Chicago MMXII

you could buy her a piece of art that she would like
something framed or not, something to look at and remember and also appreciate aesthetically

i was going to get sarah an air popper (for popcorn) because we've been eating a lot of popcorn but it has been heavily hinted that sarah's sister is getting me an air popper for my bday so now i don't know what to do either.

apparently people use those air poppers to roast coffee beans

The frozen custard pie was delicious and so was the coffee syrup! Why doesn't the whole country know about this stuff? It's delicious. Apparently in MA and RI, coffee milk is a thing.

really? i use my air popper (thanks, colette!) for popcorn

and i love it!

Guys. Guys. You can pop regular popcorn in the microwave using a brown paper lunch bag. You put a quarter cup of kernels in the bag, add optional oil and salt, and put it in the microwave for about two minutes.

The problem with popcorn is that it's the most disappointing food.

yeah but tbrr i like the hot air excitement of the air popper -- standing in front of the yellow popcorn machine while it spews out hot hot hot air and noise and !popcorn!

i have a whole thing set up whereby i spritz with olive oil mister as it falls into the bowl and then add salt, nutritional yeast, and spicy paprika at the end and let it shake down
it's very flavorful, you would not be disappointed

if that was the kind of popcorn popped everyday in my office i would be a lot more excited about it, tbh

I like nutritional yeast on popcorn. It's very good.

oh yeah there is popcorn every day in my ofc as well
it's a scourge and we all have considered asking someone to do something about it, but battles/choosing etc

Tell them how much money they'll save if they pop regular popcorn in a paper bag instead of nasty, stinky microwave popcorn.

maybe i will give supplies as backhanded end of semester gift

Add up the savings over a year of popcorn making and then point out what they could buy with those savings instead.

I have one of these thingies. It works well, in the microwave without buying icky microwave popcorn and is a bit more convenient than a paper bag.

ha! i love silly one-use devices like that. like a donut maker that takes up two sq feet of space in the cupboard.

You have to buy proprietary replacement parts for that popcorn popper, though. Bags are just bags, and you can also use them as bags.

Pop your popcorn, carry your lunch, make a hand puppet, conceal your liquor in a public park. It's the bargain of a lifetime.

Oh, I forgot the VERY IMPORTANT step of securely folding over the top of the bag before you put it in the microwave. Some people say you can close it with a staple, but I don't care to live on the edge. I fold it over and then do this thing - http://www.bloomize.com/how-to-bind-papers-without-staples-or-clips/

This is just the size of a large bowl, such as one you would eat popcorn out of anyway.

The replacement part argument is relevant, but the little paper inserts (which have some sort of microwave-reflective material inside) last for probably ten poppings and are small. Not much waste!

You both make a good case, but mh: can your device make hand puppets or conceal liquor in a public park?

If you want to use your greasy bags that you popped popcorn in to do so, you may.

I love popcorn (homemade, not the microwave kind with chemically enhanced butter flavor) -- but I never ever think to make it. We even have a bunch of Spice House spices that are great for it (Vulcan Fire Salt, Bridgeport Seasoning, etc.)

I prefer creamed corn.

Could I put actual butter instead of olive oil in the brown paper bag with the popcorn and salt, or would it burn?

we've been eating a LOT of popcorn lately, but it's oil-popped on the stove so not as healthy as it could be. i'm into balsamic vinegar on my popcorn.

Pop corn is the worst. Getting it stuck in my teeth, which happens almost every time, can ruin an entire day. Sometimes I can't even floss it out.

these are all delicious options

I don't know about butter in the bag. I always figured if I wanted to put butter on it, I'd pop the corn dry, and then add butter and salt later.

mh, I don't reuse the bags I used to pop popcorn. They are too greasy. I just meant that a package of lunch bags is in general a useful and multi-purpose thing to have in the home.

Hey - have any of you checked out an ePub book from the library to read on an iPad or other Apple device? I'm trying to find out whether that's a thing I can do but I'm not having much luck.

Another disappointing thing: hot tea. Disappointment water.

i think epub will generally work on most readers except the kindle?

I have a snazzy reusable lunch bag made from recycled materials so I don't tend to buy those *smug*

Not that I use the lunch bag that much, I mostly just go out to eat

these incredibly detailed instructions seem to be saying "you download the epub and put it on your ipad" basically: http://www.iclarified.com/entry/index.php?enid=8920

That makes more sense than the directions on Overdrive. Thanks!

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-dixon-comptroller-to-be-arraigned-on-charge-of-stealing-53-million-20120507,0,2940029.story

Court appointed attorney! Although I guess she can't afford an attorney now that they've frozen all of her assets.

This could be fun?
http://www.halfacrebeer.com/blog/2012/05/08/the-sands/

Jeff and I were just emailing about this. Only 350 tickets, going on sale Saturday morning. Jeff's prediction was that people would start lining up around 4 a.m.

Yeah, with only 350 tickets I don't think I'm even going to bother trying.

Yes, and I'm sure the first 175 will all buy two tickets. Then riots.

Going to be out of town at a graduation anyway on Saturday, so problem avoided!

that whole process sounds really stressful
can't i just get tacos and beer and eat them at the time and place of my choosing?

well, has anyone every been to The Dock, where the half acre shindig is going down? Sounds like it could be pretty awesome regardless of what's going on.

The dock at Montrose Harbor? I've biked along it on many occasions on my way to the bird preserve.

yeah, at montrose.

can't i just get tacos and beer and eat them at the time and place of my choosing?

hah, this is my argument for not going to so many social events. so there's going to be these things, maybe they're cheaper or free even, but isn't it worth the money to pay for things so that I don't have to go somewhere with a bazillion other people?

There are going to be hundreds of other events during craft beer week to choose from. Unfortunately the popular ones like this one are going to be complete clusterfucks to get tickets for. I have no doubts that it would be worth the price, I just don't want to compete by seeing who can stand in line the longest.

It just seems so unnecessary stressful. Maybe if my life were otherwise stress-free I would be like yeah! exciting! but really I just want to do only exactly what I want to do in my free time, not struggle against other humans to get what I want, which is usually fairly modest (a couple of tacos, a couple of beers, a place to sit).

I wouldn't really consider being somewhere with 349 other people as being super crowded or anything, I wouldn't mind that part. I just don't want to have to wait in line for hours and hours at a separate time and day for the privilege of going to something.

I mean Dark Lord Day was at least just sitting at my computer trying to get tickets. If I missed out I would've wasted, oh, three minutes of sitting at my computer.

I'm sure part of the appeal is the availability of beers that would be hard to obtain otherwise. Many times these events are the only place many people can try them. Rare certainly doesn't always equal good, but it does in many cases of establish brands with a history of producing phenomenal special releases.