What I learned on my trip to Chicago

  1. Airborne works pretty well.
  2. Chicago can still kick my immune system's ass.
  3. No matter how light it feels in the store, the 12" PowerBook morphs into an Acme anvil after two hours on your back.
  4. If you live in the Midwest, you resign yourself to a winter of frozen ears or Hat Head.
  5. Call me "pointy".
  6. Regardless of your will to pass him by, Manny, the shoeshine guy from Atlanta's, is stronger.
  7. It'll cost you $8 per person, standing up.
  8. Not including tip.
  9. If I had to move back, I'd want to live in Wicker Park.
  10. I probably couldn't afford it anymore.
  11. The best espresso in Chicago, oddly enough, may well be at the venerable Miller's Pub in the Loop.
  12. The chicken Kalamata at Athenian Room is still the greatest entrée in all the land.
  13. Especially after five single malt pours at Duke of Perth.
  14. Great friends are not location-specific.
  15. No matter how many exposés they run on the filth that lives in a hotel bedspread, I'm still going to contribute to it.
  16. For better or worse, Dell'Alpe has cornered the giardiniera market.
  17. I really do miss public transportation.
  18. I really do love L.A.
  19. Everyone loves The BF.
  20. Break your shoes in first.

xxx c