I don't know why I open my mouth...

Two of my coworkers were just talking about Starter jackets, and I made the comment that the first Starter ANYthing I had was the NU jacket that I "stole" from Donna when she was going to give it to Amvets or whatever a year or so back. But then I remembered I did get a White Sox 1993 Western Division championship cap when they won. But, I never could have any Starter stuff growing up because of where I grew up. I said it, of course, just making conversation...but of course, it opened a whole can of evil, mocking worms. They asked why, and I said, well, because everyone I knew who had anything Starter eventually got mugged for it, and I didn't want that. In fact, I don't think where I live now that I could wear it, truthfully. So, of course, everyone mocked me...then I mentioned that another coworker lived in the "cushy outreaches" of the city, and that of course brought laughter and more mockery.

I mean, I'm laughing about it too...it's not mean-spirited or anything...and I'll laugh when that's the case...but, jeez, I can't even make a comment about how I grew up or whatever.

Were any of you prevented from having that type of stuff growing up? I guess finances also played into me not having Starter stuff, but mostly it was a safety issue.

I did two things last night that I'd never done in my apartment.

1. I played SimCity 4, a game I haven't touched since last summer, before I moved.

2. I played Madden 2003 on my PS2, a game I probably haven't touched since last SPRING.

I didn't really play much of either, but I played a bit...that after entering data for about an hour. I guess my mind needed to be re-awakened after the data entry. :)

Today I did not oversleep, thank God. But I struggled to get up...I think maybe my back injury had been playing a part in my oversleeping the last few days too, because I didn't have any pain this morning, whereas I had it the last few days.

Whatever works...more, again, later...

First thing this morning, check these sweet pieces of artwork out. Pretty damned cool...

More as events warrant.

Damn...I overslept AGAIN today. I gotta break out of that cycle, and fast.

I successfully made my Valentine's Day plans yesterday after calling about a half dozen restaurants. Finally, the one I actually really wanted came through. In honor of Bioguy's trendsetting dialogue use, here's the conversation:
Maitre d': I don't have anything before 9:15, sorry.
Me: Oh, well, I'll have to think about it and call you back. How fast are the reservations coming in?
Maitre d': We're getting a couple a day. What time will you be looking for when you call back?
Me: Well, as early as possible, so 9:15.
Maitre d': Do you have a theatre show to go to?
Me: Well, I don't know if I have the tickets yet, but the show would be at 8:00, which is why I'm uncertain on the reservation.
Maitre d': Well, I'll tell you what. Call me back in 20 minutes, and we should be able to fit you in.
Me: Really? OK...early enough to get to the 8:00 show even?
Maitre d': Yes. I just have want to do a quick count and make sure we're not OVERbooked. There should be no problem getting you in whatever time you want.
Me: Excellent. I'll call you back.

So I did, and we got reservations for two at 5:15. I was also concerned about the price, because Metromix gives a price range, even though (thanks to PolishBasia, the socialite, for clearing up what it means) it is a prix fixe meal. That means, fixed price. The higher price was with wine through all the courses. the lower is without that. And we decide when we get there. Plus, the bonus stuff we get (which I'm not saying here, so Gina is surprised...and to tease her if she actually does read this) is really good. So it'll be great. :)

Anyway, that gives us enough time to get to "All's Well That Ends Well" at The Viaduct. It ought to be a good time overall...I just hope the presents I bought for her yesterday make it to me by then...they're supposed to get to me on the 10th, but who knows how UPS will handle them. Stupid apartment life. :) I should have just had them delivered to work instead...

Swing dance class last night for me was a disaster. I was terrible. I couldn't get a simple thing like switching hands on a certain step. It's gotten more complicated now too, and that's not easy at all. I did OK...and I danced briefly with the instructor, and she said I did fine and that I just need practice and I'll be OK. So I guess I'm just being too hard on myself. I guess. Practice! Practice! Practice! That's all.

The next two weekends are quite busy. I thought after the holidays, it was supposed to get less busy. Damn. But good. :)

Oh, and I should add, not much beats Giordano's stuffed cheese pizza. Not much at all...as Starbux Princess might say, quite simply, "Yum."

Today, work wasn't as terrible as I thought it might be. We got out around 8:45, which isn't bad at all, especially given that I get tomorrow off. I will sleep. I've had a hard time getting up on time and stuff, and I blame it squarely on my new flannel sheets. They are so comfortable. I also blame it on my new down-feather pillow, which is ridiculously comfortable too. Stupid quality-of-life improvements! :)

I can't sleep forever tomorrow though, since I have a dentist's appointment at 12:30. Goodbye silver tooth! :)

In the evening, Gina and I start our second swing class: "Crosshand and More" Of course, we were supposed to have practiced this week, but didn't. I'm not happy about that fact, but I guess we'll survive. A lot of the couples who were in our Intro class are taking this one, so that's good, I guess. I still don't want to dance with anyone else but Gina, but I suppose that I could dance with these girls and survive...the ones who are carrying on are pretty solid dancers, I think.

I'm trying to come up with plans for Valentine's Day. Gina and I were going to go see "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change," which is supposed to be quite good. But, of course, it's sold out already. Damn. So now I have about 2-3 other ideas...but I'm going to not share them here, in case Gina reads it. I'd like for them to be some kind of surprise, truthfully. :) She knows about one of the ideas though, to see "All's Well That Ends Well" at some theatre called The Viaduct in the 3100 block of N. Western (basically, between my apt. and hers, which is convenient). The story looks interesting, and for a Shakespeare thing, it seems like a story I might be able to get into. Also, "Annie Get Your Gun" and "Guys and Dolls" are showing at different theatres, so those are options. But I don't know if we're going to do one of those and dinner. That's a possibility. There are also two other possibilities that I came up with myself...one is a bit more extravagant (and expensive) than the other. But I don't know what I'm going to do yet...I have to decide quickly though, so reservations and plans can be made.

So we'll see...

And it's time for some friendly blog competition. In the past week, based on my Extreme Tracker, here are the standings for who has directed traffic my way:
Urban Therapy -- 66
BasiaBlog -- 51
Persuasive Starbux Princess -- 32
Ink-Stained Wretch -- 16
AlphaCharlieBravo -- 16
Bioguy -- 8
Tree-Hugging Peacenik Kelly -- 1
Bigmouth Donna -- 1

Thanks guys and gals! For those of you who are wandering here from other places, go check those folks out...they're blogs are far more interesting than mine!

Well, that was a good game, I must say. And although I missed Janet Jackson's breast the first time around, I wasn't really desiring to see it after the fact...honestly, she looked terrible to me yesterday anyway...just didn't look good to me, for whatever reason.

I went to a coworker's house up on Fox Lake, basically. Good times...and I didn't miss much of the game or too many of the commercials, even though there were tons of people there. I won $45 on a strip card, and that was nearly enough to make up for the squares I had bought...though I'm waiting to hear if I won through my cousin's square pool. I don't even know what numbers I had or if it even went off.

Saturday evening was Vodka Moxie in Evanston, though through scheduling mishaps, Gina and I had to leave before they even went on. Then we headed back to my apartment where, again, the party was in full force. Hung around there and had a good time...it was fun, as expected. Pretty cool.

Today should be a cleaning/working/working on taxes evening. Tomorrow I work a long shift, because we put out our Super Bowl post issue. Then I have Wednesday off, but I have to go to the dentist to get my silver tooth replaced by a real-looking tooth. Oh silver tooth, it was fun whilst ye lastest...

I'm still a bit peeved about my mirror, but as I said, I give up. So I give up being peeved about it, really...I'll just have to figure out what to do next. Part of me just wants to say, "fuck it," and not replace it for fear that the new one will get busted off as soon as I park again.

This neighborhood is roughly half a mile from my apartment. If you look on the little graphic, I'm between California and Western near North. Although it didn't take a Tribune article for me to know not to go over in that area anyway. It's strange how the sixth sense about "bad neighborhoods" kind of develops in people, especially those who grew up in the city. Ahh...it's good to be back in the city. I missed it. Really, I did. You scoff, but I did.