run lindy run: Thursday Thirteen...back with a vengeance.

(or not really a vengeance...but nevertheless, I'm back.

13. I really love Thursday Night Football. Waiting an entire week for the best game (to watch on television) is just too unbearable. So now there’s football on 3 out of 7 days. That’s ALMOST half of the week. That is good. In a few weeks, however, I will start to go through withdrawals. TNF ends. The playoffs arrive, and while they’re exciting, there are fewer games. And then there’s that two week break preceding the Super Bowl (or do you write Superbowl). And then suddenly, life on Sundays turns into this “what the hell am I supposed to do NOW” thing until I adjust and find something else to fill the void. Maybe I will have super power workout Sundays or something.

12. Thursdays used to be Cosby Night for me. In high school and early college years, it was Cosby at 7pm, A Different World at 7:30pm. DW was my all-time favorite show. Still love it to this day, and it sorta reminds me of the great people I met in college, some of whom I still talk to today.

11. Wasn’t Seinfeld on Thursday nights too? Can you believe I NEVER watched an episode of that until it went off the air? Didn’t want to be like everyone else. But when I finally watched my first episode on syndication I was totally hooked—and I’ve seen every episode. More than once.

10. I believe I am predisposed to a reality TV addiction. Just about any show, I find some redeeming quality, even if the people are total nutjobs. Someone mentioned to me the other day about Teen Mom. Hmmm. Watched an episode and ENJOYED IT, even though they’re total idiots. My time is valuable though, so there are only a few I watch or DVR. They include Chicagolicious (oh those people crack me UP!!! Plus I’ve gotten some really good quotes from that show.) A new one on my radar screen is Catfish. Hoarding: Buried Alive (not to be confused with Hoarders.) Of course, anyone who has read my blog for awhile knows I dig weight loss shows. The new Biggest Loser starts in January. I LOOOOOOVE Extreme Makeovers: Weight Loss Edition, but what the hell, ABC? There were like 5 new episodes and nary a mention ever since. What gives????

Here are the Cliff Notes on each:

Chicagolicious: Follows AJ’s Salon/employees, an upscale predominantly black “cast” with gratuitous “living the Chicago high life” screen shots. Catfish: Captures online romances revealed in person. Oh. Hot. Damn. Is it EVER the person they said they were? Hoarding Buried Alive: The human psyche is amazing. And whenever I need to clean, I watch this show. BOOM. Incentive to the 10th degree. Biggest Loser: Bob the Trainer, he could train me ANYDAY, his approach is definitely right up my alley. Dolvett is pretty funny when he’s harassing people, although I’m quite sure he would piss me off daily. Jillian is...well...Jillian. And she's back next season. Extreme Makeover/Weight Loss Edition: The transformation…the focus on real life and not some living on a ranch removed from real life thing, and the timespan of a year…POWERFUL. Plus the host Chris is so freakin likeable. Ok, so there you have it.

9. “I am an aspect of your character…a divine reflection of you.” Said by Niki on Chicagolicious, when working with two AJ’s employees who were having a personality conflict. See? Didn't expect THAT golden nugget from some reality show, didya??? And I realize it's probably not HER quote necessarily, but this reality show is where I heard it.

8. I got my hair done at AJ’s back in the day, when it was called AJE’S. And well before the TV show. AJ did my hair both times, and it was crazy expensive.

7. There are some things I don’t cut corners on. Here’s a random list: A good sports bra…be good to the twins and they’ll be good to you. Pedicures. (Who wants a cheap pedicure? Is that nail infection worth it?) Ketchup...Heinz all day, everyday—never generic! Butter, not margarine. Generic pop/soda? Blech! Brand name running shoes. I don’t do hole-in-the-wall Chinese food. I’ll spend more than $2 on my fried rice to ensure quality cooking and ingredients, ordering sans the bulletproof glass, and a clean floor.

6. Speaking of clean floors, I once saw a homeless man from the neighborhood doing some odds-n-ends work at a local fast food joint. He was mopping the floor and as he was rolling said mop and bucket to a side door, he noticed a dirty table that patrons had just left. And he promptly pulled the mop from the bucket and wiped the table clean, and went on his merry way.

5. I’ve seen strange and gross things happen in fast food restaurants (having worked in several in my younger days.) Workers being cussed out. A masturbating customer. A dude jumping onto the counter waving a gun around. Worker dropping food onto the floor and serving it anyway. Worker taking that special order that was cancelled out of the garbage and serving when the customer changed their mind and came back. Roaches in the shake machines (shake and ice machines are the dirtiest things in the entire place.) There’s more, I could go on…

4. Shakes…do you have a favorite? I know some people who wait every year for the Shamrock Shake at McDonald’s. I’m not a huge ice cream person, although my Mom is. When we were little, I swear it was offered every night for dessert. Yep, dessert was an everyday thing in my house growing up. I like it, and whenever I have it I think I should have it more often.

3. When I was in college at the University of Illinois, there was this ice cream place on Green Street called Delights. They served ice cream, frozen yogurt and this stuff called “gise” (pronounced jih-ZAY.) That stuff was delicious, and a very low calorie fat free alternative that didn’t TASTE like a low calorie fat free alternative. But I’ve never, ever seen “gise” offered anywhere else, and Delights has long since closed. I was beginning to think that concoction was all made up, until I did find a few random references on the internet. These days, I do like to go to Forever Yogurt at times. Their flavors are frikkin incredible. I hope someday we don’t find that their low calories and fat content are a big lie, like that episode on Seinfeld, HAHAHAHAHA. Forever Yogurt is blowing up like Chipotle in Chicago, they’re popping up everywhere! You should check out the one on Belmont in Lakeview. The layout of the store salutes the CTA (Chicago Transit Authority). The picture below is where the yogurt dispensers are housed. Pretty frikkin cool. And there’s a big CTA map/mural on the wall.