August 26, 2002

Today is the day to tarry forth in Shropshire, guv'nor.

Four Unrelated Things

1. Thanks to Chad Stevens and Andy Knight, my two new best friends in the world, for being good and funny sports. You may recall this question I posed to Lindsay Roberts*n on Friday which, despite her talents, completely stymied her. Fortunately, Chad and Andy went to bat:
Now, make some of the occupation jokes about:
* Truck drivers
* Lighthouse keepers
* Xerox repairmen
* Dog groomers
* Television news anchors
Chad Stevens' input:
*Truck drivers do it on the road.
* Lighthouse keepers do it for all the world to see. ... with 10,000,000 candlepower.
* Xerox repairmen do it when you need to reproduce, over and over again.
* Dog groomers do it with doggy style.
* TV news anchors do it at 5, 6, and 11.(with weather and sports at the half hour)

Andy Knight's input:
* Truck drivers do it with their long haul.
* Lighthouse keepers do it for the world to see
* Xerox repairmen do it do it do it
* Dog groomers do it with your pets
* Television news anchors do it but pass it off to cub reporters to finish it
*Cub Reporters do it in the field

2.Today is the day that I fulfill my summer goal and meet Paul Konerko. I'm really excited, but also sort of dreading it because thus far I haven't had a record of being 'completely smooth' around celebrities (or semi-famous people that I dig.) If it goes right, in the few seconds or so that I have with him, I believe I'll wow him with my looks (even though he arguably looks like he could be my brother), dazzle him with a brief comment that reveals both my sense of humor and my interest in baseball. And then we'll hang out after the game. But more likely I'm going to say "Hi," maybe "How are you" if I'm really good, and then descend into monosyllables or perhaps even complete nonsense. I'll steal a page from Neal Pollack's book: if you send me a brief fan fiction paragraph on how Paul Konerko's and my encounter will, or should go, I'll put it up on Thursday.

3. Three cheers for Redmoon Theater and their unbelievable performance of "Nina" in Humboldt Park. Their take on Chekov's "The Seagull" reminded me of an Edward Gorey painting, with unbelievable and off-beat costumes, the props, those mobile and stationary were all curiosities unto themselves and the music was peculiar and beautiful. I don't believe that I've ever been to an outdoor play before and the weather was perfect. I loved how whenever the music stoppd, South American music wafted across the park and created background music.

4. A brief interlude on Evanston:
Some might describe Evanston, IL as a suburb or a college town. Neither exactly would be incorrect: it is a town directly outside Chicago and it is home to Northwestern University. There is a lot to be said for Evanston but sometimes I take it for granted. But on Saturday I was driving up Lincoln to pick my dear friend Clara (she is Clara, you are not) and I had to marvel at how beautiful a town it can be, and it's not the charming deep South, nor is is the fancy suburbs of New York. But the houses were large, the lawns big and green and the trees hung over the street in a balcony that made the distance a lovely hazy blue. It was a perfect summer evening.

Gooey huh? But you get those summer moments about once a year and I had to share.