vote early, not but not often or late.

Did you know that 34 states allow people to vote in person before the election day? Majority of them have a don't ask, don't tell attitude towards early voters. Only 3 states & DC want a reason.

Here in Illinois, they didn't ask me anything and I didn't tell them anything. To find early voting locations in Illinois, click here.

colin knows how to pick 'em

Pumpkin picking is an art. Colin walks us through the steps to finding the great pumpkin.








First, check the dirt. Good soil is the first indicator of a good crop.

Next, inspect the pumpkin.


Finally, call in the laborers to carry your bounty home for you.

soldier field

oliver plays with fire

Last weekend, Oliver discovered one of the reasons people take a trip to Wisconsin - firecrackers.













We gathered at the water's edge of a beautiful, serene lake that was surrounded by the fall colors. The serene moment lasted only a moment. It changed as the inventory of fireworks was laid out on the pier. Then the moment was lost. Bottle rockets streaked through the air and skipped on water.

Congratulations to Lauren and Jimmy

lauren, jimmy and aunt toni's cake

We headed up to Wisconsin to see Lauren and Jimmy tie the knot. The weather threatened with rain early in the weekend, but was shooed away by the bonfire after the rehearsal dinner. Apparently fire and water don't mix. The elements aside, we had a fabulous weekend filled with family, friends and food.

For more pictures of the wedding and rehearsal dinner click here.

Doug & Andrea's Announcement

We headed over the Nacional 27 to celebrate the recent marriage of Doug and Andrea. When I think of Doug and Andrea, I think of food and wine. It seemed only natural that there trays of delectable apps and mixologist-inspired drinks samba-ing around the party for all to enjoy. My favorite was the blueberry infused cocktail.

traditional registry gifts

brandy's

A fast food place that is the home of the gyros, salad on a pita and a parking lot full of cops. must be good. It was.

chicago botanic gardens

batman gets his props

A few years back, we were driving around downtown and you knew something was going on. Along with streets lined with movie trailers, they were beautifying a portion of the L-tracks and there was an burned semi-truck overturned at Grand and State. Then we saw the prop truck and the prop-master loading the dummy onto the truck. Only later did we figure out that it was the making of Batman - The Dark Knight.

Now, fast forward a few years to present . . . We went to see the Black Knight. We went for a couple of reasons. First, it seemed like a movie that needed to be seen on the big screen. Second, Fandango has a 2 for 1 deal on tickets. It was meant to be.

The movie was good. The movie was long. There were a few things that I liked. I liked the background of the characters. Don't get me wrong I love the classic, action-packed, 'Crash', 'Bam', 'Ooof' Batman tv series, but the movie built up the reason on how the characters came to be. And the new Batman does have some pretty slick gadgets to give the movie a different sort of 'Pow'. I mostly liked being able to pick out different buildings and areas of Chicago. It put some closure on one issue. I finally figured out how the semi truck got overturned. One thing still bothers me, I never did figure out where this dummy came from. Maybe one day I'll figure it out.

olympic common-tary

The Olympic games cover a wide variety of athletics. Some are more popular and easier to recognize than others. You know what basketball and even water polo are. For other events, you understand a little bit about the sport from the title, but don't quite understand all the objectives and scoring for the event. This is where the commentators come into play. Their job is the simplify the sport so that the common viewer can understand the goal of the competition. Sometimes they are too simple.

Watching synchronized diving, you hear the commentator explain the scoring. The 2 divers are judged for similarity in style, speed of rotation, angle of entry and timing of entry. The more synchronized the 2 divers are, the less deductions they receive from the dive's start value. In the slow motion film, you can begin to see what they are talking about.

After a while, the commentators lack information to share and try to add fluff or color to their dialogue. That's when the odd, Yogi Berra comments start to come out. . . 'She completely missed the dive. She is not going to score well.' That's the comment. Not how many points are going to be deducted, but the fact that she is not going to receive as many points if it has been executed perfectly. or 'They train in the same facility. This makes training (for synchronized diving) a lot easier for the them.' As if I assumed that they were in sync, and they wouldn't have to be in the same place to train together. Enlightening. Hope you are enlightened as well.

where the onion grows - part II

the rogue onion saga continues. what started as a large onion bulb to begin, has grown roots and divided into 3. From what I understand, the onion bulbs that start out round, end up oblonged. It is odd to have a torpedo shaped onion, but if it is diced up, who will know. We'll see what happens, harvest time is right around the corner.

gameworks and some games don't work

We headed over to Gameworks to play a few video games. The boys went commando and the girls went old school. I found myself reminiscing of the old days of Showbiz Pizza and wandered over to the skee ball machines.

My excitement was halted as the game refused to release the balls after I swiped the card. Then I remembered how often these machines broke down and cheated you out of tickets. After the machine was re-booted, I rolled my luck and, sure enough, as old school, luck would have it, I was also cheated out of my tickets. Maybe next time I'll be able to collect my earning. This time I just find odd comfort in knowing that some things just don't change.

need a tornado alert, watch the rodents

Sitting at a restaurant, I saw the lights flicker. Then another flicker. Across the way, I saw the Lego store lights go out for a few, long seconds. The odd light show was long enough to create panic in the eyes of the mall rat. Like any rodent, they instinctively know when something is up. The flickering lights were some sort of Morse code that sent the mall rats scurrying towards the exits.

Oblivious to the rodents flight, I continued to sit and watch as the smaller stores abruptly closed and secured their storefronts as if there was going to be a looting. It was not closing time, but something was wrong. I walked back to my exit and headed towards the car. Walking through the department store, I was warned by the teenage, loss prevention guards that I should head immediately to the shoe department to seek cover. I thought, how did he know that is where I usually seek refuge? Heeding no warning, I continued outside. The glass doors opened and I was met by a musty air and surrounded by an erie green sky. Sheets of rain and strobes of lighting filled the sky. There was a tornado warning.

According to Tom Skilling, we can blame Canada. The warm Canadian winds blew in and messed up the jet streams and created a whirlwind mess. Tom knows his meteorology. I blame Canada too and will keep a closer eye on frenzied crowds. Maybe.

the chicago guy for a day

Like a human tumbleweed, Brendan rolled into town, meandered around Chicago a bit and pushed on westward. Unlike tumbleweed, he left his mark on a few places.