Chicago: They paved a fetid swamp/and put up a parking lot

http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/photos-ak-snc1/v2203/139/121/1309983927/n1309983927_30289457_8523.jpg

I do think the heat would help my arthuritis.

I'll buy you a case of those stick-on heating pads and you can heat yourself up to the personal equivalent of an ambient 80 degrees until the weather warms up for real.

I love those things.

To clarify, though, I was talking about a day that peaks at 80 degrees -- the dawn or dusk of that day is my perfect temp/environment.

omg that person you linked to?
i know that person

A day that peaks at 80 is okay, but today at noonish was really nice. Sunday morning was good, too, R and I had a picnic in Horner Park.

omg that person you linked to?
i know that person

It's just a screenshot hosted in imageshack, not a link. Somebody posted it on the David Foster Wallace thread.

I like those stick on heating pads, too. They are nice on my knees.

I had this exact thought as I lay in the midst of the homeless people and bike messengers on one of the bench things in front of work today.

What?

Jenny, I'm going to say something that might make you hurt and confused: With the wind, it was too cool today. Considering the fact that we disagreed about the actual, objective, empirically quantifiable temperature earlier today, perhaps we should never discuss the weather again, and stick to safer topics.

Amanda, I'm glad you clarified that, because 80F is way too hot for sunrise or sunset.

Oh!! I just saw this This person looks a little bit like Jesse:. I was wondering why the heck you posted that picture of me! He's totes cute, so thanks! I look like the greatest author in the whole world!

But the typical dawn or dusk of a day on which the high is 80 sounds wonderful. You are OTM in my book.

If you like things that heat up, I was in Jewel on Southport tonight and there were little hand-warming heating whatever-those-are-called winter things on clearance.

If you stick one of those in a long sock or the cut off leg of a pair of discarded tights, they make really useful heating pads that you can tie around yourself. So if you ever come over on a cold, wet day and I've got cut off tights legs tied around my knees, you know why.

What?

I went outside to the front deck of the JRTC and laid on one of those planter walls that also serve as benches because I was super sleepy and the inside air was getting me down. There's about a 1/3-1/3-1/3 division of homeless people, bike messengers, and state employees draped all over those things on nice days.

We didn't disagree about the temperature so much as consult sources that gave us wildly disparate temperature information, presumably because they were located in different areas of Chicago. It just goes to show that if you don't like the temperature in Chicago, walk half a mile towards the lake or stand in the shade. And then go fuck yourself.

Ha. OK, I just wanted to make sure I understood correctly that you were lying down with the homeless and the dirty bikers and state workers.

This morning both of my shoulders have lurid red scratch-like marks on them, but the blood is under the skin, which is not broken. What the hell happened? I have no idea.

You're a black swan!!!

I suppose so. I do have peeling cuticles.

That swan so black, it can't even get a cab.

I fell asleep on Julia's bed of nails last night, and went so far under that Julia couldn't wake me up to get me off the mat or get me to roll over and stop snoring. She was yelling at me, but I was not in this world. I finally did sit up and get off the mat, hours later, but I have no memory of doing so.

So I guess my advice is, don't fall asleep on a bed of nails.

Wow. I have not been this dubious of a consumer products health claims since they came out with detox foot pads.

Wait, to me this seems way better than detox foot pads or health bracelet -- this mat has a real psychological and physical effect. It may not be particularly scientific, but it seems real. Detox foot pads are claiming to actually do something, not make you feel something. I dunno, seems ok to me but I am a fruity acupuncture enthusiast!!

I don't know if it improves your overall health, but I can for absolute certain that the pain it causes is real, and the chemicals that your body releases to counteract the pain are real, and the warmth and sense of calm that eventually take you over are real.

Just because something does something doesn't mean it's a legit treatment for what ails you. If my low back hurts, I can stab myself in the hand with my work scissors and it will 1) cause pain that results in 2) an endorphin rush and 3) sense of well being after I stop jabbing myself leading to 4) temporary distraction from low back pain.

I mean, if you want to lie around on that mat because you like it, go ahead with your bad self but don't buy into the medical claims (which to that site's slight credit are very and admittedly unproven).

What if what ails you is a lack of well being, and it increases that sense of well being? Who decides what's legit and what's not?
I mean, I will not win any argument with you Yenny, and I am not arguing, but I don't understand why you are lumping this in with foot pads. It doesn't seem like the same thing to me at all.

And you know I think that detox shit is totally bogus.

God, know what is so nice to listen to when the rain stops? This.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSTBB8TExi4

I'm lumping it in with footpads because it is a product that makes medical claims that are unproven. It is different than footpads because it causes an actual physiological response (besides sticky feet). If you find that physiological response desirable and have a spare $69 plus shipping, that is great. I pay more than that for a massage every few months.

Who decides what's legit and what's not?

Oh man, no. That's a terrible road to set foot on.

It seems like it might feel really good to lie on a bed of nubs, but any claims besides "it feels good (to some people)" are every bit as dubious as those of advocates of ear candling, liver fluke cures, detoxers, and footpads.

So are you guys saying I shouldn't slap this ear detox pad on my liver?

It may not surprise you to learn that Kr also owns a shakti mat.

She probably wears her toe shoes on it.

TBH, I have never read that website, and I do not know what it claims to do. I only know what it does do.

Does Kr. really have Five Fingers shoes? I thought she was against those.

She probably wears her toe shoes on it.

LOL. I <3 you both (in different ways). Also I can hear Kr saying "Nooooooo shut up" to Jeff in response to this comment.

I see ads for those fucking hologram balance things for sale at my gym and I always think that I should get stickers or a rubber stamp that says "SNAKE OIL."

This picture always makes me make that tense, inhaling slurpy sound, like you're looking at someone's terrible sunburn.

http://www.shaktioriginal.eu/images/yoga/Yoga_basic_stomach.jpg

Are the steel nipple guards come sold separately?

(BTW, damn me and my sloppy self-editing. At least on Facebook, I can delete the post and correct it quickly, before anyone notices.)

I see ads for those fucking hologram balance things for sale at my gym and I always think that I should get stickers or a rubber stamp that says "SNAKE OIL."

I wear 5 hologram balance bracelets at a time. I never fall down.

http://s3.amazonaws.com/twitpic/photos/full/228676295.jpg?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAJF3XCCKACR3QDMOA&Expires=1306344303&Signature=6QlnkBo69giLs6Cx3APSUC9NH5g%3D

I mean, color me brainwashed, but I just mentally do not place placebo bracelets and shakti mats in the same category. One promises something for nothing, and the other gives you something for something. It's just not the same in my mind. My fruity brainwashed mind :-/

I'm with Manda on this, of course. It gives you something. It gives you pain. That much is guaran-freakin'-teed.

I'll concede that both provide an often satisfying placebo effect. One augments it with a physical sensation. It is possible that the mat can work wonders, but until we get a little science on the case, I reserve the option to be extremely skeptical.

Please note that nobody is calling anybody fruity or brainwashed or even criticizing anybody's choice to lie on a bed of plastic nails.

I am criticizing potentially spurious medical claims that the mat manufacturer is making, not Amanda or Kenan or Julia or Kr.

Seconded. Some of my family members have spent a lot of their limited money and put a lot of hope into alternative medicine of various degrees of outrageousness, so sorry if I'm being harsh.

i'm still happy to talk to you about acupuncture even if you think i am a stupid fruity monster :)

you're all fruity and brainwashed

there, I said it

I'd like to know what I said/did to deserve this designation, please.

so is there going to be a ballgame at Wrigley tnite?

btw my next visit will probably be next summer, going to or from the baseball nuts' convention in Minneapolis. Prepare now.

dan it's guilt by association
sorry about that

wait, no i'm not
all fruit no shame

Chicago, all fruits, the rest nuts

I thought about Morbs when I saw the final score last night.

you're all fruity and brainwashed

there, I said it

Have you considered a cleanse to rid yourself of toxins and negativity?

Chicago Cleanse: nothing but Malort, giardiniera, and fresh lake water for seven days, followed by an Chicago dog all the way on day eight. Then we bury your corpse on Northerly Island.

Too bad today is the last Oprah, otherwise she'd probably make you and your Cleanse a Favorite Thing.