I like beer

I've been enjoying a brand of beer that's available at my local liquor store, on the corner of Columbia and Clark, in Rogers Park. There are a ton of different sorts of interesting beers, but I can't help myself, I gravitate to this beer every time, out of Cincinnati, Ohio, Great Lakes Brewing Company. I would suggest picking up the six pack nearest you, if you can find it.

Also, I got to play with some baby bunnies today, when I helped clean the animal shelter I volunteer at. Here's some pictures of animals that you can adopt from there, if you would like.

For instance, this is Gabriel, who is Maine Coon cat. He has less hair than he did in the picture; he was shaved for the summer months. He sat on my lap as soon as I sat down.

Something that makes me really happy

I think I might be the last person in the world, as evidenced by the video, to come across this phenomenon, but I really really like this youtube video.

It makes me feel good about the world.

I'm going to Kansas for the weekend for a wedding, and I'm picking up my sister's old camera, that I dropped in the sand in the Grand Canyon. It's fixed (thanks Nokia) and almost mine.

I'll put some pictures for the trip up, if I can figure out how this technology works.

Overalls or not

When I was in college, I had a pair of overalls I wore all the time. They went well with my shaved head. I got rid of them sometime after graduation and recently have been wanting to buy another pair. I looked to my favorite fashion site, and low and behold, overalls are back in (as is '80s denim, evidently).

So dear friends, what do you think? To overall, or not to overall?

My Blog is Inappropriate

Sorry I've led you on with my blog. I received an e mail several days ago informing me that my blog my be inappropriate and contain spam. They needed to shut it down for about a week to make sure.

I'm almost tempted to put something inappropriate on here just because.

Tomorrow I'm going to the Grand Canyon with my mom and dad.

We'll be staying in Kanab, Utah, at a very fancy house with fifteen of our best friends.

There are three things that I'm most excited about for the trip.

We hiked in slot canyons last year, and I'm excited to do the same this year. Slot canyons are really neat. They are explained here. Last year we hiked Wire Pass, here. I'm not sure where we'll go this year. I let the guys make the decisions. Isn't it beautiful?

I'm also excited to volunteer for a day at Best Friends Animal Sanctuary. I volunteer from time to time at my local animal shelter, Red Door Shelter, and really like doing it. Best Friends Animal Sancatury is the mecca for people who like to volunteer at shelters. I think I've talked my mom into spending a day volunteering there with me. Find out more about the shelter here. This is where many of Michael Vick's dogs went. By the way, you can adopt this bunny on the right from Red Door Shelter. Her name is Eliza.

Finally, I'm excited to go mountain biking in Zion National Park with my dad. It turns out I really like mountain biking. I went for the first time last year on our trip to the Grand Canyon. I kid you not, I think I found what heaven must be like, at least for me. This is where we went last year. On the right is a picture of the view from the Rainbow Rim trail.

I love Chicago with the sun out

I have to say I'm proud of myself. I'm usually the last person to know about a trend or a funny thing online. However, I have discovered, and would like to share with others, a really funny phenomenon on youtube...

Cleveland's Next Top Model. This is a spoof on Tyra Banks' America's Next Top Model. Set in Cleveland, four local girls respond to an ad in the paper for a chance to be Cleveland's Next Top Model. Their prize is a photo shoot in the Sear's catalog. They all stay at the host's house, in the guest room.

There are currently three episodes.  I'm hoping we'll go a whole season with this baby.

Check out the first episode here, second episode here, and the third episode here.

I'm going to enjoy the rest of my sunny day off now.

Beginning

Here is my idea for the day:

My friend recently gave me an iPod. It's a little silver bitty shuffle, and I love it.

Over the last several months, I've been collecting names of albums I want for itunes on little scraps of paper. The issue has been, though, how do I get the music. I don't have the money to buy it. I knew there had to be a better way than stopping by the nearest Borders or figuring out how to pirate it off the internet.

Today I had an epiphany: the Chicago Public Library (which is the city I live in).

I went online to the Chicago Public Library website, and low and behold, there was all the music I could possibly imagine, available to me via interlibrary loans and a couple clicks of a button.

Don't make fun of me; here are the two discs I reserved for myself:

This would be Kanye West-Graduation. So, here are my thoughts on Kanye. He's a local guy, local to Chicago that is. I'm big on the stories that are told in music, and I really like his stories.

I don't know much about the album but will give a full update when I have listened to it. A short clip of Stronger is here.


The other album I will have waiting patiently for me in the next couple of days (in theory) at the Rogers Park branch of the Chicago Public Library is Sufjan Stevens' Illinoise. Again, he's singing from a Chicago-centric perspective, which I evidently like. As well, his songs fit my on again off again depressive mindset.

Listen to a VERY brief clip of his music here.



I also reserved three books for myself.

I just finished a great murder mystery called "In the Woods," by Tana French, reviewed here, which got me in the mood for a good mystery. In that vein, I've set aside "The Big Sleep," by Raymond Chandler, which is, according to the Chicago Public Library website, one of the great mysteries of all time.

I've also set aside the Pulitzer Prize winning book by Junot Diaz, "The Brief Wonderous Life of Oscar Wao." I heard him on Terri Gross' Fresh Air and thought he sounded really cool. This is a picture of Diaz. Listen to the interview here.

Finally, I will be reading, or rather looking at, Shaun Tan's graphic novel, "The Arrival." The New York Times reviewed it here. I think this one will be a two-fer for me; I really, really like graphic novels, and I'm very interested in the immigrant experience in the United States. Plus, there are no words. It's perfect. Below are some excerpts from the novel.