A Really Stinky Commute

The green line is today's travel time. The yellow area is the time range for 65% of travel over the last two months. Ouch.

Work Trip to CT and NYC

Went to the East Coast primarily for John Mearsheimer's Harper Lecture. He did a brilliant talk on China, but the undercurrent was the uproar around the Israel Lobby paper.

In NYC, I stayed at the Hyatt at Grand Central. I normally just zip through GCS, but it force me to explore, and it was pretty fun. And a nice view out my window.

A Birthday! A Flea in Her Ear!

We started with Flea at Shakes. An energtic production, with a very modern script.

We ended at Blackbird for dinner.

Absolutely...um...I'm just going to say it yummy. Perfect. Really smart. Menu below, exactly as they present it in caps/no CAPS.


seared maine diver scallops with english peas, crispy house-cured canadian bacon, soft-boiled quail egg, and perserved lemon

crispy confit of wettstein farm suckling pig with grilled treviso, blood orange mostarda, and aged balsamic

wood grilled organic veal flank steak and boudin blanc with morrel mushrooms, illinois ramps and banyuls wine vinegar

virginia wild striped bass with wild burgundy snails, baby artichokes, white wine tomato broth and nicoise aioli

milk chocolate semifreddo with sweet waffles, sweet butter, and bacon

Wines we chose:
Hartley Ostini H.P. 'Generation' Central Coast Red
at the bar, and then learned this was the big Sidways wine. Um,yikes, ok...

Henriot Souverain Brut, Reims N.V
MacRostie Carneros Merlot

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A sense of where you are was the birthday gift theme. Chicago in Maps, Above Chicago, and go figure, lots of bluegrass...

Maddux--40 till your 90

So, I'm on a new kick. Even though I'm pushing 50, my goal is 45 'till I'm 90. Good goal. Need to actually live the dream: exercise hard 6 times a week, cut out the crap from my diet. Liking my job, and and what could be better than co-existence with the divine Ms. S? Those parts are good.

Maddux...ah....

Ms. C's Wedding to Mr. H.

Ms. C is Ms. S's mother's cousin.












The River Fall clan was well represented...

Gary Becker Birthday Fest

Gary turns 75. Price Theory Center has a conference. Center is named for Gary. A fun evening. Never buy used furniture from an economist...

"Guity Nashat Becker described meeting her future husband while trying to barter with him over the purchase of a dining room table; she also applauded him and other extraordinary members of the Chicago school of economics with “brave and revolutionary vision and ideas” that help us live in a “more democratic and better world.” She concluded, “I believe that the homage that's being paid to Gary is not for him alone, but also for the giants on whose shoulders he stands.”

Chicago’s Netherworld: An Ethnography of Psychosis on the Street

Tanya Luhrmann (the Max Palevsky Professor in the Department of Comparative Human Development and the College) gave the annual Ryerson Lecture. She's basically been hanging out at women's shelters in Uptown to learn about the impediments to getting women into stable housing. Really fascinating.

Final Four

Florida 73, UCLA 57



And everybody's brackets totally shot...