[Taking time-off from work to holiday in chilly, yet friendly, Chicago]

Goin' To Chicago

Big Joe Williams, the great jazz vocalist, sings a song titled "Goin' To Chicago". Well, Joe, I'm "Goin' to Chicago."

(Thursday, November 28) Thirty-five degrees isn't as bone-chillingly cold as I made it out to be.

(Big thank you to the one-and-only CH for Chicago accomodations)

Pilsenites Geoff and Todd (Peoria and Cullerton) prepare turkey on their Weber grill. "Nagyon finom" (pronounced: nod yon fee nom) is Hungarian for delicious, or ahhhh yeeaah. Good job, boys.

(Deep-fried whole turkey is fine and okay. It's a method as common as using your Foreman Grill, don't you think?) Weber Kettle is classic style cooking to tongues like mine.

Here's a formula for you: mucho vino + lastnight's insomnia = couch time x the spins (2)

(Friday) First full day in Chicago begins today. Friday Night Jam tonight at Pilsen Cafe (Halsted & 21st). First, though, is dinner at Riverview (Roscoe & Damen) with Nissley and Miss Tracey. Tonight is the official kick-off for my new one: "whiskey. straight. water back, please."

(Saturday) It's 20 degrees. Brrrrrrrr.
Almost ready; gonna board public transportation to Mike's northside apartment (Foster & Damen) for my second Thanksgiving dinner of the holidays. Niss and Miss Tracey throw-down a Thanksgiving fete, minus the wholesale slaughter of Indian Tribes. A second Ottomon Empire--there's so much Turkey!

Hear any jokes about Bangkok lately?

Simon's (Foster & Lincoln), a Andersonville drinking establishment, pours a tasty traditional Scandinavian, Port wine-based beverage called Glogg. Consume some during the holidays.

(Sunday) Wake at 7A.M. for a bus ride to downtown. From Union Station, Metra train north to Deerfield (20 miles north of Chicago) to visit Chris (my sister). Borrowed Chris' small, Honda Civic for the two hour drive south on I-57 to my folk's in Rantoul. Fed by Mom. Watch Bears lose with Pops and Older Brother. Mom sends me back north with a bounty of food. (Moms rock)

Lamprey. My first visit. "Turgid" (=Swollen) was the word. Key new idea to explore: constant, assembley-line creation for a period followed by a certain time of focused creation. The pay-off to the practice is potentially limitless. (Thanks, KC)

Memorable song heard today: Rufus Wainwright's live version of the Beatles' "Across The Universe"

Ffej, with iBook, was 802.11-ing at the Whale (Halsted & Canalport) during the adjudication. Saw the technology and thought of a recent weekday without work. I walked 2.5 miles down the hill to San Diego's business district where I attempted to grab some wi-fi bandwith. Caught nothing but the walk was nice. Network password protected is the most-likely culprit.

(Monday) Awake to snow showers. That's when, I believe, the ground temperature is higher than freezing (32 degrees) so when the snow flakes approach the surface they turn into slush which doesn't stick to the ground and accumulate.

(Tuesday) Rachel and I have been pals since she arrived on Chicago ground. Today, Rachel and I spent a long afternoon together starting with Indian food from a vegetarian restaurant on Devon Ave, Chicago's world-reknowned Indian/Pakistan section of town. The place is Arya Bhavan at 2508 W. Devon. After the late lunch, we drove east to the snow-whitened Farwell Street Beach where we watched the sun go down and experienced the hues over the lake which only can be seen this time of year. We continued our trek south on Lake Shore Drive and took a cruise down the Magnificent Mile and saw the holiday cheer. That, I submit, is a fine afternoon.

(Wednesday) Patricia Cornwell has authored a newly released book on the identity of Jack The Ripper. Ms. Cornwell spoke at the Harold Washington Library to a well atteneded forum on her book. I left skeptical. Afterwards, D. Strozk and I met M. Nissley and T. Schumacher at the Wild Goose, a northside tavern with fine food and drink.

(Thursday) M. Nissley and I visited the Sears Tower, America's tallest building. The Skydeck is 103 floors high with a visibility range between 5-15 miles. After Sears, we walked from Fields' Walnut Room to the Berghoff for a nicely prepared bratwurst on rye. The cold wind broke through our coats with a 15 degree chill as we journeyed north on Michigan Avenue to Chicago Avenue where the Museum of Contemporary Art is located.

Gillian Wearing's show at the MCA was the most impressive of the installations there. She's British and her work is alarming commentary on the local culture. Worth seeking out.

(Friday) Andies, a Mediteranian restaurant in Andersonville, was the site of my return to California dinner. A fine and tasty place to dine. Very inexpensive. Present were C. Horist, G. Atkinson and significant other Melanie, Vida and M. Nissley. Kabobs (steak and gyro) was my order. Michelle, our waitress, a Czech citizen, was surprised that I ordered M. Nissley's beer in Czech. Simon's (down the street) for Glogg was next.

Derrick, a painter in Pilsen, had a party tonight and it rocked. Melanie's room-mates live in the old Mass Ensemble space which is gigantic. (pleasure meeting Skylar and Lindsay) The party rocked! Great tunes and interesting people.

(Saturday) Spent in Deerfield with sis and Bill.

(Sunday) Brunch at Chela Joe's and the Holiday Art Shows. Flight back to San Diego.

Turnkey Turkeys



William Mullen writes in today's issue of The Chicago Tribune that "factory [turkeys] are engineered to grow up fast and with lots of white meat. They spend their entire lives inside (a factory), being conceived, hatched, reared, slaughtered and packaged without spending a single moment in sunlight."

Enviromental News Network writes "Turkeys are deprived of their most basic physical and behavioral needs, " said Dave Kuemmerle, program manager of sustainable agriculture for the Humane Society. "In addition, this form of agriculture is detrimental to the environment and poses serious human health concerns."

Happy Thanksgiving

Arianna Huffington, in a salon.com article, writes that the tide is beginning to turn on big, gas-guzzling S.U.V.s.

With a war against Irag looming, Huffington, the co-founder of Americans for Fuel Efficient Cars, producers of ads parodying the Bush administration's drugs-equal-terror ads but with S.U.V.s serving as the drug, believes our addiction to Middle East oil, coupled with our craving for ten-miles-to-the-gallon trucks and S.U.V.s, is becoming a moral question for society to answer. The article is here.

In the November 10, 2002 edition of The New York Times Magazine, writer Michael Pollan argues both sides of the vegetarian/non-vegetarian debate on what, if any, rights animals deserve.

An intriguing question, indeed it is. As an urbanized American, indoctrinated in the consume-watch-consume culture, eating meat of any kind assumed very little time on the agenda of internal debate and discussion. Michael Pollan's article, I hope, will change all of that.

Pollan's thoughtful article began with the author dining alone at the Palm restaurant, a medium-rare rib-eye steak in front of him, and Peter Singer's 1975 book, "Animal Liberation," opened on the table. (Talk about a perfect storm forecast.)

An Australian philosopher, Singer believes, according to Pollan, that the consumption of animals (as food, clothing, sport and/or experimentation), a relatively no-thought practice in today's society, will--in the future--be frowned upon as are racism, anti-Semitism and Nazism are today.

History, Singer believes, is on the side of his argument. The civil rights struggle and other movements like liberation and rights for homosexuals are the foundation for Singer's prediction: granting rights to animals looms large on the map to a more moral society.

Many in the animal rights camp believe animals experience fear, anxiety and anguish, similar as to the human experience of emotions. As society's dinner tables become more and more populated with meat from large industry-consolidated factory farms, we have become more insulated as to how exactly a crispy fried chicken leg arrived there. It's not pretty, I am sure. For if it was, school tours at Perdue's chicken processing plant would be as common as were tourist at Chicago's Union Stockyards at the turn of the 19th-century. Pollan's article describes chickens pecking other chickens to death. To eliminate such premature deaths, factory chickens have their beaks burned off. To some, that's a barbaric reaction to the treatment of animal stress.

Mankind throughout history has struggled philosophically with the notion of taking animal life for sustenance. We've offered meats to the Gods in hunting rituals. We pray and say Grace to thank God for the meal He has set before us. Some of us rationalize eating meat by observing other animals killing and eating other animals; like when the lion and the antelope meet, as shown on a plethora of PBS African documentaries, is one example. I call it the food-chain rationale: "the top is a fine place to be."

Factory farms are not the only producers of meat. There are smaller farm operations which offer free ranges in which chickens can roam, dirt and sun for pigs to wallow in and lush, open, naturally-fertilized pastures for cattle and goats to graze. At operations such as these, animals have an opportunity to be and live the best possible life it can before its demise. A place where chickens can keep their beaks. A place respectful of all things living.

Consumption culture make it easier for us to turn a blind eye to the ways of meat farming. It's cheap and ubiquitous enough to the point whereas all income groups have easy access to meat, as compared to past generations. In the 60's, many people also turned blind eyes to discrimination and racism.

As a meat-eater, the opposing sides of the eat or not eat meat debate does not move me away from eating burgers or buffalo wings; however, now, I want to be more morally-conscience of the meat I choose to eat.



A respect for an animal's life, and its death, is being asked of us. Is valuing life and respecting all creatures the beginnings of a truly moral society? For me, that's an eye-opening "Yes."

A Chicago man, while refueling his vehicle at a service station, was burned to death when his lit cigarette ignited gas vapors and burned his clothes .

The Chicago Tribune reports that David Gerena, 40, of the 1400 block of North Campbell Avenue, suffered burns over 90 percent of his body, was pronounced dead Thursday at Cook County Hospital.

" [Gerena] was [on fire] from the waist up-- he then dropped the gasoline filler hose and spilled gasoline ignited, engulfing his entire body," said Chicago Police spokesman Ozzie Rodriguez.

Blog Pesotum is saddened to hear of premature death. Mr. Gerena may well have been a father, a husband or a valuable employee. I would be remiss if the question was not asked: "Mr. Gerena, where and from whom did you get the notion smoking a cigarette while pumping gas was safe?"

What's the current population of the United States?

The results of National Geographic's Global Geographic Literacy Survey, a 20-question multible choice survey of 18-24 year olds, was a sobering reminder of the insular education kids in the States are subjected to. Seventy-five percent of the respondents answered the above question incorrectly. The 2000 Census counted around 285 million people in the United States.

National Geographic and Roper tested the geographic knowledge of 18- to 24-year-olds in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Sweden, Great Britain, and the United States.

Americans came in next to last among nine countries in the survey. Other survey findings:

• nearly 30 percent of those surveyed could not find the Pacific Ocean, the world’s largest body of water;

• more than half—56 percent—were unable to locate India, home to 17 percent of people on Earth; and

• only 19 percent could name four countries that officially acknowledge having nuclear weapons.

I became very interested in the findings though I cannot say I was surprised at the results. Many Americans--young and old--appear to take-on the self-absorbed personality traits which seems so commonplace among heavyweight boxing champions. Yes, America is the world's only superpower, militarily and economically; however, we do still need to engage the rest of the world because I am not confident that standing will last forever. We need to teach kids (and adults, too!) geography, culture and geo-political history. If we as a society are geographically ill-informed and are also the electorate, how do we expect to make informed decisions on the politicians and their policies we elect them to execute?

My belief is that with a more liberal sprinkling of geography, we would encourage more young people to travel and experience other cultures and countries which will add more to their education than class studies exclusively.

I took the sample Geography survey and answered 19 out of 20 questions correctly. Take the survey here.

The Soundtrack of Our Lives, a rock sextet from Sweden, rocked the Casbah (did I just write that?) to a small and appreciative crowd of about 200 in San Diego lastnight.

Ebbott, TSOOL's vocalist, and the boys were in a playful spirits all evening; smiling, laughing, kicking, windmilling, faux punching, fist pumping, in-place marching and funny dancing. All of that while literally blasting anthem-after-anthem from arguably what are rock's finest three releases in a row.

Highlights were: "21st Century Rip-off," "Sister Surround," "Instant Repeater 99," "I'm Still Aging," "Keep The Line Moving" and "10 Years"

Oslo's Cato Salsa Experience were one-trick-pony boring. Citizen Bird made up for CSE's lack of range with inspired screams and Wire fanclub guitar tones.

Scandinavians are the most friendly people to rock ever. If only the merch matched the rock, I would be wearing a TSOOL tee to work today.

"What Would Jesus Drive?"

Danny Hakim reports in The New York Times that the National Religious Partnership, the Evangelical Environmental Network and others are working on a campaign equating vehicle fuel efficiency to morality. One ad asks: "What Would Jesus Drive?"

Leaders of many groups within the partnership have signed a letter to the Big Three's chief executives asking for improvements in fuel economy. They say they have a biblical mandate to be good stewards of God's creation and a responsibility to the poor who are especially harmed by pollution. And they decry supporting "autocratic, corrupt and violent" governments that produce oil.

Rev. Jim Ball, the head of the evangelical group, who drives a Toyota Prius hybrid said "How can I love my neighbor as myself if I'm filling their lungs with pollution?"

The New York Times, Lotte Jacobi Collection/University of New Hampshire
Albert Einstein (1938)

Albert Einstein answers kids' questions in the new book, "Dear Professor Einstein: Albert Einstein's Letters to and From Children," edited by Alice Calaprice (Prometheus Books), with exerpts in yesterday's New York Times' Arts Section.

Compared to his published work of which I've fruitlessly attempted to decipher, Dr. Einstein writes playfully and encouragingly to the kids. I'm fairly certain his Theory of Relativity has little in terms of child-like humor; Dear Professor Einstein, I'm willing to bet, has way more.

Dear Tyfanny,


. . . I have to apologize to you that I am still among the living. There will be a remedy for this, however. . . .


I hope that yours and your friend's future astronomical investigations will not be discovered anymore by the eyes and ears of your school-government. This is the attitude taken by most good citizens toward their government and I think rightly so.



Yours sincerely,

Albert Einstein

August 25, 1946

The whole New York Times article is here.

McDonald's of France: Kids Shouldn't Eat At McDonald's More Than Once A Week


Frenchman Jose Bove in 1999 ransacked a McDonald's in the French town of Millau


The International Herald Tribune reports that McDonald's France, concerned with childhood obesity, placed an "advertorial" in the French magazine Femme Actuelle that the number of visits to McDonald's restaurants should be limited.

It isn't often that a food company tells its customers that it should eat less of its food. But that is what McDonald's appears to have done in France.

Forbidding children from eating fast food would be counterproductive, it said. "However, there is no reason to eat excessive amounts of junk food, nor go more than once a week to McDonald's."

The advertorial in the French magazine "shows that health warnings about the dangers of eating out often at fast food restaurants are not only appropriate but may be necessary to avoid liability if children become obese as a result of overindulgence," said John Banzhaf 3d, a professor of law at George Washington University who pioneered lawsuits against the tobacco industry and has now focused on the fast-food industry.

"There is nothing in the world worse than a bad marriage, and at the same time nothing better than a good one."

PBS' awesome show Frontline will air a segment on marriage.

With divorce rates in the United States at 50%, there is something definitely wrong with the most private of social institutions. Frontline attempts to examine why couples are not staying married and should the government play a part in keeping couples married.

One-third of children today grow up in single parent households.

Social scientists agree that two-parent households are better for kids.

Statistically, children of divorced or never-married parents are far more likely to end up disadvantaged than children of two-parent households.

President Bush and a growing marriage movement think it's time to take action. They are promoting marriage -- especially among the poor. Get people married, the thinking goes, and poverty will be reduced. Stem the tide of divorce and we'll solve many of society's ills.

Bush has embraced the marriage movement's thinking stating that "stable families should be the central goal of American welfare policy."

Bush has proposed spending $300 million a year on experimental programs to encourage marriage. (from the broadcast)

Today is my hangover day.

Caroline's creation to honor my birthday.

Today's my birthday! 39 and STILL with an attitude


Need I say more?

Chicago Tribune

Michael Jackson testifies in Santa Maria Superior Court Wednesday during a trial in which he is accused of cancelling concert appearances, costing the promoter several million dollars. (Spencer Weiner/Los Angeles Times ) November 13, 2002

From the "marketers will try almost anything" file...

The New York Times reports that the California Milk Processor Board, the group behind the very successful Got Milk? campaign, wants to rename a California town. Perhaps Milk? No, The Board wants to name a small town: "Got Milk?, California."

(The Board) offered to build a Got Milk? museum and to make a contribution to local schools. Only one town, Biggs, population 1,793, expressed any interest. But last week, a town meeting voted it down.

Mayors of 20 small towns in California were sent letters outlining the Milk Board opportunity.

Good for Biggs. Not everything's for sale. Especially at what I would consider a very, very low offer on the part of the Board.

Chief Moose, the leader of the task force that apprehended the alleged D.C. area snipers, said this about his new-found celebrity standing in the Washington Post:

"It has been a very nice thing for the police department. People have been very positive. They're waving at us with all five fingers, and that does feel nice."

Chief Moose has a sense of humor. God bless him.

Warren Richey reports in The Christian Science Monitor that The Supreme Court will decide if "Victor's Little Secret" is trademark infringement.

Owned by Victor and Cathy Moseley, Victor's Little Secret is a lingerie/adult novelty store located in a mall in Elizabethtown, Kentucky.

Retailer Victoria's Secret, alleges that the Moseleys were violating their famous brand's trademark by using a similar-sounding name in an attempt to attract business. Currently the store is called Cathy's Little Secret pending the outcome of the Moseley's appeal.

The Moseleys countered that their name accurately reflected the first name of the owner of the store, and that they used the word "secret" as a kind of inside joke because they wanted to keep the new business a secret from a former boss at a competing store. (It's no secret now)

The Moseley's patent and trademark attorney, James R. Higgins Jr., argued that customers at the Moseley store were not confused between the two retailers and therefore no damages were caused against Victoria's Secrets. What reasonable person would be confused?

I think there was a wonderful confluence of creative coincidence in the name Victor's Little Secret. If the Supreme Court rules against the Moseleys, another example of the reach and squeeze of corporations in our society will be solidified. Under United States law, one cannot patent words. If Victoria's Secrets prevails, what will this mean to the tradition of small businesses? Will it mean no other Mexican restaurant may have "Bell" in their name? (Is Taco Bell even considered Mexican food?) Must every startup start up with a legal department first for protection?

Will I have the ability to one day open Danny's Diner without fear Denny's will drag me to court because the names are too similar-sounding?

The Associated Press reports that the G.O.P. are prioritizing tax cuts, energy and conservative judges at the top of the agenda as they prepare to assume power in Washington D.C.

The odds have improved somewhat for Bush's plan to open Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling, but Democrats could still block it with a filibuster. Other energy policies left in limbo because of disagreements between the House and Senate now will probably be decided along Republican lines -- with more focus on energy production and less on conservation.

With a war in Iraq looming and the challenges of terrorism that exisits in the Middle East, does it make sense to focus on increasing oil production while paying little mind to conservation and alternative energy? Why can't we agree on minimum fuel requirements for large trucks and S.U.V.s? Global warming is a reality, but most in our society pay little mind to the fact worldwide temperatures are increasing and greenhouse gasses continue to rise. I will continue to bark about our nation's energy policies because it's short-sighted, it's hurting our environment and as we continue to be engaged in the Middle East because of it's strategic oil significance, more American soldiers will perish. For what? Low gas prices?

Associated Press

One of the two Washington D.C. sniper suspects made an appearance in Virginia state court today.

What's the reason for the rampage? At this point, there's no real indication what incited the sniper shootings and murders authorities have attributed to the two suspects.

I would like to see more long-term studies of serial killers to help determine what drives them to kill. The problem, however, is these killers are usually put to death after conviction which makes it difficult to study their behaviors, reasons and operations.

I think it's valuable to identify potential mass killers in a hope that we as a society can prevent additional sniper killings and other murderous rampages. Others disagree--it's more important to have swift justice than it is to endeavor to understand behaviors which are so out of whack with how normal people behave.

Is everything for sale?

When I first heard The Clash's song London Calling used in a Jaguar T.V. commercial I almost blew chow. I wondered how a song with as much anti-establishment links as London Calling gets co-opted into selling a product which is the epitome of the ultra-consuming, spoon-fed, major-media-centric establishment?

"It doesn't particularly bother me or steal the song's meaning from me. I know a lot of people do feel that way, but that's become an outdated way of thinking," says Jason Fine, senior editor at Rolling Stone magazine, as reported in The New York Times.

I think if you feel Jaguar is the best car to ever grace the road, go right ahead and sell your song to them. If you think Applebee's serves the best food one can eat, go right ahead and sell your song to them, too.

And regarding the comment of Jason Fine: I'm sorry, sir, but until your tool-of-the-music-industry-magazine becomes relavent again, your opinions on music are as important to me as the toilet paper I just wiped my ass with.

In our current Watch-Consume-Repeat culture, nothing is sacred when everything's for sale.

The chairman of the Securities and Exchange
Commission, Harvey L. Pitt, left, with the
S.E.C.'s chief accountant, Robert K. Herdman.
(Associated Press)


Stephen Labaton of The New York Times reports that William H. Webster, the chairman of the government's new accounting oversight board and selected by Harvey L. Pitt, said

he acted vigorously and properly to clean up the problems of "an incubator Internet company that was being run by a bunch of kids."

Not only is Mr. Webster being sued by the auditing firm BDO Seidman--accused of making false public statements related to the dismissal of the firm--but now Mr. Webster is making age discriminating statements.

"Bunch of kids," eh, Mr. Webster? Good going, dude! You and your buddies took over the "kids'" company and managed to right the ship and make it go belly up. Excellent stewardship.

If I may make a suggestion, Mr. Webster: at your age, making age discriminatory statements is unbecoming of a chairperson. Oh, another suggestion: diversity training.

The full article from the New York Times.

"I didn't hear anything about that," said Brad Heimann, manager of Tuscany on Clark. "It's everywhere in the city."

Sure. Whatever, Brad. Graffiti is everywhere in the city, too; let me tag your restaurant and use your lame excuse. Try again, pal.

Brad received a cease and desist letter from HBO, a subscription only cable channel, because his restaurant was publicly airing The Sopranos, HBO's hit drama.

The whole article from the Chicago Tribune.

Yesterday, the Long Beach Freeway, with morning-fog blanketing the road and limiting visibility to nil, was the scene of a horrific pile-up.

Reducing speed on California freeways is a cultural faux pas. These freeways have a large population of NASCAR racer wannabes who think whistling down the freeway twenty miles over the maximum speed is a sign of vehicle superority. Race to your grave but don't take me with you.

"The Old Lady on Harrison Street" will be demolished tommorrow.



Kirsten Scharnberg, of the Chicago Tribune, reports Cook County Hospital will transfer patients and equipment across the street to a brand new building and the old building will then be demolished. Gone will be a Chicago institution for the poor and destitute which was first in many areas of healthcare.

The 88-year-old Cook County Hospital is famous for its fair share of things--the nation's first blood bank, Chicago's first open-heart surgery, one of the nation's finest burn centers, and a neonatal intensive-care unit that serves more than half of all premature babies born inside the city. But the old hospital's real claim to fame is its trauma ward, a place so chock-full of gunshot wounds, stab gashes and blunt head injuries that military physicians who need combat training are sent there for hands-on experience.

The whole article

photo from The New York Times

Danny Hakim of The New York Times reports General Motors' recent release of what I call the Hummer Jr. G.M. calls it the H2. I also call it a bad decision for the environment, ANWAR and our car culture's addiction to Middle East oil.

"If you can afford to buy an H2, if you get 10 miles to the gallon you're not going to care," said Bill Kramer, a 51-year-old computer programmer from Long Island whose H2 actually gets about 9 miles a gallon around town. "If gas went up to $3 per gallon, then maybe."

If the above quote isn't selfish, foolhardy and asinine then I'm a donkey.

Southern California freeway needs more three ton "passenger vehicles" on the road like a cocaine addict needs a larger straw. Buyers of S.U.V.s and large trucks say they feel safer because of the vehicle's size. How safe can it be when, because of this sense of security, drivers are barreling down the road with reckless abandon? I've driven behind these speeding metal mammoths and my belief is that my ability to survey what's ahead and around is greatly diminished. If I have to make a sudden stop, the tailgate-happy H2 driver will kill me from behind and in the accident their dear H2 will do 22 flips, roll off the freeway and we'll all be pushing up daisys.

Hakim reports soccer moms don't want to appear as soccer moms when driving their H2s. Yeah, he's right. To me, they appear to be tools of the mass consumption culture.

Here's the whole article from The New York TImes.

My Chicago-based buddy Ffej was hassled by the police for taking photos in a Dunkin Donuts with his digital camera.

Mr. Nissley leaves this morning, returning to the freezing tundras of Chicago. He won't leave empty-handed, however. Ole Boy got himself some nice rays compliments of the Southern California sun. I'm sure his savage tan will be the subject of conversation at his first function, a wedding reception he's scheduled to attend as soon as his plane touches down.

Mr. Nissley and I consumed beer, Jim Beam or wine in large and steady amounts since his arrival on October 15th. My scorned liver doth protest.

As soon as Mr. Nissley departs, new arrivals have come for a visit. Michiganders Martha and Ginger are calling 2855 A Street #11 their temporary home until the 12th of November. My co-worker who's a lifelong resident of San Diego reminded me that when one lives here, friends and acquaintances from back East will -- like a moth to a light -- want to come visit "paradise." I guess that's why I'm here -- to provide a hostel for people.

It's 5:30 A.M. and guess what? I'm having yet another mid-sleep insomnia situation. Might as well blog

Partial insomnia is a better descriptor. It's 4:37 A.M. and I've been awake for an hour already. Might as well blog.

Halloween in SD is way different -- and probably better -- than Halloween in Chicago. First and foremost: the pleasant weather in San Diego. Chicago's climate, or Midwestern climate in general, around October and November begins to offer up the first chill of the new, approaching winter. The SD climate offers much more opportunity for costume possibilities and more choice is better than less, everyone will agree, because the weather will allow it. A nurse in a skin-tight, white leather uniform with knee-high white platform boots and white fishnet stocking was quite the memorable costume. Ahhh the nurse. You can see it all at the Monster's Bash in SD's Gaslamp Quarter, a tourist frequented section of the city. Other costumes of note included: two farm boys in overalls, tractor hats and farm boots (reminded me of home); the 80's chicks dressed in pastel colored Adidas jogger shorts and platform sneaker skates; the mafioso types in black suites with gray pinstripes and cigars. This year I saw a lot of priests with pony-tailed school girls holding hands. (Shouldn't that be school boys versus girls?) I was on the lookout for sniper costumes or Osama bin Laden costumes. None were witnessed.

USDA Prime steak is USDA Prime anywhere. Last night's bone-in ribeye was inspected Prime which is why the medium rare 24 ouncer was flavorful, tender, juicy and delicious. Prime cost me $29 (list). The wine was Hess Cabernet 2000 (Sonoma County, CA) and that was $36 for the bottle. The total with tip at Seven-17 was $150 for Mr. Nissley and me. So good. So expensive.



The month of my birthday is November. I like birthdays especially mine.

Never put together a submarine sandwich prior to the one I created yesterday for the potluck at work. My sandwich creation was over a foot-long and was stuffed with salammi, ham, lettuce, green pepper, onion, tomato, olives, pickles, balsamic vinegrette and miracle whip. Yummy it was.