Whack-a-Kitty

I just saw a story about this on CNN.com and had to check it out. It's kind of hilarious, I must say. If they make "Whack-a-Puppy" I'll just die laughing.

Chicago Puppet Bike

Yesterday, Becky and I decided to grab some deliciousness at Kopi Cafe in Andersonville (my favorite coffee shop). We were walking down the sidewalk when what should we spot but the Chicago Puppet Bike (www.puppetbike.com)! The puppet bike is one of my favorite quirks about Chicago. It is this bicycle that is totally tricked out with an actual stage attached to the front which allows it to be a traveling puppet show. And this isn't just any old puppet show. The puppet bike has the most INSANELY cute puppets you've ever seen. They remind me of the Mr. Rogers puppets. All they do is dance--they don't talk. They dance to mostly classic rock and oldies, which is fun. They also give each other a high five and/or a hug whenever someone drops money in the tip jar. And if you're lucky, they'll blow you a kiss. According to the puppet bike website, the two puppets that Becky and I saw last night were Clover (an aspiring starlet, heartbreaker, and hat model) and Chock (a pirate, blues musician, and gambler). It says on Wikipedia (yes, the puppet bike is on Wikipedia!) that there are eight performers who ride the bike around the city and put on shows that generally last from 2-4 hours. I'm pretty sure it must be the best job in the whole world. Here's a clip of the puppet bike in action (though it was not taken from the show Becky and I saw):

That's Not My Name.

Every few months or so I become completely and totally obsessed with a new song. I'm in the middle of such an episode right now, and the song would be The Ting Tings's "That's Not My Name." It's CRAZY catchy. Here's the video...enjoy at your own risk!

Someone had a good time...

This is what Clara looked like approximately five minutes after we walked in the door. She spent the week with my friend Erin and her wild and crazy (but very cute) dog Tilly while I was in Iowa. Apparently Tilly wore her out because once she had had her nightime walk and subsequent treat, it was all she could do to keep her eyes open long enough to crawl up on the ottoman, sigh, and fall asleep.

All In the Family

A few snapshots from my trip to Iowa this week...

Capital building

Me, Mom, Emily, Aunt Sheri waiting to be seated for Mother's Day brunch

Uncle Bill and Dad waiting to be seated for brunch

Uncle Bill reads as Soon-ti bird-watches from the window

Giant cows

The kitties play with their favorite tassle toy

Disney autograph at the restaurant we went to for Mother's Day brunch

Aunt Sheri, Uncle Bill, and Emily pose in front of the lilac bushes

Happy Mother's Day!

I was lucky enough to get to spend Mother's Day with my mom this year. Here we are right before she stole a huge branch off of this lilac bush to take home with her. My mom and lilacs are a deadly combination. There's no telling what she'll do to get her hands on a few blooms...

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you (even though this picture of us is pretty much awful)!

To Market, To Market...

One of my favorite places in all the world is the Des Moines farmer's market. Since Iowa is one of the biggest farming states in the country, you can imagine the quality of this market. It is three city blocks long, all of which are closed off to traffic every Saturday morning from mid-May to mid-September. Thousands of people (literally) come to enjoy the music, see the arts and crafts, buy flowers of all varieties, scope out the best of the best produce, meat, cheeses, and many other confections, and of course, people-watch. Seeing as the market is only one block away from my aunt and uncle's townhouse in downtown Des Moines, this is a tradition we have no problem keeping alive every time I visit. It's something I look forward to on each excursion to Des Moines. So if you're ever in the area during the summer months, I would highly recommend stopping by the farmer's market--you won't be disappointed.

A view of the market from the east end (closest to my aunt and uncle's home). This is but a glimpse of the magnitude of this market.

There are many musical groups that perform at the market. This one played folk songs.

So much cheese, so little time...

Flowers for sale

Perhaps you would like to purchase a birdhouse church?

Roses

Yummy-looking produce

A steel drum band gets ready to perform at the west end of the market

Herbs

Working hard to sell pasta sauce

This market, unlike many others that shall remain nameless (cough, cough, cEVANSTON, cough), allows dogs. Dogs of all shapes and sizes show up...kind of like the people!

Such beautiful colors!

Little kids have fun riding the train...

...and petting the many dogs

I would never buy these. I prefer my cucumbers with burps.

Another canine market-goer

Emily enjoys a smoothie while waiting for Uncle Alan to buy Mother's Day flowers

The view walking back home

Airedale Babies!

My parent's dog, Zoe, is an Airedale terrier who we picked up when she was about this age. She's six now, but I was surfing around on YouTube, found this video, and had to share. Look at their tiny little faces! It's pretty amazing that we walked away with only one, when you think about it. The cuteness is killing me.

Today's Special

A long time ago, in a land called Kansas far far away, there was a little girl who liked to watch a show about mannequins who came to life. Today, that little girl is all grown up and found a clip on YouTube of the intro to that show. It made her feel very old and nostalgic. She had forgotten half the characters that were even in that show. And she thought there were multiple mannequins, but the intro didn't show that, so now she thinks she might have a memory problem (probably alzheimers...). She wonders to herself, "Did anyone else ever watch this show? If so, did the monster afro on the young African American woman leave them completely unfazed until now as well?"

Places to Go, Things to Sniff

Dog Park

The number one thing I'm going to miss about my neighborhood when I eventually leave will be the makeshift dog park my neighbors and I have created out of the tennis courts in the park. Eastlake Terrace is an extremely dog-friendly street. I'd say at least half of the residents on the street own one or more dogs. Naturally, everyone tends to walk their dogs in the park next to the lake, which is conviently located right across the street from my building. There are old run-down tennis courts in this park that are rarely used for playing tennis. Instead, three times a day, dogs and their people can be found socializing in the tennis courts. This has been happening for as long as I've been here (four years now), and while there may be a war between the four or five tennis players in the area and the dozens of dog-owners as to who should have rights to the courts, I have to say that I've met some of my closest friends through this medium. Jenny, Jessie, and Ruta are all tennis court pals, and there have been many others that have come and gone as well. The dogs love it as it gives them a chance to run around with each other off-leash, and the humans enjoy being outside and chit chatting with other dog-owners. I've counted upwards of 22 dogs in the tennis courts at one time, but even when the weather is at it's Chicago worst, you can still always see at least one or two dogs and owners out there every evening around 6pm. Occasionally the police will get a bee in their bonnet that they should start ticketing people for having their dogs off-leash in an area that's not an official City of Chicago dog park, but it never lasts for long. The residents of Eastlake Terrace continue to prevail with their makeshift dog park and it's one of the things that makes Rogers Park worth living in. We may not have lots of boutiques, restaurants, or nightlife within walking distance, but we've got a strong Midwestern community of neighbors and personally, I think that's even better.

Weird [and awesome] Chicago

Last night, nine friends and I went on a Weird Chicago tour as a continuation of my birthday. We were supposed to go the weekend of my birthday, but the tour sold out too quickly and not everyone who wanted to go got tickets. So we moved it back. The tour was the Devil in the White City tour, and let me just take a minute right now to tell you that if you have not read this book, you MUST READ IT. It is absolutely fantastic and pulls you in like you wouldn't believe. The book tells the dual stories of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago, an enormous world's fair for which the city practically built a smaller city within itself (our tour guide said that if we get the Olympics in 2016, even that will be nothing next to what the city did to host the fair in 1893), along with H.H. Holmes who was one of the country's first serial killers and lured fair-goers into his "Murder Castle" by telling them it was a hotel conviently located close to the fairgrounds. I'd been wanting to go on a Devil in the White City tour for some time, so I was thrilled when I saw this one as part of the Weird Chicago tour repetoir. We had a great time, saw some awesome sights, learned much interesting and disturbing information (i.e. nearly half the population of the entire country came to Chicago in 1893 to attend the fair...and estimates run as high as 200 as to the number of people Holmes may have killed at the Murder Castle), and even got a bonus ghost tour at the Congress hotel. You know me, I'm down with anything involving ghosts (Brooke may have even gotten a picture of one!). This is one of the many things I love about Chicago--there is so much history and so many interesting places that make up this city. It's amazing to think about what many of these buildings have seen over their lifetimes. Here are some pics from the evening.

Our group (minus Ruta and Rachel), getting ready to board the bus outside the Hard Rock Cafe.

Everyone's excited!!

Ann and Becky get ready for the ride.

The Museum of Science and Industry, which was the Palace of Fine Arts at the World's Columbian Exposition, is the only building from the fair that is still left in Chicago. In 1893, fair-goers took gondolas to the front entrance (this view is what they would have seen--now the front entrance is on the other side).

Frederick Olmsted's Wooded Island, created for the fair, is still alive and well. It resides behind the Museum of Science and Industry, and it is absolutely gorgeous.

Brooke poses for a picture on the Wooded Island.

One of the original lampposts from the fair is still standing outside the Wooded Island.

This statue is a replica of the 65-foot-high Republic by Daniel Chester French, one of the fair's main emblems (French's best known-work is the statue of Lincoln in the Lincoln Memorial). The statue of the Republic that was at the World's Columbian Exposition was gilded in gold and dwarfed all other statues and sculptures at the fair. The original Republic succumbed to fire in 1896, but in 1918, French was commissioned to make a smaller model to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fair. This statue was only 24-feet-high and gilded in bronze. It was restored in 1992, in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the fair. I can tell you that 24-feet-high still seems enormous when you're standing next to it. I can't imagine it being nearly three times that size. There is a plaque in front of it that reads:

THE REPUBLIC - JACKSON PARK
Gilded bronze sculpture by Daniel Chester French
Base by Henry Bacon
Originally dedicated 1918
To Commemorate the twenty-fifth anniversary of the 1893 World's Columbian Exposition
This permanent reproduction by the artist marks
The site of the World's Fair Administration Building
Restored 1992
Chicago Park District
B.F. Ferguson Fund, Art Institute of Chicago
Rededicated by Mayor Richard M. Daley
To initiate a Celebration
Of the 100th Anniversary of the Chicago World's Fair