Chicago: Day 4 - The City

The fourth day of our Illinois trip, we went to Chicago, and behaved like a bunch of tourists. Wandering around the city, snapping pictures, trying new drinks, we had a great time.

Shaina has a slight pigeon obsession.

The Pigeon Paparazzi.

Another pigeon.

Yeah, I took one too...

This guy was probably silently rolling his eyes at those tourists.

Shaina had discovered a drink online called bubble tea, and we decided to seek out a place where we could find some. What we had seen online had looked like it had tapioca pearls in it, but this had little fruity cubes. It was kind of like a cross between jello and gummy bears. It was a drink that you had to chew! It was really good!

We saw this sign, and found it so funny we had to get a picture.

No, we're not tourists. Why do you ask?

I felt dizzy, like I was going to fall over backwards looking up at this building.

Our first actual destination was Millennium park, to see the Cloud Gate sculpture. AKA, The Bean.

The Bean!

We had to get our picture taken by it.

And in it.

Do you see us?

The bean is mirrored steel, and looks really cool underneath.

Near the Bean we found an outdoor amphitheater where an orchestra was practicing.

We also found some weird statues.

Our next stop was the Willis Tower, formerly known as the Sears Tower.

You can see for miles and miles when you're at the top of it. I found our destinations for the week.

The Field Museum

The Shedd Aquarium

The Adler Planetarium

I also found that Amphitheater.

Of course we had to go out in the boxes with the glass floors and stand over the city. The woman in front of us freaked out and would not step on the glass for anything!

We thought it was awesome. :)

Those boxes near the top were where we were standing.

Another tourist family asked Sasha to take their picture as we were leaving the Willis Tower. From the looks of their clothes, they came a LOT farther than we did!

And that was our day! I think that this day was my favorite day of the whole trip. I loved all the places we went throughout the week, but just wandering around, exploring the city with no deadlines, it was a lot of fun. I really want to go back. I love this city!

My Favorite Teacher

I had some good teachers this semester, but my theater teacher in particular I liked the most. She was always cheerful, always in a good mood, and she always had something funny to tell us, whether about the lesson or something she had come across while grading.

She also had a special way of dealing with problem students. One incident in particular really made me love her. The Friday before our first exam, someone in the class before us had had a medical emergency, leading to paramedics being called, and the room being off limits for almost the whole class period. Due to that delay, she told us that she would move the exam from Monday to the following Wednesday.

Monday morning the room was PACKED. The syllabus had stated that that was the date of the exam, so all the students who were in theater, but never came to class, were there to take the test. As I waited for class to start I could hear whispers around me.

"Is it true there's no class?"

"I don't know. I think there is. She's got a pile of papers up there."

The teacher then began to call out names from the stack as they were all papers written by the students that she had graded. She then reminded people of the incident on Friday, and that there was no test that day. Immediately there was a mass exodus, and everyone who was able, (That had only come for the exam) left the room. She didn't let this bother her and went right on with the lesson.

After talking awhile, she started up a movie clip to illustrate the point she was making. Not long after she had turned out the lights, two girls in the middle of the auditorium got up and started making their way past the other students, trying to get out of the row. They weren't all that quiet about their exit, and the teacher stood up and called up to them, "Can you girls see okay?"

She got up and walked over the podium, and turned off the movie. "I'll just turn these lights back on until you're gone." She flicked the switch, and the girls practically fell over themselves trying to get out of the row and run up the stairs. I was in the back row at the top of the auditorium, so I could hear their horrified, embarrassed moans as they literally ran out the door. It was pretty much the funniest thing ever.

This Friday, the last day of class, before she handed out the final, she wrote a name on the blackboard, Mei-Hsuan Huang, and asked if anyone could tell her the gender of the person with the name. I recognized the name as the piano player of a concert I had attended and written a paper about, so I, and a few other people, raised our hands and answered female.

She went on, saying that this was a young woman on staff at the school and she had played the piano in the ISU Symphony Orchestra a couple weeks before. She told us that Mei-Hsuan was a very lovely young woman, and in fact someone had actually written in their paper about how beautiful she was. (She may have been talking about my paper...)

She continued, "If you had seen her that night, dressed in a lovely pink dress, there would be no doubt in your mind that she was a woman. Nevertheless, in TWO different papers reviewing the concert, people wrote that they had entered the auditorium, sat down and watched a MAN come onstage and sit down at the piano. Needless to say, those papers received an F."

The whole class cracked up laughing at this. Well, probably most of the class. I'm going to guess that the two people who wrote those papers weren't laughing.

This class was by far my favorite, and most of it had to do with my teacher. The subject matter, the history of music, dance, theater, and movies, was all interesting, but it was her engaging style of teaching, and the fact that she was just so cheerful and funny, that made me enjoy the class so much. She could have taught a math class and made me love it.

Teachers are everything. I really hope I get teachers next year that are at least half as good as she was. :)

True Facts! 9!

Did you know that the pterodactyl was just a giant bat with its face stuck in a waffle cone? True fact!

Did you know that beets are rabid potatoes? True fact!

Did you know that the commuter train is the natural enemy of the London Double Decker Bus? The trains hunt just like a boa constrictor, wrapping itself around the bus, and squeezing the life out of it. True fact!

Did you know that the easiest way to make a bomb is to feed beans to a bowling ball and light its tail on fire? True fact!

Did you know that the skunk ape has the largest tail of any of the great apes? True fact!

Did you know that baby formula is actually a protein shake mix for baby body builders? True fact!

Did you know that elephant seals are actually just morbidly obese tapirs? They got so fat that they could no longer function comfortably on land, so they moved to the ocean. Now they spend all day scuba diving using their little trunks as snorkels. True fact!

Did you know that pizzas are the most delicious species of Frisbee on the planet? True fact!

Did you know that there is an evil version of the candy Mr. Goodbar? It's called the Mr. Badbar. True fact!

Did you know that flowers used to be the dominant sentient species on the planet? Once the TV was invented they started watching it so much that over time they took root, and literally "Vegged out." True fact!

Did you know that Santa Claus eats cauliflower ice cream? True fact!

Did you know that hummingbirds are penguin fairies? True fact!

Did you know that pies are toxic to clowns? The pies thrown at the circus are made of shaving cream and cold gravy so none of the clowns will be poisoned. If you throw a real pie at a clown, it could result in an attempted murder charge. True fact!

Did you know that on Tuesdays the letter 82 ceases to exist? It actually becomes a purple and moves to August to live with the number ¥. True fact!

Did you know that pigs love eating pork rinds? It's kind of sick actually. True fact!

Did you know that corks are the worlds squishiest precious gems? True fact!

Did you know that most spaghetti is actually just rubber bands that have been boiled a really, really, really, really, really, really long time? True fact!

Did you know that a firefly is actually just a beetle with a taser? True fact!

Did you know that the dumbbell was originally invented as a chew toy for robotic dogs? True fact!

Did you know that you never see any birds at night because they are all under an evil curse? Every night the light of the moon transforms them into terrifying werewolf-vampires. Most people mistake them for bats. True fact!

A Twist Ending! 7!

This is yet another story based on an incident that happened in Harlan. I don't want to say that Harlan is full of rude people or anything, but I have not yet had any encounters with terrible customers since I moved to Ames. Not even one. I suppose that by saying that I have just jinxed myself. I'd better be on my gaurd today... :p

~

"I'm being asked for my ID at a grocery store, to buy cigarettes," the man grumbled angrily. "What, do I look 37 to you?" The man actually looked at least 20 years older than that, but I wasn't going to tell him that.

"They have to ID everyone," the woman behind him tried to explain helpfully.

"No they don't!" The man snapped at her. "No they don't." The woman fell silent at his unexpected rudeness, and said nothing as he stormed out of the store.

As he drove down the road, puffing on two cigarettes at the same time, a giant chubby hand came out of nowhere and grabbed his car.

"VVVRROOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!" An ear-splittingly high-pitched baby voice screamed. "VVRRRROOOOOOOOOOMMM!!!!!!" The chubby hand drove his car up a tree, and down the side of a mountain.

"Gordy!" A earth-shakingly loud, motherly voice called over the mountain range, startling the owner of the giant hand, causing it to drop the car into a lake. As the car bobbed to the surface, the man saw a baby the size of a shopping mall pulling off a diaper the size of a swimming pool. "GORDY!" The voice called again. "COME GET SOME PUDDING!!!" The baby jumped at the mention of pudding and he grabbed the car again, climbing over the mountains, leaving his diaper by the lake.

"Oh, Gordy," the giantess said, picking up her baby. "Where is your diapie?" She put him into a high chair the size of the Willis Tower, and handed him a pudding cup the size of a dump truck.

That baby looked from the man in the car, to the pudding, and back again. "SPLAP!" He screamed, and a sea of chocolate was the last thing the man ever saw.

If I Were a Troll... 5

that is rally good

But your spelling isn't.


DO YOU KNOW THAT CHRISTIANITY IS CORRECT? THE WORLD AROUND US REVEALS THAT GOD DOES EXIST, AND THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE REVEALS THAT JESUS CHRIST REALLY DID COME TO THIS EARTH AND THERE IS OVERWHELMING EVIDENCE THAT HE PHYSCALLY ROSE FROM THE DEAD.
JESUS IS COMING AGAIN AND THE SIGNS OF THE END TIMES THAT WERE FORETOLD IN THE BIBLE ARE COMMING TO PASS, AND THAT ISLAM IS THE ANTICHRIST SYSTEM!

Did you know that typing religious comments in all caps, in the comments sections of random videos that have absolutely nothing to do with your message, makes everyone automatically believe everything you say? Yay! Everyone believes you now!


loosers. try vacation to wilderness without food. f those loosers. they got nothing.

If you're going to call someone a loser, make sure your writing skills don't paint you as one first.


dis songs iz da siikest

Your writing is the sickest. Literally.


wow i love indian i love it ...... gread ^^

Ookaaaaay... *Backs away slowly*


You shoudl open a taco bell on France!!

And you shoudln't be allowed near a computer without supervision.


Come. To Australi

No.


Yeah I gor laid out Lot

Did you sustain some kind of a head injury?


then when here mom went to get the spoon she gone try to hurry up and stuff it in here mouth im weak

It's okay, don't be afraid. The men in white coats are here to help you!


...nup this is discusting.

Yes, yes it is.


PLEASE STOP! she is a very talented young lady wen it comees to pefroming and wat has she ever done to u so plz stop or i will report u

I'm pretty sure you're just embarrassing whoever you're trying to defend.


I want have Isabella's too !!!

I want you have intelligence !!!


how gigabyte is your iPhone?

How pudding-pop is your brain?


I topest this eighv my nose - I tiped this with my nose

Wow. Your parents must be SOOOOOOO proud of you. Like, they're probably weeping with unabated joy at how clever their little genius is.


WHAAT OH MYOGJSGH FAVORITKE PEOPRL EVEVER

Oh no! Are you having an aneurism? Stay calm! I'll find you some help!
*Leaves* *Never comes back*


repulicans soo beter tahn democraits!!!

Yup. That about sums politics up right there.


i watche you body lauguage

Ooookaaaayy..... I'll just be over there...
*Runs* *Calls police*


Did a dinosaur teach him his education?

Um, did one teach you yours?


drinks the lake of watt tear

Yeah... You go do that...


Now I know you feel ok and my feelings 97 to 2000 am very happy you have a problem i do fixed alone when you are not with me am so scared people and 2002 you get started hospital am not going anywhere 24h with you anytime 2003 you got the long way am forwarding you I see doing am crying go to the bar get me kids for schools you come back am asking you we have bad bad bad did it all the time of the most am zipped zipped be used I no wanted new man and I love you so much and me kids way to go 200

Does anyone know any neurologists? I think my brain just broke, and I'm not sure that it is repairable.