I bought Mitsuko her first sweater yesterday:


She didn't hate it as much as I thought she would, but she definitely hated it.

Yesterday was also the day Nathan decided we should go to Hot Dougs.

Hot Dougs is an infamous Chicago hot dog place. Probably the hot dog place in Chicago. I had never been, but the hype about this place was almost obnoxious so I had high expectations.... especially when you consider the line to get a hot dog:


It took Nathan and I almost three hours to get our hot dogs. No joke. we got there at 1:40 and we weren't eating until 4:30. I was pretty annoyed, actually. What started out as a casual "hey lets get something to eat" turned into a 4 hour long chore.

To top that off...the hot dogs weren't anything special. And the duck fat fries taste like regular fries. I think anyone that thinks otherwise must have a skewed perception from waiting in line all that time. Or they're just trying to fit in and be cool. Maybe they were just sitting in the sun for too long and it caused their brain to become retarded.


The plate of nothing-specialness.

HOWEVER.. I will say the "gourmet" style dogs are AMAZING:

Smoked Mole Chicken Sausage with Jalapeno Mayonnaise and Habanero-Jack Cheese
$7.50


Here's a complete list of their current specials:

The Game of the Week
Bacon and Cheddar Elk Sausage with Goose Island Pere Jacques Mustard and Serendipity Cheese
$8.00

The Ian MacNeil (Today's Celebrity Sausage)
Jack Daniels and Fennel Smoked Pork Sausage with Piquillo Pepper Mustard and Burning Nettles Cheese
$7.50

Other Specials
Blue Cheese Pork Sausage with White Peach Puree, Rum-Infused Dried Fruit and Roasted Almonds
$8.00

Spicy Italian Sausage with Pesto Genovese, Roma Tomatoes and Ricotta Salata
$7.50

Cherry Pork Sausage with Cherry-Blackberry Cream Sauce and Sartori Raspberry Cheese
$7.50

The Atomic Bomb Spicy Pork Sausage with Spicy Passion Fruit Mayonnaise and Jarlsberg Cheese
$7.50

Uber Garlic Pork Sausage with Chipotle Dijonnaise and Aged Brick Cheese
$7.50

Smoked Mole Chicken Sausage with Jalapeno Mayonnaise and Habanero-Jack Cheese
$7.50

Foie Gras and Sauternes Duck Sausage with Truffle Aioli, Foie Gras Mousse and Sel Gris
$9.00

Portuguese Linguica with Saffron Rouille and 1-Year Manchego Cheese
$7.50

Chardonnay and Jalapeno Rattlesnake Sausage with Sweet Curry Mustard and St. Paulin Cheese
$8.00

Smoked Debreziner with Bacon-Garlic Mayonnaise and Smoked Gouda Cheese
$4.00

I was tempted to try the Foie Gras but it was $9 and nathan was buying and I've already had Foie Gras before so I got something different.

Nathan and I both felt like crap after eating all that grease.

What else has been going on in the last two weeks of my life...

SMB stayed at my house a couple nights ago. I haven't seen those dudes in a while. Cass really enjoyed my dog which I loved.

We stayed up watching various shreds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TsiP6lem8Vw

The night after that Look What I Did was in town. Anthony King and friends went over to their show to say what up and hang out. There wasn't much time to party though unfortunately. :(

When I got home from the show I came home to find that Mitsuko had knocked over the full trash can and ate various foods throughout the living room and kitchen. I should have taken a picture, but I was too pissed at the time.

Soup cans licked clean, expired star bucks sandwiches unwrapped and partially eaten, starbucks desserts eaten, it was a bloody mess. Johnny sat on the couch and read a book while I cleaned up everything. Then when I'm done he cuddles with Mitsuko and calls her "his" dog. Pfft. Mitsuko is not Johnny's dog until he starts cleaning up after her.

Speaking of my dog, Johnny and I are taking her on a doggy date. I was walking Mitsuko through Wicker Park last weekend and some girl was like, "Oh my god is that a Japanese Chin!?" and she told me she had one and yattayatta...so now we're doing a doggy date.

Her dog is a boy and weighs like 15 pounds, which is more than twice Mitsuko's size.

This is Mitsukos play date today:




I sent those pictures to my mom and she tried telling me that those pictures were of Mitsuko. She is one crazy lady. Not only do they look nothing alike (other than they're the same breed and color) but why would she think I would not recognize my own dog???

Crazy woman.

Oh! One last thing... Ive decided what my next tattoo is going to be. Does anyone remember this book?:


I used to read that shit all the time. My elementary school had something called D.E.A.R. which means "Drop Everything And Read" (Apparently my school doesn't realize that "and" isn't supposed to be part of an acronym...no wonder I'm such a retard)

But anyway, on DEAR day you brought in snacks, pop, a sleeping bag, pillows and books and just layed around the classroom all day reading. I always brought in those books on DEAR day.

The illustrations are awesome:


I don't know which illustration I'm going to get yet. To decide, I had my mom mail me the books so I can re-read the stories and choose. The book should be coming in the mail sometime this week. I'm excited!

Yesterday was the Kill Hannah and Comasoft show at Double Door. It was the official NIN after party...I'm not sure who deemed it "official" but there certainly weren't any NIN fans there to party. I was helping Comasoft selling merch and assisting Johnny with lights. I volunteered to help with the show because I had never been to Double Door  but I knew they always supply heavy amounts of beer back stage.



ohhh yeah. so hawt.

I'm glad I had the full Double Door experience the first time I was there.  That night I also figured out I would much rather work a show I want to see than go there as an audience member. I love multitasking and feeling like I have a purpose.

Load in was at 5:30 that day so I had to leave almost directly from work leaving my stomach growly and eager for chicken wings.

Can you believe Under Dog sells vegetarian hot dogs? Dani and Johnny were giving me shit for eating meat those wussie vegetarians. I tried to justify my eating wings by pointing out I was vegetarian for three years. That did not seem to matter to them.



I don't care though, those wings were fucking good.



Dan Evans and my chicken wing.

By the end of the show I was pretty exhausted. Not surprsing though, I woke up for work at 8:30am that day, started drinking at 6pm and didn't stop until the show was over at around 1:30am. I'm only a mile away from Double Door so I rode my bike there, but I had Johnny put it in the SUV and drive me home on the way back to his place. I'm a lazy bum.

I came home to my baby Mitsuko...who started her doggy period yesterday:

I gave up on the diaper idea though.

Mitsuko could finally sleep now that I was home. Aww she's so adorable:

This is Mitsuko. Born 10/23/2008. Yayyyyyyyyyyyy. I love my baby. <3

Here's some pics from my parents visit a couple weeks ago!@#$!$:


A rare photo of my dad. This is the only picture of my dad known to man.


My mom wanted to go on the Navy Pier ferris wheel


My dad from the ferris wheel. He's afraid of heights, heh.

We went to the zoo and saw some things:

We basically did every touristy thing you could possibly do in Chicago all in 3 days. It was exhausting, heh.

We also went to Margie's and got some bad ass ice cream:

Holy fudge.


Nathan brings home this amount of pastries on a regular basis. Pretty much every day. I'm going to get so fat.

I made this thread on a message board I post on. Please read. This is so fucking frustrating.

For years I have wanted to adopt a Japanese Chin. Living circumstances had prevented me from doing so. I recently moved out of my apartment into a bigger one specifically to accommodate a small dog.

I am extremely anti breeding in all of its forms so adoption was the only option in my mind. I used www.petfinder.com to look at some dogs online. I found one I liked, after weeks of exchanging emails they turned me down because when I sent them pictures of my bedroom, they saw a power strip, and said that the dog could chew on it. I told them I could move it but still failed to be able to adopt that dog.

Don't worry...this gets worse.

I have been talking with an agency now for literally two months. Two months of her and I talking, making sure I was "suitable" to adopt a dog. Which the standards are pretty damn high. This woman at the agency I was speaking to insisted she meet all my roommates, come to my house personally, meet my BOYFRIEND, who does not even live with me, work references, I'm surprised they aren't doing a complete background check on me.

I accommodated because they are the only agency that handles the breed of dog I want. I told her I specifically got this apartment to adopt a dog and that I have been waiting for the right time to get a dog for at least two years.

This weekend my boyfriend and I drove an hour to her house to meet her dogs available for adoption. She took the dogs out she wanted me to see. The one she thought would be best for me specifically was very territorial and growling at other dogs when they went near him. I ended up picking a younger pup who was happy, active and wagged his tail the entire time he was sitting on my lap. The woman from the agency said her and her husband would come do the required house visit on Tuesday and bring the puppy I picked. If all went well the dog would be mine.

I sent her an email asking what items I should get for the dog, contract signing, any other advice or details she can give me. Her response email was trying to discourage me from getting a puppy, telling me I'll have to stay home more often to take care of it, etc.

This was my response:

I was trying not to pick a puppy at first because I know it would have been slightly easier with an adult. The other ones just seemed so shy except the male one sitting on the ottoman but he was growling at the other dogs. I just picked the one that seemed the happiest and active.

I stay home 90% of the week anyway, honestly. As much as I used to try to fight it I am definitely a home-body. Staying home for him won't be a problem.

I've been looking more into veterinarian care. I think I've settled on this place:
http://www.northavevet.com/ This one is 1.5 miles away from my place and has a 4 out of 5 star rating on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/north-avenue-animal-hospital-chicago

There seems to be a lot of shady veterinarian places in Chicago. I remember one of my tenants at work recommended North Ave Animal Hospital, on top of all the reviews online I think that one is a pretty safe bet.

What kind of medical treatments has this dog had so far? Should I take him in for an initial visit as soon as I get him? Does he have any medical documents for me to take in to my new vet?

I'm going to call or go into the vet place tomorrow just to make sure I like it, but I'm about 90% sure this is the best option.

In response to that e-mail I get this:

I have been trying to get you to understand the importance of putting a lot of thought into this adoption.  I am not getting a comfortable feeling with your responses.  I really thought that Sarge the larger, young male would have been a good match with you.  You are not focusing on the important qualities of this breed.  Our job is to match the right dog to the right people. We tried to explain that the dogs we showed you were in an all new situation with a lot of changes over a short period of time.  Sarge was growly, because he was stressed.  He had not been like that previously.  We know this breed very well and are able to determine their personality very quickly.  Now Sarge is in NY, and I don't have any other adults that would be a good match for you.
 
I think it would be best to put this on hold for now.  I know you are anxious to get a dog, but you just aren't "into" this breed, like you need to be.  They are cute, but they are not for everyone.  With as many as we have here, I thought you would have been really excited to see so many, but it just wasn't there....
 
I will keep your application on file and if I get a better one for you, I will be in contact.

Two months of exchanging e-mails, phone calls, and going to their house to pick a dog and NOW I'm unqualified to adopt this breed???

Are all adoption agencies insane??? I have never been so frustrated in my life.

This was my response to her email:

I have been putting thought into getting this dog for years. What did I say in my email that would make you think I'm not qualified to adopt this dog? If you had any objections to me picking out Troy why did you show him to me in the first place? And after I decided that dog and I bonded the best you and your husband didn't seem to object. Why would you tell me you were going to bring him over to my house for a house visit and now all of a sudden I'm not qualified?

I feel so blind sided. I don't understand why I'm getting this email now, when you are responding to my email that was simply explaining why Sarge left a bad impression on me and why I feel good about adopting Troy and questions regarding veterinary care for him. I realize some dogs need time to adjust but the bottom line is we did not bond how I did with Troy. I appreciate all the work you have been doing so far but I'm not going to take a dog I don't feel comfortable with. In the end this is going to be my dog and my responsibility so I want a dog I have a good feeling about. If you could be a little more specific as to why I'm not "into" this breed like I should be please let me know so I know what you think I'm doing wrong here.

All I have been doing through this whole time speaking with you is listening to what you were telling me and taking all the advice that you gave me. I told you I'm willing to stay home for the dog, I'm picking out a good vet near me, I'm willing to train him, feed him, pick up his poop, pay for whatever medical treatments he needs. What more can I do?

What I REALLY should have told her is how disgusting it is that she is disguising her pet rescuing as something noble when all she is really doing is trying to obtain a higher authority over people. And that all this hassle and grief she is giving me would force me to resort from buying from a breeder or pet store.

This sadly seems like a common occurrence at adoption agencies. I know a couple that couldn't adopt a dog because they both had jobs.

I also found this blurb on the subject
http://www.daviddfriedman.com/Laws_Order_draft/laws_order_ch_13.htm

Rationing Surplus Kittens: A Feline Digression

 

Some time back, my children decided that they wanted kittens, so we took a trip to the local Humane Society. It was an interesting experience. We ended up spending several hours waiting in line to receive one of a small number of permissions to "adopt" a pet, filling out forms, and then being interviewed by a Humane Society employee to make sure we were suitable adopters.

What was puzzling about the experience is that kittens are a good in excess supply. The Humane Society has more of them (and of cats, puppies, and dogs) than it can find homes for and, although it does not like to say so, routinely kills surplus animals. Rationing goods in excess supply is not usually a problem. Yet the Humane Society was deliberately making it costly, in time and effort, to adopt a kitten, and trying to select which lucky people got to do so, despite their knowledge that the alternative to being adopted was not another adoption but death. Why?

Part of the answer was that they gave out only seven adoption permits at each two hour interval because that was as many as they could process, given a limited staff and the requirement that each adopter be suitably checked and instructed. But that raises a second question. Since they did not have enough staff to process everyone who came, why insist on extensive interviews? Better owners are no doubt superior, from the standpoint of a cat, to worse owners, but almost any owner is better than being killed, which was the alternative.

So far as I could tell, the only real function of the process was to make the employees feel important and powerful, handing out instructions and boons to humble petitioners. That suspicion was reinforced when the woman interviewing us insisted very strongly that cats should never be permitted outdoors, stopping just short of implying that if we would not promise to keep our new pets indoors she would not let us have them. On further questioning, it turned out that she did not apply that policy to her own cat.

We left the Center petless, obtained two kittens from a friend (and very fine cats they have become), and I wrote an unhappy letter to the local newspaper with a copy to the Humane Society. The result was a long phone conversation with one of the women running the shelter. She explained that there were two models for such shelters: one in which animals were given out on a more or less no questions asked basis and one involving the sort of "adoption procedures" I had observed. When pressed on the fact that the real effect of her shelter's policy was to discourage adoptions and thus kill animals that might otherwise have lived, she responded that if they followed the alternative policy nobody would be willing to work for the shelter, since employees would feel they were treating the animals irresponsibly. That struck me as a kinder version of the explanation I had already come up with.

When the decision of what baby goes to what parent is made by an adoption agency, there is no good reason to expect the people making it to prefer the baby's welfare to their own. When the equivalent decisions are made for pets, there is no good reason to expect the people making them to put the animal's welfare or life above their own feelings.

Has anyone here gone through what I'm going through here??? I really just feel like giving up at this point. I have never been so fucking frustrated with something.

This is Ashton. She is my girlfriend. For life.

Man it's been a while. The only reason it has even crossed my mind to update my LJ is because Johnny keeps asking me to do so. I'm not sure why, he gets more regular updates on my life than anyone else.

At one point in March Johnny had a beard and I loved it:


March was also the month Johnny and I went on a brief trip to Michigan to return some things to my parents house before I moved in my new place. We were being ballers and stayed in one of the jacuzzi suites at the greatest hotel in Lapeer, Michigan: Best Western. We tried to get the honey moon suite, but they only have one and it was sold out for that day. I wasn't too upset until I heard the honey moon suite had a heart shaped jacuzzi. Damn!






Fuck I love jacuzzis. Johnny wouldn't get in with me. :'(


I made Johnny breakfast in bed the next morning. I love contenental breakfast!! I made 4 waffles, got 4 danishes, cereal, coffee, an apple, bagel with cream cheese and a bunch of other things I can't remember. Man food is awesome.

I indulged in Michigan's finest...such as Tim Hortons..which is obviously a Canadian thing but they're all around Michigan so whatever:



I took Johnny to Big John's in Flint.

In which I discussed the idea of getting Big John tattooed on me. Johnny voted no, but he did like his sub.

I didn't get any pictures with my family except Gacy, I was trying to get a good shot of his 6 paw deformity:

You can't really tell in this picture. Oh well.

At my parents house my mom showed Johnny pictures of me when I was little (It was Johnnys idea):

This one was my favorite. As seen on myspace. Man I wish I still had blonde hair. It'd be easier to dye.

After Johnny and I's Michigan trip we prepared for my move to Ukranian Village. Have I already posted pictures of my baller apartment in LJ? I know they've been everywhere else.. okay..here are some more for good measure:





The living room still needs a lot of work haha.

My bedroom is finally coming along. I bought a loft bed on easter... this Tromso from Ikea to be exact:

But don't think I'm rich enough to shop at Ikea. I bought the Tromso on craigslist.


Before:



After:





Side Note: The day Johnny and I set up the Loft we went to the beach at night and flew kites. Johnny bought this crazy professional kite that when flown incorrectly the line can cut someones flesh to the bone. While Johnny was trying to learn to fly it it was literally pulling him up off the ground and dragging him across the beach. It was a pretty awesome sight.

Other than making my apartment look sexy, my other current project is adopting a Japanese Chin. I knew this was going to be hard. Usually there are ridiculously high requirements for people adopting a dog. The shelters usually do home visits, back ground checks, call previous vets, references, etc.  I was denied my first application because I was too far away (the shelter was in St. Louis, MO, but they post listings on the INTERNET and originally told me as long as I came and picked her up it wouldn't be a problem) and also because I had a power strip on the floor of my bedroom in a picture I sent her. As if those can't be moved.

Whatever though, that's just one dog and one shelter. I have a feeling I'm going to be applying for many many dogs before someone thinks I'm the "right fit" for their dog. Originally I said I only wanted a Japanese Chin, brown markings, puppy that had nothing to do with puppy mills. Most rescue dogs come from puppy mills and have all sorts of phyiscal and mental problems.  I have now lowered my standards to any Japanese Chin thats younger than 5 years and isn't retarded or has a health problem. I think this is a realistic goal.

Currently I'm applying for these two dogs:
http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=12264977


INFORMATION: Sumo is a silly, sweet boy that found freedom after our presence at a puppy mill auction!

HEALTH: Good. Sumo is neutered and current on all shots. He does have a Gr. 4 luxating patella on his right hind leg. He has had 2 surgeries and not the best results as both pins have snapped. After almost 1 1/2 years on wire with no room to stretch his leg, the ligament/tendon has tightened enough to make him use to 3 legs but he does get around great, in fact, he doesn’t realize he is lame.

BACKGROUND: Sumo was born in a puppy mill and spent his first year on wire, with little or no vet care. He came to us through a sell-out auction – this is where the miller is going out of the business and all dogs go. He is one of the lucky ones, many other breeds were not, but we are determined to find him a home that will be able to look past his “disability” (which it really isn’t), and give him the love he so deserves!

ADDITIONAL NOTES: Sumo is currently in foster care and doing great. He is already housetrained and loves to run all over the backyard. He is just finding out what toys are and loves to play with the other pups here. He has the most precious, serious face and would love another companion in his new home to play with.

I like the part about him only having use of his 3 legs. It's sad, but I told my mom I want a dog with a weird handicap like that. No one else is going to want a dog like that and that shit doesn't matter to me anyway. Actually for some reason I would prefer to have a dog like that. It makes them cute and unique.

So this dog is my number one choice as of right now. This is another one I wouldn't mind taking home:

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=13104036


INFORMATION: Sophie came to us through a small shelter in South Dakota. She was a stray found on the outskirts of town, near a highway with no identification. She was very thin and matted.

HEALTH: Very Good. Sophie has been spay and is current on shots. Other than needing to put on weight, she is is good health.

ADDITIONAL NOTES: Sophie is a little love bug! She is following her foster mom everywhere and loves to be on her lap. We are beginning our assessment, but so far…she is very sweet, understands “outside” and is very social & confident. She is housetrained and does very well on a leash.

Wish me luck on getting one of these dogs. I know I'll need it.


That's about all the new news I have.


And while I'm thinking about it: Ben Desroaches, sorry I have not returned your calls yet, but I did enjoy that drunk easter voicemail you left me.

My parents are coming in town this weekend to visit. Actually.... they're coming in in two days. Damn. That should be interesting. I'll try to take pictures.


Hope everyone had a good Easter. I know I certainly did.

Let me tell you a little about my desperate search for apartments in Chicago.

Most of Chicagos landlord are too lazy to rent out their own units or a rental agency conglomerate owns many buildings throughout Chicago and will stop at nothing short of murder to rent out these apartments.

All of these rental companies charge the potential tenants non-refundable application fees. These fees range from $15 - $40 from what I've experienced in my month long search for an apartment. After the background/credit check is completed, if you pass, you put down a deposit. Sometimes you even have to put down a deposit just to APPLY. And if you talk to the landlord and decide he sounds like a shady bastard that wouldn't give a fuck if your apartment had a family of raccoons living in your closet, you would be charged a fee to retract your application and of course would have to eat the $40 (per person) application fee you initially paid.

And then there's all that waiting to get your deposit check returned.

My perosnal experience?
I checked out a pretty nice apartment in Bucktown that was listed at 1,300/mo but also said "If rented by this weekend rent would be dropped to $1,200/mo!" So I checked it out, liked it a lot, called the agent and asked about the application process. $15 application fee per person (not bad at all compared to North Clybourn Group's $40 per person). Then he added that the cost per month would be $1,250/mo. I reminded him of the ad thinking he had made a mistake, but then proceeded to tell me that peolpe were interested in this apartment so basically take it or leave it.

I thought maybe that could be the best apartment I could find before our April 1st dead line and e-mailed him for the application. There was a lot of furniture left in the apartment. Some of it very big ugly pieces that would be a pain in the ass to move myself. Also about 4 mattresses. I asked Brian (the agent) if the furniture was staying and that I didn't really mind one way or the other. because Nathan could use a mattress (he's been sleeping on an air mattress since he moved here about 4 months ago)

Brian responds,
"Some of it can stay.  Before I had it furnished and was getting more in rent.  It is something to discuss if you would like or you could buy the pieces relatively cheaply.  Call me after 6 to discuss."

Hahahahah wait wait wait... so Brian is going to do me a favor and charge me money to have the furniture that was left in the apartment by another tenant? Or he was going to raise the price in the rent to keep the entire apartment furnished? Who knows where he was actually going with that "We used to have this apartment furnished for more money" line, but the idea of him charging me to leave crappy furniture in my apartment ....oh boy.

The next day I checked out another apartment for $50 more than what good ol Brian was asking for his apartment. I ended up taking that one (more news on that later...as of right now I just want to complain)

It took a couple days for the new rental agency to do Jeph and I's credit checks and all the while Brian is still writing me trying to get me to put down an application and deposit for this apartment:

May 11th:

Imagine coming home from work and finding this outside of your apartment door:

That is not a good sign.

Then inside my apartment I see this:


And this:
'
And I'm thinking "Fuck! This is absolutely terrible! The amount of leaking in this apartment is insanity"

But I learned what real insanity was a couple hours later...
( It started to rain )


The carpet in my bedroom was completely saturated with water and the bathroom and kitchen as well. I called my landlord and the next day he sent someone over........with a mop. Yes, a mop is going to fix my rugs and carpets. Thank you so much for your help.

This is what Chicago looks like when it rains throughout the entire city because our sewer system is retarded:



So a day before this flood I had already started looking into moving into a better apartment so I took this as a sign I really need to get my ass into gear to look for places.

I looked at a couple real shit holes. Initially I wanted to buy all the apartments I saw. all of them were obviously WAY better than where I was living now.


This one was off of Milwaukee in my favorite neighborhood in Chicago. The place obviously sucked cock. The bedrooms were so fucking small. Half the size of my bedroom now, which is already retardedly small. The apartment above was 850/mo for a "3 br"


This was apartment two. $1100/mo 3br. this place was a lot bigger but the bedrooms were still really small and the place itself is obviously really fucking old. This place is located in "safe but cheap" neighborhood Ukrainian Village, which is where I work. If I could find a nice place in UK Village I would be like .5miles away from my work.

after those two I checked out some other ones. Another in Wicker Park for 1100/mo for bedrooms smaller than what I have now.

Then Nathan and I saw this one:


This was near Ashland and Chicago

High ceilings are good because I plan to build a loft for my bedroom in my next apartment. This place was absolutely perfect minus the fact it was the maximum for our budget. We sent in our applications and they seemed kind of desperate to sell this place (It had been on the
market since January) They even said if we moved in we'd get $400 off our first months rent. So I figured we were in. I was a little nervous about having to lend Nathan more money while he looks for more jobs but the more I thought about it the more I liked this apartment and wanted to make the move.

It took me a day to get the applications from them, the next morning I faxed them in and I get a call saying someone else took the apartment. Which really pisses me off because I kept telling the woman I would do whatever to put the money down and put it on hold for us, and she didn't seem to be in any hurry to get the money. This has happened to me two out of the two times I've ever wanted to move into an apartment in Chicago. I tell them I have the money and I want to give it to them, they somehow put it off and then sell it to someone else because they're fucking idiots and disorganized.

So we're thinking about getting this one:


It's on Western and Chicago pretty much which is a city block away from my work.  right by a 24hr CVS, pizza places, a cheap farmers produce store, pet store (for my puppy), down the street from Dominics, starbucks, right by burger king  and mcdonalds. 24hr busses intersecting.

There are also two major downsides: It requires a month and a half security deposit for some reason AND a $40 application fee with credit check (I don't have credit, Nathan has bad credit and Jeph our possible third roommate has bad credit) however we could have our parents co-sign. I don't want to waste $40 applying if odds are against me for getting the apartment though. I'm going to talk to Jeph about this and see if we want to even bother to apply here. I'm sure someone else is going to take it sooner than us anyway its already been on the market for 2 days. hah.

I may also look at this one:
"2739 Augusta open house on saturday the 14th 12:00 to 1:00

NICE, NEW, CLEAN, BIG, BRIGHT BEAUTIFUL, NEW WOOD FLOORS, PAINT, FIXTURES, KITCHENS OUR MAPLE CABINETS, DISHWASHER, CENTRAL AIR AND HEAT, 3 GOOD SIZED BEDROOMS WITH BIG CLOSETS, NEW TILE IN BATHROOMS. COIN OPP LAUNDRY IN BUILDING ALSO NEW, CLOSE TO JUST EAST OF CALIFORNIA , WEST UKRAINE VILLAGE, CLOSE TO DOWN TOWN, BUS, CALIFORNIA CLIPPER, FEED, FLYING SAUCER ETC... BIKE, FRIENDLY, COMMUNITY BIKE ROOM, YOU PAY UTILITIES, ONE MONTH SECURITY PETS OK
APRILL ONE MOVE IN DATE, EMAIL TEXT OR CALL TO SET UP APPOINTMENT FOR SHOWING ON SATURDAY THE 14TH"

This one is a little too Hombolt Park for me though. I didn't want to go anymore west than a couple blocks west of Western and especially not past California.. and this one is right on the cusp.

So enough about apartments and how they fucking suck...

I found Nathan a full time job yesterday. Something inside me yesterday made me want dairy queen after work. There is a DQ about 4 blocks from my place right now but I never go because I'm cheap and ice cream makes you a fatty fat. In the two years I lived in this apartment I've only gone to that DQ once. This was my second time and I saw they had a "NOW HIRING" sign in their window. I asked for an application and their manager wanted to interview me on the spot. I told him it was for my roommate. I sent Nathan over there 10 minutes later, he was interviewed and hired.  His debt to me is almost paid off and it will certainly happen a lot sooner now that he's getting a solid 40hrs a week (or that is what he was told by his manager anyway)

Inbetween all the maddness of my apartment flooding, apartment hunting and working 36hrs a week I still managed to sneak in some Johnny time and we finally went to flat top for the first time after I bribed him with sex. Yes, I had sex with someone for flat top. don't judge me.





it was pretty good. kind of pricey for what it is unless you get there during lunch time.

I also dyed my hair:

It's about time I had something more festive going on. I've had all black hair for about a year now.

So thats been my couple of weeks. Johnny and I are going to Michigan the 11th - 14th to visit family, friends and especially see Daiquiri in Lansing so I can see my darling Mike H. again. I miss that guy.


Wish me luck on my apartment hunt, because this is really discouraging so far.

Lykke Li  2.7.2009


This was from the Lykke Li show last week. Look at the slew of random people making faces at my camera. People are such cam whores these days. including me.

The Lykke Li show was about a million times better than I had expected. It actually ruined the album for me. The live show is so dramatic and energetic. Her album is something I would listen to in the bath tub or something. She did a cover of amilli by lil wayne which was pretty sweet. That was my favorite part of the show actually, heh.

Random:


this was one of the lunches i got during work. it really wasn't that good, i was just so hungry and excited to have food.


Free Cake and Booze


Sometime this week I was walking down Belmont and a fat man in a tophat and tuxedo tells me there is free cake and champange inside a building he was standing next to. I was alone, looking for some cheap walking boots so I didn't want to go in and eat cake all by myself like a weirdo, even if it was free.

I walk to the belmont brown line station and wait for my train...and i feel someone kick me in the butt!

It was Anthony King. I told him about the free cake and champange and we go check it out:


It was pretty sweet. i got pretty drunk, actually.


Turns out this free cake and liquor was part of a fund raiser for mothers who can't take care of their children. rumor at the party has it it was for retarded mothers who couldn't take care of their kids. But I actually took one of their pamplhets and read it on the bus and it wasn't for retarded mothers, nor did it ever mention retarded mothers.

That cake pictured above sold for a whopping $20. This was part of an auction too. How sad is that? Where are all these people that care about crappy mothers with mental illnesses that can't take care of their children? Oh well. I got free cake and drink out of it so I'm not bummed. But if I were that organization I'd be kind of embarassed.

Johnny and I had made plans that night so we met at free cake and booze place and went back to my house. This was on one of the day where it was like 60 degrees so we put the fuckin top dooown:


I was pretty excited.

We had made plans with Ant Farm to meet him and his friends at Bar Liouie that night, but after a while I was just so drunk and tired I just went to bed hhah. I'm a bad friend, I know.

Red Mango



Johnny and I went to Red Mango a couple days after that. He hated it. I've decided that shit is way too expensive for me. Two small  fro yo's = $10. That's way too much even if it is non fat and delicious.

By the way everyone....

I have NEW GLASSESSSS:


I got them at Wal Mart for $50 total. The frames were $18. They're technically a mens frame.. I think they look hot though.

Stuff I've bought recently

(it's a face). Forever 21.



Man my feet are ugly haha. But I needed some skanky heels. I don't own a pair. They were like $20 at some random shop in wicker park. we'll see how long these things last.


I got these babies at a similar random shop in wicker park. they have faux fur inside o fthem for warmth! Too bad I didn't find these in the beginning of winter. These were $30. niceee I have finally found my wlaking boots.


Valentines Day.

A couple weeks ago Johnny and I had a conversation about what we were going to do for V-Day. I was kind of on the fence about the whole "holiday" and Johnny said he didn't really give a crap about the holiday and didn't want us to buy presents for eachother. He changed his mind about that a day before V-Day, which left me scrambling to find a decent present for him, heh.

My first stop was target:

The guy behind me definitely knew what I was up to that night.

Because sex is the only comodity a woman has on Valentines day I decided to bank on that and I went to various sex stores in Chicago. Everything they had was either too boring or too over the top for me, so I just got some bondage tape.



This is what I came up with for Johnny.

This is his card:



Being the awesome friend that I am, I also got Nathan some stuff for Valentines day:

We're going to use the skittles and vodka to make skittle-infused vodka drinks that he linked me to online:
http://mixthatdrink.com/skittles-vodka-tutorial/

This is what it will look like when we're done:

Good, eh?

This is what Johnny got me:





On one of those days where it was really nice out I told Johnny we should fly a kite. He asked me if I even owned a kite...and I was al bummed because I dont haha.

Johnny also made reservations at some fancy restaurant in Oak Brook. The food was really good and not too retardedly pricey. This is me on the way over there:


Hi.


This was us afterwards. We ate waaay too much food. Johnny was trying really hard to look cute because he doesn't think he's very photogenitc. Good thing he looks cute in this one.

That was definitely the best Valentines Day I've ever had. Awww.