What a difference a friend makes!

I had a fantastic weekend, which was most needed. I spent the whole weekend with friends and made a new one by the end. On Saturday, I got it into my head that I wanted to have a cat again. I haven't had one since my ill-fated experience with Trinity which just didn't work out. We weren't a very good match. Trinity was young and rambucous, while what I needed was a cat that was a little older and mellow. I never realized you could go to a shelter and talk about personalities, traits, and the like and they can invariably match you up with the "purrfect" cat. I found, through my neighbor, an awesome no-kill shelter near my house called Felines, Inc. It's this nondescript two flat on Devon and Paulina that is just brimming with all sorts of cats and kittens. They take them in from other shelters and folks who are no longer able to care for them. I highly recommend them to anyone who may be looking for a companion cat. Anyway, I went there and found Wick, below. We bonded immediately! He's quiet, loving, beautiful, and unusual. He's a manx, so really not much of a tail. He looks a bit like a Lynx. His name coming into the shelter was Badger, but neither he nor I cared much for that name. It has the word "bad" in it. I asked him if he'd be cool with Wick and he took to it right away.

On other parts of the weekend, I went out with my friends David and Arthur for Indian food at Hema's Kitchen near Devon and Oakley. I had heard mixed reviews about the place. Actually, most of what I'd heard was quite good but my friend Jamie, who has been to India a number of times, didn't really care for the place. Although, I think it's mostly because they are a northern Indian cuisine place and she much prefers southern-vegetarian Indian cuisine. I swear they made the absolute best chicken vindaloo I have ever had. The spicyness was so complex. Not overpowering. It came upon the palette slowly, carefully building in heat and could be extinguished with a little bread or yogurt. We ate a bit too much which put us all into a food coma after. But, again, highly recommended. Service, food, variety - four stars!

On the last part of the weekend, I went to the Chicago Antiques Market in the Foulton Market district. Wow! What an amazing collection of vendors and artifacts. And, great deals to be made. No matter what you're looking for, they have it or something close. Jewerly, art, furniture, clothes, music, etc. And, yesterday, Ethel's Chocolate was giving out free samples. OMG! I think I sampled a bit too many. PB&J chocolates, martini chocolates, mojito chocolates, keylime pie chocolates, banana rum chocolates, and more fab flavors. I spent the day with my strikingly beautiful friend Tamara, who is also a buyer/seller of antique jewelry. We had a blast. You should check it out too.

When it rains it pours!

After a really great weekend, an auspicious 9/11 has lived up to its cursed history. I woke this morning feeling exhausted and unable to face a day at the office. Work seems unbearable and almost pointless on days like today. Of course, it's totally raining outside and the temperature has dropped to a very cool 59. Even if it is "that time of year," I protest and want the warmth back for a little while more. It seems I'll get my wish this time as the weather gods are swearing on 80 by weeks end. However, the weather is the least of my worries these days. Aside from my recent health debaucles, I learned today that my friends that I was set to go visit in San Fran in two weeks are in the middle of a nasty break up. That news totally blows any desire to go out there, so I'm postponing it for now. In addition, I'm just not feeling like international travel either, so I'm also postponing my India trip that was planned for January. I could say any number of reasons for why this is all going down right now (today), but its all really unnecessary. Essentially, we all have to do at any given time what we think is best for ourselves. With all the crap going on in the world and my questionable health, traveling just seems more like work than vacation. Did I mention that my car wouldn't start yesterday? My planets must all be in retrograde or perhaps on a collision course with eachother. Maybe I'll just take a little road trip down to the country. Some fresh air and racists may be just what the doctor ordered.

A Change in the Air

I read the saddest thing on my friend Charlotte's blog yesterday. It seems she's probably going to give up her blog of six years where she has shared some really funny and some sad times in her life. Even though I haven't been able to see her as much as I'd like, I've been able to virtually keep in touch through her blog. I've been going through periods myself where I don't feel like updating mine either. When I first started it, I was committed to updating it at least once a week, sometimes more. But as with anything that goes from new and exciting to just maintenance, it becomes harder to keep it a priority. I have so many interests and blogging has fallen by the wayside.

Things in general are interesting, I guess. I've been going through some health woes lately. Over the past 2-3 weeks, I've been seeing this doctor who's been helping me with my digestive issues. He tried to place me on some supposedly low-key drugs but one made it seem like I was on chemo and the other gave me panic attacks. They both made for a debilitating two weeks. As you may imagine, I've ceased to take either of those goodies and instead have returned a more homeopathic route. For instance, I've up'd my water intake from 6-8 glasses a day to 3 liters. This, of course, sends me to the bathroom quite frequently but I'm told that will subside once my body adjusts to the greater amount. I was also off wheat for a long time, as many of you know. This was due to a recommendation by a former doctor who believed I had Celiac due to my symptoms but my new doctor isn't so sure and plans to retest me but I have to be actively eating it for it to show so I've been indulging in bagels, pastries, and bread. On another front, my dentist recently referred me to a periodonist because of some gum issues. I went to see him yesterday and he basically has me lined up for three gum graphs over the next year. Evidently it's not something you can do all at once. There's also the issue with insurance. Mine is about to be capped out for the year, so it's better to wait unti early next year to complete everything. I've always seen myself as a work in progress but not quite in this way.

I bought a new bike recently. Well, it's new to me but I bought it from a co-worker. It's a retro-looking Schwinn cruiser, black and red, six speeds, and two fold-out baskets on the back. It really suits both my personality and my physicality more than the mountain bike I've had for the past four years. I got so tired of riding long distance in that bent over position. It was killer on my back and shoulders. But on the cruiser, I can sit upright.

Did anyone see the special extended version of 20/20 the other night where they talked about the top 10 ways the Earth could be destroyed? What was that all about?!

Well, it's September 1st and fall will be on our heads soon. I guess I'm looking forward to the leaves changing and the cooler air. I didn't used to care for it because it was an announcement for the coming winter. But now after 16 years in the midwest, I guess I'm getting used to it. Alittle. Although, I will escape out of town a couple more times before the year is out. I'm totally psyched for a trip I'm taking to the westcoast at the end of the month. I'm going to see friends both in San Francisco and in L.A. However, I'm dreading the airports now more than ever. What a mess travel has become.