Chicago

So I’m sitting on my couch and it’s a beautiful morning. The sun is shining and Yahoo weather tells me it’s 32 degrees out, which gives the morning a crisp feeling.

I’ve got a fire going in the fireplace, the first one of the year. I made myself a latte this morning, complete with homemade vanilla syrup. I’m eating a bowl of Fruity Pebbles cereal because I am five and because it is my favorite no-redeeming-value cereal. There’s some jazz playing softly on the stereo.

And in this pleasant environment, I’m getting a lot of quality writing done. Life is good.

Hope your morning is going just as well.

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Apparently at some point on Tuesday the Chicago Tribune printed a story in Wednesday’s Women News section without the knowledge of senior editors. When the editors heard about the story, they led a massive effort to pull the section out of the paper by hand, however a few copies apparently slipped through.

Crains explains that the story, headlined “You C_nt Say That (Or Can You?)” did not actually contain the offensive word but rather referred to it. I mean, who at the paper thought that would be ok?

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My friend Mike has several friends in Chicago’s improv comedy scene and she and I have been talking about going to see some of her friends’ shows for months. Well last night we finally got around to it. I went with her and some other friends to two shows.

We went to pHamily, an improv comedy show at Stage Left theater. It’s an hour-long totally improvised show about a year in the life of one character and his family. The show is completely interactive, very funny and surprisingly original. The cast is extremely talented; I was literally aching after the show from laughing so hard. The smaller venue gives the show an intimate feel. I’d recommend this as an edgier, funnier alternative to Second City (which can also be lots of fun) and as an especially appropriate place to take visiting friends looking to experience Chicago’s improv scene. ph Productions does several other shows as well.

So in the past couple weeks several people have emailed me links to articles about Cereality, a new “cereal bar” that will soon be arriving in Chicago. The concept? Three to four bucks gets you one of over 30 types of cereal served in a wi-fi enabled environment by pajama-clad employees. It’s sounds like a potential train wreck, but like a train wreck, I can’t take my eyes off it. Or won’t be able to take my eyes of it, you know, once it opens.

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