the science of eating and acting

logan + submarine = <3

on sunday morning we set out for the museum of science and industry.  we took a bus down there because the metro doesn't reach that area, but the bus turned out to be a great method of transportation that also allows you to see much of the city!  we passed lake michigan so that was neat; it really does look like a beach!  a beach covered in snow and ice for sure, but a beach nonetheless.

before our trip, i browsed through the website for the museum of science and industry and developed the sneaky suspicion that logan was going to go out of his mind with excitement over this place.  in one large, labyrinthine building lies the original U-505 submarine (verdammt Deutschen!) from world war II, an airplane + exhibit, a space exhibit, a display of future technologies, storm science, how bodies and brains work, and the largest model train set known to man.  obviously this was a hugely revealing day for me, too, because i got to see what the inside of logan's head must look like!

stupid sinking submarine

we found a cool simulation game in the sub exhibit and carolyn and i tried our hand at driving a submarine.  we sank.  logan and scott didn't sink theirs, but they didn't have as much pressure as carolyn and i did.  it was mildly distressing intense!

we continued on to learn about baby chicks hatching, how brains, planes, and storms work, and did a little tai chi.  logan's excitement continued to build until i knew we were reaching a dangerous level.

be good, baby chickies!
you will be really yummy one day.

you know how small children run around with that look of pure wonder and awe on their sweet little faces?  they run from one activity to another trying to take it all in.  they simultaneously want to see everything inside the museum but also stretch the experience out so the fun lasts and lasts...

precious little children basking in a world of imagination-come-to-life

aren't they adorable?  logan mows them down like bowling pins.

he was cracking me up!  he almost acts like the children are his age and they better move over, get in the back, or wait their turn.  this isn't a museum of exploration, it's NO-MERCY LEARNING!

all the playing really worked up our appetites so we headed to pizzeria uno for a warm, melty, belly-busting lunch.  chicago might be on to something here with this deep dish pizza!  the four of us could order one medium pie and cheese bread and we would all leave feeling stuffed to the rafters.  i may or may not have also developed a deep-dish stomach so, all in all, it's probably better that no one in alabama can make pizza like that!

i am currently working up a more in-depth compare/contrast essay (including a sophisticated, patented TastyScale rating) highlighting the features of both uno's and giordano's pizza.  i'll post that later.

floating hand demonstration: the appearance of caring.

since we love food so much, we left uno's and proceeded to investigate the whereabouts of an alleged "hershey's store" that we keep "hearing about."  well this was just a little slice of heaven!  ceiling to floor, full of hershey's candy, the store also had a little bakery with devilish-looking cupcakes and other treats.  we also got to wear some nifty hats so that everyone would know how serious we are about chocolate.

for dessert, we went to portillo's at my friend samantha's suggestion and had chocolate cake milkshakes.  this brought my calorie consumption for the day up to a nice, round thirty thousand.  cold, creamy, and just thin enough to make its way through a straw, this shake was blended perfection. i will say that cookout in north carolina still produces the best shake i've ever had, but i owe it to myself as a fat kid consumer to periodically sample the competition.

sunday night we had tickets to the show "spoiler alert: everybody dies" at the second city theater.  the second city is where lots of famous folks got their start - Stephen Colbert, Tina Fey, Jim Belushi, Dan Aykroyd, etc.

you also know you're in for a good show at a theater that frames all their hate mail and hangs it on the wall.

our seats were in the veeery front row - as in i was resting my elbow on the stage!  pretty crowded, but great seats.  we ordered a couple of pitchers and watched a fantastic show.  this was way funnier than saturday night live!  i swear i did not stop laughing the whole time.  this show alone is worth traveling to chicago for, i promise.  find yourself some tickets here and get yourself up there!  if i can bear the cold, you definitely can.

noooo, i don't wanna go on stage! nooooooooo!

so here's a fun tidbit: at the end of the show, the actors had a little improv section.  for one skit, one of the actors grabbed some accessories from the audience (audience guy, why did you have a pack of tiny screws in your pocket?  that's weird) and did a little scene.  then one of the actors had written his own "play" and needed readers.  as horrible murphy's law luck would have it, the actor guy picked me to come on stage.  in front of everyone.  in the whole theater.  and instead of picked, it's more like he grabbed my arm and said i had to while everyone in the world was staring at me.

uuuuuuuuuuuuggghhhhhhhhh.

i've been drinking some greenish-brown stuff that makes me left eye close (that one's for you, katie!) for over an hour, so yeah, i guess that does seems like the ideal time to try and read small print under blinding lights on a stage in front of a hundred people.  i would say i was humiliated by the experience, but i don't recall a whole ton of what happened up there.

me, tall guy, old guy

what i do remember is the "play" basically being me and two guys and everyone was supposed to make out with each other between each line.  well when the actor guy read the stage directions "woman makes out with man" i looked over at him and indignantly stated "yall!  i am married!"  so tall guy kinda hugs me and acts like we're kissing.  that would have been uncomfortable enough if some creeper in the audience hadn't continued to shout "make out!!! maaake ooouuuuuuuuuuttt!"

from what i gather from my travel buddies, i apparently became confused because the actor guy went off stage while we were suppose to keep reading the script, so i stepped back to look off stage and asked what he was doing.  i successfully butchered the crap out of this improv bit.  judge me if you will, but when saturday night live calls me up to tell me never to come back to chicago you'll know i'm a star.

at this point, the crazy carl saga begins.  oh what a night!  oh and that creeper yelling from the audience?  that was logan.