waiting for. We ran with our elbows out to the pile of goodies and began squeezing the tomatoes in order to collect the perfect bounty.

I wanted to wait until I got home to bite into one of these. I had big plans to slice it up, salt it and eat it while sitting on my sunny porch and listening to Janis Joplin sing Summertime. This is all well and good in my ideal summer world, but my will power is well…powerless in the presence of a farmer’s market tomato. I ate it at the office, within an hour of its purchase. I ate it like an apple while sitting at my desk, checking email and waiting for the server to save my files. It was still pretty awesome.

Other Summer happenings at the market include the arrival of many buckets of sunflowers. People go nuts over these. I dare you to find someone on their lunch hour holding a bunch of sunflowers that isn't beaming.

Wax and Burgundy beans from the market. I didn't realize that the Burgundy beans turn green when cooked. Weird.

Talent

I just stumbled upon this video again. Makes me happy. I hope you like it.

Mayor Daley’s Garden

Chicago is amazingly clean for a city of its size. I am speaking about the parts of Chicago that the tourists might see. Or the Olympic committee. The planters along the streets of downtown are changed up many times a year and are often mind-blowingly gorgeous. And have you see our parks? Awesome.

It is no secret that our city is a wee-bit corrupt. I don’t even want to know about half the things that go on behind closed doors. At least Chicago looks pretty on the outside. I think people would be a lot more pissed about the suspicious way things are run if the planters were full of garbage and pee. They might still have a little pee in them, but the pretty pink and green leaves are covering the spots up quite nicely.

Have a look at what our parking ticket fines bought us:

Schween Looks Like an Owl

Have I mentioned that the iPhone is amazing? Well it is.

Is there anything more irritating than a person who always talks about their iPhone? Not really. Oh, wait. There are cat people.

I have now become an iPhone loving cat person. What is happening to me? This is dreadful. Hey, where are you going? Don’t go!

…did I also mention that the iPhone has video capabilities? I am thrilled with this handy feature. Those who are less thrilled include my mom and brother who are receiving random cat videos throughout the week. These are not interesting or funny cat videos like the ones that have a million views on YouTube. They are pretty lame. See:

OMG…it’s sideways. I am so sorry. This is really bad.

Note: There is nothing in the room that would cause her to whip her head around like an owl. She is just nervous and skiddish by nature. But I love her anyway.

I apologize for this post in it’s entirity. Please come back tomorrow.