of the phase, i mean. I got out of it a bad taste in my mouth.

I sure do love these new boots.

They look like they lack traction?

heh.

take a picture of them, amanda?

They’re for looking cute, not for climbing mountains.

+fashion

-traction

I would take a photo if I had the camera. D has it and he is in an airplane right now.

Haha, that response reminds me of something my ex would say. Right before she slipped and fell on ber butt.

They do look v. nice. I wish I was of a somewhat normal size and could do things like clothing swaps or shopping at resale stores.

Oh, I dunno. I’m not much of a long-term dater, so most of my opposite-sex anything has been in a couple of those phases.

LOVE THE BOOTS!

that does not sound healthy. the phases, not the boots. although the boots also sound a little treacherous this time of year.

watch me talk about what’s “healthy,” and feel free to crack up laughing.

Anyway, you can have rubber soles laid on those boots at a shoe place!

I retract my “no traction” comment.

Yeah, lots of womens’ shoes don’t have giant, ugly lug soles — not a big deal. Don’t wear them in the snow. Don’t run on the ice. I am not wearing them today, but I could, since all of the snow is melted, practically.

I’m off to work, dudes. It’s been a pleasure.

then they wouldn’t look as cute

xp to laurel

You can’t even see them, it’s less than 1/8“ thick. Just a thin layer of grooved rubber, like...I can’t think of a non-shoe comparison. They cut it to the outline of the sole and glue it on tightly. Good for ages.

something for which i have ilx to thank/blame: i now make snap judgements on women based solely on their boots. i learned at a young age to compliment a woman on her shoes but i find myself making silent but permanent judgements based on their boots now.

i wasn’t always this way.

I saw a girl wearing purple-tinged Uggs (or similar) this morning, and totall snap-judged the shit out of her.

Oh boy, special Xmas bonus from work! UofC Pr355 LUGGAGE TAG! Truly this makes my past year’s labor worthwhile.

wow, dan. that will bring in the big bucks on ebay, right?

it doesn’t even need to be something as obvious as uggs dan, i find myself quietly commenting to myself and giving them the mental equivelant of the roman emperor’s thumbs up/thumbs down to gladiators in the arena.

wow. dudes, that was some heavy Chicago talk today.

of the phase, i mean. I got out of it a bad taste in my mouth.

You were clearing doing something wrong, but I hesitate to ponder on exactly what.

I have a story to tell:

My cell phone battery went totally kaput this morning and I went to US Cellular to get a new one and this punk ass kid behind the counter said they’d have to order one and it would take TWO WEEKS! I said UNACCEPTABLE plz expedite and he said nowai can’t do it and I said let me talk to a manager and the kid gave me some gruff and I said, “Listen, you’ve been very helpful so far, but the more reluctant you are to let me speak with a manager the more likely I am to speak poorly of you” so out came the manager. He called another store that was THREE measely blocks away and they had the battery right there in stock so I stopped there on the way back to school and got a new battery for free right away and now my phone works.

I also went to the Christkindlmarket and got some sweet cheese pancakes and applesauce on a total whim, which is possibly the best idea I’ve had in weeks.

So the moral of the story is: ask for a manager and never pass up a chance for sweet cheese pancakes.

Yay, I don’t have to work tomorrow. (Because we are playing that show with $INDIEROCKLEGEND in Milwaukee.) The ability to sleep in is quite welcome, since I seem to be coming down with a cold.

Oh, that’s in Milwaukee? Where at?

That reminds me, I need to ask for next Friday off. I have a show with the rock band the night before, and then I’m driving to Chicago in the afternoon for the GM shows. Sleep will be key.

NEW GLASSES GET

I’d post a pic, but they look pretty much the same ‘cept smaller and less silvery. Also I am not v. photogenic at the moment.

nice bike person (who i only know tangentially) just got nailed at halsted/grand/milwaukee

keep it safe out there, ppl!

Is the rider still alive? I passed a ghost bike on Houston the other day, obviously incredibly sad.

JENNY WAI TO B POWERHOUSE. Am taking you on next customer-dispute resolution trip.

still alive, as far as I know

(getting reports from friends back in Chi...)

and yeah, ghost bikes are the saddest. but that’s why they need to exist

Evan! I hope your friend is okay. It’s a very wet and dangerous day out there.

What is a ghost bike?

I came in here to post this for word nerdz b/c of our conversation on gender determinism the other day: http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/003894.html

The US Cellular manager was very good at his job. He came out, shook my hand, introduced himself... basically came out of the box treating me in way that conveyed, “We are adults and we will do business here today.” Not patronizing or obsequious or irritated at all. His name was Kirk and I was impressed.

It’s an old bike, painted all white and locked to an immoveable object at a spot where a cyclist has been killed in a bike accident, and left there presumably forever. Sometimes they’re children’s bikes (more common in Queens & residential areas), more often adults. I’ve never heard of the city or anyone going around and cutting them loose (which quite frankly surprises me) but maybe I just haven’t been talking to the right people.

Oh wow. That’s kind of intense.

Yeah, the one on Houston had silk flowers wrapped around the crank & pedals like someone had been there recently. It’s a lot of intense.

there’s one right outside the empty bottle (or there was). really nice hispanic dude that built his own choppers was on his way home and got hit by a drunk

i’m surprised the city doesn’t clip them, either.

I wonder what it says about me that I find ghost bikes sad and lovely and respectful but am just irritated by plastic flower crosses on rural roadsides.

i don’t know!

the road up to where i “work” is absolutely littered with roadside crosses.

maybe it’s because roadside crosses can often be the result of yr own bad driving, while ghost bikes are generally the result of jerkoff drivers killing cyclists. AND they reflect the personality of the person who died, because it’s actually their old bike that gets locked up.

also, religious v. secular?

but yeah, ghost bikes are genuinely moving for me.

The saddest thing about ghost bikes, for me, is that they were all killed in auto accidents — an unfair fight from the get-go. Of course roadside crosses can equally be the result of an innocent trip to the grocery store and being hit by drunk driver, and I know this rationally, but bikes being the big-time underdogs makes the warning/memory different.

Or what he said! I didn’t know it was the victim’s own bike, though.

Me, neither! That’s super intense.

But you know, could be the person’s own plastic flower cross, too.

Oh, that’s in Milwaukee? Where at?

Shank Hall.

I came in here to post this for word nerdz b/c of our conversation on gender determinism the other day:

My mom to thread.

Also this book to thread:

jesus! the size of this thread!

I have made a rare login from work to say that tofu is making us gay.

What is a ghost bike?

there’s one outside the empty bottle from when a dude named esai got hit last january. it was so loud i heard the impact at my old place on augusta. in a sad bit of irony the ghost bike itself got hit by a drunk driver, the same fate that befell it’s owner.

there’s one right outside the empty bottle (or there was). really nice hispanic dude that built his own choppers was on his way home and got hit by a drunk

i suppose i should read all the way through the threads before responding.

oh, and there’s also a wooden cross with a rim attached to it outside the laundromat down the block which is where the guy died. the drunk was going about 80 mph down western ave when he blew the red light at augusta, swerved to miss traffic, hit a row of parked cars then plowed into esai at cortez. the force of the impact threw him almost half a block down to western and thomas.

I have made a rare login from work to say that tofu is making us gay.

I guess that’s why I’m so incredibly straight!

fudge, in addition to losing my chicago card it would appear i also lost the slip of paper with my i-go member and pin # on it. no grocery shopping for me tonight.

For example, if your baby gets colic from cow’s milk, do you switch him to soy milk? Don’t even think about it. His phytoestrogen level will jump to 20 times normal. If he is a she, brace yourself for watching her reach menarche as young as seven, robbing her of years of childhood. If he is a boy, it’s far worse: He may not reach puberty till much later than normal.

Soy could have horrible consequences for little girls BUT EVEN WORSE it could have horrible consequences for little boys.

Won’t somebody please think of the little boy children?

Maybe it’s also that LATE puberty is worse than early? Wouldn’t surprise me if there’s an important growth spurt for boys around then, too, and they might never make that height up. Not that I disagree with you or anything....

I think getting my period at seven would be pretty severe.

I...guess? I think I was 10.

i’m still waiting.

i’m not up on all the facts though.

Are You There God? It’s Me, Otto.

Dammit should have changed my login there

it turns out i was in fact smart enough to put my member # and pin in my work email’s contacts. you can all stop worrying and get back to work, i’m sure you’ve been shivering with anticipation over what was to become of my i-go situation.

That was brilliant. Groceries ahoy!

I suppose I’d give that author more (any, really) credit for anything he said if he, you know, supported his claims with studies. Or even links to other articles.

BUT THAT WOULD BE SO MUCH MORE WORK!!!!

JENNY U R GAY FOR TOFU JUST ACCEPT IT

So does soy actually effect estrogen levels, or is this total bullshit?

it does kenan that’s why soy products are so popular with menopausal women. it’s safer than mare urine.

If soy makes you more feminine, what about bovine growth hormone, out there making 15 year old girls look more and more like R Kelly bait all the time? Surely this masculine man would never advise us not to eat delicious American red meat.

Also, there was zero soy in my diet when I was growing up, and I turned out plenty faggy.

Isn’t at least one kind of hormone replacement therapy for post-menopausal women made from soy? I think there’s something to it, although on the other hand people all over the world have been eating soy protein in place of meat for centuries and they’re probably better off than those of us eating antibiotic/hormone-stuffed processed meats...so who knows?

Haha, XP!

CAR RESERVED. and it’s the one that’s closest to my place, AND for the first time since i’ve been using the service all of the cars in wicker park were available when i needed one. available all day from noon on in fact.

Yupsters be walkin’

i dunno guys, what about asian lady boys? they eat soy all the time*!

*....so do i. eep!

they eat soy all the time*!

*....so do i. eep!

i will now dust off this nugget of a school yard taunt that i haven’t used since 6th grade. *ahem*, EVAN PEES SITTING DOWN.

This abstract says soy does increase estrogen. But then this article says it doesn’t.

It’s probably one of those things that is good for you if you eat it in moderation but bad for you when it becomes processed as filler into every nook and cranny of the American diet.

those japanese ppl r gay.

soy does effect hormone levels—originally it was touted as miracle food for regulating hormones, and now they’ve found that it’s not so great as they thought, though sometimes beneficial.

from an fda bit on soy:

The recently raised concerns, however, focus on specific components of soy, such as the soy isoflavones daidzein and genistein, not the whole food or intact soy protein. These chemicals, available over the counter in pills and powders, are often advertised as dietary supplements for use by women to help lessen menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes.

The problem, researchers say, is that isoflavones are phytoestrogens, a weak form of estrogen that could have a drug-like effect in the body. This may be pronounced in postmenopausal women, and some studies suggest that high isoflavone levels might increase the risk of cancer, particularly breast cancer. Research data, however, are far from conclusive, and some studies show just the opposite—that under some conditions, soy may help prevent breast cancer. It is this scientific conundrum, where evidence simultaneously points to benefits and possible risks, that is causing some researchers to urge caution.

fuck irrational deadlines.

i guess i have about 1–2 pounds a week. when should i expect to start filling out?

I don’t understand why, at home, every man doesn’t pee sitting down. It’s more comfortable and, more importantly, less likely to result in PEEING ALL OVER THE PLACE. And you can say that you have good aim and that you’re careful but you know what? When you aim a hose at a bucket of water from a distance, some of it is going to splash out no matter how careful you are. And that’s disgusting.

xpost—Julia rocks.

You’re just mad because you don’t have a penis.

if i go to target tonight am i going to want to kill myself after being in there for five minutes? i need to get some things (more shelves, a heater, a blanket, probably some xmas gifts) and if i have the car i can hit target on western & diversey then hit jewel or dominic’s on western & addison.

huh, i guess i should’ve reserved the car at milwaukee and western instead.

I pee sitting down out of sheer laziness sometimes.

Shut up, Kenan Freud.

don’t understand why, at home, every man doesn’t pee sitting down.

i will do this if drunk or hung over. i used to keep a toss pillow in the bathroom closet of my place on augusta so i could put my head against the sink and pass out on the can.

there’s an image.

ok, that’s hilarious, otto.

TS: “toss pillow” vs. “throw pillow”

Neither. Why would anyone need so many pillows?

I’m for throw everything. Anything in your home should be easily thrown.

a throw pillow is for decor. a toss pillow is for tossing.

you shouldn’t throw anything indoors you fucking heathens.

What if you’re playing indoor bocci?

(nb this is played using those light-up rubber koosh dingii)

hey, i’m booking a flight and i forget, is it allegedly safer to have your seat in the cabin in front of the wing or behind the wing? not that i’d have much faith in surviving a plane crash anyway but still i’m sure if there was one and everyone died on board but one person, i would be that person. my clean living of a christian life tells me so.

Select your seat for comfort, not survival.

they’re all the same, my choice is in front of the wing or behind. i usually prefer in front so i don’t have to hear the engines. but the last few times i’ve sat on the wing hoping to have one of those twilight zone freak outs where i see a monster on the wing.

fuck it, i’ll take the default seating, 14c going down, 13c coming back.

Wait, were there more people on the Lost island from the front of the plane or the back of the plane?

The front, even before the Others got the Tailies.

yeah, plus i figure if the plane splits in half at least the front half will be moving away from the fuel.

In front of wing: supposedly more smooth/comfortable

Behind wint/in tail: supposedly more safe, bumpier ride