Wordless Wednesday:: Adirondack Beauty

Hard to choose for this week. So many great photos taken on this hike...expect more to follow.

Gilligan's Island The Chicago Series: "Gilligan"



Gilligan, via Google Image Search


Gilligan's three hour tour should have been by city rather than sea. Instead of his weary travelers suffering from "sea-legs" and then being stranded, they could have suffered from "Seg-legs" and found oasis at the local pizza joint.

After our encounter with "Ginger" aka Rude Girl, we needed to put some fun back into our trip, so we set out to have a day touring Chicago by Segway! Since I am not a huge boat fan, I found this three hour tour more my style and really, really fun! If you have ever thought of taking a Segway tour of the city you are visiting, do it! It is well worth the money and you see quite a bit!

When we checked in at Tour Central, we were already planning what we would have for dinner and that was authentic Chicago style deep dish pizza. We asked the clerk where she liked to eat such pizza and immediately said "Oooooh, Lou Malnati's! The. Best. I eat there all the time!" She was very nice to write down the phone number and directions, which we safely tucked away to use later.

We picked out some rocking helmets, and feeling much like a tough roller derby girl, headed down with the group to meet our tour guide and grab our rides.

Our tour guide (I will call her "Belle") was a cool surfer-chick kind of gal, with a funky, artsy vibe. She was from San Diego and was so glad to have just finished nursing school. Chicago's winters were a bit harsh and she was looking forward to getting back home to warm weather and the chance to grab a surf board rather than snow shovel this winter. Belle got us geared up on our Segways and taught us the basics of how to operate one. We were a small group and we picked it up quickly.

  
We signed up for the River Tour which, you guessed it, brought us down by the river! We cautiously moved down the path in the direction of Lake Michigan. Making our way through the crowd as a newly "licensed" driver was a bit scary; maneuvering around an empty plaza is one thing, add tons of people on a narrow paved path is quite another! Thank goodness these things are equipped with bells! I kept pushing the black button on mine. It wasn't ringing, so I stuck close to my friend, who was "ding-dinging" her way through the crowd. 

We made it through without casualty, and greeted the harbor filled with sailboats. It was beautiful.

We toured the harbor, Planetarium, Field Museum and Aquarium, which we were told was THE best place to visit. Did you know that when the Aquarium first opened, they spent so much money that they could not afford to fill it with marine life? So they brought sea water by train and filled the empty tanks charging folks to come and see the ocean!  

After shaking out our "Seg-legs" we made our way past the beach, then Soldier Field and back through Grant Park.

What are "Seg-legs" you ask? A term aptly coined by Segway tour guides after spending hours on the personal transport machines.

On the way back to the Tour Center, one of the Segways stopped working. Oh, no! The three hour tour did end with one of us stranded!! Not to worry, "Belle" was on top of it and coasted back to our 'land-wrecked' friend and brought them back safely. She apologized for ending on such a bad note...but we felt the opposite. Belle did a great job and was an excellent tour guide!

By this time, we could not get out our directions to pizza fast enough. We were all starving. We finally found Lou's and were seated. A lanky fellow introduced himself and took our drink orders. "Gilligan" was working hard to remember that we wanted water and a menu. He brought the menus and then said "Oh, the water!" He returned with three and forgot the fourth. We put in an order for appetizers and beer and waited for him to return to ask for utensils to eat our snacks....he came back with the fourth water then hit his forehead remembering that he didn't have forks and knives in hand. Not the sharpest tool in the box. Every three hour tour needs a little comic relief, right? Lucky for us, he did remember to bring dinner and when the pizza arrived, we all thought my goodness, this was like heaven on a plate. It was so incredibly delicious, I wish I could have eaten a second piece! This picture does not do it justice:

If you head to Chicago and want fabulous authentic pizza, go here. You will not be disappointed!

We walked our stuffed selves out of Lou's and headed down the street where we came across "Howl At the Moon" a dueling piano bar. It looked fun and we made our way inside. Little did we know that in less than an hour, we would finally see "Gilligan's" buddy the Skipper!

Wordless Wednesday:: Battlefield

Gilligan's Island: Chicago Style: "The Movie Star"



Ginger, The "Movie Star" via Google Image search


The "Movie Star" shooed her hand at me dismissively and with a huff stated:

"Well, I'm a real writer. Not just a blogger. I write for real."

That is a verbatim quote that I typed into my ipod (don't you just love technology?) after experiencing my first ever rude encounter in the city of Chicago. Now that that has set in for a moment, let's go to the beginning of our tale to get the full story...



Trump Tower, Chicago

After enjoying our tour of the city, Oktoberfest brews and run in with "The Professor", we decided to start heading back to the hotel, which was in the direction of the newly completed Trump Tower, and if you remember, was the job of Chicago native, Bill Ranic, season one winner of The Apprentice reality show. He was a nice guy, wasn't he? Come to think of it, wasn't Omarosa on that season as well? She was a really rude girl, wasn't she? Hmmm...I think so.

My husband was itching to stop at the House of Blues to show off one of his favorite places to our friends, so we decided to swing by to grab a bite to eat and listen to some live music. We arrived just before the dinner crowd and quickly found four empty stools snug nicely at a little bar looking toward the stage. The main bar ran behind us, which made for easy serving and beer fetching. We were so glad to finally be able to take a load off- we had been walking &/or standing all day and let me tell you, it felt great to sit!

As we tapped to the beat of the music and took our first sip of beer, a very attractive, young woman, in her mid-20's, sauntered over toward my husband and asked him a question. "I would like to ask you if you are a gentleman and would give up your chair for a lady?" We both looked at each other and she repeated the question. My husband said that he was sorry, but we just sat down to have some dinner, but he thought there were some stools further down the bar. Her reply: "Go get it for me."

Is it just me or does it seem that generation x,y,z...(whatever it is now) is completely full of the entitlement attitude? I am; therefore, I should have.

My husband does not bother easily, and has on many occasions, given up his seat for a "lady", but right now,  I could see all over his face that he was upset. He said a flat "no." She repeated the phrase "Really....you would not be a gentleman and give up your seat for a lady?" two or three more times, emphasizing the word really. Then "Rude Girl" moved her way down to our friend and asked him in a syrup-y voice for his seat to be given up by a gentleman for a lady. It is here that I interrupted and said to her "We are here visiting and want to have a nice dinner with our friends. We just sat down- we've been walking all day and now we just want to grab a bite to eat." With a flip of her hair, she turned to me and said "Look, I live in Trump Tower. I am not expecting you as a woman to give up your chair. You sit and have a nice time. I just cannot believe that these gentleman will not give up their seat for a lady. You tourists are all alike."

"Rude Girl" turned back to our friend and asked if chivalry was dead in New York. He must have mentioned where we were from. He answered "No. Not at all. It just is for you." Ouch.
With that, she stomped down to the end of the bar to grab an empty stool and as she danced back in the direction of her two girlfriends sitting behind us at the bar, hit me with it. No apology...but she did come back to my husband and asked for his name. "Mike" he answered. (FYI-his name isn't Mike)...then asked his last name because she found this so interesting. When she got back into her place in Trump Tower, she was going to write all about this, since she is a writer. What did living in Trump Tower have anything to do with it? And what's up with all the medieval terms: Gentleman, Lady and chivalry?

Then I joined in on the conversation and said "You know, that is not a bad idea! I think I will write about this too! This will be a GREAT story for my blog."

Which brings us to the beginning of this post. With her friends in the background pleading with her to shut up, she shooed her hand at me dismissively and with a huff stated:

"Well, I'm a real writer. Not just a blogger. I write for real."

I thought her words might sting with that kind of delivery, but you know what? I asked myself in that split second is "Rude Girl" a real writer? Sure. If she writes, then she's a real writer.

Am I a real writer? I'm typing this story for you to read. I guess because I am writing, then I am a real writer too.

So, "Rude Girl",  put that on your stool and sit on it.

MGB-Blogger of the Month: October!



http://www.davidmcgrieveyillustration.com/




I started blogging in June of 2009 with no more than 5 followers (one being myself)! There was one follower though, David McGrievey, that signed on right away and would email supportive comments and other blog suggestions (whether to check out style or just to read a good site) on a very regular basis, and still does to this day. When David launched his blog An Illustrated Life in October of 2009, I became one of his first followers as well. One thing you should know: I’ve known David for a great portion of my life. When my parents split and my father married my step-mother, my brother and I became a part of the family. To be honest, I always felt like I never quite fit in with the relatives-with the exception of a token few, who accepted us as though we were blood from day one. David was one of the few. In my book, he has always been the “cool” cousin; being an illustrator and living in New York City added to coolness factor, but I think it is the way he tells the story of his latest shenanigans-(and does he have stories!) that makes me look forward to his visits home. What I have enjoyed most, now being an adult, is becoming David’s friend.

When reading his blog, I started to really appreciate what an incredibly talented illustrator David is and am amazed at all he has accomplished so far in his life. He reminds me of a grand movie star, like James Cagney, Cary Grant or Dean Martin, just oozing sophistication, style and a snarky wit that can’t be beat. I’m sure when you visit, you will fall in love with his style too.

MGB: Why did you start a blog?

DM: I started the blog as an easy way to show my illustration work to clients, then, like most bloggers, I got a bit off track and found that I enjoyed rambling on about unrelated topics to total strangers. I have many young followers who want to become professional illustrators, I hope my blog serves to encourage yet warn them of the pitfalls of this business and the realities of living in NYC.

MGB: What is your favorite & least favorite thing about blogging?

DM: I really enjoy reading the comments, I used to respond to all of them but it got out of control. I do however FOLLOW back everyone that FOLLOWS me and I enjoy reading their blogs. Only once have I had to delete a follower, he wrote a salacious blog in Scotland. I have no idea why he chose to follow me as the only thing we had in common was the fact that I am half Scottish; in his defense, it was very well written. To summarize, my favorite aspect of blogging is the interaction, my least favorite is the fact that I can no longer respond in the way I would like to.

MGB: What is one of your personal favorite posts? Why is it your favorite?

DM: I am really partial to my Valentine post of last year...
http://www.davidmcgrieveyillustration.com/2010/02/happy-valentines-day.html

It was a simple post, a valentine thanking all my readers, I think I had twenty at the time and I loved them all. I had just learned how to incorporate a video so I put in Lady Gaga singing Bad Romance which recently won Video of the Year at the VMA's. Quite by chance, the colors of the video matched my illustration, everything just fell into place.

MGB: What would you like readers to know about you?

DM: They already know enough, I write a blog, not a tell-all, I'm saving the good stuff for a book.


I am so glad that David has graciously agreed to be our October Blogger of the Month! Please give him a warm welcome!!

*All illustrations are the original works of David McGrievey and have been used with his permission.