in the neighborhood.

"try not to get drunk!" - 15-year-old checkout kid, when i bought beer for beer club.

also, the people in front of me in line turned out to live in my building. hmm. it really is a city of neighborhoods? [i almost complimented the homeless guy by the train on his new outfit, but decided against it.]

this makes me happy.

okay, let's all watch this and then dance around.

this is one of those things i read about in a nytimes article. the article's like, "this video has gone viral!" and i'm like, oh, has it? what? i've never heard of such a video. and then i join all the middle-aged nytimes readers in looking it up on youtube. 

you know what, let's ignore the fact that i'm coming a little late to the party and embrace the fact that i found the video at all.

:)

also in the nytimes today - in medvedev, bush sees "a smart guy." dear my president, will you please SAY WORDS that SOUND LIKE SOMETHING. although, again, i guess his folksy charm has worked for him in the past.

"to run, and not grow weary..."

i love these boys who love the subway. i think we'd really get along. my favorite memory of riding the T when i was a kid was my dad telling us that you could ride it all day for one token, as long as you didn't go upstairs. all day, eh? 

we watched trains a lot as kids. some of you know that i still have trouble remembering that usually people don't like it when they're stopped by a train, driving - we used to try really hard to be the FIRST car behind the gate.

speaking of which, i spent a lot of time with my extended family this week, which means:

1. i drank lots of pinot grigio with ice.

2. i went shopping at discount stores, twice.

3. i talked at length about the weather.

4. i ate lobster four times.

i'm doing this couch to 5k thing, which is lovely so far. [it's like, "do you hate running, even though everyone always says it's so awesome?" and i'm like, "YES! sign me up!"] but anyway, there are these podcasts of each running program that tell you when to run and when to walk, and one of them is a christian music podcast. the guy says, "well, i downloaded [a podcast] and ran to it, but being a christian, i wanted to jam to some good christian tunes while running." i don't think i'm comfortable with that. it's also weird being part of a religion that comes with so much stuff.

you know what else i'm uncomfortable with? a girl in a triangle bikini running. not, like, incidentally running on the beach. like, i'm going to go running and put on a string bikini top instead of a sports bra. that cannot be comfortable at ALL.

apple bottom jeannnnns

just returned from a lovely wedding weekend with lovely friends, lots of taco bell, the kind of rap we listened to in college, and really cheap drinks - and, incidentally, some of the worst service i've ever had. i always claim that steak and shake has really bad service and no one believes me except people who have lived in a particular small city in northern indiana.

waitress: can you just pass these waters down, so i don't have to walk around all retarded?

us: [blink blink]

we had some dirty silverware [you know, the usjjj]...

b: can we have some more silverware?

waitress: [looks around] well, it looks like everyone has some.

b: [for once, doesn't know what to say]

of course, the steakburgers [and chicken melt, ahem ahem] were totally worth it. once they came. it's really odd when the service is so slow at a place like that, because you can see the waitress... and the people making the food... so, i mean, what's taking so long?

oh, "usjjj" is how we're spelling the short form of "usual." just wanted to keep you all on the up-and-up.

overheard on the train today - "the man my mom was living with is a convicted felon. like, he's doing three to five. and it's a PROBLEM that i'm GAY?" i mean, good point.

you know who it's not a problem with? these kids. 

charlie!!

overheard some of my neighbors talking about charlie bit me and felt very cool and connected to what all the kids are watching on youtube.

then i re-watched it, and it's even better than i remember. british babies. yessss.

"we can kick lane tech's ass for SURE."

okay, this is even better than i remember. the song is okay, but please listen to the north shore trash talk.

and, not wanting to load the page with embedded videos, fuck and run was ROCKIN.

"anyone been to wicker park?"

saw LIZ PHAIR tonight. performing all of exile in guyville. guys. if you've never seen one of your favorite albums ever performed straight through live, um, totally do it. SO AWESOME. i will be continuing to gush about this show, so brace yourselves.

this was also one of the few concerts in which i've loved everything the artist said. not just because she was talking about living in chicago and how weird it feels to live both in wicker park and on the north shore. actually, she went to new trier and also took some time talking about high school rivalries in the awkwardly specific way you can do with a hometown crowd. the only thing she said that i actually wrote down was "too bad the guy i wrote this song about isn't here!" then she laughed a lot. for some reason, i really loved this. but i think my favorite part was when she played a clearly wrong chord [especially clear because we were all there because we love the album] and went, "really?" JUST LIKE I DO. liz phair and i could totally be friends. 

according to the know-it-all guy behind me, she was 23 when she released this album 15 years ago. [he was talking about how she "used to be hot," which made me want to punch him in the face. she's hotter than YOU, mr. receding hairline, and do you prefer your women 15 years younger than you all the time?] it was interesting, though, because i think of liz phair as such a rockstar and a lot of her fans are, of course, closer to her age than mine. case in point, overheard from a late-thirties woman on the way out - "natalie's going to kill me when i tell her she did 'polyester bride.' she plays that all the time in her car, and her daughter says, 'why would a bride want to flap her wings, mommy? what's polyester?'"

according to kevin, "guyville" is wicker park. my philosophy professor from college says that it's the male-dominated music world. anyone else think they should have an academic throwdown? kevin also says that the original line in "flower" was "i'll fuck you and your girlfriend too" and her record label [even though it was an INDIE, says kevin] made her change it. it's now "i'll fuck you and your minions too." that's not the thing i would consider inappropriate about that song, but call me a square...

i didn't actually see this transition coming, but hey, on a related note - here's a first amendment case [sorry about the ads - click "enter salon" and you'll get there] that involves one of my favorite things - google, that is. not group sex. [but see what i did there?] it's an interesting test of "community standards" and, you know, how you can ever determine them. i remember thinking this was really interesting the first time i learned how they figure out the laws on this. also, let's start using the word "googly" in conversation.

anyone remember that time one of our high school teachers explained the need for these sort of obscenity standards by saying that "we don't want the supremes to be watching pornographic movie after pornographic movie"? because my QUOTE BOOK does. and this is actually the first time i've thought about how much this blog has in common my quote book from high school.