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Gapers Block published from April 22, 2003 to Jan. 1, 2016. The site will remain up in archive form. Please visit Third Coast Review, a new site by several GB alumni.
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TODAY

Thursday, March 28

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Fuel

Jeremy / September 11, 2006 11:19 AM

Not much. You?

s / September 11, 2006 11:35 AM

Updog?

sarah / September 11, 2006 11:46 AM

anyone go to the touch & go block party? what did you think?

Andrew / September 11, 2006 11:55 AM

I was there on and off. Mostly good, but I look forward to next year's Hideout Block Party not being as huge. Hopefully they don't feel the need to maintain the size and scope of this year's.

eep / September 11, 2006 12:03 PM

The sky.

Har har har.

jen / September 11, 2006 12:09 PM

between my birthday (friday) and the touch & go/hideout block party saturday & sunday i am thoroughly exhausted.
or maybe just sleepy.
stupid weather.

sarah - i enjoyed the show overall, particularly negative approach, shellac, and coco rosie.
andrew - it hasn't been that big in the past, has it? i'm sure they won't feel the need to have next year live up to this one, this one was a special occasion.

printdude / September 11, 2006 12:11 PM

I was servin' beer at the Hideout.

printdude / September 11, 2006 12:17 PM

Now I am looking forward to bustin' open that M4dden '07 I bought over the weekend and marchin' the '85 Bears over Brett Farve just like our hometown boys did yestiddy.

Avant/Chicago / September 11, 2006 12:20 PM

Chi. is abouot to be hit w/ some major alcoholic news, a site of epic proportions. Stay tuned!

Justin / September 11, 2006 12:22 PM

Block Party was fun. Standing on my feet for 3-4 hours after riding the Boulevard Lakefront Tour in the rain kicked my ass (and my lower back).

Question of the festival: Are all those trucker hats suddenly unironic when worn in the Dept. of Fleet Management's parking lot?

Bill V / September 11, 2006 12:30 PM

Block Party was fun, also was a lot of standing. I too hope it goes back to it's normal size. We've had enough large festivals this summerr...oh I mean winter. WTF? I almost needed a jacket this morning.

sarah / September 11, 2006 12:36 PM

yeah, my back was definitely aching at the block party. my highlight was scratch acid, because i'll always love watching david yow perform. sally timms' comment about looking forward to seeing his "fantastic penis" was priceless, too.

anne / September 11, 2006 12:58 PM

I'm up to my eyeballs in crafts, getting ready for Renegade.

Veronica / September 11, 2006 1:15 PM

I'm enjoying my last day being less than a quarter century old.

Speedy / September 11, 2006 1:37 PM

2:15PM ET
F 8.78 +0.01

jennifer / September 11, 2006 1:51 PM

having the worst possible day at work. nothing is going right. and my salad tastes like crap.

Justin / September 11, 2006 2:01 PM

I'm enjoying my fourth day as a quarter century plus one year old, a crisp apple, and working indoors on a 23-inch Cinema Display. I just enjoyed a rainy lunchtime walk and I'm about to enjoy orange juice.

carrie / September 11, 2006 2:19 PM

Me and the boy are heading to Ottawa on Thursday. Yay for vacation. I get to see the Petra, Jordan exhibit that I've wanted to see.
I saw Hollywoodland this weekend. Adrian Brody started to annoy me, but - and I normally don't really notice this stuff- Diane Lane's clothes were awesome. I wanted all of her dresses.

amyc / September 11, 2006 2:21 PM

The usual. Hating my job, stressing out about school, wishing I'd had more sleep last night, trying to convince myself to go the gym after work. My latest motivational trick is that if I lose 10 pounds, I'll fit into my interview suit again and I can start job hunting.

spook / September 11, 2006 2:28 PM

called in sick to paint, listen to air america and mope around

fluffy / September 11, 2006 2:40 PM

smiling on the outside. trying not to fall apart inside.

g8 / September 11, 2006 3:06 PM

Moving on with my life. Planning a trip to Japan with the new girl. :-)

Waleeta / September 11, 2006 4:07 PM

Nothin'. What's up with you?

Allan / September 11, 2006 4:11 PM

I had sex yesterday with an actual person who will probably not let that happen again unless she drinks that much beer again in the middle of the day. Thank goodness for whatever German thing was going on in Lincoln Square yesterday. Lots of sausage and beer and then a hearty serving of homemade sausage at her place. I forgot how nice it could be. She seemed sad about it afterwards so I left and went back to use up the rest of my tickets. Really good beer and sausage. Back at work today but I have not actually done any. For some reason I feel really depressed. I'm going to play the Lottery so I can cheer myself up with the possibility that I might be rich tomorrow and won't have to schlep to a job I hate. I only met her yesterday I only know her first name but I know where she lives but she didn't even ask for my number or any thing so I don't know If I should try and get in touch with her. It was just nice to be with someone.

matty / September 11, 2006 4:13 PM

I wore a jacket and pink shirt out last week and no one liked me cause they thought I was a yuppie. I hate the yuppie/hipster rift. What yuppie goes to girl talk followed by rainbo? What hipster wears a blazer with a jacket? This city is chock full o' insecurities.

emyduck / September 11, 2006 4:19 PM

i am having a nervous breakdown because we're closing on what will be our first ever home purchase in 11 days. yeep! i might need to spend the next two weeks drunk.

oh, and we're spending 4 of those days out of town for a memorial service/family reunion. oh god.

fluffy / September 11, 2006 4:26 PM

"no one' liked you matty? Or "no one" that matters? The people that matter wouldn't give a rat's ass what you wear. I say don't judge a book by its cover and don't fall into cliques. Be original; just do/wear what feels right.
Old people don't waste their time wondering about what people care if they wear tube socks with shorts. They just want to be comfortable and have a good time.

Allan, your story was funny but it grossed me out somewhat (gassy sexual connection) and depressed me a little (she got sad and no phone numbers were exchanged). I hope you win the lottery.

I'm only writing this cause I'm avoiding work. I have all this anger and sadness inside me. Who can I punch?

Allan / September 11, 2006 4:51 PM

Fluffy:

Sorry I don't really have any friends so I sometimes get a little to "real" at inappropriate times for lack of any real confidantes. Sarcasim aand crude language helps me not be to sad about my own life.

So here is a joke to cheer you up you may have heard it but humor me.

Where does a king keep his armies?

In his sleevies!

LOL?

fluffy / September 11, 2006 5:04 PM

I think I know who I want to punch now.

p / September 11, 2006 5:10 PM

today's pretty somber is what's up. read up on a solid individual whom you might not have perceived accurately.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2006/magazine/09/05/tillman0911/

or maybe just think of something a little more meaningful than your own little insecurities and/or petty nonsense. i'm guilty of such priorities alot of the time too- but haven't been today- that's what's up.

Blagg the Axman / September 11, 2006 5:13 PM

Up is where my wanderings have taken me—up into the peaks of the Towerfall Mountains, along the cold and lonely road to the village of Cloumont, where I seek a wizened sage to decipher the scroll of M’yrrgh. In truth I should have arrived days ago, were it not for my own damnable impatience. An ill-advised shortcut led me far astray, into weird, nervous country long after dark. I kept moving; I had no intention of making camp in that place of eerie, hushed echoes and alien rock formations.

It was a mistake. As the moon peaked I stumbled upon the cave of a man most deranged, who took me for a rogue after his belongings. A show of brute force would ordinarily have buffaloed such a bedraggled madman, but the coot produced an artifact in the shape of a small stone statue and began murmuring. Moments later an enormous stone golem emerged from the mountainside.

My ax, sharp as it is, cannot shear solid rock, and my courage, though never wavering, was swallowed as the golem made quickwork of my shield and nearly crushed my skull in its heavy fist. Battered, I managed to escape, and have spent the last few days convalescing in a spring-fed gully, with the help of my last healing draughts. I am nearly well enough to move again, which is a blessing—every night I spend listening for the rumbling stone steps of the foul golem is one night too many.

miss casual / September 11, 2006 5:26 PM

damn this is a depressing thread for such an inocuous question. i think BV is right (hey how are you by the way?)...maybe its the weather making everybody morose?

whats up here is another week of part time trouble making until we go back full time next weekend. hopefully argentine food, tennis, beer, and idiocracy. stay vigilent people. its only a couple of clouds.

suzuzuzu / September 11, 2006 5:26 PM

My boss is an asshole. I love to be the young silly one at work. He squashed me today. And I just got back from a great weekend in PDX. To this gloomy BS. I am a tulip in a snakepit.

trying / September 11, 2006 5:45 PM

Trying to not be so negative about a co-worker I have lost all respect for.

paul / September 11, 2006 6:35 PM

What's up? Not much.

Everybody's griping cause summer's over the weather quickly turned yicky and they have nothing to look forward to but work until the leaves change.

Personally, I'm looking forward to football (and secretly, the NASCAR Chase) on a new HD tv.

Marilyn / September 11, 2006 6:54 PM

I've been enjoying some unsolicited, but much-appreciated praise (and offers for freelance work) for my writing from several sources. That's been really cool.

jonk / September 11, 2006 7:31 PM

in full avoidance of way too much work.

putting time into school, but should do more.

did a one day trip into iowa fri/sat. watched the anamosa raiders play the cascade cougars (got noided out at half-time by the show, or watching people wacth the show - show mostly meaning cheerleader-type high school girls.) did not visit the future birthplace of james' t kirk.

monday night football on espn sucks! (i need to escape from that work i should be doing.)

Leelah / September 11, 2006 8:01 PM

My new school is AMAZING!

annfrankenstein / September 11, 2006 8:33 PM

Hey, didn't I see you at the block party? You were in a black hoodie, right?

Hee. Just kidding! Lots of fun, black hoodies everywhere. Enjoyed watching the kids (as in actual kids belonging to aging rock fans!) rock-out with their parents and all.

In 20 years from now they'll be asked, "so what was YOUR first concert," and they'll have a pretty cool answer now. None of that "Beach Boys" answer a lot of folks my age have to answer with 'cause that's where their parents dragged them to back in the day.

Hey, what was your first concert--has that been a fuel question yet? Probably, just typing out loud here.

Mercourier / September 11, 2006 8:40 PM

I just got an $1500 root canal that I can't afford two weeks before I am supposed to go to LA to see the most wonderful man I've ever met for our birthdays.

Carlotta / September 11, 2006 8:46 PM

Disgusted with a market research job that keeps me dialing until 7p SATURDAY night. The hours suck in general, but to screw date night like that??? Way past time to look for a new job....

Stressing out about my dangerously cluttered apartment and the need/want to clear it out.

Coming across 2 (seemingly) nice guys on Craigslist. Hope springs eternal, even at age 50!

Annie / September 11, 2006 8:56 PM

I got some action this weekend & I'm trying to figure out how to make that happen again.

Is "Hi, I'm easy & these are real" a good pick up line?

Allan / September 11, 2006 10:26 PM

fluffy:

go ahead and punch me then at least I would feel something.

Annie:

Yes, that is a very good pick up line. Do you like beer and sausage?

jen / September 11, 2006 11:34 PM

actually, ann, i think i did see andrew at the hideout, and he was wearing a black hoodie (or at least a black jacket) but then again, i was wearing a black blazer, so i have no room to talk. =/

Spook / September 11, 2006 11:50 PM

Allen

I haven’t’ heard such a sullenly melancholy Woody Allen-ish( Take the Money and Run) funny story scene our own Spence’s detailed discription of his X mas party last year. He still got you beat, but keep up the good work!

holden / September 12, 2006 9:28 AM

i was dumped last week after 3 years. boy, does that suck. what else is there to say? i'm looking forward to finding a way to move on and hoping that there is someone twice as nice out there for me to spend my life with.

Alison / September 12, 2006 9:30 AM

Gorging myself on Combos and Diet Canada Dry and trying to figure out what the world to pack for my trip to Peru...on Sunday!

Anybody have suggestions?

Steve / September 12, 2006 9:32 AM

Reading all this the day after, I see I was far from the only person feeling weirded out yesterday. Much better today, thank you.

Encouraging that no one got all 9/11 weird on the rest of the group. Or maybe it's a sign that we just don't take terrah seriously, as Mr. Dumsfeld would tell us.

Marilyn / September 12, 2006 9:37 AM

Steve, I think we all know which terrorists pose the biggest threat to us now--and I don't think they hijack planes.

Brandy / September 12, 2006 10:10 AM

Uh, I'm not sure what's up. I was going to spend this week making crafts for Renegade. Instead I'm outside DC working on top secret stuff as a graphic facilitator. I love my life. One day I'm silkscreening fabric in my grubby clothes. The next day I'm flying to DC on 9/11. What's up tomorrow? Next week? You got me.

fluffy / September 12, 2006 10:21 AM

Allen- I was kidding about the punching. I hope things get better for you.


m / September 12, 2006 10:25 AM

Taking in my first roll of 120 film today, fingers crossed. Beer tasting at the Map Room on Wed. Recording one of my songs with my neighbor on Thurs. Friday's my boss's last day. Met a girl last Friday who got me a little smitten. Hopefully that'll go somewhere. That's about it. I avoided all 9/11 TV coverage and I thought yesterday's weather was very appropriate. If it'd been nice like 5 years ago, it would have felt worse.

Alison, for travel inspiration, check this site out - - reading it chokes me up:
http://www.me-go.net/rtw/

Her packing list:
http://www.me-go.net/rtw/details/packing.html

Emerson Dameron / September 12, 2006 10:29 AM

I just rode home from Athens, GA on the 'Hound, which I was compelled to take out of wanderlust, low funds and residual punk-rock road-warrior masochism. Saw old friends. Sampled $1.50 well drinks. Heard a lot of people bitch about developers and gentrification.

I now hope to find a job that will allow me to travel without "dogging it." It's not a fun way to go.

I'm still amazed that anyone thinks people care about their outfits, musical tastes or other lifestyle affectations. Go find your high school diploma. Gaze at it in silence. Ponder it.

Allan / September 12, 2006 10:43 AM

Spook:

I checked the archives for spences holiday tale. Not bad, but I have been working full-time in the place where JP was/is temping at for 3 years. I was at the party last year but that shit was even to sad for me to mention.

fluffy:

If we got together and you punched me I think I would make me pretty happy, being punched by fluffy, but only in the belly. I can really take a belly punch, lots of cushioning there, that or the back of my neck. I am doing better today though. Thanks. I forgot to play the lottery last night and I checked today and my numbers would not have won anyway so I just saved myself $3 bucks. That makes me some kind of winner. Doesn't it?

w / September 12, 2006 10:51 AM

Lots of people here are griping about being single and lonely. I recommend everyone goes to the GB get-togethers and...get together. Then at least you can be single and together...

Andrew / September 12, 2006 10:56 AM

Yes, I had a black jacket on at the Block Party. No hoodie, though. My other option would have been a dark green and blue plaid overcoat, but it's not waterproof.

ALison / September 12, 2006 12:07 PM

Thanks, m! This looks interesting.

pOrn / September 12, 2006 12:55 PM

just got finished reading my OUI and Barely Legal and it wore me out

madachode / September 12, 2006 12:59 PM

I now hope to find a job that will allow me to travel without "dogging it." It's not a fun way to go.

Don't dress like a scrote , dissatisfied youth, when you interview, cut your hair and shave. maybe then you'll find a job that does require normal modes of transport

carrie / September 12, 2006 1:03 PM

Last night I was coming home from a concert and my friend did an awesome job a nabbing a cab. We got in one before the rest of the girls could jump. Anyway, she gets in and I notice she's sitting on something. What is it you ask? It was a $20 bill! Sweeeet! Free cab ride AND beer money.

Loadzone / September 12, 2006 1:25 PM

I've got six bucks in my pocket. It was twelve an hour ago. Using trend analysis I should have about 37.5 cents in my pocket by 5:30.....

Josh / September 12, 2006 1:42 PM

I have a job and I have a wife who loves me. I'm alive. I'm an extremely lucky human being.

eep / September 12, 2006 1:50 PM

m and Alison — the site you linked to is run by a friend of mine! Totally weird to see her stuff show up here on GB (even though she was mentioned before). Just another example of it being a small world.

Today is Teh Suck. Yesterday was okay. I am obviously living in a parallel universe from the rest of the people posting here.

m / September 12, 2006 2:26 PM

eep, your friend Megan is brave, funny, talented and adventurous. I wish her many happy travels and cartwheels all over the world. Her blog is one of those positive things I love about the internet (along with free recipes, flickr, guitar chords, etc.) and it has inspired me on many a slow day in cubicleland. One of my neighbors just left on a long-term trip to Africa and I gave her the round the world URL too and encouraged her to take lots of pictures and keep a diary or a blog.

aeb / September 12, 2006 3:22 PM

trying to focus on work, but i keep getting distracted surfing the internet.

mew / September 12, 2006 5:39 PM

I'm having a terrible couple weeks. Death and dying. Extreme amounts of stress at work. Trying to figure out my living situation. I want to curl up in a ball under my desk and hide away from it all.

Baldeesh / September 12, 2006 9:28 PM

Many things, most not terribly interesting.

But many things.

YAJ / September 12, 2006 9:48 PM

I just returned from a work trip and here's the tally
5 hours of driving + 7 hours of training + 5 hours of driving = 72 cops trained in southern Illinois.

1 nice state trooper = 500+ miles and no speeding ticket.

fashion reject / September 12, 2006 10:56 PM

I tried on 15 pairs of jeans, and guess what, none of them fit. Short and round people do not fit into the tall and willowy world.

Plus,maybe this is a generational thing, but I don't understand what kind of underpants you are supposed to wear with jeans that only come to the top of your ass.

Does everyone buy jean specific underwear now?

lara / September 13, 2006 2:08 AM

yep. like many on here, avoiding work and making sense of it via 'community building ' on gb. what is it with our weird obsession with productivity? the marxists would have a clean answer, but others?

allan, you just more dear to me with each post...

jonk / September 13, 2006 2:35 AM

lara, i thought you were going to bed...

i'm actually mostly working tonight.

looking forward to BTS on friday.

no underwear!

kansas / September 13, 2006 3:28 AM

I just realized my one friend here is a total douchebag.

jonk / September 13, 2006 4:56 AM

intrigue

Brian / September 13, 2006 7:10 AM

The bf is out of town two and a half more weeks - he's already been gone 3. It's nasty rainy today, making me wish I had a car for the morning commute from the city to the burbs (Waiting for a PACE bus in the rain just ensures it won't come). And mom called last night to let me know her aunt – my great aunt – is in the hospital in Wisconsin and isn't expected to make it much longer.

What a week.

natalie / September 13, 2006 9:17 AM

Just finished a meeting with my boss (the middle school principal). I have seen satan and it's in the form of a nonplussed 13 year old girl...Cooling a sore throat with Throat Coat and waiting for my first class to arrive: we're doing line doodles today.

Spook / September 13, 2006 10:01 AM

seems like every body and their mommas went to the Hide Out Block Party( cept me and my momma) any one make it out to Around the Coyote this year?

Spook / September 13, 2006 10:01 AM

seems like every body and their mommas went to the Hide Out Block Party( cept me and my momma) any one make it out to Around the Coyote this year?

Spook / September 13, 2006 10:01 AM

seems like every body and their mommas went to the Hide Out Block Party( cept me and my momma) any one make it out to Around the Coyote this year?

spook / September 13, 2006 10:02 AM

Opps

Lawrence / September 13, 2006 11:08 AM

F---ing A, man . . . I just won a writing contest.

annie / September 13, 2006 11:14 AM

Saw a bad movie last night, Hollywood land, and when I got home I had to do a marathon dishwash b/c my dishwasher broke and there was water all over the place and my dog puked in my bed so I had to wash the sheets and when I woke up I realized I had been eaten by a mosquito or maybe even several, they went to town. I have bites all over my boobies and butt and tummy.

Allan / September 13, 2006 11:19 AM

annie:

I could help you with that. I could pick up some ointment and swing by later. I'm easy & the ointments on me.

Mojo_Jojoba / September 13, 2006 3:09 PM

Like half the people who've already posted, I've gots me the Barometrically Affected Disorder something awful. Brant Miller -- the Fool Who is a Tool -- says the rain is supposed to break tomorrow, which is a relief. Maybe my depression will lift, too.

chrisb / September 24, 2006 5:48 PM

hard dicks and helicopters

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