Les and I visited the Art Institute museum when she was in town. Here she is with kitty litter and wallpaper!

Sorry, everyone.

Things got kind of busy there; relaxing, but busy.

During the break, Lesley Massey and I got to hang out in Chicago, and we went around and had a grand old time.

Then, almost immediately thereafter, quarter 3 started up.  I have a feeling that I’m through the hardest parts at Medill, and so now it’s more depth and thoughtfulness, rather than just pumping out work day in and day out.

And last week, in addition to the first week of classes, my dear friend Alicia visited from L.A., and that was good fun too.  We saw that new sci-fi movie Moon (I thought it was pretty darn good), and we went bowling.  Fun fun!

But now it’s back to the grind.  Nothing distracting on the horizon, just head down, plow-through-it time.

Just finished up the last of my work for the second quarter at Medill.

It turned out to be a pretty darn productive quarter, if I do say so myself.  I was generally pleased with the work I produced, and I did work very hard to get everything done.

So now, I’m on vacation until June 22.  That’s when the next quarter’s classes start.  I think I’m lucky on Q3, since I have classes only on Mondays and Tuesdays.  That means five day weekends for the next 10 weeks!

Plus, now it’s sunny and nice in Chicago, so it’s a great time to have some freedom to explore the city.

Lesley Massey is coming for a visit this evening, and we’ve got tickets to see the Cubs play at Wrigley Field this Sunday, so that should be a bit of fun.

Now, if only I could get rid of this pain in my back.  Got some muscle relaxers from the doctor, but they’re only partially killing the pain.  How does that rhyme go?  Pain, pain, go away, come again some other day…

A trocar button can help keep your brains from bleeding out of your ears!

So today is my 34th birthday. Woo hoo! One step closer to the grave. It’s also the first time in my life that I’ve had to wear a coat outside because of the cold in June (!).

Last year, my best present was from my sister, who gave me my very first human skull. Well, my second human skull, if you count the one I’m using to house my brain.

This year, my friend Kat kept the good times going by making me a present of a trocar button! That’s a little piece of plastic that embalmers screw into the holes they leave in your body, to keep your corpse juices from dripping out. It’s totally going into my collection of strange and unusual objects of curiosity! Thanks Kat!