Let's Play Two!

I've been incommunicado for the past month because July was remarkably uneventful. I've spent my days going to the gym, watching the Tour de France, and preparing Lori's lunches. The one event I have to look forward to each week is my softball game. However, my inability to transfer my meager baseball skills to the 16 inch version of the game has made this weekly event rather tortuous. In my first game I broke the cardinal sin of outfielding by taking a few steps in on a couple of fly balls. After taking these steps forward, unable to accurately judge the ball's trajectory, they inevitably sailed over my head. When I finally caught one my teammates responded with the sincere and overly-enthusiastic cheers that are usually reserved for competitors in the Special Olympics.

Even more frustrating than my level of play are the people who take the game way too seriously. These are the people who show up to the field with eye black, Oakley sunglasses, batting gloves carefully situated in the back pocket of their pinstriped baseball pants, and various assortments of wrist and forearm bands. On the Nyack Indians such players are referred to as Baseball Dicks; guys who take the greatest pains to make sure they look the part of a baseball player. However seeing as how this term doesn't apply to my new sport, I've taken to calling them Soft Dicks. Between the Soft Dicks and my chronic inability to get a hit with runners in scoring position, softball hasn't been quite the carefree activity I'd hoped it would be.

However, with the Yankees coming to town last weekend, I finally had something to look forward to other than softball. I travelled to the Southside on Thursday to see the Bombers square off against the White Sox, yet before doing so I warmed up with a Cubs day game at Wrigley. With 18 innings of baseball, six bars, and a bike crash, I figured this day was worthy of recounting in detail. So what follows is an account of my day of baseball and booze.

10:30 am - I leave my house and get on my bike to make the 2 mile ride to Wrigley.

10:32 - I run back up the three flights of stairs to my apartment to rilfle through my medicine cabinet. I find the medicine bottle containing roughly 50 immodium capsules. Generally speaking I'll drop a deuce just about anywhere, be it the porta-potties at a musical festival or the woods on the side of the Saw Mill Parkway. However, if I'm going to be drinking and eating to excess all day, I'd rather not have to make an emergency use of the facilties at Wrigley or US Cellular Field. For some reason I draw the line at deuces in ballparks. So I decide to err on the side of caution and pop four preemptive pills and put the rest of the bottle in my backpack.

10:45 - I ride into Wrigleyville and I get a text from my friend Jackson informing me that he is still 10-15 minutes away. Our plan was to get to the bleachers around 11 o'clock so as to save seats for Jackson's father and our friend Jeffrey. With the prospect of paying exhorbitant beer prices for a full two hours before first pitch, I decide its prudent to get a good buzz going before reaching the bleachers. I sit down at Sluggers and promptly order the special of the day (a Jim Beam and Coke) and an Old Stlye tall boy.

10:50 - Jackson texts me to inform that he has arrived sooner than expected and is waiting for me outside the Bleacher's entrance. I chug both the Beam and Coke and the Old Style, and I immediately regret the fact that I didn't eat breakfast.

10:53 - The bartender informs me that to pay with credit card I must spend a minimum of 20 dollars. Rather then pay cash, I order two shots of Jameson to push my bill to 22 dollars.

10:55 - I'm momentarily blinded by the sunlight after emerging from the dank and dim bar. I've always had a fondness for that sensation. Its almost as if the sunlight and my blood alcohol content combine to give me a kind of giddiness that can only come with day drinking (or morning drinking as the case may be).

11:00 - I meet Jackson on the corner of Sheffield and Addison. He tells me that the Bleachers are filling up slower than usual. This affords us the opportunity to drink some more outside of the stadium before heading in to save seats. We buy a six pack of Old Stlye tall boys and a pint of Beam and make our way to his friend's house around the corner so we can drink on his stoop. Jackson grew up in the cornfields of Iowa and has a wholesome look to him that you would expect of an Iowa farmboy. You would certainly not expect him to collaborate on one of the raunchiest hip-hop albums of all time. But alas he is indeed partially responsible for the smash single "Crazy-Ass Nympho with Daddy Issues." This song is so catchy it immediately replaced the "Go Cubs Go" as the song on constant loop in my head. Download it (track nine) for free here and give it a listen.

11:30 - As we talk Hawkeye football, I reach into the bag for my third beer only to discover that Jackson has lapped me. He claims that he needed to catch up, citing my two shots of Jameson, but I vow never to allow him to lap me again nonetheless.

12:10 - In certain circles Cubs fans have a reputation of being short on baseball intelligence and passion. Their detractors claim that Cubs fans are only interested in getting drunk and working on their tans. This stereotype is fueled by the frat-type environment that the bleachers produce. I'm excited to take part in this party atmosphere, so I'm dismayed when as many as three families take seats in our immediate vicinity. After the guy in front of me makes an off-color remark concerning the size of Carlos Lee's ass, the mother behind me instructs her daughter to "forget everything you hear today." However, I'm confident that as the game wears on and my inhibitions come under increasing attack, I'll be less concerned with offending the families. With my buzz making a swift transition to full-on drunkeness, I pray that I can just avoid making my "Can I take a picture of your kids, they'd look great on my web-site" joke (What's interesting about this joke is that parents never seem to find it quite as funny as I do. I guess all I can do is wait for the time when it is socially accepatable to joke about child pornogaphy).

12:50 - A trio of drunken white high-school students plop down in front of us. I immediately get the feeling that the bleacher creatures will antagonize these kids far more viciously than they will Lee, the Astro's leftfielder.

1:05 - Sure enough, the drunk high-school kids attempt to razz Lee, immediately drawing the ire of those around them. Its not so much the razzing that bothers the crowd but rather the manner in which the razzing is being conducted. The main kid, let's call him Ferris (for he is toting a cute girl and an oafish looking friend), is yelling at Lee, in Spanish, with an annoyingly high-pitched squeal. Are they teaching this kind of smack talk in AP Spanish these days? I wouldn't be surprised, what with the infusion of Latin ball players in the MLB since I graduated from high school.

1:15 - The shrieking Spanish smack talk continues.

1:20 - As the crowd grows increasingly restless with these kids, Jackson leans over and offers them some sage advice. He suggests that there are still 8 innings to go and that they may want to consider conserving some energy.

1:21 - Jackson's advice goes unheeded.

1:45 - The shrieking continues.

1:55 - Eating my first brat of the day, I compliment the Abe Froeman impostor on the quality of his encased meats.

2:15 - Security comes to see why Ferris and his crew are so rowdy. While escorting the intoxicated youths out, the security guard notices a bulge in Jackson's pocket. He confiscates the Beam that we had been saving for after beer sales ended and Jackson's double-header is immediately in jeopardy.

2:20 - Jackson's father is forced to vouch for his son so he can remain in the stadium. The following conversation ensues:

"Is this your son?"

"Yes."

"Are you gonna keep him in line?"

"Of course! I'm gonna whup the sh*t out of him when we get home! I can't believe he bought that swill. He should have tried to sneak in something better than Beam."

2:30 - With the Beam gone, we decide to intensify our beer drinking efforts before last call.

2:30 - 4:00 - With Ferris and his crew gone, the rest of the game passes without much incident. The Cubs thumped the Stro's and I broke out a great John Sterling impression "Yankees win, thhhheeeeeee Yankeeeeeeeeeessssssssss win," prompting Soriano to look up at the scoreboard, only to discover that the Yanks are playing a night game. I think I saw tear in his eye, obviously recalling his days as Jeter's double-play partner.

4:00 - 6:00 - Jackson goes to have dinner with his parents while Jeffrey and I continue to drink at a German bar in Wrigleyville called Uberstein. I drink a bunch of ubersteins and soon feel like an ubermensch.

6:00- 1:00 am - Things start to get a little fuzzy at this point. I know for a fact that A-Rod's purple lip gloss is visible from the right field foul pole, the Yankees lost a heartbreaker, and I saw more mullets at U.S. Celluar field than at the try-outs for a Saskatchewan Junior League hockey team.

So all in all, it was successful day and by far one of the highlights of my Summer. However, August should prove to be far more interesting with Lollapalooza, a Phish show, and a vacation in the works. More to come on each of these events in the coming weeks.

Can you spare me a rib?

After soliciting reader input and carefully weighing my options, I opted to forego the opportunity to fraternize with undergrads in order to stuff my face at Ribfest. I decided that the undergrads at school weren't ready for my brand of all-day quad partying. After all, I'd already blown their minds by introducing snorkeling and the bomb squad (this entails doing car, jager, cherry, and dr. pepper bombs consecutively) to a bar near campus. Furthermore, if I had gone to dance with 18 and 19 year olds on the quad, there was a strong chance that I would feel as awkward as my friend Bill or his little brother for that matter.

Having decided to attend Ribfest, I set about preparing myself both physically and mentally. That morning I opted to skip both breakfast and lunch while also taking the time to relish in the fact that for once I would not be the largest person at an event. I imagined that I would resemble a svelte, pre-teen Swedish boy in comparison to the other rib-loving festival-goers. Therefore, it came as a cruel and shocking twist of fate when I quickly realized that Ribfest is no place for those with an insatiable appetite. While making my way down the street, I noticed that the fest was not dominated by men of girth but rather by wannabe foodies and other waifs who were perfectly content to stand on impossibly long lines just to get a "sampler," a small plate of 3 or 4 ribs.

After skowering the grounds and failing to find a line that was less than 45 minutes long, my friend and I opted for the longest line possible, figuring that if we were going to have to wait, we may as well wait for ribs that were creating the biggest buzz amongst the crowd. Luckily, with two of us, we were free to drink as much beer as possible as one of us held our space in line while the other repeatedly went to refill our cups. So with this system in place the line actually turned out to be quite pleasant (As the beer runner, I was reminded that I am very much a rookie when it comes to summer festivals in Chicago, for while I was purchasing beer in chintzy 16 oz cups, there were other guys drinking from the enormous plastic steins that are distributed during Maifest. I don't know if these guys were convincing the beer vendors to fill their steins or if they were purchasing 4 or 5 beers at time and pouring those beers into the steins. However they were filling the steins, it was abundantly clear to me that I have a lot to learn when it comes to maximizing my fun at these events).

Eventually we made our way to the front of the line and promptly devoured our diminuitive portion of ribs in roughly sixty seconds. So with sixty minutes of waiting resulting in a minute of pleasure, I decided that rather than wait on another line I would instead continue to nurse the buzz I had going and make my way over to the stage where a raucous blue grass band was playing. Since I was fueled by several pints of beer and was not weighed down by a stuffed stomach, I was able to enjoy Ribfest in a way that I hadn't anticipated. I was able to engage in, not gluttony as I had assumed I would, but rather my other favorite pastime...drunken dancing. The band was particularly appreciative of my moves for up until that point other people had been too preoccupied with their ribs to cut a rug, or the concrete as it were. So while it didn't live up to my expectations with regards to the ribs, I would have to say that this festival was a resounding success and I am now excited to see what else the festival season has in store.

Summer Time...Time to Sit Back and Unwind

Before I moved to Chicago I was told that the Spring and Summer festivals make suffering through the Winter worthwhile. After being trapped inside for several months, everyone comes out en masse to attend the myriad of outdoor activities that the city plans. For example, just last weekend my neighborhood hosted "Maifest," a contrived German holiday intended to fill the coffers of my dirty alderman (The corruption of my alderman and my impending campaign to unseat him will have to be addressed at a later date). He decided that Oktoberfest is such an economic boon, why not subject the neighborhood to another raucous fest in the Spring. So all last weekend we couldn't get into our local bars because the throbbing Frat faction guzzling beers and brats spilled out of the square and into the surrounding watering holes. I know what you're thinking, "Is he complaining about a huge party? That seems rather unlike him." Well, my only response to that is that I'm equally baffled myself. To my reckoning (mourning outghn't last no longer than grief. Sorry...I couldn't resist a little NHS AP English humor for those that survived Antoine's class), the fact that I didn't get to pre-game sufficiently is what led to my cranky disposition while at Maifest. Prior to making my way over to the square, I was busy preparing two huge presentations on the origins of World War I and another on the hetero-normativity that dominates exhibits at Ellis Island. So I didn't have time to have a few drinks to put myself in an amiable mood before dealing with the crowds.

I think my aversion for the fest also stemmed from the adverse effect it had on the bums in my alley. Apparently the Spring thaw doesn't just bring out Frat revelers, but it also brings out those inclined to sit around alleys, sharing 16 oz cans of Old Style. Our alley in particular seems to attract such people due to the amenities that we offer. For example, our apartment shares its alley with a movie theater that features some comfortable concrete steps leading from its backdoor. Since the theater is closed during the day, these bums have the run of the alley, drinking with impunity, knowing that there are no employees to chase them away. My balcony overlooks these steps, and I enjoy straining to hear their conversation. I'm particularly fascinated by these bums because, aside from the fact that they are splitting a can of beer between them at 11:00 in the morning, they don't conform to your standard image of a street person. Their clothes appear somewhat clean from a distance and their goatees are carefully manicured.

Until Maifest started it didn't seem like anything could dislodge these bums from the comforts of our alley. A couple of weeks ago they hit the bum lottery when the furniture store next to the theater closed down. After holding a clearance sale, some of the items that went unsold ended up in the alley. So my friends got to trade their cold concrete slabs for a cushy sectional sofa. On my way from the EL through the alley, I spotted two of the bums fully recumbent on the L-shaped sofa. They looked happier than pigs in slop, but apparently all their worldly desires were not satiated because they still asked for some change as I passed by. Now normally this plea for charity would have moved me to rummage through my pockets, but the fact that they expected me to move across the alley and place the money in their outstretched hands while they remained comfortably laid out on the couch really irritated me. I told them I had no change, that they might have some luck by going through the cushions, and went on my way.

But my annoyance was fleeting, and I grew concerned for their comfort due to the onslaught of people during Maifest. There'd be no hope for peaceful relaxation in the alley. So I'm not sure where they ended up on this particular weekend, but I just hope they return soon.

So while the bums and I didn't enjoy Maifest to the fullest, I hope to continue to attend the various activities planned by the city to reward its citizens for braving the Winter. After doing so, I will provide the JC/Bot audience with a review of each festival. To this end, I need your help. This weekend there is actually a conflict. Ribfest is taking place in the neighborhood just south of us. Unfortunately, DePaul is also having its Spring Weekend/Spring Fling/Dolphy Day (whatever you want to call it) on the quad. So I'd like the JC/Bot faithful to weigh in with opinions as to what event I should attend. Should I stuff myself with ribs alongside some of the most obese people that the Midwest has to offer, or should I dance and twirl uncontrollably, sans shoes, on the grass with some young co-eds?

Take Me Home, Country Roads

As most of you have surely noticed I’ve haven’t been able to keep you apprised of my comings and goings for the last month. I apologize for this for this lack of communication, but I’m sure you’ll forgive me when you hear my explanation. With the start of the baseball season, I’ve been privy to witnessing quite a few Cub victories. Now, I don’t have a problem with a Cub win in and of itself. The problem arises when the final out is recorded and the entire stadium breaks into a celebratory rendition of this song. I defy you to listen to all three minutes of this tune and not have it stuck in your head for the rest of the day. When it is on a constant loop in your head for the afternoon, just be thankful that you’re not me. I haven’t been able to get this song out of my head since the season began. It’s really disturbing my study, sleep, and most importantly blogging habits. So if you have any suggestions as to how I can get this song out of my head, I’d love to hear it.

In the month since I’ve last been in contact, I’ve continued my search for a new hobby to filly my days in my new home. Unfortunately this quest hit yet another snag. I’d hoped that the new hobby would be something somewhat active, but such pursuits were compromised when Lori came down with a debilitating injury. I came home from work one night to find Lori in bed, rocking out to a re-run of an Usher performance on Saturday Night Live. Apparently she had failed to stretch prior to getting into bed, for she pulled a hamstring in the convulsive fits that pass for bed-dancing (Unfortunately this is an odd term that we must use a lot in our household. On another occasion I came home to find her once again dancing under the covers of the bed. This wouldn’t have been so bad had our new laptop not been balanced precariously on her stomach, the cheap speakers statically blaring a 30 year old Queen video that she found on Youtube).

So with an active hobby out of the question for the time being, I sought out some pursuits that were more sedentary in nature. I decided that I might try my hand at being a big buck hunter. I first became interested in this sport when helping a friend train for an up-coming tournament he was going to be participating in. By agreeing to give up a Sunday afternoon of reading about the fatal flaws of the Schlieffen plan for a trip to a bar in Wriggleyville, my friend provided unlimited wings and 22 oz Miller Lite drafts. Needless to say I was hooked on this brand of hunting immediately. However, the game quickly became more than just a Sunday Funday excuse to indulge my gluttonous nature. I found that I enjoyed picking off vast quantities of large game while tightly gripping the orange toy rifle with hot sauce-stained hands. The tournament the following week proved to be equally entertaining. Having received a predilection for big buck hunting too late to enter, I had to make the tournament interesting by running numbers amongst the spectators (Ok…so it was really just me and one other guy gambling. But our prop bets were fun nonetheless. For example, we did an over/under on the number of expletives hurled by the guy who was taking things way too seriously. We also had a bet concerning what brand of dip the winner would be packing. The finals came down to a Kodiak man shooting against a Skoal user with the Bear taking the title).

This affinity for Big Buck Hunter coincided with another new hobby, a desire to enter the world of competitive mustache growing. As a graduate college student who dropped out of the work force, I’ve rediscovered the joys of wearing my facial hair any way I want, regardless of society’s or my principal’s mores. However, while preparing to shave my beard down to my favorite go-to ‘stache, the thick handle bar, I came to a profound realization. When in New York, my mustache drew rave reviews partly because it was awesome and partly because it was ironic. However, while here in the Midwest, it would still be awesome yet it would cease to be ironic. I’d be just another hill-billy with a great mustache.

Standing in front of the bathroom mirror, with razor in hand, I suddenly had a disturbing mental image: There I was, back at the Big Buck Hunter tournament, mowing down unsuspecting wildlife, with a striking mustache and a huge wad of dip packed tightly in my lip. Was this to be my future? After all, hadn’t I just slipped up and ordered “pop” the other day at a restaurant? Didn't I tell Lori I was going to the deli to pick up "lunch meat"? It’s only been nine months! Could I be losing my East Coast roots already? This was indeed a troubling revelation. I needed something to chase this image from my head. I dropped the razor and turned to the only thing I knew that could rid me of these painful thoughts.

The Quest Continues...

It’s been awhile since I last wrote. I’ve been busy writing papers in between bouts of rigorous drinking at the various St. Patrick’s Day celebrations around Chicago over the last week and a half. However, now that I’ve turned in all my papers and the academic quarter is over, I’ve got an abundance of free time on my hands. So now more than ever it is imperative that I find a new and constructive hobby to occupy my time. So I thought I’d take this occasion to sift through and evaluate the various suggestions put forth by the loyal of readers of jc/bot.com:

Ping Pong Tournaments at the Y –

This suggestion seemed promising at first. I had a ping pong table growing up, and I’m sure I could get back into the swing of things rather quickly. The fact that I would be playing in tournaments is an added bonus in that this activity would also satiate my desire to compete. However, this plan hit a snag when a friend here in Chicago announced that he hoped to movie into a room at the local YMCA. Never mind the fact that he owns real estate across the country, he espoused the desire to live in a cheap establishment that was nonetheless rich in camaraderie amongst the boarders. Needless to say it would be exceedingly awkward to run into this ostensibly heterosexual friend while he is hanging out with his fellow Y inhabitants. Every time I turn a corner at in the building I’d be apprehensive about what I might see: a snorkel session in the hot-tub, improper and dangerous use of the pommel horse in the gym, impromptu horseplay in the steam room…

Perform During Amateur Night at a Local Strip Club -

I know what most of you are thinking. “I’ve seen him own the dance floor at ______ (fill in the blank) ‘s wedding. I bet he’d be good at this.” But I’ve been there and done that. For some reason my wedding skills don’t translate to the pole.

Beer Making –

I actually love this idea and it has crossed my mind before. However, I see some potential drawbacks to this plan. For one thing, I was not particularly adept at chemistry in high school. While Mr. Herbert stood in front of the class droning on about moles, my friends and I sat in the back of the class playing word games. I can still see the glimmer of hope flash across his face when one of us would raise our hands. You could tell he was overjoyed by the prospect of one of his students taking enough of an interest to ask a question. However, this countenance of joy would quickly turn sour as we would ask something like “Mr. Herbert, what’s a six letter word for… ” Furthermore, our apathy proved dangerous as our lax attitude toward safety led to some near-death experiences. Who knew you shouldn’t drop a flaming hot crucible into an enormous glass beaker filled with cold water? My lack of chemistry skills notwithstanding, I don’t think I possess the refined palate necessary to brew my own beer. I enjoy a fine micro-brew just as much as the next guy, but I’m just as happy drinking a Busch light can that’s been sitting out in the sun all day (While I generally do not discriminate between micro and mass produced, there is actually one genre of beer where I can skillfully detect the subtle nuances between each blend. Having living in the Bronx for several years, I consider myself a connoisseur of malt liquor. From the stinging bite of King Cobra to the soothing pastoral qualities of Country Club, I am well-versed in the premium malt liquor scene. Unfortunately I don’t think any of the home brewing kits cater to those who prefer their beers malted).

Since I was unable to zero in on one specific suggestion, I was forced to fall back on my one of my old hobbies. Today I spent the afternoon at Hawthorne Race course on the Southside. This lovely venue for horse racing (for you New Yorkers, if you imagine that Yonkers Raceway, pre-Empire City renovations, was situated between Newark airport and the industrial area off of the New Jersey turnpike you have an idea of what Hawthorne is like) proved to be entertaining not just for the handicapping but for the people watching as well. The middle-aged men wearing ill-fitting jumpsuits, chomping on cigars, and yelling at the televisions were pretty much par for the course at any track or OTB. What was particularly interesting was listening to the various children in attendance that seemed to be on their Spring break as well. While some of the kids seemed to enjoy their day at the track, rushing up to the rail to watch the horses gallop past, others seemed to be having a rougher go of it. For one, there were those kids who seemed to be at the mercy of their guardians’ gambling habits. It was sad to hear once such kid ask “Can we get lunch if you win this one?” Still others seemed to be developing the bad habits of those around them. I heard one child begging his father for an advance on his two dollar allowance because he had “a feeling about the next one!”

Listening to these forlorn kids reaffirmed my desire to find a more productive hobby. Whether it’s constructing the perfect plate of nachos (I wonder if OVI has a summer internship program) or becoming a crossword puzzle master (this seems a far way off because I frequently get stumped by the puzzle in my friend’s middle school newspaper. Of course the kids in his school don’t read the newspaper and he creates an impossibly hard crossword filled with esoteric Cleveland sports references to get back at me for beating him at Jeopardy everyday when we lived together), I appreciate the ideas. Keep the suggestions coming as I’ll most likely be trying them all during my time off from school!

Win a Date With Robbie Alomar Jr!

A few days ago we were provided with a brief respite from the harsh Chicago winter we’ve been having. With temperatures climbing into the 50’s, people flocked to the streets and parks to make the most of the clement weather. Being the diligent student that I am, I didn’t let the warm weather keep me from my studies. However, on my way to class, I saw an unfortunate group of Mexican adolescents taking turns riding one skateboard and a group of frat boys exercising their latent homo-erotic tendencies in a game of tackle football. Seeing all this rigorous activity put me into a contemplative mood.

It reminded me that when I moved here, I left behind the two entities that were single-handedly keeping me from looking like this. Of course I’m referring to my baseball and basketball teams, the state champion Indians and the 2008 Slo-Break champion Drifters. Prior to moving, my teammates made me bury my rec-specs and swear never to don them again in a ritual that was reminiscent of one of my favorite sequels of all-time. Not wanting to be forever branded a rec-league slut, I’ve faithfully kept my pledge. After all, if I went back on my word, it might result in an exceedingly awkward scene similar to this one.

However, by maintaining my chastity, I’ve been left with a huge void in my life. After watching my fellow Chicagoans enjoy the warm weather, it became painfully obvious to me that I need an activity to replace my old teams. Without these teams, my most rigorous activities consist of moving from the couch to the recliner to avoid Lori’s vacuum and walking down the street each day to see which starting line-up action figures have been put in the $1 box outside of the toy collectible store (I’ve already got quite a collection going. I hit the jackpot by finding Jose Canseco and Roberto Alomar. I’m hoping the Robbie Alomar action figure really appreciates in value once this story finally gets picked up by the mainstream media).

You would think that acquiring a new hobby would be a fairly simple endeavor. This is not the case. The problem is that my entire life has been dedicated to excelling at team sports. If you don’t count the one winter I was in the glee club, nearly every moment not spent in school was spent travelling to or participating in a team sport. Since this is now out of the question, I’m not sure what activities to pursue.

Recently I’ve dabbled in gambling on horse-racing. This seemed promising for a while. However, when I learned that Illinois Off-Track Betting parlors have liquor licenses, I quickly gave up this pursuit. To maintain some semblance of order in my life, I’ve always tried to keep my vices at a healthy distance from each other (unless of course you count the time that ABC Family inexplicably ran a Gilmore Girl’s marathon on St. Patrick’s Day, in which case it couldn’t be avoided).

After my foray into horse-racing hit a snare, I decided I needed some guidance in this quest. So I decided to consult Lori. Knowing me better than anyone else, I figured she might have some insights into an activity that would be appropriate for me. However I should have known better than to consult someone who thinks learning to discuss eczema and shingles in 4 different Eastern European languages is a fun-filled pursuit. She was very quick to make some completely absurd suggestions. She thought I might enjoy taking classes to become a notary public. While these fine men and women provide a valuable function in our society, I wasn’t too keen on the idea of rushing to join their ranks. When I scoffed at this suggestion, she quickly countered with another equally fruitless idea. She thought I might enjoy taking classes to become a hypnotist. I'm not even going to comment on that one.

So with few enticing options being put forth here in Chicago, I thought I’d enlist the help of the JohnClaytonisarobot galaxy. I’m asking that you all take the time to brainstorm and come up with some ideas as to what my new hobby/activity should be. Please post these suggestions via the comments section. I’m at a loss for ideas and your input would be greatly appreciated. In fact, I'm so desperate that the reader with the best suggestion will win a Roberto Alomar Jr. starting line up action figure still in the original packaging. Just think...this prize could prove to be your retirement nest egg if Robbie continues to wage war on women with his AIDS stick.

Vietnam Revisited

I've been completely crushed with work for the past couple of weeks. I'm currently writing a book review for my U.S. urban history class. We had to read a book entitled Gay New York. It's all about the vibrant gay subculture that existed in NY in the early part of the 20th century. It's really quite fascinating, but unfortunately while reading it on the train I've left myself open to some unwelcomed advances.

Anyway, between this book review and a couple of other papers, I haven't had time to keep you all apprised of what's been going on here in Chicago. So rather than write a half-assed blog entry, I'd thought I'd regale our new readers with a post from the past. Writing about karaoke at the Korean restaurant brought back a flood of memories concerning our trip to Asia. So I decided to post a story I wrote when Lori and I were in Vietnam...

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Good Morning Vietnam!!!!

The title of this popular Robin William's flick has been made into a highly grossing tee shirt for vendors here in Saigon. While this is wonderful news for tee-shirt and souvenir purveyors, far too many tourists here have not been able to resist the urge to don the shirts immediately after purchasing them. To me, this is akin to wearing the tee-shirt of the band that you are going to see (Don't be that guy!). Last night, we saw what appeared to be a boy scout troop (one man, four adolescent boys. I'm not sure exactly what was going on there, but feel free to assume the worst. The American soldiers may have left, but the flesh trade here is still thriving) parading through the streets in matching tees. However, even lamer than the matching boy scout troop was the pair of European men who sat behind me at a cafe. Lori and I traded knowing smirks as they walked by in their identical Vietnam flag tee's and capri pants. After a few minutes, Lori became even more flabergasted by their behavior, stating, "The only thing gayer than wearing matching Vetnam tee-shirts is sharing a Fanta while wearing matching Vietnam tee-shirts."

While we enjoyed the prices of goods in China, things have only gotten better here in that regard. We've continued to live a life of lavish hedonism, throwing our 100 hundred thousand bills around as if it was monopoly money. For example, last night, we purchased a liter of beer for 25 cents. However, before you get too jealous, I should inform you that the beer arrived in what appeared to be a former motor oil container. The taste was equally horrendous. It tasted as if the filthiest dive in Saigon had donated the ass of its warm kegs to this particular cafe. So, for the remainder of the night we decided to splurge and treat ourselves to dollar beers.

With the beer prices being what they are, we can't help but indulge a little bit. After a day of crawling through former Vietcong tunnels, nothing tastes better than a cold beer. And to our credit, some of the locals have taken notice of our beer drinking prowess. One night, the group of middle aged men next to us were impressed by the empty bottles we had accrued at our table (In order to keep track of your bill, waitresses will not clear away your bottles when your are finished with them. So, after a few rounds, your table will be filled with empty beer bottles). After being there a fraction of the time they were, our co-ed drinking team of two had amassed nearly half of the bottles that they had consumed as a 5 person team. After incredulously counting the bottles at our table, the men began raising their glasses to us to cheers every 45 seconds. With each cheers, one of the men would shout "Yo nam!" I thought this was Vietnamese for "cheers" so I responded with a resounding "Yo nam!' in return. After about a half an hour of this, I came to realize that "Yo nam" did not mean cheers, but rather he had asked me roughly twenty five times what my name was (the accent can be tough to decipher at times, even when the local is fluent and sober. This was not the case with this man). Worried that we might have come across as rude, we offered the men some Marlboro light cigarettes to make up for our conversational blunder. Touched by our overture of frienship, the men responded by offering us some Vietnamese cigarettes. So even though there was a difficult language barrier, we were able to start a crude cultural exchange program through the addictive power of cigarettes. With this touching display of understanding, I can't help but feel that peace and harmony is within our grasp...