9 Links

I'm going to start compiling interesting links I find online everyday, or maybe less often. Mostly, this is so I don't clog up Chris' inbox with interesting articles and pictures of Rottweiler puppies all day. And I went with "9" because it's my favorite number.

Anyway, here's my first go at this:

1. This is Twitter. Yes, Twitter is ridiculous. But everyone from celebrities, to congressmen, to yours truly is addicted.

2. Chicago rules. Speaking of Twitter, Chicago ranks third worldwide as the most tweeted-from city. And it's second in the U.S.

3. Unfortunate Topiary. Not sure how real this is, but it's pretty darn funny.

4. The Daily Plate. This is my new obsession. Up until last week, I tracked everything I ate each day on Bally's nutrition site. But that site suddenly disappeared this week, and a bunch of other weird stuff seems to be going on with Bally's. (They've filed for bankruptcy twice in the past two years, so I dunno.) Anyway, The Daily Plate is my new place to keep a food journal. After using it for two days, I can say that it totally kicks Bally's ass. EVERYTHING is in there. Every Trader Joe's product. Every type of cheese imaginable. Even Oberweis. The only drawback is it doesn't track vitamin intake, like calcium and vitamin C, which I like to track. But whatev. It's free.

5. The Obligatory Cute Dog Picture. I want one.

6. Car Bomb Cupcakes. I've been meaning to surprise Chris with these for weeks, but I haven't had the time, or a few necessary ingredients and tools, to make them. And then I consumed the largest cupcake ever on Tuesday, so the thought of cupcakes now is sort of revolting. Anyway, one of these days, Chris, I'll make you these.

7. Soccer Blog. I once again cheated on this blog with my work blog. It's a little two-game recap of the losingiest soccer team in history.

8. Vintage Cereal. Not sure what I love more: the vintage cereal boxes, or the name of this site. Hilarious.

9. The Godfather Wars. Interesting Vanity Fair article about the making of the Godfather. Apparently, the mob tried to shut it down, Corleone-style.

Snuggie Update!

The Snuggie Pub Crawl has been moved to April 18! So, I might be able to go after all. Now I just need to get a Snuggie.

Speaking of, my parents now own a set. They're the burgundy variety, which my mom says she plans to hold on to in case Hale-Bopp ever circles the Earth again.

Jack and Uncle Chris build a fort

We're watching Jack for the weekend. It's been non-stop SpongeBob-watching, fruit snack-eating, and fort-building for two days.

There have been two forts, actually. One made of snow, and one made of cushions, a sheet, and law school books.

Rosie eventually destroyed both.

She can't help it. She just wants to hang with the cool kids, but she's too big. Here's the indoor fort, pre-Rosie destruction:

Snuggie Pub Crawl

This is hilarious.

This quote is my favorite:

"We thought, imagine the vision of 1,000 people walking down Clark Street wearing Snuggies—this is what we wanted to make happen," said Kuthy, a 23-year-old Lincoln Park resident and co-organizer of the Snuggie Pub Crawl planned for downtown Chicago on March 21.

I'll be in Arizona then, so I'll miss this Snuggie sighting. Hopefully lots of local photogs are out documenting the event.

Lunch today

Sometimes, it's sunny and in the 60s in February, you take a nice midday walk, and you get to have lunch with a very cute businessman.

The Randolph bridge is up, which I don't see very often. This pic's a bit too sunny, though.

That's better.

Chris, the river, and the Mart.

The battle for the bottom

I'm happy to say our soccer team at work finally won a game, narrowly defeating the only other team in our league that hasn't won a game.

Read about our sweet triumph here.

My 'hood

We sort of live between two neighborhoods. According to the Sun-Times, here's three things they love about:

North Center:

1. Getting a Slinger (hash browns, eggs, two beef patties, onions and anything else you can think of, all topped with chili) at the Diner Grill.

2. The loooooong bar at the Long Room on Irving Park.

3. Anything at Smokin' Woody's with their signature BBQ sauce on it.


Lincoln Square:

1. Keeping your own score when you bowl at Lincoln Square Lanes.

2. Wondering if the location at 42n Latitude really is the absolute 42 degrees north latitude on the map.

3. The $5.50 matinees at the Davis Theater, which has Oscar-worthy movies without all the fuss.

I can only speak to one of these: The Slinger at Diner Grill. In fact, I ate one while wearing this.

I think my reward for each week I go soda free should be a trip to one of these other places. Yay for getting out of the fun house and exploring my sort-of-new neighborhood!

Pop off, part 2

I'm once again attempting to give up pop. Last time, I only made it two weeks without soda. This time around, I don't think I'm going to give it up cold turkey, but rather, just give it up on weekdays. At least for now.

To cope, I drink seltzer water with fruit juice, because my addiction to pop has more to do with the bubbles than anything else. So far, I haven't had any dreams about accidentally drinking pop, so maybe I've worked out whatever pop-identity issues I had.

I'm also cutting back on caffeine. So far this week, I've only had one cup of coffee each morning. Eventually, I'd like to totally kick the habit. I'm going to do this one-cup-a-day thing for about two weeks, then try to switch to decaf and see if I feel a difference.

This cutting back mostly has to do with the fact that I don't like being addicted to things. And because I like testing my willpower for no reason. (See Lent 2008.)

Or maybe this is just my way of justifying the fact that I haven't been to the gym in months. See, giving up pop means I'm being healthy, so I don't need to work out, right? Too bad my jeans are still too tight.

Slow zone

So the SuperBowl is over. Baseball doesn't start for another two months. And I could care less about the NBA. Welcome to my least-favorite time of the year.

I suppose the NCAA tourney does provide a bright spot, although that's still a month away. At least I have soccer to play every Wednesday.