Monthly Archives: May 2005

Back to shitade for a moment…

I'm sittin here with the cutest, most precious little doggie curled up on my lap, so what better time to write a post? I plan on going to great detail about this last weekend, picking up Sybil, and how awesome Sybil is, but first, I must play a little catchup regarding the last time Tom was in town...

So the theme of the weekend was making Shitade. Friday, we were bit by a little Friday 13 bug, but ended up having a really great time. Saturday, we had a little time warp (just put your hands on your hips...) in thinking that the 14th was really the 15th. First off, we went to Michigan avenue for Angels, with Tails, a pet adoption event sponsored by one of the local no-kill shelters. The idea is that if you put a bunch of needy cats and dogs in the windows of the finest stores on Michigan avenue, like burberry, ralph lauren, tiffany, etc., then people will surely want to adopt then! Adopted doggies go designer! I just wanted to see the dogs and maybe, if the right dog came along, adopt. So we're on Michigan avenue, no doggies to be seen. No one we ask knows about the adoption even either, so we head over to the Apple store to look it up on the internet. Sure enough, the event was on Sunday, not Saturday.

It's all good in the hood. We're in Chicago! There's lots of stuff to do! We're walking around, making our way to lake shore drive for an afternoon lakefront stroll (aka plan B) when we run right into the Museum of Contemporary Art. We pull out our student ID's (might as well keep doing it while it still works) and head on in for an exhibit on the art of tourism. It was a great exhibit and we both enjoyed especially the "art" of a pile of brightly colored candy in the corner. Do you eat the candy? Do you just look at the beauty of the pile of bright colors? As we were pondering the mysteries of the candy pile, a little girl started running towards the candy as her mom scolded her for trying to take a piece. Priceless. Point well taken.

After that, we head home for a quick meal at our favorit haunt Siam Country, and quickly get ready to go to the Bright Eyes and the faint concert. So we hop the bus, head to the Riviera, stand in line, get searched, and go to the will call for our tickets. Imagine our surprise when the person there says that they cannot find our tickets, in either name, and then asks "are you sure the tickets aren't for sunday?" We look at our confirmation from ticketmaster.com and sure enough.... our tickets are for sunday. Fuck.

We head home, a little embarrassed, a little confused at how we could confuse dates, twice, trying to figure out what to do saturday night. After awhile we decide to go to blockbuster to pick up the life aquatic. Wouldn't you know it, they were all out. So we picked up another movie, and The Corporation. We check out at the blockbuster and, shockingly enough, the person asks if we found everything OK (they don't usually do this). I say, no, we came here looking for the life aquatic and you're all out. He says, "no we're not." I say, "Oh really?" He says "Yeah, I've got one left right here." And the dude hooks us up with the life aquatic. Score! Hooray for luck! Finally some luck! We go home, watch our movie (which is really good btw), and drink some wine and stay up chatting late into the evening. It was a most excellent long days journey into night despite what our bad luck threw at us.

The next morning, we woke up a little early and watched the Corporation. Needless to say that a documentary about the evils of capitalism starring the likes of micheal moore and noam chomsky got Tom and I all riled up and pissed off. Discussion of this movie deserves its own post. Go watch it, come back and we'll talk. Capitalism was neither a capital or an ism... discuss (does a very Lindar Richman hand gesture). Later on, we do all the things that we thought we were going to do on Saturday, go see the doggies on Michigan avenue and go to the faint / bright eyes concert.

The doggies were excellent and we even found a corgi mix that was an absolute sweetheart, but no dachshunds (I'm so glad I waited). We grilled out the sausages that we had purchased on friday on the charcoal grill on the wooden patio (yeah I know). Fortunately for everyone, Tom was able to keep the fire in check and due to my steaming the brats in onions garlic and Old Style, they turned out amazing. Paired with a tasty pasta salad with prosciutto instead of pepperoni and the delicate flavors of Old Style we had an excellent meal before the concert.

Once again we head to the Riviera, but this time, they let us in. Making our way through the trendiest of the hipsters, we find some pretty good seats in the balcony. The first act is a really good nerd hop group. They're followed by the faint, who I actually enjoy, although I don't think Tom was that into them. Bright Eyes came on and wowed everyone, although they only played songs from their Digital Ash album, none from I'm wide awake it's morning, unfortunately. Still a great concert, still a great weekend.

Tom ended up missing his train because the concert ran a little later than expected. When we got back, he purchased a greyhound ticket for the following morning and made his way home. What an excellent weekend. Shitade tastes great! No, really...

05.31.05 8:20pm(3 comments)

I couldn’t make this up…

To pick up apollo mancine: If I could rearrange the alphabet... I'd put you between F and CK

Get your own Magic Pick Up Line

05.31.05 7:28pm(0 comments)

Sybil’s Home

Sybil came home without incident! She is the sweetest, most precious, best doggie ever. Check out the pictures!

Will write more later, but now Tom and I are gonna go play with Sybil :)

05.30.05 1:00pm(14 comments)

More on this dog thing…

So I imagine some of you are thinking, "why is Kristy just up and getting some teeny wiener dog out of nowhere?" Well, let me tell you, this is no impulse purchase. I've been thinking about adding a little canine companion to my life for a long time...

I grew up with dogs. First there was the former show black lab with a broken hip, Uh-Oh, so named after my affection for spaghettios (oh man, spaghettios are sooo good. I eat a lot of gourmet shit, but spaghettios are still on the top of my list). Then there was Robin, the german shephard pup so named after the person we rescued her from. Both great dogs, both big dogs. We lived in the country, we could have big dogs. This business about having huge dogs in the city boggles my mind, but to each her own. Mom went back to school, I became an extra curricular queen and so it made no sense to get another dog after Robin left. It wouldn't have been fair to the dog. So I lived through high school, college and beyond, and eventually got to the point where I would be stable and financially capable of supporting a dog. Alas, BG isn't a very dog friendly place, so no dog. I did get the opportunity to play with Tom's family's super affectionate dogs, Dominic and Lucy, but that was few and far between.

So why now? Why a wiener dog? My family has owned dachshunds in the past, my Mom and grandparents having had one, Wadsworth Longfellow Boyer, who caused no end of mischief. My aunt Mary had one when I was younger, named Ginger. However, one little hot dog stands out in particular. A few xmas's ago, I was in OK with my family and at the time, the neighbors living there had a dachshund. Being busy with family affairs, and not paying too much attention to their dog, it got loose and ended up spending a lot of time at our place. We would feed it, give it a lot of attention, and it would romp around in the backyard. I mean honestly, what dog wouldn't want to hang out with us? We didn't know its name, so we called it killer and showered it with the love and affection that it wasn't getting from its family. I fell in love. I wanted a dog.

But in usual Kristy style, much research had to be done to find the perfect dog for me. I scoured the internet to find all kinds of info. I took a few different "what breed of dog is best for you" quizes (you know how I love quizzes) and set my sights on a dachshund. When I moved to Chicago, finding dog friendly housing was a snap. I was so surprised at the availability and minimal price of renting with a dog, so I set myself up with a dog friendly apartment(that is so awesome and that I love).

Once I got settled, I did a lot of searching on petfinder and on the various websites at the different rescue organizations in Chicago. I decided after awhile that working with a breed rescue group would be best. I started with Midwest Dachshund Rescue but ended up adopting from Dachshund Rescue of North America. Both organizations have incredible volunteers and lots of adorable dogs who need homes, so if you're looking, I highly recommend them. I filled out an application, had my references checked, my house visited, and got everything in order. I did more research, bought a few books on adopting rescue dogs, dachshunds, and some doggie bowls. I visited local pet stores and asked a lot of questions on craigslist pet section. I even set up a vet appointment a few weeks ago, so I already have one next week for my new doggie! I found a few affordable dog walkers to pamper my pet during the day as well. I m working on getting signed up for training classes for me and the dog. I'm fairly thorough, I admit, but I'm sure there's much more I need to learn.

I envision Sybil to be almost an extension of me, to go wherever I go. Like kid sister. I have daydreams of riding a bike with my dog in the basket or knitting on the couch with my dog in my lap. I actually look forward to walking the dog in the park at the end of the block and training it to do tricks. If she would be up for this sort of thing, I'd even like to get one of those dog bags so that I can tote her around on the cta and take her shopping with me. We could just get on the bus / train and head to one of Chicago's many dog parks, boutiques or even the dog beach! I'm taking her with me to OK for July 4, so I'll have to do some research of air travel with dogs as well as make arrangements with the airline.

Believe me, I know it won't be all fun and games all the time. I will be cleaning up poop. I will listen to barks. But I'll also have a lovely little puppy friend, who'll be around for years to come. I think this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship :)

05.28.05 12:04am(1 comment)

Meet ma petite chienne, Sybil!

Tom and I will be picking Sybil up on Sunday :) How exciting! She will be so spoiled!

05.27.05 1:17pm(4 comments)

Awesome-est guacamole… ever..

Holy Crap! I just made some most excellent guacamole! And I don't even like guacamole! It's so incredible that I had to rush over to my computer to write down the recipe so I wouldn't forget. Since this is the best quacamole, I figured it would be a shame not to share, so here goes:

2 ripe avacados

2 limes

1 can petite diced tomatoes with jalepenos

.5 medium white onion

a few hot peppers (I used one poblano and 2 serranos)

a few cloves of garlic

a whole messa' cilantro (yes, I just quantified something as 'a whole messa')

Salt

Pepper

A little chili powder

Chop all that up and mix it together. DO NOT (I repeat) DO NOT puree the guacamole! It would be blasphemous to any number of higher powers to thrash the delicate balance of this fine guacamole by putting it in a blender to mush it into green goo. Just mix it together, gently now. Serve it up with blue corn chips. Yes, blue corn chips, not white ones. Regular corn chips pale in comparison to this guacamole, only blue corn chips, with majesty, will do. Plus, it looks neat. Go ahead and try it! You won't be dissapointed!

05.26.05 6:50pm(2 comments)

Kristy and the full effect

So I'm finally back in business. I went to work yesterday and today, feeling much better, although still with the "sexy bedroom voice." Better than no voice at all. I'm sorry to have lost the last few days of my life especially when it is *so* beautiful outside, but now I have some more powerful antibodies to stand up to evil Chicago colds such as the one that I just got. Ha! Take that!

I watched the American Idol finale last night and was dissapointed that Bo Bice didn't win. However, I did get to see the evil nick and evil GT again. Seriously, there are these two guys that look very similar to Nick and GT (Tom's Friends from college), but instead of playing smash brothers or World of Warcraft, they were trying out for American Idol. The evil Nick guy was obsessed with Baywatch, instead of Babylon 5, and David Hasselhoff. They brought back the evil Nick and GT for the finale and even brought David Hasselhoff to meet the evil Nick. He was so excited he about had a pants emergency. Not everything is different for an evil twin...

The dog that I wanted was indeed adopted out, but I hooked up with the national dachshund rescue who may be able find a suitable dog. Right now, I'm interested in Sybil, who is very small, but very adorable and sweet. Her name is even appropriate. Who better to have a psycho little MPD doggie than me? I'll even get it a little purple collar and leash. It'll be great. I don't think Sybil the doggie will have MPD, but it'll be fun to say that she does. Sally field ain't got nuthin' :)

Alright, back to work...

05.26.05 1:18pm(3 comments)

I knew it would happen eventually…

It comes as no surprise that my simple country immune system would be no match to the coughing wheezing germ ridden city, and Im now sick. I've got a runny nose and a throat that feels like it is on fire. Add that to weakness, body ache and some nausea every so often and you have one sick Kristy. I've done nothing but sleep, drink tea, drink nyquil, drink theraflu, and sleep some more, all weekend. This morning, after waking up at 4:30 amfeeling like someone had poured acid down my throat, I decided to go to the hospital. I figured, I probably have strep, they can give me some antibiotics, and I'll be well on my way to much better within 24 hours. So I take some theraflu, coat my throat with spray, suck on a drop and head out. Long story short, 2 strep cultures, a throat xray, 3.5 hours, a doctor who is trying hard to hide that she doesn't understand what warranted me to come to the emergency room that early on a sunday and a $100 copay later, I'm on my way out of the hospital with a diagnosis of pharyngitis and a script for 20 vicodin. *sigh* I went home and slept. I wake up seriously dizzy and nautious, so since I hadn't had anything to drink or eat, I down some theraflu and then some tea. No dice. I managed to make myself some chicken noodle soup and eat that...feeling moderately better now, although I still can't talk. I think I'm going to go sleep some more...

05.22.05 4:14pm(4 comments)

Fashizzle Ma Nizzle!

I decided to translate kristyland with Gizoogle, and came up with a pretty funny result, complete with a little Pimp Matt peeking over the top of kristyland.

Check it out beotches!

05.19.05 9:23am(0 comments)