I started thinking about this post before I arrived in Detroit, but it really came together when talking to one of my friends who was on the trip after we got back. More than Washington, D.C., Chicago, the state of Texas, Los Angeles, or even New York City, Detroit may be the single most important … Continue reading
The Windy City: Four Days in Chicago
Thanks to the miracle of the Internet – and especially ancestry.com – I found myself enjoying the delights of the greater Chicago area on a recent trip to meet 250 of my relatives. Yep. You read that right. With several days to really cover some ground I decided to do a deep dive into the … Continue reading
Day 1: Hopleaf, Map Room, and a delicious soul food restaurant called Big Jones
Chicago in February is cold. Not ‘get me a light jacket’ cold, either. More like ‘stay inside and sleep on a heater’ cold. Or ‘if you don’t have gloves you may get frostbite just standing outside’ cold. Being from San Diego, this was especially challenging. Nevertheless, it was what I had to work with, so … Continue reading
Happy Birthday! Making a classic Old Fashioned
For my friend G’s birthday I decided I’d get him all the tools needed to make a proper classic cocktail, the Old Fashioned. I don’t usually make cocktails, so this little adventure required some research, recruiting those more knowledgeable than myself, and some shopping. I’ve done the necessary research, so I’m ready to share the … Continue reading
Redwood and McKinley Elementary (pt I): A community-driven safety project
A group of North Park neighbors who live primarily on Redwood, 28th, and Utah Streets, got together to try and figure out if we could make Redwood street safer for children and families along the path from McKinley Elementary School to Bird Park. Working together to make a change in the physical environment is a … Continue reading
San Diego Beer Week is Upon Us
For ten days every year one of the world’s top beer destinations rolls out the red carpet to locals and visitors alike for San Diego Beer Week. While laying claim to over 115 professional brew houses in the county is impressive, the number of breweries isn’t the most important thing to note. And although San … Continue reading
Living on $4.38/day – Day 4: Groundhog’s Day and the best cookbook ever
Yep, you are right, the above photo is a first world problems meme from this site. The title of today’s post is an ode to one of America’s true funny men, Bill Murray and this movie. Today’s meals are basically a reprise of Day 2, which is a useful time to point out that one … Continue reading
Living on $4.38/day Day 3: Turning the corner
The story of my third day wasn’t the struggle with pangs of hunger, as these sort of settled in and started to become an unpleasant normal part of my day. On my third day the most important things I noticed had more to do with lifestyle differences when you have only so much money to … Continue reading
Living on $4.38/day Day 2: Settling in
Today I woke up hungry. To be honest I can’t tell yet if this is because my normal portion sizes are just way too big or if I didn’t get enough to eat. Nevertheless, this felt like the real start of the challenge, for a couple reasons that I’ll get into in a moment. Today … Continue reading
Living on $4.38/day: Day 1 – Eating slowly
The above image came from this fascinating brief history of the food stamp program. A few years ago I was moved by the idea that I could help create awareness among my circles about hunger issues through this thing called the CalFresh Challenge. You have to live off $4.38 per day, which is the amount … Continue reading