Epic Fail

My friends Christine and Mike are here visiting and I really wanted to show them a good time. Unfortunately, few things have been going our way since they arrived. Despite Chicago's best attempt to ruin this trip, we have managed to have lots of fun. Here is a summary of our adventure so far:

DAY 1

Day 1 was supposed to begin with a tour of Frank Lloyd Wright's house but we didn't order tickets in advance so we couldn't go. Fortunately, the day was still productive. I showed them the 1920s ballroom that was converted into a parking garage:




Then we saw Buckingham Fountain which is featured in the opening credits of Married with Children. Although the guide book said there was a water show every hour on the hour, it didn't happen while we were there :(



Further up the road we saw "The Bean" which apparently cost the city of Chicago $23 million. As Creed from The Office would say, "That freaked my bean."



At night, we tried to go to a bar for Trivia Night. Turns out the internet lied and it was 80s night instead. By the time we made it to a bar that actually had trivia night we arrived too late to participate. By this point my shoes, which ordinarily are quite comfy, gave me a massive blister. We regrouped at my place, got new shoes, and ended up having a great night at the Goose Island Brewery with Mike's friends.

DAY 2

Today was also challenging. I tried to take Christine and Mike to my favourite brunch place, Orange. We walked all the way there and found out it was closed for renovations. Then we took a bus to another brunch place and it was also closed. Finally, we went to a Swedish restaurant and ate waaaay too much food including scrumptious Swedish pancakes. With our bellies full of Lingonberries, we schlepped home and took a nap.

Upon wakening, we went to the zoo. This monkey (bad picture, I know) was putting on a show for the kiddies. At one point he hung from a vine and pressed himself against the glass. He paused, then peed all over the window right in front of us. Just streaming down all over the glass.



After the zoo, Christine wanted to see some medieval art so I says to her, I says, "No problem, we'll go to the Art Institute, they have tons of medieval art." We get there and were informed they recently put most of their medieval art away in storage. Later on while we were wandering around the museum we found a sign that said, "Medieval art exhibit: coming soon!"

The rest of the gallery was awesome though. I have a little-known fascination with obscenely and unnecessarily ornate and decorative furniture and time pieces from days of yore. This clock from the 18th century is something my grandmother would have put in her home, flanked by her crushed velvet portraits of bullfighters:



Our night concluded with a rousing game of Klax. Exhausted, it's time for bed. To be continued...

Skelena, Woman of Leisure

I have nothing particularly interesting to say other than I am living the life jesus intended us all to live. I work 2 days a week and part of that time is spent listening to interesting neuroanatomy lectures with med students at a nearby university (it's for my training for my placement). Then I play tennis twice a week just up the street from my apartment, drink coffee from my new french press (it changed my life), read magazines (my friend donated all of his Newsweeks and National Geographics to me), and tan on my rooftop patio (although I burned myself pretty badly today - I'm all pink, ouch). At night, I enjoy rotting on my couch Al Bundy style watching Frasier, Chelsea Lately, and Amazing Wedding Cakes in addition to my usual Colbert Report and Daily Show.

At first I didn't think I would like having a shortened summer semester because things would get too hectic. That wasn't the case and now I have tons of free time to enjoy the city and have visits with friends. I never want to go back to a full work week again after having this more balanced lifestyle but sadly it's going to happen in September. In the meantime, I'm going to enjoy my new life of leisure and look forward to visits from Christine, Bob, my mom, and the housemateys.

Millenium Park

Yesterday my friend and I decided to wander around downtown in search of adventure. After eating lunch by the river we thought walking to the lake might be a good idea. However, we took a very circuitous route to get there (like Family Circus) and took a wrong turn into Millenium Park. With the exception of getting a horrible lobster-esque burn on 25% of my body, it was worth it. Sadly, we never did make it to the lake. But here are the photos of our journey:

Gazebo deal:


Flowers and my back on the left:


From this spot it felt like we were in Central Park:


Field of flowers:


More flowers:


Weird, snaky bridge:


On the weird snaky bridge:


Lights and speakers for outdoor theatre:


The bean!


Underneath the bean:

*poof*

*poof*

School's Out for Summer!!

I am officially DONE school until August 31. For the most part, this will be my life:



However, I'm starting to see clients every Monday and every other Tuesday so this will be interesting. That will probably look like this:



Basically my life can best be described by Garfield Minus Garfield.

In the meantime I am looking forward to the return of JTL, and visits from my mom, Christine, and the housemateys! I have nothing interesting left to say.

Things I Did Instead of Studying

* Celebrated my birthday at a piano bar
* Ate ice cream at DQ with my friend who shares my bday
* Had deep dish pizza with JTL
* Drank beer (mm Hockley)
* Ate ham, watched MJ's funeral, and cried (don't you dare judge me)

Elective Amputation

In class we actually heard about something interesting. This disorder does not yet have an official name but here are the symptoms:

- obsessive desire for amputation of one or more healthy limbs
- may injure self in order to have a legitimate way to amputate limb
- individual has no signs of mental illness
- Three subtypes:
1. Devotees: people who are sexually aroused by amputees
2. Pretenders: People who use wheelchairs or crutches to pretend as if they have an amputation
3. Wannabies: Those who want to actually get an amputation themselves.

This is not related to anorexia, body dysmorphic disorder, or desire for gender reasignment surgery. After the amputation is complete, these individuals are happy about their decision and feel 'complete.' They don't think anything is wrong with their limbs; they just think they weren't supposed to have a limb in the first place.

Most surgeons won't perform elective amputation so some individuals cut their own limbs off or get surgery in other countries like Mexico. A study of 52 people showed that none regretted their decision after they had the amputation.

A large proportion of these people knew they wanted an amputation before the age of 12 and some of them knew right after seeing an amputee for the first time. Some people pretended to be am amputee which eventually got in the way of maintaining a job or having relationships.

I could go on because this is a bizarre and fascinating 'disorder' but I'll just leave you with some links in case youw ant to read more about it:

New York Times article
Body Integrity Identity Disorder
Ethics of elective amputation
Infowars.com