#city of the big shoulders

[notbecauseofvictories]

Hi Sarah, I'm going to visit Chicago in a couple of weeks and when I think of Chicago I think of you. What would you recommend I visit/do?

Unfortunately, Chicago is not its best self for a couple months---while I maintain that the city is for all seasons, summer is undoubtedly when it's most alive. However, there are a couple things I will definitely recommend for the unseasonably warm spring traveler:

(1) Eat some food

A friendly word of warning: do not be tricked into eating Giordano's or Lou Malnotti's. Perhaps your companions might try to win you over with promises of Chicago-style hotdogs---do not be swayed! You must manfully resist! (Harold's Chicken is that good though, and if you're close to the one in Hyde Park, feel free to devour the three piece dinner of your choice. Cheap bottle of the too-sweet wine I preferred as an undergrad optional.)

A much better option is to find a place that serves whatever food you love, but does it really really well.

Do you like sophisticated twists on a brewpub menu? Try Moody Tongue in the South Loop

Or are you really more of a tapas person? Highly recommend mfk in Lincoln Park

Would you prefer something a little....meatier? My favorite steakhouse in Chicago is Tango Sur (though I would argue their empanadas are really the showstopper)

There's nowhere in the city that does Hong Kong-style barbecue like Sun Wah in Uptown---I just stopped by after the parade for the Lunar New Year, the duck is to die for.

Are you on the West Side? First of all, do not go to Big Star. I mean, it's fine, but....come on. I'd pick Forbidden Root instead, or head over to Pilsen for Rubi's if you can't survive without tacos.

There are so, so many different bars I would recommend. Chicago was the home of bootleggers for a reason, goddamn it. Still, if you can't get to Wang's (look, I like Violet Hour too, but sometimes you don't want to drink in near-darkness), Koval (the rare distillery in Chicago), or any of the many, many craft breweries we have in the city right now, you probably can stop by one of the many, many, many bars we have in Chicago, and get a drink anyway.

There are more---of course there are more!---but we don't have all day. So instead I will leave you with this bit of wisdom: don't eat at Navy Pier or anywhere too close to Lincoln Park Zoo. If you are at a bar, don't settle for a burger when sometimes, the chicken tenders are actually better. And if you absolutely must go somewhere for pizza, choose Pequod's.

(2) See a thing

Chicago has many things in it! So many things! A hundred thousand things! Unfortunately, I don't know what you're into, so I will just talk about them in general.

MUSEUMS: I am a devoted museum-goer, and Chicago has blessed me with an endless feast. There are the big ones, of course---the Field Museum of Natural History, the Adler Planetarium, the Shedd Aquarium, the Museum of Science and Industry, the Art Institute of Chicago. However, my favorites are smaller, more unique: the International Museum of Surgical Sciences, Intuit (though it's temporarily closed, more's the pity), the Institute for the Study of Ancient Cultures at UChicago, the Lincoln Park Conservatory. That's not even all the museums in Chicago! That's not even all the museums that I've been to. It's amazing.

EVENTS: I once joked that I was a person who needed to schedule her enrichment like a blue-haired senior, but the joke was on me---I am that person! Fortunately, Chicago supports me in this endeavor by publishing many, many different calendars of "what to do this week or weekend". Do you want to see something onstage? Well, here you go. How about some classical music? I have a trusty guide. What about non-classical music? Always go to the Chicago Reader for that. Are you thinking of catching a game? Well, we're still in spring training for the Cubs and Sox, but the Bulls are doing okay even if the Blackhawks aren't, and we've got soccer (male and female) now too!

(Unfortunately, the Chicago Sky aren't playing right now, they're my favorites.)

OTHER: Unless you are extremely efficient, coming here and eating good food, doing one other thing, is more than enough. I promise it is! However, if you have more time, I definitely recommend just---wandering around. The Loop in particular is great for this, because it's reasonably small and everyone there is busy doing things. Going places, talking on phones, getting into or out of ubers, protesting outside of the Daley center, etc. etc. It's amazing to watch, and the buildings are pretty neat too.

Or you could wait a couple months, and take the Chicago Architecture Boat Tour, which I think should be a requirement for all Chicagoans. Maybe even everyone alive in the world. Just saying.

(3) Walk along the lakeshore

Chicago offers many delights, but I really do believe that Lake Michigan and its vast expanse of water, sky and space, is a unique gift to the city. It is beautiful in winter, in spring, in storms, in sun. It is free. You can sit in the grass or the sand or amble along its broad paths for miles, looking at unexpected art installations and waving grasses and the way the beaches slope to the water; you can talk to a friend or watch bikers and joggers pass you by. In the summer, there are a dozen different stands offering warm elote or cold soda, and cheerful men on jingling bike carts that will sell you neon orange push pops. In the winter, there are still bikers and joggers but also Canada geese, and you can stare mournfully at the slate grey water and ponder existence.

It is the heart of Chicago. Nelson Algren called us an "October city, even in summer"; Carl Sandburg described us as a shirtless dude who gives great oral. Personally, I think of Montrose Beach in the setting sun of winter, the sand almost too cold to touch---and beautiful, beautiful, beautiful.

[obsob]

fanart for a cat i saw in the cattery 

[nordic-language-love]

summer in the uk vs japan

uk: it is hot. it is humid. outside i wear the shortest shorts i can get away with and spaghetti strap top. my thighs stick together and my armpits leak like taps. i get home, strip naked, turn on my tiny electric fan and starfish, but it is little solace. there is no air con. there is no escape. i have to change my sweat-soaked bedsheets almost nightly. 3 days later it is 15ºC and i turn the heating on.

japan: it is hot. it is humid. outside i wear jeans and a t-shirt because showing your shoulders/any semblence of cleavage/shorts higher than knee-high is frowned upon and what ever will my students' parents think if they see me in such scandalous clothing. i have to take a spare t-shirt everywhere with me because the one i'm wearing will be soaked through by the time i get where i'm going. once i get home i peel my clothes off my body and bask in the air con. 3 days later it buckets down with rain and the rain is warm. i am soaked in both sweat and rain. the cycle is endless.

[drumlincountry]

EVERY fantasy book EVERY scifi novel every starwars movie every post apocalyptic show. I ask, WTF??? The same same question EVERY time. Say it with me - WHERE’S THE FARMING?

[mayax81]

I had a really clever title for this, but it flew out of my head just as quickly as it arrived.

Reblogs appreciated but don't repost or remove caption.

[cabbojage]

Happy (Very Late) Worldbuilding Wednesday!

(This week was kinda crazy busy for me, so today I’m sending the Asks I couldn’t send on Wednesday.)

In the world of your WIP what kinds of (non-sentient) magic beasts/animals/monsters exist? (As in, are there sea monsters, dragons or unicorns. Something else?) How do people view them - are people afraid of them or do they treat these beasts like pets or animal companions? 

Alternatively, if there aren’t magic beasts in your WIP, what are the most common kinds of pets within your story? Did any of your MCs ever have a pet?

HELLO IM PROBABLY A WEEK LATE SO DON'T EVEN WORRY istg i will send you wbw asks forever to make up for it

MAGIC BEASTS unfortunately there are no biological magical beasts. the closest thing to them however are mechanical automatons - aka steampunk robots !! automatons are very popular throughout klairva as pets (animal automatons) and servants (human automatons). actually, only the rich are able to get servants, so automaton pets are much more common! they're usually fashioned in the form of birds, dogs, cats, and sometimes large (think pet-sized) insects, like spiders or bees. no fire-breathing mechanical dragons, unfortunately - klairva's buildings are too densely packed together, and even the wealthiest household wouldn't have the indoor space for one. so automatons larger than a human are seldom made.

it's largely agreed that automatons are non sentient objects, but people still grow attachment to them and refer to them with more human pronouns (she, he, them) rather than "it." i'm gonna say that the automatons r powered by magic (specifically by the dead clockmaker) but i think i will make a post on energy in klairva + the machines that use it because that is a whoooole different thing LOL

most people are very fond of automatons, similar to how people today are fond of dogs and cats! although they're not fluffy, automatons still react to human touch with a soft, almost "purring" kind of sound of gears rapidly spinning within - something that the citizens of klairva find really cute. lola doesn't have a pet, but she will get one throughout the story! cuckoo has a whole "aviary" of a dozen birds - a mix of carrier pigeons, hawks, and falcons - to deliver messages for her and honestly just wreak havoc whenever she feels like pissing someone off. rowan doesn't have pets. rowan's family has an old dog automaton that he's really close to.

as for real dogs, cats, and birds - they exist. but they're frowned upon almost everywhere in klairva except for the poorer ground level floors and the district of afterhill. afterhill is an exception, as the agriculture district, they're more accepting of organic life and nurturing it - but everyone else has a dislike for the inefficiency of organic life and prefers automation & modernity... which comes in the form of machines......

anyway that was kinda long and i kinda rambled but ye!!! ty again for the question >:D

[captainfaygeleh]

i’m not masturbating to the chicago skyline in the first few minutes of the bear season 2, but i’m not, not masturbating the the chicago skyline

[vzajemnik]

auauuuuughvhvbvhhhggggaaaaaaaabg. btw.

[notbecauseofvictories]

ah, the most wonderful time of the year---when I sit down with a mug of tea and my vote by mail ballot, when I consult the meticulously researched Judicial Election guide published by Injustice Watch, as well as the Bring Chicago Home materials provided to me by a very cheerful door-to-door campaign worker, so I can vote in accordance with my conscience.

....and of course, I have to do this early, because I will be an election judge in a week and a half, and I can't let filling out my ballot interfere!

[heartbeetz]

Girlies help my boyfriend and my bestie are the same breed of guy. And they're infesting my brain like ants. Help!!

[goofunkel]

the bear (hulu) exists to haunt and vex me and none of you understand it like i do

[littlestprince]

getting crossed on a tuesday eating a peanut butter honey sandwich all comfy in my bed and watching youtube <3

[rillabrooke]

good news! my grandmother's cancer hasn't spread to other parts of her body. right now, surgery is still an option.

please pray the doctors have good judgment, the cancer is in fact contained, and that chemotherapy will be effective! she is in His hands.

[nerdpoe]

Danny sees a blond, middle aged man sitting on the curb, letting nasty puddle water spray him from passing cars as he drinks from a straightup liquor bottle.

Danny feels bad for the guy, but also he's creeping the student population out and that's the main sidewalk pretty much everyone uses.

So he walks up to him, gives him a tentative shoulder pat, and says "Sir, I'm sorry, but you're freaking everyone out, can you go brood on the other side of the street? There's some overhangs there!"

The man drops the bottle, staring at his own hands. Then he redirects his wide-eyed stare to Danny's hands. Then Danny's face.

"Kid what in the bloody fuck did you just do?"

The man reaches for Danny, Danny leans away in alarm, and Dash punches the guy so hard he's knocked out.

"Didn't your parents ever teach you stranger danger, Fenturd?"

"Come on, man, don't ask that; you know they didn't." Kwan says, jogging up and forcibly steering Danny away from the man and gently shoving him at Sam and Tucker.

They don't like Danny, but Amity Parkers protect Amity Parkers from creepy out-of-towners.

Or; John Constantine is having a pity party after getting so drunk he teleported into a weirdly big city in bumfuck nowhere Illinois, gets touched by some kid who broke his soul contracts and all his curses with a single shoulder pat, and gets knocked out by a football player. Now with the contracts that granted him his powers as a warlock fucking canceled, he's gotta find that kid and also a new patron before his enemies realize he's up shit creek.

[booiiee]

perhaps this is what the "lonely in the city" feeling is. i mean im lonely in my hometown too, here i can excuse it with a reason.

the feeling of feeling out of place is so intense, specially when i feel too big in a city full of size 4,2 and 0 and specially when my bank account tells me im not allowed to enter certain places.

not really sad about the latter, tbh, i dont aim to be rich enough to wear only dior and bottega, i aim to work there, which im gonna, but for the time im here, im gonna make sure i never feel too big and im healthy enough to run half a mile without passing out.

to better health, better self esteem and slightly better bank balance!

(ill see you soon too, europe)