wanted: photos of ukrainian havoc squad

we're back from the fourth annual hnatusko family reunion in gainesville, ga, and this is the only photo i have to show for it. here's otto at takeoff, snuggled into the sling with his woobie, ready for some sweet, sweet mi-mi time.

see, i've never been a picture-taker. the only reason i have a camera at all is because the one i have i gave to my husband who ended up giving it back to me once he got a fancy-schmancy one. having a camera with a bonafide neckstrap is a declaration that you are hereby the family historian. it's likely that any pictures he's taken will be posted to his web gallery, but if there are any family members reading who would like to donate your photos to posterity, please email them on over.

little people, big mistake

oh man. i just saw that matt roloff, the dad from the TLC show, "little people, big world" was busted for dui... from a friggin' field sobriety test. ridiculous.

here's what i don't get: for one, why would you submit to a field sobriety test, like, ever? it seems to me to be about as subjective as judging a dance routine. some people just aren't coordinated enough to walk a straight line while sober. when my sorority president was arrested for driving drunk, she did a mandatory seminar for the house on the topic as a form of penance, in which she instructed us to always submit to a blood or urine test and eschew the dodgy field sobriety and breathalizers.

two, how on earth could this guy be evaluated in such a manner -- he walks on crutches! poor little dude. his smile makes me sad.

the cousins outing: ravinia

last friday, i met up with my sisters and some of my cousins [i'm greek -- i've got a lot of cousins!] at ravinia. the shots are few but poignant. check 'em out. click to enlarge and view in their full splendor:


this is me, pre-ravinia, looking very aggro. note the corrugated brow. i called a cab from my house to the ravenswood metra stop at 5:15 to come at 5:45 -- the cab came at 5:20. because i am just that way, i declined the cab and called back at 5:40. that one never came [they sure showed me!] and so casey and otto drove the CR-V dukes-of-hazzard style uptown to the station. i leapt from the car and ran like a total freak, pushing people out of my way, to the platform, only to discover that, not only was the train ten minutes late, i would have to wait for the next one because there would be no more room on the one i wanted to get on. neato. in retrospect, at least the ride ended up being free.



here are more people who were left in the dust as well. why are they so unruffled? many of them had coolers with actual cold beers nestled inside.



here i am with my lovely sisters dina and nicole, looking far more pleasant. in my hand is a drinking receptacle fashioned, again, á la dukes-of-hazzard with a plastic knife and an immutable desire for a cold, alcoholic beverage. despite the fact that my gracious cousins brought practically anything that anyone could have ever needed for a fabulous picnic including a sundry wines and cocktails, cups were accidentally forgotten. i was not to be deterred. having taken the train with my cousin, dena [we have a lot of denas in our family -- did i mention that i'm greek?] from kenilworth, my sisters were already in a fun-loving mood.




much later in the evening, my cousin elizabeth stuck her pert bottom in a pre-surgery-kenny rogers look-alike's face, seated in the yellow and white chair. that's cousin dena [the dena from before, not another dena, although i do have another cousin dina but she lives in new zealand now... have i confused you yet?] laughing into her sangria with her long, flowing locks in the foreground. pictured in the background is my cousin-in-law, greer.

caption: "yooolikeit? yooolikeit!"



at the close of the evening, long after the throngs of wasted north shore teens had staggered from the park, we are packing up in the dark. pictured is dena and elizabeth, attempting to shove a jampacked picnic basket into my late yia-yia's shopping cart... for the third effing time! each time, the basket falls out along with a cascade of plaid cloth napkins and tealights, and each time, we bowl over laughing. as you might expect from a mass of messed-up multiparas, incontinence is not far behind.

caption: o chichonia! [only in my family do we make allusions to rocky and bullwinkle's fractured fairy tales cartoons.]

can't wait for another get together soon!

grosse pointe beckons

i spent a large part of yesterday in pursuit of justice to be meted out by our fair city of chicago. you see, in a nutshell, my true love was summarily duped into writing a check to a child who told him that he was trying to raise money to afford to attend northwestern. you can see the actual scam in action online. casey's a musician and, having attended berklee college of music, felt for this schlubby city kid trying to realize his dream.

after calling 311, getting transferred to 911, being referred to area 5 detectives, then being referred to a police station that ended up being the wrong police station, only to call another station to then be referred right back to 311, i have determined that no one in this city really cares and casey and i should go knock over a bank.

then later, once otto was snug in his happy little bed, the garden variety car alarm starts going off. right in front of our house. and doesn't stop. casey remarked that it was like the gods were yelling, "OT-to, OT-to! WAKE up! GET up! PACK up! GROSSE pointe! MOVE there! GO now! HUR-ry!"

today was more of a pro-chicago day. the weather was fresh and lovely. the cubs fans crawling down addison were spirited. i truly did enjoy running a few quick errands to my local target, cleaners, and whole foods without driving a ton in preparation for tonight's kintonis cousin's outing to ravinia to see the steve miller band. i'm certain an idyllic evening there on the north shore, so very accessible via the metra, will put a few more points in the "stay here" column...

... until the elotes cart ladies come peddling their goods, honking their bike horns like mad in the street tomorrow.

mean girls: the update

just when i was convinced my email was relegated to spam hell, i received a reply from my friend whom i'd written [see a few messages back]:

oh my gosh!!!! what a surprise and a thrill to hear from you!!!!! what on earth got into you? :) first let me say thank you for the kind words, it touched my heart to know you think that of me after all of this time. secondly, apology accepted! you have to know how much i have adored you ever since we pledged chi omega! good lord, everytime i hear "groove is in the heart", i think of you and our ridiculous dancing at frat parties! i don't remember what i said to you back 6 years ago, i do remember being pissed off and hurt....and yes you did let me down quite a bit, but we all do stupid stuff and the years have taught me well...

funny that she mentions the ridiculous dancing: we really did make supreme asses of ourselves back then and i kinda smile and cringe at the same time. she goes on a little more to say that she's recently had a baby and that we should catch up via the phone sometime soon. phone calls are challenging for me but i will, in the name of rekindled friendship, give it the old college try [no pun intended]. so, um... yea for friends! woot!