Milestone – first single-subject portrait shot used for a blog entry. (What, you weren’t keeping track?)

To begin with, Chicago traffic is awful. And I’m pretty sure the highway authority manipulates the gridlock to slow down whatever lane my car is in. Pretty sure.

But I’m jumping ahead. It is Tuesday. Three days ago, it was Sunday, which found the aforesaid blighted car headed up to Madison by way of I-94. (This was the first mistake, but I-90, I-94, I’m sure a lot of people screw that up.) My high school’s Academic Decathlon team had gone on to state competition again, which really was something that I couldn’t miss. Even if all of my work shifts were being covered by one person, except two. (Granted, they fired the person with those last two, but no matter.)

Good to see the team again. Decathlon was not a trivial thing in mi vida, and for anyone of you reading this, I’m proud of you all. :) You too, coach.

But that aside. Madison is cold. Noodles & Co is kinda expensive, Chin’s has great wonton … things. The soap store still has that one particular unspeakably-scented fragrance (thank you for dousing me in it, Emma), and since when does Ragstock stock Aeropostle? Breakfast at Einstein’s and Starbucks (oh bliss, sweet sweet bliss, even if it is 8am), and back to Uno’s for pizza that (I think) is still in a box on the hotel room floor. Ah well. Good times.

And Otis, the kindly female elevators (referred to singly, yes – it’s kind of an elevator-hive-mind thing), is still ferrying the well and not-so-well-dressed from Parking Level A to Lobby, Bar and Restaurant, announced in dulcet tones.

In unrelated news, I passed a cruiser labeled ‘Postal Police’ on the way back. … Does that scare anyone else?