Vacation, Divine Comedy, and Winter

Well, I'm gearing up for my family vacation to Arizona by sitting in my house and building up my social reservoir and packing (I mean, the packing part actually took about ten minutes once the laundry was done). I'm very excited to spend some time with my family and am looking forward to all we will be doing. One special addition: we bought tickets to see Love, the Beatles' Cirque du Soleil show. Obviously, this is something I am very excited about. Here's the preview:

I finally finished The Divine Comedy; paradise seems pretty great. Although it is interesting, as one commentator notes, that Dante recognized a lot more of his personal acquaintances in hell than in heaven. I also like how each book ended with him gazing at stars. That's a good way to end a lot of days.

The Twins are on fire! It's hard not to be happy when your team has won the last 14 of 16 and finally climbed out of last place letting Kansas City, the underachieving 30-something of the division, move back into the basement after losing yet another job (sorry, slipped into metaphor there).

I've finally come to the conclusion that, while it is not popular, I am more of a autumn/winter person. I actually find something about the cold enlivening and like wearing sweaters; the heat gets to me, and I'm not much of a beach person; there are only so many clothes you can take off. I looked in my closet yesterday and realized that it is filled with sweaters, cardigans, and plaid shirts with hardly anything suitable to wear in the summer, and it's not like I have a rubbermaid in the attic labeled "summer" that hasn't been brought down yet. I need to figure out ways to embrace summer in all of its sweaty glory, which for me is aided by a few trips to Ravinia as well as some random summer adventures. Let me know if you have any ideas.

I don't trust a restaurant that uses "bistro" in the title. To me, it means you're going to pay more for a contrived atmosphere and smaller portions.

I really want to be back in time for the Low concert next Monday in Millenium Park. We'll see what kind of condition I'm in when I get back. I make it sound as if I'm going to Kabul for the weekend...

Well, I've got 20 minutes before the bus gets to the Ashland/Irving Park stop, so I better make sure I'm packed. I only want to forget the unnecessary items this time around; it makes the vacation much less stressful. Arizona (well, Las Vegas first), here I come!