Naperville Is A Far Away Land

Being at Allan's going away party at his home in faaaar off Naperville only reaffirmed that it really is such a small world. It's so surprising who knows who. Forget six degrees of separation it's more like one or two - especially if you went to school or know someone who went to either Lane Tech or U of I and are asian.

I also found out this interesting tidbit: Dave told us his old college roommate, Kevin from the Oglesby 1 days, is the brother of Patrick Stumph, lead singer of Fall Out Boy! (Yup I know he goes by Patrick Stump. He removed the h for pronounciation reasons). Craziness! Especially if you've ever known Kevin, you'd know what an interesting contrast this is.

Should I Be Worried?

Today I received this email:

Your Yahoo! ID is: XXXXXXXXX
Your password for this account has recently been changed. You don't
need to do anything, this message is simply a notification to protect
the security of your account.

Please note: your new password may take awhile to activate. If it
doesn't work on your first try, please try it again later.

Only thing is, I have never changed my password. I don't really use my Yahoo email account so I'm not too concerned about that. I'm more worried about my Yahoo Music Service b/c my credit card info might be stored in that account. Eek! Since the email said the new password would take some time to activate, I tried to login to both accounts to see if I could still access it using the "old" password and then change it to something new. But it's too late - the new password is already in effect . It's not like there's a Yahoo phone number to call either so I have to do everything through on-line forms. The heck? I want an answer now!
What complicates things is that I've got some viruses on my computer I can't seem to get rid of. Part of me is paranoid that one of them is the kind of virus that records keystrokes or something. I've stopped accessing my financial accounts and paying bills on this computer for a while now... What to do, what to do?

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There is WAY too much drama on Chase Avenue! Friggin' soap opera I tell ya.

A Love / Hate Relationship

Oh, Chicago. Where else could I do this in a day: Iraqtile Dysfunction at Second City, a Superdawg lunch, the Pompeii exhibit at the Field Museum, a Mini-Mix of Garrett's Popcorn, Femmegems in Marshall Fields on State, and The Walnut Room.

However this is ridiculous: total spent on parking $47!!!

Cole Rise

Can I say "WOW"?
Photo: relocationist by Cole Rise aka antimethod on flickr.
Visit his personal site for his photos in supersized format.

Surreal.

It's Amazing What A Little Sun Does

Best things about today:
Looking at my WeatherBug and seeing 69F. Going outside with a light jacket. Feeling hot with the aforementioned jacket. Watching Jawon run free around the hospital playroom as soon as his IV tubes were removed. Chasing Jawon with the yellow booties he refused to wear. Toni asking me "Where did you get those cute shoes!". Driving down the Kennedy with my windows open and music blasting. All the people dressed in green getting their St. Patty's Day celebrations on down in Lincoln Park. Picking up a coconut tapioca freeze from Joy Yee's. Long conversations on the phone. Having all the windows open in the house. Napping to the summer sounds of cars passing and kids laughing because the windows were open. Realizing it is not so dark anymore at 6pm. Finally watching Motorcycle Diaries.

The best thing today - my uncle's application for a visa has finally gotten processed after 17 years so cousins may soon be coming over from the muthaland. This is so very cool for me because it has only been me, my sister and my parents in the US my entire life. I might finally have some family here.

Fine Art Photography 101

This site is an EXCELLENT resource for anyone interested in Fine Art Photography. It's got pages and pages of images from the masters (think Avedon, Arbus) as well as equally mindblowing work from "newer" photogs like Hugo. Links galore and striking photographs presented simply and effectively. Best viewed in full screen mode.

10 Bucks Goes a Long Way

...when you're shopping in Argyle. I headed over there yesterday to get some genmai cha tea (brown rice tea) from Tai Nam and of course I have to pick up some goodies at Chiu Quon Bakery. With 10 dollars I got 2 pork buns, 2 sweet top bean paste buns, 3 bean paste cakes, 6 sticky rice balls, and a tray of rice cakes. So this morning I enjoyed the spoils.

Dude Tai Nam's like Joy Yee's - it's one of those places where you know you're going to run into someone from high school or college shopping with their family, or at least their tiny asian grandma. And they fit a lot of merchandise in a teeny tiny space. Only in asian stores are you going to find obscure things like artichoke and bittermelon tea. The foodie in me can spend way too much time in these places. Well I would have yesterday if I wasn't followed by a creep that worked there. Talk about aggressive, he kept tailing me throughout the store and even whispered hello in my ear as he was walking by. Eek! I attract winners I tell ya. But anyways...grocery shopping (usually) makes me happy. :)

It's Time For Some Color

@ the Garfield Conservatory. Spring can't come fast enough...