February 14, 1998: Chicago Auto Show

Slept in until noon and then Shawn and I took the bus to the McCormick place to see the auto show.  We got to sit in the new Volkswagon Bug and the Lexus car which had built in GPS.   We got an autographed photo of one of the Bulls players.    After 5 hours at the auto show, we went to eat at PJ Clarks on State St.     We went for a beer at Kronie's Bar on Bellevue St/Rush.   We got popcorn at Garrett's popcorn and went to the movie 'Wedding Singer'.  

February 6, 1998: Brew N View & Polly & Esthers

Work was pretty cool today. I had plenty to do. LIlly walked with me to Marshall Fields and we split up while I got my haircut.   We had lunch at Burger King on Washington St.   Chris Blackwell, Alison Basista, and Yolanda Thomas had arm wrestling contests at work and we all watched.  Chris wanted to play rugby in the spring.   It would be the Safeway team against the Q-scan team.  Wayne asked what I was doing this weekend.  I said I was going to 'Brew N' View at the Vic' and may meet Lilly and Jennifer either at Polly Esthers or Convent.   Wayne said Polly Esthers was pretty fun.   

Shawn and I went to Brew N View for Chris Farley night. We sat in the balcony and saw 'Beverly Hills Ninja' and 'Billy Madison'.   Adam Sandler and Chris Farley were my favorite actors.    It was pretty interesting watching a movie with a bunch of drunk people.

Shawn and I went to Tizzie's bar up on Clark, just north of Fullerton.   Then, we went to 'Polly Esthers' up on Wells St.  near Chicago Ave.   It's a 70s/80s dance club.  It had two floors.  They had memorabilia from Brady Bunch, Dukes of Hazzard, etc.  There's a room with bean bags, couches and orange chairs.    Outside the place, there was one of those vans from Scooby Doo all painted with flowers.    A guy tried to hit on us.   Saw Amy Itoko and Jennifer from bible study there dancing with their husbands.   

Shawn and I left about 3 a.m.  and walked home on State St.   We were going to go in this sex shop called 'Frenchys' but it cost $1 to browse, so we didn't go in. Plus, there were some weird people outside. 

January 31, 1998: Ice Skating in Chicago

Diane, Amy, Kathy, Beth, and I went to Mitchell's Diner which was near Park Community Church.  It reminded me of the 'Seinfeld' show diner from the outside.   The weather was gorgeous.  Then, Shawn and I walked down Dearborn St over to the ice skating rink on State St.   I hadn't gone ice skating in years.   The last time I went ice skating was with Connie and  Kim Daugherty at L.C. Walker Arena.  

Rented skates for $3 and went out on the ice rink.  I was surprised I was doing pretty well at walking on the ground on skates.  Got on the ice and stayed near the wall as I was scared to skate.   There were tons of people skating fast and racing.    I got around the rink 3 times without holding on the wall.   It was pretty neat ice skating on State Street surrounded by all of the buildings.     Marshall Fields was across the street from the rink.   Then, Shawn and I went to the 'Brew N' View at the Vic' on the corner of Belmont and Sheffield.  We saw 'She's so Lovely'.  They served beer here so that was cool.   Next weekend, they were having Chris Farley night.

January 25, 1998: Superbowl

Went to the Superbowl party with Jill Sumpter and Marilyn from the bible study. Park Community Church was hosting it at the Como Inn on Milwaukee Ave.  It was a beautiful facility.    Played 'Scrabble' with Veronica and won.   The Denver Broncos beat Green Bay Packers.  There were about 400 people at this party.

January 23, 1998: Dennis Rodman's Restaurant, "Illusions"

Lilly Martinez Dunson found out the other day that someone had free passes to Dennis Rodman's restaurant called "Illusions" which was near Planet Hollywood.  So, I asked for several tickets, so a bunch of us from work went after work.

Jennifer Lovato and Ed Slivinskas went in Jennifer's car.  Tony Dragel, Wayne Onak, and I rode in Tony's new jeep.    We drove by America's Bar, which Wayne had gone to before.  

We were surprised at how classy Illusions was.  We sat at this round booth.   They served us free food from 6-9 p.m. We watched the Bulls game and talked about stupid things we've done.

Wayne rented a bus for his friends and charged them $20 for all you can drink beer.  Then, Wayne and I took a cab up to Fullerton/Halstead to this bar that had all you can drink for $20.  His roommate, Greg Castady, had found out about it.    We got one of the last tables.   By 1 a.m., we were pretty toasty and dancing to the band.   We saw some other IRI coworkers there.    Wayne and some others took me home in the cab.   When we got to my apartment, Wayne got out and asked if I needed him to stay at my apartment.   I liked the idea, but figured it was up to him.   Then, he said he thought I would be OK.  
That was hilarious.

January 9, 1998: Gunther Murphys

My friend Shawn Young and I met her co-workers at Gunther Murphys on Belmont St. near Ashland.   It was a neat place.  Then, we went to this other bar on Ashland called Ginger Snaps.

January 6, 1998: Back to Work

It was hard getting back to work.  Bought some Venezuelan rocks for everyone, as well as my photos for them to see.   Wayne Onak was real eager to see the pictures and hear about the trip.   After work, went to dinner with Shawn Young at Dublins Irish Pub, which was on Rush/State. It was around the corner from both of our apartments.