Just got home from Ill'nois...

...Lock the front door o boy

I had to catch a ride with xtina on her way to work this morning because the cta is completely unreliable on early holiday mornings. That is why I'm here almost an hour early, blogging in a dark office before six a.m. on memorial day.

Not too much happened this weekend - I found myself working the entire time. I didn't have any alternate plans, I just miss the holiday weekend in general. I suppose I did watch 'The Big Lebowski' while drinking a Two Brothers 'Victor's MemoriAle Altbier' - that may count as memorial day-related.

I'm taking a few days off this coming weekend. I'll be returning home to go to my younger brother's high school graduation open house. Maybe I'll see a couple of you around. Peter - I'm looking in your direction.

Budget Hero

Via Boing Boing, I found this game created by american public media. I've spent almost an hour playing around with it. The saddest part is discovering how easy it is balance the budget, eliminate debt and create a healthier society for all. If only politics were this simple. Try it out - you can even compare your policies with those of other ages, locations and persuasions.

Warning - contains sound.

annual aching for more

Today is my day off - and a perfect afternoon to listen to Tom Waits' Closing Time in my underwear. I'm not sure how the rest of the day will pan out, but I want to get some more reading done, watch a movie so I can get something else from netflix, wash the dishes, look at stuff online and perhaps go for a short ride if it isn't too windy. Then again, I have tomorrow off too so I'll probably put everything aside for tomorrow. Work is the same, the weather is changing and with it my annual aching for more.

Sunday Xtina and I biked to the Chicago Green Festival. The green festival is essentially a 'green business' trade expo with exhibitors and speakers. We weren't able to catch Amy Goodman on Saturday but we did see former Nader runningmate Winona LaDuke.

I was nervous about going. I'm grateful to christina for essentially holding my hand through it. You see, events like this typically give me mixed feelings. On one hand a feeling of hope that there are organizations out there fueled by my uncompromising values and on the other hand feelings of jealous rage that I'm not or in some cases, been kept from, being a part of them. I had overwhelmingly positive feelings Sunday, though. I met some interesting people with interesting visions and goals, ate some good vegetarian cuisine - both field roast gyros and catered Soul Vegetarian East - and drank some local mead and great lakes beer. I was delighted to see my place of employment portrayed in a glowingly positive light again - I needed that. It makes me feel good about not taking the corporate jobs I turned down when on many days I tend to curse my values and ideas for bringing me to my level of labor.

I spoke to representatives from a few schools offering 'green MBA' programs. I certainly hadn't considered an MBA in many years and I don't necessarily want to go back to school but at some point I may have to realize I can't get a career/lifestyle I want without one - judging from my own experience that is. After doing some research it became clear that the programs I'm most attracted to are by far the least legitimate and the ones I'm most repelled by - the 'traditional' mba - the opposite. It's no question that I learn better in a nurturing, collaborative environment that a cutthroat, competitive one. To be honest, I can't research consecutively for long amounts of time because the whole thing makes me so nervous.

the burning, oh the burning

After a 53 hour workweek last week I seem to have gotten a day off on what appears to be the nicest day the city will see in the foreseeable future. So far I've finished reading 'Where I'm Calling From,' picked up the apartment, gotten groceries, taken stacked-up bottles and cans to the recycling center, and listened to the new album of Scarlett Johansson singing Tom Waits covers. Ask me how I feel about the latter, well, later. I did not, as I usually do on a nice day off, go for a ride. On Sunday I went for a pleasant ride which ended up being a long-distance trek to Wolf Lake, Indiana. After nearly sixty miles and four hours in the mid-day sun, my leg is burning like mad. The worst is the sunburn on my kneecap which reminds me with each step I take not to overdo it again. It wasn't all bad, though, I had a nice ride and saw things I hadn't seen before and only once on the south side did I say, "I really shouldn't be here," due to a gap in the cycling signage.

My leg is still burning but things are looking up because I purchased another pint of my latest obsession, goat milk ice cream. A miracle in every cup.

Summer is here and soon I'll have Kalamazoo Brewing Co's 'Oberon.' For now I'll settle for a sale-priced six pack of Victory's 'Whirlwind' - not bad for $7.99. I also purchased lemonade and Green Mountain Salsa - yep, summer is here indeed. Outside I hear the sounds of bells from ice cream carts and the occasional loop of 'do your ears hang low' - now with an urban hip-hop beat.

Work is going great - I was awarded with recognition of statistically being the 'best buyer in the midwest' and for having the most efficient department in the region. I've also been given an exclusive contract with a famous cheesemaker in London and next month I will be one of two midwestern pervayors of a rare raw-milk stilton, a cheese made from the original culture from the middle ages. Things are going smoothly, though, some of my better vendors are having a hard time supplying me due to the goats being in 'kidding season,' which I find charming every time I say it. My CSA this summer has a learing center where this summer they offer a cheesemaking class. I need to remember to sign up for that soon. Xtina is busy, busy, busy and it has become very clear that there is no way for us to do all the things we want to do before the weather gets cold once again. And so it goes.