File: Life

Cubs game with Travis. Cubs are down, Trav and I are up. He says We are having fun. He is also worried about his double chin.

He doesn't have one.

It was nice for the Cubs to finally win one. We both got pictures of the last pitch.

File: Life

So, we're back from New York. It was a great place to visit, but we've taken it off the table as a place to live. Well, until we start making $200K. We realized that we have everything we need in Chicago -- why switch it up for a harder life? Hooray.

Karen (who is adorably pregnant) had a Personal DNA Test at her blog. She's a generous idealist, which I think is accurate. I took the test. I'm

Benevolent Creator

Nice to hear some words of encouragement. Things here are a changing.

We went to look at a condo last night. (We figured that since we're going to settle in Chi-town, we might as well own a piece of it.) It had a great living room, and the owner who was selling it was so nice. We wanted to love it. It had nice kitchen cabinets, stainless steel appliances, and a living room with a beautiful view and ivy-covered deocrative wrought iron out front. Unfortunately, it had tiny bedrooms, no place for a kitchen table, and the most depressing alley views I'd ever seen. Had the moment when we were in the condo of thinking to myself, well, we could knock down that wall... Always a bad sign. Matt set up four more appointments for Saturday. We bought a bunch of books and our friend Kevin, who has a background in construction, has offered to come look at a place with us when we find "the one" to check it for structural soundness. Yay.

So, that's the weekend plan.

Happy Friday!

File: Vacation

Some dinosaur history. The Apatosaurus, which means deceptive reptile, used to be the Brontesaurus. They replaced the head with the right one and here it is. My dad was excited about us seeing the dinosaurs because he saw the same ones (although in different poses) as a kid.

File: Vacation

Central Park Zoo. Polar bears rock.

File: Vacation

Dinner at the Algonquin. Literary charm.

File: Vacation

Nathan's hot dog + beer + no reason not to drink beer at 2 pm on a Monday + free Staten Island Ferry = happy Brandi and Matt.

File: Vacation

I think I like NY the best as I leave it behind. We still have another day here, and I am enjoying our vacation, but I miss Chicago. Home sweet home.

File: Vacation

Look, Mom, Radio Center Music Hall! We passed this just as the MTV Video Music Awards let out. Pretty crazy fun. We didn't see anyone other than a producer and thousands of excited yellow-shirted kids.

File: Vacation

From the top of the Empire State Building looking at the Flat Iron. Awesome. This is the big "touristy" thing we did.

File: Vacation

In NYC half a day. This is the second movie crew we have seen.

Update (Monday): no idea what was being shot. Wall Street was shut down today for what I think was an Audi commercial shoot. Fun.

File: Vacation

Chinatown. The sign reads: For this glittering pearl let drinking the tea for 5000 more years.
I love NY.

File: Life

We are bowling. Score: M 134 B 61. I used to be good at this game.

File: Work

It has been a rough week. I'm so grateful it's the weekend. Work has been insane. I've been getting up every morning and working late into the evening to get everything done. (I got up at 4 today.) My plan is to work all weekend, with the exception of bowling tomorrow night with Matt and a meeting with a friend from the temple on Sunday to talk about membership.

I'm just running on fumes. I worked twelve hours today, until finally the words on the page started dancing and I couldn't focus. Came home, took a nap, went to shul, am going to go to bed, and then start all over again. Oy.

I just have to survive until Wednesday. Then we leave for our NY vacation.

File: Life

Whenever there's an occasion in my family, I try and call in to attend the party, even though I'm in Chicago. (Everyone else is in Florida.) I did that over the weekend to help my youngest cousin Barrie celebrate her 20th birthday. (As I side note, I feel so old that she's 20. I remember hearing the news that she was born and jumping up and down on my parents' bed because I now had a girl cousin.)

My mom and I were talking about that today. It's amazing how technology can make you feel closer, even when you're physically far apart. My aunt now prefers e-mail to phone conversation, which works well for me because I've never been able to nail her down on the phone because she's so busy. The web has enabled us to time-shift.

Before you start thinking that this is a post about how the Internet has enabled us all to communicate without ever having to talk, you're wrong. Similar to my feelings on the books and the Internet (book publishers will not close their doors because of the web), I think both can co-exist peacefully and one supplements the other.

My mom and I do it. She's a daily reader of Being Brandi. (Hi, Mom!) Part of what I write is because I want her to feel involved and know what's going on in my life, even if it is boring minutiae (see cute cat picture below) not worthy of long-distance or cell-phone bills. But, my mom and my friends are interested, which makes me feel all warm and fuzzy.

I mentioned to my mom that my friend Erica, who I got to see on Friday, told me about her mom's blog, Tricia Dishes. I read it and really like it.

My mom expressed a little bit of interest in a blog. So, I set her up with one. She wanted it to be called Mom's Pages, but that url was taken. So, my dad named it Mom's The Word. I'm excited for her. And, now I'll get to know what's going on in her life. Mwah ha ha.

No, really, I'm digging this whole technology thing.

File: Life

Our darlings.

File: Life

I took Matt to see Wait Wait Don't Tell Me last night. It was a blast. Here we are with star newsman, Carl Kasell.

File: Life

My weekend project. This is the wall to the left of our front door into the apartment. Matt did the video frame (to left of word shelf). The video changes. Currently, I have our baby pictures and summer photos loading randomly at five-second intervals. I also spray-painted the shelves, framed the letters, and designed where the photos would go on the wall.

We chose "Word" because we thought "love" was overdone. We considered our initials, but then "Word" was brought up as a joke. We found it funny. And, as the room is technically the library, it seemed to fit.

In case you can't see, the little shelf spells our last name in actual typesetting letters (hence the reason it is reversed).

Yay for weekend projects!

File: Life

In high school and early college, I drove a white Dodge Shadow. Coming home from college one day, my back bumper fell off on the highway, a fact my folks always found incredible and hard to believe.

Driving into work this morning, I noticed this white Dodge Shadow in front of me. I took a picture because, you'll note, it is also missing its tush.

File: Art

I did it! This is everything getting ready to be packed for my resubmission of my picture book. Scary! Now I wait.

Update: I took it to the post office. This time around, I opted for insurance and certified mail. I'll know that arrived, at least. Say a prayer for me in my first step to being a published fiction author.

File: Art

I have a show tonight.

If you're in Chi-town, stop on by.

7pm.
Fizz (upstairs)
3220 N. Lincoln
$5.

PS-- Matt will be on sound, so you'll get to hear him as well.

UPDATE: The air is broken at Fizz. It's 100-something degrees inside. They've called the show until further notice. I'll keep you posted.