You look great for 41
Last weekend, I went to Chicago to see my sister and participate in the MP3 experiment.
I ended up driving out on Saturday morning, arriving just in time to meet up with my sister and her friend Sarah for lunch at Hot Doug's. Having fulfilled my desire for a Chicago style hot dog on my last visit, this time I went for one of the specials, the Saucisson Alsacienne (as copied directly from the menu: Bacon Sausage with Crème Fraîche, Caramelized Onions and St. Nectaire Cheese). In short: amazing!
After lunch, we headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo, where we were disappointed to find that the ice cream shop had been shut down for the winter. We did stop for ice cream at one of the other places at the zoo, but again were disappointed when we learned that they had no chocolate (my sister) or anything but chocolate syrup to put on a sundae (me). We resolved to find ice cream elsewhere in the city.
Just prior to leaving, we did make a stop in at the gift shop, where I found a delightful little umbrella with a penguin head and wings that stuck out when it was open. Perfect! The instructions for Sunday's experiment indicated that an umbrella was a must. What better umbrella than a penguin one?
After the zoo, we did indeed end up searching for ice cream, first looking to see if our first preference, Sweet Occasions, was available. To my dismay, both of their locations have been permanently closed. *sigh*
Instead, we ended up at a nice custard place. After that, we went to Target in search of games, headed to a cafe and played Apples to Apples and Farkle until I'd been awake for 22 hours. (Not difficult, considering I'd awoken at 3:30 AM on Saturday.)
Sunday was, of course, the big day. M. & I went out for brunch, and then I headed to the park. By this time, it had started raining lightly. As a result, it was easy to pick out who was participating, both because they were part of the large mass of people standing in the grove (not sitting and trying to blend in), and because there weren't many people sitting around the park once the rain started.
Nonetheless, I set my alarm for three minutes prior to the event, and a second for the actual start time. In spite of this, I still seem to have started playing my MP3 15 - 30 seconds after most of the other people, so I was lagging behind a bit. I ended up taking cues from both the MP3 and what other people were doing. Next time, I may practice using the iPod in advance, rather than just go based upon the instructions I received. Either way, I need to learn how to change the volume next time.
The event itself was quite fun, though I think it would have been a bit better if there had been more non-participants present. I walked and stopped. I jumped. I beat a random stranger at thumb wrestling 2 out of 3 times. I formed part of a tetris block. I twirled my penguin umbrella as I merged with everyone else to form a canopy of umbrellas. I blew up a balloon, played the part of a drummer, and died in an epic battle. I came home.
Stated that way, I make it sound as if it were nothing big. To be honest, I'm not certain that it was quite what I hoped, but that may be due to my feeling that I was lagging behind and trying to fit in with what was going on around me most of the time, something disturbingly familiar.
I ended up driving out on Saturday morning, arriving just in time to meet up with my sister and her friend Sarah for lunch at Hot Doug's. Having fulfilled my desire for a Chicago style hot dog on my last visit, this time I went for one of the specials, the Saucisson Alsacienne (as copied directly from the menu: Bacon Sausage with Crème Fraîche, Caramelized Onions and St. Nectaire Cheese). In short: amazing!
After lunch, we headed to the Lincoln Park Zoo, where we were disappointed to find that the ice cream shop had been shut down for the winter. We did stop for ice cream at one of the other places at the zoo, but again were disappointed when we learned that they had no chocolate (my sister) or anything but chocolate syrup to put on a sundae (me). We resolved to find ice cream elsewhere in the city.
Just prior to leaving, we did make a stop in at the gift shop, where I found a delightful little umbrella with a penguin head and wings that stuck out when it was open. Perfect! The instructions for Sunday's experiment indicated that an umbrella was a must. What better umbrella than a penguin one?
After the zoo, we did indeed end up searching for ice cream, first looking to see if our first preference, Sweet Occasions, was available. To my dismay, both of their locations have been permanently closed. *sigh*
Instead, we ended up at a nice custard place. After that, we went to Target in search of games, headed to a cafe and played Apples to Apples and Farkle until I'd been awake for 22 hours. (Not difficult, considering I'd awoken at 3:30 AM on Saturday.)
Sunday was, of course, the big day. M. & I went out for brunch, and then I headed to the park. By this time, it had started raining lightly. As a result, it was easy to pick out who was participating, both because they were part of the large mass of people standing in the grove (not sitting and trying to blend in), and because there weren't many people sitting around the park once the rain started.
Nonetheless, I set my alarm for three minutes prior to the event, and a second for the actual start time. In spite of this, I still seem to have started playing my MP3 15 - 30 seconds after most of the other people, so I was lagging behind a bit. I ended up taking cues from both the MP3 and what other people were doing. Next time, I may practice using the iPod in advance, rather than just go based upon the instructions I received. Either way, I need to learn how to change the volume next time.
The event itself was quite fun, though I think it would have been a bit better if there had been more non-participants present. I walked and stopped. I jumped. I beat a random stranger at thumb wrestling 2 out of 3 times. I formed part of a tetris block. I twirled my penguin umbrella as I merged with everyone else to form a canopy of umbrellas. I blew up a balloon, played the part of a drummer, and died in an epic battle. I came home.
Stated that way, I make it sound as if it were nothing big. To be honest, I'm not certain that it was quite what I hoped, but that may be due to my feeling that I was lagging behind and trying to fit in with what was going on around me most of the time, something disturbingly familiar.