Thinking about:

1. MS&Co. denim sleeve for Field Notes notebooks

2. Rahm for Mayor

3. Steampunk short fiction

4. Solomon Kane

5. The movie Precious

CMB (for whom I voted in 1998 when she lost her seat to Peter Fitzgerald) is upset she's not getting enough coverage. She wants to be the "big name" candidate for mayor, and no one's paying attention because Rahm's back. She also wants to be the "black" candidate, and black leaders are already behind the big Daley Machine candidate, Danny Davis (who ran for mayor in the early '90s before he was a Congressman). I think this is a three-person race for Mayor: Rahm, Davis, and Gery Chico. And, yes, I'm completely ignoring the Republicans. As you know, only the Democratic primary matters.

More about Rahm and his intentions: He's been planning an exit strategy since he joined Obama's White House. He reluctantly agreed to become Chief of Staff in 2008. He was concerned about the hours and the time away from his family (at least as Congressman he could spend a lot of time back home in his district), but knew he had an opportunity to work with our first black President who was also a friend. While in Congress, it was known that the only other two government jobs Rahm was interested in were Speaker of the House (to be the first Jewish one, actually) and Mayor of Chicago (whenever Daley retired, not go up against him like Bobby Rush). This run wasn't a surprise to many Chicago politics watchers, and that he left the White House to puruse it shouldn't have surprised folks either, in my opinion. I'm also confident that this wasn't an impetuous decision on Rahm's part because Daley said a year ago or so that he didn't want to surpass his Dad's number of years in office (21). He's still in awe of his father and didn't want to overshadow his dad's legacy in any way. Chicago's been speculating all 2010 about when Daley would announce that he's not running for re-election. So, all of that is why I think Rahm jumped in: not to bail on Obama after the historic loss, but to do exactly what he planned to do and what Obama, I'm sure, expected. CMB, who lives in Hyde Park full-time now, is just full of sour grapes and looking to knock down Rahm.

What's funny (and sad) about CMB is that she's spinning this 2010 midterm losses like Republicans would. Consider this: Rahm is also credited with masterminding the Dems taking back Congress in 2006. Was he responsible for that? Probably, some, yes. And was Rahm responsible for 2010 Dem Congress losses? Probably, some, yes. He's lauded as a genius four years ago and then maligned four years later. More than anything Rahm did or did not do, I think both historic mid-term victories were highly politicized and mostly referenda against unpopular Presidents and their policies (2006 = Bush and war; 2010 = Obama and the economy and healthcare) and less about political mastermind Rahm's credit or blame. CMB knows all of this, but stirs it up anyway, risking getting Chicago Republicans and Tea Party people all fired up and organized to try to take City Hall away from the Dems. Just doesn't seem smart, unless she only cares about herself and her candidacy. Which is why I'll keep an eye on her as an independent or third-party candidate for mayor.

What's on my mind right now:

1. Field Notes Raven's Wing notebooks
2. David Sedaris's Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk
3. Bill Hicks
4. Levi Stauss & Co. - new jeans plus more Field Notes Red, White, Blue notebooks
5. refinancing our mortgage

What's on my mind:

1. Jack Kerouac
2. Taking the bus to downtown Pittsburgh with Dan Lau to hit Eide's and Bill and Walt's
3. Harlan Ellison

What's on my mind:

1. Infinite Baseball Card Set - Series 1 and eventually Series 2
2. Field Notes brand notebooks
3. Doane Paper notebooks
4. books on science: The Great Equations, In Search of Schroedinger's Cat
5. Penguins hockey

blogging from an HTC Tilt because don't have work notebook right now.

went to eye doc today for first time in 5.5 years. eyes haven't changed much, just have to align them because one is stronger that other. keeping same frames because they're both timeless, I think.

while waiting for my computer upgrade I think IZll hunt for Cory Doctorow short stories and used or MMP copy of Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson.

Last night, I ate at the 5 O'Clock Steakhouse in a not-too-shady part of Milwaukee's West Side, straight shot from MBCo HQ. I enjoyed a very good medium rare bone-in ribeye with a relish tray (olives, onions, peppers, pickles, carrots), salad, warm bread, and two beers (one High Life, one Pilsner Urquell...you know, because I'm working at MillerCoors right now).

Two guys sat at the bar near me. It was payday because one guy was jawing loudly about how he cashed his check and was going to get drunk. He pulled out a stack of bills and bought beers and shots. Because he was flush with dough, he splurged on a couple of bottles of Pilsner Urquell, a shot of coffee-infused Patron, and some Knob Creek, which I think he drowned in Coke.

I guess I forgot that people still get paper checks, "cash" them, and go out drinking. The whole scene was bizarre to me, but only showed that there are still parts of life that I either don't understand or forgot about. Why would one "cash" a paycheck? I don't understand that. Then, go straight to a steakhouse bar to drink more expensive than uusal booze and then eat a $40 steak. What happens to the rest of the money? This guy mentioned a wife in a "I'm still married to her" kind of way and not as in "my ex" so I assume there's co-habitation and rent or mortgage payments to make. Did he then go to the bank to deposit the cash, or is his life purely cash-based? Can someone have a cash-based life in 2008? I guess so.

Anway, I highly recommend the steakhouse. Very smokey, old school atmosphere, and there's a little theater with all the food that comes before the meat. My steak was excellent: right temp, juicy, big, flavorful.

Took a break from Sci-fi to read some politics. Finally got around to reading What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank. It was fine. He used the state of Kansas and its few metro areas (KC, Wichita, Topeka) to show how a populist, "let's fight for the working man" state turned from backing Democrats and Socialists to siding with Conservative Republicans. He focused on the culture war that's being fought between religious conservatives and secural liberals. This war started as a cultural "backlash" against the cultural and social liberalism of the 60's and 70's. If you're from KC, this is the book for you because there's so much critique about that city. Hell, if your a Kansan or Missourian, read it too because there is so much history. As for me, there wasn't too much that I didn't read before, know already, or bought into. The book is better for conservatives or Republicans, but Frank's tone would probably ruffle some right-wing feathers. He does come across like the "I know more than you" guy, the liberal archetype that conservatives loath so much and rally against. I'll keep it on the shelf as reference and will certainly loan out.