Category Archives: Lifestyle

Love Never Dies But This Tooth Did

For the past month I’ve had sinus headaches and jaw aches, but when I went to my dentist at Starbase Dental last week he couldn’t identify a particular tooth that was the problem. He prescribed antibiotics and told me to … Continue reading

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Maze

We tried another Gordon Ramsay restaurant for lunch, Maze. It was a short walk through Mayfair, a really charming part of the city. Maze is near all the embassies that cluster around Grosvenor Square. It’s fairly different from Petrus, more … Continue reading

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Into The Woods

I was awakened by Linda informing me it was 11:30AM and we were about to miss our lunch reservation! A quick shower and short cab ride took us to Petrus, one of Gordon Ramsay’s restaurants, where we had a leisurely, … Continue reading

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Food Fail

There’s something truly fascinating about the indescribable awfulness of airline food, especially the food on American-based airlines when they try to compete internationally. It begins right in the international departure lounge, where the cheese tray offers: Yes, that says it’s … Continue reading

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England, Ireland, Iceland, Greenland, New York 2010

By Land and Air and Sea And so we set out for a three week adventure, first to London, then a peculiar repositioning cruise that will take us to odd places on the way back to New York. Our morning … Continue reading

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Dragonfly Sushi

I spent today getting organized for my brief week back in Orlando, sorting mail, going to the office to pick up boxes (mostly wine and books), and getting AAA to jump start Linda’s car, which had a dead battery due … Continue reading

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Leaving Evanston

So ends the summer in Evanston. We packed up, cleaned out the refrigerator and prepped the condo for a month of idleness, then headed to the airport. Not exactly traveling light, because I needed to get everything back to Orlando, … Continue reading

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Mission Acomplished!

Dani took her chemistry final this morning. While she was away I put up the banner Jackie made for her. She was very surprised when she arrived home to find that, and my lame excuse at cake decorating. In all … Continue reading

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NU Library

Today was my last day to walk around, so I wandered up through the Northwestern campus and visited the library, which is really, really large. And confusing. The three towers are linked in a very unintuitive way on all but … Continue reading

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Bombay Indian Grill and Merle’s #1 Barbecue

For lunch I was going to try the local JK Sweets, which is the bizarre combination of an ice cream parlor and Korean restaurant, but it looks like they’re on vacation. So I walked over to Sherman and on a … Continue reading

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Winding Down

This week I’m beginning to get ready for the return to Orlando. I have mixed feelings, as I’ve loved spending the summer with Dani in Evanston, but it will be nice to see Linda again, and I’m sure we’ll all … Continue reading

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Al’s Deli

It really is true that you need to live in a place for a while to discover its secrets. I’ve been in Evanston for two months, yet it’s only in the past two days that I’ve happened upon two of … Continue reading

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Bistro Bordeaux

After a quiet morning reading, we went to Kansaku for lunch. I recently read Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón, and Getting the Girl by Markus Zusak, and I’m now reading his I Am The Messenger on Kindle … Continue reading

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Sepia

Dani spent the day writing new material for The Last Telepath. It’s very vivid. Tonight we went to Sepia, which was recommended to me by Scott Joseph. What a different experience from last night at Graham Elliot! We could actually … Continue reading

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Graham Elliot

This morning while Dani was taking her midterm I unlocked Jackie’s bike from its parking meter and examined what was keeping the front wheel from turning. Not only was the hand brake pressed against it, but the wheel was bent. … Continue reading

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Zoba Noodle Bar

I packed up three boxes of mostly books and took them down to the UPS Store to ship back to Orlando. On my way back I stopped at Zoba Noodle Bar to get some take-out food to bring home for … Continue reading

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West of Northwestern

I got ambitious today and decided to walk up to The Spice House on Central and get some more of that magic powdered cheddar cheese that is the secret ingredient to Smoke House garlic bread. I took the residential streets … Continue reading

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Cosi

My head was a bit better today, but I mostly took it easy. I fixed Dani a steak sandwich for lunch using the leftover strip steak from last night, and then went to Sashimi Sashimi for sushi while her tutor, … Continue reading

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Trattoria Demi

The forecast was for scattered thunderstorms and it was gloomy when I awoke, so despite the persistent head / sinus / jaw ache I went the Whole Foods early to restock the kitchen. But by lunch it had cleared off … Continue reading

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An Evening With Stephen Schwartz

I made orange rolls for breakfast, in my ongoing effort to clear out the fridge for vacation. Then for lunch we walked down to Addis Abeba and had a platter of mostly vegetarian offerings — very tasty. On the way … Continue reading

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Songwriter’s Showcase

Dani had her chemistry midterm this morning. It sounds like it wasn’t as hard as it could have been, but in any event she’s glad it’s over and she can enjoy the weekend. She’s looking forward to being done in … Continue reading

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The Secret of Smoke House Garlic Bread

I’ve been converting Bill Bryson’s new book, At Home, from CD to m4b so I can listen to it as an audiobook on our trip to England next month. I use a program called audiobookbuilder which works quite nicely. I … Continue reading

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Lupita’s

The day began with a thunderstorm, but by 10am the rain had moved through leaving things hot and steamy, with intermittent sunshine. I walked down to Main Street, towing the shopping basket behind me, and killed time at the newsstand … Continue reading

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It’s a Crock

It was sprinkling lightly this morning, and was almost cool, but it soon cleared off. At the office, Loren and Crystal organized a baby shower for Joy, and among the gifts were several Alcorn McBride inspired joke garments and this … Continue reading

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Olive Mountain

I walked around Evanston a bit today, having breakfast at Einstein’s and running errands to CVS and Whole Foods. Lunch was at Olive Mountain, a new Middle Eastern place on Davis, a couple blocks from the condo. They offer at … Continue reading

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The Cellar

Not much happening here today. Dani’s been reading, and I’ve been installing WordPress on my website. Once it’s up I’ll transfer all these journal entries over from the iPad. We went to Chili’s for lunch; Dani had a craving. For … Continue reading

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Joy Yee’s

Dani finished her second quarter of chemistry by taking the final exam this morning, and we went to Clarke’s diner for breakfast afterwards to celebrate. Dani spent the afternoon relaxing, watching Babylon 5, and we ordered Asian food delivered from … Continue reading

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Amaranths and Argos

Since tomorrow is the chemistry final, Dani had Lee come over for three hours today to review for the test, so I had plenty of time for a long walk. I went to Ace Hardware, which it turns out can … Continue reading

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Addis Abeba

I did the laundry this morning (wow, that’s a big washer) and then walked down Chicago about half a mile to Addis Abeba, an Ethiopian restaurant. It was delicious. I had a variety of vegetarian items: spicy chick peas, mild … Continue reading

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Walker Bros. The Original Pancake House

I took advantage of my last day with a car and drove north to places that would be difficult to reach without one. First stop was Walker Bros. The Original Pancake House, the most famous link in the 180 store … Continue reading

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