Chicago: Become Familiar with its Distinctive Neighborhoods

ooh! winter is a good time for dark brown. i was thinking of going for the same color (super dark brown) but wanted to wait til after vacay to see if maybe some sunshine would improve the poopy quality of my natural haircolor.

in my class on saturday i got a projector from the tech lab to show them some useful websites. it also had the purpose of serving as a music device since we could listen to internet radio or whatever during our end-of-semester party.

a couple of my students were huddled around the laptop and they were looking at something on youtube. i went over there and they were watching the video for lionel richie's "hello."

1) algerian dude says, "he needs haircut"

2) same dude turns it up really loud to illustrate that the reason he pulled up this particular lionel richie video is because the blind girl is named amanda.

3) we listen to more lionel richie at startlingly high volumes

I'm jealous about Mexico!

my life is one giant thrillride, indeed.

I'm jealous about Lionel Richie!

I watched Rescue Dawn and Interview on Saturday, liked both. I was trying to remember all the 2-3 person movies we talked about that one time: Oleanna, Tape, Before Sunrise/Sunset, Bug, what else?

I've never seen it but i think My Dinner With Andre is one of those?

Oh, totally.

IMDB lists four cast members, but one is 'bartender' and one is 'waiter' so i think it fits

i think we finished Wire season 4 last night :( :( :(

how many years until season 5 hits dvd?

season 4 seemed very transitional, like not a lot really happened
(i finished it too)

yeah it was transitional but still good. also more drama-y and less cop show-y.

totes
i love love love the school subplot

you think?

I think it mostly seemed transitional because the unit wasn't really together... but I don't want to give any spoilers. The last episode was really depressing I thought.

i am pretty tired of carcetti

doesn't anyone have hbo in this town? can't we gather somewhere to watch the final season as it unfolds? what night is it on?

like, you're not sure if you finished it?

i've got two eps to go on season 4, it is bittersweet. i know i could torrent episodes or whatever when season 5 starts, but i like watching them on my tv all at once.

i know one friend who is a big wire fan and has hbo just for that. i implied that she should let me come over once a week for a couple months to watch season 5, but i guess we're not that good of friends.

the school subplot was a little corny, i thought, but still well-done. it was vindicated by the realism of the kids and the setting. actually i feel that way about a lot of the wire: the cop plotlines and characters seem a little stereotypical (though still well-written and well-acted) but the stuff on the street seems more real and visceral. though i guess i wouldn't really know.

i guess we have finished it ... four discs just didn't seem like enough, i thought there were five for some reason.

i might have mentioned this, but i told my teacher friend about the show and she thought it would be corny, all "poetry is just another way to rap" Dangerous Minds shit. then i showed her the episode with the first day of school and she was all about it.

i hope she likes the non-school stuff enough to get into it, because you can't just start with season 4, right?

there are 13 episodes

you definitely cannot start with season 4!
maybe i have ODed on the wire. i started to feel a little fatigue while racing through season 4.

i would love to keep talking about the wire but i've got meetings for a couple hours, later.

oof
you sound like my mom when she's trying to get off the phone with me

Office news

1. that is cool for office
2. but that interviewer dude is a ridiculous ninny
3. and just1n p3t3rt1l is in office now? he is in all the interview scenes but doesn't say anything and of the ladies is mysteriously missing

he's not even an interviewer, he's just some ridiculous dude

who says stuff

ugh fuck mtv

I couldn't make it past the horrifying bro-down Spring Break ad.

glad I haven't tried The Wire, life is too short for "transitional seasons"!

Even a transitional season in the Wire is really good!

dan, toby really wants to go to houghton for this:

Man, most people at WMTU must have given up on being a radio station and just gone into the show-booking business. I still lurk on the station email list and they've been talking about bringing up some other W|nd|sh acts later in the school year. How will rural-ass MI react to RJD2???

i'm guessing there isn't still snow at that time of year, is there?

Haha in March? There'll be snow well into April at least.

like proper deep snow, enough to xcountry ski and stuff? we were thinking of going up north so toby could experience it, and that might be as good of an excuse as any.

Probably enough for xc, but most of the hills will likely be closed/closing by that time.

This might be a good indicator (?): http://www.alumni.mtu.edu/snowfall/

wow, i can't believe how much snow you get up there! you're properly rugged.

i am whiny today. i feel like crap (major headache) but i have two projects due wednesday so i can't just go home and go to sleep, which is what i really need to do.

maybe eating lunch will make me feel better

if you stop here on your way home i can give you some cinnamon spice cake that our landlords just brought over!

sorry to hear you have a headache, they are stinky and i'll bet cold face doesn't help either.

sarah, any photos of the new hair?

No pix yet! I've mostly received nice comments. I hate it when people just say things like, "Your hair is different." Yes. Yes, it is.

I want my money, damnit. My paycheck still hasn't shown up in my account. All I get from accounting is "supposed to be there today". Uh yeah, thanks, payday was Saturday.

get that money, son

I'm tryin' mang.

So I was really hesitant to go, but we had a half-off coupon, oh my god... was my haircut experience at Sportclips excellent. I thought it was going to be really ESPN bro gimmicky, which it was, but the scalp and shoulder massage more than made up for it.

Hello Chicago.

Anyone have any suggestions for someone with no car, a hotel room downtown, and no obligations for four days next week?

Hot Dougs is sadly closed. Dan gave me a list of bars downtown-ish, and Katie is probably carting me and the wife around on Thursday, but other than that, I'm free. I've been to Chicago quite a few times, but I never really did any touristy type stuff and I've never stayed downtown - I'm pondering the Field Museum, the aquarium, museum of Science and Industry (which I know is not downtown), Art Institute, drink at the top of the Hancock building, etc. Any of these more worth it than others?

Also, would getting to Devon street via public transport be worth it, or would I be spending half my day riding the train/bus to do so?