This is the second best idea that we've ever had.

After a cold streak in terms of interviews, I just completed my third interview of the past two weeks. I think good things are on the horizon. Last night, Allie and I went to the Cubs game. I had only been to one other game in my life at Wrigley. I have now been to four MLB stadiums. Wrigley, U.S. Cellular (where the White Sox play), Miller Park (where the Brewers play), and the Metrodome. Thank goodness the new Twins stadium opens next week because that is atrocious. I probably like U.S. Cellular the best, then Miller Park, then Wrigley. Don't get me wrong. I appreciate the history and tradition of Wrigley Field. However, I also appreciate not coming out a stadium reeking. I also appreciate modern bathrooms. I have never been in a stadium with worse bathrooms. Despite the Cubbies losing, it was a fun evening.

1. Surprise, surprise. Rush Limbaugh is acting like a complete idiot again. At least moderate Republicans are starting to wise up to his act. Yesterday, Governor Schwarzenegger called him a 650 lb gorilla! Today, Limbaugh continued by calling Justice Sotomayor a racist. He even went as far as to compare her to David Duke - the former Grand Wizard of the KKK and congressman from Louisiana. Elections have consequences. Obama is a liberal. Is anybody surprised that his supreme court nominee is liberal? And Rush, let's say your GOP buddies filibuster long enough that Obama nominates someone else. Do you think Obama will nominate a conservative to please you? Bottom line is that Justice Sotomayor will easily get approval in Congress and become the first Hispanic and third woman supreme court justice. A direct quote from Rush's show today, "Sotomayor hates white people." Rush isn't even the biggest idiot regarding his opinion on Sotamayor. Yesterday on the Fixed News Channel, Karl Rove said he remembered that when he was interviewing Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, Alito said that Sotamayor was "combative" and an ineffective judge. One problem Mr. Rove... Alito served on the 3rd Court of Appeals and Sotamayor served on the 2nd Court of Appeals. They never served together which means you are lying through your teeth you fucking douche bag. Please go away and never come back!

2. Good news for the economy. For the first time since 2007, we have had three straights months of positive growth. The market is up 1.1% in the past three months. I know that doesn't sound like anything but the fact that we seem to have turned a corner is very refreshing news.

3. Currently listening (and laughing) to the song "Too Fast" by Jon Lajoie.

Weezer's blanket statement

As you know, today I had a second interview for the marketing position I first interviewed for last week. I arrived for my 9:30 interview about 85 minutes early. This gave me an opportunity to do some exploring. The office is in Evanston, a college town, so I was less than shocked to see the office surrounded by independent coffee shops, an ice cream parlor, a vegan cafe, and a liquor store. I was interviewed by two charming women named Kasey and Chasidy. The interview lasted 70 minutes and I thought it went really well. The questions were tough, but fair. Some of the questions asked were: What was your most creative work at USA TODAY? What are three ways you could improve this company? What disappoints you? Hopefully, I hear back next week.

1. Today while reading the Tribune, an interesting article caught my attention. Apparently the band Weezer has signed a partnership deal with Snuggie to create their own blanket called a Wuggie. Oh brother. Why? Cuomo, is it the money? Sigh.

2. There is talk of Erin Andrews doing Dancing With The Stars. I would watch every single episode. http://www.complexvideo.com/Celebrities/Erin-Andrews-The-NCAA-Football-10-Premier-Party. I rest my case.

3. Currently listening to It Never Rains in Southern California by Alberet Hammond.

Another victory for progress

It was a striking display of the progress Americans have made in the advancement of racial diversity today as I turned on the TV and saw a press conference with Caucasian Vice President Joe Biden standing next to African-American President Barack Obama as they listened to their nomination for Supreme Court. Sonia Sotamayor, educated at Princeton and Yale, a former bulldog prosecutor who is currently a justice on the United States Court of Appeals, assuming she gets approved by Congress, would be only the third woman Justice and the first ever. As far as her politics, I can't say that I have studied her legal briefs so I don't have a lot to comment from that front. I am sure as the days pass, we will all know everything about her. The early criticism has actually been from liberals. She was first appointed to the Circuit Court of Appeals by President G.H.W. Bush - hardly a friend of liberals. She is probably a true moderate; which is exactly what the country needs.

1. Is it possible Joe Mauer is the best player in baseball. After missing the first 22 games of the season, this is what he has accomplished in his 81 at bats this year. (Info courtesy of Kfan.com):

16 walks -36 hits - 5 doubles - 11 home runs - 31 RBI - 25 runs - .444 batting average - .530 on-base percentage. - 914 slugging percentage - 1.444 OPS

Wow! Mauer is 26, already has one gold glove award winner, and he is only the second catcher ever to win a batting title. Mauer has won two. I truly believe that Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau is the best one-two combination in MLB. Finally, finally, finally, the state of Minnesota has a sports team with some big name talent.

2. One of the coolest things about living right across from Wrigley Field is I can hear everything that is going on in the game. Including the national anthem and the 7th inning stretch. Last night however, Mr. T "sang" the Star Spangled Banner. Epic Fail: http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=4735881

House of Representin!

On a busy, yet chilly, Memorial Day weekend, so far so good. My weekend actually started Thursday night where Anay showed me some Chicago nightspots. I think my favorite was Red Ivy or Red Vine. Friday I made the quick drive up to Milwaukee and spent Friday night with my grandparents. They are both 88 but their spirits are high and we had a nice night. Saturday I met my parents and we saw the movie Angels and Demons. I loved the book so I have been pretty excited for the movie for a while. I was still anxious though. Tom Hanks is a great actor but his performance as Harvard professor Robert Langdon in The Da Vinci code was atrocious. The movie actually was pretty good. I give it a B/B+. Not surprisingly, director Ron Howard removed a lot of the controversy that the book stirred up. What was left was an excellent action movie with lots of exciting twists and turns. After a nice dinner at The Cheesecake Factory, I fell asleep watching the Cavs/Magic game. Sunday I met my aunt, uncle, and cousin for a great lunch at Harry's and then headed back to Chicago. Later last night I met a couple of friends at a really fun blues/jazz club called Kingston Mines. I have never seen a live blues show before. The singer, Linsey Alexander, was engaging, funny, and extremely talented. He started the night by doing a blues version of Lose Yourself by Eminem that was hilarious and excellent. We ended up staying there the whole night so I just woke up. I am off to Evanston for a quick BBQ.

1. As usual the Minnesota Timberwolves have made a mockery out of what a legitimate NBA team should be. They finally broke through their country club attitude and hired a person who hasn't worked in the NBA for seven years. He was last fired in 2002 as assistant general manager of the Indiana Pacers. This seems like a slam dunk hire to me!

2. Memorial Day is usually a day full of grilling, drinking beer, and enjoying the day off. Please keep in your hearts all of our men and women who have given their lives so we remain free.

3. By far Wendy's best commercial: http://adweek.blogs.com/adfreak/2009/05/ill-gladly-get-frosty-with-this-wendys-posse.html

4. Lebron James becomes a free agent after next season. A lot of people think he should leave Cleveland. I think that would be ridiculous. Does he really need to go to a major market like New York to get more publicity? He has lots of publicity. It's not money since the Cavs will obviously offer him the maximum contract. Cleveland has gradually added pieces to make them championship contenders. Plus, their highest paid player, Ben Wallace, has a contract that is expiring either this year or next year. He is getting paid almost $20 million a year. With his salary off the books, they can either go out and get a superstar like Chris Bosh or pay two good but not great players $10 million a year and a chance to win a championship. Richard Jefferson, Jason Kidd, Kenyon Martin, Carlos Boozer, and Vince Carter will be available. Add Jefferson and Carter to Mo Williams and Delonte West and you have the most talented roster in the NBA.

5. I have to hand it to this Susan Boyle. She is an amazing vocalist. Plus, she consistently chooses notoriously difficult songs like Memories: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7Ayk9G7-sc. If you don't want to watch the whole three minutes, skip to the 2:20 mark.

6. Currently listening to "Climb Every Mountain" from the Sound of Music.

I'm a meat and brocolli(???) kind of guy.

Yesterday Michael Vick was released from prison. Vick was the the former number one pick, quarterback, who could causally run 40 yards in 4.5 seconds. Vick had an inconsistent but budding football career with the Atlanta Falcons that was interrupted because of being caught participating and funding dog fighting (earlier in the year he was arrested for marijuana possession). Vick served almost two years in federal prison in Leavenworth, Kansas. My question now is does he deserve another chance in the NFL? Should the NFL suspend him further. What would be your reaction if your team signed him? I am kind of split. On the one hand, he has served his prison sentence with no problems and he seems legitimately apologetic. Plus, fans are hypocritical. There are Vikings players who have been arrested for assaults, spousal battery, and multiple DUI's and these are some of the most cheered for Vikings. I am a dog person and what he did was reprehensible. I think at this point, I could entertain the idea of the Vikings signing him again. However, the media circus would be outrageous and maybe for that reason alone I might pass.

1. We are less than two weeks away from the new Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. To wet your appetite, Conan is giving an online backstage tour of his new set. It's only like ninety seconds long and pretty funny: http://www.thetonightshowwithconanobrien.com/video/clips/new-tonight-show-set-sneak-peek/1106823/

2. I was reading Men's Health magazine about the new diet fad that is poised to become huge. It is based on research that diabetics have known for decades. Certain foods affect the body in different ways. This book, (and pardon my spelling), called the Glycemic Diet or the Glycemic Revolution, something like that, basically ranks all foods on how the body reacts to it - specifically at the how body digests it. They refer to a system of ranking carbohydrate foods according to how much a certain amount of each food raises a person's blood sugar levels. What its point is that food A might have 30 carbs, and food B might have 30 carbs but our bodies digest the two foods very differently and one might be healthy and one might be unhealthy. I think this is really interesting. For instance, let's say you want to be healthy and you want to get some vegetables for tonight's dinner. Foods that most people might have thought are healthy, like potatoes, got terrible reviews. Basically, they are white, starchy carbs which your body hates. Who ever thought potatoes would be considered unhealthy?! I plan on buying this book the next time I am at Barnes and Noble.

3. Nimit and I, bating in our own hubris, were playing catch yesterday and decided to challenge each other to some sort of Decathlon of sorts. We want to come up with a day full of athletic events to decide who is the most athletic. A few of the ideas we have thrown around include:

A) 40 yard dash
B) 5k
C) Most push-ups in three minutes
D) Most sit-ups in three minutes

Can you think of any others that would be good?

lady's (un)luck

Yesterday was a great day. Anyday that I interview somewhere cool is a good day. I won't tell you where I interviewed, but I can tell you about it. It is a small marketing company in Evanston, IL. Out of all the interviews I have had, this is the first one where I not only felt like I would enjoy working there, I felt like the assets that the interviewer were looking for were my strengths. He is going to interview several people but I left feeling confident that I would at least make the second round.

1. In the history of the NBA Draft, the Minnesota Timberwolves have made the lottery 13 times. In that period, amazingly, the Wolves have never once moved up. They have either stayed at their same pick or moved down. This year, once again, they were slotted to pick at #5 but the lottery screws them and they move down one slot. Their were lottery moment was in 1992(?) when the Wolves had the worst record in the NBA but instead of getting the top pick, they fell to #3. Instead of taking Shaq, they were stuck taking Christian Laetner. Sigh. Just another cursed moment on the unluckiest franchise in basketball history.

2. Last night I watched the 2006 comedy Beer Fest. Is it stupid? Yes. Is it crude? Yes. But it was also quite funny. I give it a B and worth renting.

no "off" switch

Day 16 in Chicago and I am enjoying it here more and more. Slowly I am getting over my home-sickness. The weather has not been good. Anyone who thinks Minneapolis has worse weather than Chicago is crazy. It is normally temperature wise a little bit warmer in Chicago but because of the constant wind from the lake, only three of the 16 days have I said it was warm out. How was your weekend? Mine was very nice. Friday night, I decided to meet Jim for dinner. We had long talked about eating at this legendary Evanston diner called The Chicken Shack. With it just being Jim and I, and there being no vegetarians present, we decided to feast on poultry. As we arrived, immediately I felt out of place - not in a nervous, but in a comical way. Upon arriving to The Chicken Shack, I felt like I was in a Dave Chappelle skit about stereotypical black people. I was just waiting to see Charlie Murphy eating a watermelon and drinking an Olde English. There were some gentlemen listening to rap music in one corner, some older African Americans playing a dice game in another. Jim and I loved it! The food ended up being good. It was like a less healthy Popeye's Chicken but twice as tasty. After we left The Shack, we relaxed at Jim's apartment for a few hours and talked about life, told old jokes, and enjoyed the company. At about 9:30, we headed back to my place where I met about a half a dozen friends. A couple of Captain Morgan's later and I was buzzing pretty good. At about 11:00, we decided to meet one of our friends at a Lincoln Park bar called Kendal's. It looked fun but at $25 as a cover fee, we decided to head next door to a bar that escapes my memory. We made the right choice as it turns out. Absolut Vodka has a new drink coming out called Absolut Mango. There were Absolut girls walking around handing out free shots of Absolut Mango and Sprite. After a few of those, plus what I had before, I was feeling no pain. Anay, Anay's Allie, and I actually stayed until bar closing before we met another friend and headed home. After an exhausting but fun Friday, Saturday was much more casual. I watched the Cubs game, accompanied Ann while she shopped, and watched one of the funniest Saturday Night Live episodes I have ever seen. Will Ferrell was brilliant as the host from start to finish. Green Day was excellent and there were so many great cameos including Tom Hanks, Norm McDonald, Paul Rudd, Ann Hathaway, Amy Poehler, and others. After being down for a couple of seasons, Saturday Night Live is back to being hilarious again.

Sun King

As spots of sunburn invade my body, I happily ignore the itch knowing that it represents that summer might finally be on its way. Yesterday was a rare beautiful weather day in Chicago and I wanted to take full advantage. I decided to take the twenty-five minute train ride to Evanston, Illinois and enjoy the weather. Evanston is home to Northwestern University. I loved Evanston. It is only nine miles from downtown, a quick train ride to Chicago, and a great college town. If I were to sculpt my perfect college town, Evanston wouldn't be too far off. I don't like the idea of a perfect college town to be in a large city (such as Univ. of Minnesota or Boston College.) Yes, there is a small pocket of Minneapolis (Dinkytown) that is obsessed with The U but nobody is calling Minneapolis a College Town. On the other hand, my perfect college town would not be hours away from a major city like Ames, IA - which is about a three hour drive from Kansas City to the South and Minneapolis to the North. Places like Ann Arbor (Michigan), Evanston (NU), Lawrence (KU), Palo Alto (Stanford), Tempe (ASU), et cetera are perfect. They have all the benefits of a small town, plus they can enjoy all the benefits of a big city. Anyway, after walking around NU and downtown Evanston for the day, I went to the beach and for the first time in months, took my shirt off in public to expose my paleness to the world. Hopefully, in the next few weeks, I will be able to get a little color.

1. Did anyone watch The Office season finale last night? I thought this whole year has been pretty unfunny, but yesterday was actually very good. Thoughts?

2. I was watching Sportscenter this morning and in an unbelievable amount of chauvinism, last night The Round Mound of Rebound Charles Barkley said the only thing a woman could do better than him was cook and clean. A woman staffer at ESPN challenged him to a push-up contest and kicked his butt. I would assume video of this will hit youtube quite quickly; I just haven't looked.

3. I like starting my morning with Robin Meade.

4. This morning the Gallup Poll came out with interesting finding about Americans' views on abortion. According to politicalwire.com, more Americans describe themselves as "pro-life" on abortion (51%) than "pro-choice" (42%) for the first time since the Gallup Poll began asking the question in 1995. These results were confirmed in two other recent Gallup surveys and a recent national poll by Pew Research recorded an eight point decline since last August in those saying abortion should be legal in all or most cases, from 54% to 46%. I find these poll results very interesting. I would have thought actually the results would be flip-flopped.

Neither seen nor heard

Ten days into Chicago and still so far so good. The weather has been miserable but for the first time since I have been here I feel completely comfortable with my surrounding area (within a mile). It is fun to root the Chicago Blackhawks to the NFL semi-finals. With all Minnesota sports teams sucking, I guess I will have to semi-adopt Chicago sports teams (minus the Sox) to cheer for.

1. I only watched bits and pieces of Saturday Night Live on Saturday. Although I am hardly a huge fan of N'Sync or JT's solo career, I have to admit that Justin Timberlake is very funny. I have now seen him host SNL three times and every episode has been fantastic. His Target Girl skit is great. His BeeGees skit is very funny and any kind of digital short he does with Andy Sandberg is hilarious. Please Youtube Saturday's skit "Mother Lover" for proof.

2. Today many of the torture photos were released. Many are visibly disturbing. I have a couple of questions. One, why do they all have to be nude? Two, does anyone still believe these harsh interrogation techniques are not torture? On many of the inmates, you can see visible scars, broken bones, and contusions. What a humiliating time it was under the Bush Administration.

3. The big sports story of the day is that allegedly USC basketball coach Tim Floyd gave OJ Mayo $1000 if he would come to play for the Trojans. One thing that shocks me is how little money these top athletes are bribed for. I totally get it that many of these players came from nothing, but most times when a player is caught accepting bribes it is for somewhere between $500 and $5000. Big whoop! These players will soon be making millions. By the way, almost every athletics program in the country cheats. Only some get caught. Hiring a recruit's Dad to be "assistant coaches", the university paying a recruit's $50,000 to give some speeches at the university? And don't even get me started at how corrupt the AAU circuit is.

4. It is about time that Craigslist dropped their "erotic services" category. They are basically selling prostitution and they know it. This only happened after a man killed a woman who he met through Craigslist. This woman put out an ad on Craigslist saying she would come to any residence and give "Erotic" massages. What do you think that means? I am not saying that she was asking to be killed... However, I am not shocked in one bit. If you look under Craigslist, or at least before today, they had all kinds of prostitution ads, and hook-up ads.

5. www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com

6. As beautiful as Miss California Carrie Prejean is, and she is gorgeous, I would prefer never to hear about her ever again. Is this what America has become when beauty pageant controversies and if the Asian dude from Jon and Kate plus 8 had an affair dominates national news?

Cognitive Dissonance

As Andrew knows more than anyone, my speciality in college was not psychology. However, one term even I am aware of is Cognitive Dissonance. The term was created by the brilliant psychology Leon Festinger in his book The Theory of Cognitive Dissonance. The basic premise of Cognitive Dissonance is this: 1) The existence of dissonance, being psychologically uncomfortable, will motivate the person to try to reduce the dissonance and achieve consonance. 2) When dissonance is present, in addition to trying to reduce it, the person will actively avoid situations and information which would likely increase the dissonance and seek out situations and information that reduce it. Obviously there are exceptions to this. Smoking comes to mind. I recently started the new political philosophy book The Two Percent Solution by journalist Matthew Miller. In the book, Miller who is an equal opportunity ripper of both Democrats and Republicans takes an interesting jab at modern Republicans. In the book he says a large chunk of the Republican party suffers from Cognitive Dissonance and this creates a barrier to progress. "Operating in a cocoon of like-minded souls, the right has developed a series of pseudo facts and incomplete arguments that they sincerely believe in order to protect themselves from the discomfort that would come from honestly facing the contradiction between a moral self-image that includes concern for the disadvantaged and budget plans that reveal this case to be a fraud," Miller writes. The book has example after example but one comes to mind. Last year, the Republicans were very angry when Obama talked about raising taxes on the wealthy Americans, the Conservative Heritage Foundation released this research on Who's Paying Taxes:

Percentiles Percent of Income Tax
Top 1% 36%
Top 5% 57%
Top 10% 68%
Top 20% 83%
Bottom 80% 17%

Although this is true, this is Cognitive Dissonance when we actually look at the full picture:

Percentiles Percent of Income Tax Percent of Income
Top 1% 36% 17%
Top 5% 57% 31%
Top 10% 68% 42%
Top 20% 83% 59%
Bottom 80% 17% 41%

Does that make any sense to you? The scale above was provided by the U.S. Congress Joint Committee on Taxation. My point to you is that even though the Top 1% of earners in America pay 36% of all taxes in America, as a percentage of their income, they are taxed the least! I am not the only one who thinks this is outrageous. I first learned about this Cognitive Dissonance when Warren Buffett, one of the top five wealthiest people in the world, pointed out that as a percentage, his secretary was paying more in taxes than he does.

"I think this might be a gay bar. The bartenders are no longer wearing shirts."

It has been a very unique, fun, and entertaining couple of days since I last blogged. Thursday night, I got a call from my friend Sarah, her friend Allie, and later on, Mr. Winstead, were going to go out for a late dinner and drinks later. I wasn't doing a lot so I decided to join them. They were at Allie's place which is very near me... and in Boystown (please see earlier posts for what Boystown is). Allie, Sarah, and I are actually all from Minnesota and kind of unsure of what the nearby restaurants and bars were. We first went to a place called Nookies and ate some good food. We decided we would just walk around and find a good bar to hang out. We walked by this place called Spin. We peaked inside and saw a young crowd of attractive men and women mingling and dancing and decided this place looked like a good place to chill. Everybody there was extremely nice and friendly. As the night progressed, things became just a bit unusual. Instead of typical dance music like electronica or hip-hop, there was a wide variety including Wham, Michael Jackson, and Aretha Franklin. At this point, and several free shots later, we were all buzzing a bit. It was right about now when I noticed things like the bartenders were no longer wearing shirts. We then figured out pretty quickly that this was a gay bar. What I found most unusual was how many women were there. I don't think they were lesbians, I think like us, they just thought the atmosphere was cool and everybody was really friendly. After about nine shots, lots of hugs, a kiss on the cheek from a random man, and lots of dancing with Sarah and Allie, we decided to call it a night. That was my first gay bar experience and it went a lot better than I imagined. Everybody was fun, warm, and accepting.

1. The Spin Adventure was on Thursday night. Friday morning I was not feeling well. I slept a lot, took a long walk by Lake Michigan, and relaxed for the day. I told my roommates Ann and Nimit that I wanted to do something low key; which we did. Their high school friends Evan and Claire are getting married and we hosted them Friday night. We ordered pizza, watched the Cubs game, and then a bunch of us had a fun time at a nearby German bar. I drank Diet Pepsis.

2 . Saturday morning, the whole Barrington crew went over for brunch at a nearby restaurant that they partially rented out called Harry Carey's. We were there for Evan and Claire's engagement party. The food was good, the laughs were plentiful, and everyone had a good time. By Saturday night I was exhausted so I just relaxed. A friend came over and we watched Arrested Development, listened to Jack Johnson, and drank wine.

3. Sunday morning I got a nice call from Anay with an invitation to join his Mom and Sister for pizza and then walk around Navy Pier. I enjoy food and I had never seen Navy Pier so I was excited. Lunch at Pizza Capri was excellent and Navy Pier was a lot of fun. We had ice cream, watched all the boats, briefly shopped, had some laughs, and I had a blast.

4. Currently listening to "Miss Misery" by Elliot Smith. Album: Good Will Hunting Soundtrack.

I don't know what "it" is. But he's got it.

Day four in Chicago and still so far so good. I have been gradually getting to know the city and I am liking it more and more. I baby-sat a neighbor's German Shepherd puppy yesterday and we spent the day getting to know all of North Chicago. I wish I could say I have been spending my time going to swanky bars and clubs, but with me still being unemployed, I have still had a nice time just exploring. One thing I love so much about Chicago is that there are so many neighborhoods to explore that are very different. I will give you an example. I live on the very Western tip of Wrigleyville. Wrigleyville is a yuppie area with a lot of frat guys, sorority girls, and former jocks. It is full of young people that like sports, and having a good time. The next neighborhood I border is Boystown - Chicago's gay neighborhood. It is very clear when you cross from Wrigleyville into Boystown. Chicago is full of all kinds of these different neighborhoods. This is very different than Minneapolis. Minneapolis has gay bars but not an area set aside where gays live. Minneapolis has things to do for yuppies who like sports, but not all in one area. It is not simply just that Chicago is larger than Minneapolis. Its whole structure is radically different. The only thing that is the same is the suburbs. I assure you an Applebee's in Palatine is the same as an Applebee's in Woodbury.

1. I cannot believe there is a real chance that Favre might be a Viking. If I am Coach Childress, the only way I agree to signing Favre is if I tell him he has to be at every single practice. Last year he rolled into the Jets only about four weeks before the season. That is not enough time to build chemistry with teammates and learn the playbook.

2. Currently listening to Belle and Sebastian's "Get me away from here I'm dying."

I'm here

I'm here; and it is still a strange feeling. I feel less like I have moved into a new "home" and more like I am staying in the spare bedroom at a friend's house. I think that is because I am such a creature of habit and everything is so different here. I always used to say that Chicago was just a bigger Minneapolis but it is actually very different. I will spend many times in the next few months highlighting differences. I am still homesick but every hour it is getting better. At first I thought the move was kind of like I was going to college again. However, the more I think about it, it is the exact opposite. At college, every single one of my friends was going to college. We were all in the same boat. Now, I am the only one moving and everyone else is staying the same. Plus, when you get to college, you are surrounded by young people who are as confused as you are. There are maps and people everywhere to guide you along. Here, I am depending on reliable friends and mapquest. In addition, when you get to college everyone has a purpose - to further his/her education. I am yet to find my purpose as to why I have moved to Chicago. Don't take my writing the wrong way. The weather has been beautiful. The food has been outstanding. The people here have been warm and inviting. The city is alive, fascinating, and very active. When asked how long I will stay in Chicago by family and friends I stutter and cannot completely answer the question. My perfect situation is to find a great girl who desperately wants to move somewhere that we would never have to wear a winter jacket again. Naturally, she would come from a lot of money which would give me more time to focus on writing my novel. Bottom line, 36 hours into Chicago, is so far so good.

Chicago Eve

On the eve of my trip to Chicago, I am busy organizing, sorting, and at about noon I turn on the TV and I see that ESPN has already started their Kentucky Derby coverage. The race isn't for another five hours. Even NBC is doing two hours of pre-race coverage. Although I am an extremely casual horse racing fan, on a nice summer night, there are few places more enjoyable than Canterbury. (The local horse racing track.) The last few years, I have gone about three times a summer. Despite the fact that horse racing has been around for centuries, I do think it is dying. That might not be a bad thing. In the past five years, 3000 horses died of racing related injuries. Unlike humans, if they injure their legs, they have to be put down. Tragically, Eight Belles last year broke her ankle while running the Derby and had to be put down while still on the track. This week during practice, one of the Derby contestants "broke down" and had to be put down. The problem I have with the Triple Crown is that horses have to be three years old, no younger, no older, to compete. In people years, that would be like if we demanded 11 year olds to compete at the highest level in the Olympics. The horses are at their athletic peak at three but are still developing physically. This is why they are more susceptible to injury. Although these horses are very well taken care of, the act of horse racing is pretty barbaric. I don't know. I openly admit my hypocrisy by saying I enjoy going to the tracks and then call the sport quasi-barbaric. If you put a gun to my head, I would think I could find better ways to spend a summer Friday night.

1. When I was a freshman in college, my college neighbor, an avid workout freak, gave me a supplement called Hydroxycut. I had seen the TV commercials, saw the magazine advertisements, and decided to take one pill. Well, about 12 hours later I was nervous, jittery, and my heart was beating what felt like a thousand beats per minute. I decided to go to the campus doctor's office where after some heart tests, I was told this was a normal symptom of Hydroxycut. I was told it is really only meant for the obese and I was advised never to take it again. Six years later I still haven't but I know more than one person who reads this blog does. Yesterday the FDA ordered all Hydroxycut to be immediately removed from shelves because of short and long term liver effects.

2. For those of you who like the show The Big Bang Theory. Here is a great interview with Jim Parsons aka Sheldon: http://www.avclub.com/articles/jim-parsons,27415/

3. Currently listening to The Rentals "I just threw out the love of my dreams".

The Michael Scott Paper Company

It is a lovely Friday morning. Last checked I have survived another day without Flunami 2009 sneaking up and pouncing on my unsuspecting immune system. While watching CNN this morning, they had a roundtable discussion on if the Republican Party is dead; or if a third party should be formed of more centrist Conservatives. In some parts of the country, the Republican party is dead. Of the eleven New England states, in the 1988 election, George H.W. Bush won eight of them. Obama won all of New England in 2008. Even after the 2000 election, 40% of the house members were Republicans and eight of the twenty-two senators were part of the GOP. Today there are ZERO Republican members of the house and only two Republican senators. (And let's be honest, Senator Collins and Senator Snowe are very moderate Republicans.) I think people are being short-sighted. Political parties come in favor in waves. Let's take fifty years ago. Democrats dominated the Deep South while Republicans had a strangle hold on New England. Republicans are plotting right now. In 1994, led by Newt Gingrich, they created a Contract for America which succinctly stated everything they were for. I would look for a second Contract for America to arrive about Labor Day 2010. In it they will come out and say they are the party of national defense and lower taxes. They will keep it embarrassingly simple. Polarizing figures like Sarah Palin will be silenced and new leaders like Eric Cantor will carry the new torch. Democrats have two years now to accomplish whatever they want to do. Let's hope they use their time wisely. Health care reform comes to mind...

1. This past weekend I finished the book The Brethren by John Grisham. I give it an A. It is my third favorite Grisham book after The Firm and The Rainmaker. It's really good.

2. Very interesting political news came out last night when liberal Supreme Court judge David Souter announced he is looking to retire in the next few months. First off, Obama needs to create some balance on the court by placing a female supreme court justice. I am anti-affirmative action and this has nothing to do with that. For the good of the country, it is important to have more than one justice be a female. In addition, I don't know if there ever has been a Hispanic justice. I don't care about the politics. Considering the Hispanic-American is the fastest growing segment of our population, it would be beneficial for them to have at least some representation on the highest court.

3. Currently listening to "This is the last time" by Keane.