Airport Fare

I apologize for the apparent lack of paragraphs in last night’s post. I was writing on a different computer than I usually do and for some reason Blogger was opposed to creating paragraphs on this machine. It doesn’t make sense to me either so hopefully it was at least understandable, or at least didn’t resemble one long run-on sentence. Oh, and no I don’t consider using another computer to be cheating on Julie, my laptop of nearly five years. Julie and I have an understanding relationship and she knows that on occasion I may need to, uh, take advantage of other machines when the situation warrants. She knows that I’ll always come back to her.

(Yes, I do refer to my laptop as Julie. After five years, maybe 600,000 words, numerous statistical regressions and a number of mix CDs I consider this to be a long lasting partnership.)

Spent a bit of time at Midway Airport today as I was back in Chicago this weekend celebrating birthdays and Easter. I’ve discovered that I follow very specific behaviors at airports and given how much I travel these have gone beyond rituals. Some are understandable, I always put my keys and cell phone in my backpack just before I enter security. Oh, and I always have a backpack with me when I fly. Since my very first flight I’ve always had a backpack over my right shoulder as I made my way through the airport.

At Midway I have another ritual, which is that I get there early enough to pick up an Italian Beef sandwich at Gold Coast Dogs before I fly. Now, Italian Beef is a Chicago specialty. Every hot dog stand worth its weight also makes beef sandwiches and while Gold Coast Dogs isn’t the best (that is Buona Beef) it wins in terms of convenience as it is my last chance to get a taste of home before I leave town. It’s tough to explain the wonders of just a whole bunch of meat on a bun, with the juices dripping everywhere. You’ll have some people talk about how awesome an authentic Philly Cheese Steak is or how barbecue is the only way to go but just give me this diet staple and I’ll be a happy man.

(For those flying from the United Terminal at O’Hare I recommend hitting the Billy Goat’s tavern and either getting the beef sandwich or for a Saturday Night Live flashback, you can never go wrong with the cheeseburger. Yes, I fly into and out of Chicago enough to give restaurant recommendations from the airports.)

Did have one interesting experience as I flew today. I was reading Fight Club and well, you get really interesting looks from people when you are reading Fight Club on a plane. Especially when you keep on going, “Wow, that’s a really good idea. I should try that sometime.” Maybe this is not the book that I should be reading with a highlighter at my side. Still, I now understand why a lot of people have been telling me that I should read this book.

(How I Met Your Mother Update: Yeah, another rerun. But, to put another plus in this show’s favor, they did end the show by playing My Morning Jacket’s “Off the Record” and that is pretty cool. Pick up Z at some point, it’s one of those albums that makes you wonder just how in the world was this thing recorded. Not from a technical standpoint, more like being surprised by how original it is and how unusual it is to use the word original in any discussion of music.)