The Second Coming

Things have fallen apart. I haven't updated you, our captive audience, in a while. School has taken my soul and mind in full anarchy and will continue to do so for some time. But I used the Elder Pledge to briefly subdue the havoc in order to write this post and watch the new episodes of How I Met Your Mother.

But I derail.

Now that you have gotten to know the main crew (the shot-callers) you are going to meet the shipmates (the ballers). These are the people who we like but not enough to actually live with. Just kidding, we love them! They don't pay rent (it's all about dem Benjamins), but they basically live here and need to be introduced. I'm sure there will be other introductions to come.

Luke from Dorsey, Illinois frequently teaches us simpletons here at the vineyard about his favorite magical turn on (e.g. chemistry). When he dances some say he throws sexy away (recycles, actually) then brings it back, while his signature dance move is something on the lines of futuristic folk juke. Luke loves Jesus so much (he should just marry him), but what he can't stand are posers. So if you're a poser, you better watch your back - Luke took the intro class to krav maga.

Sam from Las Vegas, Nevada can't tell the difference between a caffè crema or caffè Medici but she can tell you the difference between Ke$ha's and Iggy Azalea's lyrical rap styles. She enjoys giving haircuts in exchange for your life baked vegan goods, but don't get her started on the socio-historical implications of cityscape meandering.

Amra from Bosnia/Chicago is the type of person you go to when you try and do the Cat Daddy in public and then you fall on your face because you don't tie your shoes because that would be uncool. She enjoys potatoes with mysterious "white cheese", but disregards those who question her ability to read kids' minds with her invention of the puzzle box. Now that she has a new job, if you ask she might lawyer you. 

 

Marvin from Texas loves sprinting along Lake Michigan and if you stalk him long enough, he'll probably do it shirtless. On most days he spends his time trying to solve the problem education for under privileged zombie children, but during his free time he loves to drink muscle milkshakes and sing along to classics such as "Ohio is for Lovers" and "Midnight Train to Georgia". He'll probably leave his backpack at your house, tell a joke, make everyone in the room laugh but then immediately question the ethics of said joke, and he also owes me 35 cents, just saying.

Marcus from Crown Point, Indiana absolutely hates how we don't finish things at the vineyard (e.g. leaving two Oreos in the box). Stories of his trials and Trybula-tions could make angry cat roll over in hysterical laughter and, on occasion, expel a single tear. Marcus can be made fun of for his signature epithets (sassaphrass out the assaphrass) or his ability to wear clothes until they are literally falling apart. Unofficially, he majors in analytic woodworking with a specialty in eclectic door tables.

Josh from New Lenox, Illinois has probably programmed our minds to enjoy his witty banter, but we don't take offense (or do we). Josh's most loved and most hated earthly entity is bacon. Nowadays, he could be found sipping sophisticated scotch, but in high school I heard he was having an affair with Mrs. Jager, the gym teacher. Josh is also unofficially majoring in esoteric woodworking with an interest in bookshelf doors.

That's it. Don't hold your breath for more.

Your humble spiritus mundi,

Beka

Second Fridays in Pilsen: Elysia and Harriett Dip into Hipster-land

On Friday, Elysia and I went to Pilsen for an event called Second Fridays. On the second Friday of every month, a number of art galleries and showrooms in east Pilsen are open to the public for free. The idea grew out of a failed outing to a food truck rally downtown. The story there is (not that) good, so of course I'll tell it.

I've never been to a food truck, largely because the food truck craze was just picking up when I left for Italy last summer. Just the idea of food being cooked on a truck would probably send a lot of Italians to their graves in shock. Anyways, I've never been to a food truck, so I wanted to go. We waited for the bus to go downtown for at least a half-hour (probably more) as impatient passengers started piling up at the bus stop. When the bus finally arrived, we were informed that the delays were caused by the upcoming Chicago Marathon (which of course makes perfect sense, given that the race is a huge event and security has increased after Boston.) Elysia and I stuck out the wait and the packed bus ride, dreaming of the great food we were going to eat once we arrived at the rally.

The rally, of course, was scheduled to end at 8 PM. We arrived at 7:52 because of our delay, and the food truck rally was closed. So, bummer, we didn't get to eat any truck food. CTA mishaps are old news but I thought I'd tell that part of the story anyways.

Now, on to the good part of the evening:

I didn't recognize the part of Pilsen we were in when we first arrived. Granted, I haven't been to Pilsen in over a year and when I have gone there, it's been there for the Mexican History museum and the burritos. It wasn't just the lack of Mexican restaurants, but the crowd was noticeably different as well. I said to Elysia at one point during the evening that the people-watching was almost as good as the art. I really wish I'd have taken pictures of all the mustaches and that guy with the chihuahua in his purse. As Elysia put it, "I feel like I'm at a really artsy frat party"

Strangely, these 5 or 6 blocks we walked in Pilsen reminded me a lot of the South Wedge, a neighborhood in Rochester near where I grew up. The South Wedge is also going through a phase of gentrification, installing more up-scale boutiques, restaurants, and shops in recent years. There was  even a fancy chocolate shop, Chocolat, just like Hedonist back home in the South Wedge.

And even though I didn't get any photos of the great crowd, I did capture some of the weird art. Excuse the poor quality, these were taken with my cell phone. (which is not one of those iPhone gadgets all you kids have these days)

Ok as you've probably realized by now all of my photos are of these futuristic manikin things that were in the gallery windows. Sorry, but I really liked them.

Here's a picture of some performance art:

Performers walked around a bar for 3 hours at a pace of 50 beats/minute

There was another performance inside which involved transferring water one spoonful at a time to 6 different bowls on a table. I felt weird taking a picture of that one though. I felt less weird with the performers above, probably because they were blindfolded and behind a window. I still felt pretty weird though.

Girl and the Goat in Photos

Kathleen mentioned the Girl and the Goat in her most recent post, and in lieu of writing a real post (because I'm about to go grocery shopping and tackle a game theory problem set), I have a short photo essay.

Located in the West Loop, Girl and the Goat is the kind of place that requires reservations weeks in advance (at least), even for the odd dinner times on weekdays. Its claim of fame revolves it dazzling dishes, chef Stephanie Izard (who was the winner of Top Chef in its fourth season), and actual goat on the menu. With eight of us at dinner, we had just enough people to split an entire goat leg, but eight different plates that we shared.

I didn't manage to snap a picture of everything we ate, but here is a small selection. Dishes not pictured include escargot ravioli, tuna with a watermelon relish, and something with butternut squash that also featured a mushroom ragu. (Also, photo uploading messed up the quality of the photos. They look much better in iPhoto - I promise!)

Falafel Salad

Bread, possibly the tomato variety.

Wood Oven Roasted Pig Face

Goat Leg (with six different dipping sauces, hard boiled eggs, naan, fried scallions)

Beka wrote on Facebook: "The girls ate all the goat." This is actually not true, but we did eat a lot of it.

Group picture!

Leftovers turned into dinner. Clockwise from top left: G&G broccoli dish, goat, and homemade cornbread.

Etsy

Hey everyone! I recently opened up shop on Etsy to help generate attention for my work (and to make some revenue), so I would be delighted if you would go check it out! (shop kq exclusive) There isn't too much stuff on it yet, but it will be updated regularly as soon as things have been made, so check back often.

In other news, school has started for everyone in this apartment except for me (HA! perks of graduating early). I imagine they're all having fun in the libraries or something. I'm still doing not schoolwork and still being creative all day. I have to say, that's much more fun than doing a problem set. Recently, we all went to Girl and the Goat for dinner, which was a fun trip. We got a goat leg there, which was much bigger than we expected so we of course had leftovers to take home.

Other than that, we have done very little, including not blogging at all. I assume everyone in Boyer's Vineyard is still alive and well, but as I haven't been there in a while, I'm not entirely certain of this. I shall have to visit soon to ascertain this. Perhaps even today! I do have to go obtain some jars from there so I can make strawberry jam...

That's another thing - Beka, Luke, and I have discovered Stanley's Fruits and Vegetables by the Container Store (one of the best stores ever) which sold 8 boxes of strawberries for a dollar. ONE DOLLAR!! So now three boxes are in my freezer waiting to be turned into jam since I couldn't eat them fast enough. But that's a great store.

Oh, and Elysia has become a very important person on campus by being a Student Director for Orientation. Although school has started so maybe she's less important now. I'm not too sure. She could still be very important.

Go buy stuff from my Etsy store :) (here)