Funk Soul City

Finally, my last verdict on the city is "Joint with some serious Soul". My final evening in the sprawling metropolis was spent at the 'House of Blues'. You guys, this may rank as one of the funnest nights of my life...

Zach made use of his extensive phone list to find friends to join us for the evening, and as it turned out all these fun amazing girls out came to enjoy our company(or vice versa) and (yes, Zach ended up being the only male, but you know he loved it!)

So there we are IN the 'House of Blues', waiting for the live band to start, whilst I'm making a fool of myself infront of the waiter and ordering a horrifically potent beverage (Long Island Ice Tea). So I'm thirsty right, and I down the thing... which leaves me feeling SO GOOD... but then I get the food I ordered that included an OPEN FLAME... luckily there were five other people there to make sure no menus where around (only people from my senior prom will get that one). The fire, however did make for a quick light to my dessert... a STOGIE! So there I am feeling good, smoking a cigar and then the music starts. Maker of all things good, holy and AMAZING BLACK MEN PLAYING THE BLUES! The music was INCREDIBLE... and by this point my blessed inhabitions are gone, so I just went up there with Zach and we started dancing right in front of the band... and they were like looking at you... playing to you... wheeling their axes like the dirty little funk brothers they were... and long story short, I bought a CD, sweated off three pounds and hugged the bass player. It ROCKED (quite literally).

The end. I flew home today, exhausted and completely unready to start work again on Monday... but thank God I now have twelve delicious tracks of soul-goodness to get me through the day!

Move over Chantico

My own self proclaimed nickname of Chicago is "City with the Best drinks EVER". I seriously consumed some of the best beverages while I was here... so buckle up as I elaborate on my encounters.

First of all, this joint had Chocolate stores. Like a ton of them. Chocolate cafes, chocolate shops, I even saw a chocolate lounge... so suprisingly these little jewels had the power to sway me from my ultimate calling (shoe shopping)... don't worry, I'm okay with it. So basically Zach and I stopped often and it was at one small little treasure cove along the stip that I enjoyed a hot chocolate with a shot of peppermint that CHANGED MY LIFE. It gave me much needed warmth to continue along our fridgid sight seeing, and provided a euphoric lift to my peckish tummy. Not since my love affair with Chantico have I exerienced such giddy delight over steamed fluid in a flimsy paper cup.

My next delicious interlude occured at "Cheeseburger in Paradise". That's right... we visited Jimmy Buffet's restaraunt! Praise God for Zach's AWESOME mom who adores the songwriting genius, cause after she found out I was a fan of the 'Margaritaville Meistro' she immediately made plans for us to eat at this fine dining establishment. IT WAS SWEEEEET! Pictured above was my alcohol of choice and it was iterally the most delicious thing I've ever consumed... and quite possibly the prettiest. The night was imacuate. I enjoyed way too much food and then a lovely kereoke rendition of "Sweet Caroline" by Zachary that made me laugh and ultimately cry all the way home. It was beautiful.

Chica- GO

Alas, my travels are drawing to a close. I am sitting in the Seattle International Airport with a six hour layover, so I reckon it would be sweet if I recounted my visit to Chicago. I shall make three installments... so consider this numer eins: MACH SCHNELL BITTE!

Don't ask me why I just used German. I didn't meet a single Deutsch-er-erin while I was there.

Moving on... my first impression of the giant metropolis is that it was cloudy and cold. Hell is going to be grey. I think cloudy-grey-no-sunshine days are far worse than eternal blackness. If Satan wants to torture souls, he uses clouds... at least in my book, and I'm pretty sure that the weather I experienced in the "windy city" was a insight into what I'll miss out on in hell.

Eternal damnation = perpetual ominous cumulonimbus.

Anyway, Chicago was cold. And grey, but I have to say, walking around the city after dark was AWESOME. Downtown is truly beautiful and really makes you feel sofisticated. Watch out Sarah Jessica... there is a new (chaste) girl in (a totally different) town... Okay, horrible reference. Segment One is complete.

Der...

My first entry of 2006. I should really be profound, but I'm afraid I don't have much time. Currently I am in Kentucky, attending a Missions conference, and being thouroughly confused as to what God is doing in my life. Every time a different missionary gets up to share, I'm convineced I am called there to hold dying babies, or rescue prostituted women... so basically the conference has left me with one big headache and very red eyes. But it's been amazingly fun hanging out with the six othere people that are here. I love my friends.

Plus it was especially enjoyable to ring in the new year with a CHOCOLATE FONDUE fountain and four thousand other students singing praises and dancing the conga... Anyway, happy 2006 to ya'll. I love you!