springfield

a couple weeks ago i happened to find myself in springfield, illinois. now, this was not entirely an accident. i had been wanting to go to springfield for many many years. it is, after all, the birthplace of one of my favorite people in history: abraham lincoln!

we took the opportunity to take in the sights, in all their lincolny glory. it was perfect timing for me to check out this stuff, i had just finished listening to 'assassination vacation' book on cd. it is all about presidential assassinations and had a large portion of the book devoted to all things lincoln. the books author had retold her experiences of visiting springfield herself.

we went, first, to his tomb. it was a rather strange feeling of knowing you are so close to what is left of such a great man. we drove around the cemetery for a little bit. it was very interesting to see all the old and new tombstones, some as old as the 1850s.

after rooting around town for a bit, we happened upon the house that lincoln had owned and lived in. we took the tour of the home and got to see the home in its restored state. the thing that surprised me the most, i think, was just how ugly it was! the wall paper and carpets were very bright and colorful. i hadnt really expected that. the walls were a white and red paisley pattern, and then the carpet was a strangely designed flower pattern with bars of green, blue and red running through it. by todays standards it was very tacky and totally clashed. the tour guide though, told us that that was the style of the day, 'harmony through variety' is what he called it. i just called it ugly and moved on.

it was really cool to see all that stuff. it is always fun to get a chance to be super nerdy history geek guy every once in a while. now i really want to go back to gettysburg again.

(more pics, and more)

normal

when we went down to st. louis we drove past a town called Normal, illinois. this is of special interest to me. one of my favorite bands of all time is a small group called 'the normals'. they got their name from this town- which is where they grew up! i had always thought it would be kind of fun (in that really strange obsessed way) to check out the town of normal.

well, i got my change! the first time i ever saw the band i got a shirt from them. on the shirt it had a printed photo of a water tower that said 'normal' on it. i figured if i was in town, i should try and hunt down that water tower. im not sure if its the same one, they had about a dozen in the area, but we drove down to one of the water towers, i got out and took this picture.

truly, there is no end to my fanboy craziness...

gateway to the west

this past weekend i went with a friend to st. louis. i had never been there before (well, except for a layover flight, but that totally doesnt count) so i was up for the adventure.
the first thing that surprised me was just how cool the arch really is. ive seen pictures of it all the time, but to actually look at the skyline and see a 600+ foot arch towering over every building in the city is quite breathtaking. we didnt get a change to go inside it, but i figured that just meant we would have to come back.
we got there on friday night and went out for dinner with a couple other friends. on saturday we headed out to the zoo. it was an amazingly unseasonable day- i think it got up to 60 degrees, and this was in the middle of november! we spent a lazy afternoon wandering around checking out everything from penguins, to zebras, to monkeys, to sea lions! later that night we went out to a very nice italian place and ended up at the union station, which is a converted old railroad station. now its a shopping area. it was amazing to see. there was a lounge on the second floor that opened up to a ceiling that was probably 100 foot tall. quite amazing!
finally on sunday we went to a resturaunt that bottles its own root beer- it was extremely tasty! unfortunately it was then time to say farewell to ol' st lou!
i, for one, am looking forward to a return trip!
(more pics)

squash, and i dont mean the gourd

a few weeks ago i went with a friend to a rather strange event. it was a fundraiser for the chicago city squash youth league. i guess its a league that is offered free to children in the inner city of chicago. they can come on in and play squash.

i know, i know, it was as weird as it sounds. and then to make things even stranger it was being held in the main lobby of the field's museum. they set up a temporary squash court and surrounded it with tables for us to eat at while we watch an exhibition game. so many things were strange that night. first of all, just trying to understand what squash is was hard enough (turns out its basically just racquetball with different racquets and different balls). second, the temporary court they had erected happened to be right next to the two elephant models and just across the way from a full set of t-rex bones. a unique sight to behold, that is for sure. everyone there was dressed up in an evening gown or a suit and tie. as we were milling about eating hor dourves there were people offering raffle tickets priced at 'only' one hundred dollars each. needless to say i felt quite fancy.
as the night progressed we were treated to some amazing salad and roast. as far as entertainment goes, they just so happened to have flown in the 1st and 8th ranked best squash players in the world. from egypt and from australia. you know, just to swat the ball around for our amusement.