- Dumser's Ice Cream
- Kick TJ's ass at skeeball
- Dough Roller breakfast
- Thrasher's fries
- Boat (for TJ)
- Rum Runners
- Playing in the ocean




























- Highs: Santigold, Elvis Costello, Bruce Springsteen, Phoenix, Al Green, Ted Leo, Beastie Boys, really good food (lots of mexican-inspired, fair-type foods), awesome people-watching time, Daily Show comedians, not getting sick after eating ice cream from Pickle Bob's after only being able to keep down saltines and gatorade for 24 hours.
- Lows: Lots of rain, tornado watch/warning, 8 showers for 80,000 people, afore mentioned sun poisening, watching people do way too many drugs in front of their very young children, day stuck in Pigeon Forge, TN with stomach virus.
- Total time spent in Toyota: About 35 hours
- Phrases/words coined: luxury boxes (the clean, less popular port-o-potties), magic screen (TJ's iPhone), ball of hate (feeling in stomach when you need to vomit), rasharoo (sun poisening), bonnaflu (evil stomach virus).
Andrea:
For those of you who don’t know us, I’m Andrea and this is Lauren, two of Karin’s friends and roommates from college. We were both so excited when Karin asked if we would want to give a toast today, but, since the three of us can’t do anything without checking with the others first, we thought we should speak together.
Lauren:
First of all, we’d like to just say thank you to Karin and Chris for asking us to share in their wedding day and letting us be a part of this happy occasion. It was truly an honor to stand with you at the beautiful ceremony earlier today. We’d also like to thank Karin’s parents, Susan and Bruce, and Chris’s parents, Stacy and Rich, for hosting us all here today.
Andrea:
When the three of us lived together in West Chester, we wrote a list of house rules on the wall of our apartment. While these were mostly just for fun, having had the experience of living with Karin, we would like to now amend these rules in order to give Chris some advice that we believe will lead to a long and successful marriage with Karin:
(L)1. Always have the kitchen stocked with mac & cheese
(A)2. If you see an overturned cup randomly placed on the floor, you are to promptly and properly dispose of the bug underneath it.
(L)3. A birthday isn’t a birthday without tequila, but make sure you have limes. Lemons are not a proper substitute
(A)4. Blankie stays in the bed with you. Period.
(L)5. Take-out Chinese food, wings, or Wendy’s can pretty much fix anything
(A)6. If you really don’t want to watch Blue Crush or Dirty Dancing for the millionth time, just call us and we’ll fill in. But you will have to deal with the million reruns of I Love the 80s, 90210, and Golden Girls.
(L)7. Always live within a 10-mile radius of Kohl’s and Starbucks.
(A)8. Don’t let her borrow your clothes unless you’re ok with them disappearing into the depths of her closet.
(L)9. Sometimes it’s easier to throw out dirty dishes and start over rather than trying to wash them.
(A)10. The remote is always Karin’s – she will use force if necessary.
Lauren
Being English majors, Karin and my writing abilities weren’t just limited to the graffiti on our apartment walls. We also took many literature and poetry classes together in school and often entertained each other by writing poetry about our teachers and friends, like the infamous serious “Ode to a Grecian (fill in the blank)” and “looking out on a freshly fallen cookie.” I think Karin might be expecting a custom-tailored poem for a special occasion such as this one, but seeing as how that poetry was pretty much terrible, Andrea and I decided that it would be better to read a poem that is very special to Karin and has meant quite a bit to the three of us over the years.
Andrea:
Thank you for being a friend.
Travel down the road and back again.
Your heart is true, you're a pal and a confidant.
Lauren:
And if you threw a party,
invited everyone you knew.
You would see the biggest gift would be from me
and the card attached would say,
thank you for being a friend.
Andrea:
To Karin, thank you for being a friend,
Lauren:
To Karin and Chris, may you know nothing but happiness as you travel down the road and back again.







































- I'm a graduate. You may call me Master:

- I have a very cute dog (just like this picture and wanted to post it):

- I got a new tattoo. The picture was taken on an iPhone when it was still very fresh (or maybe even in progress), so it looks a bit nicer now. It is definitly my favorite.

- Karin's Bachelorette Party was quite the sucess. We got hotel rooms in Philly, took her out for dinner in China Town, and then to Helium Comedy Club to see Hal Sparks and had some typical embarressing bachelorette games/drinking throughout. Karin in her gear:

- Speaking of Karin, her wedding is this weekend and I'm so excited for it! Andrea and I are having a little sleepover at my parents' on Friday night and then going out to do some pre-wedding stuff with Karin on Saturday before the rehearsal and then Sunday is the big day! Just hoping the rain holds off...
- My cousin's wife is pregnant - this brings the grand total of pregnant women and women trying to be pregnant I know up to 10 or something ridiculous like that. I was just looking at someone's baby registry and I go from, "oh, how cute" to "eww, god, why would you want one of those" in about 3 seconds flat. I guess I'm still not ready - it's good to do a gut check every once in awhile.
- Work sucks. 'nuff said.
- Bonnaroo is coming up really fast! I looked at the schedule the other day and have no idea how to even try to decide who to see. How do you pick between Lucinda Williams, Al Green, and Ani DiFranco?
- That's enough bullet points for today. Don't want to over-indulge.
I really do not feel like being at work today - it is just far too nice out. Trying to finish up thesis this weekend is going to be hell with it being sunny and 80 degrees out. I just keep reminding myself that this is the last beautiful weekend that I'm going to have to spend cooped up in my office writing about digital publishing ever and that the spring and summer will be filled with other beautiful weekends that I can actually enjoy.
I walked out of class on Wednesday night sort of disgruntled that I had to watch the movie version of The Sun Also Rises in a really uncomfortable desk chair and I didn't realize until I walked down all three flights of steps and was about to go into the parking lot that I'd never ever have to go into that building ever again. Still doesn't feel right - I wonder how many times I'll pull into that parking lot on the way home by accident (I pass Rosemont on my normal drive).
I never have to eat another brown bag lunch in my car while stuck in traffic (I have become a master at driving and eating with a spoon at the same time) or kill time in the parking lot by playing tetris on my phone or read a book I don't want to (or worse, write a paper about it).
I was wondering if it was worth it. I'm not sure yet. It was a lot of hard work and a whole lot of frustration to pretty much put me back where I started not knowing what I want to do, just with more credentials this time. I'm glad I didn't drop out, but I wish I had waited and gone to a different program when I have some more direction. I think the best thing to come from all of this (so far) is that I got to meet a lot of very interesting people doing things I've never really thought about before.
Whatever else happens, it's just going to be really nice to not have this hanging over my head any more. Just have to get through this weekend.
I can't decide if the recent trend of beautiful weekend days and then rainy, dreary week days is good or bad. We at least get to not be at work when it's sunny and 70 degrees, but cold and rainy doesn't motivate me either - I really just want to be curled up in bed.
This weekend was so beautiful! So beautiful, in fact, that I was motivated to write an entire 10-page paper before 4pm on Saturday, so I could still go outside and enjoy some of it. So, Saturday we headed off to Home Depot to buy a dogwood tree, some other assorted garden stuff, and a shed. The shed won't be installed for a few weeks, but we planted the dogwood in the front yard and put in some stepping stones from the driveway to the front door so maybe we won't kill all of the grass in front of the house. We still need to mow the lawn, but we're waiting for a free mower from my aunt.
This week is finally my last week of classes. It feels completely unreal. This weekend will be thesis-central while TJ is away visiting Nick up in Ithica and then that's it. I can't believe it's actually going to happen with all of this shit they've put me through.
I guess I shouldn't jinx myself now, though - who the hell knows what new torture they have waiting for me before I get to graduate next month...
I'm not sure if it's spring fever or senoritis, but I don't want to do anything productive these past two days! I had a good start this morning, but my attention span is totally shot. I just want to go play outside.
I think part of the problem is the amount of relief I feel over still being able to graduate next month - for some reason that's making me forget I still have a shitload of work to do before that can happen.
So, to motivate myself, updated countdown/to do lists from last month:
Countdowns:
- 5 days until my last class EVER (esp. now that TJ has forbid me from ever going after another degree haha)
- 12 days until thesis is due
- 12 days until Bruce
- 29 days until graduation (and tattoo??)
- 45 days until Karin and Chris's wedding
- 60 days until we leave for Bonnaroo
To do:
- Read The Sound and the Fury (started this last night - might need to cliffs notes it. It's very slow going and I just need to be able to hold my own in an hour long class discussion).
- Write 10-12 page paper on a modern novel from class (this weekend's project - I think I'm going to write about the female characters in The Sun Also Rises and The Great Gatsby)
- Write/Edit thesis to bring up page count from 30 to at least 35-40 of really good work or 50 pages of first draft quality work (deal struck with my advisor so I can still graduate on this one)
- Get bridesmaid dress altered and pick up wedding shoes
- Get wedding gift
- Make tattoo appointment!
I've decided on a graduation present to myself, as it seems I'll actually graduate in May now despite what I wrote here on Monday. I'm going to get a new tattoo! I'm thinking of a wishie on the top of my left foot - the stem sort of off to the left side, the flower part in the top middle, and then little seeds floating off to the right. Probably all in dark green (like army green), or maybe with a little light green mixed in.
I was originally thinking of something more floral, but couldn't really find anything I liked. Since it will be more visible than my other two, I just wanted something simple and feminine. Dandelions make me think of summer and childhood - and, looking them up, seem to simbolize a variety of good things, including wishes come true, faithfullness, happiness and possibly even the unofficial symbol of gay weddings (who knew?).
Some ideas:
Rest in peace, Harry - Baseball will never be the same in this town.
This story was first published on Jul 28, 2002
NAPERVILLE, Ill. - Carol Drendel recalled the long-ago date when a young Harry Kalas, his blond crew-cut Brylcreemed to a perfect ridge in front, took her to a drive-in movie in his father's Packard.
"He just sat there the whole night," she said, "and pretended he was announcing a baseball game. "
Her husband, Gib Drendel, remembered the hard-of-hearing world history teacher at Naperville Community High School in Kalas' junior year.
"In that class, to entertain everyone, Harry used to cup his hands around his mouth and pretend to be announcing a Washington Senators game," Drendel said. "He'd go, 'Here's the 3-2 pitch from Cam-il-o Pas-cual. ' "
A half-century ago, Naperville was a small town. Many of its 7,000 residents worked at Kroehler Manufacturing Co.'s massive furniture factory and lived on quiet, tree-shaded streets, some of which ran near the wide banks of the DuPage River. It was, looking back anyway, a kind of malt-shop Valhalla.
"During the 1950s," reads a town history written in 1981, "Centennial Beach, the YMCA, summer band concerts with ice cream socials were Naperville's prime public recreational offerings. "
Few would have believed that by 2002 its population would be swollen to 133,000. Fewer still could have envisioned the disappearance of the surrounding dairy farms and forests as Naperville transformed itself from Main Street to Main Line, becoming a yuppie haven for Chicago commuters.
But no one who knew him back then would be the least bit surprised that Harry Kalas became a legendary baseball broadcaster.
"Harry got to live out his dream," said Gib Drendel, a family-law attorney in nearby Batavia. "How many people can say that? "
His deep-voiced destiny was so clear to the rest of the 109 seniors in 1954 that someone at the high school's yearbook, the Arrowhead, placed these prophetic words alongside the photo of the blond kid with the impish smirk:
"Harry Kalas . . . Future Sports Announcer. "
"Harry loved baseball, and he had this big loud voice," said classmate Gene Drendel, Gib's cousin, a retired school administrator who still lives here. "We all knew he was going to be announcing sports somewhere someday. We just assumed it would probably be in Chicago. "
In the days leading up to Kalas' induction today into the broadcasters' wing of the Baseball Hall of Fame, longtime residents here recalled fondly the tow-headed teenager whom, because of his diminutive stature through most of high school, they called "Pots. "
The friendliness, tearful sentimentality and broadcasting gifts that are Kalas' hallmarks were born here in this Ozzie and Harriet community, nearly 30 miles west of Chicago. Harry Kalas at 66, in fact, is not much different from "Pots" Kalas at 16, say his Naperville acquaintances, right down to his fondness for a postgame cocktail and a cigarette.
"He has stayed the same through the years," said Jeanine Warnell, a retired Naperville Community teacher who introduced Kalas to public speaking in her sophomore English class. "He was just one of those students I've never forgotten. I'm so proud of him. "
Kalas was described as a bright and good-natured boy who swam with friends in the local limestone quarries, consumed square scoops of ice cream and drank "Green Rivers" (lime juice and soda water) at a riverside drive-in called Prince's Castle, watched Western movies at the Naper Theater downtown, and starred - in drag - in his senior class play.
He also was the son of a preacher, though as those same friends point out, that hardly qualified him as an angel. One look at Kalas' yearbook photos reveal that this 1950s teenager must have admired James Dean as well as Dizzy Dean.
His blue jeans were rolled up roguishly at the bottom. He wore a defiant crew cut and had a mischievous grin. Like many of his classmates, he smoked at the soda shops and ice-cream parlors, snuck a couple of beers on weekends, and loved to play poker in the basement of Gene Drendel's Washington Street house during school lunch breaks.
"Harry was . . . well, Harry was a real fun-loving guy," said Gib Drendel. "Still is, from what I understand. I'll always remember the night we sat in a car outside his house and made bets on whether or not he would be able to walk into his house without falling down. He fell flat on his face short of the door.
"But he wasn't a bad kid. He was a wonderfully friendly person and had absolutely no pretense about him. "
At school, where his more-serious older brother, Jim, had been president of the Class of 1951, Kalas was a student council officer as a freshman - helping to plan the "Shamrock Shuffle" St. Patrick's Day Dance - a member of the journalism club, a backup linebacker on the football team, and, with his prematurely booming voice, a fixture in the class plays.
"I can still see him in that long black dress as the lead in Charlie's Aunt his senior year," said Warnell, who directed those plays. "He was just marvelous in the part. And so funny. "
In class, he was a somewhat indifferent student whose passion, from a very early age, was clear: sports.
"Harry loved sports. He knew all the different sports and all the different announcers," Gene Drendel said.
And from the day his father took him to old Comiskey Park to see a White Sox-Senators game, and Washington star Mickey Vernon escorted him into the dugout, baseball headed the list.
Alone in the handsome brick corner home the Kalases occupied at 153 N. Julian St., young Harry would occupy himself for hours playing Ethan Allen's All-Star Baseball, a board game in which the outcome of a player's at-bat is determined by the spin of a dial.
Not surprisingly, Kalas soon began to announce those games. Friends say that, even then, he sounded professional. He had inherited his father's deep, pulpit voice.
Harry H. Kalas was a Methodist minister. He moved his wife and two young sons here from Chicago's North Side during World War II to teach in the seminary affiliated with North Central College, a church-run school just a few blocks from Kalas' boyhood home.
"All the cliches you hear about the minister's son, they were all true in Harry's case," Gib Drendel said. "Harry liked to have a good time. "
Kalas was a backup linebacker on coach C. Weston Spencer's team, which won 12 games over his junior and senior seasons.
"He was a heck of a basketball player, too," said Gib Drendel. "He grew real late, so he was always too small for the varsity. But I remember that he led the intramural league in scoring. "
After graduating from Naperville Community in 1954, Kalas went to Cornell College in Mount Vernon, Iowa, another Methodist-run institution.
There, early in the first semester, a blind speech professor heard Kalas' voice in class and was struck by its resonance.
"He said to Harry, 'Son, you've got to become an announcer,' " recalled Gib Drendel, who along with two other Naperville graduates attended Cornell with Kalas.
But Kalas chafed under that church-related colllege's strict discipline, and - apparently with some encouragement from Cornell officials - transferred to the University of Iowa.
There, he began to broadcast the games of several Hawkeyes teams and was smitten. Drafted into the Army after graduation, he was lucky enough to be stationed at Schofield Barracks in Hawaii.
Hearing that Bill Whaley, a onetime Pacific Coast League pitcher, owned the South Pacific cocktail lounge downtown, Kalas went there one night for some beer and baseball conversation. It was a life-changing night.
Whaley told Kalas that big-league broadcaster Buddy Blattner was due at the bar in a few hours. Blattner told the young private that the Sacramento Solons of the PCL would be moving to Honolulu that year.
Kalas applied for the broadcaster's job and got it, submitting a tape from a Minnesota-Iowa game. And since the season started in April and he wasn't due to be discharged until July, he convinced the Army to grant him an early dismissal.
He announced Hawaii's games for several years on KGO-AM, recreating road games from wire-service accounts. And then, in 1965, he landed a job with the Houston Astros. Six years later, he and Veterans Stadium debuted in Philadelphia. The former has held up considerably better than the latter.
"It's been quite a career when you look at it," Gene Drendel said. "All those years of minor-league and major-league baseball. All those years in Philadelphia. All those commercials and NFL Films things he does. It's amazing.
"And to think he started out right here in Naperville. "
I think I should be a stay at home doggie mom. I miss my dog sitting at my feet squeaking her ball all day while I do work. Either that or she should just get to come to work with me. It would definitely liven things up here a bit.
I took off last week to work on my thesis and other projects. It was a very productive week, but maybe not enough? I wrote a 7-page paper on Slaughterhouse-Five, got my car inspected, did a shit-ton of research and wrote 30 pages of my thesis, cleaned the house, did laundry, finished reading The Great Gatsby, and babysat my parents' dog, Molly.
Huh, listing it out like that does make me feel accomplished, but I'm still having trouble seeing the light at the end of the tunnel here. I need to write a 10-12 page paper and read The Sound and the Fury this week and then finish the last 20 pages of thesis next week. And still, my professor isn't sure that will give him enough time to grade.
We're going to discuss it tomorrow and if he says that won't work, my plan is probably just to cry and hyperventalate until he agrees to it. If that doesn't work, I guess I'll be graduating in December.
That wouldn't be so bad I guess, but I just really feel like I need to be done. This has just taken up too much of my life for the past three years and I'm so ready to move on.
Oh, man, today needs to be over. It's just a rainy, dreary day and everyone's mood seems to reflect that.
I'm on vacation for 9 days starting in 2 and a half hours. It's not much of a vacation since I'll be writing my thesis during that time, but I'm still looking forward to not being here for a little while. I just need a break from the atmosphere. It'll be nice to sleep in a tiny bit, walk the dog everyday and just research and write my ass off all week. This thesis has been hanging over me for months, so I'm actually sort of excited to tackle it (I'm sure that feeling won't last long, haha).
This weekend should be fun - tomorrow is Karin's bachelorette party and the details are a surprise, so I can't go into it just yet, but I'm very excited.
We had the shower last weekend and it went really well. Karin's sister had done most of the planning for it, so I didn't really know what to expect, but she did a really great job and Karin seemed really happy. And of course, I have pictures
Centerpieces:
Favors:
M&Ms:
Andrea did an awesome job on the prizes:
Just some of the millions of gifts:
Karin arriving:
Karin and her maids:
Karin and her mom and sisters:
Of course, the bow hat:
Karin, Andrea and me:
Oh, and before the shower, I got to meet my new little sister, Molly!
Maddie is not so sure about her new Aunt Molly, but they're getting there. TJ and I are babysitting Molly while my parents are away next weekend, so they'll have some bonding time then.
November 2nd
laughwithme
September 29th
katiebanana
September 10th
eddiec
August 25th
eddiec
August 19th
laughwithme
August 14th
jelli
August 13th
hester
danceontheedge
fitchy
August 3rd
Captainzeke
July 24th
jelli
