the melting pot that is no longer

many issues important to americans come up during political races. this year is definitely no different, be it healthcare, war, taxes, immigration or a multitude of other social issues. so tonight in my inbox, i get an email from a relative of mine. the subject is "100 years later". under a picture of teddy roosevelt, it reads:

Theodore Roosevelt's ideas on Immigrants and being an AMERICAN in 1907.

"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American...There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
Theodore Roosevelt 1907

Every American citizen needs to read this!

KEEP THIS MOVING

i will say that i am not completely sure of my position on immigration. perhaps it is because it does not directly affect me. i understand that there are concerns with illegal immigrants coming to our country who do not pay taxes yet hope for the benefits of american citizens. i just think about some of the absurd comments people make about immigrants coming to our country (legally or illegally). some americans think that anyone who enters our borders should speak the english language. some feel that immigrants should confirm to the ideals of every american. even some politicians say that a wall should be put up across our southern border. but then i can't help but think about the foundations of our country; foundations created over 100 years before teddy roosevelt made the above comment.

correct me if my american history is incorrect, but a great majority of our ancestors were not original inhabitants of this country. we immigrated here from another country. our ancestors spoke different languages. we must remember that many of our ancestors came to this new country invading another's land. i guess you could compare that to illegal immigrants who cross our borders today.

again, america finds itself standing on a mountain of hypocracy. sometimes i wish it were as easy to escape american borders as it apparently is to get in.

it's back!

i get easily excited about things. i've been looking forward to this day for quite a while now. the montrose brown line station is back up and running! as part of the chicago transit authority's brown line expansion project, the montrose station has been closed for nearly a year.

it's not that i use the train everyday, but when i do hop on the train, it's nice for it to be easily accessible. the 1/2 mile walk to the next train station wasn't my idea of fun - especially in the stifling heat or the frigid cold. now, i can simply turn the corner and walk a couple of short blocks. i don't even have to cross the street anymore since they moved the station entrance!

whenever driving or walking by the construction on the station over the past few months, i was always intrigued at the progress. i honestly didn't think that it would open by their proposed deadline of december 1. but, they beat me to it by almost a week (i'm sure this will be cta's way of saying "hey look! we finished early!").

here are some pictures of the new station. i didn't take many for fear of looking like a complete mass transit nerd.

this picture was taken just inside the turnstiles. the letters are an artsy way to show names of streets near the station. (winchester, belle plaine, leavitt, oakley, montrose, etc.)

this picture is from standing on the new platform. the platforms were extended to allow for 8-car trains. there is new seating, new speakers to hear announcements clearly, elevators, stairs for exits to both sides of the street, and new lighting.



the station is now situated over the street. this picture is a view from the platform, looking west on montrose. notice the balloons marking the opening of the station. my favorite brunch location even had banners outside "hey cta! the fat lady has sang!"

i know it was only the first day for passengers, but it was very nice and clean inside. there was also a great feeling by all the riders waiting to board the train. i'm sure it's a day that many people have been looking forward to!

and sure, this might be new for the cta, but there were so many things that did not change. i still waited 15 minutes for the next train, there were crazy people surrounding me, and the infamous slow zones were still a pain in my ass. welcome aboard the brown line!

neighborhood watch

from the beginning of starting "an observant mind" i mentioned how i like to see what's going on and watch others around me. so, it's not surprising that, since the start of my 'house husband' days, i've become the neighborhood watch lady. or, at least for our particular building. i know that around 8:04am each day the crazy boy on the third floor will be clomping down the stairs at a fast pace (one too quick for such a time in the morning), slam the front door shut, and light up a cigarette on his way to the train. i know that one of the tenants on the second floor only uses the back staircase on her way to run errands (or teach pilates *inside joke*), or that she is home due to the constant rearranging of furniture (or horseback riding). i know when rick, our UPS guy, (who i am now on a first-name basis with) has come to deliver a package for one of the tenants. and yes, i know when guests are coming or going (beware ladies of 3r). let me clarify that this is not for voyeuristic purposes. it is just something that feeds my curiosity of that which is around me.

i have a comfortable place for all of my viewing. like a cat perched in the window, an old loveseat with great character, provides me with a view for the going-ons of the building.


then much to my delight, i get an email from our building manager today. he asks if i would be willing to show the garden apartment that is available for rent. he would just drop the key off at some point in order to show the couple the apartment this evening. of course i jumped at the opportunity! are you kidding me?! i will now be able to see the floorplan (which is quite different than the others in the building) AND meet the potential tenants who will be living below us.

perhaps some might say that i'm nosy. but when someone who doesn't belong here tries to enter, i will be able to give the police a complete description of the intruder.

i'm concerned about who will be able to fill in once my house husband days have come to an end.

i choose vacation, not competition

as if we needed one more reality show, gary and i started to watch the amazing race 12. the show takes couples around the globe, completing tasks, in order to be the first to make it to the marking points. after missing the first show, we made sure the TiVo was set to record the next episode. tucked in, we watched the show from our bed while talking about how perfect something like this would be fore the two of us.

we like to travel. we have made our way across the pond many times and still have much more of the world to enjoy. gary and i talked about how this show would be perfect for us to accomplish a greater portion of our to-see list. we would be able to, at the expense of CBS, hop on a plane from here to there to see so much more of the world.

while watching last night, we saw the couples make their way from dublin to amsterdam via shannon on aer lingus. once in amsterdam, couples had to decide to whether to hoist furniture through windows or search through hundreds of bicycles to make their way to a small town in holland. we quickly learned that this might not be the reality show for us to be a part of.

tension unfolds many times throughout these tasks. i know that my patience would wear thin and i would be quickly frustrated with gary numerous times. slurping his coffee and making noises while chewing his food is one thing, but the stress of making our way from city to city would be impossible to deal with. we decided that the amazing race would be the end of our relationship.

it's an exciting show to watch, with brothers and sisters, fathers and daughters, friends, married couples, and life partners competing for a million dollars. but, i think i will take my current situation of traveling for enjoyment before competing to potentially ruin my relationship.

and on a sidenote: it's amazing that we now have television shows that actually allow people to physically travel around the world via clues to reach their destination. my how things have changed since the days of where in the world is carmen sandiego.

de greatest singer in de world!

my mother is obsessed with last vegas. she is always saying "let's go to vegas!" or "when are we going to vegas again?". so, one night, while sitting around the kitchen table playing cards, she and i decided to plan a weekend trip to sin city. since gary will be in london and my sister will be 9 months pregnant, about to pop, it's just the two of us heading west.

we then started thinking of possible shows to see while there. i've seen a couple of the broadway production shows that are there, and my mom has seen some small comedy acts. but neither of us has seen the entertainment extravaganza that is celine. oh yes, celine. caesars builds her a colosseum, something that wasn't that easy for the romans. but for celine, it will be done. and, she's been going at it in las vegas for four years.

the show has sold out nearly every night since it began. and they sure aren't just giving those tickets away. if you want to sit in the rafters of the colosseum, you'll pay $80 or to see celine in all her glory, $205. but, it's too late for that. since ms. dion, french-canadian extraordinaire, closes on december 15, ticket prices range from $90-320. good luck though, because those are already sold out.

i, like a nameless friend, am a closet celine fan. sure, i think she embarrasses herself from time to time, but put on her music and i will sing (and most likely know all the words). and yes, i have said "i would go see celine, if someone would buy me a ticket," but really, i would buy my own ticket for the rafters (not because i don't want anyone to see me, but because i cannot afford the great and wonderful celine's good ticket prices).

but, it appears that i will miss this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see cirque de celine. so, for those other fans, here's a little taste of that which we will never see:

what's in a name?

i was tagged by amity to do this meme. since i have nothing else exciting to post, here it goes:

list one fact, word or tidbit that is somehow relevant to your life for each letter of your first or middle name. you can theme it to your blog or make it general.

A: anal-retentive. i am very obsessed with order. not numerical, but how things are arranged and positioned. you will find the magazines on the coffee table in the exact same way each day. you will also notice the coasters on the side table to be positioned at an exact 45-degree angle, pointing toward each wall. in addition, it makes me happy to have my clothes hanging on all white hangers, facing the same direction.

D: distressed. one of my poorer qualities, i allow myself to get upset about things very easily. i am bothered by some of the simplest matters.

A: attentive. i notice things around me quite well. i notice changes that are made to my surroundings, including changes in people. and if i don't know, the questions will begin to pour from my mouth!

M: mild-mannered. sure i have my moments, but for the most part, i am fairly calm and pleasant. just as long as you don't piss me off!

(i feel like i'm playing the game of scattegories! in which case, i get 5 points, two for mild-mannered!)

seize the daylight!

so here we are at that biannual time where we change the time with our own hands. spring forward, fall back. gaining an hour or losing an hour. this is when daylight saving time occurs.

growing up in indiana, the idea of changing our clocks each spring and fall was a foreign concept for me. i was only familiar with my favorite shows switching times at the beginning of the new fall season. it wasn't until i met people in college who thought our state's tradition was somewhat ridiculous. the northwest corner of the state and the south east corner of the state were already switching their clocks with nearby cities. it took until 2005 for a law to be passed for the entire state, and many directives for the states' citizens, to join the clock-turning in april, 2006.

after college, i can remember looking forward to that first fall dst night in north carolina. i stayed up until 2am to watch the digital clock on the cable box switch from 1:59 to 1:00. yes, it seems absurd, but it was an exciting first for me.

now, our daylight saving time is extended, thanks to our fearless leader and his energy policy act of 2005. we now spring forward a week earlier and fall back a week later. this is in an effort to save energy and millions of dollars. we'll see what the actual outcome of this is once a report of the study is given by the secretary of energy. *rolls eyes*

although we often hear "daylight savings time" discussed in the media, it is actually called daylight saving time (no s). and even more inaccurately, we are not actually saving time, yet merely shifting the time. most other countries of the world simply refer to it as "summer time".

living in chicago, at the beginning of the central time zone, we experience a lack of daylight, especially in the midst of winter. we find darkness approaching around 4pm. by 7pm, you're ready to settle in bed for the night. for those of us that suffer from self-diagnosed SAD, the winter months are long and tiresome, especially with dst seemingly working against you!

as can be expected, dst has caused much confusion, especially in its earlier days. railways, airlines, and buses have all experienced confusion, especially its passengers. in fact, amtrak must remain consistent with their published timetables that trains will actually sit on the track for an hour to remain on time getting to their destinations.

other odd dst anecdotes:

While twins born at 11:55 p.m. and 12:05 a.m. may have different birthdays, Daylight Saving Time can change birth order -- on paper, anyway. During the time change in the fall, one baby could be born at 1:55 a.m. and the sibling born ten minutes later, at 1:05 a.m. In the spring, there is a gap when no babies are born at all: from 2:00 a.m. to 3:00 a.m.

A man, born just after 12:00 a.m. DST, circumvented the Vietnam War draft by using a daylight saving time loophole. When drafted, he argued that standard time, not DST, was the official time for recording births in his state of Delaware in the year of his birth. Thus, under official standard time he was actually born on the previous day—and that day had a much higher draft lottery number, allowing him to avoid the draft.

Patrons of bars that stay open past 2:00 a.m. lose one hour of drinking time on the day when Daylight Saving Time springs forward one hour. This has led to annual problems in numerous locations, and sometimes even to riots. For example, at a "time disturbance" in Athens, Ohio, site of Ohio University, over 1,000 students and other late night partiers chanted "Freedom," as they threw liquor bottles at the police attempting to control the riot.

for all of this information and more, visit this site.

note from author: while i'm looking forward to my extra hour of sleep tonight, i apologize for the lack of wittiness of this post. it was supposed to be light and humorous, instead it is dull and boring.