Chicago: Become Familiar with its Distinctive Neighborhoods

Well, my chili is simmering. I'm concerned that it's not spicy/flavorful enough, although I certainly added a ton of cumin/paprika/pepper/hot sauce, and a couple roasted jalapenos. I did add a bit too much beer at one point. I also burned the shit out of my tongue tasting it, so that could be the problem too.

1) is it cooking on a stovetop or in a crockpot? if you let it cook long enough the beer will go away.
2) have you added any cayenne pepper?
3) what kinda beans you got in there?

i am making chili in the crockpot tomorrow evening for my class on saturday.

1) Stovetop. I guess I do have a crockpot but I've never used it.
2) No! I'll see if I have some.
3) Black beans, also black-eyed peas.

should i leave it on the stove on low heat when i got to bed or is that stupid?

actually, upon further tasting it's pretty nice

So yeah, not the place for this at all, but I need to just get something out there. My mom flipped the hell out last night on the phone, claiming that my fiance and I are involved in some "conspiracy" with my dad (her ex-husband) to hide things from her. It was very weird, irrational, and came out of nowhere. It ended with her screaming at me and hanging up on me. Haven't talked to her since. Now we get to go to her house in 48 hours for Christmas. This will be so much fun. I'm still really freaked out about it, she was so irrational.

Dude, this is totally the place for bitching.
Even if your mom is being irrational, I'd recommend calling her and in a soothing voice saying something about how it is important for you to spend time with family for the holidays, and that you're trying very hard to fit in time with her, your dad, and your fiance's parents. You are still going to see her this weekend and.. you love her very much.

Of course, that's easy for me to say because I'm not in your situation.

I have been having some rather emotional photo convos with my mom recently too. The other day she called and sounded completely fine. Then suddenly she came out with, "ACTUALLY, I am completely surrounded by negativity, but apparently I can't tell YOU about it because you'll just say I'm playing the part of a VICTIM again, so I have to keep this all to myself!!"

photo convos

I don't know what this would entail, but I meant phone conversations.

aw, sorry to hear the moms are hard to deal with at the moment, good luck calming everything down...

lol @ Sarah and her mom sending pictures of themselves with angry faces back and forth.

I was thinking a more noise-stylee image posting contest.

I one-upped her by using blingee.

Sarah know the score.

http://img.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2007/11_04/coffeeDM2711_468x416.jpg

I want to stage a parody of this ad, with both of them in S&M gear.

Some gender reversal would be fun, too.

"If she ever finds out... you've been a bad bad boy and let your dick drip..."

ew

^^^^^^this

Dear investors,
Thank you for sending the office the largest Godiva gift basket I have ever seen. So far my favorites are the dark chocolate covered pretzels and the dark chocolate truffles.
Love, me

http://m1.2mdn.net/viewad/1624256/35989/300x250_even-slvr-butn.gif

gross

oh wait it stopped happening

no there it goes again

i can't see it

"Hoodia XPF" sounds like a fake crotch-rocket style motorcycle.

http://g-ecx.images-amazon.com/images/G/01/ciu/40/27/1cff92c008a00bfdc93a6010._AA240_.L.jpg

I'm filling out my updated W-4 for this year, and it looks like I'll need to withhold $40 extra per paycheck because I'm married. WHUT?

I wrote to richard simmons when I was in 6th grade. I was hoping he could help my dad.

Was your Dad overweight or do you just mean help him in general?

As a spiritual guru perhaps?

Help him acknowledge his homosexuality?

He was and is overweight. I had read Richard Simmons' autobiography (part of a months long kick of autobiography reading - I also read vanna white's) and after that I thought that if I wrote him he would feel inspired to reach out to my dad.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OjTF3Ut9FI

FYI: Richard Simmons is a really good person to pick if you're playing 20 Questions with someone. Kr was trying to get me to guess him and I could just not figure it out: he's an "entertainer" but he's not an actor or comedian or singer or anything like that.

that's an excellent point john!

I already gave this link to john, but here's my final piece from my sound art class if anyone is interested.

http://blog.lib.umn.edu/willow/soundart/2007/12/kelsey_dilts_mcgregor_final_pr.html

there's a link right before my required summation of the piece.

Oh, I want to hear that when I'm in a place where I can hear that!

Hey, no one-day CTA strike.

Whew.

Ah, I was kind of looking forward to the strike, since we'd either get the day off or I could work from home.

That would be nice, wouldn't it? Like a snow day! I wish public transportation were that essential in Minneapolis.

how was the christmas party, n&s?

nick, did you like margot at the wedding?

we saw "i'm not there". the parts that i didn't like were more than the parts that i did like, which isn't great. if the only parts they'd shown had been cate blanchett and heath ledger as dylan, i probably would have liked it a lot. but i hated the gere part so so so much, that really took away from it. i almost went out to read in the bar at that point. cate blanchett was fucking amazing, i have to say.

and i love that cinema as well.

I posted on Chicagoist for the first time to ask what is up with the store called Be By Baby:

http://chicagoist.com/2007/12/14/babyonboard_rev_18.php

I think it's a mesh of "by by baby" and "be my baby" but i can't be bothered to log in & tell you that there.

all in all, it's not a great name.

although, they did say that the women are into attachment parenting, so maybe "Be by baby" is literally "don't go far! be by baby!"

I had not even thought of that.

Makin' feel dumb over here, D1lts.

And it's baby talk!

Bo bay ban boo bee
By ba bon's bearly bight...

like that.

Dey've got a code in dere nodse.