The Next Dark Age
We're in it Now
Legoland Adventure
I arrived at about 10am to pick up my nephew, Alex, for an Adventure Day.
He was in the family room, eating cereal from the box, and watching T.V. He didn’t want to go anywhere. I promised him lunch at “the macaroni place”. No dice. Finally, his mother ordered him up and into the car.
I didn’t feel like fighting to park right in front of the building, so when we got out of the car, he couldn’t see where we were going. “I’m hungry,” he whined.
I gave him the options: there was a place around the corner where we could get a decent grilled cheese before we went on our adventure. Or we could have macaroni and cheese afterward. He wanted macaroni.
“OK,” I said. “See that giraffe? That’s where we are going.”
Legoland Chicago (which is actually in Schaumburg) has a giant Lego giraffe built out from the main entrance. Alex stopped dead in his tracks.
“How. Did they do that?”
Score. The child charged right into the building. Every room. Even where it was dark. And when he had to wait in line. And when he had to talk to a guy in a costume. I took his picture with Lego R2D2, Lego Indiana Jones, Lego Santa Claus and Lego Spongebob. I don’t feel good about publishing the child’s photograph on a public blog, but just picture a little boy right in the middle of this:
There was a ride with a Lego dragon and a Lego 3-D movie. When we reached the end of the exhibits, he played for a few minutes. Then he was ready to go for lunch. I asked if he wanted to eat there in the cafe and then play some more.
No, he was done. Wanted macaroni.
I love this kid.
Not Very Far
Weekend Assignment # 340: How Far Would You Go?
Some people travel hundreds of miles (in extreme cases, thousands of miles) to see a concert by a favorite performer, or to meet their favorite writers at a convention, or to attend some other kind of public appearance by someone they especially admire. Other people don’t even bother to go downtown to take advantage of such an opportunity. How far would you go to meet one or more of your favorite writers, actors, musicians, comedians or other artists, and to attend a performance by him or her or them?
Extra Credit: What is the farthest you have ever gone in a similar situation?
Oh, am I sorry to say I am in the “don’t even bother” category. It starts with music – I had really bad concert luck at an impressionable age. I live outside of Chicago and went to college in Washington DC. So inevitably, any time that a band I loved was touring at home, I was at school. Also, the only artist I loved more than Bono was Freddie Mercury, who died just as I was coming-of-concert-age. I would have gone pretty far to see Freddie Mercury live.
I went to plenty of sporting events in my youth, but these days even a Bears game makes me think, “Do I really want to spend an entire Sunday..schlepping into the city at 9am to find parking…” I am perfectly happy spending the three hours on my Lucky Couch watching it in HD, thank you very much. Although I did attend the public memorial at Soldier Field when Walter Payton died in 1999.
But you know what? It isn’t even how far I would travel, but how much it would cost. And not in a “I don’t spend money on entertainment” way. But if the going rate for a ticket is $250, there are clearly people that want to see Leonard Cohen in concert more than I do. I’d feel badly taking a ticket.
Maybe if Brannagh came back to the stage…
Booking Through Thursday – Rewrite
My friend Busy has been doing these for awhile, and I found this question rather interesting:
If you could rewrite the ending of any book, which book would it be? And how would you change it?
SPOILERS! (Obviously.)
Unfortunately, I don’t have a great answer. My first thought was of Rhett Butler’s People 
Another thing I would change is all of the classic novels where the heroine had to die in order to spare or reclaim her honor. Anna Karenina and The House of Mirth come to mind.
I had the fleeting thought that Dallas Winston really didn’t have to die at the end of The Outsiders. But he sort of did. However, I refuse to believe that Sirius Black had to die at the end of Harry Potter V!
Seems to be all about the character deaths with me.
First Night Back
And the Library is packed. I arrived early, and took a walk around. The children’s room was buzzing. And there were actual teens in the Teen Room. It has booths in it, like a diner. Not that food is allowed in there. I am only getting away with my Diet Coke because the Used Book Store is off the main lobby and food/drinks (and cell phone use) are exclusively allowed there. Of course, I saw a Starbucks cup in the childrens room and the cell phone use is generally pervasive.
There hasn’t been much traffic since I arrived at 6pm, but we have made nearly $100 on the day, which is great. The book shelves aren’t entirely in order (does someone want to tell me why 1776
Of course, then I had to start scribbling into the calendar – all of the nights that I won’t be here due to the travel schedule. Ugh.
I would like it noted for the record that I am now halfway through my shift, and I have not purchased a single book. I did, however, return the two that I had checked out for the extended period while the Library was closed. My mother finished hers. I didn’t open mine.
All we really need in here is a cushy reading chair, in full view of the Amazon bookshelves, so that the evil thieves that like to steal from charities might be thwarted. Until then, I shall be content at a desk chair. At a desk. With a laptop. And all these books.
Used Book Sales
I had just realized that I haven’t bought any books – new or used – since Labor Day Weekend. It helped that my own Library Used Book Store has been out of commission for the last month. (Not that I’ve gotten much reading done.) I had about convinced myself that I ought to impose a moratorium on book purchases. Say, until after Christmas. Or until my TBR pile was down to..only what will actually fit in that seven-shelf bookcase. I could start using that fancy new library that I have been bragging about, and only buy books that I really, really plan to keep forever and ever.
I just received an e-mail from the friendly people at booksalefinder.com listing all of the used book sales in my area this weekend. Check it out:
Barrington, IL 10/16 – 17
Cary, IL 10/16 – 17
Elgin, IL 10/12 – 13
Glencoe, IL 10/16 – 18
Indian Head Park, IL 10/16
Mount Prospect, IL 10/16 – 17
Palatine, IL 10/15 – 17 *** Exceptional
Western Springs, IL 10/16 – 17
Wheeling, IL 10/16 – 17
Four of those libraries – four – are on the way to my brother’s house. And I am pretty sure the one in Arlington Heights is next weekend.
They are killing me.
Saving for Retirement
I read a lot of articles about retirement. A lot. Occupational hazard. But MSN Money had one that made me think. 6 Smart Ways to Save for Retirement was the title. The first one was:
Don’t inflate your standard of living.
As you get raises and promotions throughout your career, it’s common to want a bigger house and nicer stuff. But part of each pay increase should go toward your retirement savings.
Instead of buying something with a bonus or trading up to a nicer car when you get a raise, some of that extra money needs to be tucked away for retirement.
Now, the bit about allocating part of our raises to retirement is something I already preach, thank you very much. But this made me think: you know why else we shouldn’t inflate our standards of living? Because it will be a lot easier to live within our means after retirement if we don’t.
What I am hearing lately is that the experts don’t even know how to answer the question, “How much will I need?” because our needs are all so different. The standard used to be 80%. We will need an income of 80% of our current salaries to live on after retirement. That number doesn’t work. Some of us will spend a lot less on clothes and commuting, etc. But some of us will want to spend a bunch on travel and other things we haven’t had time to do. So if we can manage to consume less now, we will have less trouble adjusting to consuming less later.
I suck at this. I love the Internet and I love to shop. Better get a handle on it.
Hamlet, by the Royal Shakespeare Company
http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=leartojugg-20&o=1&p=8&l=bpl&asins=B0038RSJ0U&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=000000&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifrI spent some time trying to get through the backlog on my DVR. I watched Zodiac on Friday and got to Hamlet today. It was the one the Royal Shakespeare Company did with Patrick Stewart and David Tennant.
Stewart was great, as always, but it really creeps me out to watch him play the bad guy. Tennant did just fine. I judge my Hamlets by whether, in any given scene, I honestly have trouble determining
Now that I am thinking about it, all of the characters seemed a bit muted.
I have come to the conclusion that my problem is Brannagh. Once Brannagh has done it, the game is over. Another generation probably thought the same way about Olivier. But Olivier didn’t have the luxury (in film, anyway) of using the entire text when he did Shakespeare. Or Austen, for that matter. So that is it. Brannagh wins.
It Was Mostly Happy
Weekend Assignment # 339: Happy Endings
Tell us about the last day of anything: the last day of school or a job, your last day as a smoker, the last day before you moved or got married, the last day before you got that car you always wanted, or even the last day of a particularly memorable vacation. Here’s the catch: I’m looking for happy memories here, happy endings rather than tragic ones.
Extra Credit: What happened the next day?
May….something, 1996. Washington, DC. My dorm room was packed up. My electronics were in storage for my brother, who would arrive with the incoming freshmen in August. I’d had the worst case of senioritis you could imagine and was so ready to go home. I finished my final exam and met up with the gang for lunch.
I had mismanaged my on-campus dining funds, such that I had a couple hundred dollars left on my i.d. So we went over, ordered pizzas and I let the kids go grocery shopping in the cafe. That was a lot of bags of Doritos. Then we sat down to eat, and figure out how the heck we would manage to keep in touch: with me going home, Christine going home to St. Louis, etc. The difference this year was that Christine and I weren’t coming back to school in the fall.
Dean and I were good at writing. Christine and I lived close enough to each other to meet up for random weekends. Louie was a problem. But the summer before, we had all met up someplace in Ohio, so we were pretty sure we could pull it off again.
After pizza, we dragged the pop and chips and candy back to the guys’ room. And they helped Christine and me pack the car. We were driving to St. Louis, where I would spend a couple of nights with her family and then hitch a ride with another friend to get home. And to get to St. Louis, one goes right by Graceland. So we would be able to make the pilgrimage. (I really have to get those pictures scanned.)
Early afternoon Christine and I headed out the campus gates, headed for the next adventure. We were lost before we got out of the District.
The next day we arrived in Memphis. We stayed at the Rock n Roll Days Inn – just in time to catch the Bulls Game. It was the playoffs the year they started the second threepeat. So I sat glued to the television while Christine found some carryout. It was a good day.
Sometimes Facebook is the Answer
I became a Facebook convert because it put me back in touch with several people and it keeps me relatively current on the news. Like Megan had her baby yesterday – a girl that she named Lillian. I know because Erica posted it.
But you know what else it does? It keeps the good contact information. For example:
I have gone to Washington DC every month or so this entire year. When I am in town, I make every effort to meet my DC friend, Holly, for dinner. So I would e-mail her. I didn’t want to e-mail her at work for a personal thing, so I used an old personal address. It would take days. Days. For her to confirm. I message her on Facebook? Under 24 hours.
I had used Facebook to keep in touch with my friend Jodi in Milwaukee. But when she was in town last month and I didn’t have her cell phone number? She had kindly listed it on Facebook.
I was making plans with my local friend, also named Holly. Her e-mail address isn’t in my phone. The solution? Facbook message. I love Facebook message. Because everyone has Facebook messages sent to whatever e-mail address they check most often. Of course, she showed me up by sending a text message to my cell phone. Note: Holly also used Facebook Events to plan the last Ladies Night Out. I found it awesome, except a couple of us aren’t on Facebook, so she had to send some e-mails.
Bottom Line: There are lots of functions and different ways to keep in touch. Use them.
Poor Cat
The Blackhawks ceremony was on the television while I put away my laundry. (Yeah, yeah. Exciting Saturday night. Shut up.) When they introduced the commissioner, the crown booed.
A Chicago crowd booed the commissioner of the NHL. Not cool.
I shouted, “Hey!” at the television. And the cat bolted off my bed and out of the room. I felt badly, as the game wasn’t even on yet.
He just walked back in the room, stopped in the doorway and gave me a hard look. I said, “It’s ok, Spooky. It’s only hockey.” He flipped his tail in the air, turned around and stalked out.
Honestly – I’m not that bad with hockey.
The Next Dark Age 