dots.

you know what i hate? cheaters. not the relationship kind. they are too easy to hate. i hate people who cheat at games. crosswords, video games, football – you name it.

so this one day my kid brother and i are home during the afternoon with nothing but reruns of jerry and maury when he announces we should play “dots”. you know, that game where you draw a grid of dots and then take turns connecting them to create little boxes. when you finish a box, you claim it as you own by placing your initial in it. don’t roll your eyes just yet.

my little brother... my eighteen-year-old (now almost 21) little brother... cheated at dots. who the hell cheats at dots?! and no, im not just saying it. he cheated. honestly he did. sure he claims to be skilled in the game because he used to play with his coworkers at club monaco but i figured out how he does it. what a little jerk.

he watches you. he watches how you play. where do you draw a line? whats your pattern? he is confident that there is a strategy involved in order to win this game. keep in mind we are still talking about dots.

then when he sees you struggling, he’ll offer to let you skip a turn and take two turns next time. seems innocent enough. so you stop, smile, and stupidly say “aww thanks man.” and the whole time this little freakshow has figured out some mathematical way to screw you out of boxes that belong to you. i think statistics come into play – i really dont know.

meanwhile you are grinning like a fool because you think the two turns you’re gonna get will cause you to go on a line striking frenzy. he knows this when he offers it to you. in reality your second line was meant to be his death sentence. but not anymore. all of a sudden, he’s got a hand cramp from finishing boxes. see every time you finish a box, you get to draw an additional line. if that line finishes a box, you go again. its like dominoes.

in the end he’s got more boxes than effing UPS.

stupid cheater.

chicago.

chicago... chicago... that toddling town!

i adore chicago. i lived downtown in river north. just across from the merchandise mart. down the street from the house of blues. just a few blocks from pops for champagne, water tower, and whole foods. 3 blocks from michigan. a hop, skip, and jump from nordstrom. a quick cab ride to lincoln park. a train ride from wrigley.

this town is incredible. its clean, friendly, and so much fun. its a bulls, bears, and cubs kinda town. beer gardens, alfresco brunching, and summer street fairs. its the taste of chicago, lollapalooza, and sheffield garden walk. its the frozen chicago river, the green chicago river, and the sparkley chicago river during an architecture tour. its the first snow on the el tracks in winter, the blankets of tulips in spring, north ave beach in summer, and evening strolls in fall. its the wrigley building, tribune tower, johnny hancock, and the ole sears tower too.

chicago is late night burgers at the weiner circle. its tacos at TBP2, its sangria at iberico. its specialty cupcake shops, trendy hair salons, and relaxing day spas.

its my kind of town.

laundry.

so i moved back to florida almost a year ago. but i still tell people that i "just moved back". if you don't already know, i lived in chicago for the past 2 years. really, it was only a year and a half but this is my blog and i can say what i want.

about 8 months ago i began working for a company in ft lauderdale. big girl job here i come. the problem with this whole job thing is this... when the hell do normal working people have time to get anything done? i get to work between 830 and 9 am and then i hit the gym after work til about 8 pm. home to shower and eat and check some email and then bed. if i can, i squeeze in a walk for scooter.

in the past 8 months i think my wardrobe has doubled. if not, tripled. i have no time to do any goddamn laundry so i just buy new clothes. sounds great doesnt it? its not. this just adds to the laundry that i am not doing. argh! seriously, in the movies they make dropping off and picking up your dry cleaning look so easy. i still have not figured out how people do this. what about groceries? the bank? post office?

petrol.

ive been riding on fumes for a few days now. every time i hit the the gas light i pull into a gas station and throw about 15 bucks at them. take my 4-5 gallons and get going. that holds me another day. until yesterday. do you know i paid 4.20 a gallon for gas? what a bunch of crooks. are these people on drugs? 4.20? really?

the other day i heard on y-100 that gas may reach 10 bucks in the next 2 years. no thanks. throw an extra 100 g's in my bank account and we are good to go. until then... i hope they set me up to work from home cause thats gonna be ridiculous. either that or set up a nice extra deep pillow top in my office.

whats sad is i think it will get to 5 bucks a gallon (premium of course) by 2009. i mean i think some people will be choosing between gas and food. unless this is some kind of a diet being implemented by the government i think it needs to be over and done with already.

at least there wont be as many people on the road during rush hour.