Google Maps now has a “Street View” mode where you can actually see a picture from street level! Only a few cities (New York, Denver etc… no Chicago yet) have street views right now – but more to come! Awesome stuff! (try using your keyboard arrow keys to actually move around the “virtual city” – WOW!)
No matter what temperature I set my thermostat to in the office, its freezing in here! I’m wearing a jacket during the summer and short sleeves during the winter inside – ridiculous! I don’t know i the building takes time to adjust to outside temperatures or what. But the A/C is blasting in here – and its not even warm outside! As evidence by this image – top is actual temperature, bottom is what I have it set to. I asked our CFO about heating/cooling bills, and we pay for every ounce of energy! As we are a non-profit, any money wasted hurts…
I can’t help but to wonder how much energy is wasted in other parts of the world…
One of the best things about living in Chicago is that there is always something going on! A friend told me about Paulinho last week and that he was playing for free at noon at the Chicago Cultural Center. I decided to go check it out – it was fantastic! Brazilian Jazz fused with folk and contemporary! Can’t imagine a better way to spend my lunch hour! As it turns out, the Cultural Center has “LunchBreak” events almost every day of the week! “Classical Mondays” “Music Without Borders” – I’ve been working here for almost a year, and I feel like I’m just discovering the city!
I wanted to congratulate Mila for becoming a US citizen! Ready to vote in the next election!?
Glad I could be there for the ceremony, it was a memorable experience! By the way – I can’t remember the last time I stated the pledge of allegiance!
Last week was quite a busy week for me! The Mexican students that hosted us in August made their visit to the City of Chicago last week. As part of the interchange, families at Morton East High in Chicago host students that have been selected to participate – and they come by bus! 40 hours on the road, wow. I had very much been looking forward to the visit as our trip to Mexico was an incredibly meaningful experience for me. But, as usual, work and daily life got in the way. I would rush to meet with them after 5pm only to spend a few hours with them before they returned to their host families. I felt like a complete outsider. There wasn’t much I could do as I wasn’t about to take the week off to spend time with them. I guess its just the nature of the beast. It was good to see many of the staff that we worked with in Mexico, I guess I’ll just have to wait until August for the full experience. We ended up going to see a Chicago Fire soccer game as they had donated tickets to us – it was pretty cold that night, and they ended up loosing, but I think the kids had a blast!
Speaking of freezing sporting events – Fasana was kind enough to invite me to the Cubs game on Sunday! After watching the Cubs TROUNCE the White Sox on TV on a gorgeous Saturday, I couldn’t wait! Sunday didn’t end up being quite as nice – the weather or the final score. But any time spent at the friendly confines is a great time! I just hope I get to enjoy a game with the gorgeous weather we have been having since!
I just read about Yapta today in the paper and figured I’d share the knowledge! Yapta is an on-line service that will take your airline ticket confirmation code and then notify you if the fare changes after you purchase the ticket. Most airlines will either refund the money or give travel vouchers for the price difference! It seems to be a great service that will do leg work that you don’t have the time to!
I was given an incredible surprise on Saturday, tickets to one of my favorite comedians – Jon Stewart! It was a fantastic show, my cheek muscles actually hurt from smiling and laughing so much! This clip he is talking about when he knew that things were going to be OK after 9/11. Sorry about the video/audio quality – you may have to turn it up a bit!
[audio:Foo.mp3]
(press play)
I am a one way motorway
I’m the one that drives away
then follows you back home
I am a street light shining
I’m a wild light blinding bright
burning off aloneit’s times like these you learn to live again
it’s times like these you give and give again
it’s times like these you learn to love again
it’s times like these time and time againI am a new day rising
I’m a brand new sky
to hang the stars upon tonight
I am a little divided
do I stay or run away
and leave it all behind?it’s times like these you learn to live again
it’s times like these you give and give again
it’s times like these you learn to love again
it’s times like these time and time again-Foo Fighters
Mom and Teresa have been working hard on “The Hall of Hungry Ghosts“ for over two years now! Their efforts bear fruit next week – catch the world premiere at the Next Theatre in Evanston!
I decided to do a bit of spring cleaning! I saw that WordPress 2.2 is available, and decided to upgrade my blog software. In doing so, I realized that my theme was quite outdated and that it would not take advantage of new features offered by the new version. I settled on the Mandigo theme, which I’m quite happy with. I finally have the option to change the blog resolution to 1024×768! Hopefully its not too big for anybody. Feel free to let me know what you think in the comments section! After two years with the same theme, it was about time that I updated!