Polar Plunge: Freezing for a Reason (2/24/07)

29°F. "Feels Like" 16°F. Sounds like the perfect day to jump in Lake Michigan! When I heard about the Polar Plunge on Wednesday night, I emailed a bunch of friends and told them I was "in" if one person would step up and do it with me. The bad news is that almost everyone wimped out...replying, hell no! The good news is that I have a few friends just crazy enough to say yes. Thank god for Julie, Max and Dan (and the few brave souls who came to support us) because this is not something you'd want to do alone.

The four of us gathered at Julie's around 11am to booze up and dress up for the big event. We got up to the NU beach and while it was pretty damn cold outside, we were starting to think it wouldn't be that bad after all. Until we had to undress... and then within a minute our feet were completely numb and we realized that this was a really stupid idea. We danced around and huddled to keep warm until it was our turn to go and then finally, we bolted for the water avoiding chunks of ice that had washed up on the beach (see videos below). Once we had all gone in, we headed back for the shore on frozen sand and feet. Nothing can really prepare you for the intense prickling sensation that overtakes your body or the complete lack of feeling in your feet. In all honesty, the upper body did well, it was just the feet that didn't respond for about 30 minutes, which provided a small scare. After we bundled up, we did the one thing that we knew would help warm us up... hit the bar for the afternoon! We spent all afternoon drinking, laughing at each other and snapping photos before we finally parted ways - the boys to Charity Auction Ball and me and Julie to the gym for a quick hot tub session.

Thanks again to Eileen M, Eileen K, Michelle, Mom, Karen, Jane & Eugene, DJ, Dale, Lloyd, Paulita, Caryn, Shweta, Mufti, Mrs. J and Jen & Joe for their generous donations to the Special Olympics! $375 in only a few days. You guys are the best!

Get Ready, Get Set...


Go!

Gracias Correos! (2/23/07)

As expected, KJ and I acquired a few new props and additional articles of clothing in Barcelona so we decided to ship a box back home to ourselves. What seemed like a simple task turned out to be a hysterical ordeal that kept us laughing for two months and culminated in the arrival of our box just last week.

Let's go back to where it all started, the Correos (Spanish Postal Service) office near Plaza Catalunya in Barcelona, December 18th. We showed up around mid-day with our big a$$ box packed and ready to go. We waited on line... and waited... and watched a Correos employee take a lunch break... and then waited some more. When we finally got to the front of the line after an hour and twenty minutes, we found out that our box was WAY too heavy, despite the fact that we had been there a few days earlier to ask about the requirements. So, in the middle of the post office, with a line out the door and a lot of irritated Spanish onlookers, KJ bolted out the door and down the street to buy a different box (since the post office didn't have any that met their own requirements...lovely!). When she got back, we began unpacking our stuff in the middle of the post office floor. For any other two people with any other box, this might not have been such a hysterical sight. However, for anyone that knows even a few of the details of what happened during our stay in Barcelona, you can begin to conjure up an image of what that post office floor looked like. We had rainbow dusters, a headdress, a road sign from Ibiza, a bathrobe, bathing suits and an assortment of other oddities scattered for all to see. We were frantically re-packing and laughing and hoping, praying that we could fit enough stuff in this box to avoid extra baggage on our flights home.

We finally got the new (and smaller) box packed and tossed it up on the scale. 19.97kg - just under the limit! We taped it up, tossed it over the counter to our friend from Correos while the angry mob starred. The Correos worker put the box on his scale and we watched as it landed on 20.77kg. He gave us a perturbed look and told us it was still over. We insisted that the scale on our side had just given a different weight, but he didn't seem interested. He said it had to be under on HIS scale. We moaned and groaned and watched as his assistant wheeled the box back around the counter. We hoisted the box back on our scale and watched closely... 19.96kg...thank you very much! We showed him the box from across the counter, pointing proudly at the weight. He motioned to us to bring the box BACK across, all the while the Spaniards are shooting dirty looks our way and our crap is still strewn all over the floor. We held hands and our breath... it was all on the line. The box went up on his scale and blinked back and forth between weights for what seemed like a minute and finally... 19.98kg, just under! KJ and I started jumping up and down, high-fiving and hooting and hollering like only we can. Most of the people in Correos were not amused, although by that point I think I caught a few smirks.

The story would have been funny enough had it ended there...but of course there has to be more. We paid 150 euros to ship the box (by boat no less!) and had to wait two months for it to arrive. I tried to track it the entire time, but it never came up in the Correos system (surprise surprise). Then, one day last week I got a note in my mailbox that said I had a package. I went to the front desk to get the box... and it's completely unrecognizable! It's filthy dirty and has a slit down one whole side and a gaping hole in another. I could not believe my eyes! I wondered if the box had been sent on a ship or was dragged behind one! The good news is that the box was packed so tightly that stuff was not easy to pull out and everything appeared to still be inside. And thank god, because had my headdress been missing, there would have been hell to pay!

Siesta Y Fiesta ::: The Barcelona 2006 Soundtrack (2/14/07)

This mix was created to keep all of the incredible Barcelona memories alive and to thank all of the friends who made our time in Spain so amazing. I figured it was time to post it here for the masses to enjoy! It's got something for everyone - Shakira, Justin Timberlake, Moby, Sarah McLachlan, M.A.N.D.Y./Booka Shade, Madonna and Gypsy Kings. Just follow the download instructions below:

--Click this link: SIESTA Y FIESTA MIX
--Enter three character code given
--Wait 45 seconds then click button to download
--Save File (to the destination of your choice)
--Right Click, Extract Files to "Siesta Y Fiesta -- Barcelona 2006" which should UNZIP the compressed file and create a folder containing all the tracks
--Drag tracks into your music player (e.g. iTunes)
--Rock out, Barca style!

My Friends Rock! Vol. 1 - CITRONIC (2/12/07)

My friends rock! Seriously... every day I'm amazed at how incredibly lucky I am to always be surrounded by such cool, talented people. So, I've decided that I'm going to use my blog to pay homage to my peeps... starting with my friend Ivan (aka Citronic), who I met while living in Barcelona this fall. I could gush all day about Ivan the person and Citronic the artist, but I think I'll just let his work speak for itself. Below are a few cool pieces, but please check out these other links for more info: Citronic's Deviant Art Page; Citronic's My Space Page

The picture to the right is of me - original photo taken on 11/3/06 at Caller d'Arago, 95 in Barcelona. It was the farewell party of another dear friend, Oliver.

SWITCH and Lee Foss @ SmartBar (2/10/07)

The arrival of five friends from NYC combined with rave reviews about SWITCH's performance the night before with DJs Fame and Justin R @ Cielo had me ready to go for a rockin Friday night. We cruised downtown on the late tip and caught the end of Lee Foss' opening set and then watched Switch (Dave Taylor) funkify the Funktion One at SmartBar. He really rocked it out for the first half of the set, but then lost us a bit toward the end with his dramatic breakdowns and unnecessary interruptions. I had a blast, though, catching up with Joel, Eileen, Jane, Eyal and Joe and boogieing down with locals, Sunil and Nir. My EQ t-shirt made it's global debut (THANKS JUANCA!!!) and despite a slight malfunction, it was met with rave reviews from the crowd. We also ended the night with a trip to Wrigleyville Hot Dogs, a fitting ending to the night.

Madonna-Rama @ Berlin (2/3/07)

The one and only Madonna-Rama ... at Berlin in Boystown, the first Sunday of every month! And this time it also coincided with two monumental events... the Super Bowl (Bears vs. Colts) and the Stupor Bowl (Wendy & KJ vs. Mike). The Colts won the first game and I'm fairly certain Mike *won* the second one. We proppered and poppered, danced and pranced, and as usual continually found ourselves in interesting predicaments. THE HAND even made an appearance! All in all a great night out. [As was the night before when Eli, Chris, Mike and I dined on a parade of meats at Fogo de Chao!]