The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
Scruples Salon and Spa
On that same trip to Hallmark, I walked by the Scruples Salon and Spa in Glenview. There was a big sign on the door that said they were running a special this month – 60 minute facial or massage for $39.95. That is called, “Worth the experiment”. I walked in to see if they could get me in any time before the end of the month. Lady in front said that she just that minute had a guy call to cancel and she could take me right then. Fate or total scam? You be the judge.
The truth is that I had been there before, but for my hair, not for the spa. The stylist did an ok job, but I wasn’t thrilled with the color and there is nothing at all to cutting my hair so I never bothered to go back.
The aesthetician, as I think they are called, showed me the room and waited for me to change. When she came back, she asked all of the right questions and made a couple of good observations. Namely that I don’t wear enough SPF and it is starting to show in real, grown up damage to my skin. (Sigh.)
The table was squeaky, which was distracting. She also had to move it, with me already lying down, more than once because the room was so small and not everything was in her reach. But the most distracting thing? She wore plastic gloves the entire time. So if the “relaxing” is important to you, this is not the place to go.
On the plus side, it seemed a very functional facial (although the jury is out for a good week until I know nothing caused another break out), and no one tried to sell me anything. In fact, the aesthetician actually said that if I don’t want to pay for a fancy exfoliator, I should use sugar and olive oil.
The regular price of the treatment I had is $65, which is pretty standard for a no-frills, clear-your-skin facial. I wouldn’t recommend it for “spa day”. But for $39.95? Get in there before the end of the month!
Where I Draw the Line
Among the 10,000 Christmas ornaments in my house are several pieces from Star Wars. Millenium Falcons and X-Wing fighters and even a couple of Darth Vaders. I got into a scuffle with my sister-in-law, whose only allowable ornaments are hand-crafted by someone she knows personally. She said:
“Darth Vader has nothing to do with Christmas!” I shouted back:
“Christmas is about being with the people you love!”
I walked into a Hallmark store, on a (failed) mission from my mother. I saw this:
I couldn’t do it. Not even for 40% off. The Emperor does not belong on the Christmas tree.
I must be going soft or something.
Writers’ Theatre – The Maids
Two maids, sisters, have a game of mocking the mistress and each other while she is away. The fantasy goes so far as acting out how they might kill her. It is difficult to see where the fantasy ends and where they are just plain crazy, which may be part of the point. But I wasn’t all that interested in figuring it out. None of the three characters were sympathetic. I was just waiting around to see if someone actually died.
If this had been an adapted novel, I might pick it up to see where/if the adaptation went wrong. But it seems to have been an original, if translated, piece.
This is a good example of the down side to Writers’ Theatre. The upside is that they do cool things that you would never see anywhere else. The downside is that sometimes there is a reason you wouldn’t see them anywhere else.
As I am Getting the New iPod Loaded
No, this was not her real Christmas Gift.
Why did my mother get this disgustingly cutesy thingy? Because I actually managed to put it together without any assistance from her. First time ever.
And she was surprised.
Eloise
I brought home Eloise, an African Grey parrot from the Refuge to foster for a couple of weeks. She has been ill with a fungal infection and requires medication twice a day. She started picking at her feathers again in the last week so I want to keep an eye on her.
She doesn’t seem to have any vocabulary, but is starting to chirp a bit. She takes her meds pretty easily and steps up well. Very nice bird.
Except. When Greys are upset, they have a very distinct vocalization that starts out like a small dog growling and escalates into something resembling the screams of a tortured alien being. Eloise whips out the growl pretty easily.
The bad news is she is not interested in making friends with my Grey, Kiwi. But the good news is that she is not bothered by the dog.
Race. Or Schools and Money.
The Tribune ran a really interesting article about how and why Chicago remains an incredibly racially segregated city.
Part of the theory, which I buy, is that “new” cities, like Charlotte and Austin are having an easier time of it. “Old” cities like Chicago have certain behaviors ingrained that are really difficult to “undo”.
My parents moved to the area in the mid-1970’s. My dad grew up in New York, my mother in Cincinnati. They didn’t really know Chicago. I asked my dad not long ago how he chose our north suburban town as a place to raise his children. He said that he looked in a book for the optimum of two factors: the quality of the schools against the tax rates.
Schools and money.
(Please note, however, that my house was also about a 20 minute drive from where he worked.)
My street was about 1/3 white Protestant, 1/3 white Jewish and 1/3 Asian. My elementary school had plenty of kids from different countries and religions. But there were only two African American families. And I can’t remember any Hispanic kids until high school.
I went to a seriously multi-cultural university. It was crammed down our throats, actually. A professor in my freshman that cleared it up for me: we may all be different colors, but were very similar in one way: our parents were white collar professionals with college degrees.
Schools and money.
Now. Would I consider living on the South Side of Chicago?
No. I wouldn’t.
From the article:
“One theory posits that whites associate black neighborhoods with high crime and poor-quality schools. A recent study conducted in the Chicago and Detroit areas by the University of Illinois at Chicago and University of Michigan found that whites consistently rate a neighborhood higher when its residents are white regardless of the physical quality of the neighborhood.”
It’s not the skin color of the neighbors. It is the fact that Chicago just hit the 500 mark in the number of murders. I associate that with gangs and guns on the South Side. I am not saying that is right, or rational, but that is how it works in my brain.
Another point made in that article is that we move where there are people we know. My grandfather lives in Lincoln Park. Why would I move all the way to the South Side when my grandfather lives in Lincoln Park? For some people it is finding a neighborhood with the right church – which I seem to remember reading tend to be rather segregated as well. In fact, I am pretty sure I once read that the workplace is the only place that is integrating well.
Schools and money. That is my theory.
And He’s Off!
I love NORAD’s Santa Tracker. Above is a video from their Santa website. It is 8:21 a.m. Central Time and Santa is currently in Palau. He seems to have already hit Australia and a bunch of Pacific islands.
I could watch this all day, but I am supposed to be at the Refuge and have a couple of errands to run today. The weather is not cooperating, as usual.
WGN News has been at O’Hare this whole time. Among those interviewed are two guys from California that flew here for the Bears/Packers game. on Monday night. Tuesday, flights were cancelled right and left. The last I heard, last night, they wouldn’t be able to catch a flight home until Christmas morning. 48 hours in the airport over Christmas.
Dude, I’d be turning into Culkin’s mother in Home Alone right about then. Anyway. Here’s hoping you are where you want to be for the holidays. And if you aren’t..start planning to make it happen for next year!
How to Get Alex to Agree to Anything
First, promise him Macaroni and Cheese. Then, produce a computer game.
I took him to the Marriott Lincolnshire yesterday afternoon. The plan was to have dinner and stay at the hotel, then see Aladdin at the children’s theatre in the morning.
It was already dark and freaking cold when we arrived. We get to the room and I say:
“We can order room service and watch football right here. Or we can go downstairs to the bar.”
He wanted to go to the bar. Nice.
We watched the Vikings go down. And the Eagles. Then we went up to the room and I loaded the game. Dora the Explorer and the Backpack Adventure. I am still amazed by the way this child – not yet four – totally gets the computer. What this picture does not show is the Giants/Panthers game on the television. He insisted on both.
Then we had some Charlie Brown Christmas and he went to bed with little fuss.
Aladdin was not so successful. He freaked out and we had to leave. Back at his house, I asked what the problem was. The loud? The dark? The people?
The people. He doesn’t like actors.
The Christmas Shopping
I am very done Christmas shopping.
I do not buy gifts for that many people, so it isn’t a terribly big feat. I did a lot online. In fact, I am wondering if it is time to sign up for the rewards program at toysrus.com. I am not physically setting foot into that store again.
Ben Stein was talking on CBS Sunday Morning, about something that I have been pondering. I have been half serious about saving money. Fiscal responsibility beginning at home and whatever. Stein, who always preaches conservative finances, was saying that those of us that can afford it ought to spend some money and support the economy. And he went even further to make a plea for charitable giving, which is clearly suffering this year.
Did I mention that my building’s Toys for Tots collection was barely half of what we pulled together last year?
So first, let me say one more time that I am extremely grateful for my job. My company is fabulous and my boss is wonderful and we are as stable as anyone could hope right now.
Second, I just realized that I haven’t yet made my annual contribution to Best Friends Animal Society. I shall go do that now. You can sponsor an animal at the sanctuary for $25 a year!
The Next Dark Age 