DrewBlue Digest

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Thu, 02 Sep 2004 01:26:05 GMT

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Sat, 27 Mar 2004 15:29:14 GMT

After living 17 years of my life in the Chicagoland suburbs and 21 years of it in the City, one difference I've noticed is the type of birds that have dwelled in my yard. The birds in the suburbs are generally bigger and more colorful. I'm guessing that this phenomena is due to the amount of wetlands in the suburbs. But now, bald eagles are making it back to the City for the first time in over a century. Here's more about it...

The Chicago Tribune article

The Chicago Sun-Times article

The WLS-TV story

Mon, 08 Mar 2004 04:20:42 GMT

As mentioned in my last post, I had a birthday last week. I had a lot of fun with my friends Karen, Lee, and Mike at Lorenzo's Steakhouse. I ate a filet mignon, garlic mashed potatoes, pasta visule soup, and bread with olive oil. It was great food, good service, and a memorable time with my friends.

I received a couple of great gifts from my family as well. My dad gave me a cupholder for my car (as pictured here). My MINI Cooper came with two frontseat cupholders that are too small to hold cups. In a J. D. Power survey of MINI owners, the lack of an adequate cupholder was the number one concern. This is great news for an auto manufacturer to have such a trivial complaint as the major gripe about any car. Nevertheless, MINIUSA is now offering an adequate cupholder. It is also included as standard equipment on all 2004 MINIs.

My dad went to great lengths to find the local MINI dealer in the San Diego area and acquire a cup holder for my car. There were also assorted MINI accessories in the box including MINI trading cards, an antenna topper, and an air freshener.

My sister, Marylou, knew that I had wanted a globe for some time, and she got one for me for my birthday! Actually she let me pick one out, so I would get exactly the right one. And I did! I love my new globe. Thanks Dad and Marylou.

You can view photos of my new cupholder and globe.

Sun, 29 Feb 2004 23:28:17 GMT

It was a great February day in Chicago! This may be a record high temperature for my birthday. So far, I've celebrated by going for a ride in my car, meeting up with a friend, hanging out for awhile with my firend, and spackling a wall (not to mention taking a photo of my tachometer so you could see how warm it was outside).

In another hour, a couple of friends are coming to my house and we are going to dinner at one of my favorite restaurants, Lorenzo's Steakhouse. They have steaks that are easily as good as you'll find at any downtown steakhouse without the hassle of downtown parking. (The place is much classier than their website).

Well, back to enjoying my 11th birthday now...I'll let you know how it turns out!

Sat, 28 Feb 2004 21:43:28 GMT

I'm gonna have one tomorrow! I don't get as many as other people, and people always ask "don't you feel short-changed by it?" On the contrary, I've always thought that mine was so much better than yours, so it's worth the wait to get mine. I share it with Mike Buddake (kid from 5th grade class), Superman, and one pope (Pope Paul III). The people who know me well know exactly what I'm talking about. :)

Tue, 10 Feb 2004 02:28:14 GMT

My sister gave gift cards to me from Home Depot and Bed, Bath, & Beyond for Christmas. That was sufficient incentive for me to redecorate my bathroom. The end result is documented in my bathroom photo gallery.

Mon, 09 Feb 2004 07:39:40 GMT

The 2004 Grammy Awards were presented this evening. Check out the list of winners. It was a disappointment for me that Hinsdale resident Cathy Richardson didn't win an award for Best Package. I was hopeful for her, but knew she had some tough competition from Annie DiFranco (who also had a great CD package and won). In past years, Best Package seemed like one of those insignificant categories. But think about what CD packaging means for the recording industry today. It's the one category that will get people out to the store to buy a CD even though they could probably find all of the songs on Kazaa. 2004 Grammy winners.

Fri, 30 Jan 2004 00:00:59 GMT

In years past, it was hard for ordinary citizens to figure out who to vote for in a presidential primary, caucus, or general election. You want to give your vote to someone who shares your position on the issues that matter to you.

But how do you know where a candidate stands on a given issue? Short of doing a lot of research or believing sound bites on the nightly news, it hasn't been easy.

Now there's an easy place to get everything you need to be an informed voter. Visit OnTheIssues.org and you can see where each presidential hopeful stands. It's based on both things the candidates have said (and the date they said them so you can see when they waiver) and the way they have voted during their political careers.

Spend a half hour at OnTheIssues.org and you'll be sure to vote for the right guy!