Skate or Die Part 2

This skate park is making Summer 2009 look pretty sweet so far. Good for you Logan Square!

Logan

I'm gonna miss Logan but I can't wait to move!

Skate or Die

First day at the new skate park! We had two skate boards and a (three wheel) scooter for the little guy. He could not stand to wear his helmet and didn't care much for the scooter. He wanted to watch the action from the top of the ramp and ride the front of my board.
His older bro was a different story. He's got a new board and can't get enough of it. I took him up some ramps today and he was loving it!
Can't wait to go back.

Last Snowy Sunday (hopefully)

Above is a picture of Clara and my newest Craigslist find - an Eames (esque) Terrarium! Not sure if I'm gonna put an animal in there (a turtle perhaps) or some plants.
Well, this is what it looks like 2 days before the beginning of April....does winter in the Chi ever end???
Below is a shot from Jessica's wonderful dinner party last night. Many, many bottle of wine were drunk, and we observed Earth Hour for 5 hours! You're welcome, we made up for all you non-eco freaks.

Memory Foam Can Change Your Life

Clara and I have just come into some Memory Foam (you can see it there on my bed)and it is Amazing! Sleeping is super dreamy, like floating on a cloud.
Misc. shot of the Volvo from my view.

Bum Art

Here is a close up of, what I think is, some Bum Art.

Chi-Town

Chicago Bears van passing a local chill spot.

Colt, baby!

I saw this Dodge Colt Vista today on the Blvd.

Below (right) is my old Colt parked next to my buddy Frank's wagon. This was at Augusta and Rockwell 2001.

Black Lips @ the Logan Square Auditorium

Sharing a Shamrock Shake

Irish Twins. Sharing a Shamrock Shake.
Happy St. Patty's Day a bit early!

Snow Scenes

Winter: So Far

For the umpteenth time in the last three months I woke up to a blizzard of snow outside my window and temps hovering around 0˚.
So, I put on my snow pants and grabbed my dog to run a few errands. This garbage can really spoke to me...this is just the winter so far. Wanting it to end will not make it so.

see above for a Claradog cameo.

Meltdown

Hit 40 ˚ in the Chi today.

Dibs

As some of you may know, in Chicago we have an unofficial system of "dibs" whereby you can claim a parking spot as your own. This only goes in winter during times of snow. The idea is that you shovel out a spot and you get to keep it. To mark your territory you put something (usually some piece of garbage) in the street to hold your spot. Preferred items are buckets and mops or milk crate/two by four type combinations. Here the bucket or box or what-have-you is placed to one side of the spot and the longer item is laid longways with one end propped up by the first object. The effect is like junk sculpture. This year I have seen a lot of really sorry looking chairs and even a busted up kids kitchenette set.

Below are a few examples from my block in Logan Square.

The problem is lots of lazy idiots don't shovel the spot - they just throw some trash on top of some snow in the street. Additionally, by moving someones dibs you can expect to have your car keyed, tires slashed or worse.



In what may or may not be a related incident, a Honda Fit was stripped of all four of its wheels and left balancing on a milk crate last night a few blocks from my house. I was kicking myself for not having my camera, but it looked a lot like this picture to the right. Hahahahahaha. Sucks to get your wheels stolen in negative 10 degrees! That's hard core.
For all you Chicago transplants in LA right now! You know you miss this!

Chicago Breaks Records for Snow and Cold

Kids all over Chicago are going CRAZY! Chicago is breaking decades old records for snow AND cold. The below zero temps are canceling recess and driving exhausted teachers MAD all over the city. Just yesterday I saw a very bundled-up 5 year old begin to cry when the wind stared to blow. He was just walking from the family van to his front door.
-7º temp - yes, NEGATIVE!
-29º wind chill - again, NEGATIVE

Let this be your proof that the Mid-West is NOT Affected by Global Warming.

Snow Day

It's been lightly snowing for two days now.
Right after I decided to not dig out my car and cancel any driving plans, this yahoo asked me to move my car so he could get his out.

I told him "No."

The Elastic Truth

I found this in the alley the other day.
My neighborhood is a trip sometimes. Just now I went outside to walk my dog and clean off my car and someone had cleaned it off for me already! Brushed off the snow and scrapped my windows...WTF!?! Crazy. But, awesome!

Crazy!

So, I'm out for a morning walk with Jess and Clara....when...unprovoked two crazy dogs attack Clara. I will spare you the truly horrifying details but to give you an idea, a German Shepard latched onto her neck and was shaking her like a rag doll. Clara was screaming like a child who had broken their leg. Meanwhile the other dog was biting her on the behind. It didn't look too bad at first, but I knew there was some damage. Once we got to the vet and she got shaved and cleaned up the wounds were more visable./
But she was such a trooper.


A little ice to keep the swelling down and my "good fortune" T-shirt, Clara is recovering comfortably.
Also, I got a small bite on the hand.

R.I.P. Jason

Here is Jay, alive and well. Obviously, another neighborhood Jason is not so lucky.
As you can see my blog is all over the place, sort of like my life right now. I have tons of different projects in the fire and hope to reach some closure (or at least the next level) with a few of them soon....

Logan Stairs

My grandma had the same bushes next to her front steps. This medium format photo was taken in Logan Square Chicago.