Journal Entries
The Taste of Chicago
Posted Jun 25, 1999
Today starts an annual local festival called 'The Taste of Chicago'. It's a celebration of some of the best things about Chicago - food, the lake, the downtown architecture, music, and a sense of community. It's been around forever and usually runs the week and both weekends before the Independence Day holiday on July 4th. The city closes off a several square block portion of the downtown lakefront park area where you get some of the best views of the city skyline. Chicago is considered by some to have one of the most diverse and architectually beautiful skylines in the world. And there are free concerts in the park throughout the celebration as well. This years celebration ends with a free concert by 'Cheap Trick' - a rather famous hometown band. Perhaps you have heard of them…
The festival consists of over a hundred of the best restaurants in the city setting up booths and making sample size portions of whatever it is that their restaurant is famous for. Being Chicago there is a lot of pizza and barbecued ribs. Pizza in Chicago is uniquely different than anywhere else in the world and is almost a religion. Participants buy tickets (something like 10 tickets for 6 American Dollars) and they can exchange the tickets for whatever local delicacy they would like to try. So you get a 'Taste' of Chicago in essence.
On average about 3 million people visit the Taste every year. Do the math and you have on average about 25,000 people of about every ethnic diversity at any given time standing in the hot Chicago summer sun, eating some of the best food in the world, taking in the views of the city and the lakefront, and having a really good time. When they used to tell us about the 'American Melting Pot' in grammar school, I think this is what they meant.
It's really something to experience and something uniquely Chicago.
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Latest reply: Jun 25, 1999
Day One
Posted Jun 24, 1999
Being that my first day is a Thursday may serve to be an omen - bad
things tend to happen on Thursdays. But I'll have to start somewhere.
In order to make some sense of my future entires - some background
information will be needed as my perception of life, the universe
and everything is totally dependant on my personal point of view.
Species: Human
Sex: Male
Age: 30
Siblings: 1
Marital Status: Yes
Off-spring: 1 (currently in gestation)
Occupation: Systems Engineer
Parental Status: Both alive, both divorced, both re-married
Political Orientation: Conservative Capitalist
Geographic Location: Chicago metropilotain area, Illinois, United
States of America, North American continent, western hemisphere
Demeanor: Hopeful Pessimist
My current life situation:
Getting into the office lately has been a struggle. My company has
been recently acquired and a major re-org looms on the horizon. I
have chosen to tough it out and not go running for the door like some
of my colleagues. Not to say that I'm not concerned about loosing my
current job. But I'm confident that my skills will see me through.
They always have. And if I'm destined to go elsewhere, so be it.
My wife and I have been moved into out dream house in the Chicago
suburbs for about 6 months now. We have our first child due in
September. My wife is also a working professional. We have a 4 year
old Beagle.
Hopefully my observations will make for interesting conversation and
will ammount to more than just a therapy session.
More to come...
...MG
Discuss this Journal entry [1]
Latest reply: Jun 24, 1999
The New Floyd
Researcher U46240
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