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

Is this the first season or later? It's a show that really pays off in the final season, doesn't peter out at all.

Oh lord, his wife killed herself in 2004. I'm sorry, Goggins. I no longer begrudge you your smile.

xp first season. I think we'll stick with it!

hey you guys fyi i'm not comin labor day weekend after all, but will keep u posted when i do come viz

huh i have no memory of goggins being in the wire but we just watched the first episode of justified and he's the main bad guy, a pretty creepy neonazi dude

The Shield, not the Wire. Get your critically acclaimed police procedurals straight!

Hoos, I'm sorry to hear that but I look forward to meeting you in the future.

I think he's Emmy-nominated for Justified.

oh weird, i read that whole section of conversation a couple of times but my brain turned "the shield" into "the wire." i would like to watch "the shield" sometime but i doubt sarah would be into it, especially because there are so many seasons. i only got her to try "justified" because timothy olyphant is in it.

Only 13 eps a season, though.

There's a 20-something guy w/ scars from eyebrow and lip piercings on my bus wearing a very oversized but clean and nice looking suit, sweating terribly, tugging at his collar. He just groaned, "ungh, it's hot out."

Oh man we had a real humdinger on the train this morning. Tall black man with a very gruff, very loud voice came on at Fullerton and immediately started harassing women on the train (hey baby, how about some sugar, and my fave: I LIKE FEMALES!!! I LIKE FEMALES!!!). The train was crowded and he was standing in the middle of the cat. Purple Line riders stepped up and told him to cut it out at which point he started yelling I AM ASLEEP! WHITE PEOPLE COME ON THIS TRAIN RAISING HELL WHILE I'M TRYING TO SLEEP! YOU WOKE ME UP! Then he started telling the white men ALL YOU WHITE BOYS WORK FOR ME.

He got off at Merchandise Mart so he probably works at Luxe Home.

yikes

hey guys is green zebra a good place to go for my birthday? if not, where should i go?

He got off at Merchandise Mart so he probably works at Luxe Home.

lol

Man-D, I think the Green Zebra sounds lovely! I've never been but I'd like to.

Branch 27 is kind of my go-to date spot. It's got good food and beer and it's a nice atmosphere in an appealling "edgy" sort of hood. I know some of this doesn't pertain to your situation, but still, I recommend it, and K8E will vouch for it, too. It's called Branch 27 b/c it's in a building formerly occupied by the CPL.

i just want to go somewhere i've never been and eat delicious foods/drinks

I really enjoyed Tizzi Malloul's (sp? (haha sorry Dan M)) the one time I was there, and I also really enjoyed the atmosphere. Very dark and relaxing with warm wood, Morroccan decor, and lots of burgundy, IIRC.

ooooh
these are good suggestions thanks

We went to Green Z for our first wedding anniversary and it was good but kind of underwhelming. That could be because we're not vegetarian but I thought it was a little meh for the money.

I think Tizi Melloul's closed a few months ago.

Best special occasion place I've eaten lately is Girl and the Goat.

This seems like an appropriate time to mention, Kr and I are going to Alinea tonight. This is maybe a financially irresponsible thing to do while planning a wedding and honeymoon, but fuck it.

You're adults and you can do what you want. That is the best part about being adults.

tell us all about it!

Yeah, I mean going to Alinea when you can't pay your rent or while your dependents go without clothes is financially irresponsible. Otherwise it's just a matter of priorities.

I am looking forward to the post-dinner report as well.

And it's probably great timing - it's like a one night vacation from the stress of wedding planning.

Just have your wedding there tonight.

I'm available.

@m@nd@, I keep thinking of places you might like based on atmosphere. North Pond looks super cute. J/J could tell you more. ("J/J" reminds me of the fish shack downtown.)

North pond is probably the second best meal I've had I'm Chicago.

Yeah, I guess I just sometimes feel a little embarrassed and privileged when I spend a lot of money at fancy restaurants. But you're right, Jenny: it's a matter of priorities. Other people spend money on video games or concert tickets or whatever. I guess I just want people to realize, when I mention eating at Alinea (or Next), that it's not a display of wealth, because I seriously don't make that much money.

I was going to suggest Bonsoiree for you, Amanda, but it looks like they no longer do meals shorter than eight courses (= $85). Which could still be great! But I really enjoyed eating there when they offered a four-course meal for $45, which -- with BYOB -- felt like a steal.

I've been feeling similarly weird about buying a few clothes this summer as I've been making more money than usual — it's almost always followed by a feeling of trepidation, like I'd done something wrong even though lol it's just a couple shirts. privilege, I guess.

I look forward to reading about Alinea.

Funny, I was just looking at websites of the avec/Big Star/Publican/etc group, and daydreaming.

Haha, John, that's kind of endearing that you're concerned about looking like you're living like a baller. From my POV it's very clear that when you eat your dinner at a fancy restaurant, it's b/c you love trying acclaimed food, not b/c you're a show-off or spendthrift.

At age 36 I'm finally starting to figure out how to get along with money. My habits have always included this cycle: blow more than I can afford on stupid shit, feel guilty, become unreasonably frugal.

At the same time, kind of like Corey said, I would feel guilty about totally sensible, necessary purchases. Or I would buy toothpaste that tasted gross b/c it was $.30 cheaper than Crest.

eat your dinner at a fancy restaurant

I see what you did there.

Can I delete that post and replace it with this one?

----

eat your dinner at a fancy restaurant

I see what U did there.

it's been 7 hours and 15 days
since u took your groupon away

I just like buying electronic gadgets.

Yeah, that's another thing I don't buy. I have been talking about getting a new iPod for forever, but I just can't justify it when my 2005 model still works. Well, OK, sometimes it pauses when I lightly jostle it. But that hasn't gotten too annoying yet.

jaymc: so not baller

But Jesse is OTM. Also, Corey, you dingdong, it's okay to buy clothes. Remember the Buddha - living as an ascetic was just as unfulfilling as being an extravagant rich person.

Like, none of us here are in danger of being parodied in the quidities and agonies thread so eat out/travel/buy clothes/have a washer/dryer and feel okay about it. (especially if you have a w/d bc that is awesome.)

green zebra is delicious

i am not very good at spending money on big purchases but also i don't really have any extra money so i guess it all works out. except when i actually NEED to buy things like new work clothes

i would like a new iphone though. the headphone jack just broke on mine so now i can't listen to music on it anymore. i tried using the experimental mp3 function on the kindle to listen to music but it sucks too much

the one thing I really "need" is a new computer, as I've had this one since 2006. It's big, slow and clunky, but as long as it's still functional I can't justify dropping $1100 on another one.

Is there a new iPhone version coming out soon? If so you can probably get an older one (3gs or 4) cheap or free if somebody you know upgrades and gives you their old one.

yeah jody's fiancee said new iphones are likely out in september, leading to price drops for the iphone 4. they already cut the price a little at target and radio shack. so we'll probably wait until sept. and then get new phones hopefully.

might get some bluetooth headphones to last me until then.

yeah jody's fiancee said new iphones are likely out in september, leading to price drops for the iphone 4.

I think Kr is banking on this, too.

Meanwhile, I still have my cheap-ass Nokia candy-bar phone.

Jaymc: the Nano is great for workouts and goes for about 50.

Oh, if I'm going to upgrade iPods, I want one with all 20,000+ of my mp3s on there. Although using something smaller and lighter for workouts is not a bad idea.

It's just a little tiny clip thing, just load up some podcasts and some dance music and you're set.

You can get those clip things real cheap refurbed. Jeff used them a lot until he sweated like three of them out of existence. Now he uses the iPod… mini? my parents gave me as a law school graduation present (that has my full name and Attorney at Law engraved on the back haha).

i love my ipod shuffle for walking/working out -- worth the $50 for sure!