Oh yeah, Happy Ayyam-i-Ha everyone! Most of you probably have no idea what I'm talkin about, but there are about 5 days a year at the end of Feb where Baha'is par-tay...before we fast for 19 days (just during daylight, don't worry). I've never been around such a plethora of Baha'is before, so it's going to be cool to observe this holiday. And it will also be cool to have tons of other people to fast with. Yeah.

Just in case you were wondering about the wonderful bubble tea, here are a few links I found: link 1, link 2, and link 3. Had enough? And yes, you can get the stuff on Clark near Wrigley Field. Better than "ice cream of the future," by a longshot.

Going off on what Ellen was saying about favorite products, I was able to pick up some Lorac lip polish this weekend at Sephora...and oh yeah, I think the world of lip gloss is going to tumble and fall when word about this product gets out. Beth, you gotta jump on the bandwagon! That's my girliness for the day. Bee hee hee.

A very sincere THANK YOU for all the birthday wishes. I have to say, I felt a bit of anxiety upon waking up yesterday, just feeling a little homesick and worried that nothing great would happen (I'm lame and sappy, I know). I couldn't have been more wrong. Thank you guys so much for making my day really special :)

Shelley is awesome :)

met up w/ Paul and Naz last night, where I had my first bubble tea experience (WELL worth repeating I might add..the company and the tea)

If you weren't outside this weekend in Chicago, man did you miss out. It was *perfect* yesterday, clear skies, no coat, and Michigan Ave. looked so good when I went shopping on Saturday with Mojan and Adalia that I went AGAIN yesterday with Jes and Ellen. Saturday the work presented at anonfed was very inventive, and it was good to see the web folk once again. And how cool is this: my friends at work surprised me this morning with a MICROWAVE (oh yeah!!) for my bday. Pictures now:

Paul and Phineas

@ the Chase cafe, Misha's opening

I entitle this one, "aaaaakkk!"

yesterday=perfect

she's crafty

The end :)

Another 5 days have passed, and it's time for the weekend. What's going on you ask? Tonight is work. Yeah. Tomorrow is shopping a la yuppie style on Michigan Ave, AnonFed in the eve, and Misha's show (and partay) tomorrow night at Chase. Hey, if yall are going to be in town, be sure and come by there...it's going to be lotsa fun.

It's been a long, long, long week. This website has too short a writing area me to fit it all in. I'll spare you. See you on Monday, February 25, when I turn 23 years old. Happy 22nd bday to Bryan, who has his big day the day before me. Bry, take my advice: travel alot, meet people, graduate college, move to a new city, and find what you're passionate about. That will be your 23rd bday present to yourself :)

Some links: Making changes in your life is really that easy...no, it really is.
Guster, Lost and Gone Forever. It's describing my day.
Also, be sure and check out these great live Creeper Lagoon performances on mtv.com. Link via yewknee.

Oh hey look! I was lamenting recently that I have seen little to no buzz about Black History Month. Well, as it turns out, CNN has a nice little section up with different profiles each day, a stamp gallery (with historic figures and their contributions), and it looks like a ton of links with info. This is perhaps the most useful thing CNN has done for me all year.

I have to say, this Tool album (Lateralus) is truly amazing. It's beautiful and complex, and I've listened to it about 6 times since yesterdray. I never do that. Now I must go follow Allan's advice and get the lyrics.

Oh hell yes, I just upgraded my hosting plan. Say goodbye to Blogger soon (and heLLO Moveable type!), and far gone are the days of wondering when I'm going to exceed my storage space. As Bridget Jones would put it: Yessssss! Yessssssssss!!!!!!

Flowers for the NSA.

Wow, I just spent way too long reading (and laughing...and laughing..) this section of askmen.com. My coworker (a male) pointed it out to me, and while I think the evaluations of women are hideously off target, there is some quality entertainment value in the entire site. And I have to say, the gift guide aint bad...some pretty good stuff in there.

The great mystery over who bought things from my wishlist is over. It was my beautiful family. I should have known from the start :) I am now enjoying Nick Drake out loud in the office, and later I will be partaking of Guster and...oh yeah...Tool. That's right, my parents bought me Tool for my birthday. Did I forget to mention my parents take off on the weekends on my dad's motorcycle, have matching black leather jackets and boots, and last time I checked, my dad had a goatee? I think I'm the luckiest person I know.

Whoa. This guy is tall.

Is this my lucky day? Abandoned Pools is not only unexpectedly playing Chicago's House of Blues on Feb 28: the tickets are only $1.01 each! Even better: I just talked to the box office, and only 50 tickets have been sold thusfar (the venue holds 1300)...that means I can buy my tickets at the door (unless an onslaught of AP fans shows up) and avoid the EVIL TICKETMASTER CHARGES!! Muahaha! Hey Chicagofolk: anyone wanna come see a great show for cheap?

I would just like to point out that I was not the only one who wrote about this weekend (exhibit A, exhibit B). I find it strangely comforting to know that they are out there, to know that I have that support base, to know that they are out there to reinforce my ideas, and that I might do the same for them. I have found a group of people I connect with on so many different levels, and no matter how little I really know about them, I appreciate their presence more than I could ever tell them. I guess this is what a circle is all about, eh?

(too) Much fun was had this weekend. Saw Detatchment Kit and Second Seed again, got little sleep and lost my hearing, but hey it was worth it. Hung out with Dave yesterday and tried to fix my OS 9.2 woes (God bless OSX...but darnitt, couldn't Macromedia just make my life easier and make Dreamweaver for osx?). Now for some pictures....gosh, you'd think all I do is go to concerts...I don't! I do other stuff...too....yeah...

this would be the Detatchment Kit, featuring Mr. Ian Menard (far right, hard to see)

this would be the mummy that once was the guitarist

second seed for the second time in a week

and mister greasy skillet himself.

This is the scariest thing I've ever seen. Just stare at it for about 20 or 30 seconds, and you'll get it. *shudder*

Have a nice weekend yall...I'm going to do my thing.

I hope everyone had a lovely valentine's day. I had a grrreat day (aside from the whole funeral thing). I went to see Second Seed last night at the Beat Kitchen (hi Mike et al), and they totally rocked out. They blew the opening acts out of the building they were so good.

hand stamps

fabulous show you guys

In other totally ironic news, I'm going to see The Detatchment Kit tonight at the Empty Bottle. The irony? How come I didn't put 2 and 2 together that long lost CGB member Ian Menard was the lead singer? It's rare to have someone from back home living in Chicago, much less the lead singer of a fairly popular area band. I nearly died of shock (catch phrase of the day) when I figured it out on the train this morning (Matt, why didn't you tell me?). Go read the article featured in the Reader this week.

An edible wedding dress? What is this? (Liz is getting married in Nov...I'm not just scouring weddingchannel.com for fun...really...)

I just got back from a funeral (husband of a colleague). Could you imagine burying someone on Valentine's Day? Very sad.

Anyways, the light was beautiful yesterday afternoon, so of course I have pictures. And just so you know, I got *exaclty* what I wanted for Valentine's day: cards from my parents and my grandparents. :)

both from the Central St. L stop

Oh my gosh, please please please stop it with the personality type tests! I CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love you guys, but you're cluttering my internet.

Why do I have this song stuck in my head? I don't even own the CD. Perhaps this is my indication I need to jump on getting a record player.

..and who is the mystery person who ordered CDs for me from my wishlist? That's kinda cool :) Thanks, whoever you are...

Fun in my dark apartment.

I just gave a tour to a group of high school students at the Baha'i House of Worship and had a very interesting experience. Let me set it up for you. It was a large group, so my friend and I split the group in half: I took half of the students (9th graders) upstairs to the auditorium (the holy part) first, then downstairs to the visitor's center afterwards. The students were very impressive for 9th graders, they all went up and sat quietly, and looked at the Greatest Name symbol on the ceiling, and were in general very quiet and reverent. Then we went downstairs and I spoke to them briefly, and let them wander around and explore on their own. Well one kid stopped me--keep in mind, these are 9th graders--and waited until everyone left. He then said to me quietly, "My dad died when I was three. When I was upstairs.....I really felt him there," and then tears started falling down his face. I took him into the Cornerstone Room, and we sat down. I asked him if it was okay if we said a prayer and he said yes. So I read a short prayer, and asked him if he wanted to be alone for a while. He said yes. What a brave soul. There are so many explanations for why this might not be for real, but I prefer to think that he really did have a very personal experience which he will always remember. Very cool.

Are ya kiddin' me? Someone thinks they own hyperlinks. Good grief.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the Lunar year! This particular BBC page features a rather descriptive act of "out with the snake, in with the horse." Yeek.

There is so much socio-economic change going on in the world right now, I can hardly believe it! I also just saw this article reporting that a 6-year old Islamic girl was suspended because she wore a hijab (head scarf) to school in Singapore. I think what we are seeing here is a breakdown of an old world order, don't you? It all seems mighty unfair and depressing sometimes (what with the terrorists and war and racism), but the consultation that humanity is entering into has never happened before. As a Baha'i, this is thrilling.

Aight. Here it is. I plan on letting this design have more flexibility than the last one, so we'll see. Email me with obvious errors I have overlooked, and look forward to monday when I hopefully will have the rest of the site up. Thanks yall!

Whoa! Check out fellow 2001 UGA graphic design alumni Ashley Milligan's new site! She is totally rockin the Rockwell condensed, too. Go, girl.

Saw Royal Tenenbaums last night and wrote a Rolling Stone review on my mac at home. I shall post it sometime this weekend. Har har.

And I'm almost done with the new layout! The question is: should I go ahead and put up the new main page and just add the rest next week? Or wait until I get it all done and put it up then. What do you think? Comment below.

I just spent about 1/2 hour at buzzworthy.mtv.com going "oh wow, they released that?! hey they made a video of that song?!" I don't listen to the radio...well NPR but that doesn't count...so I have no idea who is releasing what when, all I know is what is on the CD. ANYWAYS, to the point, I am excited to see that Incubus made a video for "Wish You Were Here," and from the clip is looks like it's a pretty inventive video. It's an excellent song (and CD), and they are defining "California" music for me at this point.

In other news, I actually have seen that Elton John video for "This train don't stop..", and I thought it was great. Great play on the retro-glam, and a great way for beautiful hollywood to plug the young and gorgeous factor while showcasing a classic artist. Kept my attention, anyways.

If you haven't been to fuckcorporategroceries.net, you are missing out. Jes has compiled a lovely site FULL of info, mostly relevant to those in the chicagoland area, but she has RECIPIES which are 1. not all that hard and 2. are really good recipies 3. are all anti-corporate grocery chain stores. I think we can all deal with a little less beaurocracy in our lives, hm? Go check it out. Now. Right now. Go!

Some mornings I just cannot wake up. No matter how much coffee. I feel like I'm in slow motion. Ugh.

Snow is so PRETTY!!!!!! I love it especially when it's been around for a week, and no longer holds even a glimmer of a semblance to what it once was. It appears that sometimes it even gets gestural! Neat!

This salon.com article called Lost Boys really made me think about fairness (sha). So much so that now I am inspired to write a list of things I think are sexist: the government, schools (any level), history, clubs, sports, television, construction workers--and I could go on and on and on, really. But let's think about this: what IF (just if here) women achieved more than men based on their natural aptitudes and skills and talents, and are just maybe ambitious by nature, and are just maybe not as distracted as men. Are we basing our "gender equality" on our abilities as men and women to be as two wings of one bird? Or are we basing it on nickel and diming our achievements (or lack thereof) to death?

I will believe that gender equality is happening when I see some 50%-50% ratios in this beaurocracy we call our government. Or perhaps that's why men run this country? Women by instinct know it's a lost cause.

Sorry, I get angry sometimes.

Oooo..Dismemberment Plan tshirts. Wish there were girly sizes. Alas.

So, Jasmine calls me from Australia at 4 in the morning today (for some reason, this seems okay because I'm still on night minutes). She sounds all chipper and happy and amused that I'm in the middle of some long-term REM sleeping. But hey, it's all good; I try and force my eyes to not dry out, and stay focused, and just try to get awake enough remember this conversation 4 hours later (which I miraculously did). It was so good to hear her voice..we talked about her coming to stay with me for a few months upon her return to the states, and Liz's wedding, and bridesmaid dresses, and art shows, and food, and life...I really hope she does come to Chicago for a while...then I'll have Jaz, Suzanne, the Baha'is, and all my new webloggy friends to keep me entertained. Life is good.

Go check out the great review of Chase cafe in the Reader, and see a badass picture of Phil (the owner) as a reward. Oh yeah, and if you're in town on the 23rd, my friend Misha will be having an art opening there, complete with a dj spinning and everything. Mark your calendars!

..and guess who's doing her website? :)

Song of the day by band of the day, Death Cab For Cutie: For What Reason. Go download it at epitonic...where I just linked above.

Attn Chicago: buy your tickets now for Death Cab for Cutie and Dismemberment Plan on March 24. I know it's early, but this is not to be missed!

Oh yeah, and that whole $4.50 service charge thing for Ticketmaster makes me furious beyond all belief. They are such thieves!

AMEN. Thank you patricking.com for making my day.

Yeah yeah...so there were *many* more people present yesterday. I took a ton of pictures, and now I'm going to annoy all the dialup people and just go nuts.

One of the 300 million churches in Roger's Park

Dave @ Chase

Phineas and Andrew (see! there you are!...sorta more or less...)

Paul and Jason

Ben, in his element @ Nick's g'bye party

Bye Nick! Have fun in Africa!

There were other boys @ the party, too...

and this wouldn't be a lay-c.com post without a trippy rockstar flash shot.

Nerdiness in Roger's Park! Check out kiplog for photos of our Chicago 'zine meeting, but present in the makeshift appletalk network: greasyskillet, somnolent, and also kiplog and phonezilla as witnesses. Rock.

Okay, weekend time. Tonight is Damn Yankees! at Northwestern, tomorrow is the webloggers and a par-tay in the suburbs, and Sunday? Well I'll just have to find something to do on Sunday. Maybe I'll get a tv and watch the super bowl. Or not.

The Ben Brown Show: Save a buck or two. Hilarious.

addendum: on second though, just go read his whole site. The life of the geek-tech, newly-married (when did that happen anyways?), unemployed man with a sense of humor. He fills his time in amazing ways.

Out of work? Well, you're definetly not alone. According to this article, unemployment is at 5.6% now, and since Sept 11 an average of 311,000 jobs per month were lost. Amazing.