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Banananana

T Minus Two Weeks

Two more weeks people! Our lives are quickly becoming consumed by a wedding to do list which is refusing to get shorter. I really haven't had much time to think or do much of anything else despite the fact that Cathy is responsible for the vast majority of the planning. I don't know how she does it - all I can say is that she is quite amazing.

The updates here for the next two weeks will likely fluctuate wildly between actual content and absolute nonsense. I suppose that is nothing out of the ordinary. However, updates for the month after the wedding, well, that all depends on how much spare time I have when I'm in Korea and Bali...more about that later.

Random photo:


A skyset while backpacking the SHT, 2006.

Dot Matrix Albert

A couple weeks ago I was at my parents' house looking at some old photos when my mom showed me a dot matrix printout of me circa 1982. Apparently she randomly got it while we were at the local Meijer. You remember dot matrix printers? Those were the things that sounded like a dying, squealing robot while printing a blazing one page a minute on fan-fold paper. Yeah, that was bleeding edge technology back then.

Anyway, it seemed a bit fragile so I took a quick photo of it instead of taking it with me. Enlarge it to see it in all it's dotty glory:


Awesome.

Another Ch'ava Post

Obviously I'm biased but I like Ch'ava a lot. Great food and drinks, an all around nice spot to sit and hang out. If you visit me, you know I'm bringing you here for lunch and coffee. And of course, here are a bunch of photos:


Inside, from the south to the north. It's a roomy place on the corner of Clark and Leland. It also has its own parking lot - which is kind of a luxury around here.


We've probably been drinking way too much coffee lately...


Outside, viewing the north-facing windows of the cafe. Bonus points for figuring out how they came up with Ch'ava...


Burr grinding for an even and consistent grind.


One of Ch'ava's tables. And a 2D Ficus benjamina.


And one of Ch'ava's mugs...in Orange 021 C.


Chava window logo.

Other Ch'ava posts: here and there

Ch'ava Cafe

Cathy's brother Eddie and his friend Rich are opening up a new cafe, Chava Cafe. Today is the mock opening and I'm headed over there in a couple minutes to sample some gourmet sandwiches and Clover coffee. Gourmet sandwiches since he's a trained chef and Clover coffee because he has this coffee machine called the Clover. It's a mysterious machine that makes the best cup of coffee you will ever have. For the rest of your life. Each and every time. For serious.

It's on 4656 N. Clark. Check it out if you're in Chicago.

I don't have any proper photos of the place yet so here are some stock-ish photos I took:


They'll be passing out sample bags of tea and coffee beans. I'll be sure to scoop up a couple...


To be brewed.

Other Ch'ava posts, here and here

Undercoat

As you all probably know, Cathy and I have two dogs. Dogs need to be groomed. Quentin is a normal dog that needs normal grooming. Kya, on the other hand, has a weirdly thick undercoat that seems to regenerate itself freakishly fast.


That pile of grayish hair is from brushing Kya for maybe ten minutes (it doesn't even look like her hair, but her undercoat is gray so there you go). I get similar results on a weekly basis. It might be hard to tell from the photo, but the pile was comparable in size to a watermelon. A watermelon in its prime.

Post-AZ Post 2 of 2

Here are a couple more from the trip:


Like I said, I went back to Camelback the next day, except this time with Cathy, Bernice, and Dave. I swear I did other shit besides go up and down this thing, but it's really the only time I was taking photos during the trip.


Dave, Bernice, Cathy. We went about 1/4 of the distance I went the first time. It was about the right distance since the girls were pretty tired by the time we got back down. I was pretty impressed by them though since the trail was pretty strenuous and it was really freaking hot.


Even though it goes much higher, the views were still great from where they got to. The clearer weather helped too.


This one is part of the view from the very top when I went by myself. The best part about it was that you literally had a 360 degree view up there. Even though it's not that high up compared to some other places, you can still see quite a bit and the land detail is pretty difficult to distinguish at this point.


Apparently the golf courses out there are nice, whatever that means. Honestly, I think it's kind of a waste. I mean, it's in the middle of a desert. You have 200+ acres of water intensive land in the middle of the Sonoran Desert being used purely for recreation. That just seems silly.


A lot of places with outdoor seating had misters to help cool you off. Kind of a waste maybe, but it does get a wee bit hot out there. Then again, after a bit of thought it's probably more efficient than air conditioning.

Anyway, not sure when I'd go back (unless we all get a free hotel room again), but I had a great time.

Post-AZ Post 1 of 2

Arizona was a good time. Among other things, I saw some cacti, drank a couple mojitos, made a pilgrimage to In-N-Out, and was even able to squeeze in a nice solo dayhike at Camelback Mountain when Cathy and Bernice went to the spa:


From our hotel, I walked three miles to the Cholla trailhead, ascended over 1300 feet in two miles, descended 1300 feet in two miles, and then backtracked to the hotel. A freak rainstorm rolled through earlier which made for cloudy skies but helped my comfort level by dropping the temperature. It also made for slippery rocks but don't worry, I didn't fall to my doom.


At about the halfway point, the trail became, well, interesting. By then it was also only marked with the occasional blue/green dot on a rock which made navigation difficult due to the lack of an actual footpath. A couple times I scrambled/climbed up rocks thinking it was the trail only to find a sudden drop off. I'm pretty sure I took some unnecessary detours.


A view of the first peak while climbing towards the second peak. The views were real nice. At the top of the second peak you get an amazing 360 degree unobstructed view of the area. I'll post a pic of the view later.


One of the many cacti. Some sort of barrel cactus?


This is part of Camelback at night from the hotel. The photo came out weird due to the hotel's ambient light - almost looks like the thing was superimposed.

Short but solid dayhike - I liked it so much I went back the next day. Next post coming soon.

AZ

Cathy and I are headed to Arizona with some friends for some random fun and relaxation. Last time I was in Arizona I was at the bottom of the Grand Canyon covered in a layer of fine silt, dumping sand out my boots, ruining a water filter, and trying to fix a dust-infested camera. This time we're going to Scottsdale, so I imagine it will be a bit different.

Hope you all have a good Labor Day weekend.

Also, here's a random photo for your amusement:


Damn straight.