See Glass Run

Ramble

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 17:05:00 +0000

I'm supposed to be doing laundry right now, but I'd rather sit in my living room and watch Buffy The Vampire Slayer while working on homework. I'm currently taking English 102 for the billionth time. My credits from all the previous times I've taken it won't transfer to UIC, so I get the pleasure of doing all of this over again. At least I know what I'm doing.

In other news, I found and ordered Marty's birthday present today. I also found and purchased a gift for Von - just because I think she'll love it. Let's see, what else is going on...

Got a haircut yesterday. I think this is my most favorite haircut of all time. Jackie at Shampoo Salon on Chicago Ave. is the best. Full disclosure: she's also my sister-in-law.

I've also been gardening. I have a container veggie/herb garden on our front patio. I love it, but it's been attracting gnats because of all the rain we've been getting. My tomato plants are growing out of control, so I hope to have lots and lots of tomatoes soon!

Family Matters

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 04:15:00 +0000

I am blessed to have many cousins on both sides of my family that are truly amazing. The cousins on my dad's side, I don't get to see nearly enough. They live in the far northwest suburbs. Sometimes it feels like hey might as well live in another state. I miss them.

My cousins on my mom's side all live pretty close. It's the fact that our parents don't get along that separates us all. As the oldest, I'm trying to get us all past that. Just because my mom's generation has problems with each other, doesn't mean the cousins can't be close. It's just hard to bypass all the drama to build real relationships. It's a work in progress.

Another problem with this is I have been working every day, every weekend lately. Pretty hard to connect with people when you can't make weekend plans. I think I'll have to start not getting sleep on the weekends roll again. I don't want to, but it'll be worth it.

Wedding Aftermath

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Mon, 31 May 2010 02:02:00 +0000

Now that my wedding is over, I don't quite know what to do with all this free time. I still haven't completely unpacked or put away all our gifts or written any thank you notes, so I guess I could start there. I just don't wanna. I've also been working full-time this week at what's supposed to be my part-time job, so all the time I would have had to work on these things, I've been resting after a long hot shift at work. I'm so tired, all I want to do is complain. Le sigh.

My favorite wedding picture-so far-is below. I have yet to receive any pictures from the official wedding photographers, so more to come!

I Yearn For Simpler Times

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 05:21:00 +0000

You're The Moon is a Harsh Mistress!

by Robert Heinlein

A freethinker, you are willing to go well outside the bounds of
societal expectations in expressing what you believe. You yearn for simpler times
out on the frontier when men were men and could take multiple wives or do whatever
they wanted to without fear of the law. This recollection may be idealized and even
nonsensical, but it doesn't keep you from advocating revolution against rules,
wherever they may exist. While you really like the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey,"
you always thought HAL should have been the hero. Your favorite Canadian coin is
the Loonie.

Take the Book Quiz II
at the Blue Pyramid.

I Think I'm Back

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:52:00 +0000

I've been doing some research into how to maximize my tips at my waitressing gig. In doing so, I ran across this gem. Most of the advice is pretty reasonable. However, I also do pretty much everything the author suggests already. Sometimes, I'd bet even most of the time, the tip doesn't much reflect on the service you've given so long as the service was decent. I absolutely do not agree with the following:

Reason: Most of the time, bad tips are given because people do not like the service they have received. If you get a bad tip, you should ask yourself the following:
Was the service slow?
Did I say something to upset someone at the table?
Did I ignore a request?
Did I flash an excess body part?

Every shift I work, I have an example of giving the same exact service to one table as the next and I'll get tipped 10% from the one table and 25% from the other. I've been trying to think of what else I could possibly do to never get a 10% tip, but I'm on the verge of concluding there's just nothing to be done. I give the best service I can, and the rest is up to the customer. Some people are just cheap. I'm not going to take it personally. I'm certainly not going to worry about whether or not I flashed an excess body part. I mean, come on. Really? In my brightly-colored polo and khaki pants, I'm not too concerned about flashing body parts anyway.

Can now be found

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Mon, 16 Feb 2009 23:24:00 +0000

I've moved my blogging to a new place.

http://shapeswithoutsubstance.com

Hope to see you there. :)

Let's get Rowd(y)

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:54:00 +0000

My Uncle Rowd is currently in the hospital, and the prognosis is not that great. I can do nothing but hope he comes through it like the fighter he's always been.

What is likely my earliest memory involves going to a van rally with my dad, Uncle Rowd, and his wife Ginny. According to my mother, I was three. I vividly remember Rowd picking my dad and I up in his modified and tricked out van and waving goodbye to my mom and little brother. I also remember walking down a path looking at cattails, sitting around a fire in a big prairie type lot surrounded by vans and other fires, and being afraid to sleep outside, so my dad and I slept in the van. I spent alot of time with Rowd and Ginny before they split up (I think I was eight years old when that happened). They didn't have any kids at the time, and my parents pawned my brother and I off every chance they got it seemed. Which I was totally fine with at the time and still am. If it weren't for all the awesome things my aunts and uncles did with me when I was a kid, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Some other random memories/interesting things I remember about Rowd:

He never really seemed to be afraid of anything. He would always be the designated fireworks lighter. He'd nonchalantly light a fuck-ton of bottlerockets and then slowly saunter away as if nothing they could do would hurt him.
He is a fabulous country line dancer (from what I hear).
He's always reminded me of a mix between Dennis Hopper and Robert DeNiro, just smaller and quieter.
His car was booted once, and he got arrested for trying to remove it. My mom had to go get him out of the district lockup.
He lived in what became a VERY bad neighborhood in the city. Someone broke into his house once, and he tried to shoot the burglar with a shotgun.
He's had alot of careers in his 58 years of life. He's currently an IDOT worker on the highway. I can't begin to explain how perfect that job has got to be for him. Every time I'm on the highway and see a yellow IDOT tow truck, I look to see if it's him.
The longest conversation I've ever had with him involved fuel efficiency standards on cars/trucks and fuel prices in this country.
His name is Charles (after his father), but I've always known him as Rowd. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I realized Rowd (for rowdy) wasn't his actual name.
He still has a bullet in his back from one of his tours of duty in Vietnam.
He used to take us kids on motorcycle rides during family barbecues. He'd do wheelies and ride up on the sidewalk with me on the back. It was terrifyingly awesome.

I've always been very glad to have him as an uncle, and I hope to have many more years of him telling funny stories at the few family parties my dad's family has every year.

While I've Been Away

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 21:37:00 +0000

What have I been up to since the end of November? This is what I can recall off the top of my head:

December 1 - Dinner with Mike at Duck Walk.
December 2 - Thrift shopping with Niall in Lakeview/Boys Town. Bought a Luscious Jackson CD for $3, Girls Just Want to Have Fun DVD for $4, new black cut-off finger gloves that turn into mittens for $7.
December 3 - Spent the day at the Museum of Science & Industry with Niall. Saw the Smart Home, an OmniMax movie called Wild Ocean, and the propaganda-filled farm exhibit sponsored by ADM amongst other things. The highlights of the day were the java chicks, the private coal-mine tour Niall and I went on, and the Smart Home.
December 4 - Crafting at my mom's - I made two wreaths.
December 5 - Spent the day at the Art Institute of Chicago with Niall, then went to the Christkindlmarket on Daley Plaza.
December 6 - Got Alice's oil changed, stopped by my dad's to say hi, went to a recycled hardcover bookmaking class, went to Von's cookie swap party.
December 7 - Brunch at Curio Cafe with friends, Blackhawks game with Annie, Sonia & Adam. I spent the night at my mom's.
December 8 - Crafting for my mother all day again. I decorated a small victorian Christmas tree, a wreath, and an ornament.
December 9 - Stopped by my mom's to finish a wreath and pick up my forgotten phone, went shopping and ran errands.
December 10 - Did nothing all day, then bartended at night.
December 11 - Stopped by work to pick up my remaining things.
December 12 - Lunch with Von, dentist, then The Tossers CD release party at Double Door.
December 13 - Hot Dougs with Marty, Tony & Dan. Drinks & late dinner with Von & Marty at The Daily.
December 14 - Brunch at Tony & Jackie's.
December 15 - Spent the day shopping with my mom, then Marty & I watched the new Indiana Jones movie.
December 16 - Yearly physical exam at the doc, Trader Joe's, made two batches of hot cocoa mix for Christmas presents - one ginger-spiced hot cocoa, the other mexican hot cocoa, and now I'm avoiding cleaning.
Coming soon...
December 17 - Melissa is coming over and we're baking! Then I have to bartend.
December 18 - Help my mom wrap Christmas presents in the morning, then register for classes at Truman in the afternoon.
December 19 - It's A Girl show at the Viaduct Theater
December 20 - Dad's family Christmas party and maybe The Kicker's Christmas party too.
December 21 to 24 - BAKING and getting everything ready for Christmas day.

So yeah, I've been busy. I don't have dedicated time in front of the computer anymore, so keeping up with blogging and reading blogs has become a little difficult. I'm sure I'll find the right balance soon.

NaBloPoMo - The End

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 05:36:00 +0000

Tomorrow starts the official month of getting my shit together, so I can succeed at being a full-time student. I need to get my computer files in order, register for classes, update my resume, find a part-time job, finish some minor home repairs, sell some stuff on eBay, and on and on and on - all while sticking to some sort of schedule and not getting distracted from my ultimate goal. It's going to be a tough month, but at least I won't be working full-time while having to do all that stuff.

NaBloPoMo was really difficult. I just read through all my posts from November; they weren't all bad, but I don't really have much to write about every day. Or maybe I do, and I just don't have the creative energy needed to write quality posts every day. Needless to say, I won't be blogging every day in December. Boy am I glad November is over. For a number of reasons.

I'm hoping for a productive, healthy, and happy December. Fingers crossed.

Ginger & Cocoa

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 05:30:00 +0000

Tonight I made Ginger Spiced Hot Cocoa. I saw the recipe when I was watching the Food Network the other day and wanted to try it. I've heard that ginger might be good for help in getting over a cold. It was good, but I didn't really taste the ginger. Though, tbh, I haven't really been able to taste anything I've eaten for a few days now.

The title of the recipe reminded me of two stories I'd like to share:

GINGER
I used to sit in the corporate real estate offices when I first started working for the bank almost eight years ago. They were out of room in the meetings & events offices, where I should have been rightly sitting, at the time. The head of real estate was a very tall, loud, older Jewish man from New York. His accent was exactly what you'd imagine it to be. There was a woman who worked for him named Ginger. Her office was a few doors down from him, so instead of calling her on the phone, he'd just yell "Giiiinnnnggggeerrrrr" from his office every time he wanted her to come to come talk to him. It would echo down the hallway all the way to where I was sitting multiple times a day. This went on for a good six months before I was moved to my next temporary cubicle in the dungeons of the bank. To this day, I can't say the word ginger without thinking of him.

Giiiiiinnnnnnggggeerrrrrrrrr.

COCOA
When we were all much younger than we are now, some old friends of mine lived next to a family that had a few kids and a dog named Cocoa. Cocoa escaped one day, and the little girl next door paced up and down the block crying and calling for the dog in the most pathetic shaky voice ever. "Cooooocooooooa." I can't remember if they found the dog, but I'm pretty sure they did. I don't know why, but hearing one of them imitate her calling for Cocoa sends us all into fits of laughter. Don't think I'm not aware of how cruel we are/were.

I'm off to google home remedies for colds now that we have our precious internets back. The ginger doesn't seem to be doing it for me.

1,368

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 05:58:00 +0000

The approximate number of times I've blown my nose today. I'm so goddam sick of having a cold. I've basically been sick the entire month of November. This is total bullshit. I would just about sell my soul at this point to not ever have another cold.

Tomorrow I buy a humidifier. That's just about the only remedy I've yet to try.

-- Post From My iPhone

My aching head

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Fri, 28 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0000

I have a migraine. The four advil I took aren't helping. Other than this, I had a fantastic thanksgiving. Pumpkin pie is da bomb.

-- Post From My iPhone

The Last Day

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:46:00 +0000

I kept it together. Well, at least until Nancy O. made me cry when I left for the day. Leaving the place where I've worked for the last eight years was incredibly difficult. I started that job when I was 23 years old. I'm 31 now. That's a huge chunk of my life spent with roughly the same group of people. I've spent more time with my co-workers than I have with the majority of my family. They ended up being like family. It hasn't entirely hit me yet that I'm not going back there. I'm sure that'll come next week. The goodbye email I sent...

After working here for (almost) eight years, I've decided to go back to college full-time. Today will be my last day in the office. It's going to be a huge change, but I'm very much looking forward to the challenge. Hopefully one day I'll be an awesome high school art teacher, and some ofthat awesomeness will be thanks to the great things I learned working with all of you.

Thanks for being such wonderful co-workers and friends. I'm going to miss being part of the meetings & events crew.

For those of you who'd like to keep in touch, my home email is *** and cell phone ***.

Thanks again for everything!

Shannon

The letter doesn't even begin to convey how much everyone there means to me, but I'm on the way to new things now. It's going to be good.

A Picture Post For Now

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 05:49:00 +0000

Picture taken by Von of me at Ceide Fields in Ireland 3 years ago. The other side of that rail was a bizillion foot drop off straight down to the Atlantic.

More substantial post about my last day at work coming tomorrow...

I wish it were still summer

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 05:32:00 +0000

My mom grows lilies. I take pictures of them.

Cookin'

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 23:46:00 +0000

I've noticed a direct correlation between how stressed I am and how much I cook. Never more so than this weekend. Everything I made this weekend:

Quinoa w/ black beans and cilantro
Tomato soup with red onion and cilantro stems
Blackberry cornmeal buttermilk pancakes
Firecracker cornbread
Apricot-Pecan bread pudding
Red Beans & Rice (I'm in love with this recipe, so I will be posting it soon)
Golden-Crusted brussel sprouts (ditto with the love for this one)
Heath Bar Cake

My last day of work is Tuesday, and I have a TON of work to get finished before then. Plus, I'm leaving the very secure and well-paying job that I've had for the last eight years to go back to school to be a teacher. \STRESS/ If I wasn't positive that this is the absolute right thing for me to do right now, I'd probably be cooking even more.

Oh Hi

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Sun, 23 Nov 2008 04:10:00 +0000

I'm at Sid's Place. Drinking cider. Celebrating Niall's birthday!

-- Post From My iPhone

Stupid wireless

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 03:56:00 +0000

The wireless isn't working, so here I am posting from my phone again. This blows major donkey crap. Plus I have work to do this weekend. Not sure how I'm going to get it done without Internet access.

This evening, I've decided that I'm a big fan of Goose Island Oatmeal Stout. Yummy!

-- Post From My iPhone

J O B

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 01:54:00 +0000

I have three working days left. Aiiiiyeeeeyeyeee.

I'm off to meet Kitty at Cobra Lounge for a few drinks. I haven't been out on a weeknight in a very long time. I'm much more responsible now. Not that some people want to believe that.

On another note, we (my cousin & I) think we've come up with a domain name/website name for our blog: www . shapeswithoutsubstance . com

What do you think?

Happy Birthday Niall!

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 05:00:00 +0000

For two days out of the year, I am two years older than my brother. Tomorrow we go back to being a year apart. Well, a year and two days apart - as my mother tells everyone.

Happy 30th Birthday to the greatest little brother a big sister could ever have!

Documenting the celebrations of my birth

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 03:00:00 +0000

2005 - 28 years old
Annie threw me a party at her place, then we went dancing at a bar on 127th St. We were the only people dancing, and it was fun. We also took a bunch of pictures with the flower cut outs she had hanging on her wall.

2006 - 29 years old
Scorpio Prom, 80's themed at Kelly's Irish Saloon in Blue Island. There's pretty much no possible way that I will ever have a more awesome birthday party. It was a joint party for me, Georgia, Bones, and Niall, and it totally ruled. I danced all night. The only breaks I took were to drag everyone who walked into the party to the photo backdrop setup thing to take a picture with me.

2007 - 30 years old
I woke up in London and went to bed in Brussels. It was awesome. When I got home from Europe, I went to dinner at Los Nopales with all my besties that could make it, then we went to see Dead Town Revival at Empty Bottle, then more drinking at Underbar. It was a fun night!

2008 - 31 years old
We had a little party at our place on Saturday, and we went to Cafe Hoang last night for my actual birthday. We're going to dinner with my family tomorrow night for my brother's and my birthday. I don't have any pictures yet. Consider this a placeholder.

Bizarro World (aka the opposite of what actually happened today)

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 17:21:00 +0000

Boss: Good morning Shannon. Happy Birthday!

Me: Thanks!

Boss: What are you up to for lunch today?

Me: Oh, I don't have any plans. I didn't bring my lunch, so I'm not sure yet.

Boss: How about I take you to lunch since you've worked for me for eight years, and this will be your last birthday here, and I've never really done anything for your birthday?

Me: That would be lovely, thanks!

Bleh

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 05:44:00 +0000

OMG, this is the most boring blog ever lately. I'll try to think of something fun to post tomorrow for my birthday.

My birthday party last night was fabulous. Everything went off without a hitch, and my red velvet cupcakes were so yummy, I think I've probably eaten 10 of them over the last two days. Not everyone could make it to the party, but there was a great mix of people, and friends of mine from different groups of friends got to finally meet. Very cool. Also, Tony & Jackie sang me the awesome song. They're awesome. Pretty much all of my friends are.

Boxed

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 23:01:00 +0000

We've been boxing stuff up and storing it in my mom's garage, so we're clutter free when we FINALLY put the condo on the market. I brought the (hopefully) last box of stuff over to my mom's garage today. I'm super excited about now having to make box runs from one end of the city to another now. Plus, we're kind of running out of room in her garage between her stuff, mine, and my brother's.

Let Teh Birthday Celebrations Begin

noreply@blogger.com (Shannon Erin) — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 22:23:00 +0000

We're having a little get-together at our place tomorrow night. Appetizers, drinks, and games are on the agenda. The tentative menu:

Beluga Lentil Crostini
Baked Spinach Artichoke Dip
Baked Carrot Oven Fries w/ Chipotle Orange Dipping Sauce
White Bean Bruschetta
Red Velvet Cupcakes

I was going to try to come up with a signature drink to make, but I'm pretty much out of creative energy right now. We have a giant bottle of Bacardi and a giant bottle of Captain Morgan. Ideas anyone?