this is the life i chose

staceyjoy: We’ve heard this story before: restaurant employee X...

Wed, 19 Jun 2013 13:56:00 -0500

We’ve heard this story before: restaurant employee X is riding home from his shift on his bike when he gets side swiped by a car. Because X works at a restaurant, which usually does not supply benefits, X does not have insurance and is faced with a mountain of medical bills. Since the restaurant industry is one big happy family, there is usually some sort of fundraiser involving music and booze, and X lives happily ever after. A new local non-profit is helping streamline this process by providing monetary relief and insurance solutions for restaurant professionals.

Un86’d was founded by Nicole Ess and Jessy Maguire Bolt, both currently work at Chicago restaurants. Through their network of colleagues and friend they continuously raise money via donations, running silent auctions and benefits. Long-term, they want to set up a member-based community that will be eligible for low-rate heath insurance or specialized individual plans. The name comes from the term “86’d,” used in restaurants and bars to mean that an item is cut or not longer available. Un86’d strives to make sure no employee needs to be cut out of a job.

Currently, the organization is working with Carriage House and La Sirena Cladenstina to offer two Un86’d cocktails. Each cocktail is made with Bacardi and Todd Appel’s pineapple cordial, and comes with a button with the logo of a pineapple; a symbol of hospitality that dates back to the colonial days. After purchasing a $12 cocktail, ”Wear the Word” by showing off the button and heading over to Bar Deville for a free shot of Fernet Branca. The drink specials are available until Thursday. Find out more about Un86’d on its Facebook page.

- Sarah Freeman for Zagat.com

tonight i am going to bar deville to watch the hawks game. i think i am going to bring brad a check to help the work of this wonderful organization.

i remember all too well how hard it is to get sick when you are young and not be able to work for months. i was lucky in a way, had money saved up, a super supportive family, good health insurance, disability insurance, etc. but i cant imagine just how much harder that time would have been if i also had the added stress of worrying about how to pay for rent or medicine or food or whatever.

i think what nicole and jessy are setting up is just awesome.

the very first time i saw this … probably 1996 … i...

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 16:38:00 -0500

the very first time i saw this … probably 1996 … i instantly knew that i was going to love being an architect.

there is still so much power in this space for me.

i look at it often when i need a pick me up while designing.

it reminds me to shed preconceptions and let a space be what a space wants to be.

Rules for dating

Mon, 17 Jun 2013 13:27:39 -0500

youngmanhattanite:

mollyyoung:

1. Don’t ~~talk about the past~~

2. Don’t ~~talk about the future~~

3. Don’t ~~ask trick questions~~

That’s better.

my new favorite time lapse video. crawford was just awesome last...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 16:18:00 -0500

my new favorite time lapse video.

crawford was just awesome last night.

i really hope the blackhawks sweep … i dont want to be tempted to pay fifteen hundred bucks to...

Thu, 13 Jun 2013 09:34:38 -0500

i really hope the blackhawks sweep … i dont want to be tempted to pay fifteen hundred bucks to go to game five.

Photo

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 21:41:08 -0500

let’s go!

Sat, 08 Jun 2013 19:22:30 -0500

let’s go!

bees-knees: foodfuckery: Twix Cake Recipe Dead. MELANIE!...

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:22:56 -0500

bees-knees:

foodfuckery:

Twix Cake

Recipe

Dead.

MELANIE! look!

Photo

Fri, 07 Jun 2013 09:59:32 -0500

hawks win

Thu, 06 Jun 2013 22:43:28 -0500

hawks win

the horn travels with me

Tue, 04 Jun 2013 21:43:12 -0500

the horn travels with me

Photo

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 18:27:56 -0500

time flies

Mon, 03 Jun 2013 12:37:53 -0500

i was recently reminded of my favorite road trip of all time. driving from helsinki to hammerfest then down to stockholm and taking the ferry back to helsinki.

i was sick this past weekend and decided to spend some time looking for pictures from the trip. this trip was almost 15 years ago and i didnt have any kind of digital camera and was only able to find 2 pictures. i am sure that i have more but who knows where they are.

this first one is of the arctic ocean. it was cold.

and this is of the city of hammerfest norway - the furthest north city in the world.

i cant believe that i cant find more pictures!

maybe that means i have to go back!

on hockey, on community, on chicago

Fri, 31 May 2013 10:55:56 -0500

i dont think i can ever go to a blackhawks game again. no hockey night at the united center could ever be as awesome as last night.

wednesday at lunchtime i thought to myself- why am i not going to the game tonight. i texted rodney and asked him if he was going. telling him that i was thinking about trying to scrounge up tickets.

he wrote me back “same”

we didnt actually decide to go until about 5 o’clock.

we were somehow able to get tickets in the 5th row. just amazing seats.

from the moment i left my office yesterday at 5:15 to pick up rodney and head to the united center. i was just excited. whether it was seeing a guy walking down the street in a hawks jersey or a group of friends carrying charcoal and beer from the store to their house to watch the game. to our uber driver high fiving us when we told him we were going to the united center. you could just feel the excitement in the air. while i may not look like it in this picture from a video posted on blackhawks.nhl.com - i was super excited. thank you anna for alerting me to its existence - its just my hair was so flat from the humidity.

when we got to the united center we ran into a few people we know. there were high fives, talk of meeting up for a postgame drink and more high fives. we were all there to be a part of the community.

i go to a lot of sporting events in chicago. been to like 99 of the last 100 bears games. countless bulls games. this year i only went to 4 blackhawks games before game 7. there is nothing like a blackhawks game. the energy in the building is always more powerful that it is at bulls games. and it is infinitely more palpable that at bears games (which i love but come one people quit sitting on your hands and acting like it is work for you to be there).

sure in a way it all starts with jim cornelison and the way in which hawks fans pay tribute to country. the anthem at game 7 was perfect. jim sang it perfectly. everyone pointed at the flag during the verse “and our flag was still there”. this video from game 7 is great. but if you havent ever experienced it in real life - you just dont know. its moving.

from the moment we walked in- until the wings scored in the 3rd it felt like the uc could spontaneously combust at anytime. so much energy. then it got quiet. there is nothing more uncomfortable to me than a quiet united center. i swear for a portion of the third period you could have heard a pin drop.

then i couldnt even hear myself think over the bullshit chants. my towel was tossed onto the ice.

then it happened. we won. i dont really remember what we did. we jumped and dance and yelled and hugged and there were a lot of high fives. i think the woman sitting behind me kissed me. it was just awesome.

after walking around the united center and just soaking it all in. we saw a pedicab and decided to take it to bar deville. the little kid that was driving said it would be $25. i think we gave him a hundred. our night was made- why not make his. riding up damen through the traffic of cars and people walking from the united center was fun.

listen i know sports dont solve hunger or lower the murder rate but they do foster a real community. i was thinking a lot the last day or two about this idea of civic community. i remember feeling it when i marched on lakeshore drive in some attempt to stop the war - or at least to show the world how many people were against it. it happened when i drove to dc to march for women’s lives. we walked past the bush white house and heard from amazing speakers. it was a community. i remember driving to new york as colin powell was speaking to the un about mobile weapons labs and then the next day standing outside the un with hundreds of thousands of people listening to desmond tutu. it was a community.

i have always hated how quickly those communities seem to fade. it isnt that anybody stopped caring about those issues - but you never seem to walk down the street and just say “that march to stop a war that is going on anyway was great”. i feel left out of those communities right now in a way. i need to recapture that.

but with hockey. with sports. at least in chicago - it is just there. i remember when the cubs made the playoffs - and i hate baseball. just dont like it. but i remember going with a group of friends to the bucktown pub to watch games and feeling the excitement. it just brings excitement and camaraderie to the city.

yesterday morning i talked about the hawks game with a stranger while getting coffee at big shoulders. i talked about it with a consultant on the way to a project meeting. the community just extends. it brings such life to the city.

rodney and i were talking last night while drinking a fantastic cab and eating a perfectly grilled steak about how we arent sure if we will ever want to go to a hawks game again. what game could be better? while i am sure we will - we had the same conversation after that game 6 triple overtime bulls win against the nets and we were right back at the uc for the next bulls game. we couldnt leave the community.

Photo

Wed, 29 May 2013 23:15:25 -0500

calumet412: Dan “SpiderDan” Goodwin scales the Hancock...

Tue, 28 May 2013 11:55:47 -0500

calumet412:

Dan “SpiderDan” Goodwin scales the Hancock Building, 1981, Chicago.

Months earlier on Memorial Day, SpiderDan had successfully climbed the Sears Tower. This attempt on the Hancock proved to be somewhat more challenging when firemen began hosing him down around the 30th floor. Dan began swinging to try and avoid the water. The firemen then broke windows to try and grab Dan to pull him back in. It took Mayor Jane Byrne to intervene, who, arriving on the scene, convinced the fire department to allow Dan to finish, for public safety.

Read more about Dan Goodwin, who’s still climbing buildings, here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Goodwin

relaxing after a loooooooooong week

Fri, 24 May 2013 19:57:33 -0500

relaxing after a loooooooooong week

wish me luck

Thu, 23 May 2013 08:40:27 -0500

wish me luck

medicalschool: Image of the Week: Microscopic view of lung...

Mon, 20 May 2013 17:38:31 -0500

medicalschool:

Image of the Week: Microscopic view of lung surfactant

This microscopic image of lung surfactant, a lipid-protein material that reduces surface tension in the lung and aids in proper pulmonary function, could easily be mistaken for a whimsical textile print. A recent issue of Biomedical Beat provides more information about the fanciful designs represented in the image and how they may offer insights into developing new methods for drug delivery:

Using microscopy techniques, the researchers captured a snapshot of the changes that occur (black) when surfactant molecules are stressed by carbon nanoparticles. The scientists found that if inhaled, carbon nanoparticles could influence the function of the main lipid component of surfactant. A likely gateway for nanoparticles to enter the body is through the lungs, so this and future studies may help scientists improve drug delivery methods.

Photo by University of Kansas State

Worship The Glitch: There is no IRS scandal. Republicans pursue it anyway. Obama reaps the rewards.

Sun, 19 May 2013 16:11:49 -0500

Worship The Glitch: There is no IRS scandal. Republicans pursue it anyway. Obama reaps the rewards. :

ericmortensen:

Tea Party and right-wing groups are in the minority of those targeted.

Of the 298 groups subjected to additional review, 72 were “tea party” groups, 11 were “9/12″ groups and 13 were “patriots” groups, according to the inspector general’s report.

Controversial IRS practices are…