mychai's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Day #29: You'd think I was a girl. Know what I'm really looking forward to doing? Hopping in my car, rolling down the windows, taking the Double Quart from between my legs and gulping down a few sips of wonderful, sugary Vanilla Coke, putting on my sunglasses, and hitting the road. Doesn't matter where. I'm just ready to go somewhere at great speeds with only my wits at the wheel. And I want to sing really, really loud at whatever CD I want to listen to. I miss singing really loud. It's terribly bad and not good enough to be considered off-key. But boy, does it make me feel good. My new car has air conditioner. My old car used to have A/C, but it quit working around 100,000 miles. I can't wait for a really hot day so I can ride around in the cool and once again laugh at the sad, sad people with no A/C. Until then, I'll ride with the windows down. It's really much nicer. Some things I missed writing about: When I arrived in Chicago off of the Piss Wagon Express, I wandered around a little bit in Saturday Morning Chicago. This place is dead when banks aren't open. Chicago is such a neat, beautiful town. Moreso when the streets are empty and everyone is walking slowly. After a while, I started getting hungry. And when you are hungry in Chicago, the only real place to go is a little "off the beaten path" place called Lou Mitchell's. In my opinion, it is one of the finest eating establishments in the Midwest. And let me tell you why: First off, they give you free shit when you walk through the door. The ladies get free Milk Duds. Nobody knows why just the ladies get them, but that's the rule. And everyone enjoys free donut holes while you wait for a seat. Unless you are alone, expect a line. Second, they use fresh, filtered water for all of their water-based... things. You notice it when you get a glass of ice water. You notice it more when you get some of their famous coffee, which really is the best in town. The little things like filtered water count. Order their orange juice, even if you only get it once (it's a tad expensive). You won't find a box or pitcher of OJ anywhere in the house. The squeeze it fresh to order, and man is it good. It's like drinking nectar! All of their food comes in EXTRA LARGE portions. I don't think I've ever finished a meal off from Lou's. On Saturday, I got a stack of pancakes. You seriously couldn't see the plate underneath the pancakes because they were so huge. They give you fresh butter and -- I'm not kidding -- a half gallon of maple syrup. I use very little syrup on my pancakes, so the half gallon was a little much. I also got a side of hash browns. They come in the skillet they were made in, and they are real, "home-made" style hashbrowns that are sliced like potato chips, not grated. Some are brown and crunchy, and some are warm and soft. The mixture of the textures is what makes it good. If you dare take on one of their omelets, don't say I didn't warn ya. They call them "Double Yolk Omelets," and they are absolutely humongous! Plus the fillings are cut thick and the cheese is as if it was free. Oh. Did I mention the free ice cream you get after every meal? No? Yeah. You won't need it. So there. That's my restaurant guide to Chicago. I just talked about breakfast. They have more. Oh yes, they have more. Best Friend Lisa took me to this place yesterday about thirty minutes away called "The Potholes." It's a stream that has eroded all the way to the bedrock. Then, after it eroded that far, it made little holes in the bedrock that look like potholes. The water was a little high yesterday -- it came up to the bottom of my shorts -- but that didn't stop us from walking in the water. It was cold at first, and my "little buddies" were getting scared. But I got used to the cold and actually really enjoyed myself just standing in the water feeling the force of water pass right on by me. The trees were blooming their flowers, but the green wasn't out yet. So, the river was lined in white, and it was just so pretty. I get awefully poetic about things like this. You could put me in front of the works of Shakespeare, paintings by Monet and Picasso, or buildings designed and built by Guggenheim, and they wouldn't impress me nearly as much as seeing a simple river running gently around my bare legs; the same river that cut through all of the rock not fifty feet ahead. I was glad that Lisa took me there. I couldn't express my gratitude, so all I said was "Thank you for that." I don't know if she knew how much I meant that. I think I cut my toe on a rock, and it is really starting to smart. Let's all hope that I don't get a staph infection. Damned river. I added someone on my list of blogs that I usually read. You can see her there on your left. She's an Air Force girl stationed in Nebraska. She's quite a hottie, but she can't find a boyfriend. I'm working up my application to send to her, so go offer your hand in companionship. But I call dibs. umm... that's it. I didn't do much today except go work out with Best Friend Lisa and go for a long walk around the area. It felt good to see the area outside of a car for a change. When you spend your time walking around big cities, you grow to not enjoy visiting places in cars. You don't see as much. You can't smell the restaurants or the freshly cut grass. Jeez. I'm sappy tonight. I need to go so I can make myself some dinner. Remind me to tell you about Best Friend Lisa's roommate. Remember the dad on that Greek wedding movie? I can so see this guy being him in about 30 years. He made lamb today while Lisa and I were working out. He also told me how Greek missed becoming the international language by, like, two votes. And no. No Windex yet. I am off to read. I bought Mark Twain's "Innocents Abroad." It's yet another classic I have been meaning to read and now will. I doubt I will finish it before boot camp, so I am going to tell my mom to Xerox some pages and mail them to me a few times a week. I have a secret about what I think of Mark Twain's writing. But I dare not say it. Not yet, anyway. You would all laugh at me. 9:44 p.m. - Tues., Apr. 15, 2003 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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