Critical Elephants

It has come to my attention that as a blogger the news media considers me duty-bound to comment on everything in my perceivable universe especially those things of which I am poorly informed. Therefore, I have decided that my latest attempt to be a real blogger should be a feature about topics on which I have poorly informed opinions.

Today's Episode- The trouble with the CTA.

Here's the thing. The CTA is supposed to be serving me as a convenient means of transit between part of the city and another. Most specifically the "L" system is meant to be a rapid and environmentally friendly option for navigating the city. the critical element, and it's a big one, is that it should connect places people actually need to be. Why, in the name of whichever deity is in charge of things like this, would anyone in their right mind create a system like this with parallel lines! If I want to go across the city to somewhere that is on the red line It takes me an hour on the bus or I can take the train all the way down to the loop and catch the red line itself. One train between Belmont(Blue) and Belmont(Red) would clear it right up. and it would still be sufficiently inconvenient for most of the city for the CTA to keep up appearances. You don't want to be too much on the ball or people will expect something of you and I get that. The relative distance is less than between four stops on an "L". i.e. the trip could take 20 mins tops on a system which made sense.

What is more if we hope to host the Olympic games surely we need to step up our game transit wise and the way forward is in high efficiency trains. Look at any London. Yeah, the tube is about as logical as an anthill but if you know what you're doing you can get anywhere in the city and you can do it with reasonable speed.

My recommendation, since apparently I am mandated by the internet to provide it, is to create an outer loop "L" line which would follow Lake Shore Drive between Belmont and Hyde Park and then across to Pulaski where it would complete its loop.

The big benefit here is that it would also serve the purpose of the proposed Gold Line which is to serve Hyde park and it would do them one better by laterally serving the entirety of that neighborhood.

Bristol Weekend 1

Well, that happened.

I started off my time in Kenosha this week rehearsing for three days with the Suitcase Shakespeare Company as we prepare our new child, "Much Ado about Nothing" to take its first steps. We have been pleased to find that we will be performing at the Faire on the weekends of August 8-9 and 15-16, Mark the dates on your calendar. We will be staging our 60 minute or less "Twelfth Night" on the Trader's Cove stage. After a brief return to Chicago to commune with my poor neglected girlfriend it was time to go back for opening day.

It is difficult to find the words which will accurately describe the sensation of opening weekend as an entire populated town remembers itself after months of dormancy. The shops which had been only beginning to stir until last week, the people who had been away and the sounds and smells and colourful sights which had been too long gone all rush back into their proper places and the result is our magic. Once again we met the opening of the gates with a wave of excitement and joy. As per usual characters morphed and changed as practicality met with concept. Percival, who had recently been an excitable man with heavy OCD became the bawdy, oft inebriated barman that he was always destined to be. The street gifted me with families of amusing people, parties of adventurers who knew that there is no man better than an innkeeper to befriend and even a few furries (don't ask). Also, I realized that being an innkeeper has the added benefit of making sure that I am well and truly hydrated. I have possibly never been as well hydrated as I was this weekend. and my frequent visits to the blue boxes stood as a testament.

Having Tab with whom I can touch base periodically for mealtimes to keep me grounded and alive has also been a blessing. She makes my life glow hotter and brighter than I ever could have imagined. It is a comfort to know that we together make for a chemical reaction which is exothermic (science!). We are so lucky.

Damp and Hot, gladly not simultaneously.

My apartment seems to have become sadly waterlogged. I am looking for advice on how to remedy this problem. Hopefully we will have the problem solved by our landlord who is sending "carpet people" in tomorrow but I'm not sure that they will do anything but clean up the carpet. I'd rather not invest in a dehumidifier but it's all I can think of unless I can just leave sponges out on the counters and hope for the best.

In other news the faire season is starting we've had three weeks of rehearsals so far and it is looking pretty phenomenal. My character this year, Messir Percival Cornelius Thykket Esq Prop. of the Towne Square Pub is coming around nicely. I 'm also excited about Tab's contribution, Philomela Wyllewykket, towne midwife. She's great fun and has a lot of comedy power centering on euphemistic discussion of... whodilidoos. The rest of the cast has come up with an amazing collection of townsfolk. We have two witches, two criminals, two vagrants, a knight, an inventor, a don Juan, a librarian and a gravedigger. All told I think this is going to be a gang buster year and am looking forward to watching the rockstarification of another group of phenoms.

Hello Internet!

So, my internet presence has been sorely lacking as of late. It's a lucky break that I have twitter which gives me the ability to update you all when I don't have a computer. This is, of course, my own vanity at work assuming that you are all waiting with bated breath to hear what is is I wish to say. Yes, I do realize how ironic it is for me to comment on that phenomena in a blog which is based on the same premise. If you wish to begin having the Alanis Morsette song "Ironic" play in your head I recommend staving it off with something which correctly uses English terminology. You could try my recent chart topper "Hyperbole is the best thing ever".

Having now established my award winning tangential abilities I guess I should tell you about the ways of my life. Things have been going well. I really enjoy my job at MSI. It's not exactly what I thought we would be doing but that doesn't make it any less fun. We meet all kinds of cool people, some of whom manage to be even bigger nerds than I am. The only downside is that there is probably a solid quarter of my brain space devoted to Harry Potter Trivia which will likely never be useful in any other context. If anyone finds themselves in need of a Harry Potter Quizmaster I'm your man. Otherwise I may be in need of a penseive come September.

I am considering investing in a small laptop for the upcoming semester at Loyola though I will likely wait until I actually get a confirmation from them that they want me. That said I am highly anticipating finding out what I 'm going to be doing with my Autumn months.

My apartment has seen some changes recently. Josh has departed for his brand new condo and we inherited the fine Mr. Andy Huttel. At nearly the same time along came the lovely Katie Chin who has taken up residence as well. We are working on accommodating her a little more than simply a couch but it has been a great time. Also nice is that my apartment now contains more chefs than just myself.

I'm sure the more interesting news though is that things have been moving forward with Tabitha as we have now gone shopping for rings and are looking forward to making more solid plans for a few life changing events which we are looking very much forward to.

So here is where I ask you all. What do you think of when you think about us? If you happen to only know one of us well that's fine. In looking toward themes and elements we want our events to echo with the things we love as well as the things you all love about us. So whether you think of nerdy movies, over-affectionate couples or pirates or something else I'd like to know. It'll help us a lot.

Today's Gem-
This comic explains my life.