Memorial Day

Cathy and I went up north to Nick's (who happens to be one of my groomsmen) where good times were had by all. It's always nice to get out of Chicago to get a change of scenery, relax, and see my friends. Took a bunch of photos, here are a couple:


Cathy, Emily, and Brent watching Nick ready the boat. Sweatshirts since it was still a bit brisk in the mornings and three of perhaps hundreds of thumbs ups over the weekend.


Nick.


Nick's stalefish.


Brent.


Brent's profile.


Lots of this too.

Kya

In the process of going through some Memorial Day photos. In the meantime...


An old one of Kya I had sitting around.

RnR

Headed up north for some rest and relaxation. Hope you all have a nice long weekend.

Old photo:


I think this exposure was with a broken toy camera. Or at least it looks like it was - I don't really remember.

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Elevator wall

Busse Woods

With spring here, the rain is here too, and everything is suddenly green. A couple weeks ago I was in the burbs with a couple hours to kill so I took a walk in the Busse Woods.


It was my first time there but it's pretty typical of most of the forest preserves around here. It's got a paved path which is suitable for pretty much everything - although I suppose the trade off is that it's kind of boring. No trail running here and I wouldn't bother bringing my mountain bike either. Some portions ran through prairie areas but most of it was straight through the forest (at the time the leaves weren't 100% out yet, but I bet there's a dense canopy by now).


One legged robin on a rusty fence. That could be a good band name.


Mallard doing a head dunk. And that could be a good album title.


I think there was some fundraiser walk on a couple miles of the path. All I really know is that there was a dude dressed as a lion with an afro cheering them on.

On a completely unrelated note, that day was also my first time to an Ikea. That place is funny. While I was there, I bought some shit for our balcony, ate some Swedish meatballs, and drank my first black currant soda.

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Downtown (Denver)

Tomatoes

Ate a bunch of tomatoes the other day. They've always been one of my favorite fruits.


I remember way back in the day my family had a bunch of tomato plants in the backyard. I also remember the day that my brother and I discovered that some of the plants were infested with tomato hornworms. I think we actually ended up playing with them, but now that I think about it those things were pretty gross. Seriously, Google it.

The Bean

The infamous Bean, er, Cloud Gate. There are always at least two dozen people standing directly under it taking photos. At least. I guarantee it. 3 to 400% of the time. By the way, if you look for a second you can find me in the reflection.

Broiled Salmon

I like salmon. Tasty, healthy, easy to prepare. Minimal seasoning, into the oven for a couple minutes, and you're good to go.


Broiled salmon with a spicy black bean sauce, side of cilantro-lime basmati rice.

Some personal opinions:

As a general rule, avoid farmed salmon. Poorly managed salmon farms are inefficient and dump diseases and parasites into the wild. Be aware that the vast majority of anything labeled Atlantic salmon is also farmed. Instead, go for wild-caught Alaskan salmon since it's sustainable, healthier, cleaner, and tastier (frozen wild-caught will still probably taste better than fresh farmed). These days I also pass on west coast salmon not from Washington due to struggling salmon populations there.