rakkaleff gets unionized after 18 years of cohabitation whaaaaat

remember how i said that i'd post any major updates? well, here's a fucking humdinger of one. after 18 years of cohabitation, leff and i are doing the civil union thing on monday. we're not having a ceremony or reception or anything but we do have to say some things in front of an officiant so we'll take lots of photos and vid of whatever bonkers shit we get up to at city hall and after.  maybe i'll post some of that here?

so, hey, no, before you ask there is no pregnancy involved. this is just to firm up legal things for the state (wills, health insurance, boring life shit, etc) so, to reiterate, THERE ARE NOT ANY CHILDREN INVOLVED AND THERE NEVER WILL BE so, like, stop. 😂

once again, this piece of paper changes nothing, not even anyone's last name but it sure will make things like being able to make choices in emergency situations easier. so hooray! HOORAY! hooray? (no, it's a good thing.)

k, bye for now. maybe i will update with some dumb photos next week. 

going historical

starting today i'm going to use gpiss as historical archive. i'm just not that interested in updating any more.

when there are announcements (ex: if/when i move photo updates from ig.), i'll update. otherwise, please use my intagram account to keep up with what i'm up to.

thanks for reading! enjoy the archives!

food and drink and art design chicago plus a guest appearance by the yearly donkeys

you know that thing where you get sick after a long period of intense stress? yeah, i'm working on that. so let's knock this entry out while i'm still lucid, k? 

still finding our sea legs, still sticking in the lakeview-ish area. this last weekend saw us back at stan's.

some pics from the street--

dropped by choc choc for a dr jart + mask. they're so creepy but they work.

art design chicago  is in full swing, so we made a trip to dpam. caught the lithographs of clinton adams and june wayne (v nice)

but was REALLY there for barbara jones-hogu

and jose guerrero which, holy shit! neither of these shows disappointed.

i'll be going to more of the art design shows for sure and most DEFINITELY heading back to dpam next month.

other things over the weekend...ah, yes! finally made chicken rice!

saw the palm sunday donkeys again! they are now a yearly tradition for us.

went to north and clybourn

for nando's

and got a fruit lovers che at bambu on the way home.

all in all, a very satisfactory weekend. now for more rest. i am so tired of being sick, guys. ugh.

i guess this is just a chicago bakery blog now

so far this week, in an attempt to ease myself back into chicago life, i have visited two bakeries. the first, vanille patisserie, was having a fundraiser for special olympics. so i took a picture of their tulips

and then bought some delicious macarons. the color, amirite? (that is unfiltered.)

i will probably go back again this week after i catch the two exhibits at depaul art musuem that are part of art design chicago. (it's last minute on those. none of you are surprised.)

today, i snagged a lemon blueberry scone from edge of sweetness that i had with some ginger mint tea from middle east bakery and grocery so. good. this might be your breakfast if you visit us this summer.

mostly though, i'm still helping the little stuff reacclimate. she's doing great, in case you were wondering.

we're going to be reading people who eat darkness today. can't wait.

hey there, you

sorry for the abrupt privacy change earlier this year. i needed to spend time with peel and clouseau both of whom, sadly, have passed on. 

it's been a very, very, very hard few months. i miss my little guys horribly. in the time that i was absent, i've not really been doing much but hospice but if you need to catch up on the little bits that might have fallen by the wayside, my ig is public again.

i'm slowly getting back up to speed and will begin posting happier news here soon. (*knock on wood*) it should be noted that fujiko is still going strong! she bitches at me several times a day which is nice.

see you soon-ish.

what we did over winter break

buckle up for a photo heavy entry cause i didn't break all of what we did over break into separate posts (even though i should have). 

leff and i started the holiday break with a trip to bibim town (i swear by this place. it is SO GOOD) 

before heading to george's in andersonville  for ice cream (sadly, no superman that day but they did have blue moon so, draw, i guess.)  and a quick stop by cowboys and astronauts. omg, you guys, that store smells SO GOOD and there are some sweaters that i leff should buy so i can steal them.

i haven't mentioned that it has been cold. very, very cold. this caused slight havoc with our holiday plans as i....just cannot handle sub zero wind chill. as such, we crammed a lot into a very few days. like, the saturday before xmas where we went to the growling rabbit for lunch,

hit up the aic modern shop so i could pick up a guerrilla girls bag,

dropped by central camera so leff could get new gear,

saw the holiday tree at randolph and michigan,

finished viewing the biennial at the cultural center (earlier biennial entry here)

AND THEN WENT TO ZOO LIGHTS LOLOLOLOLOLOL

my favorite part of zoo lights were the light tunnels  but i don't feel like embedding vid so, hey, clicka da link if you want to see that. otherwise, here are the billion pics that i took. (i love zoo lights even though it was so cold. so very, very cold.)

i had a mint hot chocolate with whipped cream.

am unexpectedly fun part was seeing the illuminated empty spaces at the zoo. stay warm inside, animals!

xmas eve saw us snacking on curried popcorn,

shy guy style santa strawberries,

and prepping for

orange fool. because of course i had orange fool this fucking holiday.

it also snowed on xmas eve. i made a snow bunny on my window sill.

and then for some reason (cabin fever) i decided to go outside in this bullshit.

i mean, whatever. i have the gear.

xmas day, we ventured to wing hoe. it was a bitterly cold walk but worth it.

i had a mai tai and leff had a scorpion. (he got the better glass haha)

lunch (and dinner and breakfast the next morning) was crab rangoon, shrimp foo young, beef and broccoli wing hoe spicy beef. DELICIOUS!

some complimentary coffee ice cream (not pictured) rounded out the meal. and, after our fortunes, we screamed all the way home. (did i mention that it was FUCKING COLD)

got some lights the next day and made this install with the guerrilla girls bag. i love it.

made it to mca to see felix!

and more importantly, michael rakowitz's "backstroke of the west" which is fucking brilliant and i WILL take you to see if you visit me before march 4 of this year.

i fell in love with rakowitz's work all the way back in 2014 (before i lived in chicago) when he was included in mca's  v, v good "the way of the shovel" show (you will have to hella scroll on that link, soz.) (that trip was also when we saw the ishtar gate in person in berlin so "backstroke of the west" was just extra *chef kiss*))

they were playing public enemy in the family room. lolol

ran through "we are here", saw some choice, choice pieces. (hover for artists' names)

fell madly, deeply in love with amanda williams' work in the "chicago works" section. she is, quite frankly, brilliant and i want to see more and more and more of what she makes.

this is where i realized that i am really kinda totally over  most white dude art. *shrug* we all knew this day was coming. (don't @ me cause idgafuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck)

i mean, compare/contrast to women and poc's work. i know which resonates more with me.

anyway, finished out the day by splitting a six pack of wow bao.

since then i have been debating whether or not i want to literally run to the lake and back to take pics of the sea smoke. so far the answer has been no cause i know i will just be screaming there and back the whole time.

good luck in 2018! may we all thaw out soon!