i'm getting married today!

...that's all. hooray!

see you soon!

blogs, weddings, etc.

first of all, i'd like to apologize to all my dear friends and readers for the total lack of blogging. this has been a crazy month, but that's no excuse--this blog is important! be assured that i have every intention to be a very diligent, hilarious, and insightful blogger in the coming months, when i become a newly married first year med student. i'm sure the entries will start to get very interesting in the next couple months...so stay tuned if you want to know what goes through a man twice gone crazy.

in other blog news, kim has now become an official member of this blog, thus making our holy union that much more real and binding. you can expect to hear all kinds of funny stories and musings from her life in the coming days. don't worry, though--she's not going to be some yoko type that starts to edit and limit the creative explosions of words and hilarities that you've all become accoustomed to--she'll simply add to the wonders that happen here. and when we have really passive-aggressive fights we'll probably just post insulting things about each other here, which ought to make for a pretty good read for all of you in internetland. let the adventure begin!

finally, i've heard some concerns from various people about ability to find the wedding once they've arrived at the park. i understand your fears and hopefully will clear them up for you all now. i think the best tool for finding the park is the google maps feature, and i suspect that some of those who are concerned about finding the place don't understand how the map works, so i've included an image of the map here to explain a little. click on the image here for a bigger picture of the map (you need to go to the link on the wedding website to actually USE the map, though). first of all, did you know that by clicking the picture and dragging you can move your view of the map? and did you know that the scale over on the top left can be used to zoom in and out of the picture? and finally, and perhaps most importantly, did you know that by clicking "satellite" over in the top right corner you can have the view of the park you see here, allowing a real-life view of actual landmarks and such? well, if you didn't, i hope this mini tutorial has been of some help to you and will make using the site more helpful in the future, as well as when attempting to find this part of the park. if not, the picture above is a shot taken while standing on the actual place the wedding will happen, and probably there will be signs on saturday directing folks to the location, or to a different location if it turns out we have to go elsewhere for some reason (like a bunch of puerto ricans playing baseball or some such). or call a friend or me or kim and we'll attempt to guide you if you're lost.

so i guess that's it for now--we're in the last days here, so i hope those of you who are coming out are excited for the trip and are looking forward to a great time on saturday--i know i am! hey, if you know my number, do me a favor and call me when you get in town so i can keep track of who's arrived and who's potentially lost. and plus just so i can hear your voices and say hello!

see you all soon!

chicago, leading the way

chicago is a notable, leading city in many things. we've got the olympic bid, we've got the cuisine (i'd mention more than chicago dogs and italian beefs if it didn't seem so much like bragging), the architecture, the culture, the list goes on and on. and this summer we're #1 in a whole new category: gas prices. that's right, the highest! the number 1, most expensive in the whole country. in your face, everyone else!

and as if that wasn't enough, we're also at the top (or bottom) of another pile. our mail service is the worst in the country. that probably explains why i STILL can't get mail forwarded to me from my lincoln address. this honor is special, though. i mean, anybody can just jack up gas prices--shoot, i'll sell you a gallon of unleaded for $50 right now--but it takes a special something to lose letters, delay parcels, destroy postcards, (and the packages! don't even get me started on packages!) quite the way the chicago post office does. it's a real thing of beauty to behold.

so, in summary. chicago rules. we lead in so many things that we even lead in things other people don't want to lead in. because we lead. we rule.