Wow, that last blog entry got more responses than I've ever had before. Let's see, what's the pattern? OK, I listed other blogs and mentioned a writer. Well then, here is a the blog of that rich woman who bought her way onto the International Space Station and proclaimed herself "Ambassador to Space." Presently, I'm reading Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie. Discuss...

This weekend was pretty hectic because Clare's parents came to visit. It's nice when people visit Chicago because you get the chance to do touristy stuff you wouldn't normally do. We went to the Museum of Science and Industry for example.

We also went on a walking tour with the Chicago Architecture Foundation. The theme was Art Deco buildings. Clare and I had taken this tour previously, but this time it wasn't as good.

First off, we were supposed to get a discount because we are members of the Chicago Bike Federation. They claimed to know of any discount, so they just gave us the senior discount which we would have gotten because of Clare's Parents anyway!

The docent walked really fast which made it difficult for our senior guests. To make things worse, she started making stuff up during the tour. Nothing big, but she had a lot of crack-pot theories: Like the reason sun patterns appeared in some of the designs was because the buildings were built around the same time tans came in style for the rich. She also said that the "Robber Barons" were making heir money in the 1920s. She seemed to have very little sense of history. She also said that the reason some of the buildings had ornate sidewalks was because when people were huddled up against the cold in the winter, they would know where they were by the pattern on the ground. Apparently, wearing heavy winter clothing causes you to lose the ability to look up. Eventually, she actually ditched us! We were too slow and she took off running down the street with the rest of the group. So here's a big FUCK YOU to the Chicago Architectural Foundation for giving us such a shitty docent.

Overall, the visit from the "in-laws" was very pleasant.

Regardless of this, Clare has given me permission to make fun of her father. He's bit of an insomniac and kept us up all night poking around the condo. In the middle of the night, we could hear him opening and closing the back door and various closet doors. One night I think he was trying to disassemble the icemaker in the freezer. Either that, or he was so fascinated by the fact that we have a fridge that dispenses ice, he felt the need to dispense ice to himself all night long.


More on this when I get the pictures developed.

Updates

Changes are a brewin' here at the CitizenNick Word center. I'll say no more. Just be ready when they come. I'll say no more.

I would like to point out two new links I've added to my links section.

First, I have my friend Salma with her blog. Much more personal and popular than mine. If all goes well, I'll be teaching Salma how to ride a bike in the coming months. I'm sure there will be cross-blog action.

Also, there is the blog Shockingly Provincial by an old high school friend of mine. Rich is pretty funny. He also introduced me to the works of Harry Harrison, so that's gotta count for something (I'm afraid I only read The Stainless Steel Rat).

You'll also notice that I'm not keeping track of my word count this month. I just don't feel like it. Maybe next month.

Abysmal!!

Seriously, I'm so disappointed with my word count last month. I guess I can site here and make excuses, but who would want to read that? Seriously, I'll just pick up this month and try to do a little better. I've gotten one challenger, my friend Felix. I don't think he has a blog, so I'm not sure how he plans to show me up.

Anyway, here are my pictures from the Farnsworth house from a while back. This may confuse people since I went to the Farnsworth House before I went to Madison, but I posted those other pictures first. OH, well. If you don't like how I'm running things, get your own damn Blog.

A particularly scenic section of the Fox River Trail.

A batch of Scott's world-famous brownies to anyone who can guess in what town this picture was taken.

You'll be happy to know I made as many jokes about throwing stones as possible.

Little know fact that the previous owners died from inhaling Windex fumes.

Here is a picture of the tour guide listing the things that you should not tell Mies van der Rohe.


Mies/ Frank Update:

For those of you that remember when I wrote about the Farnsworth house I made a joke about Frank Lloyd Wright. Well, Clare and I were on the Logan Square House Walk this weekend. The docent of one of the houses was telling us the history of the house and he said about the year the house was built, "This was about the same time Frank was around doing his thing." We busted out laughing right in his face, but he kept going on about the style of the house. Mind you this house was in no way designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. In fact, he brought up "Frank" to illustrate how this particular house was not like a Wright house, but He never added the "Lloyd Wright" while referring to him.

Point is, I guess I was wrong about referring to Frank Lloyd Wright as "Frank." Apparently, that's completely acceptable.

Happy Birthday Wayne!

I just wanted to give a shout out and and say happy birthday to my friend Wayne Allen Sallee. Above is a picture I drew of Wayne getting hit over the head with a stick. The reason is a long story and possibly lost to time. Anyway, Wayne's a nice guy and a great writer, so go check out his blog and buy his new book.