Day 27 (Saturday, July 8)

Yesterday I got a call from an old friend named Ryan. I worked w/ him at the Daily Sundial Newspaper at CSUN. He grew up in Chicago and decided to go to school at CSUN to do film and t.v. At some point, he decided journalism was better. Who can blame him?

Ryan wanted to hang out, since he knew that I am in town. So, we decided to meet at the Taste of Chicago for lunch.

The Taste of Chicago seemed a lot more calm today. There wasn't all the big holiday weekend people that I saw last week. It was a little more relaxed. It definitely wasn't a zoo.

Ryan and I caught up on what we know about our mutual friends. We ate really good burgers from Billy Goat. And we enjoyed a cold one as we walked around.

Suddenly, I told Ryan to stop. I had to go back a few steps and take a photo of something I thought was cool. I told him I have issues w/ the city of Chicago because it doesn't seem to be a city that cares too much about recycling.

Here's proof of how much they care around here:

Sure it was great that they had a place to put recyclables. However, they forgot to put a bag on it, which totally defeats the purpose. Boooooooooooooo!!!!

We continued walking and the same guys from last week were doing their show. I caught a different angle of the guy's jump this time. Before long, Ryan and I had spend a couple of hours at the Taste. It was extremely hot, so we called it a day. I decided to go home and take a nap.

After resting for a while, I went downstairs and talked w/ Diego as I read the day's newspaper. A few hours later we decided to have a small cookout to enjoy the beautiful evening. Not a bad idea, I thought. After all, I have never really bonded that much w/ a roommate. This was definitely a time to continue bonding.

As we prepared the food, I caught a glimpse of the rising moon. Since I am a big fan of moon photos, I had to go upstairs, get my telephoto lens and go to town on the moon.

We ate and talked a little bit about everything. It was really cool hanging out w/ him.

Later, we continued the bonding as he invited me to go along w/ him for a night on the town. We met up w/ Diego's brother and his roommate and went bar hopping.

First we went to Nick's on Milwaukee Avenue. The place was amazing. In there, Soulio, a really good Jazz band was going off. We relaxed in there while listening to the music. Then, we went to a few other places, but they all seemed a little bit boring. We found our way into Trivia, a bar that featured a live band. We hung out there for a while before we decided it was time to go to another spot. Next, we walked into a place, which by that time in the night, I couldn't care less what it was called. I wasn't worrying about venue places by then. I was just enjoying a good night on the town. The third place was a little different. A DJ played hip hop and a lot of people crammed into a small room. I wasn't really feeling the place. I was more interested in the Jazz or the live music places we had just came from. I wasn't going to complain. Besides, how many times do I have the luxury of actually hanging out w/ people around here? I'm still pretty new around here and I haven't made much friends outside of work.

The place was too loud and Diego and I decided it was time to head home. We stopped by a few Taquerias to get some Mexican food, but they all were getting ready to close. Oh well. A few blocks away from home, however, we saw a hot dog place and we decided to try them. They were my first Chicago hot dogs. I am not sure if these were the kind people rage about in other parts of the country, but they weren't all that exciting. Maybe I was just in the mood for late-night tacos. And by that I mean real Mexican food, not none of that Taco Hell (taco bell) stuff.

We finished our meal and went home.

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