12/31/2008

Holy Sweet Fucking Jesus, I Hardly Ever Go This Long Without Posting!...

Since I last left you:
  • The morning after I made the video, Megan and I drove down to Chicago. I knew the weather was going to be snowy and shitty and it was. It was okay until just north of Grand Rapids. Roads were partially snow covered and getting worse the further south we went. I was behind a semi in the left lane, when all of a sudden he started braking quickly. Anyone who has driven in the snow understands those split-seconds where you are gripping the steering wheel wondering whether you are going to hit someone, get hit, or go off into the ditch. Luckily we barely avoided a collision and I did some white-knuckle driving for the next hundred and fifty miles or so. Once we got into the Chicago area, the snow was getting thick and slippery, even for a 4WD vehicle.
  • We had intended to stay at my sister's, but a sick three-year-old made us reconsider and stay at my mom's. We spent Christmas Eve & Day in the suburbs with family. It was pretty laid back. I avoided church completely. Some of the foods I had consumed to this point included: Portillo's Italian Beef and a Chocolate Cake Milkshake, Uncle Pete's Swedish Meatballs, Godiva Chocolates, Aunt Leona's Sour Cream Coffee Cake, and countless Christmas cookies.
  • Friday, Megan got to go to a mall (something she never gets to do up here) with no rushing from an annoying boyfriend asking when we could leave. She bought a bunch of stuff and I didn't have to go. It was a win-win. Later that night we ditched the truck, checked into the Palmer House and had dinner with friends.
  • Saturday we had Christmas with my dad, step-mom, and aunt. We took the train from the city. I know a lot of you may disagree, but I fucking love public transportation, especially if the places you're going are easily accessible. It came in really handy a bunch of different times. After we got back to the city, we walked a few blocks to Pizano's (even though we weren't hungry) and got some deep-dish pizza and beers.
  • Sunday I got to go to The Mutiny, a great dive-bar on Western Ave. in Chicago. My friend, Guido, watches most games there. Their gigantic urinal is pictured above. Even though the suck-ass fucking Bears lost, it was fun, especially for me, someone who misses watching his team with like-minded fans. I drank lots of Pabst and ate a bunch of free brats. Then we met the girlfriend/wives at a bar in Andersonville, a Swedish neighborhood on the north side. I had some good schnitzel at a German place for dinner before we called it a night.
  • Monday we decided to relax and not do anything specific. We walked over to "The Bean" and watched people. Then we walked up Michigan Ave. and had a couple beers at the top of the Hancock. Later we met blog friends at Club Lago. It was a lot more intimate than last year's get-together, but any chance to see fellow bloggers is always enjoyable. Grant then gave us a ride back to our hotel.
  • The drive home yesterday was clear until we got to around Manton when visibility was shit and we had to slow way down. We got home around 6:00 and I had an F to the mother fucking P (frozen pizza). Today I was a lazy slug and watched movies and drank beer.
I was so overwhelmed by the number of new posts you all have written since I've been away that I just breezed through them. I will try to get caught up and start commenting again. The following is one of THE most boring videos I've made to date. I strongly advise you don't watch it unless you have time you are comfortable sparing and aren't offended by extreme acts of dorkitude.



Happy New Year, Everyone!

19 comments:

SkylersDad said...

It is good to see you again Chris, and I hope you have a wonderful New Year!

bubbles said...

I was wondering when someone would mention the blogger get together! I posted about my "almost" trip. Based on the travel fiascos I have heard about in the last 24 hours, including my kids', it is probably for the best I didn't.

Happy New Year, Some Guy & Megan!!

RandyLuvsPaiste said...

Hey Vikki-

"The Missouri Quarters Are Here!"

(pardon the inside joke)

All apologies,

Randy

Cormac Brown said...

Damn, one of my Facebook friends put Portillo's in my brain and just when I forgot about it...

At any rate, Happy New Year Chris and Megan!

Some Guy said...

Cormac- The truth is, there are better Italian Beef places than Portillo's around Chicago, but they have a lot of locations and I just happened to be close to one of them. Don't get me wrong, they have great beef, but there are some small places that have better.

will said...

I guess that's the Big Boy urinal. Them walls are sure decorated with some bad water!

Cheer34 said...

Happy New Year

Morgan the Muse said...

Hey, sounds like you had a... time. :D Happy New Year to you! Glad you made it there and back home in one piece.

Dr. Monkey Von Monkerstein said...

Happy new year Chris and Meagan.

Miss Alex said...

You too some guy you too!!!

Anonymous said...

That urinal looks like the Crypt Keeper's bathtub.

Whiskeymarie said...

I watched most of that video and enjoyed it in an odd way. Yes, I'm a dork too.

Happy New Year- jealous that you got to go to the Drysdales. Maybe next year, and maybe if I actually win an award...

Sans Pantaloons said...

Happy New Year Megan and Chris!

This video inspired me to rake around in my drawers. I found:
South Carolina & Maryland P
Virginia & Rhode Island D
Tennessee & Illinois D

Any good to anyone?

Anonymous said...

Welcome back Chris! I missed you! (i mean, really missed you, if you catch my drift)...

Cora said...

HAPPY NEW YEAR, CHRIS!

(and, as for the dorkitude, I'm pretty sure I just beat your ass there - I just spent an hour gluing yarn dreadlocks on a Strawberry Shortcake Doll to turn it into Jack Sparrow for no reason. Mm-hmm. Of course, now he's Jack Sparrow in a mini skirt, so I guess that means I'll be sewing a pirate outfit next. Damn, dorkitude rocks, huh?!) :-)

Micgar said...

Happy New Year Chris! Sounds like you had some great food and great times in your travels!

Scope said...

Portillo's - I'm an Italian combo guy. Dry. Mozzarella. Sweet peppers. And they have better fries than say, Ricobene's.

Pizano's isn't bad, either. I hit that for lunch every month or two. Never had their deep dish pizza.

A dive bar on Western Ave you say? Really?

What German joint did you hit?

And I like the Bean. From where I used to work, I could watch them build it from my desk.

Leonesse said...

Love the blog title. You can't beat my dry spells, though.

Danial Robart said...

That's good to see again chris, keep sharing.

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