Funny how time flies...

The title to this blog is in respect to Janet (Miss Jackson, if your nasty) who recently kicked off her 'Rock Witchu Tour' (yes, I spelled that correctly). She is only playing at limited venues this tour and Chicago is one of the stops. *sigh* If only I had the time and money. But, to give you all a little taste...



Yes, her hair is in a mohawk. And yes, these are the 3 singles (Young Love, Say You Do, Don't Stand Another Chance) off of her first two albums (Janet Jackson, Dream Street)... People hardly know those albums exist because they did fairly poor on the charts and it was before she released Control - the album that really launched her career. Anyway, she has never done these songs on a tour... I died when I saw that she was performing them. Thank God for youtube - it makes it easier to swallow that I won't be going to the concert myself. (Can you tell I love me some Janet?! You all got trivia you never knew you wanted!!)

Anyway, time for an update. I am currently in a transition with my career here in Chicago. After failing to get the hours I needed at Zed451, I went on the hunt for other positions (either full-time or part-time, to make ends meet) I got a call back for a pastry cook position at the Westin Hotel at O'Hare and after staging for them, I was offered the full-time position.

(Side note: In my line of work, the interview process is in two parts. The first is the actual interview that you and I are all used to - with the same lame questions that you get asked in every other interview. The second part is called staging, where the candidate spends about 4 hours in the kitchen with everyone else... basically proving themselves in skill and seeing if they mesh well with everyone else. It's actually a great process because it gives both parties time to feel each other out and see if it feels right.)

Anyway, the stage went well and I felt very comfortable there. Plus, I was offered a bit more money and benefits (for me and Scott - hotels rock with benefits for gay and lesbian couples) so needless to say I jumped at the chance. I gave my notice at Zed last week, so I'm finishing out my final week. I can honestly say that even though the experience was fine there and I did learn a lot, I don't think I'll ever work in a restaurant again. It's just not for me.

My new position at the Westin starts on September 22. Beside the fact that the shift begins at 5:00 a.m., I'm really looking forward to it!

But wait. There's more...

Both Scott and I applied at the Marriott Downtown (on Michigan Avenue) - him for a reservations agent part-time and me for a pastry position. Scott got a call for an interview and during that process, Scott mentioned that I applied as well. The guy giving the interview gave Scott the name and number of the Executive Pastry Chef for the hotel and told me to call to ask about my resume. So I did - and it turns out that the position has already been filled. But the pastry chef was incredibly nice and offered to have me come in and tour the property and meet people. So I went in and met her and she gave me a fantastic tour of the hotel and introduced me to people, had me sample products, and sat down to talk with me. It was totally unexpected for me, but I figured it's great to have connections and the pastry chef was so great the entire time. So she said to keep in touch and said I was welcome to swing by to hang out and help out if I ever wanted to. I'm always down for learning new things and getting more experience, so I promised her I would keep in touch. I e-mailed her and thanked her for being so amazing and told her that I'd be keeping in touch. Well, I got an e-mail back asking me if I would be interested in working part-time and if I'd consider coming in to stage. I was so excited and set something up for the next week.
Long story short, I rocked the stage, got along with the bakery really well, and she offered me a part-time position there. I'll probably be starting that in the next few weeks... I'm thinking of working there about 8-10 hours a week.

Things just seem to be falling into place... It's a great feeling.

Also, I've been spending my days off getting to know the city a little bit better. I decided every week, I am going to go somewhere or do something that is unique to the city - just to expand my horizons a bit. This past week I went to an art exhibit at the Chicago Cultural Center where they were displaying art from inmates (who were or are being held in various Illinois prisons.) It was so moving. Many of the pieces had descriptions of what the inmates made and what it meant to them - and although many of the pieces were stunning and looked near professional, there were some pieces that came from maximum security prisons. I guess at certain prisons, art supplies aren't allowed, so inmates improvised by drawing on the backs of envelopes and folders and using ink from pens and colors from food dye (like M&M's) to create stunning images. Others made miniature sculptures from wrappers of candy bars or paper mache from old papers. It was so amazing to see these works of art from people who have little to no contact with the outside world who rely on art as a form of peace, therapy and contentment. It was very moving...
And if it couldn't get better than that, one level up, there was an entire floor that was carrying an exhibit of art work inspired by Marilyn Monroe. It was such an eclectic display of art and photographs... the classics from Bert Stern and Andy Warhol to movie stills and dramatic displays. I loved it so much...



I must say I'm a fan of the Chicago Cultural Center...

To end this blog, I must give all of y'all another taste of my girl. These ones I know you'll recognize...



(P.S. Thanks to those of you who responded to my last post regarding your favorite books - They are definitely on my 'to-read' list.)

Reflection and Rand

I was making dinner tonight and I realized that I needed some things at the market down the street - so I walked there and picked up what I needed and started on my way home. Then something in side my mind just clicked on and said "You live in Chicago." You know how you make choices in life, but it doesn't really click until later? I just find it interesting that if I had never met Scott, I would never be experiencing this. 5 years ago, Chicago was simply one of many major cities in the U.S. that I had never been to... and now, I live here. It made me smile to think about and I'm proud of myself (and Scott) that we have made the choice to be here. Sure there have been some struggles getting started - but I really feel some good things are going to happen soon.

In other news, I have been reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand while riding the train to and from work. I love Ayn Rand's style. I read Anthem and nearly cried - and I am very much into this book as well. I am the type of person who reads books and underlines poignant phrases or sentences that stick out to me. Blame it on the fact that I was once a missionary who highlighted his scriptures heavily whenever I felt prompted to (which resulted in a very colorful set of scriptures) but here are some of the lines of Atlas Shrugged that has stuck out to me recently.

"He decided that pain was not a valid reason for stopping"

"Words were a lens to focus one's mind..."

"If joy is the aim and the core of existence, she thought, as if that which has the power to give one joy is always guarded as one's deepest secret, then they had seen each other naked in that moment."

"'Francisco, what's the most depraved type of human being?'
'The man without purpose.'"

"No matter how good you are, I'll expect you to wring everything you've got, trying to be still better. and when you've work yourself out to reach a goal, I'll expect you to start for another"

*Sigh* Now that I have time in between home and work, I've rediscovered my love for reading.That being said, once I'm done with Atlas Shrugged (which may take a little bit, being it is 1069 pages...) I'd like to read some of your favorites. So, please, leave a comment for me with your favorite books of all time and why you like them so much.

Existance is a reproduction

Something to chew on.

In the introduction to edition of The I-Ching (or Book of Changes) I am currently involved in, Richard Wilheim (the author of the translation) states that '...every event in the visible world is the effect of an "image," that is, of an idea in the unseen world. Accordingly, everything that happens on earth is only a reproduction, as it were, of an event in a world beyond our sense perception.'

I read this on the train the other morning and haven't been able to get it out of my mind... Just thought I'd pass it along.

Art Extravaganza!

So - here is the internet premiere of my most recent piece of art. I like to refer to it as 'energy' although an official name hasn't been decided just yet.


I've already hung it on my wall next to my niece's painting...


For those of you who don't know, Sadie painted me a picture and gave it to me before I left for Chicago. I consider it a masterpiece and cherish it completely. I don't know if Sadie had a name for it, but I like to think of it as 'Paradise'. From the eyes and incredible talents of that amazing 5 year old, I wouldn't be surprised if it was.

Anyway, today is art day on my blog. Enjoy!

Work and Play

Can't believe it's already been a week - Time sure does fly. This one will be a quick one, but more or less, an update. I wrote last week that I did end up getting a job at Zed451... yes, it didn't meet my expectations financially, but after a week of work, I can honestly say that this job is something I needed. Beside the fact that I feel really good about being there (let's be honest - trusting ones intuitions and feelings is probably the best thing anyone can ever do) - so that, in itself, has made working there that much better. Secondly, I think I got a little too caught up in the magical world of cakes while in Utah and got a bit rusty on my pastry skills - Nothing more humbling than being asked to make pate a choux, biscotti, marshmallows, and creme brulee base (all from scratch and all to be started and completed within a few hours) when I haven't done it for a few years. Good times. But I can say that I make a mean eclair now after a few days of practicing and getting it right. :)
So, I feel good about working. I like working - what is it that people say about idle hands? I don't remember - but I get bored very easily when I'm not occupying my time with work. Bless Scott's heart for having to entertain me for the past 3 weeks. :) Things are finally starting to pick up... we're getting into a routine now - this week especially since Scott is starting his school - doing tests and getting classes ready and me having a 40-hour work week. Since I need to have a little more flow coming in, I'm still looking for part-time work... something more simple and possibly retail... If you guys have any suggestions on where I should I apply, let me know. I'm up for anything. I'm thinking Crate and Barrel or Sur La Table... you know, somewhere that I can get a decent discount for items I need for my kitchen. :)
Anyway, tonight Scott had an orientation at school, which left me home alone for the first night since we moved here... which left me free to blast Ani Difranco, Jude and Janet Jackson from the stereo (some of my FAVORITE artists of all time that Scott can't stand) and I painted a picture.
A little background... I started this project in Salt Lake City about a week before we left. As I was packing things away, I found a folder with dozens and dozens of poems that I had written while I was on my LDS mission and the few months following. At the time, writing poetry was literally the only outlet I had, so most all of these poems were either horribly depressing or riddled with metaphors and symbolism for the sake of...well, being symbolic and metaphorical... but to the point that I can't even look at these poems with out getting a huge pit in my stomach and being instantly transported emotionally to the past. So... what did I do? I cut out a phrase or a word from each of the poems and pasted them to a blank canvas. I vowed to myself when I was feeling optimistic and artistic, I'd finish the project. Well, weeks later, here I was with a free night to myself and a canvas filled with past emotion. So... with my music blaring, I painted the entire canvas black and decided to do this painting with a chakra theme. So, I slit 7 lines in the canvas and painted each slit a color coordinating with each of the chakras. I will take a picture of this tomorrow and post it - I am actually quite proud of this.
Anyway, this didn't end up being short at all... See what happens when I get going?

Sunday Night Vent

It's Sunday night in Chicago - I can hear the neighbors through the wall laughing at their television, there is the sound of sirens in the distant and someone just took out their trash singing an unfamiliar tune to themselves... Perfect night for a blog.

There are a few things on my mind tonight. One of which is the fact that I found out earlier that I got the position at Zed451 as a pastry cook. While I was ecstatic to get the news, I was just as quickly crushed to know the pay for the position is substantially less than I expected (and need). Since this is the first position I've been offered after more than two weeks of being here, I took it with open arms - because let's be honest, something coming in is better than nothing coming in. But I've been kind of upset at the job scene in Chicago... Initially, I assumed there would be plenty of opportunity and that I'd come here and be swooped up by the fabulousness of the Chicago scene and fall into a great position and begin my career right away. But the reality of it is that I've been applying for jobs for months and since I've been here have been applying for just about everything that I am qualified for - with bare results. The job opportunities are there, but I'm just not getting them. It's frustrating.
And there are two things I would love more than anything. To start my career - not just have a job - and to be able to support Scott while he's in school. The later is due to the idea that he is in his graduate program and the last thing he needs to worry about is making ends meet with money - I would love to be able to have him work because he needs an outlet from school and home or because he wants a discount to a great store or something like that - not because he has to, to pay for bills or groceries. I really thought that I'd come to Chicago and those two things I want would just happen. But what I've been faced with is a lot of waiting and getting to know my apartment very well. Granted, it had been nice to simply be home with Scott and make 3 meals a day in our amazing kitchen - I just thought I'd already be involved in the beginning my career here and making my dreams reality. Maybe I just need to give it more time...

In other ideas that have been swimming around my mind, is the idea of my 'odd shelf'. One of Scott's best friends (and a very dear friend to me as well) Peter wrote a post a while back about an odd shelf - a collection of books in your personal library that don't just mesh with the other literary books on the shelf. But more further, it's your hidden interest that no one else really knows about you. After I read his blog a few months ago, the idea stuck with me and it wasn't until recently that I realized that my odd shelf is primarily centered around religious/spiritual/metaphysical studies. The other day, for instance, I got very involved online researching the missing years of Jesus Christ before his ministry account in the New Testament. There are accounts that say he traveled through India and Asia and studied with the great masters/teachers of those times before he started his ministry. I love researching things like that - so since I've come to refine (and reveal to you) what exactly my hidden interest is, I'm extending the idea along to you all to look at your life (and your bookshelf) to see what exactly is on your odd shelf and share it with someone.

I also wanted to share a link to Scott's blog for you all to check out our apartment in Chicago - odds are you have already seen it because most of you who read my blog, read his as well... but for the sake of reposting something he has already done so well, follow the link here.

Until next time...

Chicago

I'm back! (Well, not back as much as I'm here...) Odds are you've read Scott's blogs - but this is my (condensed) version of what has happened since Salt Lake City.

Scott and I woke up on July 25, finished packing odds and ends, then picked up the Penske truck (Wow. I can't believe it's been more than two weeks.) We had some help from one of his best friends Lisa and my sister's husband Kirk - and despite the fact there were only 4 of us, we were able to get everything packed in the truck in a little under 2 hours. One of my best friends Caitie came to see us off while she was on her lunch break - so there were some emotional good-byes and then Scott and I were set to go.

I drove the truck first - simply for the fact that I don't mind winding canyon roads and Scott gets a little freaked out... and it turned out to be quite a bit better than I expected. There wasn't a governor on the truck, so we were able to maintain a steady speed of 70-75. Scott had boughten a MP3 transmitter for the radio, so I was able to listen to all my music the entire time so time seemed to pass a lot quicker.

We only stopped a few times to rest and were able to make it to Scott's mom's in Des Moines by 1:00 the next day - Tired as hell, but excited to be there. The cats were less than thrilled to be out of the car. They were terrified when we first began in Salt Lake, but by the end of our trip, they had ventured out to walking outside of their kennel to check out their small surroundings in the car. But being at Collette's house was another story since she has a cat and ceiling fans - both of which we just found out, our cats are completely terrified of.

So we parked our Penske truck in her drive way and tried to relax over the next day and a half. Our plan from there was to road trip down to Chicago and get a hotel and spend Monday and Tuesday diligently looking for apartments. Luckily our roommate-to-be, Jessie Lyons, lives in West Des Moines near Scott's mom, so we were able to pick her up and have her involved in the whole process.

After a good 5 hour drive we arrived in Chicago - now... I'll spare dramatic details, especially because Scott has posted not one, but two blogs about this entire ordeal - but suffice to say, after two days and much drama, we were able to get a beautiful apartment in northern Chicago. (For the entire story, visit these links: Part One http://eveningchats.blogspot.com/2008/07/queens-queers-and-quandaries.html , Part Two: http://eveningchats.blogspot.com/2008/08/queens-queers-and-quandaries-part-deux.html - good stuff indeed)

We drove back up to Des Moines on Tuesday evening and we excited that we had that step taken care of. We were able to relax a lot more as a result and spent most of that time before we finalized the move to Chicago to catch up on sleep.

Scott and I started the final stage of the move on Friday, August 1 at 5:00 a.m. - after another lovely 5 hour drive, we arrived at our new place, got our keys to the apartment and loaded everything in the apartment. I was actually pretty impressed with us - it was only the two of us unloading the truck and we live on the second floor of the apartment building, so we had to climb up a flight of stairs each time... but we were able to get it done in about an hour and a half. Again, we were tired as hell, but since we needed to return the truck to Penske by a certain time, we choked back our tears and set out to get rid of the rental truck.

Now, I'm not sure if Scott blogged about this little experience, but we had nothing but great experiences with Penske right up until this point. But the address to the drop off location we were given, we soon realized, was directly across the street from Wrigley Stadium. And as luck would have it, the Cubs were playing a game that day. So hordes of fans and traffic added to the stress of driving a massive truck down narrow Chicago streets and after 3 failed attempts to make it into the parking lot of the Penske location, Scott called their company and asked for directions. It turns out the drop off location was somewhere else - they gave us the address and shady directions and we did our best to find it . I was driving the truck and actually found the location first - which was a large empty parking lot of a factory at the end of a narrow side street. There was no one there to give the keys to - in fact, no one was around at all - and if there hadn't been two other trucks there, I would've sworn it was a set up of some sort. The entire experience of simply dropping off the truck took about 2 hours - Needless to say, Scott and I were a little upset, but more so tired - so we went back home and unpacked briefly and took naps.

Scott's sister, Stacey, along with her husband, Isaac, and their little girl Eponine came down late Friday night to help us over the weekend to unpack our things and get everything set up. It was so great to have them here for those first few days... We were able to get quite a bit done and unpacked in those first few days as a result.

The big task at hand now is finding a job. Scott has a pretty promising situation with Gap on Michigan Ave. downtown, but as for me, I'm still waiting to hear back from positions I've applied to. There seems to be quite a bit of opportunity for me here - I'm just waiting now for it all to happen and fall into place...

It also didn't help that Scott and I didn't get the internet until this past Friday... so we had literally no connection to the outside world at all... But we're back.

All in all, Chicago has been beautiful - aside from a freak storm last week (The lightning was so intense that Scott and I were sure there was a strobe light outside) And we were able to meet new people last night at Chicago's Market Days on Halsted - which was, as Scott put it, a Pride festival, a gay bar and a county fair rolled into one. But I feel really good about being here... I feel that things are going to work out amazing for us both. Wish us luck!

P.S. As soon as I get the apartment straightened up, I'll be snapping some pictures and showing you all our new place...