Community Daybreak

I'm in the midst of a "Community" marathon, and I finally caught the name of this Troy and Abed favorite: "Daybreak."

A letter to Betty the Beagle...

Betty, it's so hard without you here in this house, but I know that you're in a better place, especially given the last few days and weeks as you got skinnier and weaker.  It must be a relief. It was tough watching your health decline, having to help you up and down the stairs, coerce you eat, and god, that last night just trying to get you to drink some water out of a medicine syringe.

But I won't remember you that way. I'll remember you as the spritely, tenacious pup that you were, running with me in the park (and then suddenly stopping because you smelled something). Who would trick us for treats. Who would open the fridge right in front of us. Who would hide cheese in the couch (yes, we know about that, we caught you on video). And I was right about those scratches on the furniture, I'm glad they're there. I don't think about how mad I was at the time, I just remember how smart and sweet and persistent you were.

I know we had a contentious relationship. It was difficult for me to adjust to living with a dog--a senior at that-- having never lived with one before at all. You certainly tested my patience, and often won.

When I moved in with your dad, I felt like I had joined a cool club, the dog-owners club, joining neighbors who said hi and chatted when they were out walking their dogs. (Hey, remember that time we locked ourselves out of the apartment and had to extend that walk around Humboldt Park waiting for Dad to get home? Best walk ever, right?!)  But then I realized I was in an even more exclusive club, the Beagle club. Goodness you little guys are determined, and from what I understand, you were an elite member. And I loved you. Still do. Always will.

I was always surprised but delighted when you walked over to me (specifically to me! not Dad!) for some love. And I'm thankful you did last night, your last evening with us.

It's weird to leave the house without dog-proofing everything and making you a kong to distract you while I leave. It's going to be even weirder coming home from work without being greeted by you. This house is certainly empty without you. I even miss your snoring.

Goodbye little B, Bagel, Beagle Pants.

Enjoy raiding that fridge in the sky.

Check Yourself Before You Wreck Your Credit

January is a great time to remind yourself to get those annual things done, like doctors appointments, changing passwords and checking your credit report.

Did you know that by law, you're allowed to check your credit report with each of the three major agencies once a year for free? The FTC lays out the deets here. They'll direct you to annualcreditreport.com, which is the only site that is government sanctioned legitimately free with no strings attached, so don't waste your time with other sites like freecreditreport.com, no matter how catchy those songs are. 

This doesn't include your credit score (you still have to pay to see that), but it's still good to keep an eye on your credit reports to make sure there aren't any errors, and that no one is out there living as you, destroying your good name. 

McCartney/Grohl/Novoselic/Smear

Last night was the epic (and epicly long) 12/12/12 concert benefiting victims of Hurricane Sandy, which was probably the coolest collection of rock acts and appearances since Live Aid. While the highlight of the concert for me may have been Paul McCartney's closing "Live And Let Die" fire show (I just can't get over how amazing it was live), the most notable act of the night was McCartney fronting what was essentially a Nirvana reunion. It's the first time that Dave Grohl, Kurt Novoselic and Pat Smear have played publicly together in almost 20 years. But instead of playing a Nirvana song, (which lets be honest, woulda been sorta weird, but we all woulda freaked over it anyway) they played a new song called "Cut Me Some Slack." And it rocked.

"Oh yeah."

Holiday Tipping: How Much? Who?

LearnVest has a great table for end of the year tipping and gifts and what's appropriate  Sometimes this stuff is hard to figure out, and nobody talks about it! From housekeepers to beauty salon staff to dog walkers, show em some love this holiday and let them know how much you appreciate the great job they do! Access the chart here:

Guerrilla Guide to the Holidays: End-of-Year Tipping Explained

Weekend Away

I had an absolutely wonderful weekend in Michigan with my boyfriend. We were barely there for 30 hours, but it felt like days. Stress and anxiety melted away in the open air, air that was 70 degrees thanks to a late fall heat wave. It's the beginning of the off season for a Lake Michigan beach town, but we still visited wineries and orchard shops, and found apple cider donuts to bring home. We had no obligations, nowhere to be, only with each other. Even things like "scary house" and finding a wasp in the kitchen were things we could laugh about. (A thousand thanks to Diann again for letting us stay at her place.)

It was a great break from the "hustle and bustle" of the city: the honking, the yelling, the pushing and the everybody-out-for-themselves-and-fuck-anybody-else mentality of the roads, trains and sidewalks of Chicago. Less than 24 hours back in the city, and I'd completely lost any healing relaxation I'd gained. It's so ironic that one of the reasons I moved to this city--the cool convenience of subway transit--is the thing I hate most about my day now. I could just feel my anxiety creep, creeping back up my shoulders.

I'm trying so hard to hang on to that feeling that I had in Michigan--positive, ambitious, energetic. I felt like myself again for the first time in a long time.

I need another vacation. Or maybe another place to live. 

Push It Real Good

I'm known for complaining about my public trans commute on Twitter, but I try to keep it humorous so that it's at least entertaining for my followers and so my head doesn't go splodey. After seeing this video, though, I'm never complaining again! Well, I'll have to at least tone it down a bit.

Just so we're clear, those "train pushers" are called oshiyas. Their job is literally to push people into the train.