Exiled in Sovereign City

So, not a lot of meat for this week's post. Am going to experience Vegan Thanksgiving today, and then a weekend of the Chicago Doctor Who convention. Geeky? Yes. The last week of work was quite arduous - lots of early and late hours; and drama at every turn. Why there's not a weekly hourly drama on NBC about IT Technicians is beyond me. I'll explain later.

Gobble Gobble!

posted by Pat @ 11:52:00 AM 0 comments   

So, my brain has started hurting. I've joined a fiction writing workshop to help sharpen my literary skills as it were. You can tell I'm edumacated, can't you? Right. So, it's been good so far; everyone in the class has written some good stuff, which is kind of intimidating. I just jotted down a character portrait, which was supposed to be short, and suddenly this whole event from my job, maybe 7 years ago, just wrote iteself. Anyhow, my first submission to the group is in a couple of weeks and I really don't know what I'm going to submit. I don't really have anything started; and I just have these ideas floating around the periphery of my head. What it's amounting to, is that I'm having a hard time picking something and running with it. I'm guessing it's going to take me locking myself away for a few hours at some coffeeshop and unloading.

Thanksgiving is coming up, and it sounds like we're going vegan this year. How exciting. Tofurky sounds quite intriguing. I think I will still be making the family's secret recipe bacon stuffing ( What's Thanksgiving without a blocked artery?).


Something completely different:
Stumbled across some neet websites lately... Worth Mentioning:

The telephone Exchange Name Project - http://ourwebhome.com/TENP/TENproject.html
A site devoted to telephone numbers of old like PEnnsylvania6-5000 or BUtterfield-8. The house I grew up in was MAjestic3-5736. Nifty.

Letter boxing - http://www.letterboxing.org/
I initially thought this was about the crazy aspect ratio of movies on TV, but nay, it's kind of a secret treasure hunt. What's not to love. All this needs now is a crazy cross country movie in true Canonball style.

posted by Pat @ 1:56:00 PM 0 comments   

I had a surreal train ride on Thursday. Initially Levon and I are on the red line going north, and at first we are sitting next to some high school freshmen, two girls and a guy. The girls are talking a mile a minute. Wait. make that 2 miles a minute, maybe even 3. So, they're going on about all the normal things 13 year olds talk about, i think... Impressions from Lilo and Stitch and Finding Nemo. Quite accomplished impressions i should think.

Anyhow, a serious hush comes over one of the girls as she says "I can't sing. I'm not allowed to... My vocal chords" as she holds her hands close to her throat as if she was demonstrating that she had larangitis and couldn't talk. Anyhow, they packed up and got off at Fullerton. Shortly thereafter, there was a man walking up to Levon and I, and he leaned over to Levon and opened his bag. I wasn't quite sure what was going on, but apparently he was asking Levon to take his picture on the el. It was interesting because he came up to us in a dark trench coat, and carrying a fancy bag, and was wearing sandles in 30� weather. We took his picture under the map in the doorway, then he asked if he could take his picture with me. So I shrugged, and he sat down next to me.

Turns out he's a Buddhist monk here from Thailand (did notice the orange robes peeking out from the dark trench coat). Apparently he was only in Chicago for another day and then off to California. So ending the surreal train ride was my picture with the undercover monk. I'm sure this is a premise for a new show on PAX. Stay tuned.


undercovermonk.jpg

posted by Pat @ 9:22:00 AM 0 comments   

So there's this cafe that opened on the corner near my el stop. This pleases me to no end. i'd always wondered about the space, since it probably falls into the category of "quaint" but for me it's amazingly convenient. When I first moved into the neighborhood a few years ago, the windows were papered up and it was just another empty storefront.

There was a very small grocery store across the street that was struggling to stay in business, and if memory serves correctly, it closed within about 6 months of my moving into the hood. The intersection before the train station seemed to be used a lot as a location for that TV show with the guy that gets a printed copy of the Chicago Sun Times with a heartbreaking story a day before it happens so he can then avert tragedy around the windy city. The show was on CBS a few years back and is now making its rounds on PAX; it's really compelling programming i hear.

Totally lost my train of thought... Oh yeah , Train. El Stop. Cafe on the corner. So, the cafe was empty a while for a year or so. Then there was a cafe that moved in; there was a dessert case, tables, table cloths, menus on the table. For the better part of a year or so, I never saw it opened. I'd walked passed it in the mornings and evenings on my way to and from work. I'd checked on the weekends; on sick days and days off. THIS CAFE WAS NEVER OPEN. It seemed odd to me. It looked like an operational cafe. The only thing i could think of is if it was a part of that TV show's taping, however the tapings went on well after the cafe closed. knackers.

Then about a year ago, there was movement again. There was some work being done in the space... It was being painted and done up all nice and frilly. It opened as a cafe; which was an answer to my prayers, however, it was a little she-she. It was nice, possibly too nice for my taste. I think I would have liked it more in a different location.

But out of the blue, the she-she cafe closed. There was then a poster for the new cafe; and they de-frillied the interior; so it looks more like a coffee shop, and less like a boudoire. nice. When i moved into the neighborhood, there was a Melrose diner within stumbling distance, which was a total bonus to me. I don't know that i partake in late night coffee klatches as much as i did in my youth, but it's just one of those things that's nice to know is around the corner... However, just after i moved in; IT CLOSED. There's a couple other diners in my vicinity, one is good, but closes a little early for my diner tastes (like 8 or 9pm). There's the Golden Angel, but that's definitely not stumbling distance. I have an incredibly warm spot in my heart for the GA, though, since they have tasty raisin French Toast, and I think Amy Sedaris waited on us there a few years ago. Good times... good times...

So, back on track, this new diner. It's open. It has dinery food. It's tasty. The cake is out of this world! They've been broken into twice in the last two weeks. I mean WTF? I did not spend all this time wandering around a desert of dinerless existence to have a friendly coffee shop open up in stumbling distance only to get burgled. This peeves me. Apparently they busted the door, to get some change. Freakin change! Harrumph!. Anyhow, I ate there last night. Nice burgers. Crinkle cut fries (the only true french fry). And a very good buttercream Strawberry Shortcake. mmm.

all this talk of diners now has me hungry.

posted by Pat @ 4:00:00 PM 0 comments   

Yes, I've been absent of late. Partially nothin to say, partially no time to say it. I've had a seed of an idea in my mind for the last week or two, that i just can't really do anything with.

It just relates to the concept of Synchronicity. No, not the last Police album (and Sting's last worthwhile effort), but the concept that there is some underlying connection in seemingly unrelated things.

I heard a great story at Kong's along these lines; though I couldn't find any mention of it on the 'net, so I couldn't verify any details. Apparently this was a story that Albert Einstein told to explain the concept of synchronicity.

It involved a guy who when he was probably a wee lad, maybe 10 or so, going to some random birthday party where he really didn't know the people having the party. Apparently this happened in Europe a lot in the 19th century. We'll call this lad Jaques. Now Jaques was at this party and at most of the finer parties especially in France there was cake. Maybe even a torte. Let's say cake for the argument. Marie Antoinette would've approved. Everyone was celebrating the Birthday of a Monsieur De Forgable. I think the candles on the cake dictated that he was turning 20.

So Jaques had this cake, and it was fantastic and amazing and everything a cake should be. It was also a cake that was unusual, because any other birthday parties Jaques would go to had just plain old cake; probably made by the 19th century Cake Maven Betté Çroquer. In any case, when he sang "Joyeux Anniversaire, Monsieur De Forgable" he really meant it, because this was great cake. Years would pass and he'd secretly pine for that cake; that it was great, like no other cake he's ever had. One could speculate that this is the cake mentioned in Mac Arthur Park that gets left out in the rain, but poor Donna Summer or Barry Manilow don't have the recipe to. I digress.

One eventful day probably about 15 years after his first flirtation with this cake while lounging in one of the Le Starbucks on the Champs Elysee, he thought he'd try again and see if he could get this divine cake. On asking for the cake, the barista said "Oui, we have one, but I'm afraid it's already spoken for."

"Really? May I ask who ordered it?"

"Yes, it's for a Monsieur De Forgable", said the barista " Can we offer you Le Frappuccino with one of Cake Maven Betté Çroquer's brownies?"

"No, thanks." Jaques was stumped. This Monsieur De Forgable knows how to get good cakes. Curses. "I will never speak of this again."

Years pass, and Jaques becomes a bitter old man. On the evening of his 60th birthday however, his family makes him dinner with a cake. Sure, they have Coq au vain, it's wonderful, yadda yadda, but he's really interested in the cake. He takes one bite of the cake, and he's in ecstacy. It's THAT cake. Someone managed to leave Cake Maven Betté Çroquer out of this cake. He was happy. Just as he raised the fork for his second bite, there's a knock on the door. He was nearly hypnotized by the anticipation of this cake that the interuption caused him to lose his reverie. He gets up from the table, and answers the door.

"Pardon moi, I'm looking for 20 times 2 plus 4 Rue de la Citroën for a party" says the festively dressed American standing at the door.

Jaques looks at the American and says "This is 44 Rue de la Citroën; I do not know any Americans." The American sheepishly hands him the invite.

"Oh, let's see here, you've got your sums wrong," as he starts reading the invitation aloud, "You are cordially invited to 64 Rue de la Citroën to celebrate the 70th Anniversare of Monsieur De Forgable."
______________

Everytime Monsier De Forgable or that Cake appears, the other is always close behind. So was it synchronicity? Was it Fate? Was Cake Maven Betté Çroquer just stacking the deck? I know I can't really say. That's why it's taken me so long to post. Sounds like food for thought. Maybe one day I'll even find the source of this anecdote.

Oh, and Lisa: I'll have those pics up any day now. Promise!

posted by Pat @ 4:12:00 PM 0 comments