Michael...

Michael, Michael everywhere! I was at a gate at LaGuardia Airport when CNN announced his death. There was a collective gasp from the travelers waiting to board the flight. No one could believe it. I started to think back to all the time I spent listening to Thriller, and watching the video with my friends. I had his posters all over my room. I thought I was in love at the tender age of 10!!

This evening, I was sitting at a cafe on Division Street in Wicker Park. A Walgreen's Wellness Center on Wheels cruises by blasting 'Bad' by Michael Jackson. All the patrons stopped eating, and starting clapping. It was a little bizarre to me. A whole weekend has passed, and this is still the top story in the media.

I think Bob Schieffer put it best in his closing remarks of his newscast today, "Americans are confusing heroes with icons. Take a look at the memorials in Washington, D.C. and consider all the people that built this country and preserved peace around the world. Those are the real heroes. Was Michael Jackson a great entertainer? Absolutley. But, is he really a hero? No, he is an icon of an era."

Oh My Deliciousness...

Not sure if that is a word or not, but I just had the most wonderful meal at Diner in Brooklyn. A friend recommended that I go there and have a burger while I checked out Brooklyn. Besides the famous grass-fed burger, the menu was made up mostly of specials. Once I heard the choices, I swayed from the burger. I had the flatbread as an appetizer. It was drizzled with honey and thyme, and served with a mixed greens salad and a brie-like cheese. The honey/cheese combo was wonderful!! I then had a sirloin steak with french fries and some delicious butter sauce. The butter sauce was divine. I also had a fizzy red wine served chilled named Lini. It was very refreshing on this lovely summer day in NYC. Great meal - highly recommend it!

In a New York Minute...

So, I have been in NYC since Saturday and am exhausted. This city really doesn't sleep! Some thoughts....

• I had thought that as an experienced traveler, I should be able to navigate the subway without incident. This is not the case. I had every intention of making it over to the DUMBO market in Brooklyn. I gave up on the subway and ended up in SOHO.
  
• Dive 75 is a great bar on the Upper West Side. I played Connect Four with some new friends.
  
• I also had some vino at Bin71 up that way as well. We met some crazy characters who were celebrating a birthday, and apparently love Legos.
• I did wander through the East Village and found some amazing thrift/ consignment stores on 9th and 11th just off Thomson Square. I can't wait to wear my fun sequin disco top!
  
• Shake Shack lives up to the hype. The burger was delish!!
  

More to come later!

Check out my video!

Please look at my final cut, and vote for me:
http://www.areallygoodejob.com/video-view.aspx?vid=SCA1STKWoog

I think you will find it quite entertaining!

Old Town Art Fair v. Blues Fest

The summer officially kicked off in Chicago this past weekend with the Old Town Art Fair and Blues Fest. I attended both festivals and both were entertaining experiences for very different reasons – all related to the people that were there. For those of you not from Chicago, Old Town is a juried art show that has been around for about 60 years. You would think that this would attract a certain crowd of folks, but not so, my friends. There were 3 types of people there: women who should be arrested by the fashion police, “fratastic” guys, and the stroller brigade. These groups had very interesting interactions with each other. Since it’s a residential area, there are a lot of house parties. Young people get completely drunk at these parties, and then go stumble around the festival. This is a terrible scenario for all! The stroller brigade is cruising around, trying to get through the crowd. The strollers are not the kind of strollers I was wheeled around in as a child. They are these big fancy beasts. They are all "blinged" out with huge tires and fancy canvas awnings. They easily take up a whole sidewalk. The parents were just getting annoyed at the drunk frat guys because they couldn’t push their children through the crowd. Then the frat guys, would snicker at the parents and then turn their hats the wrong way – all the while, staring at the girls who should have been arrested by the fashion police. I wonder if they even looked at a mirror before they stepped outside. They wore low cut shirts, bad accessories, and hair that went on for miles. This is not the suburbs, ladies. The whole thing was a train wreck in action. I looked at a few booths but nothing caught my eye like the people!!

The Blues Fest was a stark contrast to the Old Town Art Fair. This free fest, sponsored by the city in Grant Park, is both massive in scale and number of attendees. The music was amazing. You really could feel the bass guitar pulsing through the crowd. I am going to go out on a limb here and say that old stoned guys shouldn’t be dancing. But to each his own, right? They were having fun, and that’s all that matters. There were also a few bikinis that came across my line of site – interesting selection for a festival considering how exposed they all were. But again, they didn't care. They were enjoying the scene. The sun shining on my face, I realized how long the winter was and how happy I was that summer had arrived. I was set to enjoy every minute of it, and the people that come out of hibernation in Chicago between June and September!

First Impressions

I was reminiscing with a friend recently about my trip this past February to Argentina. I was so excited for my adventures in Latin America to begin! I had arrived after months of planning and organizing. When I walked out of the airport, I was overwhelmed by the people, the activity and the energy pulsing from the country. As I fumbled for words to describe how I felt to my taxi driver, I realized I was speaking my own language of Spanish, English and jet lag. As my taxi entered the city limits, you could see the towering modern buildings that were typical of a big Latin American city, mixed with the smaller buildings which invoked memories of Europe. The city seemed to be one giant neighborhood – and with each neighborhood we drove through, a new cafe would call my name. The smell of fresh flowers, mixed with diesel fuel…the scents of a foreign city. I arrived at my friend Elena's with just enough energy to climb onto the couch and pass out. The city had to wait one more day for me.

Photo Fun

Here are some great photos my friend took using his iPhone and the new 'shake' application. It makes your photos look like Polaroids!

Song Lyrics

As many of you know, I am applying for a 'Really Goode Job' at Murphy-Goode Winery in Sonoma.

Take a look at the position when you can:
A Really Goode Job

My video has some fantastic lyrics that I would like to share with you all, based on Billy Joel's "We Didn't Start the Fire":

From Chicago, spent some time, studying at the U of I

Lived in Spain, drank in vain, there I formed a love of wine

Have been working now online, dang its been a long long time

Facebook, Twitter MySpace pages, vlogs and other social spaces

Meet new people all the time, expert in their web design

Communicate, pick the brain, come up with the best campaign

Interactive marketing, Worked on Barack Obama's team,

great at work!

fun at play!

what else do i have to say?

She's the one to hire, MELISSA ANGIO's, got her act together.

She's the one to hire,this job she's yearning, since the world's been turning.

Summer?

The city these days cannot seem to decide if it wants to be San Francisco! The fog is making for a dreary start to summer.