5 posts tagged “city”
Show us your favorite landmark in your current hometown.
This is Jess and I humping the bean in Chicago's Millennium Park. It's crazy, when this was taken, we weren't even dating.
I love the bean. The second time they were over, I made sure to take my parents there... it's not all cracked up as it was when this picture was taken.
What are your plans for the three day weekend?
Ahem, FOUR day weekend, thank you very much.
I have spent my morning playing demos of new Xbox Live Arcade games, Photoshopping pictures of co-workers, talking to a jerky cat and bumming around.
I'm going to shower and head out to take back some DVDs and trade in Too Human for Tales Of Vesperia. I might wander down to Reckless Records or something. Other than that, today is Lazy Times.
I'm not sure what we're doing for the rest of the weekend. I know Jess wants to get out of the city, so maybe we can rent a car and go places. Failing that, I'll try and get her to get out of bed before the day's half over (she's a sleepyhead) so we can check out some of the things we wanted to check out in the city, like the farmer's market, museums and so forth.
A couple of weekends ago, we went to Sparta's Butterfest. Sparta is Jess' home town, and being a small city in Wisconsin, it was only natural that its annual fair be named after a dairy product.
While the fair itself was mostly rained out, the sun was out for the parade on the Sunday. Being my first real parade in the good ol' US of A, I was not fully prepared for the Shriners (aka Freemasons) in their little cars; the barage of sweets and chocolate milk; or the local Republican candidate handing out flyers that just said his name and that he's Pro-Life. I kid you not.
It was actually pretty fun, sitting on the pavement in little chairs, clapping and watching the assorted floats, vintage emergency services vehicles and marching bands go by. The only similar thing I can really recall enjoying was Lewes Bonfire Night back home.
This weekend in Chicago, we're getting a different kind of fest - Chicago Pride - and Jess and I are going to the parade on Sunday. Of course, having been to another parade, I am wondering what the gays could possibly do to top fez-wearing go kart drivers and one-note, Right Wing politicians. Will they throw condoms and arseless leather chaps into the throngs of spectators? Will they have the characters from The Wizard Of Oz driving little penis-shaped go karts? I can only hope.
While I do jest, it's still amazing to me that Chicago is such a gay-friendly city. I always assumed the US was still very homophobic based on their reluctance to endorse civil unions and so forth.
This is my favourite song right now.
HAI! I've been very quiet the last week or so. First I was cramming at work to prepare for time off, then I took that time off. My parents flew in last Wednesday, so since then I've been hanging out with them, eating far too much and doing touristy things - many of which, I had never done before, despite having been to and from this city several times as a tourist before moving here.
Today is their final day in Chicago, so they'll be bringing their luggage up here shortly so we can go to the local farmer's market and the zoo before taking them to the airport. In lieu of getting my green card so I can go home and see *everyone*, it's been nice seeing them.
I'd better get ready. I just wanted to say I'm not dead or something.
Show us a picture of where you'd like to live and tell us why you want to live there.
Submitted by Warhead.
I live in Chicago. I moved here to be with Jess, but having spent a lot of time in the city, I've discovered it has merits beyond the presence of the woman I love.
In comparison to London, pros:
- It's cleaner
- Transport is cheaper, faster and more abundant (and air conditioned!)
- The streets are less confusing to navigate
- The people are friendlier
- It's cheaper to eat out, and there are more places to do so
- The pizza and Mexican is far better
- The overall cost of living is generally a lot cheaper
Cons:
- There are lots of Americans
- Decent Indian food is not abundant, nor are decent doner kebabs
- It gets way, way colder
- American TV is retarded
- Tax is not included in the price of goods and a lot of service industry workers rely on tips to survive, so you have to do lots of mental arithmetic wherever you go
- I get blank looks when using common British phrases
