4 posts tagged “chicago”
Since it is a royal pain in the ass to upload pictures onto this site... I mean, relatively... Facebook sizes them for you... I am only uploading a couple of my favorite shots from Chicago. I've come to terms with the fact that my photography is shit, so there are only a couple of pictures I actually liked.
2. Hooray for dingy bars like The Empty Bottle! This was where the sweet reading was at and where Bite, the tasty, tasty was adjacent to.
3. Hooray for snow! Especially on nights spent wandering uptown Chicago in search of an El station. It took a couple of hours, but it was fun anyway.
4. Hooray for allies! They are few and far between in my city. There's one in Fallbrook where I smoke cigarettes and drink from a flask (since the bar which I'm taking a moment from charges $8 for a shot of Jack Daniels) and that's nice... but not like Chicago's. Even their fire escapes were cool.
5. Waiting in the cold for something to eat, Kim, Jenn, and I decided to pause for the camera.
Today was fun. Running the table was fun, I met a few writers who assumed I was the editor of 1913 and had the pleasure (?) of hearing about what they were trying to get published. I walked around the hundred+ tables of publishers, writing programs, and university presses collecting info on MFAs, buying literary journals, and snagging as much swag as I could. From noon till four, I was enjoying the community of writers swarming around the bookfair below the Hilton.
Jenn, one of the crue, and I decided that we wanted some Chicago pizza and headed to Pequod's, a highly regarded pizzaria in the middle of the city. Hoe Lee Shit. A pepperoni and black olive pan pizza and a pitcher of Fat Tire made me a happy, happy boy. It was a fucking amazing pizza.
Since we paid a $20 cab fare to dinner, we decided to walk to the L to chepen our ride home. During our walk, it began to snow. It was beautiful. We walked through one of Chicago's shopping districts in search of the L's platform and ended up wandering through the city for two hours, following the elevated tracks, until we finally found the platform we needed. Neither of us minded the adventure.
Our attempt at a chep trip to the hotel wound up being a three and a half hour journey through several districts of Chicago. I enjoyed it--so did Jenn. If she weren't married, I think I'd be in persuit.
When we got back to the hotel, we headed straight to the pub and drank. A few beers and a couple of shots later, it was two AM and I headed back to my hotel. Good times, good talking... damn that ring on her finger.
This place is cool, although I haven't had the opportunity to really see the city. Most of my time's been spent at the conference in panels, running Sandra's publication (1913) table, or smoking cigarettes outside in the brisk, brisk Chicago air.
Last night, when my flight came in, I hopped onto the L and shot downtown and then hiked a few blocks to my hotel. I checked in and, the sweetest part, I asked for a room with ashtrays. I love smoking in doors, just not at my own house. Its a single room on the 12th floor, the top of the building, with a king size bed, a desk, and two windows that open only a couple of inches.
Once settled, I wandered around the park bundled up in two coats and a scarf and then found a pub to drink in until my classmates were ready to go out for dinner. When they were all set to go, we met me outside where I was thrilled to flag my first taxi! A feeling of power runs through the arm that lures a taxi to the curb.
The cab dropped us off to an excellent dinner at Frontera. The best Mexican food I've had outside of Southern California. At Frontera, my three classmates--lets give them a collective title... the crue-- At Frontera, the crue and I were joined by Sandra and her husband Ben where we discussed the conference and what 1913 was setting up at the table.
After dinner the crue and I went back to the pub and continued to drink our jetlag into oblivion. Needless to say, I slept like the comatose.
Thismorning, I woke up around ten, got ready and headed to the conference. Nothing noteworthy at the conference, although the bathrooms at the Hilton were fucking lovely. Black marble, golden flush handles, sconce light fixtures... classy.
I headed back to my room to work on some homework around four or five, then headed out to North Chicago for a reading at The Empty Bottle, where, if I lived in Chicago, I'd spend much time. It's a gnarly hole in the wall venue that has music seven nights a week. Everything from jazz to punk to indie... bad ass joint for sure.
The reading was really cool because the only people that knew about it were a small number of poets and their friends. Ben Doller, Sandra's hubby, read his work and I was impressed, although I shouldn't be since he is published. Not to mention the reading was great because of the other poets who read... I found some names to follow... Forrest Gander, G.E. Patterson.
Afterwords, the crue and I ate at Bite. The food was great and the service was slow, but the prices were like Denny's prices, so I didn't mind the service. Besides, there was only one server for the packed diner. When dinner was finnished, we hopped into a cab to go back to the hotel. When we climbed in, we gave the driver our destination and he flipped a bitch and then got pulled over.
As the crue and I were sitting in the back of the cab, the cop approached the driver, asked for his license and cabbie certification. Obviously the Uturn was illegal, however, our cabbie's cabbie license was four years expired!! The cop threatened our driver with a night in jail, kept his expired license, gave him a ticket for the illegal U-ie, and since we were in the middle of transit, the cop let the driver finish his route for the night.
Yeah. It's good.
Wednesday, February 11:
American Airlines Flight #1430
Depart: San Diego, CA (LAX) 9:50 AM
Arrive: Chicago, Ill (ORD)
[The Association of Writers & Writing Programs Annual Conference @ Hilton Chicago]
Sunday, February 15:
American Airlines Flight #2079
Depart: Chicago, Ill (ORD) 8:45 AM
Arrive: San Dieco, CA (LAX)
!!!
