June 23, 2005
You know you want to buy our stuff!
We're having a big sale this Sunday as part of the annual Tremont "Show Your Stuff" neighborhood yard sale. We'll have furniture, books, kitchen items, cds and videos, holiday decorations, and much more! I don't like to post my address on the internet, so I'll just say we're on the corner of Literary and 10th and we're also on the map you can pick up that day at Civilization. Sunday the 26th, 9am-4pm.
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June 20, 2005
From Lincoln Park to Lincoln Park, part 2 of 2
I know, I should have posted the rest Friday. But I didn't. Here it is.
Before I continue with Sunday, I did forget to mention that Saturday night when we were walking back to our hotel we were delayed crossing Michigan Ave by Naked Bike Ride Chicago. After googling (on work's computer too. no one has said anything tho) we found out it's apparently like Critical Mass (protesting against pollution and congestion and consumerism of cars clogging the city) except instead of riding clothed at rush hour they ride naked at night.
Sunday continued
I wasn't terribly interested in the afternoon session Sunday so we made the trek to Wicker park for lunch. Everyone had told me to go there, that I'd like it, and I did. It has a feel kind of like Bedford Ave in Williamsburg NY, or the East Village, but in a Chicago way.
We had lunch at the highly recommended Earwax coffeehouse. I had a "messy burger" (homemade black bean burger w/cheese and slaw) with a salad and a pineapple/strawberry smoothie. Patrick had a fruit oatmeal bake, because he wasn't terribly hungry due to eating at Maxwell Street Market. Verry yummy, and again I got to encounter the indie coffeehouse atmosphere that I loved at Third Place in Raleigh when I worked there and that I haven't found in Cleveland. (I do love Civilization, but it just doesn't have that atmosphere.)
After lunch, we split up so Patrick could go spend tons of time browsing the record store and so I could shop the rest of the stores on the street. Although I did find cool stores (the Fluvog shoe store and Ragstock stand out) no one had things I liked in my size for a price I was willing to pay.
Due to a massive headache and achy legs and feet from walking about 10 miles per day the previous 2 days (thank you pedometer for that information), we then went back to the hotel and passed out for abotu an hour or so.
About 6:30-ish we arose and started making our way to the legendary(?) Indo-Pak neighborhood on Devon Street. Long train and bus rides, but so worth it. I was in heaven surrounded by tons of Indian restaurants of all types. We ended up settling on Indian Garden. Unfortunately the only thing I remember the name of was Sikh Kabob, but we ordered a bunch of things I'd never had before and it was excellent.
Walking to dinner we had passed a bakery that sold nothing but Indian sweets. The owner was very enthusiastic (possibly on a massive sugar rush from eating too much of his product) and offered us tastes of everything. And when I say offered I mean cu off piece after piece and shoved them at us.
Finally it was deermined we would get 2 typs of milk fudge. We orderd 1/4lb total. "1/4lb each?" "Um... sure" And he kept piling it in the box until somehow we ended up with about a pound of candy. As much as we tried we didn't end up finishing it before we left town, but it was very tasty.
Monday
Got up early again (reluctantly - exhaustion from the trip combined with exhaustion from wading through 3200 people at the conference had taken its toll) and made my way to the 9am session on Brand Identity. The session was really good, featuring the head of the Brand Integration Group at Ogilvy Mather and some of his employees and former students from SVA. The key idea that sticks in my mind from it is that traditional design is about "turning information into understanding" but that really great design "turns information into inspiration".
Took a long lunch break and went back to Wicker Park for lunch. The noodle place we were going to (Penny Noodles) was closed on Mondays so we went to Zen Noodles instead. My food was really good (especially the tofu satay with peanut sauce) but, as often happens to me, I ate too much coconut milk. I love southeast Asian food, but unfortunately coconut milk doesn't agree with me at all.
So - back to the hotel to lie down til the next session. Next it was "Learning to Look Up" with Brendan Dawes, an interactive designer from Britain. He was really engaging and a great speaker. I was enthralled even tho much of the talk covered ideas I'd been exposed to in my robotics class at CIA; alternative inputs to the computer that give interactive art and design a warmer, more organic feel.
Immediately after that was Wilde Thinking. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't an hour and 15 minutes of student work shown on the projector. So, despite being in the 2nd row, I "snuck" out about halfway through.
Luckily, Patrick was back early to the hotel room and we plotted what to do for dinner. We found promising reviews for Bite Cafe on several sites, so we figured out the transit route and got on the bus. And rode. And rode. And rode. Until we were way the hell out west and not sure exactly where we were.
Then we walked about 3 blocks and saw this restaurant tucked in amongst the various Ukranian stores. This tiny little dive had a really interesting fusion-y menu - obviously the type of place whose location is dictated by the cost of rent.
The appetizer we got, eggplant "involtini" stuffed with goat cheese and served with tomatoes, was amazing and well worth the long trip. Unfortunately our entrees were only OK. Patrick's burrito had excellent stuffings but didn't really work as a burrito. My special - tofu with harissa sauce, an Israeli couscous salad, and a fennel-orange salad - was promising but in the end not that interesting. The couscous just tasted like tabouli and the sauce tasted bottled. It wasn't bad, just that the appetizer had gotten my hopes really high.
Long bus ride back for an early night so we could enjoy our last day.
Tuesday
I opted to skip the closing keynote because, honestly, I think the conference is just about a day too long. So - we checked our bags at the desk and went out for a leisurely last day around town.
We started out walking to the Contemporary Art museum a few blocks from the hotel. There was a farmer's market set up out front, so we got a scone and fresh strawberries for breakfast. There's something about the taste of farm fresh strawberries that is so much better than the giant, watery ones we get shipped from California.
We headed into the museum only to find out that they were in between exhibitions. We did get to wander around some of the permanent exhibits for free, but it was kind of hard to concentrate on video installations when you could hear workers in the next gallery.
From there, the bus north to Lincoln Park. Chicago has tons of public space on its waterfront, with Grant Park taking up a huge space on the south end of downtown and Lincoln park mirroring it on the north. And most of the attractions are free, which is a huge plus.
We rode past a pond with all these giant swans floating in it and decided to get out so I could get a better look. They turned out to be paddle-boats, and I decided it wasn't worth $12 to be the only people without children in one, but I did get some pictures.
We walked north through the park on a beautiful sunny day, past statues of famous writers, through the formal gardens, the conservatory, and a lily-pad pond. I could write more, but the pictures I'll post later tell the story better.
Now hungry, we took the bus north through the rest of the park and then walked south on Clark Street, which runs parallel to the park, looking for a promising lunch spot. We ended up at the Basil Leaf cafe, where we got a refreshingly light lunch after days of eating out.
Beautifully golden passion fruit iced tea served in a tall glass. Complimentary bruschetta and bread with olive oil. A grilled vegetable sandwich with a side salad. And, as an added plus for me, the drink menus had pictures of Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's on them.
Refreshed and restored, and still with time to kill before our flight, we walked back to the park and south again. This time we walked on the opposite side of the street, through "Grandmother's" English garden, a free flowing garden built to mirror the formal garden we'd been through before.
Back to the hotel and a cab to the airport and home again to get good sleep in my own bed. |
Before I continue with Sunday, I did forget to mention that Saturday night when we were walking back to our hotel we were delayed crossing Michigan Ave by Naked Bike Ride Chicago. After googling (on work's computer too. no one has said anything tho) we found out it's apparently like Critical Mass (protesting against pollution and congestion and consumerism of cars clogging the city) except instead of riding clothed at rush hour they ride naked at night.
Sunday continued
I wasn't terribly interested in the afternoon session Sunday so we made the trek to Wicker park for lunch. Everyone had told me to go there, that I'd like it, and I did. It has a feel kind of like Bedford Ave in Williamsburg NY, or the East Village, but in a Chicago way.
We had lunch at the highly recommended Earwax coffeehouse. I had a "messy burger" (homemade black bean burger w/cheese and slaw) with a salad and a pineapple/strawberry smoothie. Patrick had a fruit oatmeal bake, because he wasn't terribly hungry due to eating at Maxwell Street Market. Verry yummy, and again I got to encounter the indie coffeehouse atmosphere that I loved at Third Place in Raleigh when I worked there and that I haven't found in Cleveland. (I do love Civilization, but it just doesn't have that atmosphere.)
After lunch, we split up so Patrick could go spend tons of time browsing the record store and so I could shop the rest of the stores on the street. Although I did find cool stores (the Fluvog shoe store and Ragstock stand out) no one had things I liked in my size for a price I was willing to pay.
Due to a massive headache and achy legs and feet from walking about 10 miles per day the previous 2 days (thank you pedometer for that information), we then went back to the hotel and passed out for abotu an hour or so.
About 6:30-ish we arose and started making our way to the legendary(?) Indo-Pak neighborhood on Devon Street. Long train and bus rides, but so worth it. I was in heaven surrounded by tons of Indian restaurants of all types. We ended up settling on Indian Garden. Unfortunately the only thing I remember the name of was Sikh Kabob, but we ordered a bunch of things I'd never had before and it was excellent.
Walking to dinner we had passed a bakery that sold nothing but Indian sweets. The owner was very enthusiastic (possibly on a massive sugar rush from eating too much of his product) and offered us tastes of everything. And when I say offered I mean cu off piece after piece and shoved them at us.
Finally it was deermined we would get 2 typs of milk fudge. We orderd 1/4lb total. "1/4lb each?" "Um... sure" And he kept piling it in the box until somehow we ended up with about a pound of candy. As much as we tried we didn't end up finishing it before we left town, but it was very tasty.
Monday
Got up early again (reluctantly - exhaustion from the trip combined with exhaustion from wading through 3200 people at the conference had taken its toll) and made my way to the 9am session on Brand Identity. The session was really good, featuring the head of the Brand Integration Group at Ogilvy Mather and some of his employees and former students from SVA. The key idea that sticks in my mind from it is that traditional design is about "turning information into understanding" but that really great design "turns information into inspiration".
Took a long lunch break and went back to Wicker Park for lunch. The noodle place we were going to (Penny Noodles) was closed on Mondays so we went to Zen Noodles instead. My food was really good (especially the tofu satay with peanut sauce) but, as often happens to me, I ate too much coconut milk. I love southeast Asian food, but unfortunately coconut milk doesn't agree with me at all.
So - back to the hotel to lie down til the next session. Next it was "Learning to Look Up" with Brendan Dawes, an interactive designer from Britain. He was really engaging and a great speaker. I was enthralled even tho much of the talk covered ideas I'd been exposed to in my robotics class at CIA; alternative inputs to the computer that give interactive art and design a warmer, more organic feel.
Immediately after that was Wilde Thinking. I don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't an hour and 15 minutes of student work shown on the projector. So, despite being in the 2nd row, I "snuck" out about halfway through.
Luckily, Patrick was back early to the hotel room and we plotted what to do for dinner. We found promising reviews for Bite Cafe on several sites, so we figured out the transit route and got on the bus. And rode. And rode. And rode. Until we were way the hell out west and not sure exactly where we were.
Then we walked about 3 blocks and saw this restaurant tucked in amongst the various Ukranian stores. This tiny little dive had a really interesting fusion-y menu - obviously the type of place whose location is dictated by the cost of rent.
The appetizer we got, eggplant "involtini" stuffed with goat cheese and served with tomatoes, was amazing and well worth the long trip. Unfortunately our entrees were only OK. Patrick's burrito had excellent stuffings but didn't really work as a burrito. My special - tofu with harissa sauce, an Israeli couscous salad, and a fennel-orange salad - was promising but in the end not that interesting. The couscous just tasted like tabouli and the sauce tasted bottled. It wasn't bad, just that the appetizer had gotten my hopes really high.
Long bus ride back for an early night so we could enjoy our last day.
Tuesday
I opted to skip the closing keynote because, honestly, I think the conference is just about a day too long. So - we checked our bags at the desk and went out for a leisurely last day around town.
We started out walking to the Contemporary Art museum a few blocks from the hotel. There was a farmer's market set up out front, so we got a scone and fresh strawberries for breakfast. There's something about the taste of farm fresh strawberries that is so much better than the giant, watery ones we get shipped from California.
We headed into the museum only to find out that they were in between exhibitions. We did get to wander around some of the permanent exhibits for free, but it was kind of hard to concentrate on video installations when you could hear workers in the next gallery.
From there, the bus north to Lincoln Park. Chicago has tons of public space on its waterfront, with Grant Park taking up a huge space on the south end of downtown and Lincoln park mirroring it on the north. And most of the attractions are free, which is a huge plus.
We rode past a pond with all these giant swans floating in it and decided to get out so I could get a better look. They turned out to be paddle-boats, and I decided it wasn't worth $12 to be the only people without children in one, but I did get some pictures.
We walked north through the park on a beautiful sunny day, past statues of famous writers, through the formal gardens, the conservatory, and a lily-pad pond. I could write more, but the pictures I'll post later tell the story better.
Now hungry, we took the bus north through the rest of the park and then walked south on Clark Street, which runs parallel to the park, looking for a promising lunch spot. We ended up at the Basil Leaf cafe, where we got a refreshingly light lunch after days of eating out.
Beautifully golden passion fruit iced tea served in a tall glass. Complimentary bruschetta and bread with olive oil. A grilled vegetable sandwich with a side salad. And, as an added plus for me, the drink menus had pictures of Audrey Hepburn from Breakfast at Tiffany's on them.
Refreshed and restored, and still with time to kill before our flight, we walked back to the park and south again. This time we walked on the opposite side of the street, through "Grandmother's" English garden, a free flowing garden built to mirror the formal garden we'd been through before.
Back to the hotel and a cab to the airport and home again to get good sleep in my own bed. |
June 16, 2005
From Lincoln Park to Lincoln Park, part 1 of 2
Patrick and I went to Chicago last Friday through Tuesday for the How Conference. Well, I went for the conference, he went because it's no fun to travel alone and he got a free hotel room out of it.
Friday
Friday, we arrived at about 8:30 and decided to head out to a reccomended restaurant after checking in. We were already tired, but on the transit map it looked like this place was only a couple of blocks from the subway stop. Um... try about 10 blocks.
We arrived very hungry and tired at Enotica Room and proceded to order a flight of wine each (3 small taster glasses, usually themed), 2 bruschetta plates, and a salad. The salad and one plate would have been plenty of food...
The wine was very good, and I would give more of a review, but I was so tired, plus my stomach didn't like me eating at 10:30pm my time, so Patrick had to finish it. The salad was tasty, despite the fact that I accidentally ordered one with gorgonzola cheese.
What was really memorable was the bruschetta. Although some were only ok (mainly because tomatoes aren't in season yet) the unconventional ones were the standouts. Specifically - there was one with mascarpone, strawberries, and a balsamic glaze. So so good. We even reproduced it for dinner last night.
Needless to say, after walking that far, and with work paying for transportation, we took a cab back to the hotel.
Saturday
Saturday began with a fruitless search of the north Michigan Ave area for a good, non-chain breakfast/coffee place, ending up at a Panera clone called Corner Bakery. After that, we had enough time to wander around the loop area looking at the public art (saw the Picasso sculpture and the Chagall mural) before it was time for my networking lunch.
Since I hadn't had breakfast until about 10am, the networking lunch seemed awfully early. Last year, I had been afraid it would be like college orientation and it was actually really fun. Apparently, tho, that was because Pash was a great group leader. Not that the woman leading it was bad, but on their own, the activities just weren't that great.
Plus, in homage to it being the 15th anniversary conference, the soundtrack was the top 40 hits from 1990. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it have been better for a room full of creatives to play the top 40 'college' hits, since so many of us don't listen to mainstream pop?
After that I was off to a 3 hour workshop on hand lettering, which was really fun! We started with the differences between writing, lettering, and typography and ended up creating our own lettering samples. Plus, I ended up sitting with good people to talk to (hi Sasha, Brittany and Ron), ironically "networking" more than at the lunch...
I only had an hour and a half between that and the keynote speaker, so Patrick and I sat in Millenium park (beautiful, if a bit overrun with tourists) and caught up on our days. After the keynote address we walked down to Frontera Grill, where we supposedly didn't need reservations (go to the link for yourself - you'll see) only to find out that at 9pm there was a 2 hour wait for a table.
So we started walking and ended up at Gino's East, a legendary deep dish place I believe I have seen on Food Network, and a place that was already on our list. I am not a fan of deep dish pizza, but still I have to say it was really yummy. Especially the tomato sauce, which I wish there had been more of.
Sunday
Got up early for a session by Pash (mentioned above) on his new book Inspirability (unfortunately this was sold out at the bookstore when I went, but I plan to pick it up). The book is a series of interviews with 40 top designers on what inspired them, and the session had various video segments compiled plus of course the author commentary. I'm not translating it well here, but it wasw really good.
After that, I went to see Stefan Sagmeister talk about print production. Yes, I know I'm a web designer (tho I don't like compartmentalizing, but that's another story). But I wanted to hear him speak. He was a really good speaker, and I did actually learn useful things (in addition to learning that interns at his firm get some shitty projects). It was also really funny to watch people come up like he was a rock star to get their picture taken with him. Another bonus is that this is where I met one of the other few people in the sea of 3200+ that I talked to (hi Carrie).
I'm tired of typing... more later... |
Friday
Friday, we arrived at about 8:30 and decided to head out to a reccomended restaurant after checking in. We were already tired, but on the transit map it looked like this place was only a couple of blocks from the subway stop. Um... try about 10 blocks.
We arrived very hungry and tired at Enotica Room and proceded to order a flight of wine each (3 small taster glasses, usually themed), 2 bruschetta plates, and a salad. The salad and one plate would have been plenty of food...
The wine was very good, and I would give more of a review, but I was so tired, plus my stomach didn't like me eating at 10:30pm my time, so Patrick had to finish it. The salad was tasty, despite the fact that I accidentally ordered one with gorgonzola cheese.
What was really memorable was the bruschetta. Although some were only ok (mainly because tomatoes aren't in season yet) the unconventional ones were the standouts. Specifically - there was one with mascarpone, strawberries, and a balsamic glaze. So so good. We even reproduced it for dinner last night.
Needless to say, after walking that far, and with work paying for transportation, we took a cab back to the hotel.
Saturday
Saturday began with a fruitless search of the north Michigan Ave area for a good, non-chain breakfast/coffee place, ending up at a Panera clone called Corner Bakery. After that, we had enough time to wander around the loop area looking at the public art (saw the Picasso sculpture and the Chagall mural) before it was time for my networking lunch.
Since I hadn't had breakfast until about 10am, the networking lunch seemed awfully early. Last year, I had been afraid it would be like college orientation and it was actually really fun. Apparently, tho, that was because Pash was a great group leader. Not that the woman leading it was bad, but on their own, the activities just weren't that great.
Plus, in homage to it being the 15th anniversary conference, the soundtrack was the top 40 hits from 1990. Correct me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't it have been better for a room full of creatives to play the top 40 'college' hits, since so many of us don't listen to mainstream pop?
After that I was off to a 3 hour workshop on hand lettering, which was really fun! We started with the differences between writing, lettering, and typography and ended up creating our own lettering samples. Plus, I ended up sitting with good people to talk to (hi Sasha, Brittany and Ron), ironically "networking" more than at the lunch...
I only had an hour and a half between that and the keynote speaker, so Patrick and I sat in Millenium park (beautiful, if a bit overrun with tourists) and caught up on our days. After the keynote address we walked down to Frontera Grill, where we supposedly didn't need reservations (go to the link for yourself - you'll see) only to find out that at 9pm there was a 2 hour wait for a table.
So we started walking and ended up at Gino's East, a legendary deep dish place I believe I have seen on Food Network, and a place that was already on our list. I am not a fan of deep dish pizza, but still I have to say it was really yummy. Especially the tomato sauce, which I wish there had been more of.
Sunday
Got up early for a session by Pash (mentioned above) on his new book Inspirability (unfortunately this was sold out at the bookstore when I went, but I plan to pick it up). The book is a series of interviews with 40 top designers on what inspired them, and the session had various video segments compiled plus of course the author commentary. I'm not translating it well here, but it wasw really good.
After that, I went to see Stefan Sagmeister talk about print production. Yes, I know I'm a web designer (tho I don't like compartmentalizing, but that's another story). But I wanted to hear him speak. He was a really good speaker, and I did actually learn useful things (in addition to learning that interns at his firm get some shitty projects). It was also really funny to watch people come up like he was a rock star to get their picture taken with him. Another bonus is that this is where I met one of the other few people in the sea of 3200+ that I talked to (hi Carrie).
I'm tired of typing... more later... |
June 15, 2005
Hair
I will post about Chicago and the How Conference and put up photos soon. First things first tho. Byron and I are sporting new looks for the summer. If you come in via the homepage you will have already seen my updated photo. Click on the thumbnails below to see all the photos for each.
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| June 10, 2005
Away
Not that I update every day or anything, but I will be out of town until Wednesday. Altho I will have internet access, I probably won't be updating before then.
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June 7, 2005
First Summer Weekend
Summer always sneaks up on me in Cleveland. Instead of the gradual warming I grew up with, here we get a few warm days followed by winter temperatures in sequence from early April through May. The all of a sudden I wake up with the covers kicked off and hot despite the ceiling fan and realize it's summer.
Sunday was predicted to be in the 90s, and my bike is in the shop anyway, so we decided instead of our normal Sunday outing we'd opt for going to one of the local lakes (not the lake, something about the mercury content and the knowledge that when things like the blackout happen sewage empties into it steer me away from swimming in Lake Erie).
Patrick had the idea that we should rent a boat. Neither of us knows anything about boating or has ever driven a boat, so instead of one with a motor we opted for renting a canoe at Findley State Park.
It was a bit comical at the beginning - me afraid the boat would tip over any second and neither of us sure how to steer with the paddles so we kept riding into the bank and having to push off again. Eventually we figured out the basic physics of it - that I was primarily the rudder in the back and my paddle steered more than propelled, going right when on the left and vice versa, and Patrick was the propultion inthe front of the canoe. After we got the hang of it it was really fun, although we agreed that it would be more interesting in a creek or river instead of a lake, since we'd get to see more than just open water.
After canoeing in the hot sun for about an hour we turned in the boat and went to cool off in the swimming area of the lake. I still have to say that despite swimming as a child in the creek near my house natural bodies of water creep me out with the bugs and the nasty feeling sand under my toes. But it was a refreshing break and a great way to spend a summer day, completed by stopping at our local ice cream stand on the way home. |
Sunday was predicted to be in the 90s, and my bike is in the shop anyway, so we decided instead of our normal Sunday outing we'd opt for going to one of the local lakes (not the lake, something about the mercury content and the knowledge that when things like the blackout happen sewage empties into it steer me away from swimming in Lake Erie).
Patrick had the idea that we should rent a boat. Neither of us knows anything about boating or has ever driven a boat, so instead of one with a motor we opted for renting a canoe at Findley State Park.
It was a bit comical at the beginning - me afraid the boat would tip over any second and neither of us sure how to steer with the paddles so we kept riding into the bank and having to push off again. Eventually we figured out the basic physics of it - that I was primarily the rudder in the back and my paddle steered more than propelled, going right when on the left and vice versa, and Patrick was the propultion inthe front of the canoe. After we got the hang of it it was really fun, although we agreed that it would be more interesting in a creek or river instead of a lake, since we'd get to see more than just open water.
After canoeing in the hot sun for about an hour we turned in the boat and went to cool off in the swimming area of the lake. I still have to say that despite swimming as a child in the creek near my house natural bodies of water creep me out with the bugs and the nasty feeling sand under my toes. But it was a refreshing break and a great way to spend a summer day, completed by stopping at our local ice cream stand on the way home. |
Swarm
Last week, on one of our first hot nights here, I decided to open the window in the bedroom for some ventilation. We have a screen in it, but it is a temporary screen that doesn't fit the window completely (there's about a 1 by 4 inch gap between the top of the screen and the window frame). As I approached the window I heard this sound like the wind had picked up and was rustling through the leaves, and completely forgot that it was the height of mayfly season until I had the window open. Like some biblical plague, I was overtaken by a huge swarm of insects flying toward the light of our house. Within the 30 seconds before I closed the window there were literally hundreds in the room. Luckily Patrick (with the help of Audrey) stepped in to clear the room so we could sleep.
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June 3, 2005
Travel
I'm going to the How Conference in Chicago next week. Are any of you out there going too? Anyone got any advice for places not to miss in Chicago?
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