June 2004 Archives

I'm going to have to think twice about giving product/company recommendations on this blog. I say this because I exchanged emails all day long with the CEO of a company that shall remain nameless who was trying to get me to remove one of my entries. According to him, one of his competitors was leaving negative feedback on my site and this was impacting his business as when you search for his company, my website pops up close to the top. While I didn’t have to comply which his wish, I decided to leave the post up but turn off the comments. Hopefully, they can all go away. I really don't need this type of aggravation right now.

Former President Clinton will be at Barbara's Bookstore near University of Illinois at Chicago on July 1, 2004 signing copies of his recently published autobiography: My Life. Is anyone out there going? Asking as I'd like to get a signed copy. I am willing to pay a fee so, please email me if you seriously plan to be there. Thanks!

I'm bored with blogging. Well maybe bored is the wrong word. It's just that my life and that of a few of my closest friends is changing, but I'm not comfortable writing about most things quite yet. So days go by and while I'll write something, I won't publish because there are more important things happening. Then I'll feel guilty and so I publish the original post all the while feeling like I'm cheating myself and you my loyal readers out there. Arrh, what a vicious circle!! I do take comfort in the fact that most of the changes are positive and all will be revealed in due time.

A few words of advice, if you’re going to experiment with a recipe, don’t do it when you have an audience that you're trying to impress. I was cooking because Racquetball Guy was in town for about 8 hours and I thought it might be good to surprise him with a home cooked meal. On the menu were sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese from scratch, baked pork chops and corn bread. I managed to get an A grade on everything but the sweet potatoes. In my effort to stay somewhat low carb/low sugar (I know, a joke right!!), I tried out this recipe for the sweet potatoes from The Complete Caribbean Cookbook. What a disaster. I followed the simple directions perfectly, but there was nothing wonderful or tropical about the dish. I should have thrown it out before Racquetball Guy got to my place, but I placed it on the table with the other dishes. He tried to like it since he knew I had put my heart into it, but in the end, we both agreed that it was awful. So next time he's in town (hopefully next weekend), I'm going to have to go back to my original recipe so I can redeem myself.

I spent much of this afternoon at the Taste of Chicago. Lately, I haven't really been a fan of going to events which such a large crowd, but I thought why the heck not. In addition to being a great place to sample some of Chicago's ethnic restaurants, event is also the perfect spot for people watching. Plus it's also usually a great place to hear live music for free. While there, my friend and I saw a great performance by Vance Kelly and the Back Street Blues Band. After they ended around 6:45pm, we went to check out the other stages and was surprised to learn that there was only a country and western band on the "don't mess with Texas" stage and they were in the process of wrapping up their performance. After trying to rack our brain on where else to hear live music without paying a huge cover, I suggested we head to the Grape Street Piano Bar. I've been there a few times before, and always have a good time as the piano player Arturo gives a great performance. He takes probably one too many breaks, but hey -- they have no cover. So in you’re ever in the Streeterville neighborhood, highly recommend that you check them out.

In case any one out there was wondering, we didn't make it to the Prince concert. Racquetball Guy couldn't get back in time, so he gave the tickets back to the broker to be sold to the highest bidder. So instead of going to the concert, I ended up having a few drinks with some coworkers at Coogan's. Then we tried to find a decent restaurant close by, but almost everything was closed. So we ended up at Billy Goat II where I had one of the worst cheeseburgers I've ever eaten. Ok, maybe it wasn't so bad. It's just that if I'm going to blow my low carb diet with a burger and actually eat the bread, I would like at least some lettuce and tomatoes please.

I met current NBA star, Juwan Howard earlier tonight. It was at an appreciation reception for the supporters of the Chicago Public Schools-Juwan Howard Foundation Literacy Challenge & Celebrity Basketball Camp. The Michigan Alumni Club of Greater Chicago is one of the sponsors, so that's how I got the invite. And let me say that as a fellow Michigan graduate like Juwan, I felt proud. So many professional athletes, talk about giving back to their community but very few go as far as Juwan has. What I like too is that while the reward for the kids is getting to go to the basketball camp, to qualify, they have to read a certain number of books -- which I'm sure, will go a lot way towards making them better students. So way to go Juwan!!

On Monday night I went to the movies to see The Stepford Wives starting: Nicole Kidman, Bette Midler, Glenn Close, Matthew Broderick and Christopher Walken. The movie was a waste of their acting talents, but I was intrigued by the whole concept of living in a picturesque town where everyone had a perfect marriage with beautifully behaved kids. While it might be fun initially, thinking life would be pretty boring after awhile without any kind of conflict or drama that you would find in a typical family. Plus, who wants a spouse that you treat as a slave? I know I don't and I sure don't want a man who wants me to be his slave. I want a marriage where I'm an equal partner in the relationship; not one where the person who makes the most money gets to make all the decisions for the family.

Speaking of marriages, another of my friends got engaged recently. We took her to dinner at Bistro Campagne earlier tonight to celebrate. I'm totally excited for her because she met the perfect guy for her. She just glows when she talks about him. You know, sorta like what I do when I talk about a certain person known here as Racquetball Guy. But hey, I can't think of the future. Right now I'd just like to be in the same State as him for more than 24 hours.

I'm listening to Illinois Republican Senatorial candidate Jack Ryan hang himself on WBEZ Chicago Public Radio. Asked several times in various ways, Ryan won't flatly deny the allegations that he took his wife to sex clubs at least three times and forced her to have sex in front of other people. Granted this has nothing to do with whether or not he would be a good Senator, but I think his candidacy is dead in the water. I was already of the opinion that Barack Obama was going to win but now he’s going to win by an even bigger margin. I just don’t think the voters of Illinois are going to give Mr. Ryan a pass. If he is of the opinion that the allegations are trivial, why try to keep the divorce records sealed? I just don’t buy the argument that he was trying to protect his son. Divorce proceedings can get quite ugly, but I think there is some truth to the allegations. If they weren’t true, he’d deny them so he could try and save his chances of actually winning the open Senate seat.

Last weekend I saw Racquetball Guy for approximately 24 hours. This weekend -- it was for 4 hours. He was in St. Louis to attend a funeral and he decided to come to Chicago to see me. So I'm really happy he made the effort. Now he's back in St. Thomas. Poor guy. I get tired just thinking about all the travel he's done these past few weeks. Having said that, there is a possibility that I'll see him again later this week, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Particularly since we have front row Prince tickets!!! Ok, calming down.

Has anyone out there read any of books in The Left Behind series? According to a recent Newsweek article, over 62 million of the books have been sold -- but I'd never heard of them until now. Interestingly enough I picked up the first 8 books for a bargain price at a resale shop and was wondering if I should try and read them or just sell on EBay.

After dinner with a friend at Fiesta Mexicana, I finally saw Shrek 2 at the famed Biograph Theatre. I don't think it was as good as the original Shrek movie, but there were many moments were I laughed out loud at all the pop cultural references. I particularly liked the Puss-in-Boots character that is voiced by Antonio Banderas. His over the top portrayal made me laugh the hardest. Now it appears with the success of Shrek 1 and Shrek 2, there will be a Shrek 3 and Shrek 4. I don't know if that is a good or a bad thing but I'll reframe judgment until I see them in the theatres in 2006 and 2008 respectively. Here's hoping it won't be like the Godfather series which should have stopped after the 2nd movie.

I finished reading The Devil Wears Prada. Can't say I'd recommend the book to anyone. It's definitely a throw away type novel that got over hyped. Of course, that hasn't stopped me from starting a similiar type novel. This new book is titled: I don't Know How She Does It. It's about a married mom of two who also has a stressful job. I'm sure it won't move to the top of my all time favorite books, but hey -- at least I'm reading again. I’m way behind on my goal of reading at least 2 books a month.

Last night I slammed Atkins Endulge Chocolate Ice Cream. Tonight, I'm going to sing the praises of Klondike CarbSmart Fudge Bars. They are so so much better than Atkins ice cream. In fact, these low carb ice cream bars from Klondike taste just like the regular stuff. So now trying to exercise self discipline as the one I had tonight was so yummy, that I'm not sure I can hold myself back from eating the other 5 in the box.

Btw, I just came across a weblog devoted to reviewing low carb products, recipes, etc. It's called Low Carb Insider. Thinking I'll be frequenting this site quite a bit in the coming weeks/months. I'd like to loose another 20lbs and so that means getting reenergized about being on a low carb diet.

I almost never use my weblog to bash products, but if you were thinking of purchasing the Atkins Endulge Chocolate Ice Cream -- forget about it! The item is totally overpriced and the taste well -- let's just say it doesn't really have any.

I'm in the middle of reading The Devil Wears Prada a fictional novel chroniciling the work life of an assistant to the Editor-in-Chief of a major fashion magazine and all I have to say is, thank GOD I’ve never had a boss who is so demanding and borderline psychotic. And if I didn't currently have a couple friends going through similar experiences, I would think that the sort of things written about in the book, were too over the top to be true -- but now I know differently. I have three friends who like their jobs but are miserable at work due to their boss' unprofessional behavior. That does not make for a good work environment. So for everyone out there in management, I recommend reading: The One Minute Manager. Worker bees like me would greatly appreciate it.

On the phone earlier tonight, Racquetball Guy wondered why I hadn't posted any pictures of him from the wedding. As such, without further delay, here is a picture of him as well as one of us together. If I may say so myself, thinking we make quite the cute couple.

Meeting me at the airport at 5:26am on Saturday morning was none other than Racquetball Guy. It was so good to see him. It had been over a week since he'd left for St. Thomas, but it felt like a month. I tell you, absence does indeed make the heart grow fonder. It also made me more appreciative as I knew he had practically moved mountains to be there to pick me up. Any doubts I had about his commitment to our relationship immediately vanished. Any doubts that I had about his willingness to keep promises made – even in the face of adversity totally vanished. After all, he had promised to go to my friend's wedding with me over a month ago and when the extended business trip to St Thomas came up, I thought he might not make it. He had a legitimate reason to back out.

But there he was in all his glory. I couldn’t be more pleased. We had breakfast at IHOP before heading back to my house to hang out. Later, we ran a few errands and then headed to his house to get dressed for my friend's wedding. Let me say that we looked quite lovely -- me in my peri blue halter top satin dress and he in a navy blue suit to compliment. And compliments we got at the wedding – mostly from friends but also from people we didn’t know. One person even told us that we looked like a movie star couple. That just made me blush from cheek to cheek.

The wedding itself was quite lovely. Both the ceremony and reception were at The Women’s Club of Evanston. The bride was stunning and the groom seemed really happy. Plus everything was just beautiful and also quite upscale without being pretentious. It’s the sort of wedding that most people aspire to, but probably never achieve. It was the sort of wedding that made you day dream about what you’d like for your own. Arrh, but that’s conversation for another day.

So here it is now Sunday, and Racquetball Guy has gone back to St. Thomas. He may be there for another month and I miss him already. But I know it’s not goodbye forever, so I take comfort that I’ll see him soon and talk to him even sooner. In the mean time, I’ve got to catch up on some sleep, friends and a few projects that need to be finished. It been an action packed last few days.

I woke up feeling refreshed and so getting through the morning meeting wasn't so bad. One of the things we learnt at meeting is that all employees would be getting an additional week of vacation. Yippee! I now have three weeks of vacation.

Around 12noon the meeting ended and so we were on our own. A group of us decided to go shopping at the Las Vegas Premium Outlets mall. After that, we headed back to the main strip, and I headed over to Harrah's Casino to see if I could cash a $100 coupon they had sent me. Sure enough, they did even though I wasn't staying in their casino. With the $100, I decided to try my luck at the slot machines -- but after loosing and winning $5 in the nickel slots, I decided I'd just rather walk away. I’m not really a big gambler and I’d just rather do something else with the money.

So I walked up and down the strip checking out the various tacky stores, before heading back to Harrah’s to see Clint Holmes. I'd never heard of the guy before, but in that tickets were also complimentary -- thanks to my Best Guy Friend playing on my Harrah's card many many months ago, I decided why not. Not to be disappointed, he gave a great show. Clint has an amazing voice and I could see why he was voted the best singer in Las Vegas.

In that my time in Vegas was coming to an end, I headed back to the Venetian Hotel and did a bit of window shopping at the Grand Canal Shoppes. Then around 10pm I left for the airport as I was on the midnight flight back to Chicago with warm memories and the thought that the next time I came back, I wanted Racquetball Guy to be with me. Even if you’re a non gambler like myself, it’s a great place for adults to have fun and as much as it’s nice to hang out with coworkers or even friends, it’s the sort of place that would be a lot more fun with your significant other.

Thursday started out with me almost missing my shuttle to the airport. I went to bed about 1am and needed to be up by at least 4am as the shuttle was picking me up at 4:30am. Silly me didn't use an alarm clock. But around 4:25am I jumped up and yelled a couple expletive words. Luckily the shuttle was a little late and I managed to pull everything together in 10 minutes. Once at the airport, things went smoothly. The United, really Ted flight was on time and we arrived in Las Vegas to hot, hot weather!

In that I was tired and knew that my day/night would be long, I decided to take a nap. But no go, maybe it was because the room at the Venetian hotel was so beautiful, or better yet the excitement of being in Las Vegas, but couldn't sleep. So met up with a fellow Michigan alum, who promised to show me the town.

We started off with lunch at Rincon Criollo Cuban Restaurant. It was the sort of place that wouldn't be written up in any of the Vegas guides, as it was in the old part of Vegas and more the sort of place that locals would frequent. In any event, the food was really delicious and can't wait to have Cuban food again.

After lunch, I convinced my friend to check out the Liberace Museum. I'd been there once many years ago with Best Guy Friend, but wanted to check it out again. Just as I had remembered, everything was over the top. The cars, the pianos, the jewelry and most definitely the clothing. The average costume in the collection laden with rhinestones, feathers and/or fur was about 65lbs with one coming close to 300lbs. Can you imagine wearing clothing that heavy? Yikes! And to think he did that every night he was on the stage.

After Liberace Museum, we went over to the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino to check out Shark Reef. While there, we were able to see some of the 1200 different species of aquatic life including various exotic fish, sea turtles and sharks. They even had a hammerhead shark which is supposedly pretty rare in aquarium type museums. Oh yeah, they even had a pond where we could touch baby sharks and sting rays. I'm not sure when the facility was built but thinking it's a throw back to when Vegas was trying to attract more families.

Once we finished up at Mandalay Bay, we headed over to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino to check out the Conservatory & Botanical Gardens. We had also planned to stop in at the Monet exhibit, but in that time was running out, we sat around and just enjoyed the beautiful scenery.

After my friend dropped me off, I decided to try and take a nap again. But no go. I made the mistake of turning on the TV and got sucked into watching the coverage of President Reagan's body being transported to the Capitol Building.
Realizing that I was going on limited sleep and the work day was just beginning, I took another shower before heading down to company meeting which lasted until about 10pm. At one point in meeting, I thought I would keel over as I was so tired. And in that all of my teammates wanted to go out after, I decided to go overboard with the dessert tray. That seemed to perk me up and so I was more agreeable with going out.

Originally, we were suppose to head to the Palms Casino Hotel but in that we couldn't get our act together, around 11pm, we ended up at the Venus Nightclub inside the Venetian Hotel. While there I drank way too much while watching my coworkers make fools of themselves on the dance floor. Ok, maybe I was making a fool of myself too. Around 1:30am, we decided to move on to Denny's (yes Denny's) as someone in the group was hungry. While there we were trying to figure out what to do next, but something told me to graciously make my exit and go to bed which is what I did around 2am. The next morning I would learn that they ended up at a strip club and things got so raunchy that the story of what exactly happened should be left in Vegas.

I'm off to Las Vegas for a few days! It's a company sponsored trip but I'm hoping to have a bit of fun while I'm there.

Earlier today I was going to write an entry ranting that President Reagan's memorial and state funeral was probably costing the taxpayers too much money, but after seeing the face of Nancy Reagan this afternoon, I've softened a bit on the issue. She, Nancy seemed so old and frail and it just made me want to cry. Not for Ronald Reagan or even Nancy, but because once again memories of my mother's death came flooding back to me. I remember that while I felt extremely sad about my Mom’s passing, I was also relieved that her suffering had come to an end. This made me feel a bit more compassionate for Mrs. Reagan. I’m sure these last 10 years were not easy for her. They never are for anyone who takes care of a loved one who is terminally ill. So here’s hoping that she has a few good years ahead of her to enjoy whatever it is she likes doing.

Anyone who has experienced the loss of a loved one, understands how comforting it is to get cards or hear words of condolences from extended family members, friends, coworkers, etc. And when that person is a public figure like former President Reagan, you understand why even former enemies come forward and sing the persons praise. But come on, the media lovefest must end. Sure we should honor President Reagan, but we must also be true to his memory. That means remembering the good as well as the bad. Since most of the media is tripping over themselves to highlight all the good, thought I would point folks to a Washington Post article that reflects on the coverage so far. Below is an excerpt that particularly caught my eye.

Nation writer David Corn, meanwhile, recycles a piece titled "66 Things to Think About When Flying Into Reagan National Airport":

"The firing of the air traffic controllers, winnable nuclear war, recallable nuclear missiles, trees that cause pollution, Elliott Abrams lying to Congress, ketchup as a vegetable, colluding with Guatemalan thugs, pardons for F.B.I. lawbreakers, voodoo economics, budget deficits, toasts to Ferdinand Marcos, public housing cutbacks, redbaiting the nuclear freeze movement, James Watt.

"Getting cozy with Argentine fascist generals, tax credits for segregated schools, disinformation campaigns, 'homeless by choice,' Manuel Noriega, falling wages, the HUD scandal, air raids on Libya, 'constructive engagement' with apartheid South Africa, United States Information Agency blacklists of liberal speakers, attacks on OSHA and workplace safety, the invasion of Grenada, assassination manuals, Nancy's astrologer.

"Drug tests, lie detector tests, Fawn Hall, female appointees (8 percent), mining harbors, the S&L scandal, 239 dead U.S. troops in Beirut, Al Haig 'in control,' silence on AIDS, food-stamp reductions, Debategate, White House shredding, Jonas Savimbi, tax cuts for the rich, 'mistakes were made.' "

The list goes on.

Hmmm! Maybe I'm being too hard on the media. Afterall, when my mother died, I didn't want to hear anything negative from anyone. Now 10 years later, I'm better able to appreciate and acknowledge not just the good but also the not so good. So maybe in time, once people move beyond their initial grief, they'll start to be more real in their evaluation of President Reagan's legacy.

Wow! What a weekend. Former President Reagan dies and Jennifer Lopes get married again for the third time. I wasn't a fan of Reagan's politics but I admired his ability to connect and communicate with voters. But some of the tributes that I've read (that were clearly prewritten) about his Presidency are a bit over the top. Talk about revisionist history. Oh well! He served his country well.

As for Jennifer Lopes, well I feel sad for Marc Anthony. Something tells me he won't be Jennifer's last husband. She is the clearly the Elizabeth Taylor of our day. I mean, the woman has married twice in the last 3 years plus had a high profile broken engagement. She clearly has issues. But hey, who doesn’t right?

On a personal note, as I mentioned yesterday, I went on a mini shopping binge with my younger sister. Plus I decided to skip the Printer Row Book Fair. As much as I wanted to be there, decided I didn't need to be buying any more books. I've got a couple hundred in my collection plus quite a few on my night stand waiting to be read. I did manage to finish reading A Walk In The Woods which totally killed any desire I had to someday walk the Appalachian Trial. Moving right along, I also resisted the urge to see the latest Harry Potter movie. Supposedly this one is better than the first two so maybe I'll check it out sometime soon. On a more personal note, Racquetball Guy is away on business but we are keeping in touch with one another -- so all is well on that front.

I'm not sure what has come over me, but I can't stop shopping. In the last two days, I've purchased four pairs of shoes and an assorted array of clothing. Granted I needed to pick up a few items as I've lost weight and don't fit most of my clothing, but this is a bit excessive for me. I hate clothes shopping. Maybe it’s the warmer weather. Or maybe it's because I have a boyfriend and want to increase my cuteness factor. Whatever it is, I wish it to stop. I'd rather wear the same thing over and over again, than have a zillion outfits. Mainly because clothing has gotten really expensive and I'd rather just keep my money in the bank or put it towards something a bit more useful. When I check my bank account and see the number going up, I feel good. Can't say the same when I look at my closet. Most times I ask myself, what were you thinking? There are so many things that I never wear but refuse to get rid of as I'm spent my hard earned dollars on them.

I am on the verge of a low carb melt down. Despite my best efforts to stay disciplined and eat mostly low carb food, more and more I find myself eating foods that are not on the plan; mainly because I eat the same food over and over again. So I'm bored with my diet. Plus now that I'm dating I'm eating out more and finding it hard to resist the various delicious menu items that are so not good for me. Furthermore, as the temperature goes up, so goes my craving for fruits and desserts that are high in sugar and carbs. So looking for some advice. If you have a favorite low carb recipe that doesn't require a zillion ingredients and is easy to prepare, I'd like to hear about it. Same goes for low carb recipe books. I go into the bookstore and am just overwhelmed by all the choices so I buy nothing. But I need to spice up what I’m eating before I just throw in the towel completely.

Below are results from yet another silly quiz.

B	Brainy
A	Appealing
R	Relaxing
Z	Zany
E	Exciting
Y	Yum

Name / Username:

Name Acronym Generator
From Go-Quiz.com

Quiz found at Sasoozie's Secret Blog

And now back to our regularly scheduled programming. I purchased this Jessica McClintock dress in peri-blue color to wear to my friend's wedding in two weeks. I did not pay retail, but the price was still pretty steep. So, I might decide to take it back and wear something I already own. Particularly since it was recommended that I wear gray or silver or white shoes and I don't already own any that color. According to the saleslady wearing black shoes, no matter how cute, just wouldn't do the dress justice -- and I kind of agree! Arrh, what's a girl to do. I suppose I should just take comfort in the fact that I didn't buy the dress on credit and I'll get to wear it to 1 or 2 black tie events later this year.

I started writing a detailed line by line response to a comment left about yesterday’s post, but I decided it wasn't worth my energy. Instead I've chosen to just delete the person’s comment from the archives. I initially shied away from doing that as I've always welcomed feedback from readers. But there comes a point, when the feedback is simply too hurtful and without merit to let stand. So let me say again, just because you've read my blog for some time, don't assume you know me – particularly if you have not spent any time with me in the real world. What is written here is but a small snippet of my reality. It is heavily edited and almost always paints me in a positive light. This is not always the case with the extended cast of characters in my world. Truth be told, most of my recent days/months/years have been filled with joy. I have a job that affords me a comfortable life. I have an extended group of real world friends and have decent relationships with most of my family members. Now I have a boyfriend who adores me and up until this weekend had done nothing to cause me distress in any way. So when I have a day and/or days of sadness as most people do from time to time and choose to write about them, do not view this as an opportunity to knit pick at my life and make mean and nasty comments – particularly when you don’t have a complete set of facts. Ask me to clarify and explain what I'm feeling. Leave constructive and helpful feedback. Better yet leave and come back on another day. But do not come here and make hurtful generalized statements without any basis in fact unless you yourself have a perfect storybook life.

I'm sure some of you were wondering what the hell was wrong with me after my last post. Well, let's just say that I hadn't really spoken to Racquetball Guy in like almost 3 days and I was starting to get worried. It was so out of character of him not to call. So coupled with the fact that I had absolutely nothing to do all weekend long, I couldn't help but think bad thoughts. But I'm pleased to say that I'm getting back to my normal self. The work week is here so I have other things to obsess about, plus I finally spoke to Racquetball Guy around 6am this morning. According to him, he basically checked out from everyone around Saturday afternoon. I'm trying not to get mad about it, but I can't help but be slightly annoyed. I was really worried. Granted he's a grown man and can take care of himself, but when you're in a relationship, it's different. I think you should at least call up your partner and say you’ll be checking out for a few days. Truth be told, I might have encouraged him to come home, but in that he was trying to clear his head and figure out what he wanted to do re certain things, I would have accepted his decision to stay in St Louis. Lord knows that there are times when I'm in a funk when I don't want to be bothered with the outside world. But aren't the rules different when you're dating? Shouldn't you at least check in with your partner? I suppose these are the things he and I will need to work out as we navigate this relationship. It is only a few months old after all.