Dog Days of Chicago Summer

Well, today is Labor Day. Also known as, the last day of summer, since tomorrow school starts.

Even though I have been back in Chicago for almost a month, I really haven't been able to experience at least a part of summer in the city. Between OCI interviews and moving to the new apartment, I was pretty much really busy from the moment I got back. So I really didn't have time to enjoy what the city has to offer, unencumbered by obligations like homework.

So, today my boyfriend and I took advantage of the holiday, the nice weather, and the fact that we are finally really moved into the new place, to actually go out and *do* something.

First, we went to Best Buy, because my boyfriend has been bugging me for a year that our TV is too small (the current one is a 19" flat panel), so I finally caved as our birthdays are both coming up, and we got a new TV. Initially we were going to get a 32" flat panel, but my boyfriend was able to talk Best Buy into a good price for a floor model 39" flat panel. So there's that (I also really have to learn how to haggle. I don't know how he does it, but he is always able to talk people down prices. to me it just seems awkward. But what do I know. Are you even supposed to haggle for TV prices?). I admit it will make watching football more satisfying.

After we bought the TV, we went over to the Lincoln Park Zoo. Yes, you may notice a theme here: I like zoos and animals. And the Lincoln Park Zoo is the Chicago zoo, I had never been before, and it is my favorite price (particularly after this last month, which thanks to the move has been $$$$): FREE.

Again, rather than me natter on, I am just going to show you pictures of cute animals. Yay cute animals!

This I believe is a Lynx. From the Big Kitty house (not actually its name)

This was a jaguar. It, like all the other big cats, was pacing profusely. I am sure it was thinking, "If I get out of here, y'all are lunch"

Sleepy lioness. Probably tired because the male lions make the females do all the damn hunting :)

No, no I could not resist. IT WAS JUST SO PERFECT, OK?

Gorilla with his back to us

Some kind of Tamarin. I think. Or maybe a Gibbon?

I forget what it is called, but it is the monkey that looks like an old man. He he

Gorilla OMNOMNOM

Like the most zen chimp ever

More chimps. Not as zen

Kangaroo!

Vulture. These things are pretty much scary as shit, btw

Cheekeh Monkeh!

Some kind of very prim looking water foul

Giraffes are silly animals. They always look kind of confused...

So, a rhino doesn't *look* so scary from far away. Dunno if I would want to be in his way though

So, that was my day today. All in all, not a bad way to spent Labor Day. If you are interested in the Lincoln Park Zoo, more information can be found here. In September and October, the zoo is open from 10AM-5PM daily. November-March, the zoo is open 10AM to 4:30 PM. April-May the zoo is open from 10AM-5PM. Summer (Memorial Day-Labor Day) weekday hours are 10AM-5PM, weekends 10AM-6:30PM. Admission is free, although they do charge for parking if you bring a car.

Lastly, I have some photos I took when I first got back to the city, of the skyline at dusk. Was going to wait to post them until I posted pics of the new apartment, but that might take a while yet. Since is the last summer post, might as well post them now. Here's to Chicago.

And with that, another summer comes to a close, and a new school year begins. Now excuse me, but I actually have to go to homework.

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

So, I made it to the Bronx Zoo today, and despite some mild shadiness in the two-and-a-half blocks between the subway (actually, really El stop, since halfway through the Bronx the subway stops being a subway) and the entry to the zoo, it was actually fine (something I have learned about New York: have an I-am-pissed-off and unpleasant face, and people will leave you alone. Good defense mechanism). And I am glad I went. I am always a sucker for animals, if you couldn't tell from this blog, and this place had quite the selection, way more extensive than the Central Park Zoo, and surprisingly not much more (at least if you got the general admission ticket. With some of the add-ons, or the "full experience" ticket, it could start to get up there price-wise). Anyway, it was a nice afternoon, although now I can barely move from stiffness brought on by 3.5 hours of non-stop walking. But it was worth it. Rather than me blabber on, I am just going to let the animals do the talking, since they are the stars of the show.

Entryway to the Bronx Zoo from Boston Ave. in the Bronx

The first animal to greet me, were camels. Camels are silly animals. They do a really exaggerated chewing motion, and it is entertaining. I actually went on a camel ride around the ring. I am glad I didn't get spat on

Don't know what kind of bird this was, but it looked suitably exotic. Something from Asia, since that was the section of the park I was in at the time

An Asian species of crane, drinking from some skeezy-looking water

Big Kitty (aka Snow Leopard... no, not the OS) taking a silly nap

"Ugh. I gotta learn to lay off the weekend parties. All those rum-and-cokes make for a really unpleasant Monday, ya know? What, you thought all those drinks in those commercials were "soft?" How else do you think we get through 30 takes for a 30-second shot?"

Polar bear totally flaked out. Don't blame him. The North Pole New York in the summer is not

Tee-hee-hee. Polar bear bum. He's being silly. I thought this was absolutely adorbes

A baboon of some type. They are kind of intense in person, actually

Cheekeh monkeh!

Some Ibex (Ibi?)-- which are basically Savannah goat-type animals

So, there were like, all these peacocks, just chillin' all over the zoo. Not in enclosures, just allowed to roam free. Is this normal? They didn't give a shit about humans being there, either. I think they excepted us to move out of the way for them, in typical peacock fashion

Some kind of Savannah deer-like animal. From the "African Prairie" habitat enclosure. Many different species of animals put all together in one

Including lions. I have always wondered how like zoos, when they put predator-type animals and prey-type animals together in the same enclosure, prevent the predators from, you know, eating the prey, when clearly that is not the goal...

King of the jungle, man. That dude is not to be trifled with

When I first saw the lions, that old familiar song popped right into my head and, well, I can't resist:

Now good luck getting THAT out of your head for the next two hours :)

Peacock sighting number 2

Giraffes. What to say, other than that they are pretty bamf animals just generally

Freaking peacocks, again!

Some exotic-looking white bird

No trip to the zoo would be complete without seeing the pink flamingos

You know there are more plastic pink flamingos in North America, than there are actual pink flamingos in the world? That is sad, both for what it says about the status of pink flamingos as a species, and for what it says about the tastes of the American public

Lemur! Silly lemur, eating food while hanging upside-down

...Because this isn't terrifying at all. Nile crocodile, looking like he is going to eat you

Ring-tailed lemurs just chillin'

Another cool looking bird. Don't know the species

Tortoises native to Madagascar. I always thought tortoises were bigger

C'mon, lil' dude. Don't be shy, some say "hi!"

Some cute red-tailed mongeese(gooses?). Cute, that is, until they take down an MF-ing king cobra...

Some red lemur-like animals hanging out behind a mini waterfall

I got to watch the sea lions get fed fish. They were very excited to get fed. It was adorable

Another sea lion hamming it up for the onlookers

PENGUINS!

Not sure what he was, but this guy was a handsome looking fellow, so I took a picture. Some kind of sea bird

Puffin!

Another regal-looking bird, I think in the crane family

The stork. Poor guy looked kind of lonely in his habitat by himself. I felt bad for him

Vultures...are frickin scary birds. You should have seen the wingspan on this thing. Not surprising that they are descendants of freaking velociraptors

Bald Eagle, aka 'Murica, aka USA! USA! USA! Seems appropriate since it is Olympics season

Grizzly bear was hiding behind a fallen tree, trying to cool off in his little pond

Can kind of see his head peeking up from behind the log

Getting up-close and personal with a tiger. Thank god there was glass

Hands-down my best picture of the day. And a fitting end to the day, as well

And again, on that note, because I can't resist:

And with that, there was my day at the zoo. Very fun, but also very tiring. I hope you enjoyed viewing these pictures of the animals, as much as I enjoyed taking them.

If you are interested in visiting the Bronx Zoo, you can find the information at the zoo's website.

The Bronx Zoo is located at:

Bronx Zoo
2300 South Blvd
Bronx, New York

There hours are as follows: March 31-Nov. 4, they are open Monday - Friday 10:00AM-5:00PM, Weekends & Holidays 10:00AM-5:30PM. Fall/winter hours are: Nov. 5 - March 29, daily 10:00AM-4:30PM.

This is family-friendly entertainment. Bring the kids!

And finally, lest you think I didn't do anything Sunday, I did in fact go out and explore Chinatown a little more in-depth (sad, considering I live on the edge of it). I wandered around the (very) crowded streets, and even managed to pick up a few things I had been wanting, namely: some steel chopsticks, some of those ceramic Chinese soup spoons (which are far superior to regular spoons for things like soup), and a Chinese tea set, ceramic. Which, considering that was a fair amount of stuff, did not set me back too much. Chinatown prices I guess. You know what was ridiculous, though? My boyfriend has been wanting a real cast-iron wok to cook with (he is a foodie, and a pretty intensive cook). So I thought, New York Chinatown: logical place to find such a wok, I will look there and have an authentic one shipped back to Chicago. Damn, you would have thought I was looking for the Holy Grail. I only found one shop that had them, and then they were ovepriced. I talked to the BF about it, and we both decided we could get a better one for less online. It was just sad.

Anyway, here are some shots I took down some of the streets of Chinatown.

The unfortunate thing about Sunday was, it was super hot and super humid. I kept drinking fluids, mostly water, but just could not keep up. I think I got pretty peaky and dehydrated, in the end. After Chinatown, I went over to the Antiques Garage Flea Market in Chelsea, but I really only could stay for about 20 minutes before I literally had to find an air-conditioned Starbucks, and just sit for awhile. Otherwise, I was getting very parched and a little light-headed. But, I did manage to find a cute decor piece for the apartment before I had to abandon ship. So not all bad.

Still can't believe tomorrow is my last day in the city. It's gone way fast. I had a blast, and I am sorry to see it go. But, on to the next thing. Can't beat the clock, in the end.